The Cactilogue by Sarah

[raw]
made by Sarah for Ludum Dare 52 (JAM)

HAIII CUTIE, THANKS FOR STOPPING BY <3

ALSO, TIME IS A LIE, PAUSING DOES NOTHING
This is just a peaceful little relaxing experience <3 You can't get a game over but CAN YOU PASS THE SKILL CHECKS?

LD52_12.gif

Use your hands to buy new pots [Left Click]
Use the shovel to plant new cacti [Left Click and Select from the Menu]

<3 <3 <3
I made all the art but I DID NOT make the music, just the SFX :3 LD52_2.gif
Rotate the star to line up with the outline to complete the skill check and HARVEST THE MAGICAL FLOWERS!
Screenshot1.png

HAVE SOME GIFS WHILE YOU SIT AND WAIT FOR ME TO GET BACK :3

Screenshot.png
ENJOY

UPDATES - ive added an easier skill check/mini game variation (just a duplicate of the game with an easier shape to make it more playable)
- IVE ADDED THE ACTUAL CACTILOGUE view to see!! Although there's still no actual way to win :3
- I also fixed a few bugs (I think xD)

Ratings

Overall 134th 3.914⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Fun 264th 3.6⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 158th 3.7⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 124th 4.171⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 182th 4.103⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Humor 359th 3.015⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Mood 47th 4.176⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 38🗨️

Feedback

Tristan Doell
09. Jan 2023 · 22:39 UTC
Nice I like it. It is nice and relaxing. the star ones seem a bit hard, or I just suck ether way I got better at it after a while. It is very cute. Good job!
Arscene
09. Jan 2023 · 22:47 UTC
Nice entry. I have not much to say other than I suck at the star mini game too :)
Avi
09. Jan 2023 · 23:05 UTC
Fun game! I loved the art and the concept of the flowers + minigame. Are all the cacti named "Random Catus", or do they get special names after some criteria?


Here is my gameplay video:
https://youtu.be/an7A9ToflP8


##### SOME MINOR FEEDBACK:

1. wasnt clear to me initially how to plant the cacti
2. Felt like there was a bit of lag (at least on webGL) for the timing game, making it a bit frustrating
3. Was confused why in the timing game some-times I would get failure even when I was dead-center in the colored zone:
![Screen Shot 2023-01-10 at 10.03.32 am.png](///raw/a3d/11/z/55b3a.png)
4. Some of the alignment minigames felt like the two stars werent centered properly... but maybe i missed something?

![Screen Shot 2023-01-10 at 10.05.12 am.png](///raw/a3d/11/z/55b40.png)
🎤 Sarah
10. Jan 2023 · 00:26 UTC
@tristan-doell @arscene the star one could be a bit difficult at times! Compared to the other easier one, it was meant to be harder and had to be fairly exactly lined up haha. Thanks for playing \o/

@avi for the star, its meant to be misaligned because thats part of the puzzle of getting it to line up, I know 100% it does line up, and I actually intentionally offset it :3 And there does seem to be a bug with the cirle game in that it will rarely fail even when its perfectly in the middle, I only discovered that AFTER I submitted haha, and then I also noticed a strange visual bug that also causes some weird issues, but unfortunately I didn't encounter those bugs during the weekend ):

In the screenshot of the circle, the bar is over the visul bug (you can see its a bit messy looking on the sides) and that part shouldnt be green at all sadly. Its not delayed I dont think, but more you just have to press it a bit ahead of time because of the speed, it was really hard twice as fast so I slowed it down!

And then lastly, I had trouble getting the names to appear properly, 'Random Cactus' was my placeholder and I just ran out of time to go back and get it working, but there was supposed to be a more unique name, and also there was supposed to be a whole page to view which flowers and cacti you had seen, but I might work on it more this week!

Thanks for the feedback <3
🎤 Sarah
10. Jan 2023 · 21:40 UTC
Ive been testing out some other shapes with the skill checks to try and make the game easier (ill hopefully update it soon and have both versions available) but this should help to visually show what I mean about the star intentially being misaligned \o/
![NewSkillCheck.PNG](///raw/2c7/1/z/55fff.png)
in case youre interested to see \o/ @avi
frozenfire92
11. Jan 2023 · 13:58 UTC
What a cute and fun entry! The art and music really worked well together to bring a chill and cozy vibe. The skill check mini games were fun (yet challenging!). I think you could really extend upon the idea of the types and vibes of the cactus :smile: overall great work and keep on making games!
FancyReckless
11. Jan 2023 · 17:46 UTC
at first it was a bit hard to get how to plant stuff, maybe drag and drop could work better. Other than that the game is super chill and quite beautiful. I like how you combine long term goal of growing plants and minigames. Minigames themselves weren't too hard, but still decent challenge and good fun. Star challenge was a bit hard for me, but over time I got it.
🎤 Sarah
11. Jan 2023 · 22:11 UTC
@frozenfire92 I'm realllly tempted to keep making an extended version where you can make hyrbid catci \o/

