A Crumbly Planet by kumber

Escape from a planet that is imploding! Watch out for unstable platforms...
Z to jump, arrow keys to move. X to restart a level.

I made a Post-Compo version! Changes:
- The player movement is less sluggish;
- The earthquake event will give some hint on the correct platforms;
- Added an explicit “Press Z to start the game”;
- Made the vrrr sound less annoying;
- Made the alternative ending a little more evident :)
- Bug fixes.
If you want to rate the game, please play the original compo version.
Ratings
| Overall | 396th | 3.217⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 394th | 3.043⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 445th | 2.848⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 199th | 3.778⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 346th | 3.25⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 279th | 3.091⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 126th | 3.273⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 306th | 3.144⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 62🗳️ | 71🗨️ |
For the hidden platforms, you can peek a little by moving on the edge of a platform, if there is a hidden platform it should then appear. You are right, it's a mechanic that can be annoying, that's why I saved it for the last levels...
Pros:
- cute main character
- easy controls
- quite clear goal
- plottwist is a nice touch
- I don't really wanna know how you made 'earthquake' sound probably :joy:
Cons:
- There's no indication to which tile is good and which is not. I understand difficulty and such, but there's a very thin line between being it an enjoyable challenge, and boring "try-until-I-force-my-way-out" type of game. It does unfortunately lean towards the latter, especially on the second part of the story
- I'm not exactly sure if earthquake should kill me or not. I couldn't tell
Good effort!
@mikoziq I did the earthquake sound by shaking a box of cereals and then slowing down (and low-pass filtering) it in Audacity... It could have been harder to do in another way :laughing: . About the indication of which tile is good, duly noted. I tried to balance it by making the invisible ones appear when you are on an edge and jump around, to test the waters.
The earthquake shouldn't kill you, it just make the floor (all the floor) crumble, so you'll have to find a good platform before it happens. Thank you for playing!
:purple_heart: :dart: :frog:
A little 'Press Z to start' at the beginning would be nice.
@michael-feldman Yes! That's the spirit, you are expected to fail a lot but every time you learn something and become better. I added your suggestion to the post-compo version :smile:
@queenofsquiggles Thanks for the feedback! I made the player less sluggish in the post-compo.
Thanks for playing everyone!
This would make the game a very tight platformer where you can speed through a level with perfect timing. If you aren't good at that, then you can still beat the level if you find the platforms that don't crumble. If you add more hazards like flying enemies, wind zones, falling rocks, etc, it would add another level of gameplay and increase the challenge.
Nice job putting this together in 48 hours.
and those sound effects were great
The sound effects are also hilarious xD I liked that!
@skleembof & @jeremyfa & @aeveis: Thanks to you too! I was aiming for using two types of skillset:
- the classic reaction-timing of an action platform, through platforms that break if you stay on them more than x msecs, falling rocks, small monsters that you need to avoid;
- the spatial-navigation memory skill that is mostly used on FPSs but rarely on platform games; that skill where you try to reach the exit, but find yourself in a dead end, have to backtrack and retry another way, and so on.
I poured all the energy out on the second skillset because it seemed the most "original" one, and then the time ran out.
True, in an FPS you won't get killed by reaching a dead end, so I tried to balance it out by making the death a lesser problem: you always restart from the current level, infinite "lives" (no game over state), levels designed to have a max of three possible pathways. Clearly some of these levels were not well balanced and surely felt unforgiving, I tried to patch them in the post-compo version... Next time I'll ask someone to playtest it before sumbitting it :smile:
I'm aware that basing everything on spatial memory hurts replayability a lot, but consider this: the little astronauts surely don't want to return on that planet anymore, so it's a win-win :laughing:
@aeveis The explanation for the appearing platforms is: they are an illusion, they are just the same color of the other rocks on the background and they blend in, like in the famous Leap of Faith in Indiana Jones' Last Crusade:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBBbq2g7yf8
I planned to do a little hint during the earthquake event, with dust falling from the ceiling on the platforms making them slightly visible, like Indy is doing at the end of the video. Alas, too little time. I'm adding it to the post-compo.
Thanks for the great feedback!
@der-mondhase I sure hope that Greek god is not as unforgiving as this game levels :laughing: I made that noise by saying "vrrrr" through a small usb fan in front of a microphone, and then various filters with Audacity :smile: Thanks for playing!

The concept of the game is very fitting for the jam theme, and while i find the player movement a little bit too slow, it works very well.
I expected more variety during the levels as well, but is understandable that within the time constraints of the jam it is nearly impossible. In any way, you delivered several levels and a complete game!
Congrats! Good job!
Like the last person, I particularly liked the vrrr-sound! I'll find a little fan for my next game for sure :'D
Good job!
Thanks for playing and for the feedback!
@joel-davis I'll definitely keep that in mind next time! I tried to balance the jumps by extending a little the hitbox of the player:

However that probably wasn't enough... Thanks for the feedback and thanks for playing!