Cowabunga by Sestren

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

Another father-and-son venture, with Sestren doing the coding and EqualEnergy doing everything else!

cowabunga<em>ldjam49</em>5.png

cowabunga<em>ldjam49</em>7.png

Controls are left and right arrow keys to move, X to throw a pail of milk, and Z to jump. It should also be compatible with a gamepad.

The goal of the game is to defend the heart of the city from waves of flying enemies. Your milk bar is your ammo, your jumping fuel, and your health, but you are immortal and you regen your milk over time. If your milk goes empty, you will fall unconscious for a short period while you recuperate.

Survive the wave of enemies for 2 minutes to save the city!

Ratings

Overall 1362th 2.968⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1205th 2.968⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1354th 2.629⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1496th 2.217⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1154th 3.063⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Audio 845th 2.935⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Humor 787th 2.833⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1309th 2.726⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Given 31🗳️ 39🗨️

Feedback

Zapturk
06. Oct 2021 · 00:55 UTC
Sweet idea!
squigglez
06. Oct 2021 · 01:02 UTC
nice game! i like the sound, especially the song when you lose
LDJam user 259103
06. Oct 2021 · 01:04 UTC
Neat little game; a little difficult, took me a couple tries to beat. Controls are nice and tight. Not sure how this fits the theme though?

Good job overall!
mathemagician
06. Oct 2021 · 01:09 UTC
I always love to see Pico-8 games, and this was no exception. I played through a couple times, even! The second just to see if I could manage to save the city with throwing a single glass of milk.
Oliver Richmeier
06. Oct 2021 · 01:19 UTC
Fun game, tight controls, good sound design. Thought the milk could have regenerated just a little bit faster though, especially for when the spawn rates get crazy
DAk001
06. Oct 2021 · 01:30 UTC
Is it just me, or I was actually playing for a cow superhero
nardandas
06. Oct 2021 · 01:32 UTC
This one really felt like an old NES game or something, well done! I kind of wish the milk regenerated a little faster, so I could fly more, and that you respawned with more milk. Otherwise, really fun!
mspawa
06. Oct 2021 · 02:02 UTC
I like the graphics, really oldie vibes. It's hard to beat!
LDJam user 243193
07. Oct 2021 · 14:51 UTC
Nice short game! almost run out of milk toward the end before finally able to save the city :).
I guess the unstability is subtle, unless the assault was the unstability.
Pennycook
08. Oct 2021 · 22:47 UTC
The pixel art is great, and so is the music loop. As others have said, I'm not really sure how it fits the theme... Reminds me of a few of the other themes I saw during the theme voting... :thinking:
loveapplegames
09. Oct 2021 · 08:39 UTC
Cute little game, which I think could be improved much with some tweaking. Game is atmospheric, graphics are charming. My winning strategy was simply hanging around in the middle, trying to shoot enemies before they get to the middle. The bombers can simply be ignored. Giving the player a reason to jump would make the game more interesting.
🎤 Sestren
09. Oct 2021 · 13:34 UTC
@pennycook I just went and looked at the themes in the final round, and, I can definitely see the resemblance to one in particular, lol. What's funny is this Ludum Dare, EqualEnergy and I actually were so busy the week before we didn't have time to look at any of the voting rounds before participating, so that is pure coincidence. :smiley:
alanxoc3
10. Oct 2021 · 00:04 UTC
I <3 pico-8, so thanks for making another pico-8 game. I liked how shooting, jumps and health were all shared. I got to the ending too!

![dipumewimo_0.png](///raw/b22/e2/z/47f65.png)
GreatCadet
10. Oct 2021 · 00:11 UTC
Pros:
I like the concept. It gave me space invader vibes, but with a cow. I thought it was an interesting mechanic that milk is your health, jumps, and projectiles. It made me want to use my jumping and shooting sparingly which made for interesting gameplay.

Cons:
While the audio sounds like you were under attack, It’s definitely not something I’d put in my spotify playlist haha. The graphics could also be improved upon, but I'm sure you did what you could given the time restraints and built in limitations of pico-8.

Overall
I had fun playing it! The concept of a cow protecting the city was pretty funny and I liked the milk mechanics
LDJam user 233347
10. Oct 2021 · 21:56 UTC
Odd music, but strangely enticing. Graphics are, IMHO, "legacy" :wink: all in all, strangely enjoyable although I failed to finish successfully.
Garywiss
11. Oct 2021 · 10:54 UTC
Nice game with cool retro pixel art !
Kyrell
11. Oct 2021 · 13:41 UTC
Loved the visual look and the music was a perfect fit! Nice job!
Jackaljk
11. Oct 2021 · 19:36 UTC
Great music and concept! Having a single bar for health and attacking is great and I love that you become incapacitated when you run out. I would have loved a little tutorial that explains how to play, but nice job anyway!
puppetmaster
12. Oct 2021 · 20:05 UTC
Cool game, you get a father and son bonus from me.

Keep up the good work. Congratulations on your contribution. :thumbsup:
Jonah_SRG
14. Oct 2021 · 15:02 UTC
The milk as a shared resource is interesting, it took me a moment to realize I had (almost) as many jumps as I wanted. The enemy attack patterns are honed in on the center, so I spent most of my time dodging down there and trying to hit 2 or 3 enemies at once with my shots. The graphics are nice, though some things are hard to read at the low resolution the action is very clear and the controls are precise. Well done!
kythehuman
17. Oct 2021 · 19:44 UTC
It's always interesting when there's a risk/reward to your resource usage. I thought the milk usage for jump/health/ammo was a nice design. Gamepad support worked well and bonus points for using PICO-8. I saved the city in the end. Well done!
lilkrit
20. Oct 2021 · 03:21 UTC
It's the best game I played this LD so far. The cow is super cute. Love the idea and the visuals. You should be proud :D