Omiga Daycare by Wheffle

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

title.png

Everyone's got their kid these new Omiga virtual pets. They need constant attention, honestly I don't see the appeal. Teachers hate them though, so they are usually banned at school, but the poor digital creatures can't survive the school day alone. I smell a business opportunity...


Virtual Pet Daycare

These kids are willing to pay big to have someone babysit their Omiga while they're at school (where are these children getting all this money?)

Taking care of an Omiga is simple:

  • Press the green apple button when they are hungry, which you can tell from the orange fork-and-knife icon
  • Press the blue toilet button to clean the poo off the ground (how vulgar, these toys are for kids?)
  • Press the red pill button when they are sick, and you can tell they're sick by the orange frowny-face icon
  • ~~The red pill may or may not cause your Omiga to exit the matrix~~

Clients will be dropping off their Omigas constantly, but they're so easy to take care of I doubt it will be a problem. If one or two die, it probably won't matter, but if THREE die... well, that'll probably get your business shut down. The rich kids have brutal lawyers.

I hope none of these kids have those fancy expensive versions of the Omiga, they are sometimes tougher to keep alive...


Controls

  • Click the buttons on an Omiga device to interact with the Omiga
  • Click and drag on a device itself to move it around

Tools Used

  • Godot 3.2.1 - game engine
  • Pyxel Edit - pixel art
  • Gimp - fancy art / editing
  • Bfxr - sound effects
  • Bosca Ceoil - music
  • Audacity - audio editing
  • Camera Phone - taking photos of my carpet

Post-Jam Changelog

I don't think anyone will have a problem with these changes, but regardless all versions are available under the downloads section at the Bitbucket repository (follow the Source link).

  • 1.0.1 - Fixed the input system to be more mobile friendly on web, added credits on main menu

Ratings

Overall 123th 3.898⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Fun 136th 3.816⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 223th 3.684⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Theme 28th 4.337⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 320th 3.724⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Audio 68th 3.927⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Humor 80th 3.823⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Mood 166th 3.698⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Given 54🗳️ 70🗨️

Feedback

plantleaf
20. Apr 2020 · 08:35 UTC
Very cool, reminds me of those old games. The music was very good but I didn't like the graphics very much. But this is a game jam so given the time constraints you still managed to make a great game. Congrats!
airwaffle
20. Apr 2020 · 16:51 UTC
I got $1603! Extremely stressful but fun! Felt easy in the beginning, but once they started to get really mad it all went downhill. I'm fond of the look and how it is not trying to take itself to seriously.
Seothen
20. Apr 2020 · 16:52 UTC
I liked it - I did kind of get overwhelmed there though and had to quite before any of the pets started dying. I like the rearrangement aspect of it, where the user places the pets in the fashion that works for them.
mbc
20. Apr 2020 · 16:52 UTC
My score was 2443.
I really liked all the different pet varieties and how they used different food/medicine. Especially the demon one who ate meat and got cold instead of sick.
peto184
20. Apr 2020 · 16:53 UTC
Reached $1K, easy at first, gets harder at the end :D Sometimes I've got a creature sleeping, yet still desiring to be fed. Fun game, sound was nice
sndr
20. Apr 2020 · 16:57 UTC
I'm proud I got my daycare until I had 15 Omigas, but it became too much and they died.
Love that in addition to the usual pet sim tasks of the genre, you have to also manage the physical position of the devices. If you're too messy, that will probably affect your final score. There's some extra depth to such a simple thing.

I had fun! (Also, what's with the passive aggressive final message :joy: ? I did my best!)
Kaleido
20. Apr 2020 · 17:01 UTC
I made $6000! Wow this got hectic very quickly. Cute and stressful. Those omigas poop so much. Great entry!
Pincushion
20. Apr 2020 · 17:03 UTC
What a great idea! I really liked this. Eventually, I did consider franchising or at least hiring an employee.
🎤 Wheffle
20. Apr 2020 · 18:06 UTC
Thanks for the feedback guys! As a person who has tested positive for ADHD, I think I accidentally made an ad-hoc ADHD test, and honestly it stressed me out so much to play test my own game :grimacing:

@sndr I was actually planning on making different end-game messages based on how well you did, but it ended up being one of those things that slipped through the cracks!

@kaleido That's a *way* higher score than I ever got, congrats! You're a multitasking god(ess)!

