Infiniraft by LDJQ

[raw]
made by LDJQ for Ludum Dare 49 (COMPO)

infiniraft.gif

Your oddly large raft is sinking!
Collect your coin bags, quickly.

Goal

Collect coins to win.
The amount needed is indicted in yellow at the bottom-left of the screen.

Stepping on broken planks or in water hurts you, so try not to do that.
Your health is shown in pink at the bottom-left of the screen, increase it by picking up med-kits.

Controls

  • Arrow keys to move
  • Enter to pause
  • Z to restart after dying or winning

Ratings

Overall 319th 3.385⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Fun 304th 3.295⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 421th 2.936⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Theme 337th 3.385⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 416th 3.038⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Audio 228th 3.282⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Humor 297th 2.581⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Mood 375th 2.958⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Given 71🗳️ 54🗨️

Feedback

m11
04. Oct 2021 · 09:49 UTC
Very retro, and fits the theme perfectly!
PBG
05. Oct 2021 · 00:18 UTC
I got old LCD game vibes from this. Very fun! I was able to hit diagonals really easily on my phone screen, so I could do diagonal moves in one go - this actually helped make the game more strategic - you might want to make it easy to do this with buttons somehow. Nice job!
LDJam user 243193
05. Oct 2021 · 04:52 UTC
The rafts are really unstable. This game is easy to learn and easy to master. It is fun and fits the theme.
LDJam user 2042
05. Oct 2021 · 11:29 UTC
I won! 2:41.

Nice game. Short and sweet, which is probably the way to go for LD. I like retro stuff like this, when it's well-implemented, which this is.

It felt like the game spawned health packs more often when I was low on health, which is a nice little friendly touch, unless I was imagining it.

Good audio and theme usage too. Super solid.
lonewookie
05. Oct 2021 · 20:32 UTC
Very well done, this is probably one of my favorites so far! The mechanics are simple but engaging. This would make a good "endless" game I think. It felt a little easy, and I won just after it seemed to speed up. So my only real criticism would be that it's too easy. The music had my head bobbing. Great game!
HIKO_game
06. Oct 2021 · 07:07 UTC
I finished in 2:29!
The concept of a raft on the water is nice.
I want the river flow speed up gradually.
Well Done!!
🎤 LDJQ
06. Oct 2021 · 08:50 UTC
@pbg I actually didn't think about diagonal movement, but it does make the game more interesting.

@rogual you're right the med-kits have a higher chance of spawning the lower your health is, it's really cool you figured that out.

@lonewookie I definitely think an endless mode would be fun, and a few people have asked for it. Thank you for the feedback on the music.

@hiko-game I would have liked to have the game change as your run went on. For example faster movement, new types of planks, or different music.
Nafe
07. Oct 2021 · 04:53 UTC
Fun little retro style game! I like it a lot. I can imagine a whole little console of similar mini games. :)
cauldron
07. Oct 2021 · 15:51 UTC
The objective and the controls are immediately understandable. The game is fun and fits the theme well. Risk reward is well-balanced. Good job!
LMB
07. Oct 2021 · 23:36 UTC
A nice casual game! Simple, easy-to-understand, almost relaxing(!) gameplay! Graphics and sounds bringing good vibes from the past :slight_smile: Solid implementation, too, no bugs found!
nekowei
09. Oct 2021 · 10:05 UTC
classic design! music really gets the mood and the situation fits the theme.

maybe it would be better if the difficulty could alter like more raft from beginning and less to the end.
🎤 LDJQ
10. Oct 2021 · 04:36 UTC
@nekowei I wanted to have the difficulty increase as the player moved through the level, but I ran out of time.
Frogman
10. Oct 2021 · 10:03 UTC
Nice game! I won in 3.12 minutes. I liked the idea and gameplay. I felt that there were slightly too many times where I had to take damage (aka no path from my current raft to the next one) - I think reducing the amount of health while increasing connectivity would've been better. Other than that, good entry!
Seskon
10. Oct 2021 · 14:36 UTC
I often had problems seeing the broken boards, maybe a little more color would have helped, but yeah I understand that with 8 bits its kind of limitited. But overall I enjoyed playing it and got a time of 2.24! (i sadly missed one coin)
ildfuglen
10. Oct 2021 · 15:05 UTC
Interesting little game. I didn't really enjoy the fact that I had take damage, and the game was a little bit too easy, but I did enjoy trying it out, well done!
🎤 LDJQ
11. Oct 2021 · 03:00 UTC
@frogman I agree. I wanted to have a more elaborate algorithm for generating new rows, but I did not have the time. Right now, new rows are created in a mostly random way.

