Ping to Survive by Mekuire

[raw]
made by Mekuire for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

Ping. Dodge. Upgrade. Survive.

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You can only see when you ping.

Dodge a deadly meteor storm and unlock new abilities to push further.

Don’t ping too often — the signal becomes unreliable.

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Can you survive the storm?

Ratings

Overall 191th 3.9⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Fun 133th 3.854⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 268th 3.638⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Theme 138th 4.208⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 468th 3.677⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Mood 319th 3.802⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Given 73🗳️ 118🗨️

Feedback

eXTeeGi
Apr 20th · 18:00 UTC
Fun and intense. I was locked in! Great use of simple graphics.
msipp27
Apr 20th · 18:01 UTC
very good!
Fatality67
Apr 20th · 18:05 UTC
Very nice little game !
I love the fact that game mechanics are unlocked step by step, it helps keep things fresh.
The overall atmosphere and gameplay feels good.
Overall, a game very well done ! gave it a 5/5
LDJam user 409682
Apr 20th · 18:05 UTC
Thank you for the tutorial and the web version! It was fun to play. I made it to the shooting phase a couple of times, but died every time...

I wish you wouldn’t take damage from meteors that have already passed (when you’re on the same row), so that you don’t get hit by them while dashing.
LDJam user 141701
Apr 20th · 18:06 UTC
Very fun! It took me ages to figure out that the Scanning had a cooldown! I was smashing ping like a madman, and lowkey thought I was going to have a seizure.

Once I figured that part out, I had a lot more fun.

I really enjoyed playing this one. I think you scoped this one perfectly.
Nikiroz
Apr 20th · 19:18 UTC
Interesting gameplay, although it's not entirely clear why you need to manually ping if you can spam it.
🎤 Mekuire
Apr 20th · 19:34 UTC
@nikiroz The idea is that if you spam the ping button, the signal you receive will be unclear. You need to press it exactly when the indicator is green.
Akadream
Apr 21st · 07:54 UTC
Simple but very effective! I like the idea of spaming the ping button make the screen glitch.
Nikorych
Apr 21st · 08:19 UTC
Great game and interesting idea.
Caelestial
Apr 21st · 10:16 UTC
Great game, great audio, smooth controls, step-by-step tutorial. Loved it <3
GideonGriebenow
Apr 21st · 11:14 UTC
I think this is a really well scoped effort (which leaves some time for polish) which fits the theme well. Simple, yet effective mechanics, a check to prevent spamming, etc.
One thing I would add is to remember the last direction moved and use that if dash is pressed without currently moving. As it stands, dash works fine while moving, but always goes right when not moving, while I'd expect it to get left when I moved left last (even if I'm standing still now).
Ternarycat
Apr 21st · 11:56 UTC
Well done
GlitchProduction
Apr 21st · 11:58 UTC
Very Fun and challenging game, sounds amazing, looks amazing, plays really well. For the time had to make this it is fantastic.
Axodo
Apr 21st · 12:33 UTC
The game is interesting. I really like the concept, it's pretty addictive. The one thing I would change, is that you loose abilities instead of earning them. So that the beginning is easier, and gets more difficult, instead of having the peak oh difficulty at the beginning :)

Also, it's probably just me, but sometimes I swear I do a (green) ping, nothing shoes up, and I take a hit before I can green ping again, it's frustrating :')

Good job tho!
rynti
Apr 21st · 13:07 UTC
This was really fun, made it through with 1 health left =) simple idea, excellent execution - felt really polished.

Also: Not sure if this was on purpose, but I loved how the main menu music was in sync with the background ping animation :D
🎤 Mekuire
Apr 21st · 13:33 UTC
@rynti Yes, it wasn't intentional. It was pure coincidence :)
no_firing
Apr 21st · 16:00 UTC
Really Cool! Music awesome!
Dywanix
Apr 21st · 16:43 UTC
fun game!
Lexu
Apr 22nd · 05:28 UTC
Beat the game with 1 heart left, phew! It's a fun game, especially after I realized the green light indicated the cooldown. I was unnecessarily conserving my pings on my first play through. Great job!
Hibiki
Apr 22nd · 07:07 UTC
Interesting game! Good job!
Aannnnman
Apr 22nd · 07:34 UTC
The eyes! But the game nice.
LDJam user 312900
Apr 22nd · 07:41 UTC
Really nice audio and graphics. It immediately reminds me of the arcade style, and the graphics really match to that. Gameplay was fast and complete, nice job!
Sariiger
Apr 22nd · 10:38 UTC
It was fun and a bit challenging, took a couple of attempts to beat it.

I did notice that sometimes some meteors disappeared from the scans, even though I only used the scan when it was green. I saw it coming, then next scan that same meteor was no longer visible, and then it hit me.
Maybe that's intended and there's just a big enough chance to detect a meteor, but it sometimes can miss it.

Regardless, great entry!
AstroAceOne
Apr 22nd · 10:57 UTC
Very cool game, I really liked it, I was really satisfied with the mechanics, and the fact that they open up gradually, it seemed difficult to me in terms of progression, but very cool, YOU ARE COOL
SU YUHANG
Apr 22nd · 13:54 UTC
A really great game. It fits the theme well and is very fun to play.
Julester
Apr 22nd · 14:02 UTC
Really wel made game. Its really nice to get a feel for the ping timing and the trajectory upgrade is a nice touch.
WhoIsEthan
Apr 22nd · 15:14 UTC
Game plays well and I enojyed the spoon-fed instructions (though the concept was pretty easy to digest). It gave off "black berry brick breaker minigame but blind" vibes which was pretty fun.

