Heavy Anhinga by Koolruz

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

Help the Anhinga get its snack in this short momentum-based platformer!

screenshot-1.png

screenshot-2.png

I decided to try something different, yet familiar, this time around - I was having a very hard time coming up with anything for the theme, but I think I got there in the end :)

Controls:

  • Arrow keys to move

  • Z to jump

  • X: ????

Ratings

Overall 63th 4.134⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Fun 44th 4.146⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 117th 3.89⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Theme 694th 3.11⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 281th 3.976⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Audio 380th 3.354⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Humor 40th 4.2⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Mood 248th 3.875⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Given 41🗳️ 68🗨️

Feedback

ln404
08. Apr 2025 · 03:05 UTC
amazing visuals and animations! I like it a lot!
Hatherton
08. Apr 2025 · 03:09 UTC
can i keep it?
Gordo McSchnordo
08. Apr 2025 · 03:11 UTC
very fun. quack.
Ian McD
08. Apr 2025 · 03:59 UTC
Fantastic game like super crazy wowowow. Anhinga go honk? Idk lots of fun and very hard, really struggled with the level put way to much time into this game great work.
marudziik
08. Apr 2025 · 06:45 UTC
Great, complete entry, and loved the honking. Good, steep progression, liked the story delivery. :)
dhdorr
08. Apr 2025 · 17:42 UTC
love the minimalism! The game had solid mechanics, some nice physics, and a quirky personality!
shores
08. Apr 2025 · 17:43 UTC
Love seeing minimalist pixel art styles like this one. Charming to say the least. Love it!
Jack Turpitt
08. Apr 2025 · 17:44 UTC
This is one of my favorite entries so far! The movement is so unique and satisfying, you don't even notice you're in a tutorial, and the switch to the theme is really cute and cool. I adore the animation, how do you make those 4 pixels so squishy!? Thanks for making this, I had a blast :)
HelloImBenjamin
08. Apr 2025 · 17:50 UTC
Very cute! It's extremely polished and well done.
Bananplyte
08. Apr 2025 · 18:09 UTC
Holy holy holy shit. I did it.

I give you 5 / 5 in everything, I honestly dont care. What a blast.

![screenshothihi.png](///raw/384/43/z/6b7bf.png)
Meowcuz
08. Apr 2025 · 18:13 UTC
Really fun! I raced a friend who could beat it first, we had a blast, he won, we are no longer friends. 5/5 would recommend. Great job!
PieRo_PBeS_studio
08. Apr 2025 · 21:53 UTC
I LOVE IT ! It's so funny and stupid... and so frustrating too I love the graphics, the quacks, it's awesome it's my video game bravo
Akkadion
08. Apr 2025 · 22:59 UTC
God I wish I wasn't as bad as I am. The movement honestly feels so good but I just suck at controlling lil ducky. I'll always cherish the snack time we shared.
DeadCode
09. Apr 2025 · 06:18 UTC
Awesome and super fun game! I really like everything about it! The controls are nice and it's quite challenging. Great work!
Skosnowich
09. Apr 2025 · 06:19 UTC
Simply love the visuals of the game, after I finished the tutorial and started the snack break, I already thought "Oh, nice entry." but then the game really just started, but sadly I didn't manage to climb very high - maybe I'm coming back later. Really polished nice entry.

????!
Bestdtang
09. Apr 2025 · 06:47 UTC
Highly recommended! Incredibly smooth, small and adorable game~
superpokeunicorn
09. Apr 2025 · 07:23 UTC
Really fun game! loved the weightiness of the physics. Kept surprising me with new mechanics like the dive and the purple launch stones. Also just very silly, loved the cutscene where the bird eats a snack. Wound up getting stuck in the climbing section and not finishing, though I still had a lot of fun with it. Loved how you could find alternate paths to skip some of the jumps, made retrying after falling a little less harsh. Overall, a very fun and silly little game. Nice work!
Hatherton
09. Apr 2025 · 09:04 UTC
Yeah, this game is winning across the board, right?
OttoBroccoli
09. Apr 2025 · 10:56 UTC
It's a really complex game, it's amazing how much you've done =)
Very cute animations and responsive controls.
woona
09. Apr 2025 · 12:38 UTC
Great job with controls and level design! I loved the twist and your sense of humor. I gave up and couldn't get out of the pit, but I had a lot of fun while trying!

