The Forest Below by raphy

[raw]
made by raphy for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

The Forest Below is a pixel art experience with a minimalist gameplay.

Protect the ancient Monolith to keep the forest alive! 🌲

Move with arrows. Run with shift, use the spirits following you with space.

The evil demons will ignore you but if they destroy the monolith, you lose.screen1.png

Made in 48h by Raphaël Sfeir :)

Ratings

Overall 812th 3.659⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1622th 3.13⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1370th 3.217⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 995th 3.761⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 132th 4.457⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 131th 4.087⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 14th 4.523⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 20🗨️

Feedback

kari
21. Apr 2020 · 17:08 UTC
Really nice game! Enjoyed the aim of the game :) Easy to play, soothing soundtrack, visually pleasing with nice colours. Please keep on doing more!
illuminegames
22. Apr 2020 · 03:35 UTC
The color palette was really lovely and your sounds were really great. Your atmosphere was definitely your strong point here! Just needed a bit more depth to the gameplay! Good job!!
darthnumbers
22. Apr 2020 · 03:41 UTC
Aesthetic and music were super on point, really enjoy the style. Appreciate the mac build. Kinda wish controls were WASD but that's not the end of the world
Ranjan
22. Apr 2020 · 03:43 UTC
The art and atmosphere were both really good! Adding more gameplay elements would definitely be beneficial here.
Sporky Sauce
22. Apr 2020 · 03:45 UTC
Awesome visuals and nice atmospheric soundtrack. A little bit confusing to know what exactly is going on at the beginning and walking is a bit slow, but once the enemies begun to spawn I really enjoyed it!
Jahwffrey
22. Apr 2020 · 03:51 UTC
What an incredible atmosphere. It feels like I'm playing out some ancient myth. Bravo!
DreadedDruidStudios
22. Apr 2020 · 03:57 UTC
I am amazed at how beautiful the game was. Both the art and graphics were incredible. A little bit on the easy side, but the fact that was made in 72 hours really blows my mind. You should turn it into a full game.
pepperkep
22. Apr 2020 · 03:57 UTC
This game is really pretty! It would have been nice if you could move with either the wasd keys or the arrow keys.

You might want to add that there's a Linux version on the Ludum Dare page since currently you can only see that on the itch page. I really appreciate that you made a Linux version.
iamscissors
22. Apr 2020 · 03:59 UTC
I definitely was drawn in by the art. The mood was great, but the parallax scrolling made me feel a little sick (I think it was the river flowing to the right). Overall the idea was good, but the game play was a little 1 dimensional, I didn't feel like I had anything to use as a strategy. I will eat a kiwi when I get out of quarantine!
SaltFactory Studio
22. Apr 2020 · 04:02 UTC
This game does take a while for me to get a hang off, maybe because I couldn't understand the instruction well enough. The environment design is stunning though, it is very immersive. Great job!
Storyteller Games
22. Apr 2020 · 04:37 UTC
The atmosphere, the art style, the mood, basically everything in this game was simply amazing! But the parallax was a bit weird, and more types of troops would fit nicely, but in the time of the jam and the great work on the rest of the game, it's understandable. Overall I loved it, it got me involved and I think was a great experience. Amazing work congrats!
legavroche
22. Apr 2020 · 04:48 UTC
Really cool game, reminded me a lot of kingdom which I really enjoyed. The atmosphere was amazing, loved the artstyle and the use of the god rays. Some things I would've liked to see were more spirit types and I noticed the background kinda shifted with you as you moved. Great work in such a short amount of time though!
kfischer-okarin
22. Apr 2020 · 05:51 UTC
The graphics, sound and atmosphere in general is very good!
It would have been nice to have maybe more unit types and more tactical choices during the game.
HuddyBuddyGreatness
22. Apr 2020 · 16:12 UTC
I enjoyed that game, the simplicity didn't hurt the experience because the graphics and mood of the game made for a very pleasant and relaxing experience. I really enjoyed the art and ambient noise, great vibes.
lmstrato
22. Apr 2020 · 18:59 UTC
The world that you created has depth. Visuals and colors are amazing. The trees in the background achieves this I suppose. However, gameplay is poor. You are only walking and collecting particles. Then pressing space, placing guards. Which isn't fun. Still it is a cute game.
Aurel300
24. Apr 2020 · 22:52 UTC
We streamed your game with Danae: [link to Twitch VOD](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/599171054?t=04h23m27s) (approximate timestamp)

Cute game. Although the mood was pretty solid, I am not sure that the gameplay fit it very well. In some ways it is a tower defense game without the strategy or much of the challenge.
fabula_rasa
10. May 2020 · 12:31 UTC
I liked the mood you created in the game. Music was very nicely done and the color scheme is great as well. Two thumbs up for the atmosphere!

The gameplay itself felt a bit lacking. It feels meditative though, especially watching your trees grow around you :) - that might be what you were going for! The guardian themselves seemed not to stray far from their trees often, even those that were the attacking kind. As a result, there was not much attacking of the enemy monolith going on unless you started planting your trees close to the red forest.

Very nice jam job overall.
kaeveris
10. May 2020 · 13:48 UTC
The mood is really great! I love the pixelart, looks amazing! Would be nice to have something more to do
Thibaud Ligneul
12. May 2020 · 08:33 UTC
Cool game and graphics, some bugs stopped the progress on the "story" unfortunately :/ Good prototype :)