Rythm is Lava by egordorichev

[raw]
made by egordorichev for LD 41 (COMPO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXQ05kyHpNM

Solve puzzles. Sounds too easy? Well, you control two chars at the same time. Or sometimes more. Still too easy? Well, they kill each other on touch! Not easy enough?

Well...

THE FLOOR IS LAVA!

Good luck beating it ;) If you ever manage to do that (doable under 3 minutes, but that's using shortcuts), please let me know on my twitter (@egordorichev).

Have fun!

*btw, the name is not misspelled, its made on purpose ;)

Controls

  • X - Restart the level
  • C/Z - Toggle speed run info
  • Arrows - Move

I would recommend playing binary version of the game, because it runs smoother.

Rythm is Lava is a game made for ludum dare 41. The theme was "Mix two not-mixable genres", but I've mixed four: RPG, puzzle, platformer and rhythm.

ld_31.gif

Timelapse

Timelapse

Ratings

Overall 72th 3.901⭐ 339🧑‍⚖️
Fun 140th 3.668⭐ 339🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 208th 3.627⭐ 337🧑‍⚖️
Theme 362th 3.563⭐ 336🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 51th 4.132⭐ 338🧑‍⚖️
Audio 38th 3.882⭐ 336🧑‍⚖️
Mood 96th 3.599⭐ 320🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 11🗨️

Feedback

Yippiez
22. Apr 2018 · 21:13 UTC
Really nice game good animations on pico8 and runs smooth good job.
pokenoufl
23. Apr 2018 · 01:17 UTC
Love the artstyle, very clean looking. A cool approach to the theme and although I feel like the game requires you to be aware of a few too many things at once, it is really fun to play.

If i were to add one thing I would put in an effect every time the beat hits (like necromancer does) to keep the tempo more easy to follow.
ehtd
23. Apr 2018 · 03:23 UTC
Nice looking game, a bit complicated
niksg
23. Apr 2018 · 04:15 UTC
very clean and smooth. is that weird?
🎤 egordorichev
23. Apr 2018 · 04:44 UTC
@niksg is that bad? ;D
GhostGoatsGames
23. Apr 2018 · 04:58 UTC
Brutally hard amazing game dude. Ton of content for a 48 hour game too!
JCMonkey
23. Apr 2018 · 05:38 UTC
nice fun game you have here, nice job
TheMadPangolin
23. Apr 2018 · 06:01 UTC
Really nice game for a compo entry, with gorgeous graphics. Sometimes the effects obscure the characters a bit much, but it's not really a big problem. Great effort :D
zoglu
23. Apr 2018 · 06:04 UTC
Really smooth and beautiful art style, you did great with the PICO-8 (no rhyme intended) :)
Memel06
23. Apr 2018 · 07:24 UTC
How did you manage to put this up in 48h? Really a nice work!
The concept of rotating lava cubes is really theme-fitting.
This deserves a mobile version. Please, do an extended post-jam release!

Thanks for your work, cheers :)
🎤 egordorichev
23. Apr 2018 · 07:36 UTC
Haha, @Memel06, thanks, I will think about making a post jam version ;) PICO-8 doesnt support android so far, but we can try some html5 wrapping. Thanks for playing ;)
Dylan Rainwater
23. Apr 2018 · 07:39 UTC
Wow! Awesome entry.
tipyx
23. Apr 2018 · 08:00 UTC
​Wow, excellent entry, great job man! The concept is cool, and dat pixel art :). However, the title in title screen looks like more a slop of pixel, pico8 issue maybe?
Andreadbx
23. Apr 2018 · 09:22 UTC
very cool and innovative game, good job!
RadioactiveRambo
23. Apr 2018 · 09:34 UTC
This game looks delicious but is treacherously difficult. The platformer/puzzle and rhythm elements work well together.
saoi-games
23. Apr 2018 · 09:39 UTC
This game was full of polish. The controls were well balanced, leaving the difficulty in getting the timing right and wrapping your head around controlling two characters simultaneously.

There was so much content for a 48-hour jam. I'm not sure how you were able to add so much in.

I am impressed that this game seems fully featured and ready to launch. It even had an ending!

