Little Delver by Andreadbx

[raw]
made by Andreadbx for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

ItchioBanner.png Little Delver is a game about a little battery-powered robot tasked to retrieve precious metals for a mining company!

GAMEPLAY

The object of the game is to retrieve as many precious materials before your battery degrades, it's an arcade game with an online leaderboard based on total value acquired!

You can use your hook to move around, boost, but be ware of battery level, if your battery is empty, you lose!

Battery damage is not the same as battery charge, the battery over time will lose charge quicker, so try to reach the more distant locations earlier in the run!

Screen1.png

CONTROLS

Mouse - Aim

Hold Left Mouse Button - Hook to a surface

Hold Right Mouse Button - Pull yourself to the Hook

Shift - Boost

Alt - Echo Location

E- Pick Up/Drop Objects

WASD Move on the ground

Spacebar Jump while on the ground

CREDITS

All made by me, Andrea Di Bartolo, in 72 hours for Ludum Dare 57

Except for cave ambient sound Produced by Little Robot Sound Factory

Intro voice made with Luvvoice, then modified in Audacity

Ratings

Overall 173th 3.891⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Fun 116th 3.909⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 170th 3.766⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Theme 400th 3.758⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 192th 4.152⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Audio 253th 3.621⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Humor 252th 3.3⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Mood 258th 3.859⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 35🗨️

Feedback

Teist
08. Apr 2025 · 15:15 UTC
Really ambitious for a 72h solo game! Congrats! I felt like robots inertia could be reduced and battery life may be a little too short, others would say skill issue
Norabacu
08. Apr 2025 · 15:15 UTC
I really like the atmosphere of the game and the hook machanic makes a lot of fun, great work. The player could slide a bit less on the ground in my opinion. Somehow that triggers a bit of motion sickness.
MacheteMami
08. Apr 2025 · 15:19 UTC
This was a neat game. I'm a little sensitive to certain camera movements, so if you get motion sickness easily, be careful with this one. It took a second to get used to the physics (that blasted lava got me too many times), but the movement style is quite fun once you get the hang of it. The battery does run out quite fast, but I may just be slow as these sorts of games aren't my strong suit. :p Overall a fun experience!
SvenErik
08. Apr 2025 · 16:44 UTC
A solid experience that makes you competetive. I only wish I'd maybe have a panel in my base about what minerals are worth how much~ Maybe I was just blind and that I wouldn't slide that much! Othewise solid aesthetics and a great idea!
Aveezavr
08. Apr 2025 · 18:12 UTC
![изображение_2025-04-08_211134560.png](///raw/96b/46/z/6b7c0.png)

That was the most I could manage to collect — my battery couldn’t take it anymore. But the game definitely has potential. I wasn’t a big fan of the tank controls and overall physics, but the core idea is cool.
ruthiepee
09. Apr 2025 · 00:08 UTC
Very ambitious game with pro-level graphics and sound design. I loved the atmosphere of the mine! The controls are a bit "floaty" and I struggled to navigate back to the base before my battery ran out. Also I think there is a bug: once, my character's battery pack got stuck on "96%" yet I was getting the low battery warnings and eventually ran out of juice. I really like the hookshot method for movement, it's very satisfying. Nice work
🎤 Andreadbx
09. Apr 2025 · 01:09 UTC
@ruthiepee well... the battery pack percentage is underexplained sadly (intended to do a full onboarding experience, but couldn't in time :/ ) it's not the actual battery level, it's that, the more you play a single run, the faster the battery drains, thank you for playing and for the good words tho :D (surprised on the sound design LOL, i'm professionally a 3d artist, coding i dabble, sounds i'm like, total rookie LOL )
Chuckiee
09. Apr 2025 · 14:21 UTC
Anything ore/mining related :100: Like the general idea and floaty controls I think that's what made it a struggle for me :smile: My record is 9800, sadly not enough to get into the leaderboard. Small issue in ultrawide screens: if you enter settings, you're stuck there. If UI could scale or resolution was set to a certain value that would prevent that. Nicely done!
Papaye Dodue
09. Apr 2025 · 14:26 UTC
Extremely fun !!! I enjoyed it a lot and I might play it later for fun. The inertia is way too strong though, but you get use to it.
jk5000
09. Apr 2025 · 14:26 UTC
Looks and sounds great. The idea is super fun. But the controls did not feel good, and I was not able to get very far before I got stuck or fell into the lava.
🎤 Andreadbx
09. Apr 2025 · 14:29 UTC
@jk5000 embrace the hook!
Laurynas
09. Apr 2025 · 14:30 UTC
Overall pretty nice, but the quick running out battery was pretty annoying. I never used dash and I still couldn't get to red ball and back, I guess there some trick to be had with momentum to save battery.
PecheDodue
09. Apr 2025 · 14:38 UTC
At first the controls were a bit hard but once you get use to it you can move freely and do really cool stuff! I had a good time, great game!!
🎤 Andreadbx
09. Apr 2025 · 15:02 UTC
@chuckiee oh, that's a bummer, i tought i set unity canvas to scale correctly, will look into it
floppynub
09. Apr 2025 · 17:54 UTC
Cool game, great atmosphere and mood, and I loved the overall gameplay loop - the inclusion of a leaderboard was genius! Not surprised I see Pomo all over it lol. I think the character controller was a little bit floaty and hard to be precise with, but I got the hang of it and was launching myself all over the place in no time.

