Cinderseed by val.ociraptor
Help the little devil gardener water their cinderseed in the heart of the desert so it can take root deep in the core of the earth and bloom into a thriving cinderflower! You're not responsible for what happens to humanity after that. For Ludum Dare 57.
WASD/Arrows to move, ENTER/SPACE to interact.
Code: Ray "MuffinCat007" Scott
Art: Valentina "Valociraptor" Hawes
Music/Sound: Alex Niemeyer

| Link | https://valociraptor.itch.io/cinderseed |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/cinderseed |
Ratings
| Overall | 125th | 3.976⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 305th | 3.571⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 318th | 3.452⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 92th | 4.238⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 105th | 4.357⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 145th | 3.857⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 180th | 3.525⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 187th | 3.975⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 26🗳️ | 17🗨️ |
The ending is so good!!! lmfao
There's a lot of humour to be found in watering something using something like tar or petrol instead of water, and having the plant switch moods on a whim, granting it a bit of its own personality in a very subtle way. Nice work, I hope you make it in!
Gameplay-wise, I felt like something was missing here. There's not really a lot to do in the game. When you start it feels like it could either be a strategy game about managing your flower, or maybe a chaotic Overcooked-style experience, but it never really evolves into anything. It can get frantic when you're running out of time for sure (and I liked the sound & visuals that enhanced that feeling!), but the actual things I was doing were a little bland, and nothing changed as I got further.
The game could also do better at giving the player information. The flower changes its mind on a whim, and there's no real pattern to how long it will stay on one item. This means you can't strategize, and the gameplay is all guesses. (This isn't necessarily bad - it could make for some fun risk-taking with some more engaging gameplay.) More importantly, it's not clear how much watering is required to reach the bottom - at a certain point the roots vanish off the bottom of the screen and you no longer have any sort of meter. I would make sure you can always see how far is left!
Overall, this is a really charming game with a simple but promising gameplay loop. I think you just need to add a little more depth as the game progresses! That would make it a lot more replayable.
Only other "gripe" or negative on the game is that I thought the hitbox on the plant could have been a touch bigger/more forgiving, and on the tar pit as well.
I did like the risk or random based nature of the game, how I'd have to guess each time how long the flower would want a particular thing, this made the otherwise simple gameplay nice and engaging.
Also loved the music and sfx, some of the best I've heard all jam!
Since the game is made in Godot I would highly recommend trying out the export web build feature since its a good way of getting more eyes on your game.
Filling to 30% worked well for me, anyone else have gardening tips?