Congrats, and I hope you get plenty of rest after such a work-intensive weekend.
dirtymoonz
23. Apr 2018 · 10:09 UTC
It looks like a full game, great work! Challenging and with great art.
Noxbuds
23. Apr 2018 · 10:32 UTC
I quite like this. The mechanics are fun, the art is incredible, and the music and sound effects fit well together. Personally I couldn't get past the level with the invisible blocks, but I may just need to try a few more times ;)
🎤 egordorichev
23. Apr 2018 · 10:33 UTC
@Noxbuds I bet you will get it ;) Both mazes are the same, just one is not visible. If you are heaving troubles with hp, try easy mode ;)
wildcard
23. Apr 2018 · 10:42 UTC
This is the kind of game that makes me look at my own games and say: "I have a lot to learn". Amazing sound, gameplay, feel etc. You should feel proud of this project!
Apace
23. Apr 2018 · 10:47 UTC
Nice game, well done! I feel like there was a lot going on at once which made the game extremely hard to follow and that subtracted a bit from the fun. Most of the time I was just running and jumping around, hoping I wouldn't hit one of those lava cubes.
The concept of several characters made it definitely more interesting, but it is at the same time what made the game very difficult.
The graphics and audio design was really nice though and it was a complete and nice experience overall. :)
Bigaston
23. Apr 2018 · 11:10 UTC
Very nice game Egor! :P
🎤 egordorichev
23. Apr 2018 · 11:12 UTC
<3
Damien Remars
23. Apr 2018 · 11:12 UTC
Well crafted, but damn hard!
Lerg
23. Apr 2018 · 11:30 UTC
Really well built game, but it's very hard.
WongKongPhooey
23. Apr 2018 · 12:03 UTC
Great job! The most expansive and polished game that I have played in this jam so far! Fun concept and great gameplay. Well done!
Yanek
23. Apr 2018 · 12:17 UTC
That's a great little game, typically the kind I will come back to and try improve my score on, and maybe, one day, beat it entirely. That's a perfect realisation for me, I can even think of anything bad to say. Except maybe that's it's hard as hell. But, hey, even that is part of the fun! :smiley:
SamuelSousa
23. Apr 2018 · 12:49 UTC
Awesome game... Too much content for 48 hours :)
VinegarLove
23. Apr 2018 · 13:07 UTC
A lot of stuff for a 48 hour. The gameplay is also really nice, just a bit difficult.
Loved the sounds.
Ah also, i feel like the smokes beneath the characters is a bit confusing, especially if it's bigger than their sprite. I would have put a smaller fx :) But that's just me.
XCVZXC
23. Apr 2018 · 13:29 UTC
I love the graphics omg. Really impressed that yuu made all this in just 48h
meskaline
23. Apr 2018 · 13:31 UTC
Good job. Nice fun game. Sweet graphics. :D
sndr
23. Apr 2018 · 13:43 UTC
Lovely super polished game in only 48 hours. Congratulations! :)
Efmi_
23. Apr 2018 · 13:43 UTC
Good game, with cool graphics and sound-effects. Really nothing bad to say about it. Good job.
Marchmain
23. Apr 2018 · 14:23 UTC
I'll admit I didn't quite "get" the rhythm part when I played it (although I noticed there was a pattern in each room of the lava's movement) -- probably would help to have audio tied to the lava patterns.
Serious07
23. Apr 2018 · 16:22 UTC
I'm like you game :D I'm impressed how much you do in 48 hours on lua.
simonhutchinson
23. Apr 2018 · 16:33 UTC
Whoa, this is super-sleek Pico-8 work for 48 hours (including music too!). Really nicely done.

Great genre fusion here too. It's a little tough for me, but I'm not really a puzzle-platformer kind of guy.

Keep it up!
stevenjmiller
23. Apr 2018 · 17:09 UTC
Super fun game, I love the presentation!
fashionbatman
23. Apr 2018 · 17:26 UTC
It's a little hard at first, but this is so well done. It has polish and fits the theme. Great job!
BenPeterson
23. Apr 2018 · 17:54 UTC
Wow that is so hard to wrap my head around but nice job

one thing i thought was kinda annoying is that once you beat a level and then accidentally step back then you have to restart the whole previous level
quixatocs
23. Apr 2018 · 18:09 UTC
Great work again @egordorichev . Very innovative mix of genres and really well executed. Look forward to seeing what you make next jam :)
bombjack
23. Apr 2018 · 18:14 UTC
nice polished game.
nerdysl0th
23. Apr 2018 · 18:14 UTC
Just amazing. I envy you for making so much great stuff in such a short amount of time.
tayl1r
23. Apr 2018 · 19:16 UTC
I've played a few platformers where you control two characters at once so I kind of knew the basic tricks. Still find it quite hard! I guess the 2nd genre is the lava moving to the rhythm. Nice job.
GameDevMumin
23. Apr 2018 · 19:42 UTC
Pico8 games always makes me happy! Nice art - minimalistic. And idea - maybe not most innovative but I like it! :D Gonna finish that one when I will have more time!
KunoNoOni
23. Apr 2018 · 19:58 UTC
I'm going to echo the comments of @Apace as I couldn't have said it better. However I will add that I love the art and the music. I think Pico-8 games are really awesome and I love to play them! :smile:
creepyounguy
23. Apr 2018 · 20:14 UTC
Super impressive game! Wish I was this good at gamedev
MrSchlag2
23. Apr 2018 · 20:21 UTC
Nice graphics, nice music, nice gameplay it's a great game !
WalkDiGidong
23. Apr 2018 · 20:43 UTC
I love it. Gameplay and graphics are nice
recursor
23. Apr 2018 · 20:46 UTC
This is like "Curse of the Arrow" but with lava and rhythm. I wish that once you advanced to the next level you couldn't go back to the previous one. I did that a few times and that was crummy. For me, having to worry about controlling 2 characters took the fun down a notch. I guess it just made it more difficult than I'd have liked. Great polish and presentation on this.
MateCziner
23. Apr 2018 · 21:02 UTC
I'm amazed how much you packed into the game in such a short time, and it's super polished too. Great job!
Hadik
23. Apr 2018 · 21:03 UTC
Game is pretty hard, but original. Neat graphics and old school soundtrack :)
Dumivid
23. Apr 2018 · 21:46 UTC
I really enjoyed the game. Control feels a little bit off, but overall, a solid 4+.
ryzy27
23. Apr 2018 · 22:05 UTC
Pretty hard to grasp, as those games tend to be, but after few tries every level was beatable. I just wish that it wouldn't sometimes bring me back to previous level.

