Darwin Games 2012 by Bemmu

[raw]
made by Bemmu for LD24 (COMPO)
Objective is to get 1000 coins by betting on how creatures do in various sports such as diving on cement. Each round the losers are destroyed and replaced by a mutated version of the winner + a random new contestant.

I'm Bemmu on IRC #ludumdare.

Ratings

Coolness 71% 3
Overall 3.36 180
Audio 2.21 437
Fun 3.15 192
Graphics 2.73 435
Humor 3.83 16
Innovation 4.03 17
Mood 3.00 183
Theme 3.42 179

Feedback

randomelginguy
26. Aug 2012 · 15:57 UTC
Awesome idea, I'd have liked it a bit more if the movement was slightly more predictable but it was still addictive anyway. The backstory at the top was hilarious
gabeochoa
27. Aug 2012 · 01:52 UTC
Great game, wished it wasnt as random. Backstory was the best part :)
nuria
27. Aug 2012 · 05:42 UTC
The creatures look pretty cool, first time I see something like that in Flash. The game needs to be more interactive though. Good to see an original idea! ;D
Fritzendugan
27. Aug 2012 · 05:43 UTC
Cool idea. I like the physics, the particles do interesting things at times (almost look like they're dancing or something). The "evolution/mutation" idea is an interesting one. No real game mechanics or goals, though. This has potential in that regard
panzermancer
27. Aug 2012 · 05:45 UTC
Best game I've played so far.

I JUST WATCHED A MAN WITH TWO HEADS USE HIS HEADS AS PADDLES TO SWIM.

HE HAS NO ARMS SO HE'S THE MOST STREAMLINED.

This game is fucking hilarious. Great fucking job, man.
Waynetron
27. Aug 2012 · 05:45 UTC
Cool idea. Could have really benefited from some evolutionary style traits rather than straight up randomness.
cacciatc
27. Aug 2012 · 06:32 UTC
Who knew that hearts were such good swimmers?!
Jamin
27. Aug 2012 · 06:33 UTC
I know he's going to lose, but... but I have to vote for him! I just have to!
mutuware
27. Aug 2012 · 07:22 UTC
Kind crazy on the dash, would be nice if they made it to the finish line :)

@cacciatc All my money on the heart, also pretty good at the bounce!
🎤 Bemmu
27. Aug 2012 · 08:10 UTC
@mutuware Yeah I've actually never seen one cross the finish line, but sometimes they get really close :) Instead of bumping up their x speed a bit I decided to leave it like that so whoever manages to witness it happening can feel special.
🎤 Bemmu
27. Aug 2012 · 08:35 UTC
@Fritzendugan They do look like dancing sometimes. Even considered adding "dancing" as one event, but wasn't sure how I would rank them against each other. If I ever make a game that needs a disco in it with a lot of dancing NPCs, I'll know blobs with a lot of springs is the way to go :)
dvdking
27. Aug 2012 · 08:39 UTC
It was fun to play. Even though I do such simple action as bet. Quite addictive thing.
p.s. there was a kitten!
🎤 Bemmu
27. Aug 2012 · 08:57 UTC
@dvdking The kitten is pretty good at running, too.
Ezzam
27. Aug 2012 · 09:01 UTC
A truly great game. Backstory was awesome as well. As others said, creatures' movement could have been less random.
Baburo
27. Aug 2012 · 10:47 UTC
Awesome game :D had a blast with it.
Citiral
27. Aug 2012 · 12:06 UTC
It was really original, but it was too random, it should be more clear who would win, now it just feels like a glorified betting game.
willh
27. Aug 2012 · 13:34 UTC
This is brilliant. We spent 9 billion or something on the 2012 olympics and it wasn't anywhere near as good as this.
matthias_zarzecki
27. Aug 2012 · 14:24 UTC
Brilliant idea! Love the little backstory-blips :)
foxor
27. Aug 2012 · 14:25 UTC
Very odd
Matt Rix
27. Aug 2012 · 14:44 UTC
Pretty sweet, I wish there was a bit more predictability but it's interesting anyway!
Fadobo
27. Aug 2012 · 16:35 UTC
Really creative, even if a little weird game. Winning is a bit random maybe, but the betting mechanic really makes it exciting to watch the simulation.
Robotic
27. Aug 2012 · 16:56 UTC
Rofl, I laughed out loud playing this, I love the randomness and this is very funny
Pixelulsar
27. Aug 2012 · 17:08 UTC
Never seen anything like it, it fit the theme very well. It was funny during the run when they all just fall over.
jplur
27. Aug 2012 · 18:23 UTC
Hahaha great stuff.. till I lost 400 on the cat in the swim race >:|
Maxium
27. Aug 2012 · 20:40 UTC
Fun game...even though I lost each time
Porpentine
27. Aug 2012 · 23:28 UTC
my cat is into nickelback and i need 1000 coins to melt them into a sword. narrative of the year imo
madpew
28. Aug 2012 · 12:48 UTC
Haha, how did you come up with this! Genius! I don't like betting games at all but this is great. Some music would have added a little backgroundnoise. Funny game. Well done!
🎤 Bemmu
28. Aug 2012 · 19:41 UTC
@Porpentine That backstory generator was just a random thing I added out of impulse, but found myself going back to the game just to see what kind of stories it would spit out. Sometime I would like to explore if you could actually have a random plot for an entire game that could be played out and not just a bunch of text.
Porpentine
29. Aug 2012 · 04:03 UTC
yeah that kind of stuff fascinates me so much, narrative + generator is one of my chief game design interests
Porpentine
29. Aug 2012 · 04:04 UTC
you should definitely explore that!
FunByJohn
29. Aug 2012 · 13:43 UTC
I was so close to win like 600 at the run part, in like the last 2 seconds mine was in the lead, then an other, then me, and finally the other. xD Pretty nice idea. I actually found it to be pretty fun.
wombatica
29. Aug 2012 · 19:06 UTC
clever. Very different to any other LD game I've ever seen. good play.
Pierrec
30. Aug 2012 · 19:06 UTC
This is so weiiird (and cool)
pansapiens
01. Sep 2012 · 08:21 UTC
Amusing, but hard to predict. I guess I need to play more to get a better feel of the likely winner in each round.
Andrew
04. Sep 2012 · 14:28 UTC
A wee bit random but a nice idea in an evil-ringmaster-lounging-in-his-chair way.
alwaysinbeta
17. Sep 2012 · 21:59 UTC
Really good. Enjoyed playing.