Bunnies, Back Into Your Cage! by ratking

made by ratking for LD21 (-)

[edit3]
Post-Mortem: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2011/08/23/bunnies-back-into-your-cage-post-mortem/
[/edit3]

[edit2]
Because of public demand, the Kongregate version now got an update for the control scheme. In order to pickup/drop the blocks, you have to use the Shift key! This should make the game more user-friendly.
Also, it is possible to use WASD for movement now, zooming works with Q and E.
[/edit2]

[edit]
I uploaded the original LD version as SWF now, as the Kongregate version got an update. There was a bug (sometimes, when you clicked a button, there were two levels loaded) which I fixed, and I made the last level a tiny bit harder (deleted some blocks).
[/edit]

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In this game, you have to allure bunnies into cages, by building a path with the arrowkeys and holding a carrot.
Sounds easy? It is! But beware of the goblins and trolls!

I had only less than 36 hours or so to make the game, and I learned a great portion of FlashPunk while doing it, so please be aware that there are some bugs. The biggest one is that the trolls somehow make invisible blocks ... :-/

Other than that it is pretty playable, though I don't know if the last levels are beatable, or fun. ;-) [edit]I can confirm now that they are beatable.[/edit]

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Controls: (for LD version)
Arrowkeys -> Movement (+ Picking Blocks)
R -> Restart Level
Q/W -> Zoom (because it's fun)
1/2 -> Switch Pick Mode (in Mode 2 you don't pick blocks anymore)

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BTW, the game's gameplay was inspired by great classics like BoulderDash and Spherical.

...

*cough* And Minecraft. *cough*

Kongregate (Post-LD version)	http://www.kongregate.com/games/RatKingsLair/bunnies-back-into-your-cage
Web (LD version)	http://fholio.de/things/jams/LD21-Bunnies/index.html
Source	http://fholio.de/things/jams/LD21-Bunnies/BunniesBackIntoYourCage-source.zip
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-21/?action=preview&uid=3663

Ratings

Coolness	11%	43
Overall	3.31	114

Audio	3.15	83
Community	3.48	38
Fun	2.82	201
Graphics	3.48	88
Humor	2.66	100
Innovation	3.59	71
Theme	2.64	334

Feedback

uuav

22. Aug 2011 · 08:55 UTC

cool game, I find it a bit hard to play since I always drop the blocks when I want to jump around! But great concept !

RandomM00

22. Aug 2011 · 09:09 UTC

Interesting, but it could do with some more interesting blocks, and the controls get tedious really fast. I like the cute graphics!

🎤 ratking

22. Aug 2011 · 09:30 UTC

Thanks for playing!

@uuav That's why I made two modes ... press "2" and you won't pick up and drop blocks any more. Press "1" and everything is back to normal.

@RandomMOO Yeah, I also had some other / more ideas for the game, but time was too short as I started late with this. I did something with Unity3D, got frustrated, and much later used Flash/Flashdevelop.
Sorry for the bad controls, I worked hard on them and they still are not perfect. :-(

ointment

22. Aug 2011 · 17:52 UTC

The concept is good but the execution is lacking. The controls are awkward; it's as if the game can't decide whether it's a top-down Sokoban-like game or a platformer. It takes much longer than expected to clear each level, to the point where rearranging the blocks over and over starts feeling tedious.

daandruff

22. Aug 2011 · 17:56 UTC

I really liked the music and the style of the game. Annoying controls but who cares? ;)

TheGrieve

22. Aug 2011 · 18:07 UTC

Novel and interesting. Graphics are fantastic, controls didn't annoy me too much, once I got the hang. LOVE ZOOM.

🎤 ratking

22. Aug 2011 · 18:19 UTC

Cool, more feedback! <3 you guys!

@ointment The game was never meant to be a classic platformer. The controls probably feel awkward because you can't accept that they the movement is per-block only (with interpolation for the eye candy).
BTW, this comes from the fact that I planned the game to be a "PixelCraft", where everything really is a pixel. ;)

@daandruff @TheGrieve Thanks!

Andrew

22. Aug 2011 · 20:32 UTC

The controls were a bit frustrating, and I'm not entirely certain how it fits into escape seeing as how you capture rabbits, but I like the open ended solution to the levels.

🎤 ratking

22. Aug 2011 · 21:08 UTC

@Andrew The rabbits have escaped and you have to recapture them!

Well, but it's true. I started Ludum Dare with Unity3D and was frustrated with my project. So saturday evening I opened FlashDevelop without any real plan and started coding. This time I began to create something more fun, but the theme lacked. So I confess it really is tacked later on, sorry.

