Liquify Bo! by GaryS

[raw]
made by GaryS for LD 44 (JAM)

Header-LD.png

LD44 Day 2.5.gif

Liquify Bo! Is a silly little platform puzzle game, where our hero must exchange lives for additional platforms, with which to traverse the level.

v1.0.1 - By popular demand!
I've added the ability to restart the level by pressing R.
I'm working on a full menu system which I'll use in the post jam version, but for now since it seemed to be really annoying people, I've added a listener to just restart the level. I don't think this constitutes a significant change, but in the interests of fairness please feel free to not use it, get annoyed, and rate the game accordingly! ;)

Ratings

Given 57๐Ÿ—ณ๏ธ 68๐Ÿ—จ๏ธ

Feedback

CharlesSchar
30. Apr 2019 ยท 01:51 UTC
A nice game that feels good to play, though it lacks a bit of complexity. It would be nice if there were enemies or coins to collect, making the decision of where to create a platform more complex. Theming and graphics are both good. Nice job!
๐ŸŽค GaryS
30. Apr 2019 ยท 01:54 UTC
Can't argue with that! I really struggled with time, so didn't get as far as enemies and collectables. I like how it feels though, so I'll almost certainly flesh it out a bit. After... sleep. So much sleep!
Thanks for playing!
Manuel Rauber
30. Apr 2019 ยท 03:26 UTC
Same for missing: Missing something to collect or so. However, the movement is super smoothing and it's nice to play. Well done!
Megan Kozun
30. Apr 2019 ยท 03:30 UTC
Super cute game! Could be a little more complex but overall pretty fun! It kind of reminded me of those mobile games I'd spend hours playing when I'm supposed to be working on a project haha
J Briggs
30. Apr 2019 ยท 03:39 UTC
Great concept, feel like something such as coins (or maybes even some out of the way and challenging to collect) would be good. Did find a bug (if it wasn't intentional that is) in which if you run off a platform and fall, you can still jump. Just something I noticed when playing. :)
๐ŸŽค GaryS
30. Apr 2019 ยท 03:40 UTC
Yeah, you're quite right - it needs a bit more. I spent more time focused on polishing it up than adding new functionality... I'd planned to have a lot more levels and that would introduce enemies, moving platforms and collectables; just ran out of time.
Purrseus
30. Apr 2019 ยท 08:47 UTC
I really like the effect of the falling droplets in the more vertical stages. I think a reset button would be a good addition, because sometimes you misplace a platform and die and then you know you'll not be able to finish the level, so you have to intentionally create useless platforms to reset it yourself. But overall a nice little game! You can have this donut instead ;) ๐Ÿฉ
๐ŸŽค GaryS
30. Apr 2019 ยท 10:29 UTC
Yes, definitely... You can press ESC to pull up a quit dialog, which _should_ have had the option to restart the level or quit to menu - but to provide multiple options would have required the ability to navigate through them with the keyboard, which in turn would have needed some visual feedback as to which option was highlighted. That's a lot more work than simply listening for Y/N, so I had to opt for that instead as the deadline loomed. I feel sure there'll be a 'post jam' version popping up soon. So keep the feedback coming! (And thanks for the donut)
Prรฉda
30. Apr 2019 ยท 13:04 UTC
Very cool mechanic. And sometimes figuring out what is the distance I can jump was very fun.
wardetta
30. Apr 2019 ยท 13:05 UTC
Very cool concept (kinda like mine :P ) but the game play , graphics is just top notch :v:
One of the best games i tried this jam, well done! goodluck ;)
maidev
30. Apr 2019 ยท 13:09 UTC
The game concept is fun and the relation with the theme is good. My feedback is very similar to the other fellas, lack of enemies,hazards or collectables and a reset button. Congratulations for the game, you did a great job!
DidiGameBoy
30. Apr 2019 ยท 13:32 UTC
nice mechanic!
๐ŸŽค GaryS
30. Apr 2019 ยท 13:39 UTC
Wow, thanks guys! I'll be posting up a 'post jam' version with all bells and whistles just as soon as I've had enough rest to work on it!
Arimie
30. Apr 2019 ยท 15:33 UTC
Simple and cute game. XD i'm mad because i lost so many time XD !
Duke
30. Apr 2019 ยท 18:04 UTC
Simple but effective :) Good interpretation of the theme (even though no currency is involved, oh but well)
The platforming controls were great, nothing to complain on that front. The art was adequate but could've been a little more visually interesting.But since you worked alone on this project I bet there wasn't much time for the art left :)
Dying and respawning at the beginning of the level was a bummer though and killed some of the momentum of the puzling. I think it would've helped if you respawned on your last platform to keep things going. There wasn't much challenge in jumping the whole level again and again only to place an additional platform.

