Pent8cle by samh

[raw]
made by samh for Ludum Dare 55 (COMPO)

This is my attempt at a puzzle game where you need to complete a pentacle in order to summon whatever it is you summon.

  • Left/Right arrows: browse runes (in select mode) or rotate rune (in placement mode)
  • Z/C: select rune (in select mode) or place rune (in placement mode)
  • X: cancel rune placement and return to select mode

Made with PICO-8 and Vim.

Ratings

Overall 75th 3.85⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 129th 3.575⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 51th 3.975⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 81th 4⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 70th 4.025⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 89th 3.575⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 258th 2.289⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 121th 3.55⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 12🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 5243
15. Apr 2024 · 06:58 UTC
Loved the game! I have no input really. It was really fun, the graphics look cool and the sound is fitting. Good job!
JustusPan
15. Apr 2024 · 07:03 UTC
A little bit hard for me, and I'm stuck in level 7.
Good pixel art and sounds fit it well!
LDJam user 236545
15. Apr 2024 · 17:21 UTC
The dichromatic color scheme works nicely, and the theme was well integrated.

My only issue was that it was very difficult for me to think beyond one or two steps ahead, which made the game super hard for me: I wasn't able to get past level 5. I think an "undo" feature might have helped with the difficulty, without ruining what makes it fun.

I enjoyed how simple and well-polished the game is. You understand how to play in about 2 seconds, and that made it super approachable.

Great work!
sirJupitron
15. Apr 2024 · 18:30 UTC
Hi! masterclass design, beautiful.
bloodyaugust
15. Apr 2024 · 19:27 UTC
Very moody, and very innovative. I'm sure for someone with larger brain than myself it would be a blast to figure out, but alas, I could not pass level 4. :sweat_smile: Obviously a solid entry by someone who deeply understands the puzzle game craft, just too difficult for the likes of me. Well done! :tada:
Sozey
16. Apr 2024 · 13:32 UTC
It's really impressive the style you achieved with the reduced palette and scale! And the gameplay is great and deep.
Dorren
17. Apr 2024 · 01:37 UTC
neat little game, simple but effective, really enjoyed it great job!
M.Kusy
18. Apr 2024 · 10:59 UTC
Ah my brain's too smooth for this.

I love the concept tho. Always cool to see minimalistic stuff like this from people working with pico!
Kerdelos
19. Apr 2024 · 17:36 UTC
I love the simplicity of the design ! I also like the graphics and the audio. By the way, I never thought white noise could be a good background track for a game but you proved me wrong !

I did manage to got the level 11 but then give up because I was brute forcing the game rather than trying to solve the puzzle. Maybe 5 runes at once was a bit too much for me ?
Also, I would have looved a retry button. It was kinda frustrating, having to place all the runes when I knew perfectly that I was never going to complete a level.

All in all, great work, congrats !
tetrapteryx
02. May 2024 · 00:51 UTC
Amazing minimalistic visuals, and an interesting puzzle design! I would have liked to be able to reset the level as soon as I realized I screwed myself, which happened more often than I'd like to admit.
frozenfire92
02. May 2024 · 18:41 UTC
This was a great entry! I really liked the mechanic and had a lot of fun with it. However I found the difficulty frustrating :joy: Often the solution was quite simple, but getting there was often trial and error. The controls weren't intuitive and my brain kept messing them up :joy: I got to level 12 before I threw in the towel. Keep on making games!
Levi
02. May 2024 · 22:59 UTC
This got fun fast. You also developed the progression of the first couple levels very nicely. I went from complete confusion to control mastery. Level 5 already got me stumped but it was so tight to get right back into it and try again.
Nice work!
frankiesmileshow
02. May 2024 · 23:19 UTC
Nice, simple idea. I am awful at it. As soon as theres more than 2 steps I become absolutely useless, ha
LDJam user 267116
03. May 2024 · 00:10 UTC
This is a wonderful game. Very well scoped, fantastic presentation, and a neat, simple to understand but challenging puzzle. Great work!
PieRo_PBeS_studio
03. May 2024 · 17:20 UTC
wow nice suggestion for a pico 8 game, I love the effect on the pentacles of the moving lines (I wonder how you do it) and the bubbles are super pretty... it's a very good interpretation of the theme ! well done for that...go pico8 dev