Snake Rolls by Mars

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

This is a game about being a snake that rolls.

Screenshot from 2024-10-07 20-30-22.png

Unfortunately we got stuck with some technical art trying to make a snake mesh slither and coil up early on, and because we lost a lot of time to that (and didn't even manage to get the technical art working, so we ended with a shitty placeholder snake model). Because of that the programmer wasn't able to finish all the intended gameplay features. The artist also had to work and ended up sick on the last day, so we had to throw together a level with only rocky assets.

But hey, that's game jams for ya.

Screenshot from 2024-10-07 20-09-49.png

GAMEPLAY GOAL

Get to the top of the level while eating as many frog eggs as possible, as fast as possible.

Current confirmed speedrun record: Screenshot from 2024-10-10 21-20-35.png

Can ya beat it?

CONTROLS

Mouse & Keyboard

Camera: Mouse

Slithering movement: WASD

Coil up and roll: Hold shift

Jump: Spacebar (only availablie while rolling)

Quit: Escape

Gamepad

Camera: Right Stick

Slithering movement: Left Stick

Coil up and roll: Hold Left Trigger

Jump: A (Xbox) / X (DualShock) / B (Nintendo) (only available while rolling)

Quit: Menu/Start/+

Credits

@stompedgoomba - Art / 3D Modeling / Level Design

@mars - Programming / Technical Art / Sound / Level "Design"

Ratings

Overall 837th 3.232⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 305th 3.679⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 471th 3.389⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Theme 949th 2.946⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 837th 3.089⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 316th 3.556⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Humor 18th 4.339⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 399th 3.685⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 31🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 395766
07. Oct 2024 · 21:15 UTC
Insane sound design, but bro where are the controls ? how should i jump ? i can only go under the decor !
🎤 Mars
08. Oct 2024 · 06:35 UTC
@Leykal The controls are right here on this page, right above the download page. They're pretty hard to miss.

It's kind of impressve how you managed to download the game, and come back here to comment about how you couldn't find the controls, when you've had to have scroll past them TWICE to do those things :joy:
N.O.X
08. Oct 2024 · 08:38 UTC
I have never been so emotionally invested in a piece of music. Thank you for the chills.
BOHNE
08. Oct 2024 · 08:45 UTC
ahahahha
vrerabek
08. Oct 2024 · 08:47 UTC
HOLY, can I give more than 5 stars for the music?

Seriously, you could’ve just uploaded a white screen with that masterpiece, and I wouldn’t have minded! :smile:

Jokes aside, the game was pretty fun. I just wish there were more obstacles and levels. Landing some of those jumps was so satisfying!

Edit: please upload the soundtrack somewhere and let me know
Boodle
08. Oct 2024 · 08:54 UTC
That was certainly... an experience!

Somewhat basic game with an absolutely insane custom (mostly, a bit of Beatles) soundtrack I've ever seen in a Ludum Dare game. On my second run I managed to score all 30 eggs and the "You Win" in 39.00 seconds. I'm curious to know what the internal playtesting record is!
🎤 Mars
08. Oct 2024 · 11:53 UTC
@vrerabek Yeah, I wish there were more obstacles and levels too! Unfortunately we got stuck on some problems and lost a lot of time, so there just wasn't any time to do a bigger level. I'm glad you liked the gameplay though, I did my best trying to get the movement to feel satisfying! We've liked working on it so we'll probably at the very least polish it a little bit and make a more proper level at some point.

@boodle The internal record is currently 27.92 seconds :sunglasses:
LDJam user 304226
08. Oct 2024 · 23:45 UTC
THIS IS PEAK SOUND DESIGN, really thank you for opening my eyes to peak games like this, I really advice writing to Gaeb Newell right now about this, thank you so much, this changes my life
Adonaï
09. Oct 2024 · 22:48 UTC
I am win ! Sound design is ... interesting ! I like the movements of the snake's body, nice work!
pres2300
10. Oct 2024 · 03:53 UTC
I can't believe you got Taylor Swift to sing a custom song for your game, in a game jam no less! I played it. It was fun. I wish there were more. Good job.
LDJam user 268934
10. Oct 2024 · 15:17 UTC
A game jam is all about rolling with the punches and delivering the best possible spaghetti code patched up like a mad scientist's experiment. The sound really helps distract us from all this ,if you hadn’t mentioned your struggles, we’d probably think you were wizards!
Enjoyed the game play because of smart level design.
Great entry.
Drinlan
10. Oct 2024 · 15:44 UTC
Fun game mechanics. I like the graphics too.

