Bacteria by merkisoft

[raw]
made by merkisoft for Ludum Dare 45 (COMPO)

Starting with nothing ... spread some bacteria

How far can you go? Pay attention, you are not the only one!

Game play ... it's more fun if I tell you NOTHING!

Click to start spreading bacteria. You have a limited set of bacteria, use it wisely. The faster you score, the earlier you will get additional bacteria to spread (top left corner). I'm sure you will find out everything else ... but maybe try to 'eat' your own bacteria for once...

I'm participating for the first time. With two kids and wife, the 48h are even much shorter! I even created my own background music!

logo.png

gameover.png

Ratings

Overall 440th 2.912⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Fun 446th 2.621⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 232th 3.318⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 210th 3.5⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 425th 2.662⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Audio 253th 2.985⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Humor 345th 2.067⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Mood 281th 3.076⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 29🗨️

Feedback

🎤 merkisoft
05. Oct 2019 · 09:53 UTC
very early release!
urasmellyduck
05. Oct 2019 · 19:36 UTC
i would suggest limiting the player to being able to only click once then have points in the game where the bacteria can spread and similar to the game pandemic. the more it spreads the more the populus become aware of it and try to block it from spreading so having strategy to that first click is vital. if possible procedurly generate the world everytime to avoid being able to just try and fail the initial start
🎤 merkisoft
05. Oct 2019 · 20:55 UTC
Looks like the basics are working.
My own sound plays as well - I never did this in any of my previous games!

... Most likely the 48h event is over for me after 24h. Life as a dad is not easy :-)
🎤 merkisoft
05. Oct 2019 · 22:24 UTC
Polishing the game takes forever ... even such a simple one. So many little details.

I think I'm finally done with it. :smile:
egos
06. Oct 2019 · 10:34 UTC
so cool i love it
fit the team perfectly !
iozsaygi
06. Oct 2019 · 17:20 UTC
It fits the theme and i do like the font in the UI.
Keseril
06. Oct 2019 · 21:00 UTC
After playing early build I was waiting for release! Great job.
congusbongus
07. Oct 2019 · 06:20 UTC
This is confusing! But it seems promising, if I knew what was going on haha :) I like the atmospheric intro
🎤 merkisoft
07. Oct 2019 · 06:23 UTC
@congusbongus you will have to retry a few times to understand more.
... remember you start with nothing, not even help :smiley:
starvingindie
07. Oct 2019 · 18:55 UTC
That opening scene was really cool. I struggled to figure out what to do, but I realized there was a spreading mechanic that was interesting.
blint6
07. Oct 2019 · 18:55 UTC
Got caught up, retried many times but can't reach 1000. The atmosphere is nice, the audio is clearly a plus. I love the simple aesthetics. Overall it's a nice game especially for such and early release and as a father, congrats! :)
sansman01
07. Oct 2019 · 19:12 UTC
I like the start transition into the game :)
🎤 merkisoft
07. Oct 2019 · 19:15 UTC
@blint6 thanks a lot. try it one more time.
1000 is easy, just be patient and don't click to fast, every 3rd time you get another bacteria (need to update the description for that) ... so click wise :smiley:

![scores.png](///raw/35f/82/z/275a5.png)
blint6
07. Oct 2019 · 19:30 UTC
@merkisoft Got there! Your last tip definitely helped, thanks :)
Cybikitty
07. Oct 2019 · 19:41 UTC
A really cool concept, it's great! :D
dqmhose
07. Oct 2019 · 19:44 UTC
I kinda like it.. but I don't really get it. I can't make a pattern out of it to improve what's happening. I can kind of spread the clicks out and get more score but it doesn't really seem to do anything in the grand scheme of things.. still fun entry!
🎤 merkisoft
07. Oct 2019 · 19:48 UTC
@dqmhose it is a question of timing, strategy, "eating your self" (see tip above) and also a bit of luck is required... just give it a few more tries to reach at least 1000. :smiley:
mutuware
07. Oct 2019 · 19:50 UTC
Reminded me of Conway's Game of Life
🎤 merkisoft
07. Oct 2019 · 19:58 UTC
@mutuware you are right, i had the same thoughts when i realized during game dev that the "the growing bit" almost came up like "game of life", but it is much different in the end.
TheseusInABottle
07. Oct 2019 · 21:05 UTC
Interesting game wish I had a little more instructions to go on but it was fun to play.
🎤 merkisoft
07. Oct 2019 · 21:16 UTC
@theseusinabottle i wanted to have zero instructions or simply NOTHING :smiley: ... check the comments. i think you now find enough hints
Scott Armstrong
07. Oct 2019 · 22:16 UTC
Great little game that fits the theme perfectly. I played it over several times just because the spreading mechanic was interesting to figure out. Then again, I still don't feel like I understand much even after playing specifically to understand it. Why do I spread different types of bacteria? Why do they spread into each other but not into red? I like the idea of starting with a black screen, but the zoom is slow enough that I feel like I can't spread bacteria where I want to in time. Also, the "can't place bacteria here" sound is loud and obnoxious. All in all I enjoyed this one a lot :)
Barrier
07. Oct 2019 · 22:24 UTC
Getting over 1k is easy but then I'm not sure if I can do much better! :)
silkworm_sweatshop
07. Oct 2019 · 22:48 UTC
Played it for quite a bit trying to figure it out. Definitely still things I don't get but you do get a bit closer just by experimenting and observing. Cool!
toasteater
08. Oct 2019 · 06:09 UTC
I managed to get over 1000 but I don't think I really understood the mechanics... The atmosphere is nice, though!
Hajden
08. Oct 2019 · 06:43 UTC
The music is great, hated the "out of moves" beep :)
The game had me confused on the first two tries as I clicked too much unaware that clicks are an expendable resource. Did reach 1000 after a few more attempts
Odeyalko
08. Oct 2019 · 13:51 UTC
good, but i dont understand
Ryu
08. Oct 2019 · 14:16 UTC
Was really confused on what was happening until I came back to read the description, pretty good game!
jakiteli
08. Oct 2019 · 19:57 UTC
Really confusing at first, I wish there was better end-game feedback, I kept thinking that I'm suppose to get a "You won", but great idea.
🎤 merkisoft
08. Oct 2019 · 20:13 UTC
@jakiteli ... you can always do better :smiley: actually i wanted to continue with more levels. but my own time did not allow.
gwinnell
09. Oct 2019 · 20:34 UTC
It took a few tries, but I got a score of 1200! Is there a win condition? It always tells me I can do better, but I'm not sure that I can! :sweat_smile:
coffeedrinkers
09. Oct 2019 · 22:51 UTC
Great idea! Definitely would return to beat my score... 467 :/
rosypenguin
10. Oct 2019 · 02:28 UTC
Great work, definitely reminded me of Conway's game of life. The logic was fairly easy to figure out but it was still hard to get a score of over 500! I'll keep trying!
🎤 merkisoft
11. Oct 2019 · 13:28 UTC
@gwinnell you can win nothing :smiley: i whished i had more time to do multiple levels etc
but you can always try to be better :wink: