Ludum Dare #42compo

Sea of Bells

by kultisti

Overall★★★★★★★★★★4.15

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.73

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★4.04

Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.23

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.94

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.81

Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.14

Mood★★★★★★★★★★4.31

Enter the Sea of Bells

Once a year they send one sailor to search for the mighty old bells

And this time it was you!

But the sea is so dangerous, full of monsters and darkness!

Fear not! One simple perma-death wont ruin your day!
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Find the bells, hit them and summon the SPACEWITCH to help you out

No one really knows what kind of a creature this SPACEWITCH is and why she is still here...

How many days can you survive?

CONTROLS:

Move with WASD- or Arrow-keys, shoot with left mouse-button!

GAMEPLAY:

While playing as the 2d-ship, try to dodge enemies and shoot every flying bell you can find!

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While playing as the 3d-ship, first try to go as far as you can until you find the mighty old bell, hit it and then come back!

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While playing as the SPACEWITCH, try to dodge as many SPACES as you can before the darkness reaches you!

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How many days can you survive...

...before you run out of space...

...in the SEA OF BELLS ?

Tags: #dark, #pixel art, #score attack

Genres: action

Comments24

BlueBlu12 Aug 2018, 18:16

Amazing story! I couldn't get the space witch past the space bars. Sea of bells has a permanent space in my heart now

Bensbuff12 Aug 2018, 19:51

omg this is awesome

Pixels Everywhere13 Aug 2018, 05:00

Wow. The mood this game sets is amazing! Great work!

squirmonkey13 Aug 2018, 05:40

I can honestly say that I have no idea what just happened but that it was pretty cool.

Verbante13 Aug 2018, 06:44

This felt so surreal! Music was so fitting aswell. It's the best game I've played in a while, really nice work!

ConnorThompson13 Aug 2018, 08:59

Nice work, really like the minimal colour palette

Qazikol13 Aug 2018, 09:15

Definitely the most fun I've had playing an LD42 game so far. Being thrown into all sorts of situations with little explanation was truly thrilling; great job!

Talia13 Aug 2018, 09:57

Great entry! I love all the effects, the change of perspective and the little mini-games =)

DPS200413 Aug 2018, 20:07

The ship should be more visible in the 2d sections and have better dodging powers, but overall really fun!

Arqcenick14 Aug 2018, 07:54

Wow this is a great thematic game for a jam. Loved the artstyle and the music. The gameplay is pretty standard but the story kept me playing, great work!

somuch14 Aug 2018, 08:15

Well defined atmosphere and theme adherence. Also interesting enough to warrant a replay. Probably one of the first games, I can't find anything that you could have done better. Maybe adding some sort of dash could spice up the gameplay a bit. But otherwise one of the top games this compo.

Eclahn14 Aug 2018, 18:35

What an experience ! The transitions, the music, the creepy sea monsters, the story... Thank you very much for this !

Sengi14 Aug 2018, 20:30

Really solid entry mate, It's just amazes me how big and unique gem you've managed to create on this short period of time. Variation of mechanics and unique concepts is one of the most important things when I`m browsing through the Ludum games. consider me as your fan from now, I'll keep an eye on your future works!)

jtrink15 Aug 2018, 10:00

The mechanics just kept on coming! I love how the game is introduced with bleak and screwed up lore, so when weird things you were expecting happen you just go 'Oh, I guess this is happening' and have to roll with it. Nice riff as the main leitmotif of the game, which then has variations based on what is happening. Plus the art has a lot of character and is stylish as hell. Can't believe you made all this happen solo as a compo game.

There is one enemy that feels like it is a game of Pong. I just shot it down though and never met it again. Can it actually be killed by playing Pong with it and do you get a bonus for doing so?

Bredera15 Aug 2018, 10:28

Awesome game! Good implementation of the theme! Solid entry overall!

Derek Volker15 Aug 2018, 10:55

Whoa. The graphics are simple but so effective. Also the change from 2d into 3d and then back brings some innovative gameplay experience. The soundtrack contributes as well to create the environment for the game.

Excellent job.

Happy15 Aug 2018, 13:28

That was pretty interesting! I really liked the mood and the gameplay variety be it a bit confusing and random at times, or maybe its intentional? The music is also nice but simple.

thsnr15 Aug 2018, 18:45

Really cool game. Thematically spot on with awesome atmosphere and mood. The transition from 2D to 3D was very smooth and nicely done. Great job!

RandyTayler15 Aug 2018, 20:55

That. Was. So. Bizarre. :smile:

Expertly made. Super trippy.

mike_inPrinciple17 Aug 2018, 01:22

I enjoyed the experience overall, however, there was a design choice that led to a game breaking bug for me that I thought I would share. When I transition from 2D to 3D for the first time, I wanted to go down, not up. This is because in my mind my little ship was sailing on the sea before, so, when I transitioned to 3D, the game wanted me to navigate into what I thought was the sky. I would recommend simply blocking down movement when in 3D. That should solve the issue pretty simply.

minibobbo18 Aug 2018, 13:47

This was awesome! I loved the three different game modes and the whole presentation and mood. I was going to offer some comments like the screen rotation was unnecessary and causes some graphical problems, but I get the feeling that every decision was deliberate, so even if I would have done something else you made the game you wanted to make. Great job!

Norris Eldridge18 Aug 2018, 14:12

I must say that this game looks really great and fun! Really like the visuals from what I can see! However, sadly I am on a Mac so I can't actually play your game. But at least for the visuals, well done! :)

SecondDimension21 Aug 2018, 21:11

So cool, I love it when a Ludum Dare gets weird

Kultistiauthor26 Nov 2018, 13:16

It's been awhile, first of all, thank you all soooo much for all of the feedback I got! Positive and negaive, it all means alot!
And second, sorry for answering this late, I'm trying to answer for every comment so this will be long, and totally worth it

Other games by @kultisti

★3.90

★4.35

co-authored

★4.33

co-authored