Brains by Jiri Hysek

[raw]
made by Jiri Hysek for Ludum Dare 52 (COMPO)

banner.png

Description

Brains.. hungry... Tasty brains... yummy!

About the game

This game could be described as a brain-eating puzzle game with cute cartoony graphics. You are about to do the usual zombie business - harvesting brains of course. To finish a level you need to harvest ALL brains available! There is a catch, though. Every brain donor becomes a zombie. And as a proper zombie, it suddenly starts feeling a need for fresh brains. So the more brains you harvest, the more competitors you have!

And there's one more thing - for some reason, every zombie and human in this game loves to dance. So everyone moves automatically to the beat of the music. Have fun :D

The game has 9 levels.

How do humans work?

Humans are funny creatures. They are so predictable. Our best zombie scientists made this guide for you:

guide.png

Controls

  • Arrows / WASD to set direction

Used tools

  • Godot Engine
  • Inkscape + Gimp (graphics)
  • Bandlab.com (music)
  • Audacity + iPhone dictaphone (SFX)

Play-through

If you are stuck, feel free to see a play through: https://youtu.be/OVzoItqnFko

Screenshots

Snímek obrazovky 2023-01-08 v 21.23.03.png

Snímek obrazovky 2023-01-08 v 21.23.21.png

Ratings

Overall 22th 4.115⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Fun 22th 4.063⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 25th 4.05⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Theme 195th 3.55⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 42th 4.175⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Audio 14th 4.125⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Humor 34th 3.795⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Mood 39th 3.913⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Given 46🗳️ 20🗨️

Feedback

Chum Chum
08. Jan 2023 · 21:50 UTC
Fun puzzles! love it!
chlu
08. Jan 2023 · 21:54 UTC
You hit some really good spots on my humor level (That sound when a brain got eaten made made me smile almost every time).

Great "How to" section!

Only missing point for my taste was more the theme, in an abstract way yes but not so clear in the gameplay.


But overall really nice 👍.
🎤 Jiri Hysek
08. Jan 2023 · 22:14 UTC
@chlu Thanks for the feedback!
The theme leads to food harvesting games so I thought there will be a lot of similar games. So I wanted to make something different. I must admit I usually like more free interpretation of the theme :)
ForeverTrash
08. Jan 2023 · 22:54 UTC
Great composure for the audio :p I think i hear a hint of Halloween/Friday the 13th at some point or maybe Dead Rising? I can't remember but sounds super familiar. Gameplay was super fun, it got hardddd past the fourth level though xD Maybe I'm just bad. Artwork was top notch too! Good job :)
Iluvatar
09. Jan 2023 · 08:19 UTC
Hello Jirko :)
Great game as always. I really enjoyed the mechanics, it is harder than it seems. Appreciate the hints that pop up after you get stuck a bit longer.
Graphics and sounds are amazing as always.

Overall, pretty solid game that feels like a full release, not a COMPO.
🎤 Jiri Hysek
09. Jan 2023 · 08:26 UTC
@iluvatar Hi! Thanks for the nice words! Actually, there is only one hint because I felt that people may stuck in that one level (well, it was obvious from playtesting on my children:). And I wanted players to see more than those few levels :) I cant wait to see your adventure, once I get to a Windows machine.
Frib
09. Jan 2023 · 14:36 UTC
Interesting mechanic! Also loved the audio, how the music syncs with the gameplay pace. Really well made game!
kromeboy
09. Jan 2023 · 16:05 UTC
I am to dumb for this puzzle :-(

