LudumData

Shmelon Fields by osh.studio

[raw]
made by osh.studio for Ludum Dare 53 (JAM)

Controls:

Use WASD or Arrow Keys to move, and spacebar to interact.

Pixel Art Farming Game

You are a farmer dude trying to make some money by fulfilling a Purrball delivery request from your boss. But first, you need to find out what a Purrball is.

How to Play

Roam the field to harvest schmelons to feed the Purrballs and increase their mood and likelihood of laying new Purrball eggs. Purrballs can only be picked up at maximum happiness, and then they can be taken to the truck for delivery, but be careful, you need to make sure you keep all the Purrballs happy enough, otherwise they might SCREM. Balance fostering new Purrballs with keeping them happy, until you can meet your delivery quota.

Dev Thoughts

Had fun with this Ludum Dare, definitely the cutest looking game I’ve made. I worked with Josie on this game for the Jam entry. Have recently been playing Stardew Valley together, and knew we wanted to make a topdown pixel art game, and knew we wanted a cute lil creature that SCREMed.

Special thanks to Jules for play testing and being our human soundboard.

Dev ChangeLog

A few pickup / putdown melon bugs being fixed atm.

Link https://oshstudio.itch.io/shmelon-fields
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/shmelon-fields

Ratings

Overall 364th 3.783⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Fun 374th 3.65⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 530th 3.417⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Theme 610th 3.9⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 262th 4.167⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Audio 210th 3.862⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Humor 91th 4.05⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Mood 195th 4.017⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Given 17🗳️ 30🗨️

Feedback

Dongle
02. May 2023 · 03:44 UTC
Super cute!
Sebhulhu
02. May 2023 · 06:57 UTC
Really dope game :-) Cute art and even screams are fun and cute :-)I found small problem though - after failing and retrying my farmer holds a furball which I cannot let go of so I needed to refresh browser -not a game breaking thing though :-)
breadstick
02. May 2023 · 07:00 UTC
Everything was going so well until I waited too long to feed one of my 30 furballs, and their screams will haunt my dreams until I die.

Would recommend.
Gog
02. May 2023 · 07:05 UTC
Cute and funny!
Bulba
02. May 2023 · 07:07 UTC
Very nice game, nice visuals and sounds. The farmer is very strangely animated. Poor legs...
Bluepir
02. May 2023 · 07:11 UTC
Shmelons and Purrballs - what once was nonsense now fills my heart with warmth. Thank you for this very cute gift <3
3mpty
02. May 2023 · 12:43 UTC
Bizarre, cute and weirdly creepy? I really like it. The bizarre sounds and cute little purrballs really sell it.

Small, but memorable and lovely. I like it a lot.
polinnich
02. May 2023 · 16:53 UTC
adorable game!
the screaming creatures are a bit terrifying but still cute! loved the graphics and sound, the only thing i wish for is a colorful and more detailed intro
10/10
TwoWolf
02. May 2023 · 19:27 UTC
Woah.. was not expecting that final form at all. I have to admit, I was kinda expecting it to go full-out horror mode but fortunately it just died. Give Jules my compliments, if I read correctly, for making those unholy cthulian cat screams lol. The pixel art was gorgeous too.
fuzzybut
02. May 2023 · 21:10 UTC
I was very curious about the placement of Purrball #9 and #10 and was pleasantly surprised! So cute.

![ShmelonFields.JPG](///raw/dea/94/z/5ad58.jpg)

I did, however, forget about the delivery and was trying to stockpile schmelons to feed my growing Purrball army.

![ShmelonFields2.JPG](///raw/dea/94/z/5ad64.jpg)

I noticed that the schmelons are a very hardy fruit, and my stockpile stayed on the field after replaying. Great humor and art in your game - congrats on the entry!
Squidly
03. May 2023 · 01:58 UTC
Shmelon/10 needs more shmelons
Rincs
03. May 2023 · 09:57 UTC
This is so cute!! I do wish they had a different angry noise. qwq
Bea
03. May 2023 · 16:37 UTC
This is a great little entry! I really hated the screm!(in a good way) I liked that all the information on the purballs status was conveyed very clearly with both sound and graphics. I'll note I encountered a bug when I lost the first time where when I tried to restart I was holding a purball that I could not put down. I felt like this was a really dynamic challenge, with just enough moving parts to interesting to solve. My first time through I thought I should make as many purballs as possible, and that quickly grew out of control. The second time I tried to keep it more manageable, though it was starting to get out of hand as I was delivering my 10th. GG!
silvio
03. May 2023 · 20:27 UTC
:melon:
Augmotic
04. May 2023 · 01:21 UTC
Thanks for hanging out in the stream and bringing your game!

Here is a link to the VOD that starts at your section.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1810812417?t=00h39m47s
jitspoe
04. May 2023 · 01:40 UTC
Took a couple tries to figure out the optimal strategy, but I got it!
blotosaur
04. May 2023 · 04:24 UTC
First I thought it was gonna be relaxing. Then I thought it was a horror game disguised as a cute game. Then I realized was I was doing and it became relaxing again. Really nice one!
Asieke
05. May 2023 · 17:16 UTC
The purballs are super cute! My first playthrough I kinda skipped over the tutorial/controls and didn't realize I was supposed to put them in the truck, so I just kept feeding them and ended up with like a million of the purballs just screaming at me lol.
Gmstochetto
07. May 2023 · 04:05 UTC
Interesting game, loved the graphics, but I wish there was a bit more challenge xD I loved the Purrballs and their scream really is scary D: Good job :3
yumykon
07. May 2023 · 18:51 UTC
![brave_W54sZqkQe3.png](///raw/046/25/z/5b8eb.png)

I loved the initial cutscenes, even though they were simple and only lineart, they gave a fun context to the narrative! The art is very cute and the colors are beautiful! I confess that I missed some background music to give more life to the atmosphere, but on the other hand, I loved the sfx and the sounds of the Purrballs! I had so fun playting it!
Congratulations on the great work and the good game! (⌒▽⌒)☆
AdamCYounis
10. May 2023 · 11:12 UTC
Cute game! I appreciated the intro sequence setting up the scenario, and the animations for the characters in the game scene. I liked the balance between letting the purrballs duplicate vs dropping them off one by one, though it took me a while to figure out I could pick up the purrballs with hearts above them (I almost reviewed the game not knowing i could do it at all). Maybe a little prompt above their heads would have made it more obvious?

It was fun! I beat the game on my third try. Thanks for sharing :)
exozetart
10. May 2023 · 21:52 UTC
wow this game is adorable! I had so much fun playing <3 the pixel art looks amazing and I love that the farm was heart-shaped :) I think the gameplay was very intuitive, you just keep feeding the cute Purrballs and soon they'll show their love. Also the intro was very funny (and I liked the comic style). awesome game, I really really enjoyed it a lot!