I wish you had more time, I can see you were going for a bigger level, but unfortunately it ended up unused.

Music kept me motivated to break the record.

![img.png](///raw/ebd/06/z/68760.png)
🎤 Mars
10. Oct 2024 · 19:25 UTC
@drinlan Wow, thanks a lot, I'm honored you took the time to get such a good time! Warms my little developer heart to see people enjoy our game despite us losing so much time we couldn't get it to the state we would've liked it to be!

Also, I'm sad to inform you that your record has already been broken, someone managed to get a 23.78! I have no idea how you wizards do it, I can't even get a clean 27 myself haha.
Drinlan
10. Oct 2024 · 21:10 UTC
@mars I can't resist a good, fun challenge. I'm surprised someone managed to break it, my run was pretty much perfect... I don't think I can take it back.
Nikolas van Rus
11. Oct 2024 · 20:14 UTC
This is the sound track for the snake game! I laughed so hard I even woke up my girlfriend. Humor 5 out of 5 no 10 out of 10. But seriously, the mechanics of the snake’s movement and jumping are not ordinary and truly interesting. Great job!
Matthieu Riboulot
11. Oct 2024 · 21:04 UTC
Dumbfounded by what I just heard

Control have something going on, too bad you didn't have more time for the LD
Khelian
11. Oct 2024 · 21:05 UTC
This actually had some good ideas in terms of mechanics and level design - but yeah, the scene stealer was the soundtrack, no doubt.
Cam Moore
12. Oct 2024 · 15:40 UTC
I are win! I was so confused by the music then the cough came in and that cracked me up. The strain on the voice XD I think this game could be built into a bigger thing its a great idea! And it was fun to maneuver around.
Axodo
12. Oct 2024 · 18:02 UTC
Best soundtrack ever :upside_down:

Joke aside, I'm a bit frustrating that rolling automatically make you go forward, I wish you could do that but still going sideways

Nice game
Shasaur
14. Oct 2024 · 18:12 UTC
It's pretty fun, great controls, lots of room for skill and speedrunning via the physics. Would have been nice to have the hitboxes a little bit bigger.

Recommended playing: mute game and play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA8buAHyZ4Y
🎤 Mars
14. Oct 2024 · 19:41 UTC
@shasaur I've been doing some small changes lately, fixing some jank and making the eggs easier to pick up. Will probably release a new build with a more finished vertical slice at some point!
Exa
15. Oct 2024 · 14:01 UTC
Omg!!!It is S-o beautiful!!!Nice job 10/10!!!
Sasa_2010
19. Oct 2024 · 10:08 UTC
Wow! The game is so wonderful! Keep making games!
Brain Siege Gameworks
21. Oct 2024 · 09:53 UTC
What is that music...? It spoke to me on a personal level.
Empyreans
22. Oct 2024 · 02:06 UTC
SNAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLS :snake:

Thank you for dropping this absolute banger of a soundtrack on stream that seems to come with some game idk :smile:

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

~XpMonster
Jcourt
24. Oct 2024 · 09:52 UTC
Best soundtrack ever 10/10. Reminds me of a jam game I played years ago involving carrots or something?

But anyway, I actually found movement to be pretty enjoyable, and I spent a while trying to get all 30 as quickly as I could, but I couldn't get it below ~29 seconds. I'm shocked someone got as low as ~23.
Langotriel
24. Oct 2024 · 23:49 UTC
Actually hilarious. I sucked at the game but I finished it and then just sat there listening. Did I pick up on a bit of a Norwegian/Swedish accent maybe? I am Norwegian myself so that would be a neat fun fact ;)
Hare Software
25. Oct 2024 · 09:40 UTC
This is one of the only games I have played that warrants the humor category. Hilarious backing track to go with the (imo) relatively tight controls!
🎤 Mars
25. Oct 2024 · 11:21 UTC
@jcourt hehe, I see what you did there! I very much appreciate that you spent so much time with it, and let me assure you that I too am shocked someone got as low as 23-something. I have no idea how they did it, even though I saw it with my own eyes.

@langotriel Thanks for playing, and yes, you are right! Jeg er norsk :sunglasses: