Down for the kiwi by AniMagik

[raw]
made by AniMagik for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

“When I was 11 years old, we moved to Reykjavik. This is a great place without the mosquitoes and angry neighbors. I really liked my new house.

Once my mother got a letter. It turned out to be from my grandmother. She had said hello and send me an interesting fruit. Mom explained me that it’s called kiwi. Tasty! I want more, but my grandmother lives on the other side of the planet!

Maybe I should dig a tunnel...”

move-arrows (hold down​),

sand disappears from touch,

earth (maroon) - you need to dig(arrow + left mouse button),

stones are stones)))

time is limited. It is replenished at the stations. you need to pass 5 stations for Kiwi)​Screenshot<em>1.pngScreenshot</em>2.png

We have ported the game to HTML to make it easier for you to play it in the browser. Have fun)

Ratings

Overall 1826th 2.675⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1766th 2.55⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1791th 2.4⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1067th 3.525⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1757th 2.175⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 1081th 2.925⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 828th 2.765⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1662th 2.725⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 41🗳️ 14🗨️

Feedback

Baconeta
27. Apr 2021 · 07:05 UTC
I found the controls INCREDIBLY challenging, but the concept is cute, the story is cute and I can see this being a very fun project. Has a lot of potential, but almost finishes too soon!
plopy86
27. Apr 2021 · 07:26 UTC
Nice game, with more dev it can be really great.
ksonyanya
27. Apr 2021 · 07:44 UTC
Very cute and involving story! Jumping seemed to me a bit unpredictable, but overall experience is great. Loved the music!
AwesomeZebra
27. Apr 2021 · 11:06 UTC
Cute game, but very short.
caeonosphere
27. Apr 2021 · 11:54 UTC
I will take my kiwi! A fun little maze. I am also a lover of interesting fruit; if you can get rambutans where you are, give 'em a try! They're one of my favorites.
🎤 AniMagik
28. Apr 2021 · 14:05 UTC
Thank you for your kind words) They are very important to us. We will work to make the game better.
cpv
28. Apr 2021 · 19:23 UTC
Had some fun :) Positive mood, really liked the song. The mechanics might look simple, but they work and have a purpose. The idea is quite funny in some way. Are the stations something like the "metro" stations? (the M letters)


After a fail, I kind off understood some things, and finally got to the other side of the planet! ![kiwi.png](///raw/349/3/z/415b1.png)
Domin77
30. Apr 2021 · 16:38 UTC
Nice game, the movement was pretty hard, when I pressed the key it looked like it had some delay. But overall the game was funny and I very like the music.
TomBuston
30. Apr 2021 · 16:48 UTC
The controls are the biggest issues here. We move to fast and with way too much momentum. The concept is simple but actually works well. Level design is interesting, not too long and just challenging enough with the time constraints.

The little backstory you wrote is cute and funny and I would have like to find it more in the game too (my kiwi reward could have at least been an image).

I think the game could also feel a lot better with more juice (particles/screenshakes/other) when digging. If the simple action of digging is satisfying enough the game can be very fun even if it's really simple.

Overall, well done for finishing a game with those time constraints, there's potential!
Mighty Mufflon Games
30. Apr 2021 · 17:54 UTC
I did't even understand how I reached the end. xD The background story and the litte boy are so cute.^^ The music is cool.
Wouter52
30. Apr 2021 · 19:16 UTC
The character goes a bit fast, but with the music it makes it a fun and humorous experience :smile:
I won btw! Yay!
LDJam user 237945
03. May 2021 · 18:06 UTC
Nice, loved the music the most!
Swagrid
07. May 2021 · 02:43 UTC
Have you ever wondered what Minecraft would look like if you purchased a copy of it from the Dollar store? Do you feel overwhelmed by the idea of the crafting in Minecraft? Have you even been jogging and felt that you need to reach something in certain amount of time or you'll die? Do you feel like cookie clicker would work better with more gameplay and controls other than left mouse button? Down for the kiwi takes all of that and boils it down to a simple 2d race with time, forcing you to dig down and refresh your time at checkpoints, avoid rocks and eventually take your Kiwi)

Let's start with cons:
1) Textures... The very object of the game which you live, breath and eat (mostly dig actually) is what makes this game borderline unplayable. Most of the times I cannot distinguish what I see on my screen from a plate of vinaigrette.
![vinegret.png](///raw/f19/e3/z/423f2.png)
I know time to submit a game for jam was limited but it legit looks like a Paint drawings. In my opinion, it would greatly benefit the whole project to just use 3rd party textures. For example, using a few textures from opengameart.org something like this is achievable:
![Edit.png](///raw/f19/e3/z/423f3.png)
It's not looking much better (especially considering I slapped textures on the screenshot in the Paint) but at least game tiles became much more distinguishable. Or is it just me?
(Textures that I used if anybody interested
Sand - https://opengameart.org/content/2048-digitally-painted-tileable-desert-sand-texture
Stone - https://opengameart.org/content/2d-platform-ground-stone-tiles
Earth - https://opengameart.org/content/free-platformer-game-tileset)

2) Player character looks a bit generic, but people were saying same thing about Isaac(from The Binding of Isaac) so it's not so much of a con than an observation.

3) It’s a bit short.(Endless mode soon™?)

And now to pros:

1) Music is great, funky enough to keep you in the game for a few runs just to listen to it over and over but simple enough not to distract you from gameplay.

2) Controls that most of the people consider strange are actually fun and somehow remind me about I Wanna Be the Boshy.

3)Limited time to reach checkpoint actually somehow gives you the same feel as Sudden Death from any 2D Worms game, even though it's just an indicator in a top left corner.

4) Gameplay captivate you enough to try to speedrun this game. Even though some might find hugging S and mashing A and R while also clicking LMB almost as much as in any clicker game boring.

5)And lastly it could be fun to just jump out of the map and descend into nothingness while watching endless tiles near you fly up while listening to some Interstellar music. Could be quite relaxing actually.

Overall, game is cool, funky and has potential. Would love to check it out again when will update!
YuriKun
07. May 2021 · 04:34 UTC
A fun little game with a cute story. At first, I had a little difficulty controlling the character, because he moved very fast. But it is still a good game.
🎤 AniMagik
07. May 2021 · 16:04 UTC
@swagrid Wow, what a long and constructive review) thank you) As for the textures, you are probably right,but we wanted to do everything on our own. We will improve it in the future. Endless mode will be, but in addition to Story mode. Also story mode will be longer with some new mechanics.