This game is awesome, i can imagine myself playing this while im bored. It would be great if you made a mobile version. Graphics could be a bit better.

Pretty cool game mashup idea. Also fits the theme very well.

it's awesome ,

Interesting take on the theme, but as it was possible to push the blocks off the field, I never really ran out of space. Enemies only dealing 1HP damage dragged the game on until I decided it was enough. If they did 10HP damage, for instance, the game would be more challenging.

The enemies and the statues look very good. The player and the background tiles seem to be of a different fidelity though, and the styles don't mix well.

Overall it was fun for a while, but the challenge didn't escalate fast enough. Nice work!

Played for about 30 seconds and died.
Played one round for about 10 minutes and racked up just under 200k points (is that decent?). Don't think i was doing it right, as i believe matching up the colours gives many more points than just pushing blocks off.

Didn't think that this was my type of game, but I really enjoyed the game, and the way that the two or three simple features combined into something quite complex and difficult. The difficulty ramped up so that i knew that i wouldnt be able to survive forever, yet there were enough lives that i could afford to make some mistakes.
Decent audio, quite liked the art style. Solid game.

Nice work!

Only one thing, maybe it would be "better" if u can't push blocks out of the screen, because you will be really running out of space :P

Good take on the theme, but not so challenging, after playing some time it become repetitive. But overall it's a good game for a game jam!

Thanks @rodrigo-denubila, I agree about the lack of difficulty. I ran out of time and actually didn't do any gameplay tuning; It's mostly just arbitrary values when coding it. I'd have fixed it if I caught it earlier. Thanks for playing!

I love genre mashups, and this works pretty well! Just add some polish and this could be quite fun. At first I thought it was annoying that the board wasn't grid-based, since it's a match three game, but it did work surprisingly well.

@tobiasvl Thanks for the feedback! The board is actually grid based, but the blocks are twice the size of the grid to introduce deliberate matching. The hero and enemies don't adhere to the grid, only the blocks do, which was a big part of the challenge of making the game.

Spent good amount of time on this game. From my first play, I was about to quit until I realised you can push blocks off the game space, and it changed everything... I immediately restarted, and had a really good time. At one point I decided to disregard score, and just clear the space and it was super satisfying. I noticed that each new opponent was not only tougher, but gave the player a higher scored award for matching them, which was a really awesome combination of the mechanics from both genres. Great game, well done :)

Really interesting game, I liked having to match the blocks and also create them, it was pretty hectic. There was a part where my laser got stuck on and wouldn't turn off, but it only happened once.

Otherwise, I agree that maybe the blocks shouldn't be able to be pushed off the edge to allow for true claustrophobia to set in (: Good job, it looks great!

Cool idea, I actually enjoyed playing the game even though I never heard of these retro games. The thing that kind of kills the theme is the ability to push statues off of the island and get free space. Good job nonetheless!

Thanks for the comments @sarah and @nufflee. I think being able to push the blocks off is essential for the game to not end immediately.

In my opinion, "Running out of space" doesn't mean you can't free up space for yourself. Having to push the blocks off takes time and makes you vulnerable, so it's a trade-off. Plus you don't get points or get the light beams to slow the enemies that you get for matching them if you push them off. It's more of a survival game where you're just trying to get the best score you can when you inevitably die than a matching game. This is what I was going for with the design.

Thanks for the comments and feedback!

@boopsgames I think my main issue was I didn't see the first line of text on this page before playing, so I didn't really understand that I was supposed to actually match the pieces up (just me being dumb haha). At first I was pushing them off because I thought that was the only thing to do, so it's actually pretty fun :P

@sarah Thanks! Yhea, I would have added instructions given more time.

this is a really creative idea, i think it would benefit from a visible grid/grid snap system. and perhaps limiting the amount of fire power you have, make it a little more strategic for when to shoot. great concept overall

I've been so confused when I saw that my character was shooting from sword... yea that was silly, this button "Run stupid game" is so adequate. But overally game is fun, good work.

@skyrex Haha, yeah! Didn't have time to make a unique protagonist. You can read about it in my blog post.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/the-gargoyle-landing/robotron-2048shove-itmatch-3-how-can-that-go-wrong-getting-sick-is-how

Really smooth and well executed. I really like this - I didn't read the description and accidentally discovered the match-3 functionality which I think actually 🤩 made it more exciting and rewarding - I feel that this game is has quite a bit of depth, the match-3 aspect is just blowing my mind right now

All in all, one of the best entries i've played so far. Very good controls, nice unconventional mix of two genres.. It seems a bit too challenging to actually put together rows of blocks, but its not completely unfair. The gargoyle sprites are really outstanding, but the main character and the intro screen don't reach this level of quality.

After having approached the game both from "survive as long as possible" to "match as much as possible," it's clear that the former is a better experience from the fun perspective, and the latter for scoring purposes. From that sense, I feel the game is rather inconsistent in experience: the scoring mechanism does not match with what makes the game fun. I also felt the precision necessary for the blocks to be considered a match-3 formation was too strict as well. It would have been nice if the blocks merely needed to touch each other.

@omiya-games Great feedback! I considered the idea of clearing them if they were touching, but wanted the matching to be more intentional. I think pushing off blocks is fun, too, because it clears space and is easy, ergo I don't think you should be rewarded for it. The fun of the game definitely seems to be a tight window of people who like match 3s and robotron games and care about score; very niche.

Amazing game, it gives me an Arcade Cabinet game feel, also nice music :D

"Run stupid game", probably the easiest humor category points anyone could get.

