LudumData

Ladybird Samurai by ellaris

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

Fight fly bandits with your trusty slash, it chains as long as there are enemies in range and you keep holding space, but if there are no enemies you could get exhausted from straining your slash.

Perform additional objectives to get more stars and spend them on upgrades.

Zrzut ekranu 2024-10-06 235005.png

Zrzut ekranu 2024-10-06 234946.png

  • Walk with A W S D or arrow keys.
  • Hold space to keep slashing enemies in range, each slash takes you a fixed distance towards your enemy, holding your attack without enemies in range causes exhaustion, you have limited amounts of slashes per level.
  • Press R to restart a level.

  • Press Esc key to go back to the menu

  • Created using GameMaker

  • Music done in https://www.beepbox.co
  • Sounds generated from https://www.drpetter.se/project_sfxr.html

If you get stuck or want to have fun you can press f12 to unlock all levels and get all the stars.

Fix version fixes the last level challenge, it was uploaded during the submission period.

07/10/24 Added HTML port, available on itch.io

Source Code https://github.com/ellaris/LD56
Link https://ellaris.itch.io/ld56-ladybug-samurai
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/ladybird-samurai

Ratings

Overall 168th 3.525⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Fun 98th 3.638⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 91th 3.713⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Theme 208th 3.388⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 276th 2.825⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Audio 142th 3.3⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Humor 218th 2.643⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Mood 155th 3.388⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Given 45🗳️ 59🗨️

Feedback

Sviborg
07. Oct 2024 · 11:40 UTC
I liked this game. It feels like something is missing, but the prototype is great.
Zamizmi
07. Oct 2024 · 11:48 UTC
Woaah really enjoyed this samurai game!
The puzzles are fun, and the retry-mechanism is a lifesaver. Really enjoy the slow-mo and the delayed impact sounds!

Good job!
InitialPosition
07. Oct 2024 · 11:57 UTC
Really nice game! Took me a second to figure out, but man is the slashing satisfying. I also love the bonus objectives and extra challenges in each level and that the currency you get is skill based. With a bit more content and overall polish this could be made into a full game I'd pay money for. Really well done!
lantto
07. Oct 2024 · 12:16 UTC
I really like the combat mechanic. It's very satisfying to kite and line up the enemies and shred through them in a flurry. I also like the challenges, forcing you to approach each level in a different way.
JEMH2K
07. Oct 2024 · 12:24 UTC
It took me some time to figure out this game, but I thought it was quite unique! Lovely little puzzle game. 100%'d it!! Very cool and glad I stuck it out to learn it.
LDJam user 76491
07. Oct 2024 · 12:37 UTC
Nice game! I enjoyed the abilities you can get by spending stars, though I think having a bonus objective for not spending stars can be a bit contraintuitive. The other bonus objectives are on point though, and they make everything more fun by trying to achieve them. Good job!
🎤 ellaris
07. Oct 2024 · 12:52 UTC
@conradoclark Yea, probably not the best one, but I felt it could increase the difficulty by a bit and be a change of pace. The objectives are meant to add extra optional difficulty, maybe it wasn't too clear but the upgrades are toogleable so you can always opt out off them for those levels.
LDJam user 76491
07. Oct 2024 · 12:55 UTC
Ohhhh @ellaris so they're toggleable! Yeah I didn't notice that when I was playing, now that bonus objective makes total sense :)
Setter
07. Oct 2024 · 14:43 UTC
I like the slash mechanic and the bonus objectives!
LDJam user 316322
07. Oct 2024 · 17:35 UTC
An enjoyable and satisfying game. Good job and I think you should develop it further :)
Frib
07. Oct 2024 · 18:59 UTC
Fun game! Got some very challenging extra objectives as well :D I played through all the levels but didn't do all the challenges. I like the upgrade system, toggling which perks to choose for a level is a really nice mechanic. And the main mechanic is quite satisfying which made it very fun to play and experiment.

Very solid game overall, great job!
gdman
07. Oct 2024 · 19:04 UTC
Great game, was confused a bit with aiming, also liked that you can change upgrades afterwards.
A Priori
08. Oct 2024 · 03:01 UTC
Though there's some issues with the game scaling on the HTML version, I enjoyed this game a lot! There's definitely some really fun ideas here, especially the slash mechanic.
Game-mon
08. Oct 2024 · 14:09 UTC
Cool game! Loved the slashing mechanic idea. If I were to give a piece of advice, I'd focus on adding JUICE to the game! I'm talking about particle effects, screen shakes and other vfx. Make that combat feel impactful. Also the visuals feel a little bit 'empty', I mean minimalism is cool sometimes but here it kindof feels like it's missing something (or maybe it's just me).

