Really nice art and music, but unfortunately the gameplay is a bit lackluster. There's nothing wrong with the general game mechanics idea here, but it seems like the game never becomes more difficult? I wish the magnifying glass would start moving faster or that the damage radius would increase over time. Also, it seems like you're setting new destination points for the magnifying glass, but eventually it just ends up going back and forth between the same two points forever? It's a shame, because the art is great, especially the cover picture, and I think that there's some potential here for a really cool little game. Good luck next game jam :)

I like this idea and how it looks and feels. The gameplay needs a little bit attention tho. The magnification glass is looping in a predictable way and never reaches the outskirts. Also the fruits spawn always in the corners, and on a regular timer. So... i can walk the outskirts with the ant safely, and be on the next spawn for fruit just in time for it to spawn in front of me. Around and around, without danger and picking up all fruits when it spawns.

@luckyfeathers hit the spot, if you make the spyglass increasingly more unpredicteble, gain in speed, make the fruits spawn in more different places and make sure there are no spots that are allways safe, make the scene change a bit maybe, side scroll it, and make that increase speed... Then you can have the progression of challenge.

@luckyfeathers Thank you for your feedback! I'm very glad you like the art and design ^^
We run out of time sadly, we are not so satisfied about how it ended up for the magnifying mechanics, it was planned to be more dynamic and "directed" at the ant. Maybe for a v2! Thank you for playing our game! :)

Gj!

Great graphics and audio is pretty good is well. The idea is very good and unique but the execution could definitely be improved upon. There's no variation to the level or difficulty progression. You could have the fruit spawn in different places around the level and maybe add other obstacles.

The art is phenomenal and I despise that little run that is trying to scorch my friendly 🍓🐜!!! I felt like the dingus was just waving his little 🔍 around like a madman, and the lucky chump got me a few times (I'm very emotionally invest in this, yes). It would have been a bit more of a challenge if while doing his wild patrol and you got close enough he'd veer to you a bit. The strawberries were a nice side challenge, and would be even more enticing if they moved around and maybe gave you a bit of a boost/reward other than points.
Great job on what's in there now though!

This is a very nice little game. There isn't too much to it, but it definitely has some fun in there. I just wanna reiterate what others have said. Add a little more variability / difficulty in the magnifying glass, and maybe switch where and what kind of fruit spawn. Good stuff!

@magus77 Thanks! :) Initially we wanted the magnifying-glass to be less predictable and to speed up as the game goes on but I didn't have the time to implement that.\^\^"
Thanks for the input, if I can find the time to make a v0.2, I'll try to meddle with fruit generation to make it interesting.
I'll look into those safe spots, didn't notice this while coding.

@elektroney thanks! :)

@akai-0okami thanks a lot for the good words and the feedback! :)

@sugarsores wow big thanks for the kind words! :) The graphic artist sure appreciated. And yep, poor little thing that's trying to surviving in a fiery world. :/ But hey, at least the girl is trying to save her and give her food.

Yeah implementing the magnifying glass wasn't an easy task, not for the coding but for thinking how it could be made, what kind of path it could take to be challenging AND fun. Life being life I didn't have much time at the end to implement it and went for the easiest way, making it go for a random position in the arena and re-sending it to a new position each time it hits something.
If I can find the time to, I'll try to better those things for a v0.2. :)

Thanks again! o/

@btmodz Thanks for the feedback and the inputs! :)

Time is always an issue with compo and jam alike, and choices must be made where to invest the little time that is available. It came out really well. Hopefully you can take the game to the next level. It looks great :-)

Nice game. I liked the semi-randomness of the magnifying glass, although some progression and further randomness would help the gameplay. Some randomness in the location of the fruit would be a bit more interesting too. I like that it is harder to move the ant when it gets hit. Overall, this is a pretty good game and I would love to see some updates :)

Very nice game, had fun playing it. I was VERY confused at the start because I must have got incredibly lucky with how the hand was moving, as well, it wasn't. I think you had a Random.Range min value to 0 :P

Once I walked into the flame to see what happens, it started moving again and then the game became a lot more fun :D

Controls felt really nice, and it's definitely something that could be taken forward into a bigger game, well done!