@pincushion If I had more time to iterate, franchising would have added a whole new level to the game :laughing:
NEKORUMA
21. Apr 2020 · 21:57 UTC
i liked your tamagotchi concept , I also did a Tagotgotchi project, but your game is a lot of fun!
If I have a problem with it, it is missing a mute button for the music.
PurpledArtFrog
22. Apr 2020 · 08:54 UTC
:smile: Cute entry :thumbsup:

:purple_heart: :dart: :frog:
Nimphious
22. Apr 2020 · 11:37 UTC
I wrote off the tamagotchi/digimon idea of the theme because I thought it was low hanging fruit.

You ran with that idea and took it to a place I would never have thought to, and it's fantastic!

I love how quickly everything goes wrong when you have just a few too many to take care of.

I made $4150 on my first try! I have no idea if that's good or not hahaha.

![6VrSnNA.png](///raw/5b3/1/z/3249e.png)
PotatoAndTaco
22. Apr 2020 · 15:25 UTC
I love it. Starts easy, but gets nice and challenging (read: impossible)! The music was lovely. The poops were plenty. My favorite game so far. I don't have anything bad to say, sorry.
blobo
22. Apr 2020 · 16:42 UTC
Oh man does this game get intense! Wow, great game!
Vivoubos
22. Apr 2020 · 16:48 UTC
Very nice game! One of the best! The music is really great (at the end, with all the alarm, it became crazy! but it's fun!)

Congratulation on doing this!
Turncoda
22. Apr 2020 · 18:08 UTC
Great job on the UI design, it was readable and straightforward. I loved being able to move my ~~Tama~~ Omigas around on the table and watch the keychain jiggle around. I actually kinda wish I could grab them by the keychain and swing them around. And flip them upside down. That would be funny. Wouldn't it be cool if Omiga devices had accelerometers or step counters? Then you could shake the device and the Omiga might respond to that.

I really liked that there are negative consequences for taking incorrect actions. Seems obvious to say, but I think it's easy to overlook when you're designing a game. Almost expected the Omigas to express annoyance or unhappiness, but they were a little less expressive than I was hoping.

I kinda wish I could return the Omigas to their owners at some point, and perhaps that would impact the reputation of the business which would in turn adjust the intensity of the game, but I realize that this would have drastically increased the complexity of the game's design. Guess that's the reality of the compo for ya. It's fun to think about though, because it's one of those adaptive systems that makes a game more accessible for a wider range of skill levels.

Amazing that you made such a polished experience for the compo. Great job on managing your time well! The variety of Omiga really spices it up, nice touch!
🎤 Wheffle
22. Apr 2020 · 19:30 UTC
Thanks again everyone!

@nimphious I actually wrote off the virtual pet idea at first as well and stayed up pretty late the first night working on another idea. I woke up the next day, realized what I had started on was *way* out of scope, and changed gears. Sometimes it's nice to do something really simple and be able to polish it up decently. Also, I'm actually surprised I haven't seen *that* many tomagochi knock-offs!

@turncoda Great feedback! I actually spent a good hour or so trying to get keychain physics to work, then realized it wasn't a core feature and moved on. The first passes left me with a chain that shook itself apart and launched itself out of the screen. Never got back to it unfortunately. Step counters, accelerometers, annoyed animations (frowny faces and shaking their head at food when they aren't hungry perhaps?) are all *excellent* ideas I wish I had thought of, I might have been able to squeeze at least one or two of those features in.
Jason Woerner
22. Apr 2020 · 20:39 UTC
I made $3125... definitely enough to retire ;)

The premise for this game was hilarious, and the little virtual pet interactions were great (my pixel rabbits kept getting poo on themselves!) While the concept was simple, you introduced plenty of variation, both in graphics and in the audio, which really added to the experience. Really great entry - clean, simple, and fun. Excellent work!

As a side note, some little brat dropped his pet off with me with 1/3rd of its health missing! I need an option to call Child Protective Services on him! XD
PeachTreeOath
23. Apr 2020 · 02:04 UTC
$4590 here, this game is tough! I've seen a lot of tamagotchi games on LD but this one shakes up the formula in a much needed way. Usually they're pretty simple, but simply multiplying them added a whole new level of multitasking to the gameplay. I liked that you threw in a monster as a twist to it. Are there any other unique ones further out that I didn't reach?
PolyMars
23. Apr 2020 · 04:31 UTC
Neat twist on the Tamagotchi genre! The fun, hectic gameplay was complemented really well by the music and sound effects. Great job!
Conroy
23. Apr 2020 · 06:44 UTC
Good job! builds up nicely and gets quite challenging!
henrycgs
23. Apr 2020 · 08:18 UTC
This was really fun! Got to $3229. I LOVED THE MUSIC, great job on that one! The graphics could've been better but honestly it didn't bother me at all. This kinda reminded me of my game, just a lot more balanced, lol

