Play Exorcist Pianist in your browser

Exorcist pianist is a typing game with a musical twist, about beating your inner demons by playing the piano.

The Idea as I first wrote it

"You are a pianist that exorcizes demons by playing music. You must discover which notes hurts the demon by playing".

What went right

Gameplay

I made what I set out to create and it worked pretty well. You feel like you're playing the piano. The typing game is challenging enough, and the game is fun to play.

Art and Atmosphere

I succeeded in achieving the mood and style I aimed for. I would've loved to make more detailed art with animations etc, but I'm very happy with the results.

Tapping into a common feeling shared by many

I set out to create a game that speaks about something real to me. Everyone has inner demons, and I think this made the game more relatable.

Midi Keyboard / Controller support

This was a pretty unique and cool feature to make the game playable with a midi keyboard and I think a lot of people appreciated it. Plus, it immerses the player even more!

Positive feedback, and lots of it!

I was amazed to see so many people playing and commenting, and the amount of positive feedback the game received. This is by far beyond my expectations - I knew I enjoyed the game, but I didn't think it'd be my most popular LDjam game. I spent far less time working on it than the other two I made (I decided I'm not crunching this time, although I kinda did during the last day), and I didn't think a typing game would be very popular, or that combining it with playing the piano would elevate it from a simple typing game to an "experience" of sorts. I'm very grateful for this.

What went wrong

A typing game that wants to be a rhythm game

Typing games encourage the fastest action possible, and rhythm games are about making the right action at the right time. Those two concepts are naturally hard to combine - there's no telling how fast a player types and how fluid their experience will be. I would've loved to have more time to work on this.

Seeds for sequences

The game has three different seeds for all of the sequences, one of which sounds a lot better than the other two. In retrospect, I should've only left that one to ensure everyone has the same experience, or finetuned the other two. The thought behind it was that if you'd replay the game, you'll get a different tune so it won't be the same every time.

More variety of demons with the same number of notes (I.E 2 types of demons with 2 notes, etc)

Seriously... How did I not think about that? I mean, drawing more demons would've been very tough considering the time I had left, but this would've made the game's "generated melody" a lot less repetitive and the gameplay more interesting.

Not melodic enough

This is probably the most common feedback the game received and it's totally understandable. Unfortunately, I did not have much time left to experiment with the musical aspect of the game and it feels like a missed opportunity. This feedback could also be the result of my previous point with not removing two of the subpar sequences-seeds.

The game needs a better score system

Keeping time was not enough to encourage players to try and beat the game, and besides, it wasn't very clear how to beat the game or how long it takes. It would've been great if the game had better score keeping.

The game needs to better communicate how sanity loss/gain works.

Maybe show a number when sanity is restored, etc.

Backing track and more sound effects!

Something to accompany the piano and SFX when demons appear or disappear would've been very nice. If I had the time.

More visual effects!

Would've love to add more effects, such as a red vignette when making mistakes, notes flying out of the piano when playing, text effects, etc.

Final Thoughts

I believe this game was an important stepping stone towards continuing to make games that speak from my heart - and I believe this led me to create my most popular LDjam game so far, even though it's a lot simpler than my previous one.

I'll definitely be thinking about making a post-jam update for this game.

Thank you for reading, feel free to leave suggestions.

Play Exorcist Pianist in your browser

We added a HTML 5 version of our game! Check it out! In my profile!

Our game — Oversummoned — uses many cute 2d-sprites (demons and decorations) with completely 3d surroundings (tiles and houses)

At first, we rotated sprites to look at camera, but they started to clip with 3d objects 😈🏠. So we devised a hack: our sprites rotate only around vertical axis, and are scaled vertically by sqrt(2), so they look unmodified (camera looks down at 45°).

In-game view

Editor view of a demon — it is as tall as a house!

When demon is grabbed player sees it turned upside-down, but actually it's parallel to the ground...

Editor view and in-game view of a grabbed demon.

I mean we had sountrack in our game, but now you can download it!

Feel free to check it out on our game page on itch.io https://kettle-studio.itch.io/oversummoned

I made a new logo for my little jam game. I also made an animated thumbnail for itch.io, which you can also see here.

The old logo was just plain green text with the same high-res font as used in-game. I feel like this new logo fits the game better. What do you think?

This was the old logo btw:

Hey everyone! just realised I never made a post showing off the game! Our very boringly titled Necrowizardry was an absolute blast to make, and is actually kind of fun!

