Come Shell or High Water by ursagames

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

You are Dab the crab, on a mission to collect yummy fish while avoiding a pesky seagull who wants to collect YOU.

  • Windows Build is much prettier than HTML5
  • You can press ESC or Backspace to pause and change settings! Accessibility options added for speed lines and invincibility.
  • Controller should work, but was not tested much.

crab9.gif

Ratings

Overall 331th 3.747⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Fun 413th 3.574⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 385th 3.556⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Theme 462th 3.784⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 473th 3.784⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Audio 97th 4.019⭐ 81🧑‍⚖️
Humor 104th 3.913⭐ 82🧑‍⚖️
Mood 255th 3.805⭐ 79🧑‍⚖️
Given 101🗳️ 188🗨️

Feedback

AJ Studio
03. Oct 2022 · 18:25 UTC
Don’t forget to add the cover, the game seems good enough to me. Good job
lectvs
03. Oct 2022 · 18:44 UTC
Look at me, I am the donut now

![donut.png](///raw/4cc/2/z/507f8.png)
Nyrh
03. Oct 2022 · 18:56 UTC
Really had fun ! I wanted to know what would happen with the boxes but I died before I could reach the end. Really nice game :thumbsup:
OtterFaeLure
03. Oct 2022 · 20:47 UTC
Thank you so much for playing already!!! @nyrh @lectvs and @aj-studio
We are super grateful - though not yet done updating the game. ^^;;

We are probably going to be pushing updates up until the last minute so if you're curious about what will change feel free to check in then. :D

I'll check your games out then too. On my otter honour.
spooderdooder
03. Oct 2022 · 22:12 UTC
@aj-studio ha, thanks, I thought I had, didn't realize I needed one for here and itch. Got that fixed up
NotExplosive
03. Oct 2022 · 22:52 UTC
I died and the game told me how much the sea level would rise if all the polar ice caps melted. That made me think about how we're all going to die someday, but that day is probably not today. Today I can be a crab. 10/10
spooderdooder
03. Oct 2022 · 23:39 UTC
@notexplosive Funnily enough our project for LD50, Earworm Jam, features a song called "You're Going to Die"
JoeDev
03. Oct 2022 · 23:47 UTC
Hahaha this is hilarious. You made that song yourself? Such a lovely touch to fit the funny mood. Really impressed, not many jam games get an actual OST :joy: :heart_eyes:

Game is fun, I like the switching of land/water and how it effects the fish visually as well as mechanically, a cool use of the theme! Keep on crabbin
GERD
04. Oct 2022 · 05:29 UTC
Great game all around! Lots of super cool ideas here.
GameJMunk
04. Oct 2022 · 05:30 UTC
"Oh crab" what can i say xD. This is a great game, and i enjoyed playing it. Took me a bit to realise i could look around with my mouse. The game feels smooth to play, and the audio is spot on with the crabby sounds and main theme.
coolbeens
04. Oct 2022 · 05:45 UTC
SOO cute! I love the crabs! my favorite hat was the Chinese takeout. Oh just scavengering for my little fish when the tide is low. and then when the tides come up, looking for my next hat. The simple life of crab. Great job!
OtterFaeLure
04. Oct 2022 · 09:46 UTC
@joedev The song was made by TinyViking, our fourth game jam member who doesn't seem to have an account on here haha. He's a great musician with a killer wit. =) I passed on the message though and thank you.

@gerd Thank you so much! Ursagames came up with so many cool things for this jam and Spooderdooder made some solid models. =)

@gamejmunk Thank you for that feedback! We can try to remember to include a mouse portion in our tutorial next time. I had noticed that the mouse wasn't shown and then *completely* forgot to give that feedback to the team. Woops.

