Digging up Daisy by Cake&Code

[raw]
made by Cake&Code for LD29 (JAM)
Mr. Skeleton is back from the dead, and he's ready to enjoy the afterlife.
But his wife Daisy is no where to be seen! Help him bring Daisy back from
the dead by controlling the drills while looking for her coffin!

You will have 3 probes to dig and look for coffins underneath the ground.
Since you have limited fuel, you must carefully allocate your time and resources.
Some can be used as bombs, which will reveal large areas but use up a lot of fuel.
Some can be used purely as radar probes to look for solid objects.
Your goal: Find the coffin! (And maybe other treasures too???)

Left/Right Arrows: Move
Up Arrow: Speed Boost
Down Arrow: Radar Detection
Space Bar: Bomb

---------------------------------------------------------------

Zeik - Coder of the Dead
Cake - Art Monster

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.75 71
Audio(Jam) 3.29 268
Fun(Jam) 3.35 171
Graphics(Jam) 4.44 41
Humor(Jam) 3.57 77
Innovation(Jam) 3.44 172
Mood(Jam) 3.77 95
Theme(Jam) 3.88 47

Feedback

spacechase0
29. Apr 2014 · 00:13 UTC
Nice. :) It was neat some of things you could find underground.

The music got a little annoying by the end though.
RobotLovesKitty
29. Apr 2014 · 00:14 UTC
This is absolutely fantastic! The art is excellent, and the gameplay is simple and fun :D
But the polish on every aspect is astounding!
Mental Atrophy
29. Apr 2014 · 00:15 UTC
Very nice and reasonably challenging. There's some luck involved but you can still employ some strategy to push luck in your favor within the drill limit. Wasn't a fan of the music, but the graphics were nice and the vibrant colors against black fit the whole muerte theme.
ashdnazg
29. Apr 2014 · 00:26 UTC
Overall it's a fine game, and I was surprisingly eager to find my daisy :D

Some points I can think of:
The gradual introduction of mechanics is wonderful!
A minor nitpick, in the beginning before fuel was introduced, I was wondering "What's the point, I can just dig the whole thing...". It might have been good to make sure the player knows it's still not the game!

I really like your graphic style, it suits the game well.

The music could use some improvement. A practical tip might be to keep it less "crowded"?.

I might have missed something, but I couldn't see any reason not to keep the forward button down.

Good job!
starfeesh
29. Apr 2014 · 00:37 UTC
This is a great little game. Beautiful art and surprisingly fun yet simple gameplay.
Otrora Interactivo
29. Apr 2014 · 01:07 UTC
I was wainting to play this since I saw the screenshots on twitter. Really nice. Love the graphics!
FatJoe
29. Apr 2014 · 02:34 UTC
I really like the artwork, good job on that! Good overall game, seems polished as well! :)
pinkmonkeyhead
29. Apr 2014 · 03:04 UTC
Awesome game!!! I loved how I destroyed the treasures seconds after i just got them hahahahah
dddaaannn
29. Apr 2014 · 03:26 UTC
Very charming! Thank you!
Managore
29. Apr 2014 · 04:01 UTC
Absolutely beautiful!
aneeslol
29. Apr 2014 · 04:02 UTC
Very cute game! Poor Link, though :(
snoozbuster
29. Apr 2014 · 04:07 UTC
I like it! Very beautiful.
pedro.thiers
29. Apr 2014 · 05:05 UTC
The control feels very nice! I didn't find my daisy though =/
Solifuge
29. Apr 2014 · 05:16 UTC
Hi, this is Vector from the Victory Garden team! (posting under Solifuge's account)

This is really beautiful. The aesthetic, the colors, all of that. I didn't get far enough for the music to wear on me. The one thing I'd say is that it didn't seem to incorporate much skill... I really felt like what I was doing was a crapshoot. This may just be an issue of conveyance and game balance rather than the general concept, though!
PIXEL^3
29. Apr 2014 · 05:31 UTC
Very nice artwork as usual Cake. Not as much story as say your LD25 entry. But overall it's a solid game.

~AlucardX60
KirbiKaka
29. Apr 2014 · 05:37 UTC
Awesome :D And everything looks so pretty!
Crowbeak
29. Apr 2014 · 06:31 UTC
I like all the small details.
Pinktreeleaf
29. Apr 2014 · 15:24 UTC
Nice digging feel, professional mobile animations. a bit of humor, all that good stuff.
caranha
29. Apr 2014 · 15:41 UTC
Very cute game, I liked it!

It seems to me that the levels are fixed? I think it would probably be a bit more interesting if the levels were randomized when you lost and had to retry.