@fancyreckless The planting and all that was never intended to be that way, but I just ran out of time and never ever changed it from my testing stuff haha. So luckily it worked ~okay~ I also would have liked to get a few more mini games in there because that was my main idea alongside growing things. But i'm happy with it :3

Thanks for playing \o/
Phillip Scott
11. Jan 2023 · 22:19 UTC
Liked the minigames though they were a little laggy for me.

wanted to change the cactus in a pot, but couldn't :cry: art is super cute and the growth animation was very well done!

Good job :cactus:
johnnysix
11. Jan 2023 · 22:25 UTC
Cool concept, if you do keep working on it, you could make the UI close down so you can see all your shelves etc. Maybe even extend the room to allow the player look around other locations for planting the cacti etc.

Very relaxing, except the mad adrenaline rush of the circle timing game,
Adam Burt
11. Jan 2023 · 22:25 UTC
Fun little chill experience! Effective artwork and good SFX. The little mini games to pick flowers definitely added an extra dimension!
LDJam user 315574
11. Jan 2023 · 22:33 UTC
Great work Sarah. The particles and polish are really nice. If your goal was a laidback chill experience I'd say you hit the nail on the head.
Jonqs
11. Jan 2023 · 22:34 UTC
Completed my cactilogue. Relaxing game. The start shape is definitly the hardest missed most of them. The art and music are nice. Congrats !
IanLux
11. Jan 2023 · 22:35 UTC
Oddly addicting core loop! Here is my own cactilogue:
![chrome_GBf45kOm3y.png](///raw/ce0/e1/z/562de.png)
ToSMaster
11. Jan 2023 · 22:37 UTC
Great game! I loved the mood and atmosphere. I am a big fan of the words of encouragements! Also, I see you are a plant person as well? Gonna tell my succulents all about this cozy little game!
Oh and how could I forget the cactus vibes?? Awesome!!

That aligning the shape minigame was fun, but quite a struggle for me when it comes to the star shape xD - Yet on one occasion it matched the shape from the beginning and I instantly won, lol
vrerabek
11. Jan 2023 · 22:42 UTC
Very cute game!
Did not manage to finish my Cactilogue, but I'm bookmarking this game and returning to it later. :smile:

Minigames are great way to make this game more interesting. The shape-aligning minigame was very confusing for me as I thought it is bugged and misaligned.

Great job overall.
magicstunts123
11. Jan 2023 · 22:48 UTC
Beautiful game with a great music choice. That would be a cool Tamagochi-Like Game.
Art did fit very well and those text messages were really cute and fitting.
I had no issues with the minigames. :)
Hawkin
11. Jan 2023 · 22:50 UTC
What a sweet and meditative title! The artwork was beautiful and relaxing (good choice of music, too). I appreciate that there was no losing, just relaxing :)

The minigames to collect flowers for $$ was an engaging mechanic. Even reading what you've written previously about the intentional misalignment, I still felt that some puzzles were just not lining up--as in, between two ticks of the slider, it would pass on just either slide of being perfectly aligned (i.e., below, going one notch to the right, the rectangle would swing just wide on the other side. hard to capture, but maybe my mouse sensitivity is insufficient?).

![Screenshot 2023-01-11 164924.png](///raw/319/53/z/562e3.png)

I had a great time overall! Some more minigame variety would take this much further! Here's my "cactilogue" hehe

![Screenshot 2023-01-11 164410.png](///raw/319/53/z/562e0.png)

(If you'd like to try our game out, be warned! If you're not a fan of horror games, feel free to skip it. No hard feelings! Spreading the love!)
evil23
11. Jan 2023 · 22:51 UTC
In the beginning, i felt the running time put some pressure on me until I realized, there's no pressure at all :D indeed very relaxing!
arron-fowler
11. Jan 2023 · 22:53 UTC
Well that was all very nice. What is not to like? Kudos
rjerez192
11. Jan 2023 · 22:56 UTC
Very chill game. Good after a stressing day of work.
The threshold on some of the puzzles was a little bit of, like I had the figure perfectly aligned (to my eyes) and it said failure. Sometimes on the circle one I didn't event press and it was showing success.

Very charming game. Like it.