@coolbeens Glad you enjoyed! Ursagames and Spooderdooder did a great job with the gameplay and modelling and TinyViking did a great job with the music indeed. Thank you for the feedback. =)
Harry Alissavakis
04. Oct 2022 · 11:27 UTC
Really fun game and I like how I ended up thinking strategically about my location, to get as many fish as I could while also being close to cover. I noticed a lot of depth (no pun intended) with the level design too, with all the buttons for the platforms etc, and I really appreciated the little bait-and-switch at the first tutorial level 👀 Really cool to include all this options too, it was such a nice entry with a ton of interesting ideas. Well done!
OtterFaeLure
04. Oct 2022 · 11:37 UTC
@harry-alissavakis Thank you so much! Ursagames made the puzzles and I really thought he did a great job. :3
I am glad to hear you had some fun with positional strategy too. I was worried I either made the map too sparse or too cluttered so your feedback is a big relief.
TureGrappa
04. Oct 2022 · 12:23 UTC
Great game, nice idea.
shiro-white
04. Oct 2022 · 12:48 UTC
Cute Crab Music and Donut caught me here HAHA. I stuck at Level2 and misunderstood by 2 unpushable boxs. But overall i enjoyed the theme.
Eugenik
04. Oct 2022 · 12:57 UTC
Wow, great game, I love the art and the concept
LDJam user 139668
04. Oct 2022 · 14:48 UTC
Tutorial area is simply genius. Core gameplay is also engaging and interesting. Liked that entry :)
Jonrei
04. Oct 2022 · 15:38 UTC
Its the earworm guy!!!! Another masterpiece!
Phillip Scott
04. Oct 2022 · 16:04 UTC
10/10 would wear sponge bobs house and force feed it to a seagull again. This game is simply amazing great job!
Anchry
04. Oct 2022 · 16:32 UTC
Having played the earworm game from the last LD i knew i was in for a good time here. The soundtrack is amazing, the gameplay is quite fun. Crab crab
LDJam user 299852
04. Oct 2022 · 17:41 UTC
I enjoyed the change of pacing of being underwater vs being on dry land and the variety of things you can put on your head. The little crab song is going to stick with me for a long while!
Tero Pulkkinen
04. Oct 2022 · 18:34 UTC
nice crap game
Cheville
04. Oct 2022 · 18:42 UTC
Love crabs, love the song, love the graphics, great work!
GodDoesPlayDice
04. Oct 2022 · 18:42 UTC
This is a very good entry. Everything in the game is done at a good level and cool combined with each other:
gameplay, cute graphics, thoughtful physics of the controller and the world, music really sets the atmosphere, as well as messages after the bird pecks at the crab
nyxkn
04. Oct 2022 · 20:09 UTC
Really cute game! Great work on the graphics and the music is so pretty. Mechanic is fun but gets repetitive quickly, as the optimal strategy is very straightforward. The environment is very well made and offers a good deal of distraction from blindly running around. Yay floor buttons that don't do anything :D Overall very well done and good amount of polish!
🎤 ursagames
04. Oct 2022 · 20:51 UTC
@nyxkn thank you! Not sure which buttons you are talking about as both sets are hooked up to puzzles.
ditam
04. Oct 2022 · 23:43 UTC
I played as Dab, he was fab. Does Fab dab? I'll have to try that the next time. Excellent game all around, I love the concept, and you turned it into a very polished entry. Plus there's a freaking theme song?!
LDJam user 268647
05. Oct 2022 · 00:38 UTC
Found the secret pineapple, worth

Managed to trigger the button on top of the pillar but wasn't really sure what it did
Defrag
05. Oct 2022 · 00:42 UTC
Great 3d puzzle platformer, which seems like big bite for a 72-hour jam. Very nice execution on that. I didn't quite grasp the connection to the theme right away, but I later realized that the watery bubbles coming up was not based on my position, but rather on the time elapsing. Really nice tutorial too, and I really, really liked the fact that I it looks like I could have just gone 'backwards' to skip the tutorial. Skipping tutorials is a nice feature.
🎤 ursagames
05. Oct 2022 · 02:40 UTC
Thanks all for the feedback! Glad people are enjoying our crabby game :D

@cosmonautical Triggering the button on top of the pillar opens up the area with the secret pineapple- but that's easy to miss that's what it does as there isn't a clear connection. If we had more time I had planned to add wires between active puzzle pieces to see where the button goes, but alas the puzzles were done in the last stretch of the jam.