You play as a goodly wizard (played by @smartwilliam), out to defeat the dastardly evil wizard (played by me). The two of oyu only know how to summon progressively large hordes of mindless skeleton minions, though. You each have a unique advantage, however. The Evil wizard can summon a little more often, and his brutal spell attack, whilst slow, destroys skeletons instantly when hit.

You, however? You prefer to do the dirty work, so instead win the battle by possessing your minions and fighting personally with sword in hand! But beware, your fragile wizard body is totally undefended when you're a skeleton! The main mechanic of the game is summoning skeletons and evading the enemies as the wizard, then switching to skeletons to defend yourself and go on the offensive!

There's a lot of jank, and tonnes I'd have loved to do to expand it more, but I'm really glad that my experience has taught me to focus on game feel and gameplay polish before expansion of scope, because I think the game really benefitted from that, not least because of the amazing VFX done by my teammate. Was my first time doing all the foley myself, and that was a tonne of fun, seriously, but not as much fun - as usual - as doing absolutely silly voices. Half the reason we chose this game was so we could do silly skeleton voices!

I do have a habit of always going for somethign combat or action oriented though, it is my specialty. Next time, I'm going to see if I can make something tinier, more casual, so I can focus less on moment-to-moment combat and something maybe more narrative!

Thanks for an amazing jam, all, I've played some seriously great entries so far. I'd love some more comments on our entry if you had a couple minutes and feel like being a skeleton!

Play Necrowizardry Here!

☌⍀⟒⟒⏁⟟⋏☌⌇ EARTH ⟟⋏⊑⏃⏚⟟⏁⏃⋏⏁⌇!

⍙⟒ ⏃⍀⟒ SORRY ⎎⍜⍀ ⏁⊑⟒ ⌰⏃⋏☌⎍⏃☌⟒ ⏚⏃⍀⍀⟟⟒⍀. ⍜⎍⍀ TRANSLATOR ⟟⌇ ⍀⎍⋏⋏⟟⋏☌ ⟟⋏⏁⍜ ⌇⍜⋔⟒ ISSUES ⏃⋏⎅ ⍙⟒ ⌇⏁⟟⌰⌰ ⊑⏃⎐⟒⋏'⏁ ☌⍜⏁ ⟟⏁ ⎎⟟⌖⟒⎅. ⊑⍜⌿⟒⎎⎍⌰⌰⊬ ⟟⏁ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⎅⍜ ⏃ ☌⍜⍜⎅ ⟒⋏⍜⎍☌⊑ ⟊⍜⏚ ⏁⍜ ☌⟒⏁ ⍜⎍⍀ MESSAGE ACROSS.

⍙⟒ HOPE YOU ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⊑⏃⎅ A WONDERFUL JAM! THERE ARE STILL ⊕ ⎅⏃⊬⌇ REMAINING UNTIL THE JAM CONCLUDES, SO BE SURE TO PLAY AND RATE AS MANY GAMES AS YOUR FREE TIME ⌿⍜⌇⌇⟟⏚⌰⊬ ⏃⌰⌰⍜⍙⌇ ⟟⏁! NOW IT'S A ☌⍜⍜⎅ TIME TO CHECK THE DANGER CATEGORY AND GIVE THAT EXTRA PUSH TO THE GAMES THAT NEED IT! ALSO BE SURE TO LEAVE SOME FEEDBACK, ⍙⟒ ⏃⍀⟒ SURE IT MEANS A LOT TO EVERY SINGLE PARTICIPANT. IT FEELS REALLY ☌⍜⍜⎅ KNOWING ⌇⍜⋔⟒⍜⋏⟒ HAS PLAYED YOUR GAME AND FOUND SOMETHING TO ENJOY IN IT!

