Death By Balloon by VonFuzzius

[raw]
made by VonFuzzius for Ludum Dare 50 (JAM)

DEATH BY BALLOON

Use left/right arrows to control Pop Knight. Bounce into balloons to wall jump. Press Enter to restart or use training mode.

Upon attacking Bouncy Castle, Pop Knight slipped on a puddle left by a fierce water balloon battle, which caused him to fall down the castle wall. Since he still has things to live for, help Pop Knight extend his life as long as possible before he will inevitably meet his untimely demise.

This game was created in Pico 8 by just me. Post your high scores in the comments. Special thanks to Lazy Devs Academy and Gruber for their tutorials. deathbyballoon html_0.png

deathbyballoon html_1.png

deathbyballoon html_2.png

Ratings

Overall 586th 3.595⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 275th 3.762⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 647th 3.357⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 453th 3.857⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 254th 4.19⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 214th 3.875⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 619th 3.053⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 781th 3.405⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 8🗳️ 16🗨️

Feedback

beats
05. Apr 2022 · 03:08 UTC
The graphics are great and the soundtrack is nice. I think it would have been cool if the coloured balloons had a bit more upwards trajectory when stood on because I'm not if there was much difference between that and hitting the black ones, but decent entry nonetheless, my High Score was 3230.
JHax
05. Apr 2022 · 10:50 UTC
Really enjoyed this, the wall jump mechanic really gives the player something to try to master to really get the most out of it!

I've got a great deal of admiration for anyone who can make Pico-8 graphics look this good as well (no shade on Pico-8, I'm just not great with it).

Managed a high score of 3920

![BubbleKnight.PNG](///raw/53b/c2/z/4c839.png)

Would be nice to have another level or something and I did sometimes feel like it would be useful to have a button to reset the game mid fall if you mess up early on - but these are minor things for sure!

Great game :)
PurpledArtFrog
05. Apr 2022 · 13:11 UTC
Nice and simple entry :thumbsup_tone1: Well executed and easy to pick up :thumbsup_tone1:
DevVex
06. Apr 2022 · 20:49 UTC
good simple game, liked the retro feel :D. Not sure if I'm missing something but I didn't understand why some balloons knocked you up and others didn't?
🎤 VonFuzzius
06. Apr 2022 · 21:05 UTC
@devvex Thanks! It's about the timing when you release the left/right arrow; but I realize now I should've probably explained this better.
milq
06. Apr 2022 · 21:50 UTC
1920 points! Are all balloons generated like this or is it procedural or mix? It see at first that it's the same but then I pay attention to the game and I'm not aware of it! Great music and very good use of colors knowing that PICO's palette is small. Great game!
Cookie_CHR
06. Apr 2022 · 21:57 UTC
Nice little game!
Toothwitch
06. Apr 2022 · 22:03 UTC
This is the first pico-8 submission i played. I love the graphics ans 8 bit music. Would love to see more levels.
Forgin Bits
06. Apr 2022 · 22:03 UTC
Beautiful, cute and colored little game ! Love the pico 8 aesthetics. As others have mentioned, I didn't really understand how to bounce off some balloons. Great submission, good job
TempoSparkz
06. Apr 2022 · 22:04 UTC
this game was really fun to play v good job fitting it with the theme nice work (:
pev
06. Apr 2022 · 22:10 UTC
Popping balloons is fun!
I just don't understand what are the black circles. Don't think they can damage the knight, but on some reason they are not balloons.
Joror
11. Apr 2022 · 19:24 UTC
Strong poppin game - I like that it is short and repeatable, makes learning easier! The controls were simple but effective. 2430 points max for me - tho I felt I could do more with some work. :slight_smile:
Terabyte
16. Apr 2022 · 20:16 UTC
hahaha! how much fun! stuck in this game for 30 minutes! great job!
LeReveur
16. Apr 2022 · 21:23 UTC
2490 is the best I can do. I tried a lot, but didn't manage to get more points. I think I didn't understand very well the slow down mechanic by "wall jumping" the baloons, or maybe I'm not good enough. Anyway, good job!
LDJam user 233659
17. Apr 2022 · 21:41 UTC
Just a solid arcade entry. Easy to pick up and play, no down time between games. I think it really clicked for me when I understood the wall jump. My best score was 3560!
VicSparkz
18. Apr 2022 · 03:13 UTC
Cool little highscore game. I like the idea of wall jumping to last longer. Reminds me of Downwell.
LDJam user 267116
18. Apr 2022 · 04:13 UTC
This is a really neat game! First pico8 game I've seen for LD so bonus points :sunglasses: I'm pretty bad at timing the walljump but it feels really nice when I can successfully execute it. Great sound design and art. Nice job!
Hawkin
20. Apr 2022 · 00:21 UTC
This was a lot of fun!! The graphics and the sfx and the music did really well together. The mechanic was pretty smooth, even if the "wall jump" off the balloons takes some work to master! It's a smart idea, rather than the knight just bouncing off the top of the balloons to get height.

Very well done!
ocwal
21. Apr 2022 · 11:22 UTC
I love balloons and this game sure had some neat ones. Music and graphics are lit!