LudumData

Immune System "Engineer" - Can you Delay the Inevitable Skin Breach? by Aarimous

[raw]
made by Aarimous for Ludum Dare 50 (COMPO)

Play

Note Ludum Dare Raters: should download the windows build named Original LD50 Build found at the bottom of my Itch page. The current web build contains a post game QOL patch intended for my YouTube and Twitch audience to playtest. Thanks for your understanding. See patch notes on the page if you are curious.

Overview

First Jam in a year and had a blast! I made this alone using the Godot game engine. Streamed live about half of the Jam to my Twitch audience. Devlog to come soon on my YouTube Channel. Thanks for playing :)

https://youtu.be/ukmYsgIBZjM

Description

Welcome, to your first day as an Immune System Engineer in the Skin Division of the Aarimous Corpse!!

As an Immune System Engineer it’s your job to fend off the millions if not billions of pathogens, viruses, and bacteria that are trying to kill the almighty Aarimous. Well at least for as long as you can, INEVITABLY you will lose and we will need to replace you…

But for now.. DELAY the INEVITABLE skin breach as long as possible by SATISFYING as many cells as possible. Good Luck and thanks for choosing to work in the Skin Division!

​Controls * SPACE BAR to Pause * Click and Drag from one Circle to another to create a connection * Connections must be made between matching colors * Connections cannot be made between nodes on the same Cell

Key Mechanics * If a cell reaches the top of the screen with open connections you will lose a heart. No Hearts = Game Over. * Keep your health topped off by satisfying health cells hint: they have hearts on them * SATISFY: Click and Drag from one cell's NODE (colored circle) to another cell’s NODE. Note: the colors must match (I added shapes for our color blind friends)

Proudly Made with Godot (Open Source Game Engine) Godot<em>Icon</em>Small.png

Find more of my work here

YouTube Devlogs, Tutorials, GameDev

Twitch Live Thurs - Sun 10-1 CDT

Twitter Stay up To Date

Post Jam Patch 1 Web Build https://aarimous.itch.io/ld50
Source Code (with patch) https://github.com/Aarimous/LD50
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/immune-system-engineer-can-you-delay-the-inevitable-skin-breach

Ratings

Overall 116th 3.789⭐ 59🧑‍⚖️
Fun 142th 3.693⭐ 59🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 53th 4.026⭐ 59🧑‍⚖️
Theme 111th 4.044⭐ 59🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 225th 3.658⭐ 59🧑‍⚖️
Audio 146th 3.605⭐ 59🧑‍⚖️
Humor 344th 2.62⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Mood 365th 3.12⭐ 56🧑‍⚖️
Given 57🗳️ 56🗨️

Feedback

zimennik
04. Apr 2022 · 02:55 UTC
Great game! I just love how simple but still interesting this gameplay idea!
Also played it on mobile. Works great!
foxwater
04. Apr 2022 · 02:56 UTC
Super pleasant sounds, very satisfying click and drags and overall aesthetic. The difficulty ramp of additional nodes per cell is super cool, well done!
JCMonkey
04. Apr 2022 · 03:01 UTC
the one thing i would like to see added to the game is bigger click radius's. there are times i had to click 3 times to get a snap. i think the screen could be a bit longer up and down so we can plan ahead, but thats just my little nitpick. the game was interesting, it worked, nice job!
LanaLux
04. Apr 2022 · 03:03 UTC
Very clever concept and nice execution. It got addicting really quickly. Great work!
LDJam user 285197
04. Apr 2022 · 03:04 UTC
Good little game. It was satisfying to add the shapes together. However it felt a bit repetitive after awhile.
Nick Rafalski
04. Apr 2022 · 03:12 UTC
This is great! I really just love the drag and drop mechanic, it's super clean and feels good. All the little visual and audio feedback really helps.