@defrag Honestly, I probably should have just let people skip the tutorial by going backwards, but was worried people wouldn't get the main mechanic so it does lock you out until the bird steals your can. Though the tutorial is quick to get around if you aren't looking at the floor. Also the save system keeps track of if you've completed the tutorial and once you have the door is always open.
LDJam user 43351
05. Oct 2022 · 08:02 UTC
The music is awesome haha. Really cool concept with the theme! I wish I could see the time counting down while playing and it would maybe say like "X seconds until flood" or something, but other than that really good game! Well done!
spooderdooder
05. Oct 2022 · 11:26 UTC
@ditam We discussed adding a dabbing animation that you could use to possibly evade the seagull, but it didn't get past the idea phase other than a single pose in Blender
![dab](///raw/24b/f3/z/524cb.png)
matthiase
05. Oct 2022 · 12:43 UTC
Very polished game, great music :) and very good graphics for a 3d game. Fits the theme perfectly.The only thing i miss is the feeling of progress. I was able to solve some of the puzzles of the 2nd level but it opened only secret doors to more fish.
pschichtel
05. Oct 2022 · 13:39 UTC
Solid game. The world felt a little empty at times, but other than that pretty nice.
OtterFaeLure
05. Oct 2022 · 14:01 UTC
@pschichtel Thanks for the feedback on the layout!
I was trying to make sure that things didn't feel too cluttered/annoying while avoiding the sparse feeling I missed the mark it seems. Good to know that next time I can play more with my field. :D
Hengen
05. Oct 2022 · 14:58 UTC
what a surprisingly cozy game with really solid character controls. The graphics and animations are also really good, especially considering the timelimits and scope. the fact that there's also music and sound effects really adds to the polish nad brings it up another level. great work!
Drdunkel
05. Oct 2022 · 15:02 UTC
It had a lot of charm!
Vivat-vector
05. Oct 2022 · 15:31 UTC
Oh! thank you for the game. It is sooo much fun! Cute graphic, cute music. Funny main character.. i just love it !
Max Knightley
05. Oct 2022 · 16:03 UTC
Cute game, and the concept is strong. I did have a bit of trouble with the crate/switch part - maybe this was because I was on the web version, but the boxes seemed to get stuck on the geometry.
LDJam user 280624
05. Oct 2022 · 16:28 UTC
Amazing music, smooth control and pretty graphics. And there is very clever tutorial level. Great job!
Skel3ton
05. Oct 2022 · 18:11 UTC
That was fun. the best thing is that after finishing one game I feel like I haven't discovered much and I want to keep playing. Good work
Jeff Kerman
05. Oct 2022 · 18:15 UTC
Great job. This game is great and so impressive for the time limit.
ChillerTyp
05. Oct 2022 · 18:17 UTC
Haha... maybe the funniest entry of this jam... :crab:
justking144
05. Oct 2022 · 18:22 UTC
Loved the various shells the crab could wear. Took me a minute to realize that the sea level was rising/falling every 10 seconds. I thought I was just very quickly moving between different levels.
ThatzNiko
05. Oct 2022 · 18:22 UTC
Cool music and loved the graphics
ThatzNiko
05. Oct 2022 · 18:22 UTC
Cool music and loved the graphics
NeneChico
05. Oct 2022 · 18:23 UTC
Lots of fun with tutorial, real music, nice animations : the best submission I tried. Thank you so much
David Stevenson
05. Oct 2022 · 18:55 UTC
Loved the way you presented the tutorial! It felt very natural and explained the movements and functions perfectly. I hope the little crab finds a crab wife. :)
R3D3R
05. Oct 2022 · 19:29 UTC
A crab with a doughnut is not something you see every day xD I liked the change of pace of being underwater since you become so floaty compared to being on dry ground, and it's a fairly great concept to provide a variety of protection from seagulls. It's fantastic! Thank you for a fantastic experience! :D
PeachTreeOath
05. Oct 2022 · 22:19 UTC
Such a solid game. After the tutorial I expected it to be more arcadey and that I would be done with the game in a few minutes. Then I saw you had an expansive world. I STILL thought it was going to be a quick experience.

But after more exploring, I saw that there was a LOT more thought and intention put into this that I expected. First off, the water wasn't simply to float the fish up and down. Your jumps changed, as well as some other environmental objects.

Then I started noticing and playing with the puzzles more, namely the pillars. I had to resource manage my hats to make sure I could survive while enacting my plans. I think that intensity and sense of danger helped the game a LOT from just being a simple collectathon.

Basically the whole vibe I got from this game was the same one I felt when I played Supraland. I loved opening the secret areas. I loved seeing how the water mechanic played into everything. I won't even go into the hilarity of the seagulls and hats, everyone else has already covered that.

