LudumData

Shepherd's Island by blinry

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

Screenshot from 2022-04-05 00-57-43.png

The water is rising! Rescue your sheep and get to the boat before it swallows everything!

A grid-based puzzle game with stacking and water flow mechanics. Turn-based, but intense! :D

Estimated play time: 30-40 minutes

Hint: All levels are solvable and we recommend playing them in order. But if you get stuck in one level and want to skip it, you can always open the level selection menu by pressing Esc and go to any level you want!

Controls

Arrow keys: Move left/right
Space: Pick up or drop an object next to you
Return: Wait
U: Undo move (you can also press Z, Y, or backspace)
R: Reset level

Esc: Open level selection
M: Mute music
F: Toggle fullscreen

(You can customize the controls by editing the file that is shown on the level select screen.)

Misc

The Music is Take a Chance and Bleeping Demo by Kevin MacLeod.

Thanks to larkinia, rohieb and mad for playtesting! <3

Made with LÖVE. To run the Linux/macOS version, install LÖVE 11.4.

Gameplay Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puB4O3jCjaA

Changelog

Bugs we fixed after the submission deadline:

  • A level that was already played didn't reset when entering it again from the previous level (fixed on 2022-04-08).
  • When you step into a boat while carrying a sheep, the sheep was automatically set down but not shown in the boat, and the sound effect did not play (fixed on 2022-04-08).
  • Errors in the code that caused the game to crash (fixed on 2022-04-11).
  • Rendering of water tiles was behaving weird in some places (fixed on 2022-04-11).
  • Muted music didn't stay muted when switching levels via the menu (fixed on 2022-04-11).
  • The intro text explaining the wait function at the start of "Seafarers" was confusing/misleading for many players. (Fixed on 2022-04-11: we tweaked the "Seafarers" map a little bit so this level doesn't need the wait function, and moved the intro to the level "Stranded". We know it is a bit of a stretch to count this as a bugfix, but we decided to do it anyway - we already have 23 ratings and people having fun is more important for us.)

Sister Game

Another game, Dyker, was created under the same roof, from a shared brainstorming phase! The games share some gameplay elements, but feel very different – give it a try! :)

Link https://flauschzelle.gitlab.io/shepherds-island/downloads/flauschzelle-shepherds-island-win64.zip
Link https://flauschzelle.gitlab.io/shepherds-island/downloads/flauschzelle-shepherds-island.love
Link https://flauschzelle.gitlab.io/shepherds-island/downloads/flauschzelle-shepherds-island.love
Link https://gitlab.com/flauschzelle/shepherds-island
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/shepherds-island

Ratings

Overall 84th 4.1⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 27th 4.24⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 81th 4.02⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 676th 3.66⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 874th 3.42⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Humor 400th 3.458⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 545th 3.62⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

caeonosphere
05. Apr 2022 · 08:20 UTC
Very cute! I got stuck on the level "Seafarers" — got a little hint to keep me going?
🎤 blinry
05. Apr 2022 · 08:38 UTC
@caeonosphere Thanks for playing! Consider that you are really strong in this game, and can pick up all kinds of objects! :3
caeonosphere
05. Apr 2022 · 08:48 UTC
Ah! That'll do it. :D

![ss.png](///raw/8d0/41/z/4c71f.png)
🎤 blinry
05. Apr 2022 · 09:52 UTC
@caeonosphere Wheee! \o/
parkuhrmd
05. Apr 2022 · 10:06 UTC
This was a really fun puzzle game! The mechanics always had some twist that were introduced well in the levels, the "Aha!"-moments were frequent, and it always felt like you just escaped the flood by the skin on your teeth. Great entry, congratz!
terylangosh
05. Apr 2022 · 10:30 UTC
Really interesting concept. The graphics are cute and I think you did a really good job with the music and sound effects! :))
🎤 blinry
05. Apr 2022 · 10:57 UTC
@parkuhrmd Hehe, yeah, that's the feeling we wanted to evoke! Glad you enjoyed it!

@terylangosh Thanks for your feedback! :) Credits for the music go to the brilliant Kevin MacLeod!
binaryDiv
05. Apr 2022 · 21:01 UTC
Really great and cute puzzle game! Haven't finished it yet (level 13 right now), but will do that later. :)
At one point the game crashed with a coredump, though. But I was very glad that the game has a level selection menu, so I could continue.
Also, I really like the undo function, that saves a lot of frustration when trying to solve the puzzles.
Flauschzelle
06. Apr 2022 · 16:14 UTC
@binarydiv Thank you! If the crash happens again, could you share the error message? Maybe it's a bug that we can fix :)
Suni
06. Apr 2022 · 23:06 UTC
Love the concept and i really like the art. good job :)
SofiGnedova
06. Apr 2022 · 23:13 UTC
An interesting look at the topic! Good puzzles. I can't even believe that the game was made from scratch in such a short time. Sounds great. The graphics are cute.

I wish the authors development!
Benjamin Humes
06. Apr 2022 · 23:30 UTC
This was a fun game. The puzzles are well designed. Being able to step back a few moves rather than restart is a great feature.
GameDevAlexandr
07. Apr 2022 · 00:07 UTC
Never passed the gravel pit. The game is great! Thoughtful levels, return system, everything is very cool!
dirkinz
07. Apr 2022 · 00:45 UTC
Great job. As others have said, well done making a whole undo system in the allotted time. The level design was also great. I've tried doing puzzle games for past LD jams and getting the difficulty scaling right is tough.
🎤 blinry
07. Apr 2022 · 09:06 UTC
@sofignedova @benjamin-humes @dirkinz Super glad you enjoyed the game! :) I agree, @flauschzelle did a great job on the undo system!