Graphics and animations look amazing. Sounds are simple, but fit well with game feel and look.

It's a nice game and a nice idea. Cheers!
OmnipotentIndie
23. Apr 2018 · 22:27 UTC
Confusing at first, but looks really nice and is very clean
Suboptimalplay
23. Apr 2018 · 22:51 UTC
Maybe too hard, but nicely implemented. I'm not super familiar with PICO8 but it seems like it caters to this kind of art style, which I can appreciate.
Rombus
23. Apr 2018 · 23:11 UTC
Wow man! you ended up with an awesome game all around?

I'm confused with the special thanks at the begining. it's a compo or a jam game?

Congrats on the entry!
Q-ro
24. Apr 2018 · 00:16 UTC
The game looks gorgeous and the mechanic is pretty cool, really solid game, I guess the only thing I personally don't like is accidentally going back one room and having to redo the room all over again but other than that is pretty cool, great work :D.
Surley
24. Apr 2018 · 00:35 UTC
Really hard but also fun to play and really good-looking. :)
Chris Hall
24. Apr 2018 · 01:39 UTC
Really cool game, very impressive. Good graphics, great tunes, responsive controls. The lava plus the two-player control is really tricky. I like the effect of the lava moving different speeds based on the music, but it is difficult to keep track of where the lava is because of this (or maybe it is just difficult in general lol).
agar3s
24. Apr 2018 · 02:19 UTC
This is a so pollished game, I really like it!
well done
GiovanniBarrottu
24. Apr 2018 · 02:51 UTC
One problem I had was that I would glitch through walls sometimes. It happened on one level where I would jump up and left into a corner and would glitch to the other side.

Otherwise, great game! Looks great and it has interesting (and hard) puzzles!

I remember seeing you posting the visualizations for the lava in discord, and it looks really good!
vidsneeze
24. Apr 2018 · 03:04 UTC
Great job. puzzles are tough while trying to keep a beat going. I had fun.
thiagowaw
24. Apr 2018 · 03:17 UTC
Great idea of ​​game, very well implemented, and I loved the music! CONGRASTS!
Take a look on my game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/vector-rabbits-slayer
joemid
24. Apr 2018 · 04:25 UTC
Amazing. So difficult! Love the graphics and the all around feel. Love getting kicked back to the previous level! ;p Great combo for the compo!
reuno
24. Apr 2018 · 04:31 UTC
Well that was hard!
Deadly Apps
24. Apr 2018 · 04:47 UTC
Nice polish.
Chris Coe
24. Apr 2018 · 05:17 UTC
Very challenging. There were some rooms I just couldn't wrap my head around. At first I thought it was just a cute linear puzzle game. Then I started getting to the branching paths, and the shop, and... How deep does this rabbit hole go? hahaha.
24. Apr 2018 · 05:33 UTC
@rombus that's mine patrons and guys who bought me some coffee during the compo ;)
gre
24. Apr 2018 · 05:59 UTC
incredible graphics!!
Amatwiedle
24. Apr 2018 · 06:06 UTC
This is an amazing submission!
Evan Minto
24. Apr 2018 · 07:33 UTC
I really really wanted to like this more than I did. The graphics and music are fantastic, and the level design and how it interacts with the two-at-once controls is really clever. Unfortunately I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was going on with the blocks of lava. It seemed like they were following the rhythm of the music, but I couldn't tell why my characters kept dying randomly. Was it because they had touched the lava? But why didn't they die immediately upon touching it? (When people say “the floor is lava,” it usually implies you can’t touch the floor at all.)

