Unstable Potions by Wubbl

[raw]
made by Wubbl for Ludum Dare 49 (JAM)

A puzzle game where an alchemy-apprentice has to pass the master potion exam. It's fun! (There may be bugs =) )

This is our third GameJam and we tried our best with pixel-art again (even though we have little experience). We had lot’s of fun planning and making the game, and we hope you like playing it too!

Potionroom_image.png

Ratings

Overall 872th 3.438⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 986th 3.208⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 839th 3.229⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 638th 3.646⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 187th 4.292⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 547th 3.438⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 318th 3.646⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 324th 3.813⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 27🗳️ 27🗨️

Feedback

Catalow
05. Oct 2021 · 01:08 UTC
Good game! The pixel art is great, especially for having little experience with it. The descriptions of all the ingredients were fun and it was interesting to figure out the riddles. Sometimes I had a little trouble placing the ingredients, but it was great otherwise. Good job! :)
owca
05. Oct 2021 · 12:59 UTC
I love the ingredients descriptions and overall humor 5/5 :smiley:
Visuals and audio are also very nice. The game is quite hard for me.

BTW I made a COMPO game also called [**Unstable Potions**](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/unstable-potions) :) but the mechanics are totally different. Please consider checking it out rating it if you haven't yet :smile:

Edit:
I also suggest you guys to port it to WebGL version (in Unity it shouldn't be any problem). You should get more ratings that way because some people don't rate non-web games. I usually don't but this time I was very courious how you approached the topic of potions :)
Devez
05. Oct 2021 · 19:45 UTC
Unfortunately I could not figure it out, way too many combinations from all these ingredients :D

I liked the pixel art, music and mood though, good job!
bunchanurds
05. Oct 2021 · 20:09 UTC
Loved it! Really nice art and music, and the puzzle element was on point!
megamasterx
06. Oct 2021 · 12:28 UTC
You can specify a default resolution on Itch.io on your Manage Game page! Had a similar issue with our entry. This game has a fantastic mythical feeling, your font choices and writing lend itself really well to the atmosphere! It's always good to see alchemy-based games and you did a good job with this one.
as you like 101
06. Oct 2021 · 12:58 UTC
Its good game i have fun to play it and i like the graphics
leokrechmer
06. Oct 2021 · 13:06 UTC
Nice graphics and sounds. Idea is nice, and clear however it is difficult to place ingredients on the table for some reason. Good submission anyway!
Petunia Games
06. Oct 2021 · 19:11 UTC
I'm afraid to say I did not have a good time with this game. The aesthetic is nice, graphically and musically it all works, but the gameplay really lets it down.

There is too much that you can do upfront and it is overwhelming. I found myself randomly clicking on things to figure out how to even start brewing. For a good while I assumed the pictures next to the cauldron were a clue to what items you needed to use, so I just grabbed items that looked somewhat similar to them.

The item descriptions weren't clear enough on some of them, I tried to use the wobbly plant for the first potion and was confused as to why it didn't work, the item description seemed to fit the note, it left a bad taste in my mouth. After that I just tried every combination of plant until I got the right one; this isn't fun, you feel like you're hitting a roadblock every time you make progress.

So overall, it could have used more tutorialisation, and it could have started with fewer items to use from the get-go. It can definitely work with just those small changes.
kuro917
06. Oct 2021 · 22:46 UTC
Very nice art and music, i had some problems placing ingredients and understanding what combinations are useful but good job!
MsCarrotCake
07. Oct 2021 · 04:35 UTC
I actually really like the premise of the game. I like the art and sound too. However, it was quite hard in the beginning to figure out what to do with the items and even the fire and ice thing wasn't too clear. I made so many combination but still haven't figured out the first potion. I thought it should onion tears, wobbly and horn, but seems like only wobbly is correct.

Anyway, I think this would be amazing if the UI were to be improved. Also probably can have a clue button or explanation what does stable mean. I made a few stable potions but none of them are the right one.

Good job!
🎤 Wubbl
07. Oct 2021 · 07:32 UTC
Thank you all for the feedback.
We had a tutorial planned in the beginning and to restrict the ingredients for each level. However, Monday was bugfixing all day and we had to skip some parts.
Sorry for that.

We try to start playtesting earlier next time and focus more on the playability =)
Exmxpx
07. Oct 2021 · 11:51 UTC
Had a similar idea when we brainstormed before the jam started but went with something else entirely. Nice to see something similar executed so well. Great job.
Dazzumbledor
07. Oct 2021 · 12:03 UTC
I felt kind of lost at some points. Maybe could do with more hints. Visual style is great! :cat2:
ardorugus
07. Oct 2021 · 14:25 UTC
The amount of text is distracting from the game. However, it's an interesting piece of potion-making. But I felt really sad, when couldn't pet the Cat (even if he's the bossy one).
Elektroney
09. Oct 2021 · 14:10 UTC
非常に良いゲームは私の男がミルクを追加する良い仕事を続けます#ミルクバディの
Upsitesdown
10. Oct 2021 · 19:40 UTC
ありがとう :D @elektroney
caeonosphere
13. Oct 2021 · 06:20 UTC
Agh, I couldn't even figure out the first one after a dozen or so attempts... I liked the art for all the ingredients, and the descriptions were fun, I guess they just weren't specific or easy enough.
ValiantSugar
19. Oct 2021 · 09:18 UTC
Great graphics!