Nice game!
Justin_C
09. Jan 2023 · 16:40 UTC
Really well done. The art and sound is really nice, and the puzzles are challenging. I'm really terrible at them.
JoshH
09. Jan 2023 · 18:57 UTC
Beautiful puzzle game! I love the built-in hints and the sequencing of levels.
Igor Minenko
09. Jan 2023 · 18:58 UTC
I like it a lot, smart idea, pretty graphics, good mechanics, thats crazy for gj!!!
SoonTheSpoon
09. Jan 2023 · 19:06 UTC
Nice work! I would have liked to see an ever growing group of zombies chasing the remaining humans. Well done with themechanics, graphics, music and sound. I didn't understand what the different floor tiles did.
Forgin Bits
09. Jan 2023 · 19:10 UTC
Great game with a very interesting idea. The execution is great, visuals and sound design are top notch. I must admit I got stuck at level 3, and felt stupid after watching the playthrough, but the effort of having recorded a playthrough is invaluable :laughing:

Overall a great entry, great job !
🎤 Jiri Hysek
09. Jan 2023 · 19:17 UTC
@SoonTheSpoon Thanks! Different floor tiles do nothing, it's there just to look nicer/more interesting :)
🎤 Jiri Hysek
09. Jan 2023 · 19:19 UTC
@forgin-bits Yeah.. level 3 :) I had some time to playtest it on my children and wife during the jam. That's why I decided to show a hint in level 3 after 42 seconds because I didn't want players to leave frustrated at an early level. And I recorded also a playthrough to be super sure that everyone can see the whole game if interested :)
youjing
09. Jan 2023 · 19:38 UTC
Very interesting game with good mechanism, levels, graphic and audio! I'm not very good at rythme thinking :sob: , the walkthough is helping a lot (I still can't really feel the true "solution" yet) as I'm often stucked...
xaviarrob123
09. Jan 2023 · 21:13 UTC
Amazing puzzle game, can't believe this was done in time just for the compo!

You 100% should add some more levels into this game and continue the concept!
🎤 Jiri Hysek
09. Jan 2023 · 21:23 UTC
@xaviarrob123 Thanks! I was thinking about it too! I have a couple of features I'd like to implement...
It's my 13th Ludum Dare so I finally know how to use Godot, and Inkscape and even getting hang of Bandlab! :) So it went pretty well. Also this time LD started at a time that suits my timezone so I felt quite rested and even had time for some playtesting and polishing... I really enjoyed it this time!
Andreadbx
09. Jan 2023 · 23:25 UTC
Nice work! Loved the gameplay and the colour palette used!
Phillip Scott
10. Jan 2023 · 00:10 UTC
Got Stuck on level 3 had to watch the play through for that part (thanks!) other level sometime got completed by accident - really cool concept like the move to the beat element
TheseusInABottle
10. Jan 2023 · 00:15 UTC
Damn this is really good. I love that music and the artwork. The little bit of camera work at the very beginning was a really clear sign of the polish you put into this. Great work.
mayst
10. Jan 2023 · 13:29 UTC
The artwork is so cute! Love the concept and the explanation of the theme!
Klaus Peter
10. Jan 2023 · 20:49 UTC
Pretty cool puzzle game! The graphics look minimalistic butty are really fitting!
Yorsh
10. Jan 2023 · 22:27 UTC
Really nice compo game ! Graphics are nice, it's smooth and overall well done. I like how other zombies becomes a threat, that's a nice twist a few levels in.
Totitch
11. Jan 2023 · 10:54 UTC
Funny puzzle game mecanic... I didn t manage to pass level 3. She always escapes the other direction
...
🎤 Jiri Hysek
11. Jan 2023 · 11:16 UTC
@totitch Thanks! Yeah, level 3 is harder, it tries to introduce a principle that is useful in later levels too. I did some play testing during the jam and saw this one could be hard - that's why added a hint after 45s. But it could be maybe even more specific (placed on correct tiles for example). Anyway, in case you are stuck, I also recorded a play through of all levels:

https://youtu.be/OVzoItqnFko
Yngvarr
11. Jan 2023 · 19:05 UTC
This game wins my heart (and brain) as the most stylish game I've played this Ludum Dare! I like that music somehow reminds me of Inscryption with its spooky vibes which fits perfectly! :)

