Goblimancer! by phost.dll

[raw]
made by phost.dll for Ludum Dare 55 (JAM)

It is a vampire survivors-like, based on summoning. Press the combinations to choose your summon, press SPACE to summon it. Good luck out there. And.. uh.. these goblins you summon kinda act on their own. Note: Torch goblins are not only for bosses, they also kill normal enemies. There is a misswriting on the tutorial. So, thanks! It's our first time getting into a game jam, so hope you guys will like it.

Controls:

AWSD or ARROW KEYS to move. We highly suggest using the arrow keys, it is easier that way.

SPACE BAR to summon. 1 - 2 - 3 = Torch goblin. They attack everything except chad knights. They are the only mob that can kill the yellow knights.

1 - 3 -2 = TNT goblin. They drop mines.

2 - 1 - 3 = Barrel goblin. They kill chad knights.

2 - 3 - 1 = Speed boost.

3 - 1 - 2 = Heal yourself.

3 - 2 - 1 = Refresh mana.

Credits:

Most of the visuals are from this beautiful pack:

https://pixelfrog-assets.itch.io/tiny-swords

Rune pngs:

https://arijkx.itch.io/pixel-art-basic-monolith-runes

Hourglass right next to the goblin time bar:

https://alexti-dev.itch.io/hourglass-sandglass

Heal skill png:

https://doshrosity.itch.io/32x32-health-ui

Mana refresh skill png:

https://havran.itch.io/potions

Some fonts:

https://www.dafont.com/pixellife.font

Musics are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaRNvJLKP1E

Ratings

Overall 676th 3.486⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Fun 518th 3.514⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 555th 3.4⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 380th 3.929⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Humor 491th 3.197⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Mood 623th 3.514⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 51🗨️

Feedback

LocksmithArmy
15. Apr 2024 · 22:37 UTC
One Goblin to rule them ALL
karln
15. Apr 2024 · 22:40 UTC
help I'm pressing all the 1-2-3s and nothing is coming out :(
Asrata
15. Apr 2024 · 22:42 UTC
You should press >Spacebar< after you placed your runes.
Gnum_
15. Apr 2024 · 22:43 UTC
Very cool
mollusk
15. Apr 2024 · 22:53 UTC
Very fun idea, and has some similarities with my submission!

- graphics and audio look and sound great, nice presentation
- had to play around to realize you had to press the space bar to execute the summon
- Very hard, the summon mechanic takes a little bit of practice and it feels like you don't have enough firepower early on. Sometimes it felt like my minions weren't actually attacking?

Overall great job!
Aaron Hart
15. Apr 2024 · 22:57 UTC
This is fun! My MMO numpad mouse came in handy. Kinda reminds me of Magicka :D
🎤 phost.dll
15. Apr 2024 · 22:58 UTC
Thanks for the feedback @mollusk ! Yes, we kinda blundered on the way game presents the sapcebar, lol. The summoning is a hard mechanic with a steep learning curve, but when you get use it, it feels like playing piano. Or smashing keys. Or both xD Though, we were running low on time so could not improve it further sadly. Next time!
LDJam user 279233
15. Apr 2024 · 23:02 UTC
Hi! I like the combo matching game play. Reminds me of Arrow Head studio's "Magicka". The enemy health bars didn't seem to work correctly in my play through, but other than that it was a fun game with a neat concept!
🎤 phost.dll
15. Apr 2024 · 23:06 UTC
@aaron-hart thanks! I was thinking of Invoker from Dota 2 when I was creating the summoning system actually. But yeah, I got what you mean by magicka!

@noobman64 I am glad you enjoyed your time in our game! It can be happening because of the web version. I am not sure, it does not happen on me and my frens. WebGL momento.
Jacob Diaz
16. Apr 2024 · 03:06 UTC
I really enjoy the way this game feels, it is reminiscent of vampire survivors but gives me the satisfaction of rattling off combinations similar to Helldivers.

