Liked the concept, and the art style was executed well. Nice puzzle game.

Thanks, @jejoll!
Come back and rate when the judging begins!

The art in this is very interesting and the music track goes very well with it. I like the sound effects; they are amusing. The theme is quite prominent in this. I'm afraid I found the game too hard to understand. It seems you have to pick up things and place them in certain areas, but the game seems very picky about where you stand when you execute this action. Even a really small pace off can make all the difference between whether you pick up things or not. Secondly, I haven't a clue what to do with the aliens. I had assumed you had to pick up buildings and move them elsewhere, but I wasn't fast enough to save them all. Additionally, one of the hints states that aliens don't like wool, but I wasn't able to pick up or find anything that was wool related?

It would have been nice if the game had a faster respawn time, rather than getting the player to wait for the quote each time they restart. Which, by the way, I felt the quote really helped tie together the game to the theme perfectly.

@random-storykeeper Thanks for the feedback! Totally agree with you about the buggy pickup code, I think maybe some dedicated collision boxes would have worked well.
As to the aliens, each time you pick a city up, the aliens targeting it will choose a new target, and it is safe to put it down immediately. When an alien changes targets four times, it explodes.
As to the quote, if you hold right shift while you press Play, it will skip the quote.
I will update the page with a walkthrough.
Thanks again, and remember to come back and rate!

The writing is interesting, and even uplifting. I like Dr. Blackcraft and I love the puzzles you came up with! There are only a few items that can be picked up, and the game isn't super difficult, but that's good because the scope of the project fits into a game jam nicely. You made good use of the few things you did get into the game.

I was really annoyed by the game resetting itself; no one likes to solve a puzzle twice after finding the solution, especially if solving the puzzle has arbitrary wait times (the aliens take a while to kill). The game resets instantly if you drop a city in the water, but I feel like it should only reset to the beginning of a level. In short, the reset is a harsh consequence that doesn't add anything of value.

The game has a score counter and a Hard Mode, as if to pad the amount of content and replayability. I feel like these were unnecessary, since the interesting part of the game was the dialogue and clever puzzles. I wasn't motivated to play Hard Mode, because the game is so small I feel like I've seen everything already.
Nevertheless, it was a fantastic effort and I like to see games that tell an interesting story in artistic fashion. <3

@connorses Thanks for the feedback! I never really thought about resetting to the beginning of the level, but it's definitely a good idea (why didn't I think of it? :wink:).
As to the score counter, once it reaches 50 (or 30 if you're in Hard Mode), that's when you get a game over. But Hard Mode itself is just something I put it because I had a little time left over.
Thanks again for the comment!

I tried your game but i totally don't understand the gameplay, sorry! :) Also you have to wait a long time each time you restart the game! Anyway good music! :)

Thanks for the feedback, @zaibakk! The gameplay consists of picking up cities with X, and putting them down again to solve puzzles. I'll update the page with a how-to.

Hey @Samusoidal Just tried your game out! :D

So... Well- like what most people said, it was pretty confusing to play. BUt I did get to the 3rd level- but then I got kind of stuck as well. :( And ofcourse- like what people mentioned, re-spawning DID take some time.

Anyways- I do really like the mood, tone, and the art altogether- and I think it's where the game is strong with. Narrative definitely was something I would vote up for you as well! :D If it were a category. :D

Thanks @theclinthennesy! Honestly, I don't know how to feel that people are getting stuck on my puzzles. Is it because they stink or because they are so good? How do I even figure that out?
Anyway, there's a walkthrough if you need it.

I like art, idea is fine, sounds are fantastic, mechanics were quite good for me. Nice game.

I'm at a loss for words. The art and music made this game so enjoyable to play! I never solved the puzzle but it didn't matter it was such a joy to play! :) Well done!

Thanks so much @epicsoft and @kunonooni!

I had difficulty completing the objective, but the graphics and music where stellar.

Thanks @red-fan-games!

The game graphic/audio style is really well made, like the sounds of a character :P, unfortunately, i was stuck pretty quick as the game is a bit confusing at the start but overall I enjoyed it :) Great job!

Thanks @szczebel1995!

Love the music! It didn't even annoy my co-worker when I didn't have headphones on - in fact he said - I like that music! Love the art style too - it makes it look easy - but it isn't! The puzzles are quite challenging - thanks for including a walkthrough :-)I will spend more time on the game very soon!

Thanks so much for the comment, @bunnery!

I like the art style =)

Just saw your game. I liked the Idea and sketchy art style.Also the soft music is perfect. Although the game lacks some contents to make it richer but I think the Idea carries a huge potential for further expansion.

Good Job.

Thanks, @stanislav and @doktorx!
See the post mortem for future plans with the game.

Your game reminded me of a game I played a long time back called Chalk. It was a cool little game with a similar art style. Your game plays nice and I tried to solve the puzzles without cheating :) This really can be something much more grander. Great job!

Thanks @nilanjan! If possible, can you link me to Chalk so I can check it out?

