I thought this was a fascinating game. I was a little bit confused about what was happening at first - but when I got it I loved it. I think you said it best with describing the game as contemplative.
I won game after game against the opponent with this distribution - I actually think the perception might be a disadvantage - the winning strategy seems to be to just flood the petri dish with as many splits as possible without getting distracted.
The creatures don't get much smaller than that! I played for about 20-ish rounds. You win some, you lose some... ;) Would have liked mutations to play a part in adapting and surviving. Good job on your game!
Really cool idea held back by it being pretty unclear what any of the stats do. Whatever's going on happens so fast and there's practically no feedback except cell counter and who ultimately won or lost, but it's not that bad. Focusing hard on 'Age Limit' seemed to make me win alot more and I think it's because each of my cells then had more children but, again, 'it's hard to tell' is the main downside affecting this game. Overall, really cool!
I can't believe you done this in 23 hours! :dizzy_face: A really unique & fun idea! I feel like some people will miss out on this one because it doesn't really have a tutorial. Regardless Amazing job, would love to see this idea fleshed out to it's full potential :smile:
The gameplay is simple to pick up, but there’s enough depth to keep you thinking. The visuals are mesmerizing—watching the cells interact and evolve feels like a dance of colors and shapes, creating an atmosphere that’s both chill and engaging. It's a bit like meditation. This is perfect balance between fun and relaxation
Very nice entry (I miss some sound !)
Interesting game. I liked looking at the small cells moving around. I'm curious about what kind of avoidance you used. I did not feel like I had a lot of agency but I can imagine the game could become really deep with more development time!
This is a super interesting idea, I think there's some mileage here but in it's current form it's really hard to really understand what choices I'm making and what affect they're having. However as I say it's a very cool project with a lot of potential.
Contemplative is a great description of this game. There is something relaxing about watching the divisions, and your art style did a lot for it working as well as it does. I think it may have been more interesting to have the choice of any of the upgrades each time I lost, I probably would have tried a few different “builds” to see what the stats did; some of them were not very clear (what could the difference between percept.width and distance be?). Along with that could have gone some kind of score counter for the number of rounds won and lost. Aside from the things I could see making this an even better game, as a contemplation experience I think it did great. Very well done!
I really liked the atmosphere of this one. It feels like every jam there's a few random entries that are "just" little circle simulations or auto-battlers, but this one actually fits the theme well, and the microscope / petri dish view is a very atmospheric setting. (Nice bloom effect too.)
I was a bit confused by the upgrade process at large. I get it that you only get to upgrade when your creatures lose, but what determines which updates are upgrade-able?
Very on theme, I was quite confused about what to do though I I ended up just spamming next round till I have 8 starting and then never lost more than once in a row
Could have done with a little more explanation about what was going on, but once I got through a few rounds really started cheering for my little guys and enjoying it.
Contemplative is a great description of this project. Nice use of the theme. I think that I don't understand everything about the main gameplay, but I loved watching all these cells moving into this tiny space. Well done - smooth. Thank you for this weird experience ++
Huh that is interesting. Despite the right microbes having way better stats, they always lose now. I don't know what I did...
I like the theme interpretation a lot. Going as tiny as possible is a cool choice. Though the feedback was so lackluster that I didn't understand the game at all at first. Like, I didn't realize that I won a round when I did because the game still says "Oops, lose" and tells me to "improve dna" even though I can't even choose anything. Similarly confusing is the fact that when you do win, you get to choose between some of the traits to improve them but it seems arbitrary which traits you get to improve. For a casual game, this was sadly quite the confusing experience and start into the game.
Unfortunately there's one more strange game design aspect I'd like to highlight: You only get to make a choice when you lose. That means, that you are kind of rooting for the enemy to win so that you can have an interaction with the game. I think because of this, it may be better suited as a 2-player game where each time, both players get to make a choice and the losing player always gets to choose last so they can react to their opponent's strategy, as a catch-up-mechanic.
I wish there was some audio.
The game also lagged quite a bit for me but it's ok because it doesn't require fast reactions at any time.
An unusual game, and one I never would have considered for my own entry — I eschew science when I can. In any case, you certainly nailed the theme. It took me a while to figure out what was happening and what I needed to do. It seems that *Start With* and *Divide at Age* are key. Once I learned how to manipulate those factors, I had a series of winning streaks. I am not sure how the other factors work, though I experimented with some of them.
In a way, it was relaxing to watch the tiny creatures battle it out. It is almost like a tower defense game in this respect, although there are some important differences. Overall, a unique entry that shows a lot of imagination.
At first I read Oop. lose like "oops you lose", so I was a bit confused, but things made a bit more sense after I figured out it was opponent lose. I would like it to be a bit more obvious who is the player versus the opponent, since the colors are pretty close and they are both labeled just "DNA." The upgrade was a bit confusing for me in knowing when I could upgrade and what the upgrade would do, but I did like to watch the cells fight each other. I also liked the look of the cells like you're under a microscope.
I won game after game against the opponent with this distribution - I actually think the perception might be a disadvantage - the winning strategy seems to be to just flood the petri dish with as many splits as possible without getting distracted.
Very nice entry (I miss some sound !)
I was a bit confused by the upgrade process at large. I get it that you only get to upgrade when your creatures lose, but what determines which updates are upgrade-able?
I like the theme interpretation a lot. Going as tiny as possible is a cool choice. Though the feedback was so lackluster that I didn't understand the game at all at first. Like, I didn't realize that I won a round when I did because the game still says "Oops, lose" and tells me to "improve dna" even though I can't even choose anything. Similarly confusing is the fact that when you do win, you get to choose between some of the traits to improve them but it seems arbitrary which traits you get to improve. For a casual game, this was sadly quite the confusing experience and start into the game.
Unfortunately there's one more strange game design aspect I'd like to highlight: You only get to make a choice when you lose. That means, that you are kind of rooting for the enemy to win so that you can have an interaction with the game. I think because of this, it may be better suited as a 2-player game where each time, both players get to make a choice and the losing player always gets to choose last so they can react to their opponent's strategy, as a catch-up-mechanic.
I wish there was some audio.
The game also lagged quite a bit for me but it's ok because it doesn't require fast reactions at any time.
In a way, it was relaxing to watch the tiny creatures battle it out. It is almost like a tower defense game in this respect, although there are some important differences. Overall, a unique entry that shows a lot of imagination.