LudumData

Mars Rovers by Blazerker

[raw]
made by Blazerker for Ludum Dare 58 (JAM)

Mars Rovers is a puzzle game where the goal is to mine gems and deposit them by instructing rovers to perform sequential actions. There are three main types of rovers: - Collector Rover: - This rover can collect purple gems and deposit them. To complete a level, you need to collect and deposit all the purple gems in a level. - It can also harvest energy and transfer it to other rovers from green gems. - Operator Rover: - This rover can open doors by hovering over a switch. - Destructor Rovers: - Destructors can mine red gems to build up an explosive charge. Use this charge to blow up rock barriers.

There are 5 levels to try out, each incrementally harder than the last. It becomes a fine ballet between the various rovers to achieve each objective.

There are plenty of future opportunities to expand the game with more functionality for each rover type.

Screenshot 2025-10-07 at 06.51.07.jpg

Unity Play https://play.unity.com/en/games/4ded4713-c350-44b7-8c75-1f44317ab1ca/mars-rovers
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/58/mars-rovers

Ratings

Overall 393th 3.514⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Fun 525th 3.143⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 292th 3.414⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 289th 3.829⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Humor 614th 2.344⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Mood 629th 3.118⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Given 33🗳️ 49🗨️

Feedback

JustusPan
Oct 07th · 09:25 UTC
I cleared levels 1-4, but in level 5, the place circled in the picture causes the red car to crash every time it reaches the bomb, making me suspect this might be a bug.
Aside from that, this is a very good game. Since it's not convenient to stop midway and modify directly to continue, each thought process is continuous, which allows me to enjoy some mental activity. The downside is that the game is very time-consuming, and people might not be patient enough to complete the entire game. It would be great if there was a button to simulate the game speed at 2x, 5x, or 10x! Well done!![Snipaste_2025-10-07_16-57-00.png](///raw/a9a/12/z/6e861.png)
![Snipaste_2025-10-07_17-11-07.png](///raw/a9a/12/z/6e862.png)![Snipaste_2025-10-07_17-19-34.png](///raw/a9a/12/z/6e863.png)
🎤 Blazerker
Oct 07th · 09:59 UTC
Hi @justuspan. Thank you for the feedback... There was a tiny problem with the placement of the obstacle. It's meant to be placed on a full grid square, not the edge. This is now corrected. See if you can clear the level now :)
GonkinDroid
Oct 08th · 06:01 UTC
Cool game! Making systems that allow players to give instructions like that sounds like so much fun!
Bobap
Oct 08th · 07:31 UTC
Amazing work. The UI was so easy to use with great functionality. I love that orders would stack with themselves when pressed multiple times in a row. The rovers have great personality in their simple designs. There were enough new elements added in each level to keep it interesting and challenging. Being able to select any of the levels from the start is nice so there's no fear of losing progression for Jam purposes. My only notes would be a toggle for 2x speed. Testing some of the longer sequences got a little tedious when you realize you missed 1 command at the end of the chain. Also a nice feature would be having the commands delete automatically when pressing [-] when they're at [1]. I did manage to clear all the levels without using the energy crystals except for the once on level 4. Overall loved it, great game.
LDJam user 237945
Oct 08th · 17:20 UTC
Very cool puzzle execution! Got that retro feel!
einfach
Oct 09th · 03:31 UTC
The game feels incredibly complete! It’s not difficult to play at all, and as a non-native English speaker, I found it really easy to get into. The mechanics are super interesting — it’s truly a jam game worth learning from!
Eugenik
Oct 09th · 09:29 UTC
Wow, great game, I love the art and the concept
ansjofaye
Oct 09th · 14:56 UTC
cool game, fun to work out the mechanics
Daniel123
Oct 09th · 15:33 UTC
Great game. If there's a background music, it would be better.
GonulGaye
Oct 09th · 17:42 UTC
I like the mechanics. The game itself is pretty cool too!
6Knowledge
Oct 09th · 17:58 UTC
Didn't get through the whole game (trying to rate most games doesn't leave a lot of time per game) but from the first few levels I did, the atmosphere was the hallmark feature. The gameplay personally felt a bit tedious by the end, has a bit of the Baldurs Gate 3 syndrome where moves take just a bit too long and lack of sound controls was also a thing I noted instantly. The camera felt a bit unnatural but not unusable.