⌇⌿⟒⏃☍⟟⋏☌ ⍜⎎ ⍙⊑⟟☊⊑, ⍙⟒ ⍙⍜⎍⌰⎅ ⍀⟒⏃⌰⌰⊬ ⍙⏃⋏⏁ ⏁⍜ THANK EVERYONE WHO PLAYED OUR GAME, ⌰⟒⏁⍜! ⍙⟒ READ EVERY SINGLE COMMENT ⏃⋏⎅ ⟒⏃☊⊑ ⍜⋏⟒ ⊑⏃⌇ ⋔⏃⎅⟒ ⍜⎍⍀ ⟒⌖⏁⍀⏃⏁⟒⍀⍀⟒⌇⏁⍀⟟⏃⌰ ⊑⟒⏃⍀⏁⌇ ⎎⎍⌰⌰! ⌇⟟⋏☊⟒⍀⟒⌰⊬, THANK YOU! ⏁⊑⟒ ⎎⟒⟒⎅⏚⏃☊☍ ⊑⏃⌇ ⏚⟒⟒⋏ ⏃⋔⏃⋉⟟⋏☌ ⏃⋏⎅ ⍙⟒ ⏃⍀⟒ ⌇⍜ ☌⌰⏃⎅ ⍙⟒ ⋔⏃⋏⏃☌⟒⎅ ⏁⍜ ⌿⍀⍜⎐⟟⎅⟒ ⌇⎍☊⊑ ⏃ ⌿⍜⌇⟟⏁⟟⎐⟒ ⟒⌖⌿⟒⍀⟟⟒⋏☊⟒ ⎎⍜⍀ ⌇⍜ ⋔⏃⋏⊬ ⌿⟒⍜⌿⌰⟒!

⟟⎎ ⊬⍜⎍ ⊑⏃⎐⟒⋏⏁ ⌿⌰⏃⊬⟒⎅ ⌰⟒⏁⍜, ⏚⟒ ⌇⎍⍀⟒ ⏁⍜ ☊⊑⟒☊☍ ⟟⏁ ⍜⎍⏁ ⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏃⋏⎅ ⟟⎎ ⊬⍜⎍ ⎅⍜, ⌿⌰⟒⏃⌇⟒ ⌰⟒⏃⎐⟒ ⏃ ☊⍜⋔⋔⟒⋏⏁!

... ⍜⊑, ⟟⏁ ⌰⍜⍜☍⌇ ⌰⟟☍⟒ ⍜⎍⍀ ⏁⍀⏃⋏⌇⌰⏃⏁⍜⍀ ☌⍜⏁ ⏁⍜⏁⏃⌰⌰⊬ ⏚⎍⌇⏁⟒⎅ ⏃☌⏃⟟⋏, ⏃⋏⎅ ⍀⟟☌⊑⏁ ⋏⟒⏃⍀ ⏁⊑⟒ ⟒⋏⎅! ⍜⊑ ⍙⟒⌰⌰, ⏚⏃☊☍ ⏁⍜ ⏁⊑⟒ ⎅⍀⏃⍙⟟⋏☌ ⏚⍜⏃⍀⎅, ⊑⍜⌿⟒⎎⎍⌰⌰⊬ ⍙⟒ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⟟⏁ ☊⍜⋔⌿⌰⟒⏁⟒⌰⊬ ⎎⟟⌖⟒⎅ ⎎⍜⍀ ⏁⊑⟒ ⋏⟒⌖⏁ ⏁⟟⋔⟒.

it's time when people are getting tired to do anything and waiting patiently for the end. NOT US THO!

10 days and the party will be over, so hop on a rate train and check out our game, if you still haven't already! we will be glad, if you share yours masterpieces as well here in comments!

(somehow i'm still not out of ideas for funny post pics please appreciate it)

PLAY HERE!

Godot Wild Jam #68 was running concurrently with LD #55

So I expanded my compo game a bit last week! Thanks to all who played and rated my game. I really appreciated all the feedback that helped me keep working and improving :)

+ 2 additional monsters

+ A tower zapping attack

+ More electrons, no ammo limits!

+ And a new upgrade forge!

Play original LD55 Entry

Play Updated Ecaroh's Mecharoh 2 : Forgeroh's Fortress

And a brief LD-Jam post mortem:

I learned a lot this jam and it was so fun and super inspiring to play everyone's games last week!!

In my compo, I experimented a lot with sound design, making sounds from scratch with just my mic and a few things around my office. I came up with some really efficient methods for generating the exact sound I wanted using Audacity's PaulStretch + BitCrusher, and then just changing the pitch speed in Godot as needed.

I also started to wrap my brain around data approaches to building games. I created custom resources for the first time in a real game and WOW... seeing the potential now has me thinking this will drastically change my whole approach in the future.

I didn't get to implement all the different types of upgrades I wanted in the end, but I was able to quickly make some adjustments in the data for character stats that was super easy to manage during the last minute crunch time when I needed to add a few stats that could be upgraded.

Custom resources are so cool!!

