A nice and simple game that could use some instructions. Like stated at the download site you control the player with LBM and RBM but what isn't mentioned is that you change between black and white fields by dropping off the edge (something you usually avoid). Without knowing this, there are unsolvable situations which can cause some headache.
That aside a few more interactable objects and levels could turn this game into a nice way to spend some time.

I totally agree!! It could surely use some more instructions for a smoother time. So just if anyone else is reading this here are some tips to play and win. Click LMB/RMB to move diagonally. Hit the flat red pieces to increase score multiplier and move faster. Avoid getting caught by the hazard chasing you. And drop off the ledge to change starting tile. And collect all the "LUDUM DARE 41" alphabets to win (It is hard). Added it to the game description as well.

Nice idea

a simple and innovative game!

Holding down LMB/RMB might work better. :)
Hands get tired of clicking after a while haha.

I am so silly, should mention that you can press ALT/CTRL to move as well.

Very fun and strategic gameplay. You have to keep thinking 3 steps ahead all while playing fast. For all those without a keyboard you can use control and alt to move left and right, it's a lot easier than a track pad! Overall, with a bit of polish this game will be a great way to kill time :D

Hey Dave! Its Jerry. Nice game you got here. Congrats on finishing your first LD! If you have some time check out our game. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/something-something-darkside

Really cool idea! I actually enjoyed your game and played it multiple times just to get better score.

And for some improvements:
1. Controls are a bit strange, i would prefer using left and right arrow keys to move.
2. Sometimes spinning checker spawns on top of normal one.
3. You should have painted normal checker to some kind of green color and spinning one to red color to make it clear that you should not pick up spinning ones. Player figures it out pretty fast, but with this colors it would be less confusing in first run.

@Jima For sure! I am totally going to update the controls to something like that. Also, the spinning checkers over the regular one is a bug(i know it is confusing) but will fix it. The reason I did go with only red pieces were to keep the essence of checkers a bit more as it only has 2 colors. But will try to find a better solution.

I think the colors are fine as-is, and I like sticking to red/black.

Once I figured out the controls, this was a neat little game - the letters are a nice mechanic, and it's definitely quite hard! I think some feedback about how close I am to getting "caught" would help make things less mysterious. I expected to jump "over" the red checkers when I picked them up, like in actual checkers - but that would have made picking up double checkers more complicating. You could make it so those are unpassable, but it's challenging enough already, so maybe not :stuck_out_tongue:

I felt a little bit frustrated by the fact that the jump speed was limited - I hit the jump button a lot faster than the checker could jump. That's actually a thing people have found annoying in the game I made too, so thanks for giving me a taste of my own medicine :laughing:

Btw, since it looks like this is your first jam: the more games from other people you rate and comment on, the higher up your game will show in the lists, and the more rankings you will get. You're not too far from the 20 threshold, so you might want to rate a few more games!

@cincodenada thanks for the feedback and advice on how to help rankings! We actually had some audio feedback to help clue the player on how close the falling blocks are, but I don't think it came out as clear as we thought it did. 🤣

We also set up the game for spammers to not do as well as people who have a more steady rhythm, but I guess that also didn't come through like we thought. 🤣🤣

This was really fun to play - as mentioned above, the feedback for when you're running out of time and the controls could have been improved (maybe just pulling back the camera a bit would solve that?), but it's after the jam, and you've heard about that already!
That said - the music's really well-done, and the audio production's really clean (and not only that, ties into the theme of the jam itself) - compliments to the composer!

That was pretty cool. I think with some refinements this could work really well as a mobile game - just let players tap either side of the screen to move. Plus, the 'infinite checkerboard stretching into the distance' would work great on a vertical screen. Seriously - consider releasing this as a mobile game with ads every few game overs, a global high score list, a relaxed mode with no score or time pressure... this could really work!

Very fun! I didn't realise you could jump off the left side and you'd reappear on the right side, that's quite handy for pulling off clever strategies. The graphics and audio are solid and the gameplay is challenging without getting frustrating. The one main improvement is that, as a few others have said, there needs to be better feedback about how close or far the hazard is. Otherwise, I'd say you've done a pretty good job here.

Cool idea!
Would it work to have the player's piece jump two spaces when it properly jumps over another piece? I was expecting it to be more like actual checkers where you needed to make sure you didn't get boxed in by pieces you can't jump over because they are protected by other pieces.

Nice concept. A mode without a time limit for moves would be great.