Awesome level design and great art, loved the batter meter being right on my character, that's a nice immersive touch. Overall an impressive entry, keep up the good work!
Sevadusk
09. Apr 2025 · 20:32 UTC
Just gave it a shot, I really like the concept! The environment is massive and there is so many 3d models that set a great atmosphere. The physics behind getting the grappling hook to work must have been a pain, but I still had some trouble with it lol.
HexStart
09. Apr 2025 · 20:55 UTC
Wasn't sold on the character controller at the beginning, due to floatiness, but came around to appreciate it in the context of doing *sick plays* with the grapple. It's fun to get around fast, after you learn how to do it. Also, it's pretty impressive you managed to pull this game off alone, congrats! And yeah, put-your-UI-on-the-character gang represent ^^
Rincs
11. Apr 2025 · 09:17 UTC
Wasn't a fan of the slippery-feeling controls, but I got used to it and outside of that, it was very fun!! :D And I got into the leaderboards :3 woot!

![littledelver.PNG](///raw/ccf/64/z/6bf75.png)
Saryah
12. Apr 2025 · 01:39 UTC
I love mouth sounds and spider-manning around. Super fun and awesome. You are a literal wizard.
NuiN
12. Apr 2025 · 23:04 UTC
I love eating rocks
LDJam user 336560
13. Apr 2025 · 00:42 UTC
![grapling.png](///raw/0b2/25/z/6c18b.png)
yippy grappling hooks! tho I wish RMB pull didn't slow you down.
ColeSlaughter
13. Apr 2025 · 01:24 UTC
[Thanks for submitting your game to stream!](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2431006955?t=02h16m51s)

Kind of ridiculous that you were able to put this together by yourself with minimal coding experience. Although the controls were a little janky, the sheer scope of this game was really impressive :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Empyreans
14. Apr 2025 · 17:01 UTC
https://youtu.be/vW0HOCrNSaU

My little delving from the stream :)

Superb solo project. I have no idea how you pulled it off in such a short time!

Keep making amazing games :sunglasses:

~Xp
LDJam user 258850
19. Apr 2025 · 22:07 UTC
yooo was you solo dev for this??? o: its so good <33 i love grappling hook, i just need to beat mark bc his game is already too good he cant have the high score aswel >:)
Jordanfb
19. Apr 2025 · 23:04 UTC
Lots of fun! I kept playing until I reached the scoreboard, but even then I definitely wanted to master the grappling hook so would have played to get better at that as well.
I wish that the camera controls were less "controlling" -- I wasn't able to aim my grappling hook where I wanted to sometimes and it would overpower my mouse and point me in a weird direction that prevented me from aiming well if I was turning quickly. I also didn't quite get how the physics of the grapple winch worked, it seemed to act more like a brake in midair which sometimes I used to my advantage. Maybe it did in fact add more force towards the rope attachment point and I just couldn't tell? Walking along the ground was a little icy and felt hard to control especially when I was trying to rush back to the battery charging station, but the grappling hook was fun so it was fine in the air -- maybe that was part of your intent? I also felt a little silly going back to the charging station before exiting the base to go on a retrieval mission, maybe you just stay charged on the base or something? But that was minor. Nice work with the game, I loved the voice acting and the sound effects you made with your voice. Nice ambiance and nice work!
LDJam user 258850
20. Apr 2025 · 17:37 UTC
too ez :sunglasses:

![image_2025-04-20_183751235.png](///raw/223/f3/z/6c5ae.png)
🎤 Andreadbx
21. Apr 2025 · 23:11 UTC
@rickylee man, i was waiting for you to do this! GG