Shadowy Creatures by Setter

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

A adventurer finds his way into a shadowy cave, in there you see little creatures and think in a way to utilize them to progress.

Ratings

Overall 123th 3.636⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 153th 3.409⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 32th 4.023⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 114th 3.818⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 192th 3.432⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Audio 205th 2.932⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 208th 2.714⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 146th 3.432⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 16🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 280509
07. Oct 2024 · 12:53 UTC
Cool mechanics and nice blend of puzzle-ssolving and quick-reaction challenge!
Sviborg
07. Oct 2024 · 14:10 UTC
Godot is always a like! :grin:
ellaris
07. Oct 2024 · 14:17 UTC
Pretty fun, it's kind of make your own platformer, and I liked the creatures rotating on the ground. The little creatures didn't always want to transform, the icon would appear but they would just fall down. I think either having allowing for variable throw strength or to transform all creatures who enter the area while mb2 is being placed would make it much nicer, depends if you want it to be more dexterious or puzzly, as it was hard to click on the creatures.
RilleP
07. Oct 2024 · 14:20 UTC
Intresting mechanic! The input being on mouse release instead of press makes it very wierd to play. That may be a web browser thing though. And sometimes when i right clicked to transform it didnt transform, but the lock showed up.
dooskington
07. Oct 2024 · 16:14 UTC
Cool game mechanic. A platformer with some assembly required
hotaloca
07. Oct 2024 · 16:20 UTC
The mechanics is really cool idea. You through in a direction and then transform the creature - this is really cool. It took some time to figure out how to throw and transform, this was no prob. However i got stuck at map 2 not knowing how i can actually put this on the wall as platform so i can go to exit. Maybe I'm missing something obvious (i coudl not seem to be able to jump high enough?)
LDJam user 314045
08. Oct 2024 · 09:22 UTC
I dont know if I missed something but during the first room I was trying to solve this by throwing the creature and freezing it mid-air but it was just too hard to click on that creature mid-air. It was rather strestful and I did not managed to comple event the first obstacle. But I like the art style and sound effects. The game has no soundtrack but otherwise it feels really nice and polished. Good work.
LDJam user 352490
08. Oct 2024 · 14:27 UTC
I finished the game, but the mechanics were really tricky. Part of it was that I never figured out how to consistently make the creatures transform in mid-air. Often they would stop in the air, but fail to transform and then keep falling.

The other part was that accidentally throwing a creature on a ledge usually meant restarting the level. This wasn't a huge issue for the levels you made, since they were really short. But you might be able to make it more forgiving with some sloped surfaces to get the creatures back to the player (mini-golf style).

Otherwise though, it's a fun concept! Throwing and seeing the creatures roll around the room was really satisfying, and I liked visually how they all jumbled together in the player's backpack.
frostblooded
08. Oct 2024 · 20:43 UTC
I didn't get past the first 3-4 levels because it felt pretty unresponsive to figure out how "locking" happens. It was really difficult to lock the creatures into the place where I wanted them mid-air and it took multiple clicks to happen and I was never sure if it will work. Not sure if it is a bug or intended.
Otherwise, the mood, art and audio were really cool. Good job making a cool game! :)
Deantwotwo
09. Oct 2024 · 18:08 UTC
This was a really cool concept! It's just a bit too janky unfortunately. With more polish, this game can be an amazing puzzle game! The throwing and transforming being the main mechanic is sick, but man its hard to transform them during the fast moving trajectory. Also the platforming is a huge aspect but it doesnt feel very smooth. I would also suggest you start the levels with the creatures immediately equipped because restarting and needed to pick up everything again can be a bit frustrating. Other than that, the game is genuinely awesome!
DashVirus
09. Oct 2024 · 21:39 UTC
Hey, nice job ! I like the innovative main idea of freezing your projectiles to jump on it. Though I find the projectile slightly too fast and this can lead to a bit of frustration sometimes. I think it would be better to slow it down a bit to make the player feel a bit more in control. I sort of found the pace at some point right lickcing just after the left click and got through thanks to this technique. Also I wish there was a bit more levels, it's a game I would have liked to see many other fun levels with it. You had a good idea with the level where you need to save on projectile for later, it was nice ! You could do really good things with this simple mechanic, and that's a good sign of a game with potential. The graphics are nice as well and the sounds are not irritating (which is a great thing for me hahaha). Overall, I have to admit it was a fun little experience ;) Good job for the work produced !
LDJam user 357656
10. Oct 2024 · 05:03 UTC
That was a great game! I'd love to see more levels designed and more creatures with different abilities. It took me a minute to figure out what I was supposed to do with the creatures. A more clear introduction to how the player interacts with creatures the first time would be nice, and then the player could use that experience to more naturally discover how to interact with other types of creatures. Well done. Thanks for making the game!
LDJam user 336676
10. Oct 2024 · 18:29 UTC
very nice game, only grip is that the creatures wouldn;t transform even if i clicked on them, sometimes they would just lose momentum and fall straight down instead of turning into blocks.
Harmadillo
11. Oct 2024 · 16:44 UTC
The throw/freeze mechanic was difficult to master but really interesting. Being able to vary the power of a throw would allow more precision. Nice game
CaptainDreamcast
11. Oct 2024 · 21:38 UTC
Had a lot of fun throwing around the shadowy pals! Felt super fun to create these little platforms once you got the timing down. I especially liked the level where you had to use all of them in the beginning, it really gets you thinking tactically whether you want to preserve or keep them, I was mapping it out in my head hoping I could make these final jumps. Plus the thanks for playing screen really drives home just how satisfying it feels to throw around a lot of the shadowy pals, that is super fun as well. Love the mood set by the art as well, I think it fits well with the shadowy pals. Great job on this game, very well done!
paulhocker
12. Oct 2024 · 05:26 UTC
High points for innovation and theme but the mechanic was either broken or I didnt figure it out. I really liked the idea tho and you can probably add more to it. Nice game.
Dan_Nik_SG
12. Oct 2024 · 06:10 UTC
I like the theme usage, even usually i don't but there its good, the game mechanics are good because they are special and interesting, graph is fine for this game as well. everything is good and the game is fun. The only problem is that you cold make more levels, because only 3 is not much, it doesn't take much effort to make an level)
crcdng
12. Oct 2024 · 16:50 UTC
Great game mechanic, I would love to see a next iteration with focus on 'game feel', especially the timing of shoot*lock mechanic. Huge potential.
CrociDB
14. Oct 2024 · 19:32 UTC
Really innovative mechanic, I like it. I think, though, that it's a bit too hard to freeze them in movement, I missed it most of the time in the beginning. Great potential!