Heart Miner by Corny
Heart Miner is a game about going underground and mining Heart Shards.
The Mole Mother has fallen ill. Her children are getting impatient. Only Hearts can awaken her again. Test your luck as you descend into the Heart Mine and collect Heart SHards to bring the Mole Mother back to full health!
NOTE: The Moles aren't actual moles.
Featuring
THE HEART FORGE
HEART SHARDS IN THE GROUND
HANGING OFF ROCKS
BOMBS
MOLES
DYING AND LOSING ALL YOUR PROGRESS
I'm open to any and all criticism you've got!
Also, I'll update the game a bit after compo is over, but I'll keep those files separate from version 1.0
| Windows | https://gamejolt.com/games/Heartminer/411141 |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/heart-miner |
Ratings
| Given | 34🗳️ | 31🗨️ |
The upgrade system fits the game. All in all, great job!
I also love the procedural level generation, even though it sometimes seems to work against me, but that's fine.
Well, first of all, I love the splash image! :laughing:
Anyway, I played the game, had a little trouble understanding that I have to use the door to continue. You should mention that somewhere, too. Then I got into the random level and mined a few hearts, found a bomb, and it exploded before I had any time to react. Maybe you could make the timer just slightly longer.
After I died, I tried again, but this time I got thrown into a random level that I just could not finish. The door were out of reach. The problem is that you can't hang on the dirt tiles, only on the stone tiles (correct?).
Overall, I love the graphics and the sounds. The game has very good polish. However, it is very hard and I assume that it is not always possible to finish the level.

Example: I cannot get the heart above me :disappointed:
The control is in the first room, I didn't have time to see a lot because I tested out the control and pressing S in front of the door tped me in the tunnels. So I was very confused and I didn't know what to do. I had to rety to understand I could exchange my hurts on the top left corner to get upgrades.
Also on my first attempt I diged in a way that I thought I couldn't get around before I realised I can only climb concrete walls. After that it was easier.
I wanted to stop but i'm glad I went on because the more I went the more I understood the game. I also had some games where I had genuine fun because I had only one heart and fucked up my upgrade and I didn't want to lose anything jumping around.
Still I think that upgrading your jump is the best way to go, didn't use the range at all and well upgrading your life is necessary, at first I thought range was the way to go but there are so many situation where you can't gain height and without that you are pretty much stuck in a linear path.
To summarize :
**Bad**
-A somewhat confusing experience at first
-Upgrades that don't work together too well
-A bug where if you take the mole and die at the door, pressing S will ressurect you and allow you to keep playing
-Bad placement of the first door
-No feedback on damage taken
**Meh**
~A music that doesn't corrolate well with the arcade feel of the game or the shiny graphics
**Good**
+Impressive proceduraly generated maps ( Like really ? During a compo )
+Cool graphics ( even though I thought the mole was a snake )
+Really cool gaming moment that make you have fun
+A system of exchanging life for points that makes the gameplay more tense
+A clear objective
+A system that is simple to understand
Overall a fun game with a few flaws but nothing that makes it bad in any way
Also, @chuckeles, If you're still up for playing, I did include F5 as a "panic button" that teleports you straight to the exit door for half your heart shards, just in case a level is not finishable. You don't need to pick up all the hearts in a level to continue, just enter the door and go right back in to the mines if you want to!
The Double Jump ist a must have, the extra range for the Pick axe didn´t work too well for me because it slows down the game because aiming gets difficult.
I loved how you learn some strategys to beat the game:
- how to dig tunnels (first up, once you´re up, work down to the Door, but slow, mostly horizontal)
- Don´t stay too long, if you have the chance to get the hearts back, its probably the best.
- Stones can be your friend to get up, but be aware, there can be teleports you run in if you dig towards them.
It was a great, addicting ride, I loved the animations (The 2 hearts to one Heart machine especially :-)).
Really good job, the theme is also well covered. Thank you for the entry.
And also... I dig... digging.
The music is great, but maybe a little bit too melancholic for the atmosphere of the game ? Or maybe that was intended ?
Very good entry, will live to see updates for this one after LD!
