Giant Spiky Ball of Death

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.81

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.99

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.48

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.68

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.13

Coolness★★★★★★★★★★87%

Well, for my first Ludum Dare I had no idea how quickly things can go from fun as hell to stressing as sh*t.

SO what is the most unconventional weapon? Obviously something that can easily kill you as much as it kills the enemies! And that was my initial thought, GIANT SPIKY BALL OF DEATH!

GSBoD is a sorta physics like, top down, wrecking ball simulator. But instead of wreaking buildings, you destroy your enemies! (That just happen to look like boxes...)

The controls are WASD to move and swing your spiky ball around.
(ZQSD and ,AOE should work also for you people with foreign keyboards)

Engine used: Game maker
Graphics made with: Photoshop and Gamemaker
The music made with: Bosca Ceoil
Sound effects made with: BFXR

I would love feedback as this is my first (and only) 'biggish' Ludum Dare project!

My twitter is @AEFXFreedom

You can also add me on steam if you wish, just say your from the Ludum Dare.
Im keen to chat, play games and etc when im not busy.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/notfake/

Thank you all and best of luck to everyone else!

IN THE POST LD VERSION YOU CAN PRESS "M" TO MUTE MUSIC

Comments70

randomperson4220 Apr 2015, 03:26

Possibly the most fun game I've playe here so far.

leo_p_mahon20 Apr 2015, 03:27

This is really really good! Graphics are on point with a consistent style. needs more particles :) ! My First Ludum dare too, I feel ya on the stress front hahaha.

Fanttum20 Apr 2015, 03:36

I'm on mac, so any chance for a web build soon?

RobotHoboDancePartyauthor20 Apr 2015, 03:39

Sorry, unless someone builds me a mac or web version, I dont have the "extra" additions to Game maker studio. :(

PachowStudios20 Apr 2015, 03:52

Excellent! Very fun and interesting concept. I like the various enemies. The bullets bouncing off the spike ball was neat too.

Only negative is the audio which I muted after a minute.

Armanky20 Apr 2015, 05:34

I like the idea, but the weight of the ball makes this thing really hard to control. Realistically it makes sense, but I think it would've been more fun to play if you'd let the player move uninhibited by the weight of the ball.

Otherwise, it's very satisfying to kill stuff with the ball. And then get killed with it yourself.

seankimdesign20 Apr 2015, 05:45

I had a blast playing this game. I loved the simplicity of mechanics as well as the multiple enemy variations. Really fun stuff!

Terrabalt20 Apr 2015, 06:21

Possibly the best game i've played. hard but fun.

Phobos00120 Apr 2015, 15:45

It was very satisfying to swing the mace around and smash them into enemies ^^ Great job!

HeyChinaski20 Apr 2015, 19:52

Really fun and a very clever idea. It's very satisfying, particularly with the sound and blood spatters at the start. I like how you introduced the controls and the gameplay at the start. To extend it you could have more of an adventure mode where you have to navigate smaller tunnels etc and press switches with the ball.

hercludes20 Apr 2015, 20:30

I love the idea of this, reminds me of hammerfight, which was a very fun physics game. I can actually outrun the spike ball's chains, which I find is pretty cool. The gameplay, even though is fun however, is pretty slow, and after about five retries and dying at the fourth wave, I can no longer progress, maybe I am just impatient though.

funisfun821 Apr 2015, 02:41

Cool game! High-score of about 30 secs. Cool idea and great graphics! The acceleration feels a bit slow but I enjoyed overall!

12 Pechás Of Souls21 Apr 2015, 09:04

The game is really funny and addictive!!

KeyboardCat21 Apr 2015, 09:05

Great idea. Really cool game.

pta200221 Apr 2015, 09:07

Definetly the best game I have seen so far. The only problem is that it feels a bit slow.

guoboism21 Apr 2015, 09:11

Really fun game! Has a lot of potential!

PushmePullyu21 Apr 2015, 09:14

Tough but fun!

Mouch21 Apr 2015, 09:41

A little short but quite entertaining game. Only 3 stars in innovation and theme, because spike balls have already been used in video-games and medieval reality.

bazld21 Apr 2015, 09:41

Very playable and fun game - great job.