@magus77 thanks for the kind words :)

@convg Thanks! :) I will try to look into that if I can find the time to work on a v0.2. Thanks for the feedback. o/

@fables the range is basically top/bot of X and Y. ^^ I really didn't have much time to implement the mechanic and coded the magnifying glass in a hurry. I didn't have many ideas at the time as for how to make it move in a dynamic / interesting way and since the clock continued to advance I had to make something that at least would work quickly.
At the start of the game, a point in the arena is defined and then each time the end point of the laser hits something, a new point is defined.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and the inputs! o/

At first I wanted to click to drop sugar cubes for the ant, but once I understood the controls it became a clever way to adhere to the theme "Keep *It* Alive" vs "Keep Yourself Alive". (I also interpreted the theme to mean that you couldn't directly control the thing you are trying to keep alive) I found I could easily run a loop around the edge of the screen without any threat of getting hit by the magnifying glass. I would suggest having fruit appear somewhere in the middle section of the screen so that the magnifying glass could be more of a threat. Beyond that I think you'd want to add some more gameplay depth, as the current game is perhaps too simplistic. The art is well done and very clearly establishes the theme

The art is undoubtedly beautiful, music is cute! I liked the "story" as in primary school I tried to save insects from my classmates (although int hat scenario the evil attackers were the girls)! :)
But unfortunately it's not a fun game. I never died (excluding the case when checking what happens I go into the fire - indeed it's not healthy). There were many good suggestions already, I don't extend that list.

@flyingbear Thanks for playing & the feedback! o/
when we started to brainstorm about the game mechanics, we hesitated a bit between the "drop sugar" and "follow sugar" way of playing. :)
Yep, the magnifying glass definitely need some improvements. ^^
Thanks for the suggestions and the kind words. :)

@halflemonstudios Thanks for the kind words and the honesty. ^^
That's cute and well done for trying to save those poor little things! o/
Yep, it seems the boy holding the magnifying glass is as slow as he is bad. If I can make a v0.2, I'll definitely try to better that. We ran short on time during the LD and couldn't playtest the game.
If you have other suggestions than the other people don't hesitate please, they're always welcome! :)
Anyway, thanks again! o/

I like the art and the idea. It would be nice to progressively increase the level of difficulty (with time played or something like that). Good entry!

@8bitcharlie Thanks for playing and for the feedback! :)

Firstly - realy beautiful art and music. The base concept also makes a fun game, but like everyone else already said, some progression would be nice to keep the fun of the first minutes. So here are some suggestionwhat else could happen: Leaves falling down and beeing ignited by the glas, blocking a small space for some time and, since the ant follows your leed blindly, would reqire you to be more carefull since she qould try to run through.
Or as entire other dangers maybe waterdrops a foot/hand or even new stones.

Still a good entry, thank you for making it.

@alfadas Thanks for playing, those are great suggestions! :)

Very interesting game ; ) Good concept of controlling the ant with the sugar. I also liked the audio~

The music and visual style is really good. The gameplay idea and how you controls the ant is interesting. The game is too easy, and it nearly impossible to get killed by the magnifying glass. Overall is this a pretty good jam game.

@emil0227 @jk5000 Thanks for playing and for the feedback! :)


I had a little problem with being stuck outside the playing area for a while (then it went back to work). Then I recorded the image to suggest taking a look at it. ^^ '


Game with easy learning (just using the mouse).
Balanced game flow at first (fun at first), then it gets a little tedious (suggestion to add new forms of interaction).

Sufficient graphic art to convey the concept (can be polished after an event).
Very fun music.
Funny sound effects.
Simple and direct narrative (can be polished later).

Congratulations! :)

@gustavo-christino Thanks for playing and for the detailed feedback! For the v0.2 I'll have a look at the bug you had :)

:smile: