LudumData

Plant's Conquest by Sam Estep

[raw]
made by Sam Estep for LD 42 (JAM)

Experience the life of a planet that has a plant on it. This plant is smol. However, it has massive ambition. The problem is, that ambition causes it to destroy everything that one could hold dear on our wonderful planet.

In our game, you play as a plant that emits a toxic substance that kills it and things around it. It needs to expand in order to escape from this substance. The goal is thus to escape into progressively larger levels.

The game technically works on mobile, but not really; it cuts off some stuff that you need to finish the second level. Also, audio doesn't work on iOS for some reason ¯\_(ツ)_/¯; in any case, please try it on desktop!

(Apologies for the low amount of content and feeling of unfinishedness; this is our first Ludum Dare and we sort of bit off more than we could chew with the specific type of game we tried to make.)

HTML5 (web) https://gameless.github.io/ludumdare42/
Source code https://github.com/gameless/ludumdare42
Other (web) https://ezralafleur.bandcamp.com/album/plants-conquest
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/plants-conquest

Ratings

Overall 1050th 2.938⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1197th 2.438⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 605th 3.161⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Theme 759th 3.3⭐ 57🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 527th 3.536⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Audio 305th 3.398⭐ 56🧑‍⚖️
Mood 418th 3.311⭐ 55🧑‍⚖️
Given 47🗳️ 55🗨️

Feedback

max6333
14. Aug 2018 · 17:24 UTC
The art is cute but I got stuck on the second lvl, wasn't sure what was going on.
🎤 Sam Estep
14. Aug 2018 · 17:33 UTC
@max6333 Thanks! Were you able to get the toolbar to show up by eating one of the bean plants? If you drag an item from the toolbar, it should cause little sparkles to appear that show you where you can use it.
Deadeyejoe02
14. Aug 2018 · 17:34 UTC
Cool concept, but I didn't know what to do in the second level, what I have to do, where to click :/ sad I wanted to play more !
🎤 Sam Estep
14. Aug 2018 · 17:36 UTC
@deadeyejoe02 Thanks for taking a look! On any of the levels, it should highlight any things in the environment that you can use when you mouse over them. I probably should have made the highlighting brighter (or a different color?) on the second level, or added some other indicator...
Donitz
14. Aug 2018 · 17:37 UTC
Lovely little short story. Even though there is just a few screens, they have some great looking art.
ChaosTheLegend
14. Aug 2018 · 17:41 UTC
More like a presentation than the game. Don't get me wrong, it looks amazing, music is great but there's not very much to play with and it is also hard to understand what to do(meybe some kind of a tutorial or a little popups will help). I love the artwork but I think you should've spent more time on gameplay.
🎤 Sam Estep
14. Aug 2018 · 17:43 UTC
@chaosthelegend Definitely agree; we originally intended there to be more mechanics, but quickly got bogged down by the time it took to draw stuff. Next Ludum Dare we'll definitely focus more on gameplay!
literallyjosh
14. Aug 2018 · 18:42 UTC
I have no idea what I did to beat this but I did it. The art is beautiful by the way.
Michael Wingfield
14. Aug 2018 · 18:47 UTC
Wow! At first it was a bit confusing what I was suppose to be doing. But once I got the hang of it it really was a unique and thoughtful game. I really enjoyed the sound design. It gave it great atmosphere. Well done!
mouthlessgames
14. Aug 2018 · 18:55 UTC
Wow, how creative! I really like your game - made it to the end, although I was not sure what was going on the whle time. But your game has something I can not describe. It leaves a good vibe behind. 5 star mood then! :-D I guess also due to the very cute music. Can I download it somewhere? :smiley:
Holy
14. Aug 2018 · 18:56 UTC
Finally I got it! The art is really nice, I missed the "sparkling" tips on my first attempts, but got it when I realized of them. Good job! :)
digitaldude555
14. Aug 2018 · 18:58 UTC
I was clicking stuff and things were happening but I didn't understand what, the art is really great the strong part of the game. Weakest part is the innovation this is just a standard point and click. Sound is good though.
🎤 Sam Estep
14. Aug 2018 · 19:00 UTC
@frittatenbank Heh, if you insist! Ezra is putting together a Bandcamp page right now. The music is also available [on GitHub](https://github.com/gameless/ludumdare42/tree/d1af5f9d4745919762673a2bd004837967dd4108/app/assets/Audio).
Holy
14. Aug 2018 · 19:08 UTC
Yes sorry :) I tried to delete it but I am editting it xD my first post was about your game, not the second :(
🎤 Sam Estep
14. Aug 2018 · 19:10 UTC
@holy You're totally good! I couldn't figure out how to delete posts either; definitely a feature they should add to this website.
Ezra LaFleur
14. Aug 2018 · 19:24 UTC
@frittatenbank Music is now up on Bandcamp--loop away to your pleasure!
heidelbert
14. Aug 2018 · 19:34 UTC
Very interesting looking game but like some people above also stuck on second level. No idea what the game mechanic is after 10 tries. Sorry. But I like the art style and graphics. Really cool.
sawtan
14. Aug 2018 · 19:43 UTC
What a weird kind of experience, it was a bit hard to get my head around when I got to the second screen, but after I experimented some with it I got to understand how to proceed! Got all the way through to the credit page, was worth the journey for sure, the music was a great way to use for feeling of progression (and dire panic) and the whole package was a treat! Great job!
mgoadric
14. Aug 2018 · 20:28 UTC
Great idea for a game! I was very confused by the second level. I noticed the icons in the corner but had no idea what they meant, I was just clicking for a very long time, it would be helpful to have some intuition that dragging is necessary. Somehow I made it to the end and took over the world!
Leeloo
14. Aug 2018 · 20:38 UTC
It is a cool concept and has good potential for a game that I would like.
I enjoyed the beginning, the second level was a bit frustrating and in the end it was just random clicking around because it was hard to figure out what needed to be done next.
Still, glad to have tried your game, good job and keep it up.
realmar
14. Aug 2018 · 20:44 UTC
Incredible art and epic music, I enjoy it!
BigBossErndog
14. Aug 2018 · 20:46 UTC
Seemed nice, the pixel art looked very retro. Most of the time I didn't know what was going on, or what I had to do. I simply went out around clicking anything that highlighted until something worked, without any logic behid it.
Mowztouch
14. Aug 2018 · 21:15 UTC
cool little game, i liked it :)
tasty_jose
14. Aug 2018 · 23:43 UTC
Art looks very cute but not sure what to do at the 2nd level
Paulie B
15. Aug 2018 · 01:10 UTC
Pretty concept. I like the graphics and they fix well with the audio. However, you should add a little more instruction to the game. I got to level 2 and even though I killed the other plants, I would die as well.
DrEvilBrain
15. Aug 2018 · 02:34 UTC
The art and music was pretty nice, though it was kinda hard to follow what exactly you were supposed to do and what the story was.
jerripo
15. Aug 2018 · 02:57 UTC
I'm glad I beat it, but I feel like I did it kind of randomly, so it's not really satisfying. As others already said, I think it would be good if you made it clearer what was happening. It seems like it could be fun. I think it may just because you ran out of time though. Can't wait to see the game after the dare!
🎤 Sam Estep
15. Aug 2018 · 02:59 UTC
@jerripo Yeah, we mostly just ran out of time... there was a lot more we had hoped to do for sure, but we didn't know how short 72 hours was. Not sure if we'll work more on this particular game, but looking forward to LD43!
dmtroy
15. Aug 2018 · 05:33 UTC
The game looks and sounds great but it does seem clear you ran out of time, I'd love to have seen what you'd have time with more time to add content.
AwiX
15. Aug 2018 · 05:52 UTC
Great graphics and the audio really helps you get into the game.
HYPRGLOO
15. Aug 2018 · 09:04 UTC
Amazing work on the audio and visual design, but as others have stated I was confused by what to do on the second level. After some random clicking I did eventually clear the game but I wasn't entirely sure what I did, haha. I was very impressed with your implementation of a dynamic soundtrack, which is something that is very rare for a jam game, so very nice job with that!
TheDouche
15. Aug 2018 · 09:19 UTC
Cool litle game, keep up the good work!
Darylsteak
15. Aug 2018 · 11:38 UTC
A nice little game with a nice soundtrack, unfortunately I had, well, no idea what I was doing.

