Cub Valley

by binaryspark

co-authored: @cresceda, @sam-minh

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.84

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.68

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.24

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.20

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.82

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.36

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.96

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.65

One more story before bedtime...

In a far-away land, magical creatures roam the lands and the woods. Many dangers lurk in the unexplored wilderness after dark. So what happens when one day, four cubs lose their way and are forced to work together to make it back home?

FEATURES

- Gripping story about four creatures getting to know each other
- Deep combat system that encourages strategical play
- Replayability owing to various tactics you can use to defeat your opponents

HOW TO PLAY

- Each turn, you can select up to two of any element. (Each of the four cubs represents one element.)
- All combinations of elements make up moves
- Press ENTER (or gamepad A) to confirm your move
- Press BACKSPACE or ESC (or gamepad B) to remove one queued element

TIPS

These tips are not required to play the game! Give it a try and explore the options!

But if you're stuck:

- Your enemies show one element of their chosen move. Use this information to guess what they're going to do.
- For example, Ice is likely to be a protective move and Steel might indicate a physical attack (but may not be!).
- Be sure to use Counter (Steel + Ice) and Deflect (Tempest + Ice)! They're very strong moves that block damage *and* return it to sender.
- Counter only blocks physical attacks. Deflect only blocks magical attacks.
- Try repositioning enemies with Nausea (Void + Tempest) to expose other enemies.
- Use Dispel (Steel + Void) to remove buffs from enemies
- Enemies never Deflect, so your magic attacks will always hit.

Nice! Show me!

Timelapse

Credits

Mika Molenkamp: Programming & implementation, UI layout

Sam Minh Ly: Game design, balancing, VFX & audio implementation

Jorrit Neslo: Character & environment pixel artist

Sounds created with assistance of BFXR.

Music: OpenGameArt (https://opengameart.org: TalkingCuteChiptune, suez crisis remade, CHIPTUNE_Loop_The_Bards_Tale, Great boss, nes_02-incomplete

Changelog

The original v1 Jam version is still available on the itch.io page, if you prefer.

- v2: Fixes a softlock that could occur when more than one input device is available. In some cases you couldn't progress past the first combat dialogue.

Downloads and such

Genres: role playing

Tools: Bfxr, Unity

Comments26

rich21 Apr 2020, 18:23

I really enjoyed this game. It's incredible what you were able to accomplish.

khofez21 Apr 2020, 18:45

Very nice, you did a lot for only 3 days

Trifectuh21 Apr 2020, 19:41

Really like the music, and the element-combination combat system. There's also a ton of content here. Great entry!

anonymousgamer21 Apr 2020, 19:55

I can't imagine how 3 could make this strategic game within the time period. The music fits perfectly, and has very enjoyable graphics and animation! The storyline is witty alongside the true nature of friendship. i would 100% die for these cubs.

gamescodedogs23 Apr 2020, 17:05

Thanks for the game. I love the mood and visual style. Also timelapse is so interesting to watch. I am thinking about making one for the next LD. I wish you the best of luck!

Teo Yong Jie23 Apr 2020, 20:04

all this in just 3 days? amazing! great music and game play as well! just abit buggy here and there (sometimes not able to continue the text box) but overall a very good game!

Gorypixels24 Apr 2020, 12:05

My computer didn't wanted to make your game work :( (It's on me, it's old and buggy at this point jajaja) But loved the art and music of this! It seems to be a super elaborate game made in just three days, congrats on that, seems awesome! :D

Arttu Halonen24 Apr 2020, 14:54

Such a great combat system! I like how it gives the player different options, but as the enemies also have a similar system and the first element of their attack is revealed at the start of the round, you as a player can make some educated guesses as to what the enemy will do on the turn. Really great! And on top of that, you had cool art assets, great music, nice sound effects, a story with dialogue, ... You have a great team, it seems! Keep it up!

SAVVU24 Apr 2020, 15:13

Really loved watching the how it's made trailer you provide! Reminded me a lot of Pokemon and i would be also a great idea to play this game on mobile. Even more monsters to collect and evolutions! Great ludum dare entry wish you good luck.

BinarySparkauthor24 Apr 2020, 15:13

@gorypixels Did you have a specific problem preventing you from progressing? I might be able to look into it.

Thanks everyone for the awesome feedback!

