Arrhythmia by Bodaciouslycrazy

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

You are stuck in an abandoned building, filled with ungodly monsters. Even worse, your body has forgotten how to keep your heart beating. You must manually control your heart as you inch through this dilapidated building. Can you make it out alive? Can you keep yourself alive?

https://bodaciouslycrazy.itch.io/arrhythmia

screenshot1.png screenshot2.png

https://bodaciouslycrazy.itch.io/arrhythmia

Made by: Bodie Malik and Taben Malik

additional sounds by Kayleigh Brown

Ratings

Overall 268th 3.947⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Fun 909th 3.473⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 48th 4.218⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Theme 45th 4.372⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 995th 3.782⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Audio 579th 3.605⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Mood 160th 4.128⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 25🗨️

Feedback

21. Apr 2020 · 01:22 UTC
https://gyazo.com/8155405d65575bcfbe73b414171d9f0b

yo yo. Game looks great - getting this error in-browser (firefox, windows). Hope it's an easy one :)
🎤 Bodaciouslycrazy
21. Apr 2020 · 02:08 UTC
@joe-chatfield Hey there!
I was unaware of this bug. The game has only been tested in chrome (and the standalone download). I did some searching and found some suggestions from others. Supposedly, you need to change firefox's settings to accept all cookies.
Try going to Tools → Options → Privacy and setting “Use custom settings for history” to always.

source: https://www.kongregate.com/forums/1021798-game-programming-subforum/topics/614302-webgl-security-error

I'm not sure if there is something I can change about the build to fix this though. Everything that I have seen has mentioned changing firefox settings...
Mrowka
21. Apr 2020 · 11:23 UTC
Really fun to play, awesome work!
🎤 Bodaciouslycrazy
21. Apr 2020 · 14:40 UTC
Thank you so much, @mrowka !
Has
21. Apr 2020 · 18:58 UTC
The game was very intense and atmospheric. I really liked the basic idea. Keeping the heart beating manually is something I've never seen before. Very cool!
Freyzed
21. Apr 2020 · 19:00 UTC
Idea and quality at a height: D
Ale
21. Apr 2020 · 21:53 UTC
Wow that was great!! The idea and execution are excellent. I got some strong resident evil vibes from the enemies, and the chest spike attack thing was awesome.

Awesome job with this!
22. Apr 2020 · 20:37 UTC
@bodaciouslycrazy Thanks for that - sorry for wasting your time :upside_down:

Game was very interesting - would love to see if this could be stretched out into a longer survival horror thing. Well done!
Gzuis
22. Apr 2020 · 20:39 UTC
Great idea for a game, loved that the start serves also as a intuitive tutorial for the main mechanic. Loved also that the enemies have a animation giving you some time to dodge. Great game!
dantegcar
23. Apr 2020 · 00:02 UTC
Great game. Felt the right amount of despair the entire time.
🎤 Bodaciouslycrazy
23. Apr 2020 · 18:02 UTC
Thank you for all the kind words, everyone! Yall made my day
ilPrinny
24. Apr 2020 · 03:00 UTC
Wonderful entry, great art, unique idea done well. Something to consider tho is that the feedback for the heart beat is lacking, it may have been good to hear a bassy heart beat sound with each hit, kinda like a rhythm game hit sound, also it took me a bit to realize the first console opens a door, it may be better to have the first door insight of it. Those are just some minor suggestions for a great entry. Its like a rhythm stealth game which is truly unique
LaJazuve
24. Apr 2020 · 06:12 UTC
really cool idea, and i love the almost 1bit graphs ! when a throw a bottle i'm instinctivly stop to tap on the spacebar, like if it's my real heart who stopped XD
Le Slo
24. Apr 2020 · 13:53 UTC
I loved the heartbeat mechanic, and I think it can be explored further for a really interesting survival game. The game was intense but the bottle mechanic didn't really click with me (maybe some radius effect feedback would have helped me to understand where I could throw the bottles for maximum effect), I passed through the enemies without problem. Art is very nice too and sound was ok, needed more feedback for terminals and door openening, and less volume to the bottle crash. Something pretty unique, I hope you keep exploring this, very nice job!
Flomino
24. Apr 2020 · 15:27 UTC
i like the core mechanic here, its very unique. the bottles were sort of confusing and overall i was a bit stuck. the graphics and atmosphere are well crafted. good work.
Silas the Dev
24. Apr 2020 · 15:31 UTC
This was good. The graphics were nice and understandable. The quiet bubbling combined with the heart beat mechanic lead to some great immersion. This immersion made the monster surprisingly scary and intimidating. good job with this one!
radow
24. Apr 2020 · 15:31 UTC
I absolutely love the art style and mood conveyed by it!

