Claw & Collect by d-demetori
Controls:
WASD – Move the claw
Space – Drop the claw
Mouse + Left/Right Click – Orbit the camera for the best angle
A claw machine challange with powerups!
Can you master the claw and collect them all?


| Link | https://github.com/Harloys/ld-58-collector |
| Link | https://d-demetori.itch.io/claw-collect |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/58/claw-collect |
Ratings
| Overall | 112th | 3.375⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 153th | 3.012⭐ | 43🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 114th | 3.22⭐ | 43🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 15th | 4.207⭐ | 43🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 28th | 4.159⭐ | 43🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 80th | 3.372⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 148th | 2.29⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 75th | 3.527⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 33🗳️ | 57🗨️ |
It is nice to have balls indicating overall progression towards the goal and at the same time serving as difficulty curve (e.g. the fewer balls the more difficult it is to capture one).
Upgrades add a bit of variety which I like, however I didn't understand whether it is bound to the ball color or it is completely random? It seems it is random, however it feels that if it was bound to the ball color it could've generate a certain level of strategy in the game (e.g. leaving the ones that increase speed to the end, so that the claw moves faster towards the farther corners).
One last thing I wish the game had is the shadow of the claw inside the cage, not outside it, as at the moment it is difficult to understand which point on the floor it will capture.

I liked the music. It's like a kalimba.
It would be great to add more challenge or additional goals. Maybe add permanent AI assistants and turn it into an idle game with geometric progression.
Sometimes I got confused between my hook and the AI's. You could separate them by color.
Also, it's a bit confusing that the hook returns to the center. It's better to return it to the same position. Even better is if the player throws the balls themselves, so as not to wait and the game is more active.
But any way nice entry and good luck on compo!
I liked the polish on this, the buttons physically being pressed is cool and the balls dancing around you to mark your progress is a nice touch. I wish the controls inverted with the camera though - it is frustrating trying to move the claw when the camera is not straight on. I understand that would be less true-to-life but I think it would enhance player interaction. Regardless of that though, this was enjoyable, good work!
The gameplay is fun.
This game felt WAY more fair than a real claw machine.

I didn't really see the increased size (is it visible?), or what the speed update did. Also there's not much of a challenge, but not everything needs to be.
It's a very polished entry, visual and audio matching fine. Well done!