Critical Mass by Almax

[raw]
made by Almax for Ludum Dare 56 (JAM)

TitleScreen.png

We massively enjoyed this jam, but definitely overscoped :)

If you enjoy zen village builders, this might be up your street!

Music, sfx and art made during the jam. Created in UE5.

VID<em>31100527</em>184214_707-ezgif.com-optimize (1).gif

Ratings

Overall 198th 3.929⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 153th 3.889⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 291th 3.607⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 379th 3.875⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 138th 4.352⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Audio 34th 4.214⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Humor 369th 3.36⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 6th 4.5⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 47🗳️ 40🗨️

Feedback

Kilian Liccia
08. Oct 2024 · 14:15 UTC
Played the game for a bit of time, its so nice ! I'd have loved to see what the game would have been if you had more time, like maybe having our creatures harvesting stuff for us ? The music took a long time to start playing, but it fits the mood very well, loved it !
luckix
08. Oct 2024 · 14:22 UTC
Really nice village builder you have here! Really want to see the next version of it. Congrats!
🎤 Almax
08. Oct 2024 · 14:53 UTC
@kilian-liccia thanks for playing! If you build a wood or berry store you can assign idle villagers to them. There are a lot of mechanics in the game with no tutorialisation. It's something we planned to have explained through the game progression (unlocking buildings when you go to worship, popcap increasing per house, etc) but just getting the core features in took all the time we had!

I might write a retrospective for this jam, and do a post jam update because while I think the idea was great, the execution could have been managed better :)
Just a dev
08. Oct 2024 · 14:55 UTC
It may be unfinished, but it's a cool game nonetheless! Honestly for a jam it could pass as a completed game with no issues.

As it is the gameplay loses it's interest quickly after the first "worship" because there's not much to do beside build house, feed and repeat. But what is there is really well polish, the creatures are very cute and a cult aspect (some Cult of the Lamb inspiration?) sounds interesting.

I'm not a fan of the control scheme tho, I would prefer to scroll instead of using Q and E to go through the actions.
NeoAwesomeon
13. Oct 2024 · 21:00 UTC
I'm kinda sad there wasn't more. Once the population hit 6, there just wasn't more I could figure out to do. There is definitely the bones of something here though. The art and music of the game is lovely though.
Exa
15. Oct 2024 · 07:21 UTC
Nice game,very interesting plot!!!!Nice job!!!!
SMoore
16. Oct 2024 · 01:43 UTC
Very cute game. I had a fun time trying to see how fast I could procure the materials for the few buildings in the game. Sound and music are phenomenal and really set a great mood for this type of game.
Sasha20
16. Oct 2024 · 20:38 UTC
The aesthetic quality in the game complements its interesting theme wonderfully. Good Job!
dhim
21. Oct 2024 · 19:01 UTC
Sorry, I saw your post, but I am on a Mac, and I can only play html5 or Mac build. Rate and provide feedback on more games that the best way to get reviews!

Good luck
Langotriel
21. Oct 2024 · 20:03 UTC
Loving the music and overall atmosphere! I also love city builders and management. Getting some cult of the lamb vibes and I don't think that's unintended ;) It's a shame you couldn't fulfill your vision but you should be proud of what you managed to get made!
Dianavi
21. Oct 2024 · 20:13 UTC
Ooh, what a cute game! Okay, it's unfinished, but for a jam, it's sufficient. ^^ You should continue developing it after the jam because the gameplay could use a bit more variety for this type of game.
Empyreans
21. Oct 2024 · 20:22 UTC
There weren't that many Unreal Engine games!
Well done even if unfinished and I can definitely relate with overscoping :)

~XpMonster
HermesEs
22. Oct 2024 · 08:58 UTC
Cute art and solid gameplay! I enjoyed it a lot, great job!!
She Wrote
22. Oct 2024 · 13:14 UTC
Super cute! I would have loved to see the secret ending and more of the game. The little creatures are definitely my favorite part; they are so adorable! The overall gameplay works really well, and I like that we have to worship to increase the number of people in the village, it gives a solid sense of progression. Well done!
Forik
23. Oct 2024 · 02:12 UTC
Game looks great and creatures are really cute!
And I glad to see one more game in unreal =D
Overscope... Its happen with me every Jam and its okey. The best way is make your game step by step then you can easy dont wast a time for features that you will cut.
And main thing - you end it, Not perfect but its jam and its okey.
Great work!
Lyssa
24. Oct 2024 · 04:17 UTC
I adore the style the game has, stylized town builders are some of my favorite games and I think what you guys made this look like is a feat in itself in the time given! I would love to see a finished version of this in the future
MaxDrago
24. Oct 2024 · 18:18 UTC
Awesome game! I really hope you don't abandon the idea, it's really very interesting. Developing the settlement is interesting and the visuals are very nice.
Sockenpuppe
24. Oct 2024 · 20:53 UTC
Cute <3

I had a bit of a slow start because I didn't know how to feed them berries at first but after taking a quick look at the video on your itch page I knew what I had to do ^^°

Seeing the first kids made me go "aww" because of how cute they are.

![helping.png](///raw/bee/f3/z/69136.png)

It was also really fun seeing the others zoom around after assigning them their tasks. They were really helpful gathering wood and feeding the others! Thanks to them, increasing the population number from 15 to 30 happened really fast.

![thirty.png](///raw/bee/f3/z/69137.png)

Would be really cool to see this project be developed some more after the jam because what's there is really great and a good foundation for something bigger :)
irwatts
25. Oct 2024 · 16:11 UTC
Excellent art and audio combine for a really cool mood! Love the music and the mysterious vibes. I'd love to see this expanded into a full game, with many strange rituals and behaviors to discover. Awesome work!