Thanks for the game!
RobotParking
29. Apr 2014 · 16:38 UTC
Loved the art. Loved finding dead loved ones.
Typedeaf
29. Apr 2014 · 17:07 UTC
A cute little game, a bit confusing at the start. Nice graphics as always ^^
rojo
29. Apr 2014 · 17:12 UTC
Very nice! Really digging the aesthetic. The random stuff you can find was a nice touch, too.
Korwegian
29. Apr 2014 · 17:16 UTC
Freaking wonderful :D
ApoorvaJ
29. Apr 2014 · 18:46 UTC
High polish all across the board. 5 stars!
Jacob123
29. Apr 2014 · 20:50 UTC
Cool! It was a nice little heartwarming game! Loved the Mario reference!
hitchh1k3r
29. Apr 2014 · 21:05 UTC
The gallery at the end was a nice touch. I particularly liked ET, and the art was great.

Maybe being able to buy upgrades with the treasure would have improved gameplay a bit, but over all it was a very good entry.
pighead10
29. Apr 2014 · 21:39 UTC
Daisy was lost forever :(
Cambrian_Man
30. Apr 2014 · 02:51 UTC
Lovely aesthetic and surprisingly relaxing for a game about digging up corpses. I wish there was more to 'do' with the drill, I felt I was sort of randomly driving around hoping to hit the right thing, but still quite nice.
Therrato
30. Apr 2014 · 09:51 UTC
Really stunning looking game, i love the art style, but to be honest the pokeball treasure felt a bit out of place. also there is no need to use the power ups, since can cover enough ground over the field to always find the chest. small things you could improve on, a reason to use the speed up other than being able to go faster (for example only with speed up you can go through tougher objects)and maybe increase the difficulty abit, but to be honest, amazing job
GFM
30. Apr 2014 · 10:25 UTC
This was fun. :)
I was kinda annoyed by the fact that it require lots of fuel to traverse even already dug paths, but I noticed it's used less than to dig. I once had to use almost half my fuel just to get to the bottom through a path I had dug before hand...
But that's a small complaint. The game was really good and unique. I really liked your graphics. =D
Exeneva
30. Apr 2014 · 10:53 UTC
Fantastic game!
Rick Hoppmann
30. Apr 2014 · 20:44 UTC
Got Quite frustrated at the first level with the skeleton and gave up after 5 tries :/ I love the artwork of this game! Very lovely colors and a clean style.
rxi
30. Apr 2014 · 22:25 UTC
Dear Mr Skeleton,

Through careful investigation I have come to the conclusion that the alleged "Daisy" is, in fact, not a person, nor has she ever been one. My team and I went to great measures in an attempt to confirm her existence, even to the extent of sending down remote controlled drill probes to search for her remains.

I sincerely apologise that you had to find out this way. As an associate and a friend I would suggest seeking some form of professional psychological help.

---

A really lovely game. The art was excellent and the game play felt quite original. I liked the combination of luck and skill (though it seems I lacked the latter); overall everything felt like it fit together rather nicely.

Unfortunately I had to mute my audio as the music ended up grating on me a little, which is a bit unfortunate; besides from this the overall package felt excellent. I especially liked the gallery and variety of treasure that could be dug up, which I think added a nice touch.
hanoth
30. Apr 2014 · 22:41 UTC
Gorgeous game!
7heSAMA
30. Apr 2014 · 23:25 UTC
Barely beat it. Probably one of the sillier LD games I've played. It was fun, seemed a bit unfair that you could totally miss the coffin through no fault of your own though.
praporomsk
01. May 2014 · 11:23 UTC
awesome game, guys!
10/10, of my god, 10/10!!
PapyGaragos
01. May 2014 · 13:04 UTC
"your wife is in another coffin" haha

Good job with the controls and the art, this feels great to play. (also good job with inudge, I never could make something that sounded that good with this tool)
Xaychru04
01. May 2014 · 13:37 UTC
Beatiful graphics, and nice game, I enjoyed it quite a lot! :)
InfectionTeam
01. May 2014 · 17:34 UTC
Really fun :D Pretty hard with the 3 diggers limit and the energy limit though XD
GrooveMan
02. May 2014 · 18:25 UTC
I love the art direction here. For some reason I couldn't use the detonation function, but I had fun nonetheless.
Christina Antoinette Neofotistou
03. May 2014 · 10:26 UTC
Top marks, love it!!!!
You're always getting better, when will this stop D:
Haha lovely job you two! Tiny nitpick, the music could be more quirky maybe, like Balrog's theme from Cave Story or maybe more Tim Burtonesque. But I know how little the time is! <3
ezolotko
03. May 2014 · 13:11 UTC
I like the art very much, especially the title/ending screens, looks zx-spectrumesque to me
Balloonsfor600
03. May 2014 · 15:11 UTC
Well done! I love the art style and some of the humor relating to the other skeletons you can dig up. The music got repetitive really quickly, but I enjoyed the game overall.
Make A Game
03. May 2014 · 17:28 UTC
Great art style. Rolled my eyes at the "your princess is in another castle" stab, and I don't mean that as a negative thing. Nice work!
cageinabird
03. May 2014 · 19:53 UTC
Really charming art style. The gameplay felt a little luck-based though, maybe just me.
howieV (binarygirl)
04. May 2014 · 15:04 UTC
excellent art.. and the music is great aswell.. good job man :)
Thorig
04. May 2014 · 18:51 UTC
Maybe the music was a bit too happy for the thema. Still a fun game.
matthias_zarzecki
04. May 2014 · 19:38 UTC
Nice work with the sonar-system!
JavadocMD
04. May 2014 · 21:44 UTC
A great original concept with an excellent story. The art is beautifully done and the game references are a nice touch. The only thing I really want here is some spooky music to fit the theme.
soy_yuma
04. May 2014 · 21:49 UTC
Great game! I didn't understand what are the treasures for. Good job in general!
Alex Rose
05. May 2014 · 00:45 UTC
Art direction was awesome, the front layer of dirt and back layer really reminded me of the Worms aesthetic (like using the pneumatic drill actually), and I loved the video game references. Obviously a lot of care went into this. Good to see a lot of levels too, and I eventually reunited the couple.

