Ludum Dare #23compo

Maru

by randomoutput

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.39

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.22

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.67

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.73

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.97

Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.54

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.50

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.13

Coolness★★★★★★★★★★49%

Maru is a local 2 player game played on the keyboard. Battle your friends on the tiny seas!

Developed in Flash with Flixel.

Tools:
IDE: Flash Develop
Art: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Sound: Zoom H2 Field Recorder, Audacity
Source Control: Git + Github, SmartGit

The word Maru (cirlce in Japanese) is also attached to many of their merchant vessels. Came by the word while researching ideas for the "Tiny World" theme and it sparked this game concept.

Comments21

mneubrand23 Apr 2012, 04:23

Took me a while to figure out how direction is determined by the position of the cloud. But it is great now that I got that down.

I really like the look and feel of the game. Looks very coherent and polished.

Rabbits...23 Apr 2012, 04:28

I found a second player, but most people will not be able to. An adventure mode would be very nice.

EddieCameron23 Apr 2012, 04:29

Wow, really polished, nifty game. Controls seem kind of cramped though?

SidetrackGames23 Apr 2012, 05:07

Nice game, always cool with a "couch co-op" game like this, been a while since i tested one. A little confusing controls, but generally nice.

MagnesiumNinja23 Apr 2012, 05:50

Love hotseat games, and this would probably be pretty fun with a friend. Wasn't able to grab one, sadly, but the game looks great!

Daniel23 Apr 2012, 06:22

Very serene! I love how the hotseat controls are right next to eachother when they don't have to be... Makes everything feel smaller.

mattchu23 Apr 2012, 06:27

Took a minute to catch on to the wind, but it was a lot of fun to play with someone else. :)

superstu23 Apr 2012, 06:36

Only able to play with myself on this one for now but looks very promising. I'll find a second player tomorrow :)

Daniel23 Apr 2012, 06:39

I like the concept! It would be good to play against AI though.
Do you know about the long-range missile crisis that is going on? It's possible to make a game a bout that with this system :D

aaronsnoswell23 Apr 2012, 07:21

Nice! Needs music and AI though! Really cool idea for a game, and I love the quote on the menu.

matthias_zarzecki23 Apr 2012, 09:37

Wonderful minimalistic controls.

Cake&Code26 Apr 2012, 01:18

I really liked this game! The wind added in such a nice uncontrollable element and I think it's really fun to play as well. I also love the graphics and the art direction is pretty good. (Although as a nitpick, I dislike that font. It's really a nitpick, i didn't consider it in my rating at all. #designernerd) Thanks for the great game! :)

desmarkie26 Apr 2012, 20:10

Love the idea and style. It's a quick n fun multiplayer.

KhaoTom28 Apr 2012, 05:13

Nice, innovative use of theme, really effective graphics. Bonus points for multiplayer :)

DDRKirby(ISQ)29 Apr 2012, 07:32

Fun! Extra points for making a 2-player game!

otaviogood30 Apr 2012, 00:02

I had fun playing it when I thought the wind was random. Then I read the comment about cloud and wind direction. Still fun. :) This is probably the most polished game of the 48 hour ones I've seen so far. Nice.

azurenimbus2 May 2012, 23:54

Cool game! Very nicely implemented mechanics and immersive audio!

gregdevice4 May 2012, 04:15

Looks great! Seems real polished, but crazy hard to aim :)

AD-Edge4 May 2012, 05:38

Nice graphics, hard to play properly though, since theres no one else around at the moment to play the 2nd player. foreveralone.jpg
Either way though, a cool looking game. Was just a bit confused about how to control which way the boat goes, seems to be pushed around by random wind, some indicator of the wind direction would have been handy.

Rex Peppers4 May 2012, 19:53

Nice! Really like the style you chose on this game. Good audio as well.

Pixelulsar4 May 2012, 22:46

Cool concept but I feel like it needs something else, there wasn't much too it. Could use a campaign mode, and maybe different shaped worlds and different boats to choose from.