Elemental Shifters by ObsessiveNotion

[raw]
made by ObsessiveNotion for LD35 (JAM)
NOTE: Please play the web version in fullscreen due to the screen being cut off at the top

​A elemental shapeshifting puzzle game that allows you to use different shapes to get through the holes making his main monster do the battle against the evil monsters.

How to play
===============
LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to move the shape
SPACEBAR to change between shapes

Each shape represents an element which is used by the monster above to attack your enemies. If you successfully pass a wall your character will attack the enemy with that element, if you break a wall the enemy will attack you.

Passing through the same element type will result in combo's making your attacks more powerful.

Game currently has 10 levels with multiple waves in each level.

Created in:
* Engine: Unity 3D
* Graphics: Blender

Feedback is always welcome! If you liked this game, leave a comment and vote for us. If you did not like this game still leave a comment so we can constructively criticize your comment :)

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.60 229
Fun(Jam) 3.60 160
Graphics(Jam) 3.49 454
Humor(Jam) 2.57 474
Innovation(Jam) 3.63 163
Mood(Jam) 3.00 611
Theme(Jam) 3.97 109

Feedback

Andre Odendaal
19. Apr 2016 · 05:58 UTC
I thought this was quite innovative! I think the element indicator splitting the screens should be at the bottom though so it's closer to the eye's focus. It also wasn't exactly clear what crashing into the windows did or what the white windows do/are.
icefallgames
19. Apr 2016 · 07:48 UTC
Neat concept, and the graphics and feel were really good. I did find the controls hard to use though. The response was sluggish, which makes it hard to toggle to the right shape. I also found myself wanting to watch the battle unfold above, but I guess that distraction is part of gameplay :-) It would be nice to be able to see the reward for my careful alignment of shapes without making me miss the next shape!
RoadToSalvation
19. Apr 2016 · 07:49 UTC
Breaking animation is cool. Sound design is good. Shifting shapes button should use 1234 or something, not spacebar- too hard to control. Not sure what the guys up top have to do with gameplay. Should focus more on gameplay feel itself or make those have more of an impact. Cool game, well made overall. Also thanks for actually having a web player uploaded ;)
Redpillgamedev
19. Apr 2016 · 07:50 UTC
Very enjoyable! I spent some time on the game! The graphics are simple but nice! I love puzzle games and this one has a great replay factor! It's a little dificult to pay attention on top and botton screens, but it's nice even so!
varuns
19. Apr 2016 · 09:30 UTC
I recommend playing the Windows build, the game is more enjoyable :D
02fc.exe
19. Apr 2016 · 09:30 UTC
Solid entry.
Lumicgames
19. Apr 2016 · 09:44 UTC
I wish the controls were different. If I was able to say have 1234 and knew 1 was square, 2 was circle etc I could commit those to muscle memory and react faster.

It's hard to remember how many space bar presses It is to the specific shape you need.

Apart from that It's awesome!! Keep on working on it =)
Rakowu
19. Apr 2016 · 10:58 UTC
Good music and sounds, nice idea with the split screen and interesting tutorial presentation.
kariamoss
19. Apr 2016 · 11:03 UTC
The gameplay is cool, and graphics/animations are beautiful
teamross
19. Apr 2016 · 11:06 UTC
I like a lot the concept.
I find the controls a bit hard, for me it was hard to find the right shape fast.
The art looks good, simple and clean.
Nice entry and good job! :)
Munchy2007
19. Apr 2016 · 11:07 UTC
Really like this, I particularly like the concept of combining fitting the shapes to the combat system.

Well done!
Arnage
19. Apr 2016 · 11:07 UTC
Great combination.

It seems most important to focus on the bottom part, I guess it might have been nice if the different effects in the fight had a little more impact, as it now seems most important to just hit a shape instead of strategically choosing which one.
BubsyPoochies
19. Apr 2016 · 11:10 UTC
This was a lot of fun, love the split-screen action! Managed to perform a few combos too ;) I personally enjoy the cycling system, remembering the sequence order is part of the thrill! Maybe a mouse wheel control where you can also go back would be great too.
It's a really polished and solid experience for a LD game, congratulations!
DraKlaW
19. Apr 2016 · 11:37 UTC
Got some bug when I shape shift near from a wall, but quite fun !
NoNameNoSocksAndGuests
19. Apr 2016 · 11:38 UTC
funny game, mix rpg and "puzzle game" it's so cool
fb_holzbaum
19. Apr 2016 · 14:51 UTC
Game is fun and responsive. But there is not really enough time to look at the battle part. After a while I didn't care what was happening up there.
glaze_96
19. Apr 2016 · 14:52 UTC
I beat 4 levels! Let's just say I'm not got at this game.

I really like the difficulty curve and how it keeps resetting.

Nice graphics and soundtrack.

Hope you had fun making the game =)
kutan74
19. Apr 2016 · 14:54 UTC
Love the game but passing through the glass makes hard to see next segment. Nice concept.
duskpn
19. Apr 2016 · 15:15 UTC
That was really fun, although a bit hard to control. It get's almost impossible later on...

