Nutrition by jestar_jokin

[raw]
made by jestar_jokin for LD29 (COMPO)
You are a seedling, who must spread roots and absorb nutrients from the soil.
Use the arrow keys to navigate the plant's root.
Try to collect all of the nutrients.
Spacebar will reset the puzzle.
Click and drag with the mouse to see the whole playfield.
Yes, it is possible to finish. There may be more than one solution, but there's definitely at least one solution.

N = Nitrogen. Energy = 3, speed = 1.
K = Potassium. Energy = 2, speed = 2.
P = Phosphorus. Energy = 2, speed = 3.

For when you inevitably get stuck, the solution is available here:
http://www.jestarjokin.net/storage/ld29/solution.png

Ratings

Coolness 49% 1314
Overall 3.42 328
Audio 3.00 394
Fun 3.06 517
Graphics 3.06 621
Humor 1.94 901
Innovation 3.88 101
Mood 3.00 530
Theme 3.82 122

Feedback

Lucio
27. Apr 2014 路 20:02 UTC
Congrats! I keep coming back but still haven't found the solution.
馃帳 jestar_jokin
28. Apr 2014 路 03:47 UTC
Thanks for playing! Sorry, it's way too hard; ideally there would be smaller puzzles leading up to this one, and a lot more hints and niceties in-game.

Anyway, start off on the same path as in the screenshot. Then, you want to tackle the top-left section, then bottom-left, then top-right, then bottom-right. Hope this helps!
bazld
28. Apr 2014 路 12:20 UTC
Very interesting concept.
As others said, perhaps with smaller introductory levels first, and hints, could be a very unique game. Great job!
ruerob
29. Apr 2014 路 11:07 UTC
Nice one. Really enjoyed playing. It's very hard, but thats not bad. Maybe you could add a counter for collected nutrients later and a highscore.
Oddly Shaped Pixels
29. Apr 2014 路 22:25 UTC
Wow, super idea and really addictive. I didnt solve it, seems really hard but if you could make more levels with a more graduate difficulty that'd be great. You definitely have something here!
Romko Pidstryhach
29. Apr 2014 路 22:29 UTC
Brilliant idea! Very inspiring. Spawned a few nice ideas in my head. Great job!
Newt_
29. Apr 2014 路 22:37 UTC
Pretty good! It's really hard, though.
MintArcade
30. Apr 2014 路 13:40 UTC
Hard game, but concept is very innovative. Some hints would be helpful.
jadams
30. Apr 2014 路 13:45 UTC
Nice game. I've not beaten it yet, but have just seen your comment giving hints as to the solution so I'll take another stab at it. More levels, starting with something shorter would have been a nice addition.
Kragnir
30. Apr 2014 路 14:01 UTC
Nice idea for a puzzle game, the puzzle is pretty hard. Don't know how good this idea is try to make a few more puzzles and see if they are any fun to solve.
PoQA Games
30. Apr 2014 路 20:08 UTC
Interesting concept, still haven't finished it after many attempts lol.
Cake&Code
04. May 2014 路 19:17 UTC
Wow, it took several tries to simply fail again, but it was a lot of fun to try and plan a few steps ahead! Very cool idea and good execution :)
NoTrueSpaceman
07. May 2014 路 03:21 UTC
Whoa! Hard puzzle! Nice moody background music.

I'd like to see more of this game. As has been said, a set of ramping difficulty levels (as a sort of tutorial) would make this really shine.
kevinAlbs
08. May 2014 路 03:20 UTC
This was really good. I played for a solid 20 minutes without finding a solution. This is really an awesome puzzle and the music is very fitting.
The-nameless-kompany
08. May 2014 路 05:45 UTC
It's too hard. I tried for 15 minutes and I can't do it
romandtom
08. May 2014 路 23:23 UTC
Cool idea for a game, but you could improve it.
It didn't felt like I have a goal enough.
I felt like I just have to survive every turn but that I don't have a general goal.
burgerdare
11. May 2014 路 15:53 UTC
this is a really neat puzzle game, I like the idea of it alot.
I should note, however, that passing over a nutrient without actually landing on it (very common when speed is above 1) you don't actually grab that nutrient and it gets locked out because you can't pass over your previous roots. This can be kind of frustrating.
馃帳 jestar_jokin
18. May 2014 路 12:22 UTC
Thanks to all for playing my little game! This was my first Ludum Dare, and only my second or third game project, so it was a great learning experience. Would definitely have liked to add more polish.

I've posted the solution online for the curious.
http://www.jestarjokin.net/storage/ld29/solution.png