TREE by Marcionix

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

A little puzzle game about grow the roots of a tree Screen Capture

Fixed errors: * Multiroots generation * Lose even if player can absorb water and nutrients * Lose even if player can convert water and nutrients into energy

UI improvements: * Disable buttons when impossible to do an action

Controls:

  • “Q” grow left
  • “E” grow right
  • “A” grow diagonal left down
  • “S” grow down
  • “E” grow diagonal right down
  • “W” absorb humidity and nutrients
  • “1” generate energy
  • “2” grow leaves

(Mobile friendly)[Trying fiz some errors for a mobile version, only web version currently]

Fixed: Screen resolution

Ratings

Overall 815th 3.569⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Fun 893th 3.361⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 198th 3.931⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Theme 85th 4.319⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1002th 3.611⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1320th 2.12⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1510th 2.985⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Given 32🗳️ 37🗨️

Feedback

pedrohph
26. Apr 2021 · 15:02 UTC
Great art and game play!

Nice work :deciduous_tree:
IndigoWolf
26. Apr 2021 · 15:22 UTC
Awesome pixel art and the mechanics are interesting. Would definitely make for a cool mobile game.
teenythanos
27. Apr 2021 · 04:55 UTC
I loved this game! SO bummed there wasn't a soundtrack but honestly, I had such a good time!
Knipsch
27. Apr 2021 · 05:05 UTC
This game is really neat! I like that the player handles several aspects of being a tree, like absorbing nutrients and growing leaves. The art is very pretty and the UI buttons and pixel text are nice, too!
Kaabiikaze
27. Apr 2021 · 05:10 UTC
This was a good time! I was a little confused how it worked at first, but once you get used to that, it can get pretty interesting how to manage your resources. I like the art style of the game too!
Flatgub
27. Apr 2021 · 12:51 UTC
It took me a while to get used to having to juggle energy and water but once I got the hang of it I had fun with it! The art is very vibrant and cute which is nice too! Overall a fun and interesting idea! I liked it!
VPhyre
28. Apr 2021 · 03:50 UTC
Hello friend friend! Very cool to see Brazilians participating in game jam. I am also one of them haha. Well, I thought your game was amazing. An excellent and creative interpretation of the theme. The gameplay is extremely comfortable and simple to learn. A very well executed idea. Congratulations, and great job!
Pious
28. Apr 2021 · 19:02 UTC
Very very innovative mechanic and interestingly excellent way to go about the theme. It definitely poses a strategic challenge and puzzle, however the lose condition is a bit too frustrating with regards to energy. Once energy runs out, I cannot regain more despite having the resources to do so, I think that maybe it should simply not let you grow and it won't force you to lose until you deplete all the resources to make energy too.

Other than that, very good work! the pixel art is nice too and works well with the mechanics
strailks
28. Apr 2021 · 23:48 UTC
I loved the mechanics of the game. It was difficult without being overly frustrating. My main fault was that I would completely forget about energy at the start of games and have to restart because of that. Overall, great job! The idea behind it was very fun to play.

The one thing I should mention is that there is a bug if you press 2 root growing keys at once (like pressing D and S at the same time) there would be 2 roots that grow from the starting point.
jorgeblanco
29. Apr 2021 · 00:01 UTC
Really like the concept. It is quite a challenge to be on top of all the resource management while avoiding the rocks. Thoughts: the punishing lose condition made me play much slower than I wanted (always looking over my shoulder in case I ran out of energy). It felt unfair that the rocks spawned only when you are next to them, often leaving me with no more moves despite not having done anything really "wrong". I still enjoyed the game and played several times before being able to beat it. Good job!
smiley
29. Apr 2021 · 00:41 UTC
WIN! Great game and nice idea of the theme. I did forget looking at the energy especially when I had to restart since having much lesser energy at the start.
Quinn_Patrick
29. Apr 2021 · 20:50 UTC
Man, that's some rocky soil! This is a fun, well balanced, and unique strategy game. Nice job. I don't really see the importance of having water and nutrients as separate resources, since they are both used and acquired in the same way.
Swen
29. Apr 2021 · 20:55 UTC
Neat entry.

Growing the tree felt really good, but I died a lot without me knowing I would die. There are a lot of resource to constantly check. Maybe it's an idea to give the player some kind of warning when s/he is low or not let the player grow/ do the action at all if s/he has no resources. Now it's a bit unforgiving.
Next to this it wasn't always clear for me what resources I would get if I "absorbed".

The game itself is rather relaxing. Love the puzzle and resource management aspect of it.
Great work, keep it up!
Triastase
29. Apr 2021 · 20:57 UTC
Cool game, I like the combination of movement / directing the roots and resource management! At first I always forgot to fill up my energy and lost, maybe it would make more sense to just not enable movement when there is no energy? Otherwise I found it quite challenging for a game jam game, but also interesting and reqarding enough to make me try again and again for a while. :slight_smile:
Evil Villain Games
29. Apr 2021 · 21:05 UTC
This game is great! It was very satisfying to beat it. I like all the restrictions placed on it to give it difficulty and it teaches you though losing which I appreciate.

If I could change one thing I would make it so you absorbed water automatically every time you moved your root, this is mostly because I didn't find any situation where you wouldn't want to absorb water.
🎤 Marcionix
29. Apr 2021 · 21:16 UTC
@pedrohph @IndigoWolf @teenythanos @knipsch @kaabiikaze @flatgub @vphyre @pious @strailks @jorgeblanco @smiley @quinn-patrick @swen @triastase @evil-villain-games

Thank you all for the comments! :heart:

I made some error fixing and improved the UI!
If it's ok, you can try again! :smile:
pfs
29. Apr 2021 · 21:33 UTC
I like the idea and the art is beautiful but I feel like the gameplay could be better.
1. You only see the rocks in your vicinity so there's not much planning or tactics going on but mostly luck.
2. Maybe I just didn't realize it but it seems like no tradeoff in balancing resources. You just get one energy, move and get nutrients. And try to collect enough water and the green thingie.
3. I've played this for more than I am willing to say :D and still am not sure when I lose. It says "don't run out of energy" but I ran out all the time without losing. I also lost with 1 or 2 or 3 roots. Maybe it's just me.
Baturinsky
29. Apr 2021 · 21:41 UTC
Needs more clear instructions. I have no idea why I am just suddenly dying.
MaggardJosh
29. Apr 2021 · 21:44 UTC
Like others have said could use more clear instructions, but I got it after a while (and actually won!) and had fun playing! Great entry!
Brainloaf Studio
29. Apr 2021 · 22:42 UTC
I really like the gameplay loop! Discovering the best method/order of actions while also avoiding rocks is simple, but I had fun with it. Like others are saying, some sound definitely would have added to things, but the game is already very nice without that aspect. Nice work!
STiN
01. May 2021 · 08:57 UTC
Nice work but why it is so hard to find water?
🎤 Marcionix
04. May 2021 · 20:35 UTC
@pfs @baturinsky @maggardjosh @brainloaf-studio @stin

Thank you all for the comments! :heart:

I put other instructions, trying to be more clear (i think so)
DDRKirbyISQ
05. May 2021 · 00:03 UTC
Interesting idea! Wish there were more tradeoffs as other people said, and the random level generation seems to make the game a bit luck-based, but I still managed to win anyways. Yay!
Victor Andrade
06. May 2021 · 18:23 UTC
@marcionix Awesome visuals, the art of the game and the fact that you can choose the kind of evolution you can give to your plant makes this game very fun!

Cheers, velho!!!