OROBOROS by nerdysl0th

[raw]
made by nerdysl0th for Ludum Dare 47 (COMPO)

OROBOROS, ​the world serpent, is the incomprehensible creature responsible for the seemingly ceaseless loop of life and death.

screenshot_4.png

To maintain this cycle, a great sacrifice is needed -- the eternal serpent must consume itself again and again for every initiated iteration.

screenshot_2.png

The realm of its dwelling, however, is one filled with cramped tunnels and lacerations in space itself.

The creature's mystical nature allows it to phase in and out of planes of existence via the means of GATES. It can willingly choose to travel through one, though it's not always necessary.

screenshot_1.png

Controls

​- WASD/arrow keys -- move

  • [R] -- restart level

  • [SPACE] -- go through gate

  • [ENTER] -- continue

  • [S] -- skip text

Description

OROBOROS is a short, terrible puzzle game. Don't expect an interesting or challenging experience, as I'm a terrible level designer.

Ratings

Overall 257th 3.5⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 297th 3.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 244th 3.444⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 79th 4.111⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 156th 3.789⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 136th 3.553⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 133th 3.2⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 150th 3.553⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 20🗳️ 10🗨️

Feedback

CodeRaurus
05. Oct 2020 · 10:21 UTC
I like it. Overall very good. The graphics and audio both match and I think atmosphere is on point.
The last level was challenging in a good way. Too bad there wasn't more levels.
a4x8e6
06. Oct 2020 · 20:23 UTC
Pretty challenging! I agree with @coderaurus , the sound and pixel graphics make for a really nice mood. (Also I like the name you have used for the link to your github repo, I feel the same about my code :joy: )
Quinn_Patrick
06. Oct 2020 · 20:44 UTC
A very fun, unique, and polished puzzle game with good audio and visuals. Not a lot to complain about, honestly, except that it is a bit short. Fantastic job.
Verbante
06. Oct 2020 · 21:08 UTC
Uhh I really like the pretentious story :D I'm a fan of creation stories, OROBOROS and snake so it hits the spot. Sound in general is on point! I had a hard time grasping the puzzles but I'm planning to come back here later with the right mind
peterfonts
15. Oct 2020 · 15:50 UTC
Great game! Robust idea with a lot of possibilities! The mood and the vibe with the cosmos, the sound, etc... it's amazing! Awesome job! Congrats!
CiaranW
15. Oct 2020 · 22:22 UTC
How can we ignore javascript? I liked the humour of the story, and the game had a good mood with the scrolling text and subtle background particles. I think the puzzles could do with a bit of polish, on several of the levels I completed them without really knowing how. Nice concept though - almost the opposite of that old nokia 'snake' game - nice entry! :)
Tbone
16. Oct 2020 · 20:48 UTC
Interesting idea like it in practice as well. Amusingly tounge and cheek as well great job.
benjamin
16. Oct 2020 · 20:57 UTC
It's a very good way to translate the ouroboros symbol to a game mechanic. I don't think you lack skill in leveldesign but the game probably need one or two additional mechanics so you can create more interesting levels. Maybe being able to modify length by reaching specific points or having to separate equally some tiles inside and outside the loops...
alexrose
16. Oct 2020 · 23:43 UTC
And thus, the mystical serpent managed to keep the eternal cycle in motion.

I like this game, but I think it would've been way better if you showed both areas of the portal on the screen. it became a guessing game instead of a logic game because I didn't know how long my snake was. I also wish I could tap through the intro since the text displayed quite slow

but.. it was a cool concept, it was well made, I liked it a lot. Those gripes were small gripes just for feedback, generally I think this game is quality.

Go rate some games and qualify, this game deserves to qualify lol
🎤 nerdysl0th
17. Oct 2020 · 22:53 UTC
### Hey all, thanks for all the feedback and kind words!

@benjamin I completely agree; At a certain point when designing the levels I felt as if I'd hit a wall, and that there wasn't enough there to create actually interesting puzzles.

---

@alexrose Oh dear, I completely missed that! At no point while programming did I think about the fact that often times the length of the snake isn't immediately apparent, mainly because I always had it right there in front of me in the map files. What's funny is in my early pen-on-paper concept of the game I had a length indicator in the corner, but I never implemented it.

Regarding your other criticism: There is a text fast-forward button (S), though I didn't indicate it anywhere since it was really added as a debug feature, thinking the text speed was probably fine for a one-time read. I'll make sure to indicate things like that better in the future, as long as I don't forget lol.
lilkrit
18. Oct 2020 · 00:27 UTC
Cool game! I just wish you could skip the lore intro.
Hawkin
18. Oct 2020 · 01:38 UTC
The intro was really cool. Some great story to add mythos to a short jam game. I thought it was very well written. And just at the point I was thinking, "Okay, maybe this is getting a little long," you slide in with that self-deprecating joke. Haha. That shows you are self-aware, which scores you extra points for me.

Otherwise, I think you took a well-known game and iterated on it just enough to make it interesting. "Oh, I'm supposed to hit myself? Neat." "Oh, I can only win if I eat my tail? Now it's a challenge."

Coming up with plenty of puzzles can be a challenge, but I thought what you had in there was a good enough start to wet my appetite. I loved it! Great job!
JHax
18. Oct 2020 · 13:26 UTC
There's a really cool vibe to this game, some good puzzles in here for sure.

Audio and visuals work really well together.

I think I'd like to be able to undo a single move rather than having to start levels all over again, but the levels are sort of small enough that it's not much of an issue.
tiffi
18. Oct 2020 · 16:40 UTC
After I figured out, what this game is about (which took me way long as expected :-D) it was a pretty cool challenging game. I love the graphics btw
Frank Gevaerts
18. Oct 2020 · 17:39 UTC
Nice game! The intro was a good idea, although I'm not sure I'd have gone with a typewriter style :)
I would have preferred seeing the entire puzzle at once. Having to remember the other area while thinking makes the game harder in a way that I think doesn't necessarily make it better. Sorry for nitpicking, I liked it overall :)
Amar Ravi
18. Oct 2020 · 21:00 UTC
Fun Game! I like the concept here, and also love that its a twist on such a familiar game. Once the portals were introduced, it'd have been cool to see them side by side since remembering the initial layout was a little too difficult. I sort of got stuck on the 3rd puzzle I think? (the 2nd level after the portal introduciton). Great job on the game :)