I like the graphics. The handdrawn look something you don't see everytime. It has some drawbacks though, as I put one of the cities into the ocean two times, thinking it was a forest. Unfortunately the game does not tell you how you failed, so you only learn from trying. One little thing: I would redo the main menu to have play game on top and quit on bottom. Otherwise really nice entry

Thanks @tomdeal! Learning from experimentation (no tutorials, manuals, etc) is my favorite style of gameplay (like Super Metroid or the old NES games), but I do struggle with keeping it out of 'developer hard mode.'
Ah, well.

Really enjoyable game, I loved the simple art style and the music worked really well. I think there are enough hints to keep you going and I do like the trial and error process of learning.

Thanks @mezzuk!

@samusoidal Yeah sure. Here's a gameplay video of chalk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYfgRIfqVfM and the download is here http://www.konjak.org

Thanks!

Fantastic work, especially considering it's a compo entry. Great writing and clever puzzles. The art is incredible and helps set the mood. And I loved the music, calm, but sort of menacing, and making it quiet was a good idea, it enhances the atmosphere of the game. Very very good (although I have to admit I couldn't finish it, but I swear I tried my best!)

Thanks for the feedback, @palemachine!

A very nice compo entry!

Nice writing! The art fits the type of the game well. The music also fits the game and the graphics. I played it (not on hard yet though) it was fun!

Well done!

Thanks @fingamer!

Cool music and cool graphics! The game concepts is also very appropiate given the theme.

To be honest I would have never made it to the end without your guide...

But well done. Nice entry!

Thanks @gerardb!

The ambient is really good! The story was strangely compelling. Great work! I wasn't always sure what the goal was the first time through, and I wasn't sure if what I did was right or wrong all the time, but I feel like in a way it added to the discovery as I played it a couple more times.

Thanks @wheffle!

Great game! I've liked the art a lot!

Good job! :D

Thanks, @unidaystudio!

This was really good in terms of theme and audio, but I found it really confusing. It felt like you absolutely needed the hints to make it through. My biggest issues with this entry are the speed at which it all takes place (it felt too slow for my liking) and the finicky pickup/set down behavior (as mentioned by @random-storykeeper). That said, the writing gave some genuine insight into Dr. Blackcrafts character (who I loved), and the mood was nicely crafted. The art was good, but it was sometimes a little hard to tell what's what (ie: the desert). A possible fix for this type of thing in the future is to really highlight a couple key features in the asset. All in all, I think that this game did really well in terms of story and mood, but fell a little short in terms of accessibility/play-ability.

Thanks, @morrilet! Definitely the art could have been a little more highlighted (but of course, 48 hours...), and as to the hints, the puzzles are not given by the level structure, but by the hints.
Thanks again!

Lovely art (he reminds me some cartoons when I was child xD).
The gameplay is fluid and it's funny to play. Music fits very well.

It's a nice entry for a compo jam. Good work!

Thanks @ethereal-psyche-games!

Really nice chalk style drawings!
It's hard to know which is which though, but I like the mood! Nice music too~

Thanks, @dgspitzer!

The idea of the game is great and it is well implemented in the game. I love the graphics of the game. Overall Great Job!

Thanks @kristian-david!

Really enjoy the art style and music. Nicely done.

First of all congratulations on completing your first Ludum Dare entry! Interesting puzzle game with challenging puzzles. Something that could have been more clear is the names of the cities could be labeled over the actual cities to make it more clear which one was which.

Had to play the game a few times before I understood the mechanic and the goal but then I enjoyed it. Good job!

Interesting game, with a very unique concept!

The music was pretty relaxing (perhaps a bit in conflict with the gameplay). The sound effects were very funny! The hand-drawn graphics gave your game an unique aesthetic, although it made it hard to recognize some of the features. I liked the fact that the cities could be identified by the wildlife near them though, that was a nice touch.

The puzzles were rather absurd, and all the more funny for it! They also had their own weird logic to them, so I managed to play through the game without losing or dying. But it did require some thinking outside the box, that's for sure.

Just a small observation: It is a bit cumbersome having to install LD-games, since you then have to uninstall them afterwards, and not all uninstall processes are good at cleaning up after themselves. It might discourage some people from trying your game.

In any case, it was a fun little game to play, with a delightfully bizarre plot!

>As a nice giant,
>I shall solve all your problems!
>...YOU ATE THE PUG?!?! WHYYYY?

@those-30-ninjas @linus Thanks for the feedback!
@somnium Thanks for the feedback, I'll make a portable zip file version. Good job on beating it without dying (none of my play testers could).

I like the hand drawn art and music. Although I completed the game, I'm not sure what was the solution to some of the puzzles. I think the gameplay mechanic works really well though. Nice job!

Thanks @gato!

I really liked the theming and overall tone, and picking up and putting down cities to manipulate events is an interesting mechanic. I liked it!

Thanks @urban-logic-games!

- very different theme than others in this ludumdare
- you deserve 10 for that art and musics
- picking up objects and putting down , wow this is very unique concept and with the hand drawn art is very good

Thanks so much, @sagarpatel25700!