So a great job creating a Metroidy game set under the sea, something I don't get to explore much!
Borabee
05. Oct 2022 · 22:36 UTC
Very nice game!! The concept is so cute and funny. You got a funny tutorial and everything. Plus, the game has a lot of depth for a game jam game, with the puzzles and everything, and I'm just OBSESSED the music. Great work all around!!
4ahizon
05. Oct 2022 · 23:46 UTC
It was a decent game. I would suggest a way to give the player warnings birds coming like showing a shadow so the player know when to avoid. I noticed a bug in the controls which seemed to get stuck in one direction without pushing any buttons. Visuals was good and the focus on the theme was top notch. Good job
okshirl
06. Oct 2022 · 05:03 UTC
Hahaha that intro to the BGM was hilarious, I wish the part with lyrics looped more. This is a solid game, I just wish there would be a shadow where the seagull are flying/about to come down. Anyways, I had a blast looking for donuts rather than fish.
Attala
06. Oct 2022 · 11:35 UTC
Fantastic game music. That theme is so pleasent to listen to I'm sure it's going to stick with me for a long while. The graphics and gameplay are also top notch. This entry is quality from start to finish. A very well made game for a jam!
Roroto Sic
07. Oct 2022 · 08:27 UTC
haha what a funny gaming experience !! i love the vibes ! 3d art and sounds(musics/sfx) give a great atmosphere !
i was a bit confuse at the begining but when i understand that i have to eat fish during beach, game become really fun !
Last Angle
07. Oct 2022 · 10:41 UTC
Such an awesome game! I love the song and trying on all the different hats. The crabs look really cute whatever they wear :). Adding a separate tutorial area was a nice touch, great work!
Geronimo
07. Oct 2022 · 17:16 UTC
Very cool game :D, one of the best i've seen on here, but one problem i had with it is that you had to be really almost perfect with the four box pillar puzzle, i couldn't make it :(, but that's probably just my fault. I would make it so that the things you can cover your head with respawn, because you are basically always respawning them anyway each time you enter the cave (although i know that resets the puzzles and everything). Solid game! You made a cool thing in this limited amount of time and that's always something to be proud of!
Inno
08. Oct 2022 · 13:52 UTC
A+ on the tutorial
amarokczukay
08. Oct 2022 · 14:44 UTC
this was such a fun game to play! graphics are nice and i love to see things from a different scale. this is a very good jam entry, with an original and clever idea (and i can't remove the music from my head now haha)
Paul Avallone
08. Oct 2022 · 22:15 UTC
Really funny and clever use of theme. I absolutely adore the music. Hilarious. Really clear and well done tutorial. I'm glad you put in an invincible mode so I could check out the whole level because I think the game is a little too hard. I wish the puzzles were closer to the gates they unlocked and let you know better visually or audio wise. Small bug: the boxes would allow you to move them still during low tide if you were still touching them. I would love if you expanded and further developed this game with tighter controls as I felt the crabs movement to be a little off. I really liked the game mechanic and visual differences between high tide and low tide. Amazing job!
Doctor_Zeus
10. Oct 2022 · 05:00 UTC
Nice work!

I'll echo the praises of the folks who've already commented, especially in terms of the sound, art, and how smooth the whole presentation was. The bubbly visuals were nice for transitions, menus were appealing (which isn't always the most exciting thing to work on) overall level of polish felt really high to me for a jam game.

I think the gameplay itself was pretty neat. The things I could do weren't too wild (walking around, jumping, pushing stuff around - feels conventional and familiar as far as 3D physics-ey platforming goes) but the theme was integrated with those fundamentals really effectively.

One of my favorite features was how my vision was restricted when the water disappeared. It got me into a nice rhythm of going into "scout mode" as soon as my vision cleared, whether to find another hat or pick out my next landmark to tackle. It's a nice contrast to the "do stuff mode" of water, the time when I can jump and scoot things around properly.

One thing I noticed is that my interest in exploring the different locations and landmarks I could see outweighed my interest in fish-gathering pretty quickly. I don't think it's necessarily a problem, per se (it's more of a testament to the visual appeal of the pillars, boxes, and lego-style monoliths in the distance) but I think as-is it's not really reeling me in (ha ha).

I can imagine some different ways the fish could be made more meaningful, but maybe it's right for the fish to gradually fade into the background. It shows how I've grown, no longer a crab with sights set on the fish flopping on the sandy seabed. No, I look to the pillars in the sky and dream of the day I can reach the sun. And maybe a nice pineapple hat too.
OtterFaeLure
10. Oct 2022 · 08:01 UTC
@doctor-zeus This has to be the best review I have ever read haha
Thank you so much. :two_hearts:
Also thank you for noticing the level design work.
Nobody ever notices the level design work. :cold_sweat:
ksimaster
13. Oct 2022 · 16:21 UTC
Very nice! I liked it! I fell in love with this cute crab!
Fort
16. Oct 2022 · 13:34 UTC
This was an entertaining game, the crabs were funny :laughing:, good game :thumbsup:
sebastianscaini
16. Oct 2022 · 20:00 UTC
I absolutely loved this one!
Mr. Rice
17. Oct 2022 · 07:20 UTC
CRABBB!!! Love the music too ahha