JohanAR

23. Aug 2011 · 08:00 UTC

I have to agree with previous posters, controls could have been better. And "pickup mode" 1 or 2 isn't really self-explanatory. Even on/off would have been better :)

Graphics are very cute, and it definitely has potential as a block based puzzle platformer. I like how you used the escape theme, that it's not the protagonist who is escaping and the escape isn't the goal.

🎤 ratking

23. Aug 2011 · 08:43 UTC

@JohanAR You're right!
I changed the controls in the Kongregate version, please tell me if you find them to be better now.

mes

23. Aug 2011 · 08:49 UTC

cool artwork and music, but the controls ruin it for me.

matthias_zarzecki

23. Aug 2011 · 12:15 UTC

Funny. The first words in my game we "Oh Noes!" too :-)

I like this idea, especially the "carrot"-block. It's immeditely recognizable, which is great.

🎤 ratking

23. Aug 2011 · 13:43 UTC

@mes Sorry to hear that. Did you try the Kongregate version, too?

@matthias_zarzecki Hey, we should bundle our games and make a "Humble Oh Noes Bundle"!

Jhelle

23. Aug 2011 · 19:43 UTC

Well polished and fun game. I thought the grid movement and overall controls were kinda harsh but fit with the game. Good job

BurnZeZ

23. Aug 2011 · 21:10 UTC

Good concept, pretty fun, but frustrating due to the controls. It's very hard to move around and place blocks like I want to.

Rudy

24. Aug 2011 · 11:12 UTC

Very cute, nice music. Controls are frustrating, but playable.

Fififox

24. Aug 2011 · 16:54 UTC

Your game is really fun (but it would me more if the controls had been better), the graphics are great (love the bunnies :P ), and the sound/music is quite good too. I liked your game a lot, but I was a bit disappointed by your journal: at first I saw that you have written a postmortem, which is great, but during LD you didn't write any progress report, only "I'm in" and "I'm done"... Anyway, your entry is above the average level: great job!

N0_Named_Guy

24. Aug 2011 · 17:42 UTC

Game is cool and interesting. I kept playing for the sake of solving the puzzlers (I like solving them!). But the controls are too awkward. I ended up dead because of the not so great controls. And being dead blows, because the level is reset... I wish you great success on your future endeavors =)

🎤 ratking

24. Aug 2011 · 17:52 UTC

Yay, more feedback! Thanks to you all! Even though nobody likes the controls ... ;)

@FifiFox: I just was very frustrated with my progress and motivation was pretty low sometimes. I just couldn't write anything even if I had to. Sorry! Also, posting a blog entry always seems a little bit like a timewaster, because a) you lose time you could spend on the game and b) I need extra long because English isn't my native language and I always have to look-up words and so on.

@N0_Named_Guy Yeah, in hindsight level reset wasn't the best idea. The game isn't very punishing overall, so I thought it would be okay I guess.

skelethulu

25. Aug 2011 · 01:48 UTC

Reminds me a lot of a sliding block puzzle, but with jumping. neat!

tcstyle

27. Aug 2011 · 20:07 UTC

Great idea. Somehow the controls were a little bit difficult (picking up blocks while just wanting to walk/jump).

Doft

28. Aug 2011 · 04:57 UTC

GRRRRRRRR I HATE THE CONTROLS!

dogbomb

28. Aug 2011 · 14:21 UTC

Loved the stylings of this. Cute, blocky, fun. Would be a great kids puzzle game if not for the...

CONTROLS! I know everyone had raged about this. How about making it a block swap puzzle. You click a block and it swaps with the bunny, with some kind of logical animation. It'd be a bit less frustrating I think, and some logical puzzles could still be made.

Great work though. Loved the art so much. I want to buy a big fuzzy blocky carrot.

Tainted_Code

30. Aug 2011 · 13:33 UTC

Great game, very unique idea. Had me confused but it was really fun anyway. Good job and a great entry! :)

Edsploration

30. Aug 2011 · 19:48 UTC

This game has the most original idea I've seen so far (except mine perhaps ;). Unlike mine it plays smoothly and without major bugs, so props on that! I also don't know why people are raging about the controls... I found them quite straight-forward and simple. In fact I think they're better than the controls in the Kongregate version which are slow to use and don't suit the use of a move counter as well as a one-keypress-per-move system.

Chaoslab

05. Sep 2011 · 22:19 UTC

I liked this. Nice work. Simple, well rounded and unique. Did find the picking up and dropping didn't seem to flow as well as it could. Enough of an idea to expand as well at a later date if you choose too.

:-)