Heart Miner by Corny

[raw]
made by Corny for LD 44 (COMPO)

Heart Miner is a game about going underground and mining Heart Shards.

Screenshot 2019-04-29 00-57-34.png 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

Screenshot 2019-04-29 00-43-27.png THE HEART FORGE Screenshot 2019-04-29 00-43-56.png HEART SHARDS IN THE GROUND Screenshot 2019-04-29 00-44-42.png HANGING OFF ROCKS Screenshot 2019-04-29 00-45-32.png BOMBS Screenshot 2019-04-29 00-57-07.png MOLES Screenshot 2019-04-29 00-45-48.png 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

Ratings

Given 34🗳️ 31🗨️

Feedback

chuckeles
29. Apr 2019 · 09:03 UTC
Would you be able to make an OSX version? Otherwise I can't play but the game looks cool! :disappointed:
🎤 Corny
29. Apr 2019 · 09:10 UTC
@chuckeles I'll try exporting it as a browser version. I think that'll work on OSX, don'tcha think?
itsjustjord
29. Apr 2019 · 09:11 UTC
I liked it, nice little game I really like the art style too!
chuckeles
29. Apr 2019 · 09:18 UTC
@corny you it should. In the meantime I switched to my Windows PC :stuck_out_tongue:
DigNZ
29. Apr 2019 · 09:21 UTC
Game looks great, took me ages to work out that you are supposed to press 'S' and go through the door at the start! Quite difficult but a good mechanic and put together really well
derpylz
29. Apr 2019 · 09:24 UTC
The art and music are great. They make for a really moody game. The movement was a bit frustrating, but that might be intended?
The upgrade system fits the game. All in all, great job!
ROBOWARRIOR1982
29. Apr 2019 · 09:28 UTC
This one remind me Boulder Dash ! Pixel art is good, and that fit the theme very well ! It's good entry, good job.
zubspace
29. Apr 2019 · 09:30 UTC
This is actually a rock solid mining game. Kudos to the art style. Well done. The character animations are awesome.

I also love the procedural level generation, even though it sometimes seems to work against me, but that's fine.
🎤 Corny
29. Apr 2019 · 09:33 UTC
@derpylz Is the frustration coming from the sticking-to-the-walls mechanic mayhaps? Because if so then don't worry, it's all unintended and I just didn't have enough time to fine-tune it. I think it's serviceable for the bare basics, isn't it?
chuckeles
29. Apr 2019 · 09:37 UTC
## Feedback

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.

![Heart Miner 2019-04-29 11.36.04.png](///raw/f53/8/z/21d08.png)

Example: I cannot get the heart above me :disappointed:
Lukas TAMAYO
29. Apr 2019 · 09:51 UTC
Ok so I finished the game and it was pretty good. At first I died and I was confused about what to do and what was what. Here are a few reason why.

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
🎤 Corny
29. Apr 2019 · 10:06 UTC
@lukas-tamayo Woah, now that's some QUALITY feedback, thank you very much! I didn't really plan out anything that's in the game, since I only had around 24 hours (I started making one project on day 1, then scrapped it and reused the assets to make this). I's unpolished, clunky at times, and unfinished in other places, but I'm so glad you and everyone else sorta enjoyed it anyway! And honestly, even if my game got 0 ratings or all negative ones I'd still be proud of that procedural generation. This was the first time I ever got it to work right, too!

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!
DeathBySnail
29. Apr 2019 · 11:55 UTC
Love the look, and the audio. I got stuck after too many bombs went off, and I couldn't climb back to the start.
gilborn
29. Apr 2019 · 14:20 UTC
In every LD I find one game that sticks with me till I made it through. In this one its probably the first I tested, this one. Spent over an hour to see the end screen.

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.
AndideBob
29. Apr 2019 · 15:27 UTC
A lovely game which is really hard if you don't get the upgrades. I loved pretty much everything about this. Great Job!
Niteb
29. Apr 2019 · 16:43 UTC
Interesting concept and the visual and audio styles work great!
Tudvari
29. Apr 2019 · 17:56 UTC
I really liked that background music, and the fact that I can rapidly traverse through the mines :smile:

And also... I dig... digging.
devbat8712
29. Apr 2019 · 23:10 UTC
Neat game. I think it'd be something I'd play quite a bit if it were a bit more polished. Very good graphics,and the song is cool.
Dziukoala
30. Apr 2019 · 12:11 UTC
This is a really good game, i love the idea of reserching hearth shard and trading hearth, maybe some feature aren't really comprehensive (i died and i don't know why :D). Congratulation guys for this game!
Nisanick
30. Apr 2019 · 17:54 UTC
controls are quite hard to get right, especially the "stick to wall" mechanic but otherwise great game. every death just made me want to play more :thumbsup:
Sebastien Bourgeois
30. Apr 2019 · 19:35 UTC
This is a really cool game, i like the graphics and the mood of the game. I also really like the climb on grey rocks mechanism, and dig others.

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!
Abraxas Interactive
30. Apr 2019 · 22:46 UTC
Thank you for sharing this, that was a lot of fun! It took me longer than I'd like to admit to figure out that I needed to go through that door to get to the actual game, but once I got in and started finding heart containers I was having a blast. I love the art style!
MrsTari
01. May 2019 · 19:26 UTC
such a cool game, i love the art. the controls are little bit confusing, but otherwise great work! :hearts:
YukimiItsuka
03. May 2019 · 14:19 UTC
My world's bleak.

![stuck.png](///raw/62d/32/z/24799.png)
🎤 Corny
04. May 2019 · 20:41 UTC
@yukimiitsuka The most unbelievable thing about this screenshot is the fact that you somehow lost 1 HP! If you still feel like playing, F5 is a "panic button" that teleports you right to the exit, just in case something like this happens. But it's been a day already so I'm not gonna be surprised if you don't, tbh