The difficulty is great. Starts slow enough that you get to 'practice' the mechanic, but ramps up to a frenzy pretty quick. Nice job!
wavertron
04. Apr 2022 · 03:16 UTC
Simple idea and well executed. Nice job. Played on PC with mouse but this would work well on touchscreen mobile.
lb01
04. Apr 2022 · 03:17 UTC
This has a lot of polish, especially for a compo entry. Really simple but addicting gameplay. I noticed that sometimes a cell I want to select gets pushed out of the bottom of the screen by another cell, so I'd need to wait for it to scroll back in to select it. But that was really only an issue right at the start, since by the end I was just trying to keep the cells at the top alive. Really good job on this!
jyumonji
04. Apr 2022 · 03:20 UTC
Very good idea! I thought it's quite easy but I was wrong.XD
LDJam user 278918
04. Apr 2022 · 03:22 UTC
Such a simple idea, but really polished and fun to play. Well done!
Wogabi
04. Apr 2022 · 03:27 UTC
Wow this reminds me of Osmosis Jones mixed with tetris. Great game!
CharlesSchar
04. Apr 2022 · 03:38 UTC
Cool concept and executed very well. I love the music created by the incoming cells, as well as other aspects of the sound design.
Roberto Romao
04. Apr 2022 · 04:25 UTC
It was kind complicated in the beginning but I got by the end. I would suggest to maybe make the cells smaller.

Overall good job :D
LDJam user 264390
04. Apr 2022 · 04:54 UTC
Enjoyed playing this, I could only get to 30 for my score. I loved the sounds, they're strangely soothing despite the hectic rush to make connections. Graphics were really clean too.
LDJam user 278660
04. Apr 2022 · 06:52 UTC
Brilliant idea! I enjoy playing it, it confuses me first time but I figure out at last, and the art style is awesome!
Nathan Wiles
04. Apr 2022 · 08:22 UTC
This is very clever and the artwork is great. I love that new cells are spawned along with the music. There's an element of timing because you don't want to try to be connecting two nodes while a cell spawns (since they might move out from under your cursor) so the audio hints are a nice tough.
mixon00
04. Apr 2022 · 09:22 UTC
Great idea. Nice graphics. :thumbsup:
CrishNate
04. Apr 2022 · 10:02 UTC
Very nice idea. I really liked that the cells appear in rhythm of music! One thing I think you should improve is the curve dificulty, it starts easy but become impossible really quick (But pretty sure it's for sake of the jam). Overall, really liked the game, with small tweeks in graphic I see it in PlayMarket as a popular game!
AdroitConceptions
04. Apr 2022 · 11:22 UTC
- functional gameplay
- good graphics
- fast difficultly ramp curve.
- SFX are nice
- over all good submition
Turkey
04. Apr 2022 · 13:02 UTC
Fun game! Art was clean and Audio was very relaxed and nice! Only 2 complaints were that it started to get monotonous later in the game. Maybe speeding up the scrolling as you get later into the game would help with that. Also I didn't fell really "challenged" later in game as more as I did feel constrained and limited to the small play area and the connections the game RNG gave me. None the less though, still overall happy and great game!
ABRDs
04. Apr 2022 · 13:52 UTC
Great simple game, with a good ramp up in difficulty!
m11
04. Apr 2022 · 17:09 UTC
Very clever interpretation of the theme!
PetTurtle
04. Apr 2022 · 17:34 UTC