Here's a behind the scenes look at my development journey from Compo -> Expansion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thiKk2-jzHg

Hey everyone! I'm AJ, and I made the art for our silly and fun QWOP-style game, Make It Rain.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/make-it-rain

When making a cohesive looking game, my favorite first step is to decide what the setting is, and what color palette would best encompass the feeling I want the game to have. Then I'll start by sketching out what I want the game to look like (knowing that some things will probably be changed).

Here are some of my in-progress work during the jam that turns into what you see in-game, in no particular order. Enjoy!

If you liked this post and the art, please take a moment to try our wonderfully silly game, Make It Rain. Thank you!!

-AJ

If you have heard this track you have already played DEMON LORD REVENGE. That's nice ! If not, we let you enjoy the song and the game :

https://youtu.be/pdBro2ynB-c

This have been composed with one goal : make you panic, make you loose. Can you hold the stress of being attack by dozen of magicians ?

Let's see if you can pass wave 5 ... we'd love to have you feedback on it !

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/demon-lord-revenge

I had a dream :wink:... an idea to express my love for this awesome jam of ours with a t-shirt. So, I made some designs in our Redbubble store. Aren't they just cute :grin: I'm very new to this Redbubble endeavor, so I'm quite excited!

https://LimboOfWonders.redbubble.com

In this roguelike you have to evade the hungry beings of the dark forest while summoning spells on your ritual drum. How long can you survive?

➤ Play TrollDoom

What's poppin you necrotastic dungeon keepers?

As we're trying to clean up some issues our dungeons left us and collect new families of rats for your sake, we're also raising our budget for new heroes - meaning we're open to hero applications!

Here's the first application we received and one of the heroes that will try to raid your dungeon upon the next big patch:

It's a thief class hero which is skilled in vanishing in the shadows which will make it really hard for your skeleton friends to target. Also, since a lot of your precious feedback containt more challenge this hero will hit very hard but in exchange hold a very low health value. Furthermore, since our fellow necromancers seems to be a bit into feeling pain (not only the one of being alone) we're thinking of implementing some tasty poison or blood curses just for you!

With that said - Drop us an idea we might considering your Hero-Application!

Try it here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/blood-rite

Have a RATastic day!

Hey everybody!

I just wanted to give another shoutout to all of those who tried out my game Phasebound - I appreciate all of you and the feedback I've gotten!

On top of that, I just wanted to share this little picture of my monitor- my little mascotte given to me by my best friend who doesn't understand why I'm obsessed with giraffes yet continues to fuel it. If you don't have a little mascotte sitting on your monitor... can recommend!

This was my 12th Ludum Dare, and the first one after taking about 3 years off… it’s great to be back. This time I used Godot instead of Unity. I’ve been using Godot off and on for about 6 months and this was the first time I finished a game using this engine... the result is Me Want Donut!

Friday

As always, once the theme is announced, I have difficulty trying to find a game I want to develop. I do look over the possible themes and jot down some ideas, but for Summoning, I had nothing. I decided to see what came to me. After a few hours, nothing did, and since it was late I decided to call it a night.

Saturday

Up early Saturday morning to see if I can put together an idea. I had an idea where someone would get items for the player. I started coding basic movement and after a few hours, I had something working. A few dozen updates later and the game morphed into what it is now… bringing donuts to a monster.

I learned a lot about Godot on Saturday… trial by fire. I had to (quickly) learn how to create and use tile maps, how to animate objects with sprite sheets and individual images, and how to create builds for Mac and PC.

Sunday and Monday

Both days were spent on testing, adding “just one more” idea to improve gameplay, adding sound and visuals, and getting ready for submittal.

What Went Well

I am impressed with Godot and gdScript and how easy it is to put together a game. I am also glad I had a few months to work with Godot and put together some smaller games… the experience really helped during the game jam.

What Can Be Improved

I seem to have a difficult time putting together an idea for a game once the theme is announced. It takes me forever, and I “wing it” as I go along. The end result is what counts though… I do get a game out, but it seems more difficult. I also had a little trouble understanding what all the UI Nodes do, but I got something workable.

Future?

Of course, every LD leaves me thinking that I should expand my game, and this one is no different. I do have some ideas that I think will make this a lot of fun to play with a group. I’m going to spend some time to work that out. Who knows… maybe something will come out of this game in the long run.

Is today the Grand Finale of our grand challenge?

Submissions are still open. We are playing submissions, our favorite games, and games of people who played our game.

Come join us and chill with us :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

:arrow_right: https://www.twitch.tv/tobugis