Swarmcore by lantto

[raw]
made by lantto for Ludum Dare 56 (COMPO)

Controls: mouse

Feed the swarm, level up and amass more creatures.

cover_all.png

Ratings

Overall 175th 3.479⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 230th 3.146⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 115th 3.583⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 48th 4.083⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 126th 3.688⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 112th 3.583⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 26🗨️

Feedback

ROBOWARRIOR1982
07. Oct 2024 · 05:18 UTC
More of an experience than a game, but very interesting and mesmerizing. It really lacks music and sound effects to make this perfect, I really like the art and lighting effects. Collect, evolve and dig, it's very satisfying. ![evolvve.jpg](///raw/bc3/41/z/66085.jpg)
dooskington
07. Oct 2024 · 06:27 UTC
Satisfying little game. It’s fun to watch the bugs swarm all around
tanis
07. Oct 2024 · 09:38 UTC
That's some kind of weird entry. I do like it because it's really captivating and watching the creatures fly around and do their thing is really mesmerizing. I wouldn't really call this a game, but rather some kind of visual experience, though.
It would have really made a difference to have some music and sound effects, you should aim for that the next time.

BTW this would work very well as a screensaver if you make the entities fly around autonomously following some nice weavy patterns.
ellaris
07. Oct 2024 · 13:43 UTC
Really nice experience, I liked the glow and when they would bounce around, create tunnels and devour the later levels in seconds.

It could use some sound and choices, as it's only left clicking where there is most material. I wasn't sure what the creature colors and variation meant.

![Bez tytułu.png](///raw/9a8/25/z/6630b.png)
Sviborg
07. Oct 2024 · 15:06 UTC
✨ This is a really fun game! It's more of a visual experience than a traditional game, but I love how immersive it looks! 🌟 Watching the insects gather and evolve is so much fun. The art and lighting effects are just amazing! 🎨

However, it would be great to add music and sound effects - it would make the atmosphere even more intense. 🎶 More choices and interactions could also be included. Overall, great job! 👏🥳
PlusOneRabbit
07. Oct 2024 · 17:39 UTC
this game has me so stagepilled rn i'm creaturemaxxing for sure
LDJam user 302410
07. Oct 2024 · 19:11 UTC
Loved the visuals
dhim
07. Oct 2024 · 19:19 UTC
I love swarm of particles, I like the glowing effect you managed to get. It made me think of a demo of radiance cascades I saw the other day (https://simondev.io/projects)

Same comment as the other about sound/music.

Was there a strategy to the evolution/growing of the swarm ? It felt nice having them much on some of the colors, but I was not sure if some were harder or had different benefits
LDJam user 357656
08. Oct 2024 · 00:00 UTC
Cool particles! I wish there was something more to do than just eat a bunch of rocks.
cagibi
08. Oct 2024 · 05:55 UTC
Nice little simulation, though I agree it'd be excellent with a bit of audio. At least it really brings forwards the power evolution of our swarm, perhaps a methaphor for the ever growing insatiable hunger of modern capitalistic institutions including the professional game industry at the detriment of all. Or just nice dots flying around, which is fine.
LDJam user 314045
08. Oct 2024 · 08:50 UTC
I like the concept. There are no mechanics which obstruct your progression and it lacks sound effects and soundtrack. The lighting effect looked cool.
wo_ri_gou_le
09. Oct 2024 · 06:44 UTC
This really is a beautiful demo that shows so much potential, it has the Flower game's charming and cozy flow, except the lack of further playthrough design and more crafted levels, and mostly SFFFFX! But the particles themselves alone are more than enough to be appreciated, really beautiful tiny creatures...
LDJam user 352490
09. Oct 2024 · 14:22 UTC
This is really pretty, especially when they all start pulsing after they cluster together. It kind of reminds me of falling sand simulators (like the powder toy) in the sandboxy way you interact with it.
candlesan
09. Oct 2024 · 16:36 UTC
This game is outstanding. I love how well executed the concept is. The movement and jiggle of the individual particle creatures, the way they move and bounce around to eat the matter, and progression through different colors. I love it all. I love that you had some attention to detail that really elevated the game like putting light on the clusters of tiny creatures and giving the creatures different colors based on speed. All those little touches really tied it all together and made the game both engaging and relaxing. I was surprised how long I played this for.
CrishNate
09. Oct 2024 · 20:28 UTC
![chrome_aCG83JYmFj.png](///raw/a65/01/z/685a1.png)
Have no idea how you managed to optimize it, take of my hat only for that. As it seems you have no intention on making a game as it is, but some just relaxing experience that, or tech-demo. This game can be described as "Just sit back and relax and wathing on random pixels consuming other pixels"
Zach M
10. Oct 2024 · 08:27 UTC
Surprisingly fun and therapeutic.
ColeSlaughter
10. Oct 2024 · 22:11 UTC
This was a very pleasant little experience. :slight_smile: I think some kind of gentle ambient music music would go a long way in setting up the mood, but the silence of is feels like the next best thing. :smile:

Something about the little pixels swarming around and dancing in the darkness just tickles my little ADHD brain.
Loig
11. Oct 2024 · 16:47 UTC
Quite satisfying despite the fact that I was not able to understand what I was doing. I do not know if there is an end, but at level 20 the little things are so fast, powerful and numerous that it was really wonderful to look at them destroy everything.
Itskdog
20. Oct 2024 · 11:57 UTC
I played this game way too long. It was very cool seeing the particles swarm around. I like the glow effect. Similar to what I did with my Ecosystem Simulator. It would be cool to add an upgrade system where players cam pick what they want. Great job!
Carraka
20. Oct 2024 · 12:22 UTC
I was at level 46 when I realized that I could click and drag to lead the swarm around. But I did stop playing at level 50...this game is a mesmerizing simulation.

I kept expecting the lightness of the blue to determine how much time it would take to eat through it, but was disappointed that there doesn't seem to be any correlation. It was also unclear at the beginning what exactly is making the stage go up.

I would've really like an additional game element to add challenge. Perhaps the simplest thing would be adding a timer and an arbitrary final level so people can compete against themselves to get the best time. If there's something that threatens the swarm, that could be interesting as well.
henk
20. Oct 2024 · 13:33 UTC
I got to stage 88 before I stopped. This is oddly addicting in a "staring at fire" sort
of way. There's an issue when you have a large number of creatures where they'll sort
of get "blown" off of the screen. I almost thought I'd soft-locked myself until they
eventually came back after several minutes:

![swarmcore_lagdeath.png](///raw/437/c5/z/68fc4.png)
Amikatag
25. Oct 2024 · 19:52 UTC
Pretty nice swarmer, guess it could be better only by having some music and maybe some sort of progression player may choose on