Labrats by Matank
Help advance science by solving puzzles and conducting exciting experiments! You might have to make a few sacrifices to succeed.
Keypad or wasd to move. R to restart a level if you're stuck. Pause with P or ESC.
This is my second game jam (my previous game was Pyramidion, which I made for LD42).
There are overall 8 levels in the game.
Important information
- The missing cheese on level 4 is not a bug! If you're stuck, you can watch a playthrough of the game here.
- Sadly, I am pretty sure the game is not color-blind friendly. I realized this too late. I wanted to upload a post jam version that doesn't rely on color indications the weekend after the jam, but I caught a flu and couldn't really get any work done. I will still try to fix it in a post jam version!
Credits
I've used some music from opengameart.org:
Catch me if you can! (Created by poinl)
Bittersweet (Created by Emma_MA)
A Tricky Puzzle Loop (Created by Pant0don)
I've used some sound effects from freesound.org:
ratty-squeaks.wav (Created by Reitana)
rat-gnawing-a-rusk.wav (Created by zabuhailo)
burning-match-into-water.wav (Created by trngle)
woosh.wav (Created by lebaston100)
All graphical assets were created by me using Procreate / Gimp / Aseprite. The game was created using Unity.
Bug fix:
A few hours after submitting, I saw a streamer bump into a game breaking bug, where having no creatures on the screen causes the webgl player to crash. I updated the itch.io hosted executables and web versions with the fixed version.
Screenshot:
| HTML5 (web) | https://matank.itch.io/labrats |
| Windows | https://matank.itch.io/labrats |
| macOS | https://matank.itch.io/labrats |
| Linux | https://matank.itch.io/labrats |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/labrats |
Ratings
| Overall | 169th | 3.849⭐ | 88🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 90th | 3.901⭐ | 88🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 85th | 3.859⭐ | 87🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 139th | 4.065⭐ | 87🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 784th | 2.965⭐ | 87🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 246th | 3.409⭐ | 84🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 396th | 3.47⭐ | 85🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 100🗳️ | 124🗨️ |
I love how simple the mechanics are, yet very easy to grasp, after failing once I was able to immediately get the sliding doors.
And you even managed to add a minimal, yet nice story! Level 4 reminded me of Portal :)
I will say that the music is a bit too upbeat for a thinky puzzle game; level 7 kept me engaged for a while and I muted volume after a bit because the music was getting repetitive, I'd go with something more chill.
Also, while I totally get the minimal graphics, I think a small change like a different color scheme after level 4 would've helped the story be more immersive.
Overall, great puzzler, I played it all the way through!
While i found the graphics rather plain, it kinda fits the theme and the music also enhances the atmosphere. The level design as well is on point.
Good job!
Thank you so much for the feedback!
I'll give a slight spoiler for level 4 in case you want to try again:
The objective is to break out of the outer wall by using the fire ability. I should have given a better hint for that in-game, I saw a lot of streamers get stuck at that point as well :)
You can see a walkthrough for this part at:
https://youtu.be/El39N9xr_Rg?t=134
Impressions after: Others have commented on liking the mechanics already and I agree with them, but I especially have to point out (spoilers ahead, of course) that I *really* like the fact that we are, in fact, helping the rats. Morally speaking it feels more right, but it's also nice because it's not quite clear in the first levels and it's like a tiny plot twist.
It's also very nice of you to work on the color-blind friendly version! Did you decide how to do that yet? With some shapes/textures or just more contrast, for example?
One tiny criticism (and that's pretty much all I can think of!): it starts silent so I turned my volume up, as I've read there should be audio, and then there was a very sudden loud sound. It's mostly a mistake on my part, but I guess it could happen to others as well. Besides that, the sound effects and intensifying music fit really well!
I'm still not sure regarding the color blind version. In my prototype version of the game I made on the first day of the jam, I had numerical indications next to all the items so maybe I'll try that instead of (or in addition to) colors.
I like your suggestion of using textures! Maybe I'll try to experiment with that as well.
Graphics and music were simple but nice. No bugs that I noticed!
Nice try on the theme. Very nice way of adding narrative: it is fun and helps a lot in the beginning.
Great level design.
Nice game, congratulations! And have my respect for being solo developer of this little gem!
I have rated your game, but all of my feedback was captured in the stream.
You can hear my comments in the archive at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/347117071 and https://www.twitch.tv/videos/347128584
I am sorry for technical glitches.
good animations and art on the rats, the level art was serviceable but could use work.
Thanks for the walkthrough, I needed it.
The design aspect of the game is well thought out, I like that. It's awesome that you managed to get a dialogue system in there, gives it a lot more character!
Fun puzzles, some took me multiple tries so it didnt feel too unfair or easy!
Awesome entry!
Here's my play: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/345392409?t=01h48m27s
Not to mention the red herrings in the game. I dunno about you, but I like puzzle games better when the focus is on using what you have, than dealing with what one discovers isn't important.
I agree regarding the pacing. Level 4 especially is problematic - I should have given much more hints in-game, especially to the fact that the objective changed from getting the cheese to escaping the outer wall. I think if at least the objective in that level would have been more obvious, it would have prevented many people from giving up and assuming that level is buggy. I planned this level to be a very gentle introduction to the mechanism of sacrifice and did not intend for it at all to be difficult. It just shows how hard it is to develop puzzles without having actual play-testers :)
Regarding the red-herrings at the last level - there is actually a way to use some of these red herrings to save 3 our of the 4 rats instead of a single one. Unfortunately, there's no alternative ending or any achievement for doing that..
I think what @omiya-games says really sums up my feedback thoughts well - there are a few cases in the puzzle progression where I was dropped in the deep end, building on mechanics in difficult scenarios, before they were introduced in a more simple way. For example the mice holding three colours/abilities. I think this is a great puzzle game, but this could be even greater with a few more puzzles interweaved which give me the cognitive leaps I need to progress easier.
Really nice work!
That was really fun.
->A real level-design
->Interesting mechanics and the puzzles are well made
->Good choice for the music: it's really pleasant and serve the atmosphere
Conclusion: an entry polished and interesting. Good job!
Well made game
The dialogues in between levels were a great touch and really added context as to what exactly was going on, and were a great way to introduce new concepts without confusing the player. In a lot of LD puzzle games, I often have to play a level more than once to really get what I'm supposed to be doing, but I didn't have to here, because the dialogues explained everything right away. c:
Nice music, and it's really cool that you managed to squeeze two different tracks in there, one for the gameplay and one for the ending. Great sound effects too.
Graphics are nice and clear and make it obvious what the player can and cannot do and what to do (such as escaping the frame around the level that introduces the fire mechanic).
All the back and forth between different individuals and sacrifices was a great puzzle mechanic, and it was really nice to be able to have so many colours at once on a single one, clearly indicated by the graphics.
Top of the line! Great work! \o/