Great job! This shows that a game doesn't have to be big in order to be fun :)

![Sem título.png](///raw/35c/41/z/32afd.png)
Emmanuel Gaillot
24. Apr 2020 · 06:28 UTC
I like the idea of having a game within a game. Very cool. The mood was a bit too stressful for me - maybe the difficulty ramp was too steep? Maybe the omigas should ask for one thing at a time, or the player could do several actions at a time?
Jelle Vermandere
24. Apr 2020 · 07:40 UTC
Overal very clear and fun game, I don't mind the rapid difficulty curve since there aren't any new complex rules to learn, you just have to click faster!
deathray
24. Apr 2020 · 20:04 UTC
This is a great take on the virtual pet idea! (which I also did) I love how simple each game is, but how frantic the gameplay gets. Really good humor, fun, mood. :clap:
meelo
25. Apr 2020 · 02:28 UTC
This is honestly brilliant - both as a business idea and as a game! It ramps up at a nice speed - and it's the sort of game where everything goes to crap (literally!) before you lose, which makes the losing just as fun as the winning. Also, the music is so good, I love it!
Baby Dino Herd
25. Apr 2020 · 02:31 UTC
The background photos added a really great tough! The UI was nice and clean, with helpful notifications, and the ability to drag and drop the Omigas. Fantastic concept for a 'clicker' game!
dingotime
25. Apr 2020 · 02:54 UTC
Really clever idea! This could be expanded into something great!
🎤 Wheffle
25. Apr 2020 · 07:18 UTC
@peachtreeoath Thanks for trying it out! If you got to the red monster, that was the last one I made, so you've seen them all! Wishing I had thrown in just one more weird as a small reward for those that got *really* deep.

@emmanuel-gaillot Thanks for playing! It does seem to get hectic very quickly, I find it interesting that at some point adding one more Omiga makes your brain go "nope, too many" and it just falls apart! Limiting the Omigas to taking turns needing something, or letting the player do multiple things at once, would kind of defeated the purpose of a multi-tasking game don't you think? I think an "outsource" mechanic might have been cool where you paid X dollars to push an Omiga onto a a hired employee, but I only thought about that after the jam unfortunately.

Thanks again for all the feedback! I have been going down the list and playing all of y'alls games!
bemmu
25. Apr 2020 · 11:39 UTC
Made $2852 and had fun while doing it. Felt like I can't blink otherwise I might kill a pet :)
mira
25. Apr 2020 · 16:36 UTC
My sister was go around and now she play it around 1 hour :smiley: so i think its very fine fit on theme and its very fun game
David Bohan
25. Apr 2020 · 16:36 UTC
Man this is really cool. To be honest I thought of making a Tomagotchi thing for this theme as well, but I couldn't figure out how to make it fun... but it looks like you did! I was shocked by how addicted I got managing all these virtual pets. This is really excellent. It would be neat if this game was broken up into rounds to get a break, but it work very well in this infinite format as well.

Sound design and graphics are spot on. Very very good work. Congrats on getting this all done in such a short amount of time!
yellowlime
25. Apr 2020 · 17:47 UTC
Good idea and execution! The gameplay was good too, but it was too easy for too long before it became utter chaos :laughing: Great punchy music, it's the thing that kept my attention before the gameplay became demanding. And cute 1-bit tamagotchis and sounds as well :slight_smile:
Hakro
26. Apr 2020 · 12:51 UTC
Really excellent game. The graphics, the mood, and the music, very nice. I thought it was too easy at the beginning, I was wrong, there was more and more and they started freeking out at the same time :)
Really lovely. Bonus point for using Godot3 :)
Cheers
NinjaCatz
26. Apr 2020 · 16:35 UTC
Everything was fine while they fit on the screen ... :sweat_smile: Well I have earned 2131$ Nice game)
AdonisDevs
26. Apr 2020 · 17:36 UTC
I made around $2000 haha! This is very creative and fun. It really gets crazy later on. If you plan to continue development on this game (which you should), I would recommend having a shop where the user can spend the money on stuff that makes the work easier, such as an automatic feeder or something. But, for jam purposes, this is one of the better ones I've played :D
James Beninger
26. Apr 2020 · 17:45 UTC
Nice variety on the animals. It felt good to see a new one slide in that I hadn't seen before, and stopped it from feeling too monotonous. It's also a good difficulty curve. You start out thinking "huh, this is pretty easy" and end up thinking...not that.
gustavo.christino
27. Apr 2020 · 20:53 UTC
![Omiga Daycare.png](///raw/bc7/6/z/336f4.png)
gustavo.christino
27. Apr 2020 · 21:25 UTC
Análise...

