Rocket Mole by Zathnic
You are a mole. You really like to dig. You like digging so much that you can't even stop digging - but that means that you'll probably end up crashing into something eventually (like a deadly polygon), so you'll need to use the friendly polygons to bounce off them in a different angle and thus avoid the deadly polygons.
UPDATE:
I originally planned to add some coins to make the gameplay more interesting, but I couldn't get them to work because of layering issues. So instead I made that you don't get any points when moving over a place where you've already been, because otherwise you could just search for a fitting spot and gain infinite points by doing nothing. It definitely helps making the whole thing feel more like a game!
I maybe could't do everything I wanted with this game, but I still think the main gameplay mechanics are really unique and interesting, even if they may take some time getting used to :)
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Programs used
Code: Java (eclipse), no libraries except EasyOgg for playing music
Art: Paint, Paint.NET
Music: LMMS (I made this in the two days before the LD and it's actually the first song I've ever made :P)
UPDATE:
I originally planned to add some coins to make the gameplay more interesting, but I couldn't get them to work because of layering issues. So instead I made that you don't get any points when moving over a place where you've already been, because otherwise you could just search for a fitting spot and gain infinite points by doing nothing. It definitely helps making the whole thing feel more like a game!
I maybe could't do everything I wanted with this game, but I still think the main gameplay mechanics are really unique and interesting, even if they may take some time getting used to :)
-----
Programs used
Code: Java (eclipse), no libraries except EasyOgg for playing music
Art: Paint, Paint.NET
Music: LMMS (I made this in the two days before the LD and it's actually the first song I've ever made :P)
Ratings
| Coolness | 80% | 2 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.07 | 458 |
| Audio(Jam) | 3.19 | 309 |
| Fun(Jam) | 3.00 | 361 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 2.80 | 584 |
| Humor(Jam) | 2.53 | 382 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 3.07 | 344 |
| Mood(Jam) | 2.63 | 601 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.51 | 192 |
But I like it
The key realization was the little green "forward" vector indicator, and realizing the way that my control came completely from that thing, and that I would reset that thing every time I impacted. I didn't pick up on this at ALL for the first three or four times.
You have a very interesting mechanic here, but even better you made it so it was very easy for me to retry when I died, and to experiment. Also it seemed randomly generated every time so it was always a bit of a different puzzle each run.
The best moment for me was when I didn't die, but I did get stuck in an annoying cluster of "friendly" polygons that was more like a prison. Well, I decided to hit "R" the button I can hit to respawn after I die... and sure enough, it restarted me!
So I have to say good job respecting the player's time and having that tight retry loop that allowed me to enjoy experimenting and failing just as much as success.
In fact, I was almost sorry to see the bottom at 256.
Great job.
If I try to think of something constructive but critical to say, I am hard-pressed, but I guess I would say this: I didn't do as much forward planning as I think your game system would allow. I am far from certain if it's a good idea, but if it were my game I would experiment with zooming the camera out a tiny bit to allow for more thinking ahead. If that worked, my next experiment would be to juice up the speed slightly, or at least to add a speed increase choice to the options.
Solid compact little entry, nice work.
Very solid entry, usually I find Java games have all sorts of difficulties but this worked just fine!