LudumData

Signalmons by Portalis

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

pyramid.PNG

Click to Play on Itch

Something is wrong with the world, and Vela is the only person taking it personally.

starting.png She drives an old bus with an antenna bolted to the roof, broadcasting a signal that Signalmon can't resist. The friendly ones come to her. Over time, if she treats them well, they become something more like family than pets. Frame 3.png Frame 4.png Frame 1.png Frame 2.png But the signal is loud, and it carries into places where loud things are dangerous. Every time Vela tunes in, creatures from other dimensions find their way through and come for the bus.

Made for Ludum Dare. All art, sounds, and music were made by hand during the jam.

Play on Itch.io https://katyanatvorila.itch.io/signalmons
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/signalmons

Ratings

Overall 87th 4.069⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 104th 3.911⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 442th 3.357⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 710th 2.983⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 82th 4.466⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Audio 78th 4.121⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Humor 270th 3.229⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 137th 4.13⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 18🗳️ 35🗨️

Feedback

Ulziton
Apr 20th · 22:44 UTC
Fun game, love the art style and sfx, gj!
Kate_arty
Apr 21st · 09:08 UTC
@ulziton thank you so much!
Laminariy
Apr 21st · 10:10 UTC
Yooo the art is so cool!
Awwwz
Apr 21st · 10:30 UTC
like a combination of pokemon & PVZ,the color is great! the character design is cute and smart! the water seal is my personal favorite! sound effect is nice, love the feedback pop sound!
Kate_arty
Apr 21st · 11:12 UTC
@awwwz Thank you for your kind words and feedback!
Kate_arty
Apr 21st · 11:28 UTC
@laminariy Happy to hear that! thank you!!!
Ternarycat
Apr 21st · 11:31 UTC
Hey! It's really cute and interesting game! You may think about to add mechanic to replace animals, i wanted to change bunnies which i places in early game to birds/foxes, so i tried to let monsters clean lines :^).
rucksack
Apr 21st · 11:38 UTC
Cute art style!
🎤 Portalis
Apr 21st · 11:45 UTC
thank you all so much for such a warm welcome
🎤 Portalis
Apr 21st · 11:47 UTC
@Ternarycat, you can use signalballs to do that ![signalball.PNG](///raw/7ae/a5/z/71ed9.png)
TheKimeo
Apr 21st · 11:50 UTC
Clicked for the signalmons expecting pokemon, but was happy with the pvz spin.

All the designs are adorable. Water fish is the best signalmon and nobody can convince me otherwise. So cute!
Ternarycat
Apr 21st · 11:52 UTC
@portalis i thought it's heal :laughing:
LDJam user 317693
Apr 21st · 11:55 UTC
It throws you in very quick and enemies can get overwhelming, but it's really cool!! Art is super cute and it's pretty polished, the variety that is there with the signalmons and enemies is nice, too. I looove tower defense games
Mamboman
Apr 21st · 12:34 UTC
Very nice game! The art is beautiful and its pretty addictive! I didn't understand that I could replace my Signalmons with the signalballs, too. The sound and music is also pretty nice. Overall a very nice entry! Well done!
Sheepolution
Apr 21st · 15:48 UTC
I never played Plants vs Zombies, so this was a nice first experience, and fun that you combined it with Pokémon. I wish there was a bit more variety/strategy early on. I only ever had grass and water types. Not sure if a bug or intended, but never saw the flying and fire starter. Anyway, cute art and nice tune. Well done!
HHCH
Apr 21st · 17:46 UTC
Cutesy, I have to admit that it caught me off guard, Im very impulsive so I dont read any of instructions Im just going straight to the gameplay but it was easy to understand, thats a really important thing for me, the art style and the designs is unique and beautiful, nice job!
🎤 Portalis
Apr 21st · 19:39 UTC
@sheepolution, thank you for playing, and it's an honor to be your first PvZ game :) The deck grows during the game - some creatures are given with new waves, and others can be chosen through upgrades. Different elementals are highly important; it's actually almost impossible to win the game with just earth and water, as you rightly noticed
Gecko64
Apr 22nd · 04:15 UTC
Very much loved the art of the game, the gameplay was pretty darn fun to play given the waves and the roguelikey gameplay. I would say that it is a little too common I feel to get the earth bunnies and my hand would constantly be filled with those and no other choice but to play them to refresh my hand without wasting a redraw. Otherwise that I loved the game :)
pidifussel
Apr 22nd · 20:24 UTC
very cozy game
Piano.Olya
Apr 23rd · 08:09 UTC
@pidifussel Thank you so much ❤️
Piano.Olya
Apr 23rd · 08:12 UTC
@gecko64 Thank you so much for the kind words! Really glad to hear you loved the art and found the wave-based roguelike gameplay fun. 🔥