Every single technical aspect of this game is of superb quality: graphics, music, sound design, even the on the programming side the game lacks major glitches and bugs (except for one tiny layer misconfiguration). As for game design, puzzles felt a bit repetitive and, on the most of the levels, other zombies don't feel like a treat at all. The last level is where they really shine. :)

See me being stuck on easy levels here:
https://youtu.be/l7lUYTEw_nY
🎤 Jiri Hysek
11. Jan 2023 · 19:30 UTC
@yngvarr Awesome! Thank you very much for your play-through and feedback! And for nice words! This is the third time I see someone playing it (except my kids) - that kind of feedback is very useful.

Also from this play-through is obvious that level 3 is the most difficult one :) I wanted to introduce that trick on how to force humans to go where I want before I add more zombies but it was probably too early (and not very well explained - but at least there was a challenge:). I'm already working a post-jam version (not published anywhere) where it should be better.

My goal for this Ludum Dare was to make a simple game and have more time for polishing, play testing and debugging to provide a better player experience. Even though the game is not as simple as I wanted, polishing turned out pretty well (also an earlier start of LD worked pretty well for my timezone). But of course, there is only one or two mechanics so it could be repetitive after a while. That's because I have chosen polish over mechanics :) Game jam trade-offs...

As for difficulty - it's always tricky in game jams. When I make a puzzle game, there are always people who say it's too hard and at the same time people who say it's too easy :) I must say you went through the whole game the fastest of all play-throughs I saw so far! Congrats!
D3kryption
14. Jan 2023 · 08:57 UTC
I love the adorable drawings / models. The puzzle concept was really good and well designed.

It took me a while to figure some of them out but with the right combination I got it in the end. The animations were really well done too :)

You did a cracking job :)
commanderstitch
15. Jan 2023 · 21:30 UTC
I'm always impressed by games that look this good over any of jam time we get! Cooool. I admit i really struggled and was defeated by the 2nd level. I just couldn't get that little nook to be important. Then when i watched the video that's all i needed to then beat all the levels once i realized the people would just march their way into a corner. lolz
🎤 Jiri Hysek
15. Jan 2023 · 21:33 UTC
@commanderstitch Yeah, I wanted to introduce a new "trick" in a super simple level but it turned out to be the hardest level of the game :D
Gabrimer
15. Jan 2023 · 22:20 UTC
Very nice puzzle game, and I'm a big fan of how the movement of your zombie is timed with the BPM of the song. The visuals were well made and pretty cute. I find the levels where other zombies appear to be the hardest ones, since you need to find the quickest path to reach the other humans first.
LeReveur
15. Jan 2023 · 23:46 UTC
I was stuck on 3rd level lol. But this is a good puzzle game, funny and polished, and I may take my chance again later. Good job!
🎤 Jiri Hysek
16. Jan 2023 · 06:13 UTC
@lereveur thank you! Check out the play-through video to see how to finish level 3 - other levels should be easier :)
grid96
17. Jan 2023 · 22:07 UTC
such a simple and understandable core mechanic with so much depth and complexity growing from it. I think this could have a lot of potential as a mobile game and would really scale well with more rules slowly getting introduced every 10 levels or so :)
Chiranjiv
19. Jan 2023 · 16:00 UTC
Really interesting puzzles, didn't realize till later that you have to eat the brains before other zombies, also loved the hint.
Matank
22. Jan 2023 · 21:13 UTC
Really cool puzzle game! The 2nd level (I think it was second - the one with the girl and the one loose tile at the bottom) was actually the hardest for me. After that the rest of the levels were solved pretty quickly. I really enjoyed the art style and the little animations!!
PhilStrahl
25. Jan 2023 · 19:50 UTC
As always, another extremely excellent Hysek-Puzzler™! As you have seen me play, that one level was a real brain teaser ;) Very cool concept and wonderful presentation! Here's the video of me playing the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj_pzh6rT7I