Because of the difficulty in figuring out the lava mechanic, plus the fact that I kept accidentally going back to old rooms I had already beaten (not sure if that was an intentional part of the design), I didn't make it past the first four or five rooms. It sounds like you put in a ton of great content later on, and I wish I could have gotten to it.

Not sure if it's against the spirit of the game to explain the lava mechanic, but could someone tell me how it works? I'm really curious now!
caspila
24. Apr 2018 · 07:43 UTC
Great entry, everything fits so well together, music art and gameplay. Impressive level design, usually there's not much time left for that in a game jam, but you pulled it off. Really good game!
🎤 egordorichev
24. Apr 2018 · 08:04 UTC
@Evan Minto well, you have hp in the top left corner. 1-hit lava death was too hard, so you have some hp amount on each level. When you touch lava, your hp decreases.
beren5000
24. Apr 2018 · 08:40 UTC
god this is hard and fun, like really hard and really fun, great work
Nehvis
24. Apr 2018 · 09:39 UTC
Very nice concept and quite polished!
sandovictor17
24. Apr 2018 · 09:43 UTC
wow..no words, really nice job, i enjoyed your game!

Check out mine over here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/guns-n-goals
SandBloom
24. Apr 2018 · 09:46 UTC
Really fun but maybe too hard at least for the first few levels. It would have gained from a progressive climbing difficulty level. Other that that, really well posished game!
HailBurns
24. Apr 2018 · 09:58 UTC
Awesome submission. Really enjoyed playing it.
Iluvatar
24. Apr 2018 · 10:40 UTC
Wohooo. What a challenge! I literally stepped on every obstacle you have put to the game, haha. Well made, I loved the soundtrack, so cool end retro. I might have enjoyed the game even more if I weren't a noob!
SiHy
24. Apr 2018 · 10:44 UTC
Brilliantly done. Good mechanic. Difficult without being overly frustrating (mostly).
Must admit that the rhythm part of it didn't really shine through for me. Maybe accentuate that part of it.
However, overall, a great entry!
Lacre
24. Apr 2018 · 10:58 UTC
A little bit complicated for me, but really nice and fun to play!
Why don't you try mine and rate it, too? Thanks! https://luxgile.itch.io/shooting-mama
limered
24. Apr 2018 · 11:17 UTC
Game looks cool and plays very smooth. It's a litte too hard for me. A very nice entry.
Kusaihana
24. Apr 2018 · 11:45 UTC
Omg! Such game design! How did you manage to design this in 2 days
vilix64
24. Apr 2018 · 12:12 UTC
Smooth design, great game! Keep it up! :slight_smile:
Noa Calice
24. Apr 2018 · 12:15 UTC
Polished and fun :) ! An epic LD entry :) ! Cheers !
ooku
24. Apr 2018 · 12:24 UTC
very well designed!
Matthew Hrehirchuk
24. Apr 2018 · 13:08 UTC
Very fun to play!
HAUO
24. Apr 2018 · 13:48 UTC
That was difficult! Was not that found of being able to go "backwards" in the levels. Other then that, very nicely made, very challenging later on and hectic! A bit to much all at ones for my tastes, but the entire design otherwise just feels, as @vilix64 said, very smooth. Great work!
Jimbly
24. Apr 2018 · 14:13 UTC
Wow, that was great! I won, "38% finished" in 21 deaths ^_^. Game felt really good, love the retro feel. Puzzles were all pretty solid.
croewens
24. Apr 2018 · 14:43 UTC
Gotta say the twitter videos don't do justice! Impressive level design, good artwork, great tunes, responsive controls and most of all insane polish. The lava felt a little strange from time to time as I couldn't figure out what spawns it. I also glitched through a wall once but that doesn't even matter :smile: Overal one of my favorite entries!
krasse
24. Apr 2018 · 15:45 UTC
What an awesome entry! It is a bit hard for me, but it was fun. Love the music, art and the overall presentation
EkkoEkko
24. Apr 2018 · 15:53 UTC
I Really Love the concept of this game. For the firt time i played it i wanted to destroy my pc you need a good coordination. Its so addictive
Le Slo
24. Apr 2018 · 16:29 UTC
This is awesome for the compo entry. Here some commentaries:

-The design is not really clear, the color choices didn't help me to look with the corner of the eye, and it should because I need to know where are positioned the two characters. In general aesthetic is awesome (like everything you do).

-The movement of lava goes with the rhythm, ok, so thats cool, but the music continue by herself after dying, and lava speed changes depending on the music. That makes lava a random object to make more difficult the game instead of a carefully design choice.

-The idea of two players is great! But the core of each level is repeated too many times. You went for quantity over density, I can get that, specially during a game jam. If you take out the lava are the puzzle-platformer worth by themselves?