1 - Mecânicas, Aprendizado e Fluxo:
Muito interessante a mecânica de colocar diversos pets (estilo Tamagotchi) lado a lado para que sejam cuidados enquanto se gerencia (também) o posicionamento de cada um.
Começa em ritmo adequado ao aprendizado da mecânica individual (alimentação, limpeza e medicação), para então começar a trabalhar o aprendizado do gerenciamento da mesa.
O fluxo começa tranquilo, avança sem maiores dificuldades, até que alcança um ritmo frenético e muito complicado (hahahahah).
Gostaria que o jogo tivesse um fim (uma condição de vitória), mas está trabalhando mais como um arcade (da forma como está). Digo isso por querer ter a sensação de progresso (ainda mais que não há (diretamente implementado) um sistema unificado de pontuação).
Em tempo de Ludum Dare, está tudo muito bacana em termos de jogabilidade (ao meu ver).

2 - Gráficos, Áudio, Narrativa e Polimento:
Os gráficos são simples (e cada criatura possui variantes em sua apresentação visual (e vai além)).
O áudio pode se tornar repetitivo/enjoativo (principalmente para quem não está jogando (ficar ouvindo a música repetidamente)), para quem joga também é repetitivo (mas bem menos e demora bastante para ter o efeito negativo).
A narrativa é simples e direta (não há muito o que falar sobre ela).
Polimentos podem ser feitos (fora do tempo de game jam). :)

3 - Cultura:
Faz referência ao cuidado de pets, pessoas e Tamagotchi (envolvendo também jogos como Digimon World e (em partes) Pokémon).
Tudo isso permitiria (caso o projeto fosse continuado, polido e incrementado) ir atrás de um nicho (para entregar o jogo a eles) e, através disso, o jogo contribuir para o fortalecimento do próprio nicho.

4 - Monetização:
Se for bem trabalhado, pode se tornar um bom e divertido jogo em stores como itch.io ou (se possível), alterado para um formato para smartphones (onde teria como ver no máximo 3–5 por tela e ficar alternando entre as telas).
gustavo.christino
27. Apr 2020 · 21:26 UTC
Analysis...

1 - Mechanics, Learning and Flow:
Very interesting the mechanics of placing several pets (Tamagotchi style) side by side so that they are cared for while managing (also) the positioning of each one.
It starts at an appropriate pace to learn the individual mechanics (food, cleaning and medication), and then begins to work on learning to manage the table.
The flow starts smoothly, progresses without major difficulties, until it reaches a frantic and very complicated rhythm (hahahahah).
I would like the game to end (a condition of victory), but it is working more like an arcade (as it is). I say this because I want to have a sense of progress (especially since there is no (directly implemented) unified scoring system).
In Ludum Dare's time, everything is very cool in terms of gameplay (in my opinion).

2 - Graphics, Audio, Narrative and Polishment:
The graphics are simple (and each creature has variants in its visual presentation (and beyond)).
The audio can become repetitive / sickening (mainly for those who are not playing (listening to the music repeatedly)), for those who play it is also repetitive (but much less and takes a long time to have the negative effect).
The narrative is simple and straightforward (there is not much to talk about).
Polishments can be done (outside of game jam time). :)

3 - Culture:
It refers to the care of pets, people and Tamagotchi (also involving games like Digimon World and (in parts) Pokémon).
All of this would allow (if the project were continued, polished and increased) to go after a niche (to deliver the game to them) and, through this, the game contribute to the strengthening of the niche itself.

4 - Monetization:
If done well, it can become a good and fun game in stores like itch.io or (if possible) changed to a format for smartphones (where you would see a maximum of 3–5 per screen and switch between screens) .
alex457
28. Apr 2020 · 21:07 UTC
This game gets crazy late in the process! I liked that some Omigas went to sleep allowing to relax for some time. Great job!
ayushka
06. May 2020 · 18:46 UTC
Thought it'd be quite easy for me - childhood tamagotchi master, but my inner OCD got the best of me and I spent a little bit too much time arranging the Omigas in nice straight rows and columns. But the second try...! ...didn't go well either! Really challenging and stressful and fun, good job!