Ms Grunhilde's Sandwiches by pparadigm

[raw]
made by pparadigm for LD 41 (JAM)

Make some sandwiches! This game is simulation + story. This is my first time participating in a game jam, and no one's ever played my games before, so this is exciting for me.

Screenshot.png

Why this game is better than real life:

  • Infinite peanut butter!
  • If you don't like your sandwich, you don't have to throw it away, just turn it back into bread!
  • You can zoom in and out!
  • The knife is swooshy!
  • You can put as much peanut butter on the bread as you like, and your fingers won't get peanut-butter-y!

Controls:

Mouse for mostly everything

Escape to bring up in-game menu

Along with the mouse, spacebar can be used to advance the text

F11 to toggle fullscreen, though it's untested on other monitors so let me know if it works okay.

Tools I Used:

  • Game Engine -- GameMaker Studio 2
  • Art -- MS Paint
  • Music -- Bosca Ceoil
  • Sounds -- bfxr, ChipTone, Audacity
  • Progress GIFs -- ScreenToGif

Ratings

Overall 686th 3.36⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Fun 843th 3⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 844th 3.047⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1105th 2.64⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 509th 3.581⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Audio 313th 3.5⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Humor 444th 3.116⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 239th 3.709⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Given 50🗳️ 40🗨️

Feedback

Meijerson
24. Apr 2018 · 03:28 UTC
I really liked the intro! It got me hyped up. Making the sandwiches was fun! I assumed that I had to make a certain amount, and then I would progress to the next portion of the game. Once I decided Carson had enough to eat, I myself ate 5 sandwiches. Cute game!
🎤 pparadigm
24. Apr 2018 · 03:54 UTC
@meijerson I was planning to make a day cycle where you earn more sandwich fixin's as you go and have a daily conversation with Carson about his time in school each day and watch him and his little sister/other students develop in daily interactions as well. But alas, it took two days to get the sandwiches working and then I barely got in the intro! Thank you for playing!
Amatwiedle
24. Apr 2018 · 04:35 UTC
Great job on the presentation, its really high quality.
kleinzach
24. Apr 2018 · 05:33 UTC
I liked the handling on the bread and knife and the way the whole sandwich making part felt. Overall, it felt like there was more after just making 3 sandwiches, but the counter stopped going up. It felt anticlimactic. Very cute though. I felt that the font choice for the story portion wasn't the best though, it wasn't that easy form me to read at a glance.
Shelvid
24. Apr 2018 · 06:17 UTC
Pretty cute, honestly. Making the sandwiches felt pretty satisfying.. thought i had to reach limit, god knows how many sandwiches i made to see what would happen.
🎤 pparadigm
24. Apr 2018 · 07:00 UTC
@Amatwiedle Thank you so much!

@kleinzach The font thing is a good point. I wasn't thinking about too much since the font did okay at the low resolution, but there are probably people who would get more enjoyment from my game if the font was more standard, so it was less figuring out some letters and more enjoying the text.

@kleinzach + @Shelvid I got lost making sandwiches a few times during development, it can be pretty meditative. Sadly, one of the last things to get put in was the sandwich counter, and I was spriting it because I couldn't find a good font for such a small resolution. I kind of regret it though, because it really is unsatisfying not seeing the counter go up past three. It really signals "there's nothing more after this," which is sad.
GiovanniBarrottu
24. Apr 2018 · 08:14 UTC
The mechanics that are there work really well, it's just a little simple.

cute game though!
ed3187
24. Apr 2018 · 20:37 UTC
Infinite peanut butter! nice little game.
Rapter
24. Apr 2018 · 21:27 UTC
Nice game and idea 5/5!!! Good luck!!!
🎤 pparadigm
24. Apr 2018 · 21:56 UTC
@GiovanniBarrottu It is pretty simple. I hope next time I can have longer gameplay. @GiovanniBarrottu + @ed3187 + @Rapter Thank you all for playing my game!
sanjeev
25. Apr 2018 · 11:37 UTC
This game is cute as. I love how simple it is. Looks great and you set it up well with the intro. Also, the music kicking in when you deliver your first sandwich was just perfect. Awesome work on your first game jam!
Xephrys
25. Apr 2018 · 13:27 UTC
Really liked making sandwiches, it was a surprising amount of fun. Would have loved to get a goal number to work towards though, but i understand your time issues (i myself had to sacrifice a bunsh of text to get my game mechanics working properly)
Lawrence
25. Apr 2018 · 13:53 UTC
Very cool! I wish there was more, it's so short! But it's long enough to pull you in and give the feeling of characters, which is great.

