Radio MoleBat by ectucker1

[raw]
made by ectucker1 for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

radiomolebat.png

Deep in an underground cave city, moles and bats communicate secret messages using radio waves.

Can you dig the right paths so their signals arrive intact?

screenshot1.png

Controls

Click to dig!

Press T (or click the button) to transmit the message.

Press R (or click the button) to reset a level.

Press ESC to access the pause menu (change volume, exit, etc.)

Press F11 for fullscreen.

Tools and Assets Used

AI Usage

Claude Code was used for some programming assistance; approximately 5% of code written during the jam.

Ratings

Overall 417th 3.579⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 213th 3.7⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 202th 3.75⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 154th 4.175⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 708th 2.95⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 525th 2.775⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 388th 2.853⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 735th 2.975⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 27🗳️ 11🗨️

Feedback

Agent p
Apr 21st · 21:44 UTC
A lot of fun! Very nice and polished. I'm surprised you guys aren't more noticed! The art side and sfx are all very well done! Though on the first level that had around 4 red bats and bouncing corners for the blue signals to bounce off, I don't know if it can be beaten? Maybe I'm just bad at puzzles, but it seems that there is no way to get a signal to the bat thats slightly below your downright diagonal signal. Additionally I don't know if it was on all levels, but there seems to be a visual glitch where the blue bomb is behind the digging meter. Overall great game though! Its awesome!
oasiss
Apr 22nd · 00:39 UTC
i like mole!!!
🎤 ectucker1
Apr 29th · 01:50 UTC
@agent-p thank you! That level _is_ beatable; that red signal is just a little roundabout. See where the bottom-right arrow can bounce.
BeastPanda
Apr 29th · 05:32 UTC
Oh I like this a lot! I love how you introduced the mechanics incrementally, and the fact that everything is taught without words is a really strong sign of good design. The core idea of transmitting bouncing signals is really clever and easy to understand, although I do wish the arrows were just a little faster.

If I had to criticize one thing, it would be the visual clarity. The background, walkable area, and inside paths are all pretty close in value and texture, so nothing really pops as the thing you should be focusing on. The beige vs purple split helps, but the dotted patterns end up competing with the gameplay elements.
Scottyartt
Apr 29th · 07:20 UTC
it is fun and asks player to think a lot, i would love to see it with best visual so it will be more interesting
Jhonny111
Apr 29th · 08:58 UTC
Really strong entry. Loved the riddles.
Made it to the end.
csnxs
May 04th · 00:04 UTC
Pretty nice puzzle game, very satisfying when you figure out a level. The graphics are a bit hard to read though, and the rays can sometimes behave a bit weirdly.
LDJam user 424326
May 04th · 06:18 UTC
A cool idea for a puzzle game!
CreeperXD
May 04th · 07:44 UTC
I really like that I can understand the gameplay and new mechanics quickly without the need for a tutorial.

In this level, I encountered a bug where the red ray will "slide" along the bottom left reflective rock without bouncing to the red bat, but removing the middle reflective rock so that the ray reflects the top one instead does not produce the same effect.
![Screenshot 2026-05-04 152801.png](///raw/5c9/86/z/7311c.png)

Despite that, I overall enjoy the game.
VenomousMouse
May 04th · 08:01 UTC
Nice idea, cool mechanic and sound. Overall nice game.
Dissonance Generator
May 04th · 15:05 UTC
Reminds me of that laser chess board game. Cute, and everything works smoothly. I kept waiting for any music to turn up and it didn't :(
ieee333
May 04th · 15:35 UTC
Very interesting gameplay. It's not too hard, but it keeps you engaged. I like it.
blubberquark
May 05th · 05:50 UTC
Neat game. The visuals don't quite do the complexity justice. It would probably be a fair bit easier if it was on a grid. If you make a post-compo version, you could maybe let the player place things in addition to the pixel-based stuff, but I loves the pixel based stuff. 5/5 on fun, graphics need improvement.
Local Minimum
May 06th · 20:34 UTC
I like the puzzles in this game a whole lot and the interaction with painting/erasing/digging things out was very nice. I found the graphics signalling a bit confusing at times. What could be dug through and not. And I'm not sure i solved the final level the intended way, but if i did, then maybe there should have been one or two shorter and less complex levels before that taught the two novel mechanics needed for the last level. But it might also be that i didn't understand its solution and found an unintended one.

Very nice puzzle game though!

Play-through with more thoughts and comments:
https://youtu.be/z3xNDzGlnKM
fabonacci
May 06th · 20:55 UTC
Very nice puzzle game ! i finished all the levels, difficulty was well balanced. Good job !
🎤 ectucker1
May 08th · 02:49 UTC
@local-minimum thanks for all the video feedback! Definitely a lot we could improve on the clarity as you pointed out.

Your solution to the final puzzle _is_ unintended - it's supposed to be a sequencing problem where you blow up the top bomb before the middle one, by using that first sloped stone you erased. There's also no need for the signal spam once you erase both of the lower slopes. It was fun to see a different approach work on it!
zhangzhimu
May 09th · 07:23 UTC
It's a very interesting game. The interaction method is very complete and the gaming experience is great! It would be even better if the game had a more diverse art style and content. I know it's probably due to the short duration, but it's still great.