Crushing Blocks Till You Drop by Jonathan Lorenz

[raw]
made by Jonathan Lorenz for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

CrushingBlocksScreen1.jpg

Dig your through all those colored blocks, make combo to get oxygen and energy. Let's see how deep you can go!

CrushingBlocksScreen2.jpg

You can recharge your energy level (yellow) and oxygen level (red) by crushing a group of 3 or more blocks.

Move : arrow keys Jump : ctrl Dig : space

POSTJAM VERSION AVAILABLE!

Features: - Roguelite elements - Room diversity - Bonus zones - Shops - Missions - Revamped UI - A better overall experience

The postjam version is more like what I originaly had in mind. Feel free to check it out (windows build downloadable from the itch page).

CrushingBlocksScreenPostJam.jpg

Ratings

Overall 1293th 3.295⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 819th 3.409⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1036th 3.114⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1094th 3.5⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1633th 2.773⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Audio 440th 3.69⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1187th 2.324⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1593th 2.85⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

DoctorTM
28. Apr 2021 · 00:56 UTC
Nice jam!

(CTRL for jump is a bad design. Every time I wanted to jump and move right using D, Chrome asked me if I want to bookmark the tab)
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
28. Apr 2021 · 17:23 UTC
Ho, didn't noticed that, thanks for the feedback @doctortm !
LDJam user 234807
13. May 2021 · 18:33 UTC
Cute game. The music and sound is very nice. Perhaps make the learning curve a bit less steep. The game ends very fast! Will play it again when I have more time. Good job.
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
13. May 2021 · 19:49 UTC
@collin-visser I agree with you, the jam version ends pretty quickly. I added more stuffs in the postjam version and it makes for longer (and more interesting) runs. Thanks for the feedback!
Yaroslav Kravtsov
13. May 2021 · 20:23 UTC
All my respects to the tutorial you made. Unfortunately, many developers have forgot to explain how to play their games. But you did it!
lilkrit
13. May 2021 · 21:08 UTC
I also had the ctrl-D issue :P But a cool game otherwise.
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
13. May 2021 · 22:30 UTC
Thank you @yaroslav-kravtsov ! When really simply implementedlike this I really think the time put in it is worth it!
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
13. May 2021 · 22:30 UTC
@lilkrit Sorry about that! Fixed in the postjam version. Thanks for your feedback!
Empty Set
14. May 2021 · 11:53 UTC
I like the combination of platforming and puzzle elements with trying to mine through connected groups of blocks.

The fact that you're trying to mine *downwards* for a lot of the game feels kinda iffy, though, since there aren't as many options to set up groups of blocks as when you're going horizontally.

The physics had some occasional issues - sometimes the blocks would get stuck and not fall into place properly. Unity physics might not be ideal for puzzle-game-style blocks...

It's cool that you made a post-jam version - might check that out later.
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
15. May 2021 · 08:43 UTC
@empty-set There are indeed some issues with the physics that I wasn't able to solve properly. I also liked your thought about the fact that there aren't many option to set up groups of blocks. I will keep that I mind for the next iteration of the game. Thank you for your feedback!
Hunter X
15. May 2021 · 17:19 UTC
A fun concept! Reminds me of stuff like Mr Driller where you have to choose which blocks to mine carefully. I'd echo some of the previous comments about using Ctrl to jump, and some of the physics was unusual but not necessarily bad (like being able to bounce the blocks into the air by jumping beneath them) but on the whole it's still enjoyable :)
Yword
15. May 2021 · 18:25 UTC
Nice idea, it is fun to play and the music is great too! Maybe it will be more challenging if some blocks may deal damage or require more digs to destroy. Nice works!
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
15. May 2021 · 20:25 UTC
@hunter-x Good job, Mr Driller was indeed my inspiration for this game! I'm happy someone spotted it! Thanks for your comment!

@yword Doing Multiple types of blocks to give player more diversity and more challenge was the plan but I didn't managed to do it in time. In the end I chose to do "mini missions" objectives in the post jam version. Works pretty well! Thank you for your comment!
Poorwill
15. May 2021 · 22:56 UTC
Good job! Gameplay is interesting. It works well as a prototype, but you'd probably need to use some other logic for the movement of blocks, other than Unity physics. Currently it feels kind of loose as a result.

Other than that, good clear tutorial, nice visualization. The shift/ctrl + space combination kind of confuses the fingers, as space is usually the jump button :D

Well done on the post jam version as well!
Peace Of Cake Games
16. May 2021 · 04:08 UTC
This is a solid entry! Took me a bit to figure out that both digging and jumping take energy, which was a bummer at first since I love it when games have infinite jump. But then I realized that jumping was actually just energy-wasting bait once you get to a descending part. 😁

438.42 meters seems pretty decent, I broke 315 blocks and probably had over 1000 money. Eventually I suffocated even though a huge chain of oxygen was one dig away.... 😟 Oh well, that's what I get for stalling just to get a huge chain of money.
blubberquark
16. May 2021 · 05:57 UTC
I thought there was a reason the blocks were coloured like oxygen and energy bars
YouK
16. May 2021 · 06:03 UTC
Very interesting and intuitive game. My favorite point is that players don't need too much guidance to understand this game and they can start to enjoy soon.
epb9000
16. May 2021 · 10:52 UTC
Wow, this is great. I like the puzzle-chaining aspect a lot. One thing I'd like to point out is the lack of contrast between the dark blocks and the similarly dark background. I couldn't see them due to slight visual impairment. leading to some confusion. (Primarily, I wouldn't fall to the place I was expecting since I didn't immediately realize the dark blocks were present.)
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
17. May 2021 · 09:39 UTC
Thanks for the feedback @epb9000! I didn't thought about visual impaired people, thanks to you I will keep that in mind! Maybe set the blocks to a more fluorescent color and keep the background that darkish color. Thanks!
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
17. May 2021 · 10:17 UTC
Thanks for the feedback @youk, glad you liked it!
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
17. May 2021 · 10:19 UTC
@peace-of-cake-games Hahaha, yes 438 meters is pretty decent! I once managed to pas the 1000 meters, but then the UI broke because it can't contain a hughe number. Thanks for the feedback!
🎤 Jonathan Lorenz
17. May 2021 · 10:21 UTC
@poorwill I agree with your remaks about the physic system and the controls. Ultimately I need to set up controller inputs. Thanks for your feedback and for checking out the post jam version as well!