(I opened the game on a background tab and I got confused by some kind of vibration sound on the left speaker and I thought it was phone ringing. I went crazy looking for it, but it was the music of the game LMAO)
Eranot
11. Jan 2023 · 23:01 UTC
Very relaxing! Awesome music choice and SFX. Graphics are on point too. Good job!
TanguyLcr
11. Jan 2023 · 23:01 UTC
That's a really cool game, I love how your cactus are growing randomly this is so satisfying. I love the cuteness of this game it works perfectly and make me smile:) Congrats you have a really cool game
Duncan 3
11. Jan 2023 · 23:18 UTC
when you have all the cacti planted it feels like there's too many flowers for you to collect. if you plan on expanding this game after the jam it could be interesting to do something with the extra flowers
karita
11. Jan 2023 · 23:28 UTC
cute game :) liked the sounds and was nice to have mini games
WyGuyDev
11. Jan 2023 · 23:32 UTC
Cool game, I really like the relaxing atmosphere. I like the idea of having little minigames and the messages throughout the game reallly add to the atmosphere.
profan
11. Jan 2023 · 23:54 UTC
This game was a surprising breath of fresh air given how many times I'd been destroyed in the jam games I've tried so far, and here this little cactus game had me hooked more than any of the others, and it's so cute!

The music and sfx fit the rest of the aesthetic perfectly, and mood wise this was the chillest game I've tried so far, for sure.

My little Cactilogue!

![firefox_X97AGO4V1j.png](///raw/321/2/z/56300.png)

If only I had such green fingers outside of this wonderful little game :)

Wonderful work!
LDJam user 289545
11. Jan 2023 · 23:56 UTC
Been stuck here waaaaayyy longer than I expected, good job !
I was farming money as fast as I could. I seeded multiple times the same cacti tho so I was unable to progress in the end :/
jcg
12. Jan 2023 · 00:45 UTC
For the longest time, I've wanted to make a plant-growing game. I've been stuck on the math for generating new parts of the plant however.

This was fun, I really appreciate the aesthetics, the "seasons window" is really cool.
LDJam user 246128
12. Jan 2023 · 01:26 UTC
Chill and cute game. As others already said, some error margin in "skill check" would've been nice. Great work!
rosypenguin
12. Jan 2023 · 04:13 UTC
This game is so incredibly cute and relaxing! The chill gameplay, color scheme, sfx, and particles all work well together. I especially love all the positive messages everywhere! I do agree that the star alignment skill checks are pretty difficult but it didn't bother me since I get so many flowers and chances to play again.

One thing I missed is how to replace existing cacti? I accidentally planted duplicates of some species and want to complete the cactilogue!

![cuteCacti.png](///raw/486/z/56364.png)
LDJam user 273626
12. Jan 2023 · 14:56 UTC
Such a cute and relaxing game! Finally, a cactus I CAN'T kill! I loved the art and the vibrant style of the flowers! Had to buy one of each!

![cactilogue.png](///raw/adc/24/z/56418.png)
VPhyre
12. Jan 2023 · 17:16 UTC
A very creative game! The graphics are beautiful, and the sound creates a whole special atmosphere for this game.
I really liked the gameplay, simple and functional. The minigames are charming. Congratulations!
Dis0rder
13. Jan 2023 · 00:21 UTC
Yay, you also made a plant-growing game! :cactus: It's pleasing to see you managed to iterate some similar concepts that I had in mind when jamming.

---

I like the variety of cacti you can choose from and how they produce different flowers.

Some of the alignment-puzzles felt a bit punishing at first since there's not much wiggle-room in the outlines.

The way you were supposed to use the shovel was also a bit confusing, but otherwise everything was easy to grasp.


---

Would also be nice if you could water the plants! :green_heart: :droplet:

I've made a flower/plant-themed game twice, and both times I iterated the watering-mechanic first. So I guess I just felt weird when it was missing :sweat_smile: :potable_water:

---

This was a nice little experience!

Keep on jamming! :four_leaf_clover:
spyranteros
14. Jan 2023 · 16:39 UTC
I love the art style, the particles make the game look so polished. The mini games were very fun!
Chase of Bass
16. Jan 2023 · 18:48 UTC
This was such a chill, cool harvest game! Great use of the theme!

Was really surprised by the mini games -was not expecting to be able to interact with the cacti! Loved the vibe and had a nice time playing it.

Awesome job on this one! :D
Rincs
19. Jan 2023 · 18:12 UTC
I love the chill vibes, and the cute words the cactus would say qwq I was kind of feeling a little bummed and playing this game made me feel a bit better~

That alignment game is harder than it looks~!!

Thank you for making this game :3
Underlig
24. Jan 2023 · 04:33 UTC
This is addicting and fun... i want cactus now.
I love the minigames... i also hate the minigames XD

Great work Rainbeeeeee =)