Swarm by DerKuchen

[raw]
made by DerKuchen for Ludum Dare 46 (COMPO)

SWARM

Try to keep your swarm alive while navigating through increasingly difficult levels.

Tested with Firefox and Chrome on Windows and Android. Source code: https://gitlab.com/jkuechler/ld46

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Ratings

Overall 537th 3.414⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 348th 3.517⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 752th 3.017⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 292th 3.914⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 883th 2.81⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Audio 703th 2.625⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Humor 772th 2.159⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 845th 2.76⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 42🗳️ 28🗨️

Feedback

19. Apr 2020 · 13:33 UTC
A lot of game for a game jam keep it up, but it was a too hard because the movement did not feel that great.
SheetCode
19. Apr 2020 · 21:59 UTC
Nice swarm mechanic, I like that everybody can end the level, but not only most skillful players can reach max store :D
Corporation
19. Apr 2020 · 22:07 UTC
Nice job. I would suggest to make controls without delay and make movement throug level faster.
mehrdadsh
19. Apr 2020 · 22:23 UTC
i like boids, nice game, fun.
i used boids in my game too
jonah
19. Apr 2020 · 22:33 UTC
Fun game! I like how the swarm moves, almost like multiple feet of a running monster.

The last few levels were the most funny, you almost tricked me in getting the extra health or going to the wrong side.

nice job!

👍 I would like to see an option for a hard mode where the speed is set to a higher value.
cjm
19. Apr 2020 · 23:28 UTC
Nice game!
BJakubowski
19. Apr 2020 · 23:44 UTC
Fun concept, but for me it should be faster tho
beeguy
20. Apr 2020 · 00:16 UTC
I feel like the movement should be slightly faster, but other than that it's a really fun game. I feel a personal connection to my swarm now. Not many Ludum Dare games can do something like that.
Nick Barrash
20. Apr 2020 · 01:22 UTC
Well done, I liked how there's replay value in the "Star" system -- you can just beat the level with heavy swarm casualties or you can go back and try to perfect with without any swarm deaths. I also liked the swarm animation.
Bruno Marchi
20. Apr 2020 · 01:22 UTC
I really like the idea of adding power-ups, it managed to keep the game mechanic interesting throughout the game. I think that if the speed was slightly faster, it would be even better.

Nice job! I hope you had fun making it!
joannetteg
20. Apr 2020 · 01:23 UTC
Great concept ! Would have loved a bit more "juice", would really make that game pop.
ubershmekel
20. Apr 2020 · 01:38 UTC
I wish I had an "up" button to go faster. The first 6 levels were too slow and boring for me. I did like the power-ups, and the swarm mechanic was interesting. I would have liked to see an infinite version of this game where you see how long you can last when it keeps getting faster and crazier.
Dylan Pineo
20. Apr 2020 · 01:51 UTC
Hey now that is a great concept! I had fun going through the increasingly difficult levels but never felt unable to complete!

I would love to increase my control on the swarm though. The random bouncing is very hard to anticipate and something like a Pikmin Whistle to direct which direction my swarm focuses towards would be very much appreciated.

Really great concept though one of my favourites I've played thus far.
Willops
20. Apr 2020 · 02:11 UTC
Cool game! I think it would add a bit more depth to your game if you implemented some direct way to control the swarm. I also felt as though the movement was a little too slow and unresponsive. Interesting take on using a swarm though, I've never seen anything like this.
Quinn_Patrick
20. Apr 2020 · 02:31 UTC
I like seeing games like this with unique mechanics. It would be nice, however, to have more fluid control.
Jason Woerner
20. Apr 2020 · 02:38 UTC
This was a fun little concept! Like others have mentioned, I enjoyed the way the swarm moved. If you ever decide to expand on this idea, having things you could do with a larger swarm would be fun (attacking enemies, or shoot them out in a direction to avoid losing them). All in all a very solid concept and execution for such a short jam =)
stolen_biscuit
20. Apr 2020 · 03:39 UTC
I enjoyed it, I think a button that lets you move your swarm horizontally at a higher speed for a short bit of time would go a long way! Great work
kevinworkman
20. Apr 2020 · 03:47 UTC
This was well done. Like others have mentioned, I think it would go a long way if the movement was a bit more dynamic, maybe with acceleration and a little control over going forward and backward. Also I think it would add a lot of character to give the swarm a personality: maybe you're a duck with some ducklings, or a cat with some kittens or something. In any case, I found myself being sucked into playing this, so nice work!
TheseusInABottle
20. Apr 2020 · 03:47 UTC
Really good game. I wish you had a bit of a tiled pattern for the floor as just solid backgrounds with auto-scrolling can make it a little difficult to decipher if a block is moving or not. While you didn't have music I do like that you used really good crunchy sound effects for the power ups when you loose a swarm.
BrotherByto
20. Apr 2020 · 08:01 UTC
Nice game, I really liked the sound effects. So nostalgic.
Ch4oticAU
20. Apr 2020 · 08:29 UTC
Fun game! I really like the concept. The controls felt good, and I think the speed was about right. It's not difficult to beat, but it's tough to master and get 3 stars on all levels. :)

PS: Hey from Reddit!
demogorgon
20. Apr 2020 · 13:17 UTC
I really liked the tutorial. It was super straightforward and helped me get into play right away!
verrazano
20. Apr 2020 · 15:54 UTC
A simple concept perfectly executed. You really took the time to polish the game and it shows. Tutorial, 10 levels a score system a mute button. Good job. I really liked level 10 it was a really good difficulty I just wish there were a few more levels at that difficulty.
Nate Wert
20. Apr 2020 · 20:35 UTC
I enjoyed the simplicity of the game and keeping the other guys alive proved to be a challenge, but a fun challenge as they seemed to always be trying to kill themselves, hahah.
SaxOps1
21. Apr 2020 · 03:25 UTC
Cool game! I like the idea :)

Here's my feedback:
* I liked there being multiple levels, but the early ones felt a bit too easy for me?
* Controls could use some work, but idk if that was just because I was running it online. They could be more responsive, if possible?
* Graphics and SFX could have some small tweaks to improve how they work together, respectively
Aditya Kumar
21. Apr 2020 · 03:50 UTC
Fun game, the swarm adds RNG, but always in the players favor which makes it more fun. Simple concept but very well polished!
Lees-Pac
21. Apr 2020 · 04:02 UTC
cool game, i think if the game a little more polished all all-round i think this game could make a great mobile game
Maindric
21. Apr 2020 · 08:47 UTC
Really cool game. A lot of levels as well. If anyone is reading this comment before playing, full screen the player. If you move the mouse off the left side while trying to move, you will inadvertently move right all of a sudden. This causes a mistaken death. Good job!
🎤 DerKuchen
21. Apr 2020 · 14:00 UTC
Thank you all for so much feedback and great ideas!
kevwpl
21. Apr 2020 · 18:48 UTC
Cool game, in my opinion the game is too easy and feels a bit slow. I also didn't like the 3D audio. But i had suprisingly fun with this game, keep it up!
Uraffululz
23. Apr 2020 · 23:02 UTC
Fun game. Good level design, and the power-ups were a nice design choice. My only criticism is the choice of colors. It was kind of difficult to see that some of the barriers were moving against the color of the background (though admittedly I do keep my phone screen rather dark).

I would definitely play more.
M2tias
11. May 2020 · 19:28 UTC
This game is so iterative I'd bet there's three games in the android app store with the same idea. But it's well made and polished. Only needs ads :D