Crystal Mites by Dan Fornace

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

Crystal Mites is a puzzle platformer where you must infiltrate the enemy's base with the bouncing movement of your crystal bug. First you must use your high bounces to navigate out of your own lair before diving deep into enemy territory. But you must be careful. The crystals in the enemy's base will destroy you with a single touch! You can also play a Versus Mode where two players race to be the first to reach the end of the other's lair. You can even bounce into the other player and prevent them from progressing. Will you play the role of a speedster or a spoiler?

Crystal Mites was created in Game Maker Studio 2 by Dan Fornace with music and sound effects by RESOFORCE.

https://youtu.be/nrJw0mGLJWI

This is a one or two player game that features controller support. You can also use the keyboard.

P1 Controls:

Move: Arrow Keys

Jump/Bounce: Z, Space, Up

P2 Controls:

Move: WASD

Jump/Bounce: G, L, W

Ratings

Overall 132th 4.097⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Fun 145th 4⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 369th 3.71⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1329th 3.3⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 237th 4.29⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Audio 18th 4.452⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Humor 665th 2.98⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 592th 3.726⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Given 19🗳️ 14🗨️

Feedback

Dudelesha
26. Apr 2021 · 14:46 UTC
very high-quality trailer. good music. and the implementation of the mechanic. I wish I had friends to play with. It's not so much fun to be alone after all
crazyrems
26. Apr 2021 · 16:48 UTC
Nice, fun and solid entry.
I liked the mechanic of bouncing a lot. I just felt we could use momentum a bit better, like when you bounce for the first time after dropping you make a tiny bounce.
The level design looks okay although some parts became really hard quickly. I didn’t managed to finish the first level.
And that music: so groovy 😎
superpokeunicorn
26. Apr 2021 · 21:00 UTC
I really like the feel of the bounce mechanic. I also enjoyed the contrast between the chaotic bouncing around in the first half of the level and the carefully controlled hops around spikes in the second half. My main criticism is that the insta-kill spikes combined with the lack of checkpoints in the second half made the game really punishing and occasionally frustrating. It did force me to master the mechanics, which felt rewarding and kept me going long enough to beat both levels. Also, the music and visuals are top notch. Overall, an excellent entry, even if it can be frustrating.
Jaiden Gerig
27. Apr 2021 · 05:07 UTC
If there were an award for most amount of "Damn-its" this game would be the all-time back-to-back champion. The simple aesthetic hides some truly devious platforming that is both incredibly fun and will make you tear your hair out as your bouncy boy ricochets off the wall into spikes. Outside of that, the music is bopping and the pixel art is very clean. One of the best games I've played so far in the jam if you can get over the difficulty!
2bitcrook
27. Apr 2021 · 05:18 UTC
That's one boppin tune right there! Super cute all around, love the bounce mechanic, reminds me of the Game boy game chalvo 55! Solid pixel art all around. Love the sound effects too, they're perfectly pitched for each subsequent bounce. My only gripe is the difficulty is a bit much that would be circumvented with some checkpoints or just easing up on the spikes a lil' :D. Great game, and great music!
paetramon
27. Apr 2021 · 06:06 UTC
Love the art and music! The bouncing is a fun mechanic, and I like how the same-color level serves as a bit of tutorialization before reaching the checkpoint and actually having consequences for how bad you are at bouncing. Great game!
Paperdomo101
27. Apr 2021 · 07:18 UTC
Responsive gameplay tied with wonderful art and music! Difficulty takes a pretty steep incline in the second half of the level, but this makes success very rewarding.
Squidly
27. Apr 2021 · 08:52 UTC
Never had so much fun holding Z in my life
byte5
27. Apr 2021 · 13:55 UTC
thank you dan very cool game
cacciatc
27. Apr 2021 · 16:35 UTC
Enjoyed this one even though it turns out that I am horrible at bouncing! Also love that lil critters anim. walk cycle.
GibsS
27. Apr 2021 · 17:09 UTC
Nice platformer, the controls might be a bit too tricky for such high precision movements but an interesting mechanic to explore for a jam (Maybe I'm just not good at platformer). Good job!
DPS2004
27. Apr 2021 · 18:29 UTC
The symmetrical arena reminds me of Nidhogg, in a way, where you defend on one side and try to get to the end of the other side. I feel like at least in the 1 player mode, there should be *some* sort of threat on your own side too. I really love the controls, and think an expanded version of this could be super cool!
James Kusardi
27. Apr 2021 · 22:32 UTC
i loved it! the bouncing mechanic is hard to get at first, but once you get a hold of it it's sooooo fun and satisfying :D
PandaPixel
27. Apr 2021 · 22:37 UTC
Nice game! Love it!
Chris Dirkis
28. Apr 2021 · 03:56 UTC
Great concept. Agree with the above posters that the difficulty in the second half hits hard quick, though it is nice to have the first half as a bit of a "learn how to move". A few more checkpoints would be rad. Love the music and the graphics.
windfall890
28. Apr 2021 · 04:52 UTC
First off, the audio is all :fire: . The bounce effect is especially fun, as is the shatter.
Its been said above, but wow the difficulty spike from side one to 2 is incredible. Maybe more checkpoints in solo mode or less spikes in 2p, but its really a wall that sucks the fun out of bouncing around the first half.

Still, this is polished, visually awesome, and reached really far aiming for 2p mode!
Nice work bringing this to life in such a short time!
mockthebear
28. Apr 2021 · 21:55 UTC
This is really fun! Im impressed by the wall climbing you did (while bouncing).
aaants
29. Apr 2021 · 10:23 UTC
Exceptional stuff, really impressive for a jam entry. Great art, audio and the bouncing is super fun. Well done!
Guax
30. Apr 2021 · 02:53 UTC
Love the graphics and music, and the bouncing mechanic is very solid! I do think some checkpoints could've been nice (though replaying it now I got it first try, so not even sure about how necessary that is), but really fun bug game
Nice Gear Games
30. Apr 2021 · 13:18 UTC
Love the Gameboy Color aesthetics and character designs, it looks and sounds amazing. Also love the idea of split screen multiplayer, fun to play against another human being! I do wish that there were more interactions between players, since going in I thought you'd be racing through the same course and would be bouncing on each other, when in fact we were playing mostly in isolated sections of the game. Perhaps having a third-color area in the center where you'd have to fight the other player to the end, rather than making it to the end of the other player's cave. The bouncing gimmick was really fun, though it took quite a long time to clear the other player's area due to the one-hit deaths and no checkpoints. I feel like this game could benefit from either a health meter or making the penalty something else, for example being stuck for a few seconds or slowed down, etc. But otherwise this was a really fun game that we enjoyed playing together, great job!
Lenophie
03. May 2021 · 22:25 UTC
Very nice aesthetics and music! Well done!