Conclusion:

This a little beautiful fun game to play for a while, a bit too unfairly difficult.
IronyGames
24. Apr 2018 · 16:42 UTC
Truly a very innovative approach, I'd say you've even combined 3 different genres, haha! I can definitely see this being fun competitively (try to end the level OR make the other players' characters defeat each other). Lots of polish, I'm glad I played this! :)
Jani Nykanen
24. Apr 2018 · 16:43 UTC
The best compo game I have seen this far. Wonderful job!
🎤 egordorichev
24. Apr 2018 · 17:04 UTC
<3
AfroAnt
24. Apr 2018 · 17:14 UTC
I beat it, and I don't know how! Hurray for easy mode! The feel of the game was really nice. Audio was on point. I couldn't handle all that lava - why do you hate us players?? Nice job
WERT
24. Apr 2018 · 17:17 UTC
as always well polished with neat graphics. Just a bit too hard for me :sweat_smile:
ProdigalSon
24. Apr 2018 · 19:02 UTC
Very challenging but well implemented and executed. I feel like I should playing this on a GameBoy or something. Difficulty curve sort of spiked up too quickly for me but that's maybe because of the "small size" concept. Still the graphics follow a solid theme, the music is fun, and the sound effects fit well. Good work :)
Gavin Camlin
24. Apr 2018 · 19:16 UTC
Crazy how much you got done in such a time, I enjoyed it a lot! The game was really frustrating but in a good and fun way, the only thing I didn't like is that I could go back to certain areas which would make me repeat the puzzle again. Great job!
niterich
24. Apr 2018 · 19:20 UTC
I seem to be in the minority here, but I didn't like the game all that much. Yes, the graphics and music were great, and the basic movement was good, and there was a crazy amount of content, but the gameplay itself was way too frustrating in almost every way. I think adding the lava was too much to focus on at once, so you either time your jumps to the beat but end up hitting the two players together, or you take your time and get hit by the lava - even in the demo gif you get hit three times. I think I got to a point where it became more maze-like, and I just gave up after getting lost one too many times by accidentally leaving the screen immediately after starting a room.
broken-matrix
24. Apr 2018 · 19:29 UTC
Very good game, gave it 5 on all, fun and has lots of stuff!
Troll Tamer Games
24. Apr 2018 · 20:02 UTC
Blown away by the level of polish and quality of gameplay+level design you have achieved in such a short time! Really impressive but I struggled even on easy mode! Lots of mechanics going on.
visumecadroide
24. Apr 2018 · 20:05 UTC
Good puzzle game. However I don't really feel the rythm. I think it was too much complex to control 2 characters and stay in rythm but you were maybe too much in love with your double characters idea :D
Art and level design are well done ;)
roaderful
24. Apr 2018 · 20:44 UTC
Great looking, nice sounding, cool game.
petitpois
24. Apr 2018 · 21:10 UTC
Fun puzzle and rhythm game. Loved the art style, great mechanics and fun gameplay (easy mode) - awesome entry
PowerSpark
24. Apr 2018 · 21:34 UTC
Great polish and challenge. I found that the way you implemented rhythm was unique in itself, which was pleasing. I think I accidentally restarted back at the first room after a shop room somehow, not sure if that's intended. All in all, quality game!
Oivin F
24. Apr 2018 · 22:23 UTC
Tight and works well, does what its supposed to. Was a bit enraged by the damaging blocks after a while!
Scout
24. Apr 2018 · 23:46 UTC
fun, howerever it could use a intro level as it took me a minute to realise it wasnt wasd to move
Almax
25. Apr 2018 · 00:10 UTC
Fun and well polished! If a little unforgiving :)
Jolett
25. Apr 2018 · 03:43 UTC
The game is fun, but the randomness in the lava takes away from a skill-based game. Maybe have periodical bursts of lava. However, the controls are tight, the design is smart, and the graphics are simple yet charming. Nice game!
acoto87
25. Apr 2018 · 04:31 UTC
This is a really good game.

I don't know if is too much, I mean with all the variations, four characters, the floor is lava, rpg stuff and the puzzles themself. The problem is that the player can track so many things at once, and I found myself several times just focusing in one character and see if the others don't die. If others die in the run, I see if I can save it buy just not focusing too much on that one, unless there are buttons that I should press simultaneously. Don't know if all of this make any sense.

On the other hand, the art and music of the game is great, and the puzzles are very intesting. I'm impress with all the stuff you could put in the game in 48h.