Enol21 Apr 2015, 09:51

Really nice concept ! Fun, Hard and addictive - Well done !

inappropriatebeeguin21 Apr 2015, 10:38

Really addictive and satisfying, I liked the game mechanic. played around 10 times. Very well instructed the player with the controls on start screen. Graphics are good in it's simplicity, SPLUT!. Music was oke in beginning but could really use more variation.

DesignerNap21 Apr 2015, 12:09

good solid little game here. Add pad support and you are onto a winner. For a similar idea, check out "Flail Rider" - http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=40591

Elemental Zeal Games Studios22 Apr 2015, 01:32

Even though it was simple, it was quite fun. Very well done. :)

Aaranos22 Apr 2015, 04:56

The most fun part of this game is trying to see how fast you can get that thing spinning, and that is extremely fun. Definitely unconventional too with how hard it is to get used to as a weapon and that it can kill you too.

asobi tech22 Apr 2015, 09:07

Good simple fun gameplay. Nicely done.

rgehan22 Apr 2015, 09:19

Quite fun, even if I didn't manage to last more than a minute :p

I really like the blood splatter, they're quite good.

Jeasonfire24 Apr 2015, 11:53

Really fun, pretty good music and lovely physics. I especially liked that you can reflect the shots of enemies with the ball. Also, the game was very hard, couldn't get over 50 seconds, haha.

Xaychru24 Apr 2015, 11:57

Nice game, the player is a bit hard to control though. Congrats on your first LD! :)

RedSorrel24 Apr 2015, 12:17

The GSBoD was unwieldy but it was very satisfying when I managed to destroy the enemies. I liked that you introduced new enemy types that made me rethink my attack plan. I loved that we could deflect bullets with the weapon.Cool take on a double-edged weapon!

EthanWebster24 Apr 2015, 12:31

Really stressful but very fun game. Nicely done :)

Krunoslav24 Apr 2015, 13:38

Simple dynamics but creative. It could be very addicted. J'ai bien aimé! :)

GengisKhan24 Apr 2015, 14:31

I had a difficult time with the ball mechanic, maybe wished for a longer chain, but it might be just me.
Still, I'd say it is a very fun game. Simple and addictive.

UnconventionalFusion24 Apr 2015, 14:34

Simple hard and fun game! Well done!

Druid24 Apr 2015, 15:42

Cool idea and really funny entry. But little slow. I think you can raise room_speed to 60 for much better gameplay :)

oparisy25 Apr 2015, 08:08

A very good compo entry! Simple graphic design, but some nice touches (the background with instructions I like, its texture gives some sense of solidity), sound is present but not disturbing, the physics is fun, and there are multiple kinds of enemies. What's not to like?

resty25 Apr 2015, 11:56

Nice game. Fun to play. Controls feels good.
The graphics is simple and looks so nice.
Good job, keep on~

BoxedMeatRevolution26 Apr 2015, 00:39

I really liked the feeling of weight of the spiky ball. It was a really fun and unique mechanic, but I would have preferred if the scoring was based on enemies killed over time survived (turtling isn't as fun as smashing enemies).

mildmojo26 Apr 2015, 01:30

Did you see Flail Rider (http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=40591)? It's a little like a 3D isometric version of this with a car.

It was pretty weird using my left hand for controls. Arrow keys are pretty standard, no? Three key layouts and no arrows. =P

Hard game. I kept running into everything. At least the AI isn't smart enough to avoid the ball on its way to get me, so I could sometimes let them come to me. I like how the ball reflected laser shots from the pink boxes. Adding the big dumb box that takes a couple of hits to kill was nice, too.

The instructions written on the center of the arena were a nice touch.

mildmojo26 Apr 2015, 16:35

Looking at the gameplay GIF again, the splat animations are really slick. I don't think you notice how good they look when you're in-game.

Jasonsumm28 Apr 2015, 08:38

Awesome game! Heaps of fun :D

lion12328 Apr 2015, 09:29

I think the amount of seconds survived is not the best score, but overall it's a solid game with awesome mechanics. Great job!

k1p128 Apr 2015, 11:13

Simple design (in a good way). Pretty fun to play.

dylanigan28 Apr 2015, 11:43

Nice game. Next time replace your dropbox url's 'www' with 'dl', then it will download automatically. For example: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/8ulnora2sf4d7cp/Giant%20Spiky%20Ball%20of%20Death.zip?dl=0, instead of https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ulnora2sf4d7cp/Giant%20Spiky%20Ball%20of%20Death.zip?dl=0. Fun game, good job!

