Feng Shui Struggles by Nozomu57
A tribute to all the times I needed to rearrange the furniture in my small apartment...
Controls: mouse!
Play on itch.io for fullscreen button (link below)
| Link | https://github.com/bushmin/Ludum-Dare-54 |
| itch.io | https://nozomu57.itch.io/feng-shui-struggles |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/feng-shui-struggles |
Ratings
| Overall | 30th | 4.14⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 54th | 3.991⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 50th | 4⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 3th | 4.667⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 97th | 3.866⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 59th | 3.816⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 19th | 4.075⭐ | 55🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 21th | 4.009⭐ | 57🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 26🗳️ | 43🗨️ |
But for real, as frustrating as dragging some of the furniture around, and trying to squeeze past each other and twist and turn it is... It was also kind of fun and relaxing. The music was a bit repetitive after a bit, but also nice.
My small concern is that levels 1 and 4 are much more challenging than the rest. And level 5 is a masterpiece ;)
Really well executed idea and very fitting to the theme :)
The mood is set up just right by the cute little music, nice puzzle mechanic. The particles and moving sounds are a nice touch too. The mechanic is simple but the level design is smart and the game is just the right size.
Great job and thanks, i had a nice time!
The dragging was a little janky sometimes.
- Take on the theme and overall idea
- Good difficulty, but no too frustrating
- How you can move the piano through the window ;)
- Music, reminds me of some of Night in the Woods OST :)
- Intuitive controls
What I didn’t like:
- Your taste in furniture arrangement
- Sometimes it feels like furniture gets stuck a bit even in empty space
What I’d suggest:
- More sound, special for each furniture :)
@chailotl thank you thank you! you are the first one to mention "relatable", and that was actually part of design decision (more on that below)
@chybby @dob @vollfeiw @mdotedot @lelulagames @prologi and others who wrote about strange physics: maybe now I would've done things differently, but at the time of creating this game I wanted to convey the feeling from real world furniture rearrangement, wanted it to be in a way the same level of difficulty and despair - hence the word "Struggle" in the name. Maybe jam is not the best place to portray my feelings and experience, but maybe at least that would clarify why I made furniture move with such friction.
Will probably update physics after the voting ends :)
While playing, I could imagine the pain of the people squeezing into tight corners to push that giant wardrobe. 😁
Great job making this game!
I agree with everyone saying the difficulty progression feels great. At the beginning of the 4th level I almost screamed, but I managed to finish everything
Now the world can finally feel my pain :D
I am not very good at it. Was trying to see if you put an easter egg in and I could throw the TV out the window!
I liked the friction from each item as it was dragged about the place.
Nice submission!
I've recorded a walkthrough though, you can just watch it: https://youtube.com/watch?v=VGkPWgCtfRI
I appreciate how intuitive the controls are once you get used to them. Really amazing work :)
"How the hell am I going to get that piano over there?! Unless I can... OH!" 🤣
Would be really cool to have some sort of small pop-up explanation of some of the Feng Shui decisions.
Audio could have a bit more variety! Would have loved for the background music to be a bit longer too but otherwise it evokes the right mood, and loops seamlessly.
The added humor of the piano was fantastic!
Great game. I really like the background sound.
Like Unpacking, just with emotional trauma.
Or just more emotional trauma.
Good take on the theme though :slight_smile:
Loved the final puzzle a lot. I kept repeating to myself ' there is no way! Wait? Really??! ' haha well done!
The idea is simple but great. Moving the furniture feels very nice an intuitive, even if, sometimes, it's a bit rigid.
The mood is cozy and nice.
Great little entry overall. GG.
I think the fourth room was better the way it was. How are you ever supposed to use that chair in the new location?
About 3rd level: it was supposed to be a small joke :smile: that sometimes it's not about rearranging lots of furniture, but just trying to find a perfect spot for one shelf.
And about 4th level: it was actually a part of a bigger meta-joke about "Feng Shui struggles": only first level is really about Feng shui, and with each next level we are further and further from it, with 4th being actually a complete reversal, going from a nice layout to... this abomination :smiley:
I also laughed at the option to break the windows :D
Graphics, audio, gameplay - all on a such polished level, I think you might just add more levels (and maybe some additional mechanics) and go for full release :)) Great job, even more so for a compo entry!

The graphics were top notch, simple yet effective and the music also brings the mood together! One of my favourite games I've played thus far for sure! <3