Inside Out by Matootsy

[raw]
made by Matootsy for Ludum Dare 54 (JAM)

In this game you will have to guide a small creature trapped in very congested places. Even the border is shrinking around him. The best he can do is... becoming smaller...

Capture d'écran 2023-10-03 014216.png

You only need the mouse or your finger (the game is working on mobile). Due to lack of time there are only 3 levels. I hope it's enough to understand the mechanic.

The softwares I used:

OpenMPT tracker for the main screen music. (I did the ingame music before the gamejam).

Reaper for the sound fx.

Gimp for the art (sprite, animation) . I did most of the graphics assets during the jam and I just use one midjourney image to fill quickly the background because it was too short to finish in time :).

And construct 3 to build the game :-)

Hope you will enjoy it. :-)

Cheers.

Ratings

Overall 278th 3.86⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 354th 3.688⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 272th 3.708⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 126th 4.308⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 118th 4.346⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Audio 264th 3.7⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Humor 443th 3.159⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 200th 3.979⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 16🗳️ 30🗨️

Feedback

txomin
02. Oct 2023 · 21:05 UTC
I have a bug 🚨! I cannot start the game, when I click on "Start", "Options" or "About" the label goes to the right but nothing changes. I tested on Firefox and Chrome. Hope that I'm the only one or that you'll manage to fix it, I look forward to try it since the art looks pretty.

Edit: I can sometimes start the game if it is in fullscreen but after I retrieve the three blackholes it zooms in and then do nothing
🎤 Matootsy
03. Oct 2023 · 01:51 UTC
Thanks @txomin. That's weird. No problem on my side. Full-screen or not. I will check later...
🎤 Matootsy
03. Oct 2023 · 02:54 UTC
@txomin what's your system configuration? Are you on mac or Pc?
Leonid Fedorov
03. Oct 2023 · 14:12 UTC
Cool graphics, it's a pity that there are so few levels :C
🎤 Matootsy
04. Oct 2023 · 09:58 UTC
Thanks @leonid-fedorov unfortunately I didn't have time to do more levels but I think I will post another version with more levels soon.
Ryrumeli
05. Oct 2023 · 05:37 UTC
Beautiful assets, I mean it. It shows just how detailed and polished the levels seem. It feels like the vertical slice for a really interesting game. I love how the mood is set, and the idea on getting smaller and smaller is very cool, and how the walls grow is also very well done. Let me know when there are more levels because I would definitely play more.
fan
05. Oct 2023 · 05:38 UTC
The same bug! I also cannot start,sad. If you fix it, please tell me. I use Windows and Chrome.
BinayaS
05. Oct 2023 · 05:48 UTC
Dang, I'm jealous of your art skills. Enjoyed the few levels you had but the movement was a bit strange with the player rubber banding if I clicked too quickly. Good luck on polishing and adding levels.
Rena
05. Oct 2023 · 06:06 UTC
Wow this is gorgeous! I LOVE the idea of having to shrink smaller to get through small spaces.
Unfortunately I couldn't make it past tutorial 2 - it might be a skill issue though. The blackhole on the bottom left part of the screen would always pop before I could get to it after retrieving the far right one. The graphics and idea is super cool though! The atmosphere is reminiscent of this mobile game I loved to play, GlowFish.
UkuleleFury
05. Oct 2023 · 06:25 UTC
:) Wow, this was fun!! I really love the art, the narrative, the audio, the gameplay, all of it! Thinking of a mobile-first interaction is always a great thing to do, and this uses touch simply and well.

The second level was really hard for me. I kept hitting both light balls near the end. It took me toooooo long to realize I should just go through one of them rather than trying to fit between them.

I really like the character and the narrative and your cool unique text box system. BUT, I _really_ don't like that the back/next buttons around the text box move when the width of the text box changes with the contents of the text. Not great UX. But, I mean, if I'm complaining about that level of UX in you game, the main bits must be ok!

Thanks for calling out the bits you did ahead of time and borrowed from elsewhere! Technically, you probably shouldn't be going for ratings in audio and graphics if you didn't make it all yourself during the time window, but I guess they seem pretty minor parts.
rankb
05. Oct 2023 · 08:14 UTC
The art style is pleasing and I liked the concept of the game! I would really love to a full version of this.
civmaniac
05. Oct 2023 · 16:58 UTC
I can't start the game like others. All main menu options don't work. I can click them, something blinks and disappears fast.