I particularly enjoyed how mana can be restored via further combinations instead of just something like waiting. It took me a second to learn but once I memorized them the speed of casting different spells in quick succession is very satisfying!
Hazard Game Dev
16. Apr 2024 · 03:09 UTC
The gameplay is good and the idea of combos to summon each thing is excellent. It fits the theme so well.
I wish I could control with the mouse so I had my left hand free for summoning.
🎤 phost.dll
16. Apr 2024 · 03:26 UTC
@jacob-diaz Thank you for your input! I was on the summoning system part of the game, which may be most complicated thing I have done so far in coding, considering I'm into dev from scratch for like 6 months or something. I enjoyed the feeling of puting those combinations in Helldivers and thought it would be fun to replicate that system on a project I would work on, and this fit the theme very well surprisingly. Though, as @hazard-game-dev said the movement should've been handled by the mouse. Our friend said "it would be nice to move with mouse" when there was 30 min left for entry xD Though, we learn through mistakes, so I am very glad that you guys enjoyed our game!
JIMUU
16. Apr 2024 · 07:10 UTC
I very love this game! !The way of pressing combinations like "Magicka", it's so funny! And I also love your Menu design ,the visual effect is so cool!
TonyGlaze
16. Apr 2024 · 12:48 UTC
This game was so fun I really felt like i was summoning magicks with my runes. I love the goblin bombers lool
StanleySweet
16. Apr 2024 · 12:53 UTC
Nice game, the assets are really nice!
RinTheOne
16. Apr 2024 · 13:36 UTC
i really like the helldiver style buttons combos, learning to do them quickly is very satisfying
evil23
16. Apr 2024 · 15:27 UTC
Does not load on Firefox for some reason :(
🎤 phost.dll
16. Apr 2024 · 15:58 UTC
@jimuu thanks! I'm really glad you enjoyed our game. And yeh, the menu design is something came into my mind and I was like "oh yeah this is gonna be cool" xDD Appreciated!
@tonyglaze that goblin bombers use to kill everything, so had to change few things around xD I'm glad you enjoyed our game!
@stanleysweet thanks! The assets are indeed beautiful, I was mesmerized when I first found them!
@rintheone Thank you! It was something I enjoy coding as well (definitely did not scream at my screen and trash talk myself for few hours)
@evil23 If you wish to try, you can download it on the itch.io link down below!
Shlolo
16. Apr 2024 · 16:00 UTC
Fun idea. It took some getting used to, but after a while I was summoning goblins super quickly. It definately feels very rewarding to improve at remembering the combos and executing them quickly.

I wish there was a way to see the different combos while playing the game though. I found myself intentionally dying a couple of times just so I could read the tutorial again. Maybe there could be a mechanic where your character can look at his spell book for a short time to view the combos but he also can't move while doing so.

Overall it's a really fun idea and I had a good time playing it.
🎤 phost.dll
16. Apr 2024 · 16:06 UTC
@shlolo Thanks! Yeah, there is loooots of room to improve actually. I even think of working on it further. There has to be a better tutorial. Also, adding a choosing upgrade system and creating builds would be super fun but we had no time sadly. I am curious if people would be interested on further development of this game though.
P3ngui
16. Apr 2024 · 16:49 UTC
I like the mood of the game. The music fits really well and it looks fun.
Unfortunatly it took me a while to understand the way to spawn things and even longer to realise who actually deals dmg to which enemy. I think it could be better visualized which creature deals dmg to which enemy or maybe they could all deal dmg but have different efficiencies? Also I must admit, that my fingers hurt a bit from spamming these 3-2-1 combinations, especially the magic potion :D
🎤 phost.dll
16. Apr 2024 · 16:56 UTC
@p3ngui yes, all of your inputs are super matching with ours. The lack of time in our hands kinda blew things up on the tutorial and control department xD We are thinking of developing the game further at the moment, giving it the proper respect it deserves and call it a day.

So far these things are subject of work:
-Clarity on gameplay elements
-Upgrade system to support multiple builds each run
-Control revamp
-Keybind changing
-Click-to-move support
-Gamepad support

After these changes, I think this game would do good if I'm being honest. Though, not sure if we would have a following audiance that would like to see this game improve.