Great job!
patrickgh3
25. Apr 2018 · 04:41 UTC
Nice animations and music/sfx, and neat concept that's both puzzly and action/rhythmy. I especially like the lava animation, and how it changes speed based on different parts in the song! But to me the level design was frustrating. I spent a few minutes flailing around and figuring out how the players move, that they share HP, they can push buttons for each other, how the lava blocks work, and that standing on platforms is a safe zone from the lava. These are all cool concepts, but being introduced to them all at once, I felt overwhelmed. Plus the level design was too challenging for me; I got stuck at the level with all the 1-block corridors. Anyways, I hope this feedback helps. :)
schonstal
25. Apr 2018 · 05:42 UTC
Your skills with pico8 are impressive!
Crabman
25. Apr 2018 · 12:07 UTC
Really cool, good looking game. Suffice it to say, I did not manage to beat in 3 minutes ;)
Darylsteak
25. Apr 2018 · 12:19 UTC
Very well done for such a short amount of time and one man team, the animations were great and the mechanics were simple but engaging. Great Job!
KappaJin
25. Apr 2018 · 14:06 UTC
Awesome game (but maybe I just have a soft spot for Pico ;)

Also, if you get time, check out my game! Its about a seaman detective! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/seaman-sleuth
Nash
25. Apr 2018 · 14:42 UTC
Charming game that clearly has a lot of thought behind it.

The only nitpick I have is that the difficulty ramps up very quickly for a marathon game. That combined with PICO's graphics and the things get quite unclear and hectic quite fast. I would personally think this kind of game would work a lot better with larger resolution graphics. PICO graphics are sometimes just too small to be clear enough for faster games.

But overall, very cool game with good amount of polish!
JeffChen
25. Apr 2018 · 16:02 UTC
Very cool idea!
slunkey
25. Apr 2018 · 19:14 UTC
Wow, highly polished game! Great entry into the theme. I just found myself not really caring about the lava tiles all that much, to me it was just one too many things to think about while trying to control another character.
maoap
25. Apr 2018 · 19:38 UTC
Absolutely great simple game :) Good job!
neontropics
25. Apr 2018 · 20:07 UTC
Daaaamn, I am super impressed by this. Great concept, great music, great design. I love these super focused puzzle platformers and this is one of the better ones I've tried.

I don't know if I'm just super bad at it but uh, Normal is pretty hard...
saiodin
25. Apr 2018 · 22:46 UTC
Great idea and very charming presentation. I'm impressed how you used Pico 8 for your game and so many others on your site. The game is really challening and it took me quite some tries to get through the maps. It was a bit hard to see where the lava tiles are while looking at two characters at once. You can check out our game about FPS golfing over here if you like: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/retroviral
Herman Chau
26. Apr 2018 · 01:27 UTC
Nice game!

![win2.png](///raw/d9f/z/14156.png)

The invisible block levels were kind of frustrating and I was pretty confused at first when I saw three characters, but I enjoyed the secret shop, the interconnectedness of the map, and the overall gameplay!

One thing that was a bit disorienting was that my two characters could get out of sync with their jumps since one lands could land on a platform before another. I don't know if it would help, but maybe each character would have a different sound effect when jumping to help sync up with the visuals?

How did you code up the background title screen by the way? Did you basically do a software shader for that lava effect?
🎤 egordorichev
26. Apr 2018 · 04:39 UTC
@herman-chau I wrote a math function for that:


```lua
pll={4,2,2,2,8,8,9,10,15,7,15,10,9,8,8,2,2,2,4}

function get(x,y,s)
local t=g_time/400
local c=cos(x/80)-sin(y/100)

+cos(x/40-t)*sin(y/40-t)
+cos(x/80)*sin(y/80-t)
+cos(x/200+t/2)*sin(y/80+t)

return pll[flr(c*(s or 3))%#pll] or pll[1]
end

function menu.draw()
for i=1,300 do
local x,y=rnd(128),rnd(128)
local c=get(x,y)
circ(x,y,1,c)
end
end

```

Pico-8 uses indexes for colors, so for example 7 is white, 4 is brown.
Badical
26. Apr 2018 · 07:25 UTC
Excellent game! I LOVED the music, too! Very innovative and fun, what a great project. Congrats!
DigNZ
26. Apr 2018 · 09:08 UTC
Very impressive. I used pico-8 for the first time for my compo entry and you've managed a ton of content in this! Nice game, I didn't get very far through it because it was hard, but it looks fantastic and clever levels.
Mac Dragoness
26. Apr 2018 · 12:00 UTC
A very good yet hard game. The game is tough for me to play but still... very impressive game!
gamepopper
26. Apr 2018 · 12:50 UTC
Clever idea, I like the challenge of controlling two characters at once.
Jupiter_Hadley
26. Apr 2018 · 13:19 UTC
Challenging, well made game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 41 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHFQFxHlU6Y
Gerickos
26. Apr 2018 · 14:41 UTC
WOW ! Dude that's sooo cool !
🎤 egordorichev
26. Apr 2018 · 15:48 UTC
Thanks, @Jupiter_Hadley, means so much for me! <3
saintheiser
26. Apr 2018 · 16:41 UTC
Tooo hards and confusing for me. Looks and sounds are good. Well made entry!
Valter
26. Apr 2018 · 17:58 UTC
A simple game. Not much my style but leveling intuitive and consistent