![Screenshot from 2023-10-05 18-57-41.png](///raw/d01/a2/z/5fc85.png)
Tzeo
05. Oct 2023 · 20:14 UTC
Yeah, the game don't start(. The buttons just dissapeared
Archaeognathus
05. Oct 2023 · 20:31 UTC
Beautiful art style and music. Had no issues playing it using windows and firefox. The tutorial was a bit annoying at times though, especially in the third level. Had to try a few times. First I destroyed the black hole, as I thought thats what the tutorial wanted me to to. Then I got stuck and couldn't get through, because I could only push the rocks behind while beeing "big". During the third try I also glitched through one of them at the end of the level. The concept and visuals are very cool though :)
tanis
07. Oct 2023 · 09:25 UTC
The graphics is super cute, love it! Audio is also good and it fits the game well. It's a pity that you did not manage to add more levels. btw it is quite easy to by-pass all the mechanics shown in the tutorial just by quickly clicking and moving around
LDJam user 206001
09. Oct 2023 · 22:02 UTC
Cute graphics, but the constant text is annoying. Especially when I die and it will repeat all the text again and I have to click on all the arrows. This made me give up. It also got difficult in the second phase, very difficult. There was no progression of difficulty, it became too difficult on the second level
Netarion
10. Oct 2023 · 13:57 UTC
I like games wich i can play only with mouse, it fit perfectly with my lazyness, but i had some strange behaviour with it, i didn't know if i had to click and it will follow or i had to keep the button pressed. When u repetly click, the behaviour is eratic.
Good interpretation of the theme, the green creature is cute but lack of animation.
it not a problem to have just a couple of lvl if it's polished
Well done !
LeReveur
10. Oct 2023 · 23:06 UTC
It was a short but interesting experience. If you find time to expand this game a little, saying for 20 levels, you may have followers who like playing it! Well done!
TheLastSlowpoke
12. Oct 2023 · 23:48 UTC
It worked on android! :robot: I had the same bug as the rest on windows. I love the art. The eyes in the menu are so cute!
🎤 Matootsy
19. Oct 2023 · 06:15 UTC
@txomin @fan @civmaniac @tzeo @thelastslowpoke I made an update on the Butons Menu. (Very late, but I didn't have time before...). Can you tell me if it is working now? Thanks :-)
civmaniac
19. Oct 2023 · 11:23 UTC
@matootsy Still doesn't work. Tried Firefox and Chromium on Linux. :shrug:

Here's a video of the bug:
https://vimeo.com/875940230
🎤 Matootsy
19. Oct 2023 · 16:48 UTC
@civmaniac Thanks a lot. That's weird. So... I made a new update. Could you please check again if it's working? :-)
civmaniac
19. Oct 2023 · 16:53 UTC
@matootsy It's working now! There's still some bug with returning from Options. Had to click the return button 5 times before it worked for me and same thing in the "About" screen. I can start the game now! :smiley:
🎤 Matootsy
19. Oct 2023 · 17:13 UTC
@lincolnsalles There is a SKIP button on the top left to SKIP the dialogs of the tutorial.
ThorPalsson
19. Oct 2023 · 18:14 UTC
Sound Options and a skip button during tutorial already 10/10! Art style was also great and the music fit the game really well. I also enjoyed how you managed to make the simple mechanics of the game still feel engaging. I wished it was a bit longer but hey, that can only mean good things :D Great job
civmaniac
19. Oct 2023 · 19:08 UTC
Cool art style! Graphics and sound create really nice atmosphere. A bit sad you didn't manage to get more levels done.
txomin
20. Oct 2023 · 09:13 UTC
@matootsy It worked! Again the character and environment art are really pretty, well done 👍
TheLastSlowpoke
20. Oct 2023 · 12:10 UTC
It works!
EgorMnc
20. Oct 2023 · 13:31 UTC
the game is quite interesting, it was fun to play, everything was done well, both the controls and the game design itself
Antonijmark
20. Oct 2023 · 17:32 UTC
Nice cozy game! Interesting mechanic and beautiful visual style
ADerpyChickenStudios
20. Oct 2023 · 19:10 UTC
Cute little game with neat mechanics