Gorypixels24 Apr 2020, 16:07

@binaryspark right before the first combat, I couldn't get past what I presume is the last message box, neither clicking or pressing any key

BinarySparkauthor24 Apr 2020, 16:11

@gorypixels Did you have a controller plugged in? If so, try unplugging it and restarting the game. That's a known bug, but we weren't able to fix it in time.

Thibaud Ligneul24 Apr 2020, 16:11

Nice idea you got there :) The fights seamed sometimes unfair since we only have one move against several foes, but the power combination was a good mechanic.

Gorypixels24 Apr 2020, 18:12

@binaryspark I'm playing with a bluetooth mouse and keyboard, tried to dissconect and reconect both with no success :( I feel it has to do with my computer though, its a Windows Surface Pro 4 that I have to used with an external monitor for it to work and randomly restarts itself xD

joemid25 Apr 2020, 04:54

I hate to say it- but I had the same problem as @gorypixels Thought you should know. Hmmm- I'm playing on a Surface Book 2- had a mouse plugged in. Removed- restarted- no luck. What's with these iPads any way?! ;p I though this was supposed to be a computer?! Looking forward to try again on desktop tomorrow.

BinarySparkauthor25 Apr 2020, 08:21

@gorypixels @joemid I pushed a new version v2 that should fix this issue, it's available separately on the itch.io page. Let me know if this fixes the softlock for you!

Trexxak25 Apr 2020, 09:37

Loved the idea of the combo-system!
Not a big fan of the artstyle though, but I guess there is a big audience who will appreciate it :P

Very impressive what you guys achieved all in all!

Gorypixels25 Apr 2020, 14:31

@binaryspark now It's working! :D I finally could advance past that textbox! What an awesome combat system! very strategic gameplay, super interesting! The first round I'm not able to do anything though, is that intentional? (The next rounds are fully functional) Great job guys! :D

joemid25 Apr 2020, 16:49

@binaryspark Works for me too! Had the same experience as @gorypixels again- so assuming the first round is intentional- or part of a workaround. Thank you for the patch! Solid little RPG- the naming system really adds a lot. I like the graphics and the interface. Heads up- when I died- it seemed to softlock again- or something?! I had to quit and restart to go again. Also, thank you for uploading the timelapse- so cool to see all the work you did. Congratulations and thanks for the game!

BinarySparkauthor25 Apr 2020, 17:05

@gorypixels @joemid Bleh, that's definitely a bug, you should be able to act on the first round. I was trying out a new input system during this jam but apparently it's pretty buggy still, I'm not really sure how to fix it :(. Thanks a bunch for trying again and giving it a try!

CharlieTU26 Apr 2020, 07:25

WOW ! Nice game guys ! Solid strategy mechanics, that combo system is awesome :) Keep up the good work !

aayush27 Apr 2020, 05:04

So much content for a jam game! I liked the combat and it was fun exploring all the different combos! Loved the characters as well. Solid entry.

Red Ash27 Apr 2020, 11:32

I had a problem : when I loose I can't click any of the buttons, so I can't restart from the last fight which was kinda frustrating. By the way, the game's cursor is the Windows' loading one, I don't know if it's realted or not/
The game is great though ! Really interesting combo mechanics and really good UX ! However I find that the last fight is too hard, I can't figure out how to damage them with only one action per turn (enemies always heal, poison and deal damage in one turn, so I can't both prevent my death and attack them with a single action :/).

Chao28 Apr 2020, 13:05

What is going on.

Half of the games I've played this jam have been super feature filled and complete, way more than I would have expected from other jams.

It's incredible that you managed to get this done in three days. The element combining mechanic, far from being just a cool gimmick, actually works really well, and the wide array of moves introduces some really strategic decisions to the game.

Amazing work.

croze9 May 2020, 20:12

Yayyy the cubs are safe

notgreat9 May 2020, 22:14

This is amazingly polished. The actual gameplay I found thoroughly mediocre (acceptable, but the whole element-combination thing felt like just a really awkward way of forcing me to memorize how to do which moves) but the graphics were amazing, the sound appropriately fitting if a bit repetitive and simplistic, and the fact that it included a complete story (if a simple one) is just amazing.

The windows loading cursor was weird, but not really a problem.

Other games by @binaryspark

★3.70

★4.10

★4.21