Solid game, everything is very polished! But I got quickly overwhelmed, the difficulty curve does seem to increase to quickly
🎤 Aarimous
04. Apr 2022 · 17:37 UTC
@petturtle That was intentional, but I do think the "mid-game" could have been a little longer. Would be cool to add some upgrades after each run to help you grow in "power" as you play. Right now, it's just up to how accurate your mouse is, and even then I should have made the click ranges for the node a little large. Thanks for playing and stopping by in chat yesterday over on Twitch, hope you'll join me again soon :)
LDJam user 281060
04. Apr 2022 · 18:51 UTC
Fun, creative game! I can't think of a similar game. It seemed to me that there wasn't too much choice, just always trying to connect up the farthest along cell. So towards the end I would always loose b/c of speed. But I saw a few unlockables so I think that's very promising!
BubakGames
04. Apr 2022 · 18:52 UTC
This game is great. Love the gameplay.
LDJam user 236651
04. Apr 2022 · 18:57 UTC
Not sure what's causing it, but the score will sometime change to "null". Otherwise a great game!
🎤 Aarimous
04. Apr 2022 · 19:08 UTC
@lancival Yeah, that happens sometimes, probably something this the garbage code I rush out out in the last few hours ;) thanks for playing.
🎤 Aarimous
04. Apr 2022 · 19:09 UTC
@darzu Yeah, there is a long list of things I wanted to add, but time ran out. Thanks of playing.
PinballJunior
04. Apr 2022 · 19:30 UTC
Nice original concept and I like the sound design.
Linus Lindberg
04. Apr 2022 · 19:41 UTC
Good LD entry. Fun concept and very polished.
Davide Rossetto
04. Apr 2022 · 19:59 UTC
Neat game! Had some "serious" fun with it. Maybe a little snapping on the cells' nibbles can make it ever greater. Good job! :v:
Nima
04. Apr 2022 · 20:30 UTC
A unique take on the theme. Enjoyed the gameplay as the different colors gradually stacked up. In addition the sfx were a nice touch. Great job!
Flawed_Gamer
04. Apr 2022 · 21:52 UTC
Really nice game. I like how you slowly made it more difficult but I feel like at some point, someone could make connections faster than there are cells.
At one point when I was playing I got a cell with 2 star points and no other star points showed up until after it breached the skin (maybe a bug?) But overall I had a lot of fun!
Agrimes
05. Apr 2022 · 00:20 UTC
Good concept, I always enjoy a nice puzzle game.
haztro
05. Apr 2022 · 00:48 UTC
Great entry. Really cool mechanic, the difficulty progression was really well done (with the addition of extra nodes). It got difficult fast, would have been nice to chill for a bit longer ;) The connection sound are super satisfying too. Nice job!
Sheol
05. Apr 2022 · 02:03 UTC
I love the mechanic and the idea! The artstyle and sounds are also really good! The difficulty curve is also just right with the introduction of more nodes. Overall a really great submission!!
Oneiros
05. Apr 2022 · 02:54 UTC
This game is really well done ! I had a lot of fun playing it. Good job :)
squimmy
05. Apr 2022 · 07:10 UTC
This is a neat game. I think a little more feedback could have made it a lot more engaging. For example a sound effect when linking two nodes even if it didn't fully satisfy the cell, or maybe a more striking change to the cells when they are satisfied. It would make it much easier to tell when something worked and make it easier to tell which cells will damage you when they reach the top.

