Survive the Date by Samurai Ducks
A mix between a hardcore dating simulator and a beat 'em up style game that's placing you in the shoes of a necromancer trying to defend his date from his dark minions.
https://youtu.be/TCB-2QkS0hA

Controls: WASD to move, space to attack (while not in the dialog mode)
Don't contradict your previous answers in dialog mode; that ends the date quicker!
Stay tuned for updates on this game and future new projects: https://www.facebook.com/samuraiducksstudios/
Credits: Alex Tutea (code, game design, sounds) and Iris Ior (art, animation)
| Windows | https://samurai-ducks.itch.io/survive-the-date |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/survive-the-date |
Ratings
| Overall | 708th | 3.343⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 787th | 3.086⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 474th | 3.486⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 396th | 3.843⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 304th | 3.929⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 405th | 3.314⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 334th | 3.343⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 400th | 3.486⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 42🗳️ | 43🗨️ |
Sometimes it seems a bit arbitrary which answers satisfy her and there is sadly no rating at the end or an actual ending at all. It'd be nice to be able to leave the table to the left side or to walk through the dating zone without automatically getting back into conversation. Some sounds for striking and hitting could help.
Suggestions:
- Please add controls explanations either here on the page or in the tutorial, they are not obvious: it took me a while to figure out that you can control character with arrows and attack with space, but you can do that only after closing dialog box.
- Closing (exiting) a dialog and switching to a battle mode might be activated by movement arrows - it would be very convenient.
- Adding an "intro skip" function would be nice.
- Also having some score or a timer would be nice - to track your personal improvements and/or compare yourself to others.
- If you decide to continue with the game after LD, it would be nice to have some sort of shop to spend points earned on upgrades, buffs, debuffs... or buying bouquet for your girl to gain some "interest" in case the date goes wrong... you are a necromancer after all...
Anyway, I'm in love with your stylish pixel art and animation, and with overall game feel.
I agree with @MaxKlimenok regarding possible improvements, and would add to maybe remove the collision - it's a bit weird to get blocked by the date zone when you just want to run to the other side to beat up some minions. And is there actually a way to win the game? Maybe you should start with the "interest-meter" in the middle, and filling it up concludes the date.
All in all very well done, certainly one of the better entries, and very much in line with the theme.
Gr8 game!! Great entry!
I'll echo a couple of other people's feedback:
- Some VFX and SFX for attacking the enemies would go a long way to make the game feel crunchier.
- A score / progress meter to monitor how far you got into the date would make the game feel like it had a more concrete goal.
All that said, I think you did a great job! The art style is fantastic! The pixel art is really well done. The chiptune music also fits the game very well, I especially liked the music when you exited the date and went to go fight minions. I also liked that there was actual reason/rationale to losing/gaining interest (keeping your answers consistent = success. Contradiction = failure). Great work!
It took me a while to realize I had to close the message box to be able to move around, though.
Good entry!