Tranquil Grove by Juutis
Story
You went camping. It didn't go well. Solve the mystery and break free from the enigmatic conundrum you have found yourself in!
How to play
Explore the area and try to advance. When your energy or health runs down the loop resets. Your skills & items persist throughout the loops, but enemies & obstacles respawn!
Keys
- Use WASD / Arrow keys to move around
- Rotate with mouse
- Left mouse button to swing a weapon
- Space to skip dialogue
Screenshots

| Youtube | https://github.com/bradur/LD47 |
| Youtube | https://juutis.github.io/LD47/ |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/tranquil-grove |
Ratings
| Overall | 605th | 3.63⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 584th | 3.523⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 660th | 3.457⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 567th | 3.826⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 1133th | 3.188⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 305th | 3.773⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 709th | 2.824⭐ | 19🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 506th | 3.667⭐ | 20🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 61🗳️ | 24🗨️ |
Mechanics-wise this is a solid interpretation of the theme, and a compelling game loop as well.
The level design was great, providing a limited amount of set routes (clearly marked through the choice of terrain), encouraging exploration without overwhelming the player.
At the same time it managed to both tantalize the player with barred areas, and also having routes sufficiently distinct as to make the exploration feel worthwhile. I rarely felt that I have wasted the "expedition of the day", usually returning with either a clear objective (having spotted an upgrade in the distance), or a clear idea of new paths to pursue the next time.
Speaking of the items, I felt that their placement and effect was effective as well, serving as direct goals and rewards for exploring a specific set of paths. Both the "get rid of new kinds of obstacles" and "increase travel range" bonuses felt meaningful, in the sense that they gave a feeling of actual progress and enabling of future explorations.
The skill-progression felt well balanced, with plenty of opportunities to improve either skill as needed. Although it took me some time to realize that you could actually dodge in combat (in effect, trading the more bountiful energy stat to save precious health). The steady amount of "walking-XP" at the same time meant that the time never felt completely wasted, even when ending up in a dead end.
Presentation-wise, I really enjoyed the graphics, and the background tune was nice as well. The UI elements were clear and informative, with the only exception I notice being not being informed in all cases that boulders required a pickaxe to pass.
Great work! :-)
=Balancing=
This was tedious. It was an exercise in frustration. It's like minit except with grinding. I can't even say it's badly made, it's probably balanced like this on purpose because of the theme. After the fifth loop it dawned on me how grindy it would be.
=Scope=
If the game had been just a bit less grindy, the big map would have been a big plus. I assume you're supposed to grind in the lower-level areas some more so you can exhaust yourself faster instead of walking for miles and dying for few XP, so the big map is wasted on the loops.
=Graphics=
For a game about exploration, it probably wouldn't have hurt to de-saturate the trees, make the grass a bit more varied, and have some transitions between the tiles, but I guess making a Wang tileset could easily have meant 20x as many tiles.
=Audio=
Nice and relaxing ambiance.
Overall, okay game, ambitious scope, very grindy.
The artwork looks pretty but maybe a more limited palette could help draw attention to key locations/items.
Sound and music are good.
Waking up the next loop at the same location was frustrating at first... It feels like you don't make any progress at all. And only with upgraded skills you start to feel any kind of progress. It might make sense to include the ability to bring the tent with you :)
I would have added a custscene when it loops to highlight the fact that you're trapped and what is keeping you there is the crystal. Maybe adding some dialogs to it at each loop like "You'll be there forever", "Stay with me" etc... To add more depth to the story and make it clear to the player that you're trapped and it's not just a common day/night cycle.
Very fun game. The "rogue like" system is well construct! Good job!
It was fun to train on scarecrow ^^
It a very good entry!
Especially loved the sounds and the level design!