Xeno Nano Pond by invader
Bacterial battles on alien planets.
Controls:
- Use mouse wheel to zoom in/out
- Right click - spawn some food
- Left click - spawn some toxic waste
- M - mute
- P - pause
| Link | https://github.com/invider/xeno-nano-pond.mix |
| Link | https://invadium.itch.io/xeno-nano-pond-je |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/xeno-nano-pond |
Ratings
| Overall | 1003th | 2.9⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1015th | 2.575⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 775th | 3⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 206th | 4.075⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 887th | 2.925⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 632th | 2.725⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 903th | 2.156⭐ | 18🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 853th | 3.125⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 36🗳️ | 2🗨️ |
BTW it looks like the descriptions for left clicks and right clicks here are swapped, aren't they? Whatever it was I dropped with the left click made the bacteria divide (seemingly regardless of the random type that was dropped - is there a difference?), and the other stuff seemed to have turned them into food.
The game could use a bit more tutorialization. The player doesn't really have much of an understanding of the game or what the numbers mean, and interacting with the game doesn't really clearly show the impact, the bacteria just simply exists and continues with your intervention. Perhaps you could make a tutorial that starts with a small batch of bacteria and it is your responsibility to raise them.
I think this sort of approach could also teach you what all of the metrics that are rising means. It also helps you slowly introduce what you are supposed to be doing to the player, as well as an opportunity to teach to players different types of bacteria and what they are spawning / despawning. This could also increase the interest of the player in increasing the numbers of the different colonies.
Another point is that I was lagging a lot on my browser tab when playing this game, I think that a more zoomed in view might work more. Every time I was also spawning new food or waste, it contributed to the lag a bit which made me a bit less inclined to click to spawn more things.
Overall though, it'd be interesting to see where else this concept could go, and with a little bit more polish, it could be really fun building up your bacteria!