Good job!
🎤 pparadigm
25. Apr 2018 · 19:20 UTC
@sanjeev I'm glad you caught that part! When I first programmed it in, it made me tear up because I liked that idea that Ms Grunhilde is doing a service for Carson. It would've been more sentimental if it had gone on to the next text "cutscene," explaining how he brought a friend, but it was pretty much submission hour at that point.

@xephrys + @Lawrence Thank you all for your kind words!
Yanni
26. Apr 2018 · 03:25 UTC
Very cute little game. Even though I maxed out the delivered goods, I still felt inclined to make more sammichs C:
BauBau
26. Apr 2018 · 07:48 UTC
This comes close to Hansel and Gretel :D. "Hei there kid, come by my house, I have food" !EATS THE KID!
or maybe she eats the kid after a few sandwiches !! 😂 Anyway, I liked it !
Wyatt
26. Apr 2018 · 08:40 UTC
Great writing. Wasn't sure what to do after making 3+ sandwiches. But great concept and execution!
randomphantom
26. Apr 2018 · 14:42 UTC
I guess there wasn't much game in the "story" genre but the interactive sandwich making bits was cute and sweet. Hoped there was something beyond 3+ sandwiches, as I was hungry for some more action. Nice one!
lukbebalduke
26. Apr 2018 · 16:29 UTC
Strange... and also pretty great!

I also got lost for a bit, at first I was making sandwiches and following the rhythm of the music, after some time I was questioning myself why the game was not going to the next scene, then I realized it was a game about making sandwiches haha! Really liked the simplicity of the gameplay, but the counter stopping on 3 was a real turn off, just changing the counter would be huge improve without much effort. Other than that, the overall setting of the game and the harmonic feeling worked perfectly!

Nice job, keep up the good work!
lukbebalduke
26. Apr 2018 · 16:30 UTC
Oh, by the way, you should add some images to your post ;)
🎤 pparadigm
26. Apr 2018 · 18:48 UTC
@BauBau I thought about what message it would portray... if I'd been able to make more gameplay it would've turned into a more genuine story, but I like that it follows a tradition of Hansel and Gretel... even though it's not canon, sometimes I like to think of Ms Grunhilde as a nice old witch making potions (sandwiches) for the children to help them grow up and become strong!

@randomphantom Thank you! I wish there was something beyond 3+ sandwiches as well.

@lukbebalduke I agree with changing the counter, but I don't think that falls within the Jam "revision" rules, which is why I haven't done it. I'm glad you found it harmonic, that's a feeling I was hoping to get across. I agree about the images, but don't know what to put. What images were you thinking?
Sibi
26. Apr 2018 · 20:43 UTC
What a lovely little vignette!
You have an amazing style of writing. I could really see the scene unfolding in my head and felt connected to the characters.
A shame that the game was so short as I was just settling in while making some lovely sandwiches! Also the text was a bit hard to read and I would have loved some more gimmicks like the magical turning sandwiches into bread that's already there. I tried delivering just bread or the knife or building 3-sliced sandwiches but to no avail :(
The controls and entire presentation were as smooth as the peanut butter!
🎤 pparadigm
26. Apr 2018 · 21:08 UTC
@Sibi Thank you for your attention to detail! I think the next time I include text at such low-resolution, I'll have to create it myself for readability.