All in all, a nice little game :) good job
๐ŸŽค GaryS
30. Apr 2019 ยท 18:13 UTC
Thanks for the detailed comment! I can't draw at all, so I have to keep the graphics really simple and minimalist... I just don't have the skills there, all the extra time in the world won't help me!
Personally I like that you have to start at the beginning of the level each time... If I'd had more time to design the levels (rather than an hour at the end!!!) I may have made the journey more perilous, so you'd need to time jumps right for a bit before getting to a point you _have_ to place a platform, and then you may die on your way back up before ever reaching that point again! Later levels have spiked platforms that will kill you, and originally I'd planned a few more hazards and collectables and such. The levels are timed too - you're only playing against yourself right now, but again the plan was for each level to have times to beat, and you'd be ranked based on that. In all, I think respawning at the beginning would have made more sense had I had time to flesh the game out a bit more.
I appreciate the feedback though!
stev0o
30. Apr 2019 ยท 18:13 UTC
Fun! I love the art.
Lemur
30. Apr 2019 ยท 18:55 UTC
I always love me some platformers, this one satisfied my thirst :p well done!
nerdbaron
30. Apr 2019 ยท 18:59 UTC
Very good use of the concept! It was very fun!
ariake81
30. Apr 2019 ยท 20:27 UTC
clever concept, like the smoothness of the controls too!
Samuli
30. Apr 2019 ยท 20:58 UTC
Controls felt nice, but respawning was really jarring. Would also loved to have undo button, so I wouldn't have to start the level from beginning when I misplace a platform.
Cole Wolff
30. Apr 2019 ยท 21:47 UTC
Solid game, well crafted and with a very to-the-point design. No ridiculously impenetrable systems or non-sense to have to deal with. Good work!
Flying Dog Fish
30. Apr 2019 ยท 21:57 UTC
A cute little platformer. The theme feels more like last Ludum Dare's **sacrifices must be made** but is still close.
cozmic
30. Apr 2019 ยท 21:58 UTC
That's a really nice idea for a platformer actually!
The graphics feel very coherent and the gameplay is something refreshing for a platformer (at least for me).
I'd love a way to get back health by collecting items, some enemies to jump on and get hit by and longer levels then!
oddarock
30. Apr 2019 ยท 21:58 UTC
Nice and smooth game. I liked the mechanic and it fits well with the theme. The graphics are simple and help make the game very clear. I was stuck on level 4, I felt I missed one life (I probably missed something...). The controls are nice and feel .... liquid ;)

Well done!
JulienLussiez
30. Apr 2019 ยท 21:59 UTC
Fun little game. I finished it. Maybe add little friction to the character.
lagrume-masque
30. Apr 2019 ยท 22:49 UTC
Funny game. The controls felt nice but a bit hard to handle. The platform creation idea is a good one. Good job!
VaizAragorn
01. May 2019 ยท 00:44 UTC
Your idea is awesome! I really liked your level designs. But I think there should be a restart level button. Man, I really bad at platformers :sweat_smile: It was really fun to play with after getting used to controls. Enemies and other kinds of platformer thingies can really work well in here. Like places you can't create your platform. But overall, it's really fun. I didn't have enough time to play through all of your levels. But as far as I see, they are well crafted. Keep up the good work!
Amerigo Gazaway
01. May 2019 ยท 09:10 UTC
Nice one! Cool concept of theme and clever use of game mechanics. Would have liked to hear some music/sfx or even an ambient track in there but still great work either way. Let me know if your ever in need of such a thing! Cheers
Dhialga
01. May 2019 ยท 09:28 UTC
Very smooth controlls and nice puzzle solving. It does feel a bit shallow however. Some coins and music would've been nice. But very fun to play!
Nigogo
01. May 2019 ยท 12:21 UTC
Took me some time to play through it but in the end i was pretty proficient in placing the platforms. I considered suggesting that platforms should be placed directly under the character so that you could place it and land on it without the reset to the spawn position but after a minute or two I realized that it would actually take away from your game. I like the cute graphics and considering that you spent only an hour on level design, they were actually not that bad. As others suggested I would have liked a reset button/key and a combined time for all levels so that people here can share their playthrough times easily. I think it took me about 4 minutes on my second try. All in all it's a solid game and I enjoyed it! :)
Sangemdoko
02. May 2019 ยท 07:12 UTC
Nice game!
Sarahneko
02. May 2019 ยท 07:36 UTC
really nice game!! I love your interpretation of the theme. The game is quite addictive and so much fun! really good work! :)
Tommyflower
02. May 2019 ยท 22:00 UTC
nice polished little game! I'm so used to use space as jump that I had trouble at the beginning XD I really like the idea of spawing platforms! For games like this I really like to have multiple very small levels with increasing difficulty in a way that slowly teaches you mechanics and let's you develop your stategies.
sylvie
04. May 2019 ยท 00:47 UTC
Cute little game. The puzzles were easy but I guess from the time screen at the end, the point is more to get through the levels quickly.
Ace17
04. May 2019 ยท 16:29 UTC
Nice platformer, but I found it hard to land on platforms ; maybe there's too much inertia / too little air control ?
360
04. May 2019 ยท 17:20 UTC
**The good**
* decent physics
* theme
* minimalistic artstyle