But, this minor complaint aside, overall it's a really good game.
Cinar
05. Apr 2022 · 09:06 UTC
Finished and polished!! Well Done.
Radiant Games
05. Apr 2022 · 10:23 UTC
Really simple and fun to play game. I love it!!!
LDJam user 237413
05. Apr 2022 · 11:53 UTC
Very cool game. a nice mechanic and is presented well with nice graphics. Good job
LDJam user 280189
05. Apr 2022 · 15:38 UTC
Addicting game! Got really hard near the end! I really liked the mechanics, art and sound effects.


![unknown.png](///raw/d76/44/z/4ca7d.png)
LDJam user 235388
05. Apr 2022 · 22:53 UTC
Neat idea. I feel like I lasted a fairly long while, but it def gets too much at some point. Nice job!
🎤 Aarimous
05. Apr 2022 · 22:59 UTC
@crychair yeah, if I return to this I'll try and smooth out the later parts so it slowly becomes impossible. This version get impossible once you reach 40-60 points. Which is why is so impressive @kazuren got to 127, I'll call that the high score thus far. Thanks for playing :)
LDJam user 235388
05. Apr 2022 · 23:12 UTC
@aarimous Hmm I feel like I got to around there...
Wheffle
06. Apr 2022 · 05:15 UTC
Pretty cool puzzle game! I think the written tutorial at the beginning of the game is a bit of an information dump-- the puzzle is simple enough to figure out while you're playing. The music syncing up with cell spawning was a really nice touch. The graphics were simple and understandable, and the puzzle is very intuitive yet fun! Nice entry!
velvetlobster
06. Apr 2022 · 15:28 UTC
this is very clever and satisfying ... also the making of is great! I also do love kurzgesagt <3
🎤 Aarimous
06. Apr 2022 · 15:30 UTC
@velvetlobster yeah, most of my "fun facts" I tell people are just based off their videos. They have such an elegant way of distilling complex topics into short, enjoyable videos to watch. Glad you liked my game and video. :)
velvetlobster
06. Apr 2022 · 15:31 UTC
I think you should show them your game
Ossi
06. Apr 2022 · 18:36 UTC
This game is amazing! Really simple to understand and fun to play. It started getting really crazy as more cells were on screen and gave me a similar feeling to clutching out a block clear in Tetris. Great job!
SilverlyBee
07. Apr 2022 · 02:31 UTC
Chaotic and very addicting! Great game!
Mistafixxa069
07. Apr 2022 · 13:54 UTC
Nice game, really liked the idea of the game
chingle
08. Apr 2022 · 17:22 UTC
Great game! Very polished and I really like the sound design!
Jackaljk
09. Apr 2022 · 16:25 UTC
This is so good, the concept is great, the game is fun and fits the theme perfectly. I love how you created music with the sounds the cells make when they appear! The only criticism I have is that connected dots and cells sometiemes are not distinct enough from unconnected ones, especially while being in a hurry. Regardless this is an amazing entry, bravo!
redsti
09. Apr 2022 · 16:41 UTC
nice game, i feel like the game could be a little more forgiving when it comes to when you lose a heart and the difference between completed and not completed cells could be bigger, or they could dissapear completely when completed, also a tutorial with less text would be nice, but thats hard and its a jam so it ok
MartinK
09. Apr 2022 · 22:16 UTC
Nice, The tutorial screen that the player was forced to click through was a really good UX decision. As was having the music toggle and volume slider at the top.

I liked how the clickable icons were differentiated by shape as well as colour. You've clearly thought about the user experience and accessibility with this entry.

Great work.
JuulH
09. Apr 2022 · 23:07 UTC
Hey, got here from your stream! Really simple but nice game. As a colorblind person it's nice to see you added extra shapes to help differentiate the different colors as well. The rounding of the shapes made them slightly less obvious but it's still really useful. It felt really polished and the feedback on completing and spawning a cell is really nice. I sometimes had some trouble seeing if a node was connected already or not (mainly the green ones) - might either be a bug or something with color blindness as well? The pacing was nice, it was nice to start with just a couple nodes so you can slowly learn how to play, although this might get repetitive when you're replaying it. The changes you made in the newer patches also definitely help make it less of a stressful accuracy game and more of a simple relaxing game which I think is a lot better.
Overall a really solid entry with a good amount of polish, good job! :D
eonarheim
10. Apr 2022 · 22:06 UTC
Really solid game, very polished. It definitely got frantic quickly (in a good way).

I know it's already been said, but perhaps making the connected nodes even darker or more obviously complete would help visually know that to focus on.
TheBlitz
17. Apr 2022 · 02:54 UTC
Fun game, loved the art too. I like how new cells will push other cells, so you'll need to account for the offset when matching the nodes.

![Screenshot 2022-04-17 at 10.50.47 AM.png](///raw/f67/e2/z/4e17b.png)
johnnysix
17. Apr 2022 · 14:52 UTC
Wow that got intense pretty quickly - I think where you're going with the mobile version is the right direction - keeping things simpler / slicker . Where you have the coloured nodes, maybe different shaped cells ( circle for one node, bean shaped for two nodes, star shaped for three nodes etc ) could make for some interesting challenges. Something that could add a touch of uniqueness would be some sort of physics like effect when connecting nodes - like attaching elastic bands, so connected cells pull themselves together.
![aaaaaaaaaaaaa.jpg](///raw/028/2/z/4e19b.jpg)