Thank you for your input! Hope you enjoyed your time playing.
Escyll
16. Apr 2024 · 17:35 UTC
That was a very fun game! My hand hurts right now!
Was all fun until the big fast knight joined :).
Overall job very well done.
And great music of course.
🎤 phost.dll
16. Apr 2024 · 17:39 UTC
@escyll thanks! Wish we had more time to refine the controls a bit. Big fast knights are dangerous if you did not level enough xD Glad you enjoyed your time and we appreciate the kind words!
Escyll
16. Apr 2024 · 17:54 UTC
@phost-dll wait..., you can level up?
I need to replay this game..
🎤 phost.dll
16. Apr 2024 · 18:00 UTC
@escyll Look at the blue bar above xD You need to collect the golds on the ground. When you level up, at certain levels to be more specific, your goblins will level up. They will increase on numbers when they are summoned, some of them will change colours indicating their power difference between each others. God wish I could deliver an upgrade choosing system on time
Asrata
16. Apr 2024 · 18:03 UTC
@escyll yes :D You might enjoy the scaling. Don't forget to pay attention to your goblin spawns colour too!
Josion
16. Apr 2024 · 20:04 UTC
The concept of summoning through key combinations adds a fun, unique challenge to the gameplay. It's great to see such positive feedback on the game's atmosphere, music, and innovative summoning mechanic. Keep up the fantastic work!
Asrata
16. Apr 2024 · 21:31 UTC
@josion Thank you so much! I agree about combo keys stuff too. It adds a skill aspect that we enjoy too. Thanks for the feedback!
Kirass
16. Apr 2024 · 22:54 UTC
I like this game! You guys are great!
Jake G
16. Apr 2024 · 23:18 UTC
Addicting, challenging, and a workout for my fingers! Fun to discover all the combinations.
Zerolarih
17. Apr 2024 · 00:45 UTC
I liked the game idea, found the mechanics interesting, it was a good job.
Asrata
17. Apr 2024 · 01:41 UTC
@kirass Thx for the input! I'm glad that you enjoyed it. @jake-g Thank you my friend! I enjoy a good finger-stretch too :D @zerolarih Thank you for playing!
Oni
17. Apr 2024 · 03:30 UTC
Fun little game!
LDJam user 388364
17. Apr 2024 · 08:41 UTC
One of the best games I played so far, everything is really great. I loved it!
Rubikon
17. Apr 2024 · 10:46 UTC
It's addicting. Got good at casting spells really fast and it became natural.
🎤 phost.dll
17. Apr 2024 · 12:27 UTC
@kirass No, you are great! <3 @jake-g I'M glad you enjoyed your time! @zerolarih thank you for sharing your thoughts on our game! @oni heh, thanks <3 @letssnack That means the world man. It is our first game-jam, and we are kinda new to game dev, so we appreciate that a lot <3 @rubikon I am really glad you enjoyed the system! We may improve this game further, dunno yet.
Nycoisdreaming
17. Apr 2024 · 13:42 UTC
Cool concept, got to wave 3! I love the variety of skills and effects they have. Was pretty fun spamming spells, especially once the muscle memory kicked in :D
Rendow
17. Apr 2024 · 15:45 UTC
Once I understood the mana system and the summoning, I really liked the game loop of casting different spells and doing it fast :)
I unfortunately happened to pressed enter which restarted the game, perhaps this could be changed to another button. Great take on the survivor-genre, well done! :D
unchain
17. Apr 2024 · 17:05 UTC
Very fun idea! Would be better with more feedback from attacking.
LDJam user 390584
17. Apr 2024 · 19:33 UTC
I like the Magicka style ability combos for sure, it's pretty fun to build up muscle memory for each power! I would have liked to see a more structured mode, different enemy movement patterns, or some other progression other than just a timer (although the huge boss was a nice surprise). I didn't quite understand the 1-10 at the top of the screen but either way, it was quite fun to play and I like the action oriented speed combined with the combo system.

Possibly some of the powers could be only two inputs like the movement boost (ones that drain all your mana are already a bit brutal). Also the tutorial text and writing are the first thing we see and they aren't doing you any favors. Try to clean that up and present the information in a pleasant way. Lastly, a lot of your affect on the enemies takes place off-screen, which really impacts satisfaction. I can't really tell how much damage I'm doing or even if anyone is dying. I'm not sure what the solution is, as it's a fundamental problems of games where you kite enemies.

I appreciate that you provided links to all your assets, and you made good use of the packs; of course it would have been of course nice to see original art but congrats on executing your design in just a weekend :]
blank_3D
20. Apr 2024 · 20:59 UTC
There is a definite lack of feedback to the player. It felt like none of my minions were doing anything, and when the big boss comes he is very much on top of you even if you spam speed boost. That being said the music was banging and it was very fun to play! Great job!
Augustin Marry
02. May 2024 · 08:02 UTC
Great game, to pass a level in the top bar you must kill enemies or loot gold in the grounds?