So i think that sound feedback is confuging on start.
The damage system is not very notable.
And the scene particles is confuse

Anyway the game is fun and looks finished
antonsem
26. Apr 2018 · 20:28 UTC
Awesome graphics, nice sound effects and music, great controls and overall very polished experience! Great job!
SkullPixel
27. Apr 2018 · 01:33 UTC
This is great Egor! Loved seeing how fast you whipped it up, (and the fact that you kept sending us procedural effects on Discord even during the jam) and I'm glad it's taken off so well. :thumbsup:
Jonathan Daar
27. Apr 2018 · 04:58 UTC
Yay I love picto-8 games! Good job guys. I felt like this game had a really good MOOD to it, played perfectly to the theme of the jam and was fun!
I really didn't like how you could accidentally get sent back a level by walking backwards. That made me really frustrated.
monika
27. Apr 2018 · 07:27 UTC
Very nice! Looks good and controls smoothly.

It was sometimes a little hard to track things on the screen. I'd be focusing on one character and tracking the other in my peripherals, when suddenly I'd find myself tracking a smoke effect that was as large as the character. I don't know what the best solution would be - perhaps smaller smoke or characters that stand out more? I don't know. Like I said, it looks great. Just a little hard to track.

Solid work. Good job!
Olivier Millochau
27. Apr 2018 · 07:59 UTC
Probably the best game reviewed so far !
It feels extremely polished, hard to believe what someone can do in 48h :D

The art is minimalistic but yeat very clear, the music doesn't drive you crazy after 3m and the control definitely feels responsive.
I've only got one gripe with the game : I really dislike how you can be sent one level back ... I spent something like 5m trying to get past a level only to be sent back to it as soon as I started the next one ... really frustrating :(

Congratulations !
Ashtrail
27. Apr 2018 · 08:58 UTC
I'm starting to suspect you are not human, your dev speed is unfathomable. Once again a good game, with good graphics, music and polish.

I don't really like the weird red shape in the background, I don't get what it's supposed to represent. As some have said I think you can still improve your games readability, there's always so much going on on screen :P.

I'm not the biggest fan of the main mechanics but that's more personal than anything, I do think the game is unfairly punishing by bringing the player back after failure. Especially if you're gonna do different difficulty levels, the player should get to choose how much they're gonna suffer (let us scrubs in piece). Btw I think I might have run into a bug, I failed twice a level in a row and got sent back to the beginning.