As a base for an expansion this could work.
Yorsh
Oct 09th · 18:06 UTC
It looks great! Good work on the VFX. Sound effects are well chosen too. Gameplay is cool, the UI is well made and make it easy to play with commands.
It's a bit lacking on the level design side imo. I was hoping for some situations where the first solution that came to mind wouldn't be the correct one, especially in the last level. Other than that everything is very well done and just works! Good job!
dr-braur
Oct 09th · 18:20 UTC
It is a really decent puzzle game! Nothing super innovative, but everything is pretty well executed and though through. One thing I missed a bit, especially during those "longer" levels is the ability to fast forward the queue. Thank you for the game and take care!
Custodi
Oct 09th · 22:28 UTC
Cool logical game, i called a retry pop up and then success one.
Would like to get speed panel to speed up gameplay.

![image.png](///raw/bb0/e5/z/6f235.png)
dumchevdev
Oct 10th · 12:34 UTC
The idea and implementation are simply superb, well done!
daupoh
Oct 11th · 10:17 UTC
Great puzzle game, very nice work! Gameplay seems to have many opportunities for further extend. New robot types, maybe adding new dimensions (air, underground), new threats and even enemies with more resources (shields, scrap) - so many possibilites!

I beat all levels and have only a few UI\UX proposals:
- from start player doesn't know capacity of mines and collector, so you should use trial and error to figure this out.
- would be nice to have accelerated playback mode for subsequent attempts
- maybe you should paint depleted resources source to gray color
Conduit
Oct 12th · 10:42 UTC
This is such a cool concept! I had a good time mapping out the route in my head, and watching reality unfold when I inadvertently failed the mission by ramming my collector into the gems lol a little bit of ambience and fine tuning on the SFX and this would be a top notch puzzle game imo!
WilloXs
Oct 12th · 15:03 UTC
The camera "shake" on drag is really cool - but also way to strong. It gets a bit nauseating after some time. The game itself struggles a bit with speed. Even though i get to the solution of the puzzle quite easily, the execution takes so long that i grow impacient. And if i then realise that i have to look at the action 5 times in a row it doesn't help. A fast forward would help greatly.

The sound grows a bit repetitive. I think the cuts between each clip is a bit hard. Maybe letting them last into the start of the next action would help. Also one trick i have learned with one-play sounds especially, is to pitch them randomly up or down. This way it always sounds slightly different each time.

I have to say that the UI looks great! Really nice work with icons and responsiveness.
LDJam user 243929
Oct 14th · 17:16 UTC
Wow, this is very complete - I didn't get through the whole thing but I had a lot of fun in the few levels I've completed! Nice graphics I got a Colobot feel from, fitting sounds, and most importantly engaging and just nice to play.

What I'd love to see is a fast forward option, as it was very tedious to get things done sometimes, and some funky sci-fi ambient in the background would've been great.

Overall, great entry!
SergS Workshop
Oct 16th · 19:48 UTC
That totally brought me back to the ’90s - there were a few games exposed the Logo language, where a turtle (or a kangaroo) drew lines based on commands. Great implementation and really nice quality overall!
FiveCyclops
Oct 17th · 10:35 UTC
The game is really interesting.
The levels are fun, but we need more!
You should add the ability to perform functions to make it a real optimization game.
It clearly has the potential to be a commercial game.

Keep up the good work!
Jesús González
Oct 22nd · 16:31 UTC
The concept is really good. But needs polishing to be fun to play to a longer while.
1. Camera controls overlapping with dragging the instructions are extremely annoying.
2. Very slow replays, so a speed up (2x, 5x, 10x even) would be greatly appreciated (I guess it currently mimics the Unity experience of making a line of code change and waiting a minute for recompilation).

Other than that, the puzzles were well made, the base gameplay is fun and engaging, the graphics and audio are well put together and aesthetically it really works.

Rating this very highly especially in innovation.
ophiene
Oct 23rd · 19:31 UTC
Amazing work! It’s super interesting and has a vert unique way to paraphrase the theme, good job! And welcome to give our game a try! :)