Mole Hole by ArBe

[raw]
made by ArBe for Ludum Dare 48 (COMPO)

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The Ever-So-Intricate Lore

Truffles the mole finds himself on a Sunday evening, desperately craving some Chinese cuisine. No luck, however, as his favourite restaurant has already been closed for the night. Therefore, he takes the next logical option; Digging a tunnel through the entirety of Earth to emerge in China, to experience the real thing.

However, on the way down(or up, depending on your perspective) he will have to face many foes; Three, to be precise.
- The Rat King(Also known to some as the Giant Rat that Makes All of the Rules, the Sewer Devil, or Bob), the Sewers' indisputable ruler.
- The Plasmarachnid, the mystical guardian of the Earth's core.
- The Greatest Chinese Mole, the biggest recorded instance of a Greater Chinese mole, who takes protecting his turf very seriously.

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Will Truffles manage to complete his quest, and experience the heavenly sensation of consuming some Xiaolongbao?
Probably not.

Excuses

The game was made entirely in an engine/framework of my creation, on top of just being generally badly written, as is the nature of game jams, so forgive the occasional instability.

Patch notes

  • fixed audio playback issues
  • fixed spider death segfault
  • (Windows, accidental) fixed screenshake priority override on hurt

Ratings

Overall 189th 3.773⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 306th 3.545⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 567th 3⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 431th 3.614⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 115th 4.068⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Audio 356th 3.325⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 61th 3.786⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 142th 3.795⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 8🗨️

Feedback

PaperAeroplane555
27. Apr 2021 · 12:53 UTC
really good effects and artstyle :> i really like the sound when a bullet hits the enemy
the gameplay reminds me of cuphead, almost

i just wish there was a more obvious indication when you get damaged
and attacks could be better anticipated :p
KepperSnapper
28. Apr 2021 · 07:47 UTC
Really amazing feedback in this game! And the artstyle looks so unique i'm always a sucker for retro looks! Overall well done!
Whismirk
28. Apr 2021 · 12:54 UTC
This is amazing. I'm really, really fond of the visuals here. The boss sprites, the intro art, the fight animations, the fading level transitions, all the little effects, everything just feels so polished.

Gameplay is simple but dynamic and, overall, pretty damn effective, the patterns of the three bosses are all fun to learn and fight against.

Awesome work !
Cresceda
28. Apr 2021 · 13:35 UTC
The art is very bizarre and therefore good! It really sets the mood. Also seemed pretty well balanced. I don't have too much feedback on this one!
silkworm_sweatshop
28. Apr 2021 · 13:39 UTC
Really awesome and polished graphics! Gameplay is fun too, I wanted more but for a jam it's perfectly fine! The only thing really missing is a pumping soundtrack. The little narrative was a nice touch as well.
AranCutter
28. Apr 2021 · 13:40 UTC
This was really cool, I enjoyed it. I love the 1-bit art style. The bosses are strange and kind of disturbing in a good way. I like the idea of a series of boss fights.

I think movement is a bit too slow. I didn't have too much trouble as a result, but I never felt very mobile. The boss attacks could probably be telegraphed a bit better, but it might just be my lack of attention. More than anything I wish there was more content :smiley:

Nice work!
saintchristopher777
01. May 2021 · 13:41 UTC
Cool little game! I like the art style, and the controls feel good. I'm glad you included a difficulty option and "retry level" buttons for people like me who are bad at shooters!

The web version wouldn't even load up on either chrome or firefox, but the windows .exe worked.

Good compo game!
Plepletier
02. May 2021 · 15:01 UTC
heeheheh I love shooter game!!! The game is very good and the visual is amazing. Good job!!!
glcoder
02. May 2021 · 15:03 UTC
Awesome art and the hard difficulty is really hard! Great game :)
maaxoom
04. May 2021 · 09:23 UTC
Amazing graphics! Loved the boss fight mechanics.

I found an abuse after failing several times on the last boss and restarted the game to prove it. On normal difficulty you can beat every boss with continuous fire and without moving. That should probably be punished! :skull:
nerdysl0th
04. May 2021 · 11:38 UTC
@maaxoom I was aware of that, however it was very convenient for playtesting, so I didn't remove it :)
fueelin
06. May 2021 · 05:38 UTC
I really enjoyed the premise, art/animations, and the submission page! It's too bad it was so easy to beat in a relatively cheesy way - I wanted the experience to last a little longer! But that just goes to show how nice the aesthetic elements/personality of the game was! Good work!
kaytrill
09. May 2021 · 20:23 UTC
The art is simple, effective, and story rich. I love the bullet rain style gameplay and definitely could use more polish and variety. Only thing I really feel lacking is some background music.
LMB
09. May 2021 · 22:15 UTC
Nice short game. Made me hungry!

Love the bizarre story!
jk5000
13. May 2021 · 08:50 UTC
I overall liked it. The visuals is good, and story is fun. Sounds could have been better, but not a big issue for compo game. Well done.
pnkvrt
14. May 2021 · 10:05 UTC
Yes! I got the dumplings :D. Great work! Love the visuals and sound, gameplay was super fun. Wish there were more levels, I would love a full game of this. Well done!
deadmanjw
14. May 2021 · 10:08 UTC
Really weird game but really well executed. Looks like you really spent time on all the aspects of the game so well done.
Nuanda79
14. May 2021 · 11:00 UTC
Really fun! Good job! I like the simple graphic style and gameplay!