In the beginning I was a tad concerned that constantly tapping space in order to keep the heart beating could get tiersome and that the game would just throw a bunch of other tasks at you you had to manage at the side, but isntead it turned out to quickly become super intuitve, especially since the movement speed is tied to it. Great job!
Karenin Dmitry
24. Apr 2020 · 15:39 UTC
I like this mechanic, control speed of the charecter with hearth temp is really cool idea. This game reminds me The Last of Us stealth moments with zombies. Methinks, you can add some different enemies and levels and make full game :) But maybe using one button for items and for rhythm control not very good for expand game mechanics.

This is just my imagination:
For long game it will be too tedious to press space all time. This mechanic can be turned on in stealth moments with enemies (kinda character starts to worry a lot). So it can increase effect of tensity in these moments.

Good job, guys!
Andre Fremaux
24. Apr 2020 · 22:37 UTC
Such a cool mechanic! Its quite rare to find such a unique experience like this. I found at times double tapping space to throw was a little janky when trying to beat the heart faster to run away and so I ended up throwing bottles on accident. However I do understand adding an extra button to throw would take away from the experience of beating the heart. Apart from that one gripe I absolutely enjoyed this game! Awesome work team!
Jake Marks
24. Apr 2020 · 23:55 UTC
Fun to mess around with those gargling zombies! Really neat idea of keeping a heart beating, I feel like that part could be expanded on easily, making you need to beat slow for certain things, and fast for others.

Played on stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/601008127
DeathBySnail
25. Apr 2020 · 21:29 UTC
Nice job, cool flex on the theme and looks and sounds great.
Aurel300
26. Apr 2020 · 19:40 UTC
Clever idea. It's great that the "passive" task of making the heart beat actually has an impact on the gameplay and even fits well into the setting. The bottle-breaking sound was a lot louder than the heart beating, and since I adjusted my volume in the beginning to the sound of the heartbeat, it was a bit painful. Maybe the heartbeat should start much louder, then fade out into the background? Sometimes I felt the camera was a bit too restricted. I did not get a nasty surprise immediately after panning, but a slightly smoother transition (or showing a bit beyond doors) might be helpful.
Prackli
27. Apr 2020 · 17:08 UTC
Unique game that perfectly fits the theme.
krakadushka
28. Apr 2020 · 06:36 UTC
Awesome! I've seen games on LD46 with heartbeat mechanics, but you surprised me by adding it as an extra to the main gameplay and it's unique! I really liked the visual style, I think that due to its harmony, it creates a unique atmosphere for your project. Great job!
Mags
28. Apr 2020 · 21:38 UTC
Nice take on the theme! Good job!
Nathalia Hohl
29. Apr 2020 · 00:46 UTC
Very unique idea and very good art and sound. I just couldn't get the hang of the bottle throwing mechanich and couldn't hit the zombies.
The initial tutorial (learning how to keep the heart beating to start the game) was pretty clever.

Keep up the great work!
Fengol
29. Apr 2020 · 08:45 UTC
The art style lends to the mood of this difficult to play game.
🎤 Bodaciouslycrazy
29. Apr 2020 · 14:03 UTC
@nathalia-hohl Thank you for the feedback! the bottles were probably the most unclear thing in the game, and I wish I could go back and change them. They aren't meant to be weapons. In fact, the bottles can't even collide with the monsters, they go straight through. Instead, the sound of them breaking can be used as a distraction to get the monsters away from you. There is no way to kill the monsters, you just have to get past them.
neontropics
12. May 2020 · 00:14 UTC
The heartbeat mechanic is cool, and really adds to the mood! The graphics are cool too and have a nice creepy vibe.

Like your comment above says, the bottles were a bit confusing.