EDIT: Anyone having trouble figuring out where to go next, keep in mind you can look around by moving your kite. The camera will pan to follow it. This can be useful in finding new places to jump, glide or grapple.
UPDATE: Added xbox 360 controller support. Just download the alternate version listed on the itch.io page.
Can You Reach the Sun?
Made in 48 hours for Ludum Dare #32 "An Unconventional Weapon"
You're a kid with a kite. Defend yourself from coyotes and bats (with your kite) and try to reach the sun!
The game tells you how to play it, but just in case:
CONTROLS: *note: not all abilities are available from the start.
-Move with arrow keys -Hop with up arrow -Press up arrow while running into a step up to climb -Hold space and use arrow keys to move the kite -Press E to attack -Hold space, move your kite to a ledge, and press W to grab it. -Press Q to soar Install instructions
No install needed. Just download and play!
PSA: With the exception of the very first skill you pick up (attack) the game should auto-save every time you get a skill (sparkle on the ground). If the game is restarting from the beginning AFTER you've picked up the second sparkle or later, *please* let me know in a comment. The game becomes very unforgiving if checkpoints don't work properly for you, and I don't want this to be too frustrating.
This has to be one the best looking games I've ever seen in ludum dare! I'ts not that it's complicated but it is really quite pleasant! The music loop was short but complimented the game very nicely.
Music was awesome, the mechanics were sweet, and the graphics were simple, but really well done. Only thing is that I couldn't for the life of me figure out where to go after getting on the clouds.
This game is rad! I love how you slowly introduce abilities to the player. It makes the game play feel nonchalant and relaxed. The art style is great. But, I think my favorite part is being able to fly a kite across the ground. My childhood would have been so much better if your version of kite was real!
This is the kind of interesting gameplay mechanic I'd hoped to see with this theme! I'd really love to see a fully fleshed out platformer with kite mechanics.
As much as I like this game, I have to say that it's way too easy to die and dying is way too unforgiving. I think some sort of health system would have improved it, since going back to the beginning is so frustrating. Otherwise, this game is really pleasant and creative and cool.
Very nice stuff! Great use of theme. Had a very Nintendo-y vibe to it with the visuals and music. I agree that the death mechanic was a bit too punishing; maybe let the player keep the upgrades they've gained?
Really cute art style and music. Gameplay also works nice, the kite is unconventional as a weapon (however, I am not quite convinced how that would work, but hey, that's just me). Design-wise I would have kept the player's abilities after a death because after the third time the stupid bat killed me with one hit, I was pretty much done (but hey, that's just me). Either that or some kind of a health bar, because the controls are also a little unusual, to quote the AVGN here: "Up to jump? UP TO JUMP?!". How about controlling the kite with WASD, the player with the arrowkeys (or vice versa), space to jump and left Ctrl to attack? Or at least space to attack and keep the up-to-jump-button. But again, that's just me being incapable of unfamiliar button-mappings. The music was nice too, the 8-bit sounds very fitting (haha, the dog!) but clashing a little with the CD-quality music. Overall I'd liken the mood to Rainbow Islands for some peculiar reason. Nice one!
Perfect use of the theme, and lots of fun! Some checkpoints would have been helpful, and a few of the controls were hard to remember (could have combined glide and ledge grab into one key). Great game overall!
Not too bad! I really like the visuals and the music! And this is a good take on theme! That said, I have a couple criticisms. I got stuck right at the beginning for a while because I couldn't figure out how to climb that wall. I got stuck again when I had to use the kite to get onto the cloud, it seems like the hit detection there is a little off or weird. Lastly, I couldn't figure out where to go on the second screen of clouds. Nice work though!
Probably my favorite so far. It's extremely whimsical, all the pickups feel meaningful and are easily understandable. The music was great, this was all around amazing.
Really well done! Although I must admit I seem to have hit a glitched area and fell through the clouds :( It was all the way on the left side and pretty far up BTW. I was just walking and all of a sudden fell through
I loved the Zelda/Final Fantasy town-style theme. It makes me feel that this peaceful start is going to lead to some dark environments or epic battles. You should make the ledge grab controls a little simpler, by just holding down Space and releasing it when the kite is in position.
Very nice. I've played this the longest of any so far. It's a little frustrating having to start completely over, considering there's a place where you fall through the clouds, and it's not clear where to go after you first climb the clouds (over the house). Over all, very good. Old-school difficulty rating... lol
Really well done. Best use of theme I have seen so far. The graphics were simple, but fitting. With a bit of tweaking to the colour palette they would have been perfect. Amazing job.
This feels like a complete game, almost like it was done in more than 48 hours, congratulations to that! You have to completely start over when you get hurt. Then you have a hard time hitting those enemies with your kite, which makes the game a little frustrating for me. Save points would have been nice.
Awesome idea! Perfect with the theme and perfect with the innovation! It took me while but it was fun. A few puzzles here and there, great job Dustout! :D
Really great game. A nice simple idea and it plays really well. It is really unforgiving though - one hit or unlucky fall and you're back to the start.
Good clean graphics, unique choice of weapon and interesting use of it. I noticed a bit of weirdness jumping next to ledges, and the difficulty might scale up a bit too quickly, but otherwise a great entry!
Really great work! I love innovative platforming ideas like this, made for some really unique gameplay. Everything is very well presented too, pacing's good, the pixelart style suits the mood quite well, and the music is spot on. Kudos!
Awesome entry - the character was simple yet the animation fit perfectly. Great music, unique mechanics. Only two things I'd look at - getting rid of the blind jumps (unless leading to a super secret area or something), and making the collision a little more forgiving, particularly when attacking bats.
This is a neat and adorable idea, but even knowing that I can look around with the kite, it's frustrating to try and figure out what to do. The kite can't go below the player, which means making leaps of faith which, if missed, drop the player back to the beginning of the game and requires the player to cover a lot of ground all over again. Grabbing cloud ledges with the kite seemed broken until I realized that you can only grab at the very edge -- the game gives no indicator of that. Eventually I got stuck because I just couldn't find a new place to go.
Love the graphics, really nice use of theme! I included it in part 9 of my Ludum Dare 32 compilation video series, if you would like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/eqkTJc6zIls
Comments49
As much as I like this game, I have to say that it's way too easy to die and dying is way too unforgiving. I think some sort of health system would have improved it, since going back to the beginning is so frustrating. Otherwise, this game is really pleasant and creative and cool.
Good work. Thanks for sharing.
The music was nice too, the 8-bit sounds very fitting (haha, the dog!) but clashing a little with the CD-quality music. Overall I'd liken the mood to Rainbow Islands for some peculiar reason. Nice one!
You have to completely start over when you get hurt. Then you have a hard time hitting those enemies with your kite, which makes the game a little frustrating for me. Save points would have been nice.
I wouldn't use this as weapon and handling is a bit complicated. But the athmosphere and kite is very good!