Mable is the story of a girl who is trying to save the forest from the demons who are draining it of colour. Unfortunately, her magical sword was made by a crazy wizard/blacksmith chap who decided to make it out of Osmium.
To rid the forest of the evil creatures, you must drop your heavy sword and then recall it to your hand, killing anything that is stood in its way.
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WSAD, arrows or GamePad to move.
You can fly up and down as the faerie to line up your shots (this is not obvious in the game)
Lots of other buttons are the fire button, press this to turn into a faerie and press it again to recall your sword.
Faerie form also drains the forest of colour, so try to spend as much time as a human as possible.
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EDIT: Fixed the bug that affects switching between fullscreen and windowed EDIT 2: Sorry about the text behind the trees - I'll be working on a post LD version once the rating is over and I promise I'll fix it then (by getting rid of it and adding a proper tutorial) EDIT 3: Windows now also available as a standalone executable
N.B: Can't get the switching screensize working on Mac yet so sadly it's stuck on fullscreen for now
This game is thematically brilliant and beautiful to look at. The pixel art makes me drool. However I'm struggling with the mechanic. I think I understand what I need to do, it's just very difficult to line up the trajectory of the sword with the thing you want to hit.
The mood set in that opening menu is beautiful. Nice way of getting the player into the game. The sword and flying mechanic was an interesting twist but did take some getting used to. Overall very impressed with the graphics you were able to do in the 48hrs.
This is impressive and good reminder for me that if you are truly good in game development you can make great games during game jams. Nice limiting of scope to be small enough and pretty graphics. Only "bad" thing which I found were the fact that returning the sword caused slight lag to my computer. But, it was totally minor. Good job! :)
This game looks gorgeous and is also great thematically. I like the main gimmick though I did struggle with it a bit. I think it'd be really cool to expand more and refine the concept post-compo :D
Really enjoyable entry. Gorgeous graphics. The mood is perfect and the action feels very smooth. Great way of incorporating a jump mechanic and a kill mechanic into one button instead of simply jumping on characters heads. I found it a bit tricky to sometimes hit enemies, but other than that it was great.
At first I spam Space+RightArrow and think that I cheat the game. But then I realize that moving to black forest isn't right final. After that I start playing trying to kill monsters and find out that it is cool new mechanic. Bravo, you made a great game!
Graphics are awesome. Just a small thing: it was quite difficult to read the text at the start as it was covered by the trees. Over than that though, awesome!
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CoRcHoX20 Apr 2015, 20:56
Awsome graphics! it´s quite difficult to kill the flaying enemies
One of the more polished entries I have come across. The sword mechanic was fun, but surviving for very long was really difficult. The foreground trees appeared above the the instructional text, which was a little bit annoying.
This is Flappy Bird to me! By that I mean I fail quickly but refuse to give up!!!! I die because of my own mistakes so I cannot be mad at the game, just mad!
The graphics are great, big fan of trees so perfect setting for me. The audio adds a nice tension to the game.
Running on a Mac, runs smoothly but couldn't switch to windowed mode (a non issue tbh)
Oh come on, this is beyond sweet! Amazing effort for just 48 hours, especially the graphics.
One thing that put me off was the fact that the game came with an installer. I wonder if there was a reason for not exporting a stand-alone executable from Game Maker? Installing is just that extra bit of hassle that might cause some people to skip this entry, which would be a huge mistake.
First entry I tried this time and it's such a gem :) -- makes it challenging for other entries!
Here's what I most liked about the game:
- the pixel art is awesome. The moving hair is very beatiful. The enemies look great, the forest looks so nice.
- *learning* the combat mechanism. It was new to me and I liked the fact that I needed to learn it. I'm not sure how well the mechanism would work if I'd play this game for 2 hours! Either way, great work.
Really fun game but I feel like I lack a goal. Graphics look amazing and creative weapon. The fighting mechanic is fun but it can be argued that using a sword differently doesn't mean it is an unusual weapon.
The gameplay is great, but some sort of goal would have been pretty cool too! Oh and also, some sort of feedback (sound/screenshake) when the sword hits the ground after being dropped would help a lot in terms of aiming your sword better :).
I'm not sure if this is an issue on my end, but the I've tried downloading the mac version multiple times and it says "“Mable.app” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash."
Unfortunate because it looks beautiful and I want to play!
This is a brilliant game, the graphics are well done and the sword effect is very well thought out and is really fun to learn how to use more effectively.
Amazing game, I really wanna see more of this. My only complain is that there isn't any scoring system or storyline or anything except the gameplay, but the gameplay is friggin amazing.