And thank you for the honest feedback about the earth bunnies — that’s super helpful.
Piano.Olya
Apr 23rd · 08:14 UTC
@hhch Aww, thank you! 🐰💕
So glad the cuteness got you — and that you found it easy to understand even without reading instructions. That means a lot!
Really happy you loved the unique art style too. You're the best! ✨
fullmetal_automaton
Apr 23rd · 09:18 UTC
Wow, that was a very cute game! Easy to pick up and play, pretty fun.
eseniia_no
Apr 23rd · 09:21 UTC
So cute!! Loved the game, very stylish, very clear gameplay, loved the vibes!
Roitchie
Apr 23rd · 09:23 UTC
Such a cute entry. Love the art and music in this. Feels like a mix of Pokémon and plant's vs zombies. Both games I love so this was really fun to play. The card deck mechanics are interesting too and the synergies. Some hidden depth to the mechanics. Very impressive. Well done!
Piano.Olya
Apr 23rd · 10:18 UTC
@fullmetal-automaton, Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words ❤️
LDJam user 424326
Apr 23rd · 10:33 UTC
The visuals are really cute and appealing.

But in terms of mechanics, at first I didn’t understand why I could easily fill the entire field—it felt too simple to just defeat everyone, and I was missing some kind of placement limitation. Then there was a very sharp difficulty spike, and after that it became the opposite problem where I couldn’t keep up with placing units.
I also felt the lack of an option to remove previously placed units.

Nevertheless, it feels like a lot of work has been done, keep it up!
Rinzu
Apr 23rd · 10:39 UTC
The design of these Pokémon-like things is so cute,I really like them.
Nordin
Apr 23rd · 10:44 UTC
Very cute art, and the mechanic works very well, i am very impressed by how polished the game is
Piano.Olya
Apr 23rd · 10:58 UTC
@roitchie, Wow, thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback!
Piano.Olya
Apr 23rd · 11:04 UTC
@nordin Thank you so much ❤️ ![IMG_1604.png](///raw/631/96/z/726fc.png)
HordorSok
Apr 23rd · 15:43 UTC
I love the game style and music. For me, it just needs some game design improvements, and it’s a really addictive Plants vs. Zombies–like game.
Sobigdrasil
Apr 23rd · 17:25 UTC
Hey! That's a very cute are that looks so polished :3 Idea is simple but nice, I would tho make it a bit more clear as I was confused what signalmons I should use against which enemy and that was a bit frustrating that you can't take them back or switch places as often you would like to experiment a bit, especially when you don't know the game.
peak_vinnie
Apr 26th · 00:04 UTC
The art is perfect and the tune is good I often found myself jamming to it while playing haha!
ginkgo-biloba
Apr 26th · 18:08 UTC
The art style is absolutely adorable, and the gameplay is incredibly addictive
skiddings
Apr 28th · 19:58 UTC
Wow a full pants v zombies rouge-like in a jam!
Ryutoro
May 04th · 11:02 UTC
Good game, beauty artstile <3