**the bad**
* you can create platforms which you can't jump on
* it's hard to tell where the platform will spawn
* feels a little empty

I hope that was useful

The game was fun to play
angiemon
04. May 2019 ยท 18:12 UTC
Wow, what a nice entry! Truly an LD Gem! :D
The idea is awesome, totally fits the theme (to me not a must have but always super nice when that happens)
it felt like a perfect mix of a puzzle game and "skill"game, jump'n run wise :)
the blob was cute and for the simplicity of the assets they looked nice and were clear to read.
the levels were also really well done! I think you could add a bunch of tried and tested elements like e.g. portals, enemies etc and with the right level design they would work nicely with your platform idea. (I have to admit I only made it to Level 8, so dont judge if some of these come afterwards :D) (maybe have a set of choices you can create besides portals while spending a life which you can toggle with the mousewhel/ Rb RT on controller?)

I'd enjoy to buy and play that on steam for ~2-3 bucks. I think you should take your time to polish it if you want to :)
graphic wise ofc (you know how people are ^^) add some cute, dreamy, minimalistic music (I think of ibb and obb here), definitley a bit of the interface and UX (you should be able to immediatelty cancel all actions and go back to fulll health) the controls were kinda slidey and at first it was hard to estimate were the platform would be but in the end I thought it to be part of a challenge and enjoyed it. Test that with other players.
I absolutely don't agree with the opinion that it's bad that you can create platforms which you can then not use, I think that's part of the fun, to figure out which you can and can't. I also thought the levels weren*t too long and therefore not too punishing (I am a very impatient person, trust me ^^) If you ad longer levels definitaley add checkpoints after tricky areas!
Overall, cool idea and very cute! I'd love to see this getting polished :)
jaoel
04. May 2019 ยท 18:13 UTC
Fun little game.

The won't load for me in Firefox, it gets stuck on the loading bar. It works in Chrome though.

I wish the camera would stay a while when you place a platform so you can see if you placed it correctly before having to do all the jumping to get there again.
WubbaDuck
04. May 2019 ยท 18:45 UTC
I like the concept and the core mechanic. But the levels feel repetitive, the controls feel mushy, and the character has too much inertia. The last two make the character hard to control with precision. It could go quite a long way but some time should be spent on the responsiveness of movement.
cppchriscpp
04. May 2019 ยท 23:41 UTC
This is a really cool idea - I liked how you implemented the theme with platforms. The controls were a little bit weird, but not to the point it affected my enjoyment at all! The mechanic seemed to work well. I didn't think it was hard to tell where the platform would form;

I always try to give a little constructive feedback, so I do kinda wish that you had implemented a reset level button (r key?) -- it was frustrating knowing I couldn't complete a level, and having to wait 3 seconds to create a bogus platform multiple times to restart. Even basic sounds would have also added a lot!

That said, this was quite a fun game - I always like unique mechanics like the platform one. Thanks for a fun entry!
KeyurRana
05. May 2019 ยท 11:46 UTC
Very fun game. Great concept. I wish there was a way to restart a level, something like 'R' to restart.
๐ŸŽค GaryS
05. May 2019 ยท 14:52 UTC
Thanks everyone for such kind words and constructive feedback! I'm working on some updates to the game, hopefully a post jam version will have some enemies to avoid, things to collect, moving platforms and possibly some new mechanics...of course with more levels too!
For now I'm busy creating a menu system which is taking loads more time than I'd like, due to the fact that I want to reuse it for some other projects I'm working on too...

In the meantime, since it seems to be the biggest annoyance with the game (and I can see why!) I've added the ability to simply restart the level by pressing R. I don't think it's a big enough change to affect the ratings, but by all means pretend it's not there and mark the game down for it! ;)