Interesting idea combining twin stick shmup with a match three puzzle game. Took me ages to notice that it was indeed a match three game as well. And I think it was a bit too hard to align the blocks correctly because they were actually 2x3 blocks on a grid. Having them be 1x1 would be more manageable and enjoyable.

And when the arena starts to fill up, the AI just decides to screw the rules and walk through the blocks with their hilarious spinny animation (which seems like a programming bug that was too funny looking to fix). Well, the player character kinda cheats too by having a dagger that with a single swing can shoot a laser for the whole duration of the game and also gets points by shooting said laser at frozen enemies.

The enemy sprite looked awesome (block or not). The player character wasn't bad either but it had a completely different style.

Seems like there are two possible ways to play. Run around mainly killing stuff and dodging them and hope you get some matches or the methodical try to manually make matches while killing what you can. Whichever strategy I go with, I seem to end up with a very similar score in the end.


Good job!

**edit:** Oh no, you've opted out of humor category. That start button and the enemy spin were easily enough to push you far beyond the majority.

@antti-haavikko Haha yeah! Well, I thought the game wasn't that humorous so I opted out.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I've gotten a lot of feedback on the block and grid scale, and I've been working on a post-ludum-dare update for the game that really actually turns it into a fun game (thanks to all the awesome feedback)!

The moving through blocks was intentional but they're supposed to be "flying over" the blocks, which slows them down. I'm not sure how the game would play if they couldn't walk through the blocks themselves. The spinning was really the only visual I could pull from the limited assets to show the flying effect :v

Again, thanks for the great feedback and thanks for playing!

I really like the graphical part of this game! The game works well even if I struggle to align these blocks!...
Good job guys!

Like the art!

Awesome game! I enjoy the art and mood of it. Keep up the good work!

Should've kept "Humor" as a scoring category, if not for the game itself, then for presentation. "This stupid game is a submission for Ludum Dare 42" on itch.io had me in stitches. :laughing:

But the game is actually very clever in my opinion. You've got a really nice mix of genres, which manages to be fun to play, while also hitting the theme pretty much on the head. And the fact that you managed to even put in sounds and music despite only having 20 hours at your disposal is pretty impressive. Really well done!

A very fun and intuitive game. Love the visuals, the animations and the concept. Would've preferred the block locking into a larger grid (instead of having half-block differences), as the shifting was difficult.

Damn, that a really cool game, super interesting, arcade and really good for the theme, well done !

Nice and intuitive game, missing a volume controller unless I missed it.

I like the fast movement of the player and the fast response of the gun. The enemy tiles look really cool too! Nice concept for a game. I'm glad the music is kind of relaxing, otherwise I might've lost my mind. Solid entry!

@blinkenlights Thanks, i recommend playing the post jam version: https://boopsgames.itch.io/the-gargoyle-landing-post-ld

Fantastic Trifecta of SmashTV, Shove It and Match Em': "Smash, Shove, and Match" :ok_hand:

There's this oddly aesthetically charming effect of beam-petrifying those gargoyles.
In the Future, In case you ever exhibit your game on upcoming conventions be sure to find way to produce of make and sell some "Gargoyle-Gummies" :candy:

Very satisfying to slide those blocks off the screen.. :ok_hand:

I did not understand the premise of those light-rays after successfully matched triplets of matching blocks though..

I also played the post-jam and it's quite feature rich on upgrades and of sort! :thumbsup:

Optional Suggestions:
- I could see some Local-Multiplayer Potential! 5 Players:(red/blue/green/yellow/purple);(each player color could petrify the gargoyles by its designated color or by secondary beam (opposites, complimentary, team-beam)
- Super-Puzzle Fighter-esque twist? (match in patterns to enlarge the encapsulated gargoyle (multiplier effect): 2x2, combo-chain..
- Iron Gargoyle.. (petrified form may deflect beam in angles)?
- Match-up specials (single-color obliterator, explosives, etc..)

Looking forward to see where this is going on further post-jam builds.. :dizzy:

@acronaut Great feedback! Will consider those suggestions!

Very cool! I noticed that we did some similar things. Good luck

Amazing little game :)
Loved it a lot ! really !
Well done on this entry it was very fun to play !

Great game! I love match 3 genre mashes, and this is one of the great ones!
The game works great and everything is made very competently, though there are a few gripes:
- The different bits of art feel like they come from different games, which is a hazard with working in a team. Would be good if the art direction were tighter.
- The music feels really in opposition to what the game is? Music feels pastoral and relaxed, but the game feels frantic.
- The movement systems feel wrong - the player moves aren't governed by blocks but the blocks clearly are, and the gargoyles too. It creates a weird mismatch, even though it still works.
- Similarly, the shots feel more analogue than digital, a "beam of light" doesn't feel like the right shots in a game like this, I think it would feel better as strict bullets and shots that you can see. A laser could maybe be an upgrade but it just doesn't feel like it gels.
- The upgrade system is great, though the clear all blocks one is clearly the most needed one.
- The analogue movement of the enemies and player also makes collision between them and you quite ambiguous, sometimes you feel like you not going to get hit and you do. Having a more defined movement would make that not feel so difficult to be certain of.
- The grey gargoyles are not signalled properly. I bet most players wouldn't draw the connection between "I pushed some blocks off a minute ago" and "I'm getting grey blocks now". That's a problem.
- A bug - when I get 5 in a row (2 and 2 and push one between them) only 3 disappeared, that's VERY VERY disappointing for a match-3 game :P

Good stuff! :D

@tuism Thanks for the feedback! I've never encountered the issue of a 5-row not clearing all 5 blocks. I couldn't get that to repro after many many tries.

Thanks for playing!