Fits the theme really well, music was really cool, and it was just generally a good idea. Nice one.
PlasterPhantom
05. May 2014 · 08:51 UTC
Fun game, sometimes a bit unbalanced but that's okay haha.Cool graphics!
Crefossus
05. May 2014 · 10:33 UTC
I really love the art - it is consistently lovely. Bomb/radar are fun gameplay elements. Not sure how you programmed the pixel clearing aspect but that's done well too.

Possibly make the first level not as deep so there isn't a chance for the player to get bored if they miss the coffin.

I missed the directions on the 2nd level somehow so making clear objectives/forcing the player to use both the bomb and the radar in the tutorial is probably necessary. (I did figure that out later by reading the LD page though). Also if the player gets really lucky and goes left fast they may complete the 2nd level without reading those.

The gameplay was a little slow for me to try more than a handful of times without filling up with rage, even if there was some strategy with using radar to avoid dots and use bombs.
wdebowicz
05. May 2014 · 11:31 UTC
Nice idea! The first level could be a little easier, good game!
Candyhandy
05. May 2014 · 18:17 UTC
Astonishing graphics. I like your game a lot.
Zerkruemler
05. May 2014 · 18:51 UTC
Cool Idea and graphics. Really funny.
Good work.
loxo
05. May 2014 · 19:35 UTC
Great entry, I like especially the clean graphics style! It took me a while to realize that the radar function uses fuel too. But eventually I found the last coffin. The only improvement for the game I can think of would be the music, because it's a bit too repetitive.
conormn
06. May 2014 · 01:45 UTC
Really great game and style overall! Loved it!
mcapraro
06. May 2014 · 05:27 UTC
really sharp and well-executed! i love the character design!
darke_shard
06. May 2014 · 08:40 UTC
Hahaha, so that's what's hidden beneath the surface! Can I say that A. the art is the best thing of this game and B. I love the sonar mechanic? The fact it's a risk-reward decision every time I use it is fantastic. This is a great Jam game, but good gravy, the repetition of the music drove me insane, I'm sorry.
DavidErosa
08. May 2014 · 17:41 UTC
Amazing little game! Very innovative. The only con is the music. Get's repetitive pretty fast! But other than that, a great game. Thanks!
Jupiter_Hadley
10. May 2014 · 23:04 UTC
Really amazing game. I love the graphics! I included it in part 21 of my Ludum Dare compilation video series, if you'd like to take a look :) http://youtu.be/ARsCeJtTlas
cardboard
11. May 2014 · 06:11 UTC
Very beautiful game. The music had begun to become a tad annoying after a few minutes, but thankfully I had beaten the game about that time. The variety in skeletons is a nice touch, as I looked forward to seeing what each successive skeleton would look like. However, there weren't many levels so I didn't get to see as many skeletons as I'd have liked to! The particle effects and drill shaking are nice. It seems to be a bit too based on luck (or I just suck), but I like the mechanics and gameplay. Also, nice color palette!
joe40001
13. May 2014 · 05:34 UTC
Looks great, ping wasn't helpful enough for it's cost and I'm not sure if the game would be better randomized but really impressive overall.
TeamFlare
13. May 2014 · 19:34 UTC
Wow, this was somehow beautyful and ruminant.
garygreen
13. May 2014 · 19:53 UTC
I've played a few digging/mining games in this compo, but yours had a really unique twist to it. The graphics were great as well. Nice one. :-)
rincewind_cz
14. May 2014 · 09:18 UTC
Well, that was fantastic :-) Great idea, combined with even better execution. Great graphics too! Pity that it's so short, but that's just minor spot. Good job!
Jason Lay
15. May 2014 · 00:42 UTC
Wow. The art was fantastic. I think the concept was pretty cool too. I will definitely come back to this game! Shit if I could I would buy this game!
ryangatts
18. May 2014 · 04:18 UTC
The art was spot on. The game was good but a bit too difficult for me. Still, that's a great game that you all made!