LudumData

Christmas Carols by exofrenon

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

This submission is inspired by the Greek custom of Christmas Caroling. In Greece, every year on Christmas Eve kids go around the neighborhood, door to door, and sing the Christmas carols. In return, they are tipped by the person they sang to, "collecting" / "harvesting" thus money, which is often used to buy their Christmas gifts.

Featuring: - Endless and pointless free-roaming on an Earthbound-inspired village. There is also a time limit, because everyone loves the pressure of a good old fashioned timer in their games. - Mildly funny, if I do say so myself, conversations with the same NPC again and again (a recolor of the main player, cause ain't nobody got time for that). - Rocking the Christmas carols on your mini-keyboard. This part of the game is actually legit.

Unfortunately the scope of the game was too big for me and the game is half-finished, especially the free-roaming part. I had high hopes for it. Now it barely works.

Instructions: - Press Space to interact - You have until 14:00 o'clock to gather as much money as you can.

Simmer.io https://simmer.io/@exofrenon/christmas-carols
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/christmas-carols

Ratings

Overall 524th 3.316⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 442th 3.316⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 184th 3.658⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 788th 2.553⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 588th 3.158⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 266th 3.447⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 314th 3.139⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 539th 3.211⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 12🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

🎤 exofrenon
09. Jan 2023 · 20:00 UTC
I haven't uploaded the build yet, will do it shortly (trying to build it...)
🎤 exofrenon
09. Jan 2023 · 22:04 UTC
1 hour after the deadline and after numerous attempts, I have finally managed to upload the game in the correct resolution.
Catfort
10. Jan 2023 · 04:53 UTC
interesting take on this type of gameplay! something to help keep track of the beat would've been nice to make sure I was timing the song out right and avoid the really grating miss sound. other than that, solid idea (and of course, I'm a sucker for earthbound graphics)
ElmoEinstein
10. Jan 2023 · 23:19 UTC
Really liked the game and the concept aaltho i cant see how it fits the theme. I think you should keep working on it tho it has potential to be something great
🎤 exofrenon
10. Jan 2023 · 23:36 UTC
@elmoeinstein Thank you! I will work on this for one more weekend until the roaming becomes what I envisioned it to be, but I will quit after that.

The idea is that you are "harvesting" money from your neighbors, as if the village is a "field" and every house is a "crop" that you "harvest".
automatonvx
11. Jan 2023 · 00:28 UTC
I really enjoyed this, the graphics and setting are charming and I actually really enjoyed butchering some christmas carols because i couldn't remember what the key mapping was. I could have done with a metronome or little backing track for the timing and some indications on the piano keys what the keyboard mapping was. The roaming is cool for a bit of scene setting and stuff but if you were going to work more I would try and polish up the core piano playing thing a little more, maybe some more songs. Had fun, thanks for this :)
KlinsmannHengles
11. Jan 2023 · 00:42 UTC
Good work! It's a funny game, i like the Earthbound style and the song mechanic. One feedback: I had some difficult with the keyboard because usually I have my fingers from A to F and J to ";", and for my right hand, the fact I need to change each finger one to left make it more difficult to play.
ironhandMD
11. Jan 2023 · 01:37 UTC
great game! the concept of receiving gifts is appropriate with harvesting, I like the art and the controls are responsive, the mechanics is easy to understand with witty humor, I like the mini game of playing the Christmas carol on the A-L keys, it was challenging. This has good replay value, overall I enjoyed playing! congratulations! keep it up!
LDJam user 300422
11. Jan 2023 · 09:27 UTC
Great game, i really like the concept of playing the songs on the keyboard. I'm so bad at it, i only got pity money every time, i always messed up when the note was changing :joy: while i like the error feedback i almost wish there was no sound to playing wrong, so you could instead hear the song played wrong :thinking:

But very cool concept and a well done execution. Good job :thumbsup:
Moosey
11. Jan 2023 · 09:36 UTC
This was really fun! Of course the Earthbound-style aesthetic is great, but I think the concept of a rhythm game built around going around and doing Christmas Carols for money is really interesting! I'd love if maybe earning money had more of an incentive, like maybe it could allow you to learn more songs or get better equipment, thus allowing you to make even more money. I'm not sure if this game satisfies the 'Harvest' theme very well, but I think this is a really lovely Christmas-y game!!
🎤 exofrenon
12. Jan 2023 · 01:34 UTC
@zluca Thank you! I was torn between which one was funnier; letting you hear your masterpiece uninterupted or bombarding you with annoying squeaky noises for every mistake. I went with the later.

@moosey Thank's for the feedback! Yes, this is probably the way to go, acquiring money and actually spending them in a meaningful way somehow, but I really didn't have time to implement that. It would essentially become 2 games, and it is already hard enough for 1 person to make 1 game in 3 days.
Kostas Nik
12. Jan 2023 · 12:25 UTC
the art for the city might need some work and may keep some players out of the game but the music playing is well executed and it brought a smile on my face. I butchered everything but i learned to play jingle bells. :joy:

Καλή προσπάθεια!
Big Cyckos
12. Jan 2023 · 23:07 UTC
This was even better than the Christmas Philharmonic Orchestra :) The graphics are charming. Wish that there were some audio in the background, also it would be good to be able to end the game before 14:00, I finished every house by 12:00 and had to wait (just nitpicking, not sure if I didn't miss anything though). I like how the houses differ and the characters tell you whether the house is profitable or not, this mechanic definitely has some potential. Overall a pleasant experience, made me think about when I was younger doing the same thing :)
Yahel Dooley
13. Jan 2023 · 03:24 UTC
This was an interesting play. I enjoyed trying to play Jingle Bells terribly as the input timing is pretty well calibrated. Some attempts of these rhythm games can be frustrating when the metronome for the song isn't accurate, but you nailed that. The art is also cute, the dialog and scene wipes are bit slow moving, but all-in-all its a good entry. Great work!
SurrealSalad
13. Jan 2023 · 07:07 UTC
I faced a tough audience at each house and didn't make much money, but I still had fun! Nice job!