Understable by vidim888
Short game about relationships, life and (un)stability.
Arrows or A & D for moving. W, Up or Space for jumping. R to restart level. F to stop HP drain (Can help on some levels, required on 2 of them).
Programming by Vadim Shved a.k.a. vidim888 Art and music by Aleksandra Zaidelson a.k.a. Hori


| Link has both the game and source files | https://vidim888.itch.io/understable |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/understable |
Ratings
| Overall | 851th | 3.452⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1049th | 3.143⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 38th | 4.214⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 828th | 3.452⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 423th | 3.952⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 636th | 3.31⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 773th | 2.867⭐ | 17🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 365th | 3.762⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 40🗳️ | 18🗨️ |
However, the platforming part is very difficult and the controls frustrating, especially the "flappy bird"-like levels. Maybe the relaxing puzzle mechanics aren't a good mix with the jumps.
P.S: I am wondering is this pause by pressing "F" part of the game mechanics? Or is it just a back door for players to pass level quickly?
We later added 2 levels which you cannot pass without using assist mode as a message that in life there are times when you cannot go forward without help.
Less Good:
The pixel art is in itself really good but the overall style is to inconsistent. Many characters, background elements and ui pieces have different resolutions and that downgrades otherwise good art (imo). It is also really hard to read what is going on (i had to restart way to often in the beginning because i thought the thorns were background). I feel like some hitboxes are not aligned with the actual sprites or way bigger leading to seemingly unfair restarts.
Good:
The thematic concept is unique and the mechanics i saw until i couldnt progress further were interesting too. The heart shrinking (without love i guess) and flying away (with help of the lady) are nice metaphors. But my favourite levels were the ones with the switching gravity (i dont know what that stood for though).
The idea of an assist mode is great and could even be expanded on for people like me (who lets just say 'didnt do so well' in the levels)
TLDR: A game with a concept that is definetly worth playing - a bit held back by some problems in the execution
About pixel art - it was first time for me doing pixel art and I had no idea about which resolution will be the best, so it was more about trying to understand how to make everything important visible on the screen and in right proportions
About hard levels - we probably should’ve add skip button so it would’ve been easier to get the whole story without struggling too much
and dont worry about my art critcism - ld is for learning and the pieces themselves are really good for a first time
As per how the game works, I had a hard time figuring this out, what was happening, what I should do to, well, see more of the story. And I took some time to notice the "death plants" were not just background, as the "life" TV box, this type of thing. Some sound effects maybe could help with this feedback, possibly.
A small note (and not in the game itself, but that can be nice for people playing it online): there's an option on itch.io to allow people to play in fullscreen. I feel this more immersive -- and also, if you're playing with arrows, a jump won't be confused by the browser with a scroll up command.
i think the idea of silver and pink portions of the health bar, constantly draining, alternating, and changing you, is super awesome, but unfortunately i never figured out how to control it, so i got stuck at a level.
i think the "f to pause your health drain" felt kind of arbitrary, not sure how it fit in, didn't make sense in the gameplay narrative you crafted. like, as metaphors for life / relationships, what does it mean to pause? and from a pure gameplay perspective, yeah, just kinda arbitary. like "why do i have the ability to do this?"
anyways, cool entry over all! rainbow!!

It was a little hard to understand what I need to do and how to control. Like the “death plants” were not just background, as the “life” TV box, this type of thing.
Good job on the game!