@ildfuglen The game is definitely too easy, and I would have liked to include more types of hazards. For example an enemy that would steal coins if you touched it.
___
![proto_planks.png](///raw/0ff/14/z/4808d.png)

*Old plank designs: left is a regular plank, and right is a rotten plank.*

@seskon I tried to make the new designs more distinct because I had trouble telling the old ones apart, but I agree that there still needs to be more contrast between the two.
Flomino
11. Oct 2021 · 04:17 UTC
its a nice little game! won in 2.35
the graphics are simple but effective. my only criticism is that the platforms could be a bit smoother coming down. it also might have made the game more challenging if they started coming faster and faster as it progressed. but overall its an enjoyable entry-- very cool!
Nate954
11. Oct 2021 · 04:31 UTC
This is super well executed! Super simple to grasp the concept, but really fun to plan out your route as the planks go floating by! The higher spawn rate on health kits when hurt was a genius move, it makes the game feel SO good to play! Awesome work!
MFauzan
13. Oct 2021 · 02:25 UTC
My only criticism is that the water animation makes me dizzy to look at, but I guess I'm the only one feeling it.

Overall it's a simple and fun game.
erikkire
13. Oct 2021 · 19:09 UTC
Well done, nice graphics and audio. However, too slow for my taste. I want faster scrolling.
Krjemelik
14. Oct 2021 · 14:37 UTC
3.14
Good simple game. And I dont fully understand if it is possible to move through the dialogues, I seem to have done it a couple of times, but I'm not sure?
🎤 LDJQ
16. Oct 2021 · 01:06 UTC
@flomino I agree.
The platforms are too jumpy.

@nate954 Thank you for the kind words.

@mfauzan I felt the same way at first, but I eventually got use to it.
With that said I would still like to make the animation smoother.

@erikkire Thank you for the feedback, I'll keep that in mind.

@krjemelik It is possible to move diagonally, but it is hard to do reliably.
I did not think about diagonal movement when I was making the game, so it is more an accidental feature than an intentional one.
Because of this I do not feel it would be appropriate to release a new version that makes it easier to do.
Exmxpx
16. Oct 2021 · 12:00 UTC
Cool submission! I liked being able to move diagonally, a bit more challenge could be nice but overall this is a solid little jam game. Good job.
SleepyStudios
16. Oct 2021 · 12:14 UTC
I really liked the game, it was nicely polished, easy to understand and pretty fun to play. My one criticism is I wish it was a bit faster - for example having less health, less coins to collect and faster scrolling - I think that would lead to opening up a lot of interesting speedrunning aspects. Nice work!
coolestdoggie
16. Oct 2021 · 14:33 UTC
I love Pico-8 games! It's DANDY game! Excellent!
Flying Dog Fish
16. Oct 2021 · 19:54 UTC
What a nice little retro game. Gameplay, graphics, sounds and music fit very well together.
kristinamay
19. Oct 2021 · 15:05 UTC
What a nice game! I liked the graphics and music a lot. love Pico-8.
🎤 LDJQ
21. Oct 2021 · 04:16 UTC
@exmxpx Definitely would like to have more of a challenge.

@sleepystudios I think you're right.
Thank you for the specifics.

@coolestdoggie Love the enthusiasm.

@flying-dog-fish Appreciate the feedback.

@kristinamay Yeah, the Pico-8 is great fun to work with.
Thank you for the feedback.
Jonah_SRG
21. Oct 2021 · 15:10 UTC
An interesting sort of survival roguelike. I find the decision making comes in when you have to parse out a path with the fewest open water or broken raft pieces. Since stepping on the broken raft is the same penalty as stepping into the open water, sometimes the pathway with two or three broken rafts could be circumvented by going right over the water. I am interpreting the broken rafts to be essentially the same, but since they're visually similar one might accidentally step onto the broken raft if rushed forward. I agree that it's a touch too easy, as it seems to offer plenty of health packs when you're critically low. Lots of different design avenues to chase with something like this, to make it more punishing or widen the possibility space with items, different terrain, and so on.
🎤 LDJQ
21. Oct 2021 · 21:07 UTC
@jonah-srg Thank you for the detailed feedback, it is very helpful.