Wonder what you'll come up with next jam, you pico-8 devil.
Toulou
27. Apr 2018 · 10:45 UTC
Great game ! The presentation is very clean, I love the pixelart and the sound design too. It's quite challenging but easy to understand and control, so the difficulty is not a problem.
The only problem is I don't understand why sometime I was sent back to the previous level. But overall, it's a very good game, very well done. So, congratulation !
Guilhem
27. Apr 2018 · 10:46 UTC
Cool game! Very polished, nice LD. The moving lava is really frustrating tho, because you have to manage too many informations at one time. But the overall concept is awesome!
minibobbo
27. Apr 2018 · 14:57 UTC
This was a great game. I'm finding I really love the Pico-8 look and feel. The title screen was great and the whole experience was very polished. There were a lot of things to keep track of at the same time. I think the small screens made this more bearable, but I'm apparently not very good at this. I would have been fine with an option to turn off the lava.
notApollogising
27. Apr 2018 · 19:01 UTC
I've seen a lot of people say they really like this game, so I guess I'm in the minority. There weren't any RPG elements, and there aren't really any rhythm elements either. The lava blocks move on a timer, but nearly every puzzle platformer games have things that move based on a timer, and they don't qualify as rhythm games. The lava blocks are such a huge pain to deal with and keep track of I would have liked it more if they were just removed completely. I liked the idea of moving two characters at once, and the audio was good. It's just not fun to control two characters while also trying not to touch lava. It was also a pain whenever I accidentally moved to the previous level and had to start all over again on a level I'd already completed. I dislike the palette, but the graphics are still pretty good. I'd say it was a good idea, but then you realized it didn't fit the theme and you had to add "rhythm" to it. You did a great job on art and a greater job on audio, I just didn't like the gameplay.
LandoSystems
28. Apr 2018 · 00:31 UTC
Interesting combination of gameplay elements. Really like the art style and audio too. Pretty amazing for a compo game, great work!
D-Studios
28. Apr 2018 · 02:41 UTC
I think this game is pretty interesting. I unfortunately did not like the fact that sometimes the player can accidentally go back to a recent level and this was pretty annoying. However, I thought the mechanic in where both players are controlled by the same keys was fun because it created interesting and entertaining puzzles that I could solve quickly. The graphics and music of the game were also very polished and made the experience very enjoyable. Looking at this game, I do not see any RPG mechanics and rhythm elements really, and the puzzle genre and platformer genre are very much compatible. Therefore, I do not see how this game really relates to the theme well but it was still an enjoyable game!
TimeLoad
28. Apr 2018 · 09:46 UTC
Like always, your pico-8 games are absolutely amazing, I'll have to read through the source and see what I can learn from this
Quaternius
28. Apr 2018 · 13:51 UTC
Wow, this is incredible. I really like the overall idea, always loved your pico-8 graphics and the gameplay and levels are really well crafted and put together. Loved it!
Hisfantor
28. Apr 2018 · 18:12 UTC
great game, I enjoyed the puzzles and one extra point for the tux version ;)
Nuthen
29. Apr 2018 · 02:33 UTC
Neat game! The most frustrating part was being able to move back into the earlier levels, but that was something unique about the game too!
Antoniomm
29. Apr 2018 · 14:38 UTC
Nice idea and pretty small level design!! Definitely love it
impbox
29. Apr 2018 · 15:10 UTC
Looks quite nice but I don't know that it quite works as what is intended.
The rhythm component seems mostly ignorable since you don't take much damage from lava and can just walk over it quickly, I think making it 1 hit kill would help with that. And the puzzle element seemed mostly ignorable too since you only need one of the two to get to the exit so you can mostly focus on one character and ignore the other and play it just like a normal platformer except for the annoying bit where if one character goes back to the previous level you have to redo it (which was more annoying than fun). I was confused why my characters kept making puffs of black smoke when they weren't near lava.
Reality Blind
30. Apr 2018 · 11:49 UTC
Nice game, good pixel art and polish, a great submission for a compo ! Good work !
Mektidas
01. May 2018 · 15:04 UTC
really one of the best of this event, I especially liked the art of the game, Great work
Danny88881
02. May 2018 · 00:53 UTC
Great art! Loved the concept and execution.
DDRKirbyISQ
02. May 2018 · 04:58 UTC
I won...used easy mode so the lava wouldn't be such a pain.

.....my head hurts.
mshopf
02. May 2018 · 22:59 UTC
Very(!) interesting game, cool genre mix. I, personally dislike the lava, because it adds quite some stress to that more logic puzzle style of the game, but that's personal taste.

Graphics is nice, audio fitting. I'm fascinated how many different puzzle styles you managed to include, and the number of levels you were able to create...
drludos
02. May 2018 · 23:51 UTC
Simple idea, but a very polished and entertaining game! I love how the difficult increases quite fast, and it's very though to beat the game (why does those avatar keeps on going back to the previous level that was so hard to beat!)

Congrats on this excellent entry!
thecrancher
03. May 2018 · 02:23 UTC
Hey there, I really loved the pixel art for this game, and I also think the music was very good indeed. The puzzles were hard enough to feel fun but not hard enough to stump you, even though it took me a few tries. Good job man, it was fun!
ThatFrankGuy
03. May 2018 · 05:41 UTC
Loved it.
(phew, that was >= 2 incompatible genres!)
Mike Cullingham
03. May 2018 · 14:39 UTC
I solved a few levels. Cool Pico graphics and great sounds. Interesting theme choice, but I never really understood how the rhythm factored into the gameplay since there was so much going on that I never found myself capable of moving in step to the music. Overall, really nice job.
randomphantom
03. May 2018 · 15:17 UTC
Quite fun although the later levels tends to be on the frustratingly unfair side. The rhythm part is I guess, just prepare to get killed if the music speeds up? Would have preferred no lava but I guess that adds to the challenge. Music is quite sweet. Not sure how the RPG elements fit in there. Good job!
Rewzu
03. May 2018 · 15:27 UTC
Audio and graphics are great and they match each other. Can be a bit frustrating but it's fun! Overall nice game!
joe40001
05. May 2018 · 06:10 UTC
I don't think you should be able to so easily go back to the previous level. I didn't feel like there was a right smooth way to play like there is with rhythm games usually. Still had fun and enjoyed the idea though.
cristiano.m.garcia
06. May 2018 · 20:45 UTC
Good job! Cool game!

I left my rating of your game, if you can leave your feedback in our game, Witch's Escape.

I hope you continue with the project.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/witchs-escape
Jin9310
07. May 2018 · 06:00 UTC
Really nice entry. Like the graphics along with the sounds. Sometimes can be hard but overall this is very good entry. Good job!
net3ton
08. May 2018 · 20:24 UTC
Great game! Liked graphics style and music sync with lava=)