@Horsed - sorry, I can't stop GameMaker files being seen as viruses :(
@roving-stone - there's an explanation on the itch.io page how to avoid that, it's something to do with needing an Apple Developer license, which I don't have
@everyone else - thanks for the nice things that you're saying, I'm trying to rate as many other games as I can now but I'll definitely be working more on this after the jam is over
Ahhh man the concept is brilliant - this needs to be a full platformer type thing using the same sword and flying mechanic. I made a Metroidvania for my LD entry and I can imagine your core mechanic to work very well in an open-world setting.
Anyway, with what you have here, graphics, animation, sound and music are top notch!
wow....this game left me speechless. Once I caught on with the weapon mechanics, it was a ton of fun. The pixel art was extreeeemely well-done. Love the parallax scrolling of the trees. GREAT job!
Nice work with the pixel art and all the parallaxing! And the idea is pretty solid for a compo entry. Soundtrack's really good too!
The controls are simple but, together with the difficulty level, makes it not that simple to play. Having some problems with flying and jumping enemies. :P
One of my favorites so far! Wonderful art and sound. The gameplay is quick and polished. When I first started, I expected the "fire" button to actually fire a bullet or something, so I was a little confused. I quickly figured it out and had a blast though!
Excellent game. Love the mechanics and they really match the theme. The foreground trees really inhibit lining things up sometimes though. Not sure if there is an end in this version, but if so I haven't got there yet.
I'm not sure what else to say besides the fact that the art is great, music is awesome, the mechanic is original, and it's really fun to play! This is an awesome entry. Fantastic work!
Hey, on my Mac (rMBP 13") the game loads but won't progress past the title screen. I can hear that I'm controlling the character, but nothing is shown on the screen. Please let me know if you manage to fix this, as this game looks great! Cheers.
Great Game. I echo the text behind the trees was a bit annoying. That one thing was nothing though when compared to the art. Awesome lighting, little wind effects. The mechanic did frustrate me as it felt random for the flying dudes when I could take them out. Still an outstanding entry and I rated it pretty high in most categories!
A novel idea, but it feels like the implementation is a bit unforgiving. I'd drop the sword and quickly fly up to kill a charging bull, but the sword would miss them. I think the sword floats a bit when you turn into the fairy? Probably worth exploring and polishing further.
This is super cool. I love that sword controling action, I really love that. But I'm afraid I'm not good at this kind of action. I really want to play well. Any advice?
Amazing entry - art, sound and mechanics are all incredible. Difficulty feels a little punishing for a game that doesn't seem to be about highscores, but definitely interested in seeing where this goes post-jam
New favourite! The mechanics are simple and fun, the game is presented beautifully. Difficulty is hard but you can get really good at the mechanics in a short time. Overall lovely!
Very very cool. The instructions were kind of unclear, but luckily the penalty for death was not an over long wait time. Loved the graphics and sound and the inventiveness and quickness of the kill. Great work.
Cool game, I liked the graphics and the music. A bit harder than I expected it to be. At first I didn't really get how to battle the enemies, but it worked out.
Very cool mechanic, the jumping mob gives me the most trouble if I'm going fast. It's satisfying to cover as much ground as possible and get small boosts by recalling the sword regularly. The the "stretching" of the sword sprite when it gets pulled back is super satisfying.
The Devlog looks like it's going in a puzzle / exploration direction instead of a runner. Although I'm a fan of that type of game, I'm not sure if I would enjoy this mechanic as much at a constrained pace. It could be a fun action platformer if the human form has robust combat mechanics, but I was kind of excited for this particular build because there are so many action puzzle platformers already out there. ల(*´= ◡ =｀*)
That said, I can't immediately think of tons of features that could be added to an action runner other than running boss creatures. With bosses using dashing, jumping attacks, projectiles, or bullet patterns there is a -decent- amount of gameplay to be explored, but...
Well, I'm not on TIG, but I wanted to drop an opinion in the bucket somehow. (=￣∇￣)ﾉ
Whichever way it goes, best of luck with future development! I enjoyed your game immensely!
Hey another game with a sword recall mechanic, but with a different approach. I liked that you need your sowrd to kill monsters. In my game you need it to overcome obstacles. Was your intentional idea also to use a conventional weapon, but use it in a unconventioal way? The graphics of your game are beautiful and the mechanics are very well executed.
Cool game! Excellent pixel art. Gameplay is a very cool idea and quite satisfying when you get it right. It's a bit tricky to get yourself lined up right, and the enemies charge at you too fast. The tutorial text at the start probably shouldn't be covered up by the trees as well. Otherwise great job.