All in all a solid entry, keep it up!
🎤 ellaris
08. Oct 2024 · 14:47 UTC
@thomas-bringer Definitely, I did add some particles and screen shake (more like rotation), but it was at the very end so it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, I wonder if you have any specific suggestions? Yeah, adding a background was pretty low on my priority list and it didn't make the cut (was thinking of adding some randomly placed bushes, flower and rocks to make it not feel empty).
BUDSTER16
08. Oct 2024 · 16:18 UTC
I liked the mechanics quite a bit but found it difficult on later levels to conserve my slashes and not cross rivers etc. especially the earlier one with the river and time limit. overall satisfying and enjoyable!
DashVirus
08. Oct 2024 · 18:16 UTC
I'll be fully honest, at first I got frustrated, not properly understanding why I couldn't slash sometimes. I tried more and more, then understood how it worked and got a nice surprise. I didn't get how all the upgrades work but definitely understand that you need to choose wisely to have 3 stars on some levels. And this is a nice thing. I also liked the minimalist art and the main menu which is simple yet fairly well made. Ofc you gave everything on the slash feedback and it works really well. The feeling is great ! Some levels could be slightly more original and different from the others but hey, it's already cool to have 12 levels in your game ! The Audio was not irritating for me, which is all I ask for hahaha so good job on that as well.

Overall a nice game !
Tetrergeru
08. Oct 2024 · 19:59 UTC
Slashes are really juicy. Some level were to hard for me ta get all three starts, but it was probably the most smooth experience in this jam for me
wo_ri_gou_le
10. Oct 2024 · 11:13 UTC
Idk what I played but it's just cool enough to hold spacebar and watch, I mean, really cool.
SdCorpse
10. Oct 2024 · 14:11 UTC
Idk how mechanics work. but i completed the game)
PerfectSquare
10. Oct 2024 · 19:44 UTC
Very satisfying game! The slash mechanic felt super fun and it was really rewarding to get the enemies lined up nicely and then smash them all
LDJam user 352490
10. Oct 2024 · 21:18 UTC
The game looks like it would be a twitchy action arcade game, but it plays more like a puzzle game the way it has you figure out the best selection of upgrades, as well as carefully choose the best place and time to use your attacks. I liked how the music got more upbeat every time you entered a level, and the puppets on a line of pixels, it created a neat vibe.

Got all 33 --

![Screenshot_20241010_161228.png](///raw/ae0/65/z/68838.png)
Untitled Studios
11. Oct 2024 · 04:48 UTC
Fun! There's a lot of lovely polish here with the bonus objectives and upgrades - though I fear that they serve to hide a main mechanic that doesn't have a lot of substance. I think with a few small tweaks, this main mechanic could be really really fun-- maybe more ability to aim, or to manipulate enemies into positions/ line them up? For now, this feels a bit empty.

Sorry, that sounds quite negative- a lot that *is* here is really really good. I love the sprites that bob in when you complete the game, they made me smile. I like the polish you have here- everything feels super juicy. The bonus objectives do give fun goals to strive for.
🎤 ellaris
11. Oct 2024 · 09:59 UTC
@untitled-studios Yeah I agree, it was my intention for the player to strategically line up the enemies and slice through them, but it unfortunately turned out to be, blob them up and hold space (which still kinda looks cool, but doesn't feel as cool). For the aiming, I wanted the player to have to go full distance in the direction of the closest enemy, but there probably should be something that makes it easier, like time-slow ability (before slashing), objects to slash through, and probably not all of the enemies should come running at the player, or some ranged ones that keep their distance.
loveapplegames
12. Oct 2024 · 14:51 UTC
Interesting game mechanic, also plenty of content for an LD game. It's interesting being able to switch between upgrades and being able to choose them for each level. Graphics are basic though the slash effect is nice. Sound is a little grating. The game only works in full screen, in windowed mode some elements are hidden. Also, esc cannot be used because it exits fullscreen mode.
crcdng
12. Oct 2024 · 23:02 UTC
Elegant. Requires learning / skill. Invites to come back and explore. Would definitely like to see another iteration.
Cobear25
15. Oct 2024 · 03:30 UTC
Awesome submission! There are some obvious things that could be improved upon (probably wasn't enough time for polish), such as better UI, and some of the powerup descriptions weren't super clear. But the gameplay itself was pretty cool once I finally figured it out. Very unique and surprisingly simple. Overall, great submission!
LDJam user 5143
22. Oct 2024 · 23:59 UTC
The game has some satisfying moments, especially when enemies fall one after another—it feels great! However, it wasn’t immediately clear that you can chain hits by holding down the spacebar. After landing the first hit, I often struggled to follow up with the next, even though I believe I should be able to perform three hits in a row.

The attack range is also hard to gauge, and it would be helpful to have some sort of visual indicator for it.

Overall, the combat is fun, but clearer mechanics and visual cues would make it much smoother and more intuitive!