Mantis

by linus
Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.90
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.05
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.64
Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.45
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.52
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.19
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.92
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.85
NOTE: USE CHROME INSTEAD OF SAFARI ON MAC

cover.png
This game is a game similar to Drop but with a twist. You must sacrifice male mantises by eating it's head so you don't run out of Mantis Energy.

Controls

- Use your mouse to guide the female mantis to find a mate.

Tools used

- Unity3D
- LMMS
- Audacity
- Microphone
- GIMP
- MonoDevelop
- dreamlo

About development

This game was developed in a shorter time than normal for me because the first day was spent prototyping other games because I was having a hard time finding an idea that I liked. So I settled for this silly idea and some basic but hopefully enjoyable gameplay.

screenshot

Comments28

Simone2 Dec 2018, 21:39
Hilarious :)

Simple, but effective. Love the spinning mantis, even if probably it was unintended in the beginning, wasn't it? ;)
Linusauthor2 Dec 2018, 22:06
@simone yup unintended in the beginning, but I kept it for the lolz. Haha.
Secretmapper
Secretmapper3 Dec 2018, 01:11
I'm on the leaderboard! Yay!

Also just to let you know there seems to be a bug in safari, the mantis doesn't show up:

Works fine on Chrome though. Love the little melody btw!
Linusauthor3 Dec 2018, 09:01
@secretmapper thanks for playing and letting me know, I'll add that to the description.
Andrew Garcia3 Dec 2018, 20:05
I like it! I don't know what Drop is but it has that addicting mobile game feel to it. I like the graphics you have, but I wish there were more background elements to spice up the screen. I also with the window was a little taller to have more time to react, but awesome entry!
Hawkie3 Dec 2018, 20:50
Smart game with bugs. (not coding bugs but insects). Well done, and was impressed with the leaderboard. That makes it worth competing and addictive.
Barrier
Barrier3 Dec 2018, 20:57
Spinning mantis is nice! Game gets hard fast, you have to be lucky to drop into the right place to fall straight through the hole.
Sockyman
Sockyman5 Dec 2018, 00:22
I am the best Mantis in the world!
Linusauthor5 Dec 2018, 10:42
@sockyman impressive! Thanks for trying my game. :smiley:
velvetlobster
velvetlobster5 Dec 2018, 22:38
this makes a lot of sense, a really good idea! The blood effect when the mantis die is quite satisfying
Arvejeitor7 Dec 2018, 13:05
Nice twist! it's simple but effective and fits the theme very well
Keppu
Keppu18 Dec 2018, 12:31
Small game of keeping the mantis alive. Controls are somewhat awkward, but that's something that brings challenge to the game. Graphics are functional, but nothing great. Not much SFX going on, but I like the music.

Sacrifice is only used thematically here, meaning you could replace male mantises with energy potion or something and the game would stay the same. Good effort thought as it is the hardest part of the LD Jam, to balance game mechanics with the theme.

++ For the score system.
nander24 Dec 2018, 14:02
Nice little game. Really annoying to play on a touchpad though..
Linusauthor24 Dec 2018, 14:20
@nander Sorry, didn't think about people using touchpads :p
NNNIKKI
NNNIKKI24 Dec 2018, 14:51
Quite nice. I guess the controls could have been improved a little, because now the game is a bit too easy and that also makes it boring after some time, when you get used to everything. I also think that the bigger danger is the moving camera instead of the mantis power, which makes it pass less to the theme. You should make a gradually falling floor so you can't get too ahead of yourself, but also make it possible to stand in one place until your power runs out.

Those are my recommendations.
pickens-inc
pickens-inc24 Dec 2018, 16:17
Aw yeah! Not too shabby if I do say so myself :up:

This is a nice, simple game, with a mildly challenging additional mechanic. I think, perhaps, that the mantis energy replenishment was a bit too forgiving. I never got close to running out. But it was a compelling score collector.

I have to admit, I have no idea why but the scoreboard inclusion really was what got me playing this much longer than I otherwise would have (since it's a simple premise and understandable in gameplay). Instead I found myself striving to get the top spot, but I'll settle for 4th :)

Well done!
acaral24 Dec 2018, 17:26
It could be an interesting game on smartphone. Indeed it's fun, very efficient and addictive (especially with the functionality of the score).
kamekai
kamekai24 Dec 2018, 17:50
The background theme is so dope!!! I'm still listening to it.
Derek Volker
Derek Volker24 Dec 2018, 19:11
Ok, so got in the TOP 10 with 24 heads. For now at least.

I liked the core concept and mechanics, as the controls are easy to understand and use. As @acaral already said, it would work well on a smartphone i guess. I dont found the controls kinda of clunky as i saw some comments, i guess their difficulty and lack of precision is part of the game.

However, i think the graphics could have a bit more polished and the game overall have a little more content. I know the timeframe is absurdly narrow, but i also think it is possible. Also, the music is really nice. Really catchy.

Nice entry.
Geckoo1337
Geckoo133724 Dec 2018, 22:21
Poor mantis. I had fun playing. Addictive. well done ++
Raphael Maia
Raphael Maia26 Dec 2018, 16:19
The game is pretty dynamic and fun, Although i would rather using the arrows to move left and right. And i think it could be better fitted into the theme, i'm guessing that the sacrifice bit is having to let some other mantis escape in order to keep going downwards?
jk5000
jk500026 Dec 2018, 16:26
A simple and pretty fun little game. Well done.
Linusauthor26 Dec 2018, 16:31
@raphael-maia I had in mind that the male is sacrificed after the female has mated but you can intepret it how you want, thanks for the feedback :smiley:
krunoslav
krunoslav26 Dec 2018, 18:53
Funny idea. Hard to control but I imagine that that is the idea.
Shakedimus27 Dec 2018, 00:17
Gameplay was simple but because of that also very intuitive and simple to understand. I actually had some fun playing this although it was indeed a bit silly. It did fit the theme but in a very literal way. I do think the fact that the controls are so simple is a big plus. Adding some extra mechanics to this, like giving birth or something to make it a bit more interesting could make a fun little game. The music was fine and the graphics were funny in the context of such a game. Overall a fun experience but only for a short while due to the limited gameplay experience.

Other games by @linus

Found a bug?
Tell us on Discord