You'd be surprised at how hard it was to code to get the sandwiches to form from two breads (one peanut-buttered). I can't imagine how difficult it would be to implement multi-layered sandwiches, but if I could somehow implement infinite sandwiches, I can just imagine someone stacking them up and up until the stack was offscreen!
Balance686
26. Apr 2018 · 21:56 UTC
Simple and well executed. It definitely captures the essence of making a peanut butter sandwich, a sandwich I'm a big fan of for the record :P The music is relaxing I kind of wish it was playing throughout rather than just when you deliver the sandwich. Good job!
Alex13
26. Apr 2018 · 22:01 UTC
I liked this , but I need jam or cheese and sausages
Sibi
26. Apr 2018 · 22:09 UTC
@pparadigm Thanks for the reply and again for the wonderfully relaxing experience amongst all those crazy games :D
I hope you enjoy your first rating session in a jam. It's always my favorite part :)
hankworx
26. Apr 2018 · 23:18 UTC
The intro was all adorable and then Carson just came over for sandwiches for the rest of eternity. I really liked this entry. Nice and simple, no jelly, infinite PB. The shwoop sound effect was phenomenal. I tried to smear peanut butter all over the loaf but it just shwooped. I'd suggest the ability to put more peanut butter on the sandwiches.
🎤 pparadigm
26. Apr 2018 · 23:29 UTC
@hankworx Ah, like make a sandwich and then put peanut butter on it?
hankworx
26. Apr 2018 · 23:32 UTC
@pparadigm haha what I had in mind was bulky layers of peanut butter in the sandwhich, but your idea is also most definitely an idea!
Ashtrail
27. Apr 2018 · 04:47 UTC
Alas I get to play the bread game ! This game is really neat, the story, the graphics :heart: , the SFX (that sweet sweet SFX) and the music.

Too bad you didn't have time to implement an end state to the game, I'd have liked to have a reason to continue makin' dem sandwitches.

By the way there's some fraudulous advertisment, she tells him she's gonna make him peanut butter and jelly sandwitch but ends up making him peanut butter and peanut butter sandwitch. I'm disapointed in you Ms. Grunhilde. Is she some kind of politician or what ?

I really liked this game, imma sub you on itch.io, curious what you'll make next, keep on keepin' on !
🎤 pparadigm
27. Apr 2018 · 05:11 UTC
@Ashtrail Thanks for your thoughts, especially on the sounds! What made you think she advertised a pb+j?
Ashtrail
27. Apr 2018 · 05:15 UTC
she even teases him, her evil knows no limit :P https://i.imgur.com/0etYjXs.png
🎤 pparadigm
27. Apr 2018 · 05:17 UTC
@Ashtrail What! You're taking her out of context! And that was the last of her jelly!
Darkwing00Duck
27. Apr 2018 · 09:54 UTC
Very cute game! After has played there was a wish to eat🍞
🎤 pparadigm
27. Apr 2018 · 18:11 UTC
@Darkwing00Duck I've made multiple real-life sandwiches because of this game!
OhFiddleDiddle
28. Apr 2018 · 04:08 UTC
Very cute game. I would have loved to see a story evolve. :)
This would be the great basis for an interactive story telling game.
Fantastic work, well done.
TurboSocks
28. Apr 2018 · 06:24 UTC
This was really neat, the act of putting the sandwhiches together was very enjoyable. Well done!
Daveroony
28. Apr 2018 · 22:20 UTC
I love making sandwiches. Would love if it progressed more.
Sondrian
29. Apr 2018 · 15:32 UTC
I'm a monster, I just put the peanut butter sandwich back into the bread loaf.

Fun game! I actually really enjoyed myself. The story at the beginning provides a nice rationale for the gameplay as well as adding that nice human touch. I was only sad that I couldn't also put jelly on the sandwich. Unlockable DLC for jelly? I think the thing that made this simple game feels so good was how well it was executed. It plays like those cute flash games from when I was a kid back in the days of newgrounds.com, so that hit me right in the nostalgia gland. But the game was clean and worked perfectly and that made it enjoyable.

Nice entry! Thank you for sharing.
ultrarat
01. May 2018 · 06:44 UTC
Welcome to Ludum Dare, congrats on your first entry it's super cute and well set up by the sad mood start!