Wish there was remappable controls in the settings though, I'm a sucker for arrow keys
LDJam user 0
Apr 22nd · 16:31 UTC
Boring game
Eden_Zorro
Apr 22nd · 18:11 UTC
Good job with this game, it's simple and well-polished, moving and using the dash is very satisfying.

A little difficult, a great challenge!
Jo Bettaque
Apr 23rd · 09:02 UTC
Cool, nicely polished with good visuals, really good music and well working mechanics, good job.
A little hard for me though^^
JCoMcL
Apr 23rd · 10:40 UTC
Cool idea and the gameplay is pretty smooth. I swear the ping doesn't actually reveal all the asteroids, it got kinda frustrating.
INORO
Apr 23rd · 10:41 UTC
Wow, really fun little mini game I love it! Very nice concept!
🎤 Mekuire
Apr 23rd · 11:42 UTC
@jcomcl You're right; only the asteroids that were active when the ping was sent are displayed. The ones that appeared later simply aren't shown.
Tryam
Apr 23rd · 12:18 UTC
Interesting idea. I think it would be nice to use it as a puzzle in some quest. It's not always clear why I'm taking damage. Perhaps the gameplay responsiveness could use some work.
Pacelin
Apr 23rd · 12:18 UTC
It's a very cool concept. I'm having the same problem as some of the commenters above. I only ping when the indicator is green. I'm standing in a place where there are no meteors. But somehow, at random moments, I'm taking damage. It's greatly diminished the fun for me.
schizoid2k
Apr 23rd · 15:33 UTC
Nice concept... very challenging, but not frustrating. I found myself playing quite a few games. Great job!
Enver Arco
Apr 23rd · 16:14 UTC
Good visuals. I found the game quite hard and kept dying but maybe thats just me
Overlix
Apr 23rd · 21:43 UTC
Small game loop, but it's perfect like that, really like the game and the use of the theme, good job
Deraxus
Apr 23rd · 21:44 UTC
i would say one of the best game if we are talking about this theme. Amazing job!
IRKAR
Apr 24th · 08:05 UTC
Cool simple art style and i love smooth animation but tutorial very slow. Good job!
NonDev
Apr 24th · 18:30 UTC
Simple but a neat little idea! Having different features unlock as time went on helped give it a little depth.
Trexxak
Apr 24th · 18:45 UTC
"how did no one come up with that before?" Really impressed by the simple yet unique gameplay loop! Could totally see this being a mini-game or being included in a micro-game collection :D
johnnyalfonso
Apr 24th · 19:21 UTC
fun game. good visuals. good length. polished.
Abiral
Apr 25th · 09:01 UTC
simple classic concept with good twist and perfectly aligned with the theme. enjoyed the game and good simple art/visuals.
automatonvx
Apr 25th · 20:39 UTC
Great example of how to do LD well... have a simple but interesting twist on a classic mechanic. Simple but effective visuals, nice polish extras like the retro CRT effect. A nice little soundtrack and some sfx (EDIT - audio is opted out, so I guess its third party, shame, but fair enough). I played quite a few games, but didn't get past the dash, felt like sometimes I hit something couldn't have been there (maybe making anything you actually hit also visible would be better). Overall great work really. Well done.
Hurp
Apr 26th · 10:48 UTC
Compact gameplay that was both challenging and intense, in between the signal waves. Good entry :D
Wouter52
Apr 26th · 19:45 UTC
Waoow dat gameover screen though :open_mouth: That is too satisfying in my opinion haha, which is great because I've seen it many times now!

I like your game, the music, graphics and overal gameplay feel very well polished. I do have a question though: it felt like the meteors where different every time I used the ping. Is that my mind playing tricks on me?
LDJam user 424326
Apr 27th · 08:11 UTC
Everything here feels just right.
Pleasant visuals and music, and a clear, comfortable mechanic.
LDJam user 423872
Apr 27th · 10:48 UTC
An unusual runner. Everything is fine. Boosters can be added to the asteroids, such as blue circles.
LDJam user 424632
Apr 30th · 07:33 UTC
Great game. I liked the overall style; everything was in its place. The audio complements the gameplay perfectly.
I couldn't finish it after several tries because some asteroids would ping as they approached me, sometimes several at a time, and there was no real way to dodge them (and I hadn't unlocked the cannon yet). Sometimes, some asteroids wouldn't ping, but the collision still counted. It's cool that there's a challenge, but sometimes it felt unfair to lose health.
Overall, great work.
🎤 Mekuire
Apr 30th · 12:24 UTC
@catanus Thanks for playing! You're right—a lot of people found the game difficult too. I guess I'm just more experienced than everyone else; when I was testing it, I never lost a single game and didn't encounter any truly unfair situations—usually either the cannon or a dash saved the day.
LDJam user 424632
Apr 30th · 15:59 UTC
@mekuire This is the developer’s curse—I understand that feeling. We make our own games, and in practice we design them for ourselves. Often, other people may stumble over things that seem completely non-obvious to us. That’s exactly why feedback is important. I always let someone play on my computer so I can observe how another person behaves.
skiddings
May 02nd · 20:16 UTC
Nice little solid game
AO-85
May 04th · 21:15 UTC
Good job with this game, it’s simple and well-polished, moving and using the dash is very satisfying.
LDJam user 424943
May 08th · 23:21 UTC
Oh, I had a similar idea! Interesting implementation