Gaga Diver by JustusPan

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

ld57<em>cover.png gagadiver</em>trailer.gif

Introduction

A duck is learning how to grab fishes like a bird. Let's diving deeper, and flying higher.

Control

Left/Right Arrows - horizontal movement
Space - boost when diving OR flying.
E/Up arrow - interact, to buy abilities
Tab - pause game when pressing

How to win

this is a high score game, try to get higher score before your energy use out. When your energy use out, you will back to shore automatically, and end current game round, please try again.

How to play

  • dive deeper, fly higher
  • use boost to go deeper or higher
  • touch fishes will get fish count and score
  • when arrive a new depth, some score will be gained.
  • different "fishes": snail, small fish, frog, long fish
  • bump to obstables will decrease energy

Credits

  • Code/Design Justus
  • Art/Concept Jkllin
  • SFX chip-tone
  • BGM Suno

Ratings

Overall 70th 4.115⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 52th 4.115⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 125th 3.865⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 60th 4.308⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 55th 4.519⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 202th 3.458⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 157th 4.02⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 40🗳️ 29🗨️

Feedback

gamesplusjames
08. Apr 2025 · 00:19 UTC
This is fun! I really like the artstyle! Great job!
slow chaz
08. Apr 2025 · 15:17 UTC
dude! this is so fun. really refreshing concept. I really enjoyed this.
FikusM9
08. Apr 2025 · 15:32 UTC
Super cool graphics! Loved this interpretation of the theme! Well done! And
Tenzz
08. Apr 2025 · 15:35 UTC
Is it just me or does the game sometimes spawn way more fish than other times
Neth Iafin
08. Apr 2025 · 15:37 UTC
Pretty cool game, but I had issues understanding how many "flights" I had
ayuv
08. Apr 2025 · 15:41 UTC
The two-way mechanic is a very creative interpretation of 'depths' and the implementation is really impressive too. Fantastic job man!
Poppy Entertainment
08. Apr 2025 · 15:42 UTC
The game is really fun and the art style is lovely. Sometimes the fish generation seems a bit too random but other than that I haven't had any issues. Very polished game for a jam.
Patatje
08. Apr 2025 · 15:45 UTC
Incredible game! beautiful pixel art. Great music. just a blast to have fun with for a while.
WetBox
08. Apr 2025 · 18:36 UTC
it takes time to figure out controls. But after all duck goes brrr, great game :D
🎤 JustusPan
09. Apr 2025 · 16:04 UTC
Here are some quantity generation strategies related to time, so yes, sometimes you will find a few more fish, getting the highest score requires some luck and skill. @tenzz Thank you for playing.
🎤 JustusPan
09. Apr 2025 · 16:05 UTC
@gamesplusjames @slow-chaz @fikusm9 thanks for your playing! I am grateful for the initial reviews you gave for this game
🎤 JustusPan
09. Apr 2025 · 16:07 UTC
@neth-iafin Yes, actually there are some algorithms simulating physical motion here, along with a spring mechanism. Simply put, the deeper you dive, the higher you bounce, but this height is limited. You need to actively use the sprint ability while moving upwards to fly a bit higher! Sorry that the mechanism here isn't fully polished. Thank you for playing!
🎤 JustusPan
09. Apr 2025 · 16:10 UTC
Thank you for the comment! In fact, we initially just naturally came up with this idea because we thought it was interesting, so we made it. Perhaps the jumping mechanism is still worth some polishing and adjustments. @ayuv
🎤 JustusPan
09. Apr 2025 · 16:11 UTC
@patatje @poppy-entertainment thanks for your playing! I also think the pixel art drawn by my partner is very cute!
angry_fridge
09. Apr 2025 · 21:37 UTC
Game feels very fluid and the controls are very easy and the sounds effects and music are really nice. The animations and colours are really good as well, I think the quality of this game is really good! I also like how you slow down the player to buy what they need to buy. A very solid entry I would say, enjoyed playing that :)
Coda Highland
11. Apr 2025 · 04:24 UTC
Very nice animations! It took a little bit to get used to the play control but once I did it was pretty fun.
jtap
12. Apr 2025 · 04:35 UTC
Amazing cute and nice game, very unusual mechanics, great sounds. I am delighted, thank you for this game!
Ricesteam
12. Apr 2025 · 20:36 UTC
Nice game. I love the graphics. The game reminds me of Ridiculous Fishing. Well done!
Defrag
13. Apr 2025 · 03:24 UTC
Fluid pixel art is hard to pull off, but you did it. I appreciated the novel game mechanic, but it took me a bit to understand exactly what was happening. I could not easily tell at first if there was carryover in the upgrades between runs, but eventually it felt like I was able to go deeper. Like others noted, this struck a strong Ridiculous Fishing chord for me, which I played a ton of. Great work!
Hoggerhead
13. Apr 2025 · 08:38 UTC
Love it. Nice music, cute animations. Works well. Really polished for jam.
LDJam user 282870
13. Apr 2025 · 16:58 UTC
You did extremely well with this game. The controls are very responsive. The algorithms you used for the diving and flying are very good.

I just had difficulty buying stuff... Other than that it was an excellent play. Thank you
p-r
14. Apr 2025 · 19:33 UTC
This is very cute and a great use of physics that fits very well with the theme
Hypersomnia
17. Apr 2025 · 23:14 UTC
Art style is perfect! The game play is very greative!!! Feel so fascinated!