while(true) by Noah Kuhn

Are you tired of executing code? In this game, the code executes you!
It starts off very simple and gets out of hand quickly. Play as a little blue robot collecting cookies and chips in a small pixely world. See the code that dictates item spawning and enemy movement. Break out of an infinite and randomly-generated series of while loops of increasing difficulty and speed, or else the enemies being spawned will threaten your ability to get to the spawners you need.
This project was a lot to take on for me, and I will be the first to admit I neglected quite a few things (~~UI, music, and art, namely~~). I am, however, glad that I got all of it to fit the "old computer" aesthetic and be playable! This is my first Ludum Dare and I was determined to submit to the Compo, so I'm considering it a success regardless :)
| Youtube | https://noahkuhn.itch.io/while-true |
| Youtube | https://gitlab.com/nk_ultra/while_true |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/whiletrue-1 |
Ratings
| Overall | 385th | 3.289⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 500th | 2.803⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 65th | 3.947⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 35th | 4.276⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 207th | 3.632⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 341th | 2.958⭐ | 38🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 237th | 2.79⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 266th | 3.264⭐ | 38🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 36🗳️ | 48🗨️ |
It took me 30 secs to understand what was going on but once I got it I was in awe!
Also the enemies don't move. I don't know if it's a problem on my end or a design choice.
Awesome job 👏
I can see that a lot of thought went into making the levels failsafe, such as the resource spawners always being far away from the enemy spawner, and I also liked a lot the idea, being able to read the next code and prepare for the danger at the cost of having to stay more in your current loop is an interesting mechanic.
Good stuff :8ball:
However the graphics are easy to read, the gameplay is quickly learned and the overall idea is something I like. I see potential here. Find a way the game is challenging all the time and you have a very solid game idea here.
For what it is and in the time frame you made it, its a very good and fun game.
I think the most important issue here is that the player lacks agency: there is not much you have influence over, and because the enemies don't really chase you there also isn't a lot of skill involved. You could definitely change or add a few things and it would be a very nice game to play as well - I feel some more puzzle elements could also help. But all in all a neat job for compo.