At first I didn't realize that purple things are interactable, maybe you should have made a very simple introductory level that cannot be completed without interacting with it... so it would be more obvious.
Cure
09. Apr 2025 · 22:11 UTC
Cute!
ScoobySnacks
10. Apr 2025 · 09:24 UTC
I love this game, very simple yet solid, polished. I thought quacking is just a gimmick but it's useful mechanic.
Also snack break lol
Flinge
10. Apr 2025 · 16:39 UTC
I actually really liked the game, but I totally choked. Got absolutely wrecked — you saw it on stream. Maybe some sort of checkpoint would be nice for jam version so everyone can handle it
Potatobrain
10. Apr 2025 · 18:59 UTC
maaannn why z x and arrow keys xD, besides that i like it, got some charme and nice physics based gameplay with a banger 8 bit soundtrack its ready to ship
T C
11. Apr 2025 · 02:30 UTC
I like playing and getting to the end of your games each jam. I was concerned that there was no way I could beat the final level. I ended up making it, but was terrified that there would be more, even more difficult levels :laughing: . I like the design of the game for sure, it's very clean. I had an issue with diving. Sometimes it felt like I would press down, hold down, press down 100 times midair, and I just would not dive. That tripped me up a lot. But other than that things were well designed and fun to play. Good work!
vsesl
11. Apr 2025 · 09:18 UTC
Oo thats hard but good
🎤 Koolruz
11. Apr 2025 · 13:42 UTC
@t-c Good to see you again, and thanks for playing! :) This one was definitely a bit of a departure in terms of how the difficulty is presented - I was really nervous about not breaking things up into bite-sized challenges, but I tried to build the level with plenty of shortcuts so that each repetition (hopefully) gave the player an opportunity to get more familiar with the movement and start fluidly zipping through the climb.

It sounds like maybe the dive tutorial wasn't super clear though 😬 You don't have to press down to dive, you have to press down *and Z* to dive! That must have been so rough to get through, and I'm sorry that it wasn't clear in the tutorial!
T C
11. Apr 2025 · 17:18 UTC
@koolruz AHHHHH, that's the deal. I thought you had to have Z held down and then press down, and for some reason (maybe my keyboard not being able to handle it really well?) - it doesn't work super consistent for me. But trying it out while pressing Z and down at the same time each time worked 100% consistently. Cool!
🎤 Koolruz
11. Apr 2025 · 21:56 UTC
@cure Thanks for playing! Sorry to ping you for more feedback but since it seems like you're into difficult platformers based on your game, I'm super curious how far you got into the climb/what time you got if you did make it all the way up!
cherrybcake
11. Apr 2025 · 22:40 UTC
your game is awesome! The gameplay is super satisfying and the character is so cuute!!
Jake G
12. Apr 2025 · 03:27 UTC
I love the vibe. It's cohesive and all goes together. The SFX are endearing and the duck (or is it goose?) is adorable. I'll say it's a goose. It's a goose in my heart. There is so much personality in such few pixels, I could imagine this being a whole franchise if you built it out further. Fantastic entry!!
Cure
12. Apr 2025 · 09:11 UTC
A game that is super fun to improve at, charming, and feels super thoughtfully made, I love it.

`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFk44q7aTqE&t=17650s`
Flinge
12. Apr 2025 · 13:14 UTC
I'am actually made it. Second try to beat this game is successfull

![Duck.jpg](///raw/cd6/36/z/6c0fe.jpg)
alexusss
12. Apr 2025 · 21:10 UTC
Wow, this is probably one of the most challenging games on this jam. The complicated mechanics make you break your fingers a little, even though there are very few buttons used haha. But when you do manage to jump onto a hill, you feel like you've achieved a small victory. That's why I want to try again and again. Thanks for this experience, it's a really awesome game!
Euler Moises
14. Apr 2025 · 13:55 UTC
Great idea. And very well executed.

Harder than it looks.

Congratulations!
LeReveur
14. Apr 2025 · 21:24 UTC
I did not manage to finish the game, as I got stuck in the big ramp level, but I really like the arts, and much more the animations. Good job!
Yorsh
14. Apr 2025 · 21:42 UTC
Really fun! The tutorial leading straight into a crazy hard level is surprising, but not bad at all. Graphics are simple but fit really well. Idk about the Z+down input, maybe down while airborn could be enough for the dive. Great work!