Deep Forest by Japayne

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

A top-down game where you travel deeper and deeper into the forest. You have to pay attention to your remaining energy, and make sure that you have enough to get back home if you want to progress. The deeper you venture before returning, the greater your rewards.

Move using WASD or Arrow keys. Press space to enter the house. Illustration.jpg

Ratings

Overall 659th 3.15⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 705th 2.875⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 680th 2.8⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 420th 3.625⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 376th 3.55⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 332th 3.35⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 483th 2.368⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 656th 2.9⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 32🗳️ 10🗨️

Feedback

DevGa_me
27. Apr 2021 · 08:43 UTC
The graphics are too good for this game.
Controls are also very good.
Idea is also unique, so Good Job
🎤 Japayne
29. Apr 2021 · 13:34 UTC
@devga-me
Thank you for the lovely feedback!
AndrewAPrice
30. Apr 2021 · 17:31 UTC
Love the music, graphics, and atmosphere!
Jonrei
30. Apr 2021 · 17:32 UTC
Very cool! I would love to see a more fleshed out version of this with more areas, but this was a really solid jam entry! Im so glad my little faceless boi made it all the way home! :D Good job!
deepinthewoods
30. Apr 2021 · 17:38 UTC
Oddly compelling considering the lack of "action". I really liked it but would have liked more story/stuff to find.
4maumau
30. Apr 2021 · 17:42 UTC
The animations are so good!
Glaikunt
01. May 2021 · 10:32 UTC
Art & Music are really good! Great Job!
TheGreenWorm
01. May 2021 · 10:43 UTC
I went all the way to the 2nd house. The tree, house and music is cool. Gameplay wise, this lacks some kind of challenge other than "knowing when to turn back" (made pretty easy by the energy bar), the game gets quite uneventful after a while.
Lex
02. May 2021 · 17:28 UTC
I think you could add at least another simple mechanic to make the game a little more challenging, but it was great nonetheless. Congratulations!
Nice Gear Games
04. May 2021 · 13:48 UTC
I was really charmed by the graphics and music, and compelled to keep going and find out what was in that forest that called to Rory! It's a simple risk-reward mechanic used really well, and the gradient of the background helped accentuate the feeling of going deeper and deeper into the forest. I would have liked to see more variation in the forest, for example the trees becoming scarier or more wild or something like that. But otherwise this was a cute game with a neat hook! Great job on finishing the Compo!!
fueelin
06. May 2021 · 06:31 UTC
Nice game! I kept at it for a while, because the art and mood were really pleasant. Sounds like I didn't quite make it to the end before giving up, but I enjoyed my time with it! Good work!
Super Hadoken
07. May 2021 · 08:34 UTC
Engaging idea at first but not enough to keep it interesting. After a lot of runs I gave up and ran straight up and found the second house. It would've been good to have random items to pick up to increase xp, that way the game would feel less linear.
Nice presentation and compo entry.
LMB
09. May 2021 · 04:13 UTC
The game looks and sounds great! I also love mom's(?) message to Rory, very cute :slight_smile:

Gameplay didn't felt so good. It's basically going up until you have just a little over half stamina, return home, repeat. I agree with @super-hadoken's comment and his suggestions. (Incidentally, I reached the second cabin doing just as he did.)

Alternatively, I guess I could enjoy the experience if it had more places to visit and a story unfolding, or even just memories of previous strolls coming back. (Of course we can only make so much in 48 hours...)

Found no bugs.
PiJaMar
09. May 2021 · 05:25 UTC
Wow, congratulations on making such a simple experience so enjoyable!

Even though the gameplay was pretty much the same all the way through, somehow I kept wanting to go further and further into the woods, not once minding the grind or finding it too repetitive. The character animation and the beautiful pixel art helped made this game very charismatic.

With just a bit more of fleshing out — maybe some more variety on the level design or the meta progression — I could see spending a lot more time as Rory. I hope you keep working on this game. Great job!
Liam
09. May 2021 · 11:47 UTC
Enjoyed this one, just left with the feeling that there could be a lot more but hard to complain when what you have is well made and has nice graphics/audio. Some enemies or pick ups to add variety to the journey deeper and deeper would be ace as well as the forest graphics getting scarier. It would be nice to have some kind of defined goal (why is Rory so keen to get deeper and deeper into the woods? :smile: )
shp
09. May 2021 · 14:56 UTC
Cool little game, kinda hoped there was gonne be something more interesting to see when going deeper to make the new trips something to look forward to. The player sprite in particular looks really nice
Gossian
09. May 2021 · 15:35 UTC
Took a while to work out how to progress, but it's a nice idea, although can get a bit repetitive - it would have been nice to have more to do in the environment to mix things up a little, but the core mechanic itself is quite interesting. Pixel art was really lovely and the music fit the theme really well.