@gamedevalexandr Yeah, the gravel pit is a bit tough, and you have to do something unexpected – throwing the sheep in a seemingly strange place!
Suchista
07. Apr 2022 · 09:53 UTC
I saved all my sheep! It was a really, really good entry. The main mechanic was good and it made for a very clever use of the theme. The puzzles were well made, I felt smart when I figured them all out. The difficulty curve felt right too. The art was clean, tho I would appreciate some animations.
MaximBegunov
09. Apr 2022 · 15:35 UTC
Very engaging puzzle game! Delay the inevitable level was good, got me trying to beat it for a while. Graphics are simple but everything looks nice together. I think you could make this mechanic into a full game, it is fun.
🎤 blinry
09. Apr 2022 · 15:51 UTC
@maximbegunov Great to hear that you had a good time, thanks for playing! Did you manage to beat the "Delay the Inevitable" level? I can actually be beat! :)
MaximBegunov
09. Apr 2022 · 16:00 UTC
@blinry Yeah, after some tries I beat it. I think it was the hardest one.
Wouter52
09. Apr 2022 · 20:14 UTC
Such a fun game! Normally I don't like puzzle games, but yours is the exception! It is very well executed and the graphics are polished and satisfying. I'll make sure to check out Dyker too. Although that would be tomorrow, it is getting late here :-)
I wish you the best of luck getting to the 20 ratings. This game deserves it.
cppchriscpp
10. Apr 2022 · 00:27 UTC
This was a really fun one! I managed to beat it fully, but it definitely took some doing! The progression on the puzzles was great, and I also really liked the sound effects. My only one "complaint" was that it was weird to have turning cost a move. It worked though, and made some of the puzzles more interesting. (Though, it also made me question if I was going to have a problem if I started the level facing the wrong direction.) Overall this was fantastic though, a highlight of the event for me. Thanks for a fun game!
squimmy
10. Apr 2022 · 03:03 UTC
I really liked this game!

The core system was simple enough to quickly understand, but had enough depth that the puzzles were engaging.

The only thing that stands out to me that could have been done to improve this is some simple animations to make it feel a bit more dynamic and make it clearer what changed each turn. But I imagine it could be tricky to make it look good, given the way the water sometimes behaves.
ArcticMattekar
10. Apr 2022 · 13:14 UTC
This is a very well-made and engaging game! I liked the turn-base-like puzzle design and that you had a undo-system.
I especially loved the sheep sounds :sheep: :laughing:

Excellent job! :thumbsup:
JHax
10. Apr 2022 · 13:25 UTC
Brilliantly designed puzzles in here! Could maybe have been a bit more forgiving in some places, although that might end up just making it a bit too easy. Really enjoyed this overall though, excellent stuff!
Itskdog
10. Apr 2022 · 13:38 UTC
Nice job with this puzzle game. I was stuck forever on the seafarer's level, but I figured it out!
DDRKirbyISQ
10. Apr 2022 · 23:29 UTC
Short, sweet, and just challenging enough IMO. The music wasn't annoying despite being repetitive, and the sfx kept things from being monotonous while thinking about the levels. "Delay the Inevitable" was probably my favorite, it's one that seems very open-ended until you try it and realize that you really need to do it a certain way.

Great job!
MateusBoga
11. Apr 2022 · 15:09 UTC
Really cool game! Thank you for submitting on stream :) Here's the VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1452837884
Flauschzelle
11. Apr 2022 · 15:50 UTC
Thanks for playing, @mateusboga!

You were impressively quick in most of the levels, and it hurt a bit to see you so confused by "Seafarers" that you gave up on it :(

This happened with several other people, too... so we figured that introducing the "press enter to wait" function there is too misleading, because the waiting had never really been the main point of this level /o\

Because it frustrated so many people, we changed the map of "Seafarers" a little bit, and now only explain waiting in a later level where it is actually needed.
drentsoft
11. Apr 2022 · 18:29 UTC
Very stressful! But lovely puzzles and the music fits well with the impending doom of drowning!
pke1029
17. Apr 2022 · 22:22 UTC
I love the puzzles. The premises are simple and easy to understand, and I am impressed by the puzzles you made out of it. The solutions are very cleaver and satisfying. Also, happy to see a game made with love2d.
winniehell
18. Apr 2022 · 19:33 UTC
I really enjoyed that puzzle game—but got stuck at the gravel pit. :sweat_smile:

I would have enjoyed it even more with some sound though :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
🎤 blinry
19. Apr 2022 · 10:02 UTC
@winniehell A hint for the gravel pit is that you have to drop the sheep in an unexpected place! :) Also, the game does have sound (and music!), I wonder why it didn't play for you!
winniehell
19. Apr 2022 · 10:10 UTC
> I wonder why it didn’t play for you!

@blinry same here :disappointed: I tried with LOVE 11.3 on Ubuntu 20.04 :shrug:
winniehell
19. Apr 2022 · 10:11 UTC
@blinry It works now with pasuspender! So I guess I have to do another gaming session later today... :smiley:
nusan
20. Apr 2022 · 13:56 UTC
Very cool game, the puzzle are good and interesting, they explore well the subtle rules. Graphics works well for the game but having a bit more animations would give more life to it (advancing water, smooth moving of the character, ...) also sometimes I didn't see what item the player character was carrying around, but I didn't stop the game from being enjoyable, thank you for making it!
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