LudumData

Small Whirled by PTSnoop

[raw]
made by PTSnoop for LD 38 (JAM)

SmallWhirled1.png

Hold the left/right arrow keys to steer, tap the up key to paddle frantically. Escape from the whirlpool!

Solo game, thrown together on Monday morning.

Featuring:

  • Homebrew physics!
  • Unpredicatable rocks! You might bounce off in a useful direction, you might just grind to a halt. Probably better just to avoid those things.
  • Dubious homophonic theme interpretation!
  • Infinitely many levels! Each time you escape from a whirlpool, you go up a level. Each time you die, you go down a level. Leave how far you got in the comments!

Download Links:

Windows: http://alteredtree.co.uk/files/SmallWhirled/SmallWhirled_Win.zip

Source: http://alteredtree.co.uk/files/SmallWhirled/SmallWhirled.love

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/small-whirled

Ratings

Overall 401th 3.333⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 230th 3.458⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 126th 3.708⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 498th 3.208⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 382th 3.522⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 323th 2.773⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 488th 3.045⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 15🗨️

Feedback

aStrkl
24. Apr 2017 · 14:39 UTC
That was fun !

The particle from the boat seems to go the wrong direction, its a bit confusing
kawales
13. May 2017 · 10:18 UTC
Nice game tho its a bit hard to tell whats the front and whats the back, the art is simple but really good!
5Mixer
13. May 2017 · 11:46 UTC
This is pretty cool, I like the minimal art and in the later levels the particles can get pretty crazy! The game was presently very cleanly, minimal colours, nice fonts etc, which I liked. Although sometimes it felt like a button mash game, it was still pretty enjoyable. My only complaint is that, as you said, the rocks are unpredictable, and for me, they didn't make the game harder, just got me stuck. Rather than making it more likely for me to die, I found myself wanting to free myself, even if I would die, just to reset the level haha. That doesn't really subtract for the rest of the game though :)
ashdnazg
13. May 2017 · 12:54 UTC
Homebrew physics are best physics.

The minimalist graphics together with the particles look really lovely.

I really missed audio I think.
chispaLBC
13. May 2017 · 13:57 UTC
The direction of the boat sometimes is confusing for me but it was fun
btwj
13. May 2017 · 18:22 UTC
Very clean and nice graphics. I kept mixing up the boat's front and back, so maybe you could make it clearer by making it less symmetrical. Particle effects look good too. Great job!
GaiusJulius
13. May 2017 · 21:59 UTC
Cool concept. It was a little confusing to figure out the reaction of the physics engine to the paddles and directions. Sometimes paddling radially just got me straight to safety (lower levels mostly), and sometimes it was a sure recipe for meeting my demise in the whirlpool. Paddling tangent was also sometimes good to avoid rocks that are farther out, but sometimes I randomly found myself sucked back in.

The graphics are great - not need for anything fancy, this definitely got the job done! Everything was clear.
RustyRobotGames
13. May 2017 · 23:33 UTC
Good job! As others already mentioned i have no idea where the front and back of my boat is. But besides that its a fun little game
internetpaulicy
14. May 2017 · 04:01 UTC
This is a really innovative little game. I found that there are many ways to escape the whirl pool. Sometimes I had to go against the current. Sometimes I could sling shot out diving into the pool on purpose. I had a lot of fun messing with it. Great entry!
Tuomo
15. May 2017 · 17:34 UTC
Wow, you did all this in one day! I love the graphics, clean and simple. Particles are bit confusing as someone already mentioned. I’m not sure I really got the controls, most of times I managed to escape just whacking up key until I got out. Altogether awesome entry!
JulianMH
16. May 2017 · 21:03 UTC
Simple but fun game mechanics. Simple art style. This is a great ludum dare game!
mathijs750
16. May 2017 · 21:16 UTC
It gets hectic really damn fast. A fun bug/feature I found was negative levels, which gives you a place to practice while also being condescending. It turns into a spamfest quickly but is sure gives you the same workout you would get when escaping a real whirlpool. :cloud_tornado:
bog13
16. May 2017 · 21:17 UTC
Nice game :)
Meta-link
16. May 2017 · 22:09 UTC
Really cool game !
The concept is fun, and the making good (I loved the graphics) :)

Good job !
diknows
16. May 2017 · 22:20 UTC
It always sucked me down in the 3rd level :(

Well I would have loved to hear a cool sound with that. But otherwise, this game seems pretty nicely done. Nice graphics, easy controls, simple presentation. Thanks for the entry
OccultOne
16. May 2017 · 23:21 UTC
I Played this on Livestream today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YtyZ8Rudok

I think the lack of good sound hurt an otherwise very well made game. I think the random spawning might need to be looked at... Spawning on top of rocks really hurt an otherwise great experience!