3 Hard Knocks by OfTheBrand

[raw]
made by OfTheBrand for Ludum Dare 51 (JAM)

CLICK THE ITCH.IO LINK TO PLAY THE BROWSER VERSION How to play-

Every 10 seconds, lightning will strike and will briefly show you where the enemies are. You don't have long to memorise their positions so make sure you have a keen eye. After the lightning has struck you have until the next strike to click on the windows and door to choose which entrances they are coming for. You have to manage your ammo as this is a game where you have very few resources.

Story-

You've just settled in on the couch to finally read that novel you've been meaning to get to. Suddenly, the power goes out. Luckily you had just got the fireplace burning with a soothing warmth and affording just enough light to see the words on the page.

Minutes maybe an hour or two of reading and relaxing go by when the stillness of the air outside turns to an icy fast paced wind. You can hear the trees outside as the gusts of wind violently shake the branches.

The floor beneath you starts to tremble with an unnatural rhythm. You can hear rain and hail starting to slam the metal sheeting of your roof. This doesn't feel right.

Thud...... Thud..... *Thud

3 slow but hard knocks against the kitchen window startle you. You've lived on your own long enough to know that sound was not a friendly neighbour. You rush to grab your shotgun from the mantelpiece.

You can barely hear the shuffling and ungodly cries outside over the pounding of blood rushing through your veins.

The knowledge that this night of terror has only just begun, you load 3 shells into the shotty.

"Damnit, I was just getting to the good part too"

Ratings

Overall 1234th 2.179⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1229th 2.036⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1087th 2.643⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1140th 2.714⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1079th 2.464⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Audio 768th 2.036⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Humor 973th 1.875⭐ 14🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1093th 2.714⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Given 6🗳️ 8🗨️

Feedback

Panfil Alexandrina
09. Oct 2022 · 08:16 UTC
Nice concept, great concept and overall pretty enjoyable to play.
Magnus Lindh
09. Oct 2022 · 08:38 UTC
I don't understand this game. It needs instructions.
Mickxe
09. Oct 2022 · 08:39 UTC
Very atmospheric, some eerie background music would be awesome!
🎤 OfTheBrand
09. Oct 2022 · 10:41 UTC
@mickxe Thanks for the comment! Music would been a great addition. It is definitely something I'm going to try to learn how to make for future game jams.
🎤 OfTheBrand
09. Oct 2022 · 10:42 UTC
@panfil-alexandrina Thank for playing! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it :D
Hora-Timer
09. Oct 2022 · 10:45 UTC
Show! game
trASSh
09. Oct 2022 · 10:47 UTC
That was quite an interesting game! Some sounds would be indeed a pretty big plus
🎤 OfTheBrand
09. Oct 2022 · 10:54 UTC
@magnus-lindh I appreciate the feedback! It does appear to be a confusing game that some extra clarification may be needed for.
The basic explanation is that every 10 seconds, lightning will strike, briefly light up the outside of the house and show the silhouettes of the enemies outside.
Once the lightning has stopped and it's dark again, you must click on any of the windows/door the same number of times that you see enemies near to it. It is randomised which window/door an enemy will spawn near and try to get to. If an enemy is still alive after 3 rounds of lightning, it will get inside the house and the game is over.

Hope that helps to clear things up if you choose to try it again!
🎤 OfTheBrand
09. Oct 2022 · 10:59 UTC
@trassh Thanks for commenting! I completely agree, sound effects and music design is very new to me, so I didn't have enough time to make some cool sounds and music for this. I did make a couple of lightning sounds and unused enemy noises which were cool. But next LD I'll hopefully have something a bit more audio intensive.
LDJam user 298496
09. Oct 2022 · 11:06 UTC
Cool concept, but the feedback is a little unclear. I was never sure if the areas I chose to shoot were correct or not, eventually the monsters got in but I've no idea how I could've prevented it.
🎤 OfTheBrand
09. Oct 2022 · 11:21 UTC
@matt-ravenhall Really sorry about that experience. I made the mistake of not allowing enough time for playtesting and QA. Do you have any ideas on how things could have been clearer?
LDJam user 298496
09. Oct 2022 · 16:41 UTC
@ofthebrand No worries, I think it's primarily because the lightning reveal is showing a mixture of monster position and whether you hit them - but that puts a lot of information on the screen and its not clear what constitutes a hit or a miss. Perhaps hits and misses need a specific audio or colour? Or they should be revealed a second before the monster positions are?
Sheol
09. Oct 2022 · 16:58 UTC
Ooo I like this take on the theme. I think maybe having some slight movement for the monsters would help greatly during the lightning flashes! Also maybe if you hit the monsters, you can play a sound of them like dying or something as feedback. Apart from that I think couple with some atmospheric music would make this really nice! Overall great job!!
Jonathan Lorenz
21. Oct 2022 · 17:50 UTC
I think there is something that can be interesting but you need things to do between waiting for shadows to show.