DarkMeatGames28 Apr 2015, 12:25

Really solid entry. Cool idea, easy to understand controls, and a good pacing. Only criticism I have is that I wanted more!

crockid528 Apr 2015, 19:18

Controls felt unintuitive and boring

Dudeguy29 Apr 2015, 17:48

The red ones were cheap, Really cheap, the main thing on my mind when playing cheap, but that made me love landing a succesful reflect and killing them

sP0CkEr230 Apr 2015, 04:26

this was really well done - loved the progression with the enemies and the mechanics were solid and unique - great job!

mike.cullingham30 Apr 2015, 04:41

Very nice job on your first ludum dare. Not a lot of variation, but it's well executed _and_ a fun little game nevertheless. Definitely gets the theme.

hexdie2 May 2015, 03:28

Great game! Awesome take on the theme and fun to play. The controls take a bit getting used to but once you do, it's very enjoyable. The one thing I wish was that the number of people you killed counted towards your score in some way, because it's much harder to stay alive while killing people than just trying to survive. Maybe time + kills = your score? I don't know, just a thought. Good job!

AsixJin2 May 2015, 17:40

I'd like it if you could control the ball with the mouse or the arrow kids. The ball and chain was definitely unconventional

goerp4 May 2015, 16:51

I love this one! It's REALLY addictive, although I find it hard, I always want to do one more try.
The graphics are so effective, including all the 'swapped mosquito'stains!
And surprisingly, the music doesn't get annoying after playing for quite a while (I would have given sound a good vote, you know?).

Nikteddy926 May 2015, 08:29

Wooah! Great Idea!!! :D

SeriouslyCrunchy6 May 2015, 09:47

Great entry all round, if a little simplistic. I like how you added more enemy types as well, good job.

siryakko6 May 2015, 10:38

Fun and addictive

tmpxyz6 May 2015, 10:51

very fun!

cmayhem6 May 2015, 11:16

Good, polished feeling, well done!

OadT6 May 2015, 13:22

You get the controls very well! The graphics you did so far looks also very nice

HolyBlackCat6 May 2015, 15:00

Easy, but very fun game!

eddynardo6 May 2015, 19:59

Funny little game.Very good physics

Leandrus8 May 2015, 11:59

Good game. 1:12 was my top time :/
Thanks for sharing

pstudio11 May 2015, 16:37

This is so close to just being stupid fun. However the control just feels a bit 'slippery'. It might be more 'physical' correct, but the game would imo have been more fun with full control over the player.

NaKolenke11 May 2015, 18:45

With mouse controls it'll be cooler.
Reminds me of Hammerfight.

rojo11 May 2015, 18:47

I don't know if controlling a conventional weapon unconventionally makes it an unconventional weapon, but I can say with certainty that the game was pretty fun! The aesthetics of the game were pretty good, but it would have been nice to see something more interesting than rectangles. Still, good job!

ETHproductions11 May 2015, 19:07

Really fun entry! It was a bit hard at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was awesome. I like the music and the graphics, too.

P.S. This seems eerily similar to another entry: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=25578

Plustech11 May 2015, 19:26

Gameplay straight forward, I dont see too much innovation but man, this is fun.
Kudos on the compo entry. Great visual feedback overall. Nice exp.

SecondDimension11 May 2015, 20:59

I think the controls are a little floaty, it would have been good if you could turn quicker and more accuracy in your movement. That would have made the early game easy but fun, then you could have ramped up the number of enemies. I did really like it and played for quite a while, deflecting bullets was especially fun

TeamQuadratic11 May 2015, 23:08

Cool mechanic and fun game! You should definitely keep working on this!

yuigoto11 May 2015, 23:10

Nice entry! It's fun and has got the right amount of challenge! Though I felt that the player moves a bit slowly! :P

Music is nice and fits perfectly, but it starts to get repetitive after a few minutes (my entry also feels that way :P).

It was my first LD too, so I felt the pressure (even though I went for the jam)! :)