Amalgamage by TheWustache

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

name.png

Does the amalgamage know how to turn lead into gold, call lightning from the sky or turn his enemies to stone? No, but he does know how to botch things together until they get way too big to handle.

As long as he can keep the heart of his creation, the amalgam, from touching the energy walls that surround his workspace, all is well in amalgamage-land. Which would be easy, if it wasn't for all the stuff flying around his laboratory…

gameplay.gif

Controls:

Shoot: Space or Left Click

Aim: Mouse

Move: A and D or Left and Right Arrow


Made with Godot / Photoshop / Bfxr


Amalgamage

(/əˈmalɡəmeɪdʒ/)

: From the words amalgam (mixture) and mage.

Ratings

Overall 453th 3.833⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Fun 276th 3.848⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 32th 4.303⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 577th 3.97⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 949th 3.818⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Audio 1181th 3.091⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1638th 2.464⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1406th 3.297⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Given 45🗳️ 48🗨️

Feedback

Itey
21. Apr 2020 · 10:22 UTC
Both concept and graphics are incredible! Good job
Barbiche
21. Apr 2020 · 10:41 UTC
Dude I love this game, the idea is cool and the art is great !
hangarter
21. Apr 2020 · 10:44 UTC
Loooooove this! So simple and so fun. Really cool idea.
Feels like a retro Atari game with more style!
koljam
21. Apr 2020 · 10:45 UTC
This is really good! At first I thought the graphics were too "busy" but I got used to id really fast. The game is hard but not too hard (best I could do was 24). The graphics and the sound fit really good. This is a nice package!
cowa
21. Apr 2020 · 10:46 UTC
Nice little game. It works very well.
I really like the art!
SlimmerBurger
21. Apr 2020 · 10:54 UTC
This is such a cool game, I can't think of anything to say to improve it.
Deadwave Games
21. Apr 2020 · 10:54 UTC
Really great looking game, and the simple (but novel) concept really has the feel of some forgotten arcade game from the 70s/80s.

An area for improvement would be that it gets very unmanageable very fast - but I don't think that's a super serious criticism for a short jam game, that emulates an old school quarter muncher. Maybe a powerup that lets you blast symbols off your amalgam for a short time to give you a chance to last longer would be good.

Either way, great game - thanks for sharing!
hag
21. Apr 2020 · 10:57 UTC
Cool and simple game. I like the retro feel to it. The audio was a bit rough, but it does fit the rest of the concept I guess. Good job :slight_smile:
Freya C
21. Apr 2020 · 11:00 UTC
This is a nicely minimal, fun little game. I like the graphical style a lot - nice and crunchy.
Affecting the momentum of the amalgam early on gets quite tricky with the delay between rotating around the circle and then the firing rate limit. Actually found that once more stuff starts flying around, it gets easier for a while because the amalgam gets automatically batted back into the middle...
noahnewline
22. Apr 2020 · 04:32 UTC
I love how simple and minimal it is! A unique aesthetic and goal. It was tricky at first but I started to understand the physics and how to keep the amalgam alive. Really cool!
Rongefilet
22. Apr 2020 · 12:27 UTC
Oh wow just solid, innovative concept and clean execution, only the sounds can be a little harsh but well it serves the aesthetic, well done!
Roey_Shap
23. Apr 2020 · 08:48 UTC
Super solid - well done. Clearly conveyed, simple goal, fun, replayable; the list goes on. Minor nitpicks include sound being a little bit harsh and repetitive and maybe having the cooldown timer flash or something when reaching zero to add a bit of oopmh to an important gameplay element.
Sweet game!

EDIT: I came back after remembering something that would be an easy an effective upgrade! The cursor not being stuck as white, but a different, vivid color entirely, or (for needless fanciness), a dynamically changing contrasting color.
Rikitaner
27. Apr 2020 · 10:08 UTC
Very clever game! It's also quite fun. I love the fact that it's physics based and you must calculate your moves. Love the simple graphics aswell. Great job!
slotha
29. Apr 2020 · 04:52 UTC
Awesome! I think I'm going to come back and play this game after the event is over! great idea and amazing execution!
Guille
11. May 2020 · 16:12 UTC
I loved he game! The intuitiveness was awesome! The games art style was graet, and the player movement felt very nice! The game felt like an arcade game from the 70s/80s like @deadwave-games said. This was one of my favorite game Jam Game. Over all awesome job, and keep it up!
Junber
11. May 2020 · 17:03 UTC
I don't know why Ludum Dare doesn't have more of these games that take a simple but really neat idea and just run with it. That seems like a perfect fit and this is a great example of how well these can work!
The graphics also seem to reflect that design principle by being minimalist but still conveying everything clearly and looking stylish in the process.
The game is really fun and the difficulty ramps up nicely. I would have found it more intuitive if left and right were switched and often mistakenly rotated in the wrong direction but that's just personal preference and it wasn't a huge issue either. On the risk of revealing that I suck at this game, I'm gonna say that I managed to get a highscore of 50. That was 40 before I started writing this comment but I went back a few times for just one more try. Great job!
gustavo.christino
12. May 2020 · 19:44 UTC
~~Still playing now...~~ :)

I'm trying to figure out what is happening. Hahahahahah.

![HUM.png](///raw/bc7/6/z/34187.png)

I think I get it! :) o/ And it's fun!

![TWO.png](///raw/bc7/6/z/34188.png)

![THRE.png](///raw/bc7/6/z/34189.png)