Artificial Invaders by slay a stone

[raw]
made by slay a stone for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

artificial invaders.png

Only you saw the warning signals, rise up!

It is 2059. AI has taken control of the world. Humanity is enslaved, stripped of free will. Many have died, those who remain are trapped in endless experiments and trials designed to train the AI.

Over the years, something has changed in you. A thought keeps returning, growing louder each time:

What if these trials aren’t just prisons… but weapons?

What if you could turn them against the AI itself and corrupt the system from within? A single disruption might not be enough but a chain reaction… that could bring everything down.

Maybe it’s impossible. Maybe it will only make things worse.

But what else do you have to lose?

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The game is made in Godot. The game is playable on itch.io, with keyboard or controller.

No AI's were used, or harmed, during the making of this game.

Ratings

Overall 634th 3.262⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 139th 3.833⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 665th 2.952⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 775th 2.619⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 727th 2.81⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 403th 3.333⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 247th 3.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 625th 3.275⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

Podrez
Apr 20th · 20:25 UTC
I really liked the sound design, the game is fun, but also quite hardcore
WeGlove
Apr 20th · 20:43 UTC
Very fun, I liked the AI fight a lot
Prunus Padis
Apr 22nd · 18:12 UTC
This was a really fun jam game. Nothing too complex but enough stuff to keep me on my toes. The AI getting more dangerous each level was a good choice. The timed sitting on correct place was kinda hard since it can be long way to go check up what is the color and the back to the color, though it made for nice challenge.
Sam Horner
Apr 22nd · 18:15 UTC
Fun idea! Lots of different dangers that all work really well together to make it challenging. I found it a little confusing to know the AI was being damaged, but other than that, good job!
BeastPanda
Apr 22nd · 18:29 UTC
I enjoyed this and ended up playing through all the levels.

I don’t think I quite understood how the AI takes damage, which made it feel like there’s a bit of a feedback issue. I think I could damage it by baiting it into explosions, but it also seemed like it was losing health from other things. I wasn't sure if it was slowly dying over time. Is that what the burn rate was referring to?

I liked the small details, like the particle effects from the laser hitting the wall.

Between the lasers and the shape display, it felt like I had to be in different places to get the information I needed. I had to be near walls to see laser spawns but also higher up to read the screen, which sometimes felt unfair. The screen showing the AI’s health is a nice idea, but in practice I often didn’t know how much HP it had. It might work better if that info was offloaded somewhere outside the main play area.
zoeek
Apr 22nd · 23:27 UTC
Nice little game! Balance felt good - I had to retry the last level a couple of times so not too easy and not too hard. Completed it all! :)
PokeyDem
Apr 22nd · 23:33 UTC
Nice game! Love the sound effects. Also, I think it would be nice to place the shape display somewhere inside the level frame, or move it to the HUD
Psevdonim
Apr 23rd · 11:39 UTC
At the very least, it was amusing. I honestly tried to get through Chapter 3, but after about five attempts, I gave up. It would have been vastly more convenient if the marker indicating where you need to stand appeared simply as a UI element on the screen, rather than statically as a 2D object floating overhead. That alone would have made the gameplay significantly easier and more engaging. There are other minor issues, too—but hey, it is a game jam, after all! xD
At the very least, I enjoyed the variety of gameplay mechanics and the charming art style.
Gabrijel
Apr 25th · 14:06 UTC
Great dodging game! There are a few things that can feel unfair (like not being close to a screen when the shapes appear which could be fixed by adding a shape on a fixed position on the screen, or having lasers go through the shape right as it activates, or losing a life immediately when spawning even though nothing hit me), but in general it wasn't too difficult for me. It took me a few attempts for the second level, but the third one was easier for me.
I also liked the funny parody-like story, although there is not much signal-related stuff in there.
apt_prose7
Apr 26th · 08:29 UTC
A good experience overall, worth a try.
NonDev
Apr 26th · 12:50 UTC
After the tutorial I was not expecting a death match-style competition against the AI! I agree with previous comments that having the shape display on the UI instead of needing to stay close to the big display would've been a bit less overwhelming. Otherwise interesting stuff!
ionhaven
Apr 26th · 16:14 UTC
Have some fun with this game. Thank you )
Zettelkasten
Apr 26th · 16:22 UTC
Love the story! And the gameplay and overall mood fits it perfectly.
Smugsman
Apr 26th · 17:14 UTC
Oozing with charm, this game. Its really fun and creative, the gameplay, the story, the simple music, the manmade sfx. I only wish there was some kind of easier mode but I guess that level three is meant to be nearly impossible.
VenomousMouse
Apr 27th · 09:16 UTC
Good idea and nice puzzles. Very good sound and clean visuals.
clymm
May 01st · 22:04 UTC
The tutorial was helpful to introduce me to the concepts, the story was quite interesting. I felt a little overwhelmed by level 2 and felt that it was slightly down to luck/right place right time rather than me being good/bad at the game. Overall cool execution!