Interesting concept, the art style and music was amazing. Now I see why my annoying alert bells bugged you so much lol, what a contrast. I found the puzzles hard but that was probably just a scope thing. Do you have a video of how you did the art? I really like that style a lot.

@bill-wheatley Thanks! I'll probably make a post-mortem video (similar to [Pixel Prophecy](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUMFVcnkIM5L4V8fA24C51g)) over the next couple weeks.

The art style is simple and interesting. The idea for the game was good, but to me the hints was too confusing and too hard to understand. But overall a well made game.

@jk5000 Thanks!

Nice work on a DirectX game - is it your own engine? The art is excellent - I love the "scribbled" style. The music was good - not at all intrusive. However, the puzzles start quite harsh! Perhaps something a little easier for the first level would be good! I had to refer to your walkthrough to get anywhere.

Despite the difficulty, this is an accomplished game. Well done.

@richard-michael-smith Thanks! The reverse difficulty ramp was unintentional, and probably not a good choice to leave in the game.
As to the engine, the game was made in Game Maker (which I guess uses DirectX?), and coded from scratch therein.

This was a really clever and unique idea for the theme. The art style and audio were fantastic. As other commenters have mentioned, I think fine-tuning the z/x controls so it's not quite so picky and maybe speeding up Dr. Blackcraft's actions would help keep the player integrated into the gameplay. The havoc level creeps up pretty quickly sometimes, so having to wait while the doctor picks up the wrong thing, sets it down, and picks up the right thing can become a bit frustrating. I also agree with @somnium that a portable zip version would be a good idea, so as not to discourage anti-installers haha. Overall, well done!

@caterein Thanks for the feedback!
There is a .zip version, under Compo version it says Portable Version.

Very interesting use of the theme! I enjoyed the way you used the graphics. I'm not gonna mention the tuning of the controls as everyone else already has but this would make for a fun little game if you further developed into it. I love the quirky dialogue as well! Keep it up!

Thanks @thelonelynug!

neat game, I liked the hand drawn art it worked better than I thought it would. The audio was really nice and i didn't realize the sound effects were voice crated until I read it after I played.

I had trouble understanding what I was supposed to do, even with the hints.

Overall it was nice, and a nice change from the usual graphics I see.

Thanks @mmason!

Amazing game ^^

I love the style of art and music, they create a unique atmosphere. TA great gameplay and in general a very polished entry with a different concept. Very nice job!

@vidinu Thanks!

Looks pessimistic. Music was dramatic. I couldn't solve puzzle but game was compatible with visual , graphic and mood . I played over 15 minutes , felt nice atmosphere and give 5 stars :D

@cenullum Thanks for the feedback!

Wooh!! What a great entry!! The art is very unique and cute.together with the music it give an nice atmosphere. Keep up the great work, well done!

@puppetmaster Thanks!

First thing I did was to pick up the pug, then put him into the ocean -> game over. :smile: Maybe it would be better to use some colors, the dark atmosphere and the moody music doesn't suits the comedic premise of the game. But otherwise its a great game. I really liked the homebrewed sound effects.

@devpaul LOL!
The dark, surreal atmosphere and the music kind of reflect the mood of Lemony Snicket, or Tim Burton (at least I think), it was definitely intentional. I guess some people don't like that though. *sigh*
Thanks for the feedback!

@samusoidal I actually like the mood the visuals and the music creates, but kinda feels like the game and the story is much more *"happy"* than this depressing mood.

I could imagine a similar game but instead of protecting the civilisation you are the only survivor of the apocalypse and looking for clues to find out what happened to the world, a game like that would be better suited for these moody audio and visuals in my opinion.

Anyway its a high quality entry, and I salute you for doing this in Compo time! [I couldn't do half of this in jam time.](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/small-world-transport)

I wasn't a huge fan of having to go through the slow text intro after dumping a city in the ocean to see what would happen, but it was pretty fun overall. And thanks for all the effort you're putting into sharing the love

Thanks @prototyke, and you're welcome!
@devpaul Thanks again!

Interesting idea, and different graphic style!
The puzzle part was less evident for me and even after reading the walkthrough, it seems not so interesting (but I have a bad english, maybe this is the problem...).
I was thinking that it would be an "order" game (put the cities in the right order to make peace on each level). In a circle map it would be great...?

Thanks for the feedback @dunin!

Nice game. :slight_smile:

Thanks @anubhav-kashyap!

Good game.

Thanks @lordecroowel!

Interesting where The Little Prince has taken you. I adore the graphics style. The puzzles were a bit over-complicated in my opinion. The sound effects were adorable, wish there was more.

Thanks so much, @spacesparkle!

Really liked the art style and mouth made sound effects :smile: Interesting take on the theme and an interesting concept, good job.

Thanks @failedstarfish!

Interesting game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 38 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMCwacAGwrA

Thanks @jupiter-hadley!

@Samusoidal Now I remember where exactly I had seen you before! I just wanted to tell you, your game is awesome!
And congrats on the results! :smile: :thumbsup:

@Anubhav-Kashyap Thanks!