As a playtest comment I found myself wanting the tip of the knife to be in the peanut butter jar, and not my mouse cursor which was way down on the handle.
🎤 pparadigm
01. May 2018 · 07:33 UTC
@Sondrian Or maybe you're an angel because the next person doesn't have to make themselves a pb sandwich, there already is one made for them! Jelly (or jam (probably jam because I like jam better to say, eat, and because this was a game jam)) is certainly going to be the next progression step. I've been thinking about how peanut butter is the soul of a sweet sandwich though... you can pair it with so many things: jam, butter, honey, nutella, bananas, and even pickles! No other condiment comes close for pairability that I've found. I'm glad you experienced some nostalgia!

@ultrarat Thank you! As for the knife, where to "hold" it didn't come to an easy solution while I was setting it up. By default, it was in the center, but that really felt wrong when it swiped, so I moved it to the handle and that felt better, but like you mentioned, the swipe radius with the peanut butter and the bread sometimes didn't respond nicely (though it was still better than the center). I guess if I wanted to really refine it, I would have pickup/setdown "collision" checking where the cursor "holds" the knife, and the spreading/scooping hitbox on the blade or even the upper half of the knife blade. Although, I would try to implement this much later in development (certainly after jam and more story!). Thanks for your thoughts! I really enjoy thinking up solutions, and I think one of the things I value in a game is for the interface to go almost unnoticed by the player, just because it does what it should. Or perhaps they notice it initially, if it's different than what's usually done, but then fades into the background quickly (without causing muscle cramps!).
Ruslana
04. May 2018 · 22:18 UTC
It is cute =^_^= and nice music.
Ava Skoog
15. May 2018 · 10:43 UTC
Went to bed after posting on the front page yesterday but I saw your comment and came here to play your game today! c:

Such a cute little feelgood experience. It's too bad you were never able to quite finish it up as I would've loved to keep playing after finishing up the first day's sandwich.

The little story at the beginning was a great touch, and after reading your comments here I see that your plan was to keep the story going throughout the game. Yeah, that's difficult to do in a jam, producing a lot of content after getting the mechanics in place. Are you going to keep working on it post jam?

The solution for resizing the window was very original, haha. Never seen that before!

Great music too. Really complemented the gameplay and the general mood set up by the story.

Lovely game!
🎤 pparadigm
15. May 2018 · 18:20 UTC
@ava-skoog I'm still not sure if I'm going to work on it after the jam. To be honest, part of the reason I haven't is I would have to shell out quite a bit of cash to keep using this engine, which I'm not sure my wallet can handle. My other hesitancy is that part of my code is a bit spaghetti-like and I'm not eager to spend time detangling it. But I think it could be a good experience to use all of the feedback to make my game better, so maybe I'll do it as a learning experience.

As for the resizing buttons, the game is "naturally" one size smaller, and that's just too small. With pixel art, it's hard to give window size control to the user and still keep the graphics looking nice, so I knew I had to implement it myself, and I knew people would generally want it bigger than its default (I certainly did).
Originally, the window could be resized with the Z key, but I didn't want to have to document that and have it be non-obvious in game, so I took inspiration from Stardew Valley (and I believe Minecraft) and put little buttons onscreen. If you haven't heard of it/played it by the way, Stardew Valley is a super chill game with little violence as well. I highly recommend it.
Honest Dan
15. May 2018 · 19:01 UTC
What an enjoyable experience! The story was actually really nicely portrayed! And the sandwich making side of things was really sweetly executed! the thing that was missing was true intregration of both genres, and same variance in the sandwich making. I would say that there should have been an ending, but we all know Carson was a hungry boy, and his hunger was never truly satisfied!! You should be proud of the charm this entry had!
🎤 pparadigm
15. May 2018 · 19:20 UTC
@honest-dan Thank you for playing my game, I thought I should see it played at least once to get an idea of how other people play it and for the experience. Your commentary was very insightful--I'd like to develop my own game judgement skills, and because of you I made a note that the zoom buttons should go away in fullscreen, so thanks for that!