I really liked how the game was actually an rpg like battle being controlled by the shapes, even it that doesn't affect gameplay much.
eymrich
19. Apr 2016 · 15:26 UTC
So far the game i like the most! WELL DONE!
AceyT
19. Apr 2016 · 17:47 UTC
Quite hard some times, but fun in the overall, excellent sir :)
rossborchers
19. Apr 2016 · 17:52 UTC
Quite a lot of fun. I would love to see the shape matching fitted into the context of the battle happening up top, and maybe a better way to switch between shapes? Still super fun though. I love the camera shift in the main menu :)
Arvydas
20. Apr 2016 · 01:54 UTC
This was pretty enjoyable, thought the circle shape didn't seem to register properly. I like the battle concept that goes with it. Good stuff!
GrimGary
20. Apr 2016 · 02:26 UTC
The battle going on on top seemed a little out of place for the task you are performing on the bottom. Being only to shift one way made the shape matching a little unfun as well as the obfuscation of the upcoming blocks. However, I can see what you were trying to do overall and it was a good attempt.
Raptorij
20. Apr 2016 · 06:01 UTC
great
LevelUpJordan
20. Apr 2016 · 09:29 UTC
I really like this game, although changing to the shape/type I wanted was more difficult than I'd like.

I'm not sure if it's meant to be part of the difficulty, but remembering the order the shapes spawn incorrectly, pressing space one too many times and having to cycle through again was frustrating. It didn't help that the shapeshift wasn't as immediate/responsive as I'd like (though that is probably down to my rickety laptop).

I would've liked some on screen visual representation of the cycle, maybe instead of just showing the current elements all 4 could be shown but the inactive 3 at a lower opacity, I don't know.

That's my only criticism though, as I said I enjoyed this entry.

PS Thanks for checking out my game!
ohi12
20. Apr 2016 · 11:25 UTC
Took me a while to notice there was a fight going on just above me, was too concentrated on the shapes. Great game!
Anikki
20. Apr 2016 · 14:36 UTC
Too difficult to really play both games at the same time. Overall nice work though.
TheDuckCompany
20. Apr 2016 · 21:35 UTC
best game i played so far, very fun.
Roland M
21. Apr 2016 · 01:15 UTC
It was kinda hard but i finished killing 90 enemys, and wish graphics were better, congrats!
KairosXIII
21. Apr 2016 · 02:47 UTC
Great concept, but the shifting was difficult to scroll through in time. Perhaps leave the four elements at the top and just show which one the player is currently on? Or maybe change the controls to 1,2,3,4 or something. Good job.
Freank
21. Apr 2016 · 14:04 UTC
Hi, nice game ! We're realizing a video with several games of the Ludum Dare #35.
Can you add your game on indiexpo.net ? (it's free)
So we can include also your game in the video ;)
p.s. write #LDJAM in the game's description
TiByte
21. Apr 2016 · 18:15 UTC
Nice working game :) The sound, if you fit with through the right shape, is very loud for headphone users :)
FanieG
22. Apr 2016 · 17:56 UTC
Nice concept. Enjoyed it. Speed could be slower at the start until you get used to, what to do. Also, would have prefered to have a dedicated button for each shape rather than having to scroll through all the shapes, as this sometimes led to impossible moves.
jacobturn
22. Apr 2016 · 23:22 UTC
cool concept
AnaGF
23. Apr 2016 · 00:16 UTC
Nice game! I think the shape-matching part could work well solo, without the battle part. It is addictive
QuestionableQuality
24. Apr 2016 · 10:19 UTC
This one was easily one of the most innovative so far. I love the idea of it and I'll be playing this more in the future.

Played briefly @ 2:40:51 : http://www.hitbox.tv/video/991443
Larzan
30. Apr 2016 · 14:23 UTC
Nice, well done, good sound, good idea, sweet touch with the characters.
There is a bug (feature) that takes a bit away from it, the shape matching seems to trigger too early, many times i had the right shape but still crashed the obstacle.
Good game though :)
DAT.NOT.MY.GAME!
30. Apr 2016 · 17:13 UTC
Great combination of genres, very innovate game.
in3orn
01. May 2016 · 11:35 UTC
As you said our games are similar, but ofc your is much more polished. I see you have the same problem I have - there's to much focus on the bottom part of the screen, so there's only a little joy from things happening above.
Key number concept could solve it partly.

But ofc I love this game! :)
ragnta
02. May 2016 · 08:36 UTC
I added this game to my collection on itch.io. I need this game on android! :) The child of my brother learn the shapes now. I think she will like this game! :)

The animations are cool, but the game is too big, so on itch.io I didn't see the wave counter (not full screen mode).

Please fix this, and I will wait the android version of this game :)
Krammetje
04. May 2016 · 22:28 UTC
Fun and simple game. I enjoyed it. Only thing I have with this game is that sometimes the boxes still breaks if switched to the right shape just before going through. Besides that small bug, it's still a fun game.
PowerSpark
05. May 2016 · 00:02 UTC
Pretty outstanding idea and flow, I guess the worst thing is that sometimes after switching to a window with the correct shape a bit late will still break the glass. Very fun, though!
fin_nolimit
05. May 2016 · 01:38 UTC
Excellent concept!!! The music rocked!! I felt like I was playing an upgraded version of Tetris!!
Louspirit
05. May 2016 · 09:37 UTC
You combined the two main visions of the theme, congratulation! The result is a complete game.
Gamepopper
05. May 2016 · 12:47 UTC
Very good graphics, I really liked the use of lighting and destructible walls when you failed. Gameplay was really solid, although I would've liked a button to cycle in reverse to get to some colours a bit quicker. It's also nice to see the game adapt to your ability, slowing down if you keep failing too much. Great job!
yuigoto
05. May 2016 · 20:07 UTC
Battle + Reflex-based gameplay = ♥! :D It's really great what you did here, though I felt that the walls come quite fast too quickly, a slower progression and some kind of indicator/cue for the walls would be a nice addition, but the game already is really good! :)

I loved the graphics and general presentation for the game, the "corridor" gave me a nice contrast with the battle, loved the wall-breaking animation too! :P

Sometimes, though, even if it was the right shape, I'd bump into a wall. But it didn't take anything away from the experience of playing the game.

Great job! :)