The Guardian by egawag

[raw]
made by egawag for Ludum Dare 56 (JAM)

Protect a wayward herd on their pilgrimage to the ocean.

Screenshot 2024-10-07 135113.png

Controls:

WASD - Move

Left Click - Roar

Screenshot 2024-10-07 134827.png

Ratings

Overall 492th 3.604⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 729th 3.188⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 465th 3.396⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 269th 3.979⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 419th 3.854⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 182th 3.804⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 390th 3.696⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 19🗳️ 25🗨️

Feedback

TheChadRampage
08. Oct 2024 · 05:01 UTC
Cute and simple, love the style and actually somewhat challenging gameplay! Nice job!
AlxJE
08. Oct 2024 · 05:02 UTC
Your graphics looks really well! And your game is fun!
Hakusai
08. Oct 2024 · 05:05 UTC
Love the visual style and animation. The music is great and matches the game well, great work! Also the game is fun to play
jaken007
08. Oct 2024 · 05:07 UTC
Great animations!
breadstick
08. Oct 2024 · 05:11 UTC
Absolutely stellar job in the art department! The music is incredible, and even the way it syncs up with the death animation is positively superb.

The visuals, the sound design, the simplistic gameplay, and the emotional weight behind every creative decision... such a charming final product!
Wesel
08. Oct 2024 · 05:15 UTC
The game feels really polished, but nothing really happened to me. I would just walk around, and then lie down after a couple of seconds. Really like the environment, and how the music fit with me falling down. Really cute.
breadstick
08. Oct 2024 · 05:19 UTC
@wesel You've got to walk to the right a bit (the clearing with no grass) in order to find your tiny creatures--then the game begins
poboy
08. Oct 2024 · 05:22 UTC
Absolutely gorgeous game and love the sound design all throughout, especially with the end of it. I feel a sense of pride for my saved lemmings and a sense of loss over the ones that didn't make it. Really enjoyed this, great work!
MorePixels
08. Oct 2024 · 05:24 UTC
This was amazing. It looked really cool, I was confused at first at what i was doing, but once i figured it out it was really cool. Felt bad for the ones I didn't save...
Wesel
08. Oct 2024 · 05:41 UTC
@breadstick I see now, I just kept on walking up and down, never really straight right. Really cool game, and the models are really cute.
Ian Crewe Edens
10. Oct 2024 · 01:58 UTC
I got really engaged into trying to protect the little creatures but ultimately they all ended up dying to the predators. Not sure if there was somewhere safe I could have guided them to, but if so I didn't find it. Still, I found myself getting drawn in to trying my best to protect them and would genuinely get stressed out when I'd lose track of some and start hearing their wimpers as they are killed. It is so impressive that you all managed to capture that experience for the player in such a bite sized game. I also absolutely love the art and audio design that went into this. It all melded beautifully with the rest of the experience. Amazing stuff here!
library-rat
10. Oct 2024 · 02:02 UTC
A very cute game, sadly my computer could only run the game really slowly. But as the other comments said the art and the music beautiful.
Iaroslavik
12. Oct 2024 · 06:56 UTC
I like the animation, good job 😊
She Wrote
12. Oct 2024 · 19:56 UTC
The black monster eating the cuties is the most terrifying thing I’ve seen in this game jam so far D: But that is a good thing! It makes your goal more rewarding and makes the player really feel what the turtle is feeling, and killing the bastards feels way more rewarding! Also, the roar mechanic is fun! And when the tiny creatures finally got to the sea, I could finally stop and go to a much-needed consultation with a therapist to deal with the lifelong emotional scars. In other words, well done!
Utopia
13. Oct 2024 · 22:44 UTC
The beginning of the game is really attractive however this game lacks a bit of feedback. Overall it is a cool and good game.
LDJam user 379026
14. Oct 2024 · 01:49 UTC
Really liked the overall concept, took a bit to figure out how to vanquish the enemies and unfortunately the lil critters get stuck on the corners/edges too easily so I'd consider taking some more time on the environment assets to prevent those kind of pathing issues.
zubspace
15. Oct 2024 · 19:07 UTC
Wow, really impressive! Already fell in love with the game at the title screen! The music is phenomenal and I enjoyed the animations throughout the game. You really nailed the game feel. :thumbsup:

Without any hints whatsoever I felt a bit lost, but I think I managed to bring the small creatures to their final destination.

Well done!
LDJam user 400329
20. Oct 2024 · 15:03 UTC
An enjoyable game with simple gameplay. Nice graphics and music. Great job!
Skleembof
22. Oct 2024 · 03:06 UTC
I beat it!
![Untitled.png](///raw/826/82/z/6905b.png)

My first playthrough I ran around an empty forest, roared at some trees, then inexplicably dropped dead. My 2nd playthrough I found the little creatures and figured out how the gameplay was supposed to work. Overall I'd say it was a very positive experience thanks to the great art, sound, and music. But the gameplay got old pretty quick once I realized it was just an escort mission.

The roaring mechanic was cool but using it to protect a slow moving herd of lil mouse things just didn't seem that interesting. You made an interesting foundation for a game, but I think you should experiment with different ways to use the roaring and herd mechanics to create some more interesting gameplay. That is, if you decide to continue working on the game.
Creeper Nade
24. Oct 2024 · 15:21 UTC
Amazing! The game fits really well with the theme, and I just love the sound and the music! It can be even better if there are clearer instructions in the game, since unfortunately I didn't really get what's the goal of the game.