It would be nice if expanded upon tho.
🎤 Sam Estep
15. Aug 2018 · 13:14 UTC
@hyprgloo Thanks so much! Yeah the dynamic soundtrack is the only part of my contribution to this game that I'm actually proud of, haha. Laura and Ezra did an awesome job with the art/sound for sure. :)
Lucien Catonnet
15. Aug 2018 · 14:21 UTC
Very short (or I didn't understand), but the graphics and music were spot on! I like the idea of a growing plant, it's too bad you didn't have time to make more content, but it's unsurprising from the way you seem to have made your levels, as I understand it every graphical asset is specific to the scene, which makes it really pretty and enjoyable but also hard to extend in three days :/ Other people have said it but it was hard to understand what was happening after the first level, I kind of guessed because of the visual feedback (translucent white areas) but otherwise didn't know what I was doing. I'm really looking forward to your next entries or even if you get to continue this game, you clearly were on the right track, keep it up :)
Joloujed
15. Aug 2018 · 15:42 UTC
Nice visuals, but i had no idea what was going on. I managed to get to lvl3 i gess, but it just played an animation over an over.
Enot487
15. Aug 2018 · 18:42 UTC
Wow, that was interesting and weird. Music and art are amazing. The final scene is mesmerizing to chills. Short but deep game. It gives me good feeling.
hi.irie
16. Aug 2018 · 02:26 UTC
I like the idea but I couldn't understand exactly what I needed to do in the second portion and clicked on everything that I could.
overall I think the concept is on its way but needs more polish. Could be a really awesome game with a few more tweaks and being
able to read the art a bit more. Overall good job!
loonydrope
16. Aug 2018 · 18:47 UTC
I had to come back to this page and see the advises that have been given to other lost players for level2, but I enjoyed the experience and the design of levels.
The highlights were at first a bit confusing, maybe it could have been clearer to help knowing what to do.

The sound track and graphics are really great.

You did very well with this entry, I think!
🎤 Sam Estep
16. Aug 2018 · 19:29 UTC
@loonydrope Thanks for coming back to it! I'll definitely keep understandability of controls in mind more in the future.
Mykola
20. Aug 2018 · 08:37 UTC
As it was already pointed out, the gameplay is a little bit confusing. I was stuck on the second scene for a while and could figure it out only by random clicking, dragging and dropping :slight_smile: But other than that, I really liked the story, the mood and the atmosphere. The art is amazing. The music is really awesome! The tune is beautiful and fits the game very well. I really like how it smoothly evolves and transitions from scene to scene or how it changes when you're running out of time. I tried doing something similar in our game, so I imagine how challenging it is.

Overall, very well done, guys!
HellSquirrel
04. Sep 2018 · 14:18 UTC
Nice game!