Helly Belly by lootgrounds

A classic arcade style gamey with a twist. Stay away from everything. Except roundy smiley thingsies, they're goooood.
--- HOW TO PLAY ---
- You start inside the circle and it is constantly shrinking
- Don't touch the edge of the circle - it will kill you
- If you move - you shoot
- The edge of the circle will expand where the bullet hit it
- There're enemies as well
- You can only shoot enemies while powerup is active
- Touch an enemy and you die, obviously
WRAPUP: don't run into edge and enemies, pick up powerups, survive for as long as you can
--- CONTROLS ---
- WASD - move (alt. UP/DOWN/L/R)
- Z - start
- 0-1 - change color theme
PS. WEB version is a smidge buggy, music might stop playing after restart, browser page might through an error if you switch tabs - though it is fully playable
PPS. Scores are not saved, sorrry
PPPS. No pause as well, really soooorrrry

| itch.io | https://lootgrounds.itch.io/helly-belly |
| Link | https://lootgrounds.itch.io/helly-belly |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/helly-belly |
Ratings
| Overall | 32th | 4.286⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 20th | 4.277⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 35th | 4.236⭐ | 57🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 74th | 4.286⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 208th | 4.259⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 109th | 4.066⭐ | 55🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 705th | 2.913⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 238th | 3.939⭐ | 51🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 22🗳️ | 30🗨️ |
I really love the art style (nice touch with the color schemes), the music, the SFX... everything falls in place to give such an enjoyable expierence.
Really great game :D

The visual is minimal but nice for this concept. I like it all! It is a great job and Overall 5 stars in my opinion.
I really enjoyed the risk of rain style difficulty meter too.
It may have just been me, but I felt the auto-spinning made the game too automatic. If i had full control over the direction I shoot (or maybe I shoot in the direction im moving/vice versa) I think it would make gameplay a lot more interesting as I have to intentionally shoot the walls and strategize!
but thats just a thought, really good entry :)
btw i saw 250K score above.. how is this possible? i've played like 10 times and i managed to reack 120K or so
I died on nightmare difficulty because I went for the smiley face just as an enemy crossed in front of it and I hit the enemy first - pretty close.
I kind of wanted to shoot in the direction that I move in order to have more control over what part of the wall I am hitting, but I realize that might actually make the game harder overall.
https://pastebin.com/mj1FA90Z
The different themes are a nice touch. Definitely nailed the presentation!

If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1450143040?t=2h02m16s
Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D
💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady
https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin
I think the difficulty curve ramp up was good.
I also enjoyed being able to pick my color theme.
Fantastically presented with its 2Bit-ish, dithering neon look. Honestly adds a lot to the games feel and elevates the otherwise simple yet unique idea.
Saved that lospec website immediatetly. A valuable resource.
Noticed one minor bug:
- Music crashes when you (accidentally) click outside the play area in web player
A few thoughts if you consider expanding on the core concept:
- "ship" upgrades or different kinds of ships for a little long term motivation e.g.
- shotgun spread on bullets
- laser beam that overheats and has to cool down
- shooting in opposite directions with smaller bullets at the same time
- (more) enemy types that maybe fit the theme of being in a stomach a little better
Regardless, great job.
Also: any chance you could upload a linux version so I can play this on my steam deck? :D

A great example of how small scope and a game without too high an asset budget can still be great executed!