Even though the sword itself is conventional the method you use to attack isn't, so I really like the way you used the theme. The graphics and the presentation of the title screen really brings up the atmosphere. Really fantastic work!
Really nice; way to take a simple mechanic and run with it! Enjoyed the feel, and the ability to go at my own pace (fast or slow). Very easy to figure out, and neat color-draining mechanic.
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Mike Mezhenin11 May 2015, 10:45
If this game doesn't win I don't know which one should.
Flawless victory! Hehe, really, nice well rounded game. The mechanic is simple, addictive and polished. The difficulty is just at its right point, you are powerful but your enemies don't give you a break.
My only crictics are: -The tutorial text keeps appearing when I'm playing, it mixes with the trees and it is confusing. -I can stay a lot of time in flying form, the color is all sucked up, but for no consequence. I would have expect dying of exhaustion or some kind of penalty. -Is there any way to win or is it an endless survival? It is not much clear.
Interesting mechanic, took me a while to get the hang of it but was quite fun when i did. One-hit kills feel particularly punishing with such unorthodox gameplay, though (but i assume that's no longer a valid remark with the easy mode). Amazing graphics, music and overall theme, too, very impressive work!
Comments84
Your talent supply seem to never end!
F*ck yeah!
Switching to window mode gave me display issues, though.
Very interesting mechanic, not to mention the gorgeous pixel art! Love it :)
The graphics are great, big fan of trees so perfect setting for me. The audio adds a nice tension to the game.
Running on a Mac, runs smoothly but couldn't switch to windowed mode (a non issue tbh)
Great overall game and scored very highly by me
One thing that put me off was the fact that the game came with an installer. I wonder if there was a reason for not exporting a stand-alone executable from Game Maker? Installing is just that extra bit of hassle that might cause some people to skip this entry, which would be a huge mistake.
Here's what I most liked about the game:
- the pixel art is awesome. The moving hair is very beatiful. The enemies look great, the forest looks so nice.
- *learning* the combat mechanism. It was new to me and I liked the fact that I needed to learn it. I'm not sure how well the mechanism would work if I'd play this game for 2 hours! Either way, great work.
Good job.
The gameplay is great, but some sort of goal would have been pretty cool too! Oh and also, some sort of feedback (sound/screenshake) when the sword hits the ground after being dropped would help a lot in terms of aiming your sword better :).
Unfortunate because it looks beautiful and I want to play!
@roving-stone - there's an explanation on the itch.io page how to avoid that, it's something to do with needing an Apple Developer license, which I don't have
@everyone else - thanks for the nice things that you're saying, I'm trying to rate as many other games as I can now but I'll definitely be working more on this after the jam is over
Anyway, with what you have here, graphics, animation, sound and music are top notch!
The controls are simple but, together with the difficulty level, makes it not that simple to play. Having some problems with flying and jumping enemies. :P
Nice work on this! :)
Great job!
My main problem with it is that it was difficult for me, so I ended up dying a lot.
Beautiful game though, I enjoyed it a lot. I would love to see what happens to this after Ludum Dare.
@geekdrums - I've just uploaded an 'easy' mode version. If you die as the faerie you respawn at the sword now - and the hitboxes are a little fairer.
A bit harder than I expected it to be. At first I didn't really get how to battle the enemies, but it worked out.
I'll be following your devlog!
The Devlog looks like it's going in a puzzle / exploration direction instead of a runner. Although I'm a fan of that type of game, I'm not sure if I would enjoy this mechanic as much at a constrained pace. It could be a fun action platformer if the human form has robust combat mechanics, but I was kind of excited for this particular build because there are so many action puzzle platformers already out there. ల(*´= ◡ =｀*)
That said, I can't immediately think of tons of features that could be added to an action runner other than running boss creatures. With bosses using dashing, jumping attacks, projectiles, or bullet patterns there is a -decent- amount of gameplay to be explored, but...
Well, I'm not on TIG, but I wanted to drop an opinion in the bucket somehow. (=￣∇￣)ﾉ
Whichever way it goes, best of luck with future development! I enjoyed your game immensely!
Useless, but really funny !
Hehe, really, nice well rounded game.
The mechanic is simple, addictive and polished. The difficulty is just at its right point, you are powerful but your enemies don't give you a break.
My only crictics are:
-The tutorial text keeps appearing when I'm playing, it mixes with the trees and it is confusing.
-I can stay a lot of time in flying form, the color is all sucked up, but for no consequence. I would have expect dying of exhaustion or some kind of penalty.
-Is there any way to win or is it an endless survival? It is not much clear.