Ludum Dare #46compo

Not Clowning Around!

by wilson-taylor

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.66

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.24

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.79

Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.09

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.36

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.38

Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.85

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.63

*DISCLAIMER:*

*Wacky video game clown suicide is a joke. Real suicide isn't. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255 if you're in America or visit https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/ if you're outside America. There's someone that can talk to you right now.*

*DISCLAIMER 2:*

*This game is a work of fiction! A Tom Collins without soda water is just a modified Gin Gimlet! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!*

A clown walks into a bar... except this is no laughing matter!

He's got a gun to his head! Oh jeez! You've gotta talk this clown down!

Fix him a drink, see what he likes!

Throw the drink at him, you're not getting anywhere near a clown with a gun!

Give him some sage advice and a ear to talk to! Better not be insincere!

And just pray... PRAY... that the cops show up before anything happens!

A GAME BY WILSON TAYLOR

Check out my other games, available on Itch!

This game is a submission for Ludum Dare 46, specifically the Compo! The theme is "Keep It Alive", and I've always thought of Clowns as "It"s.

Tags: #compo, #drinking

Genres: simulation

Tools: GameMaker

Comments85

plantleaf19 Apr 2020, 20:13

I haven't gotten very far in the game but I like the art a lot ;)

CharlieGray19 Apr 2020, 20:15

Oh jeez, this is franctic. A lot of fun though.
I really like the art style and the idea for the theme is also pretty cool.
I do think its a bit hard, though. I never made it once even on the easiest difficulty.

SoupornoGhosh19 Apr 2020, 21:30

Oh my god, this was, wow. That was very stressful, but so fun. I felt it was little too difficult, but that just might be me.

MAJK_FL19 Apr 2020, 21:40

This game is awesome! In my opinion game is bit too hard, but it's still fun to play

Wilson Taylorauthor19 Apr 2020, 21:41

@plantleaf
Thank you so much! I'm not typically an artist, but it's nice to see someone likes my stuff!

@charliegray @soupornoghosh
Hahaha, I seem to be getting that a lot! But I'm glad you guys enjoyed it!!

Wilson Taylorauthor19 Apr 2020, 21:43

Okay, Compo's not over yet, so screw it, I'm going to make it A LITTLE LESS nightmarishly difficult. Thank you to everyone for their feedback!

LukeL19 Apr 2020, 22:23

Wow! Very polished game. Its like 3 mini games in 1! Very cool. Great job. The only cocktail i probably will ever know how to make will remain Gin and Tonic sadly xD

Wilson Taylorauthor19 Apr 2020, 22:23

@lukel Thanks! I thought I was overburdening myself by doing the three games thing but I'm glad it worked out!!

fakefrogsonly19 Apr 2020, 22:25

A really cool take on the theme, full of personality! Great job!

exewin19 Apr 2020, 22:34

I found shooting with cannon quite hard, but was able to finish game at least on easy difficulty. Especially liked the music and concept.

kmfnj19 Apr 2020, 22:39

@wilson-taylor I can tell you put in a ton of work on this, but due to subject matter, it's a hard pass for me. (Thank you for the warning - much appreciated.) Any chance you'd consider a toned down or maybe even kid-friendly version of the game? Just curious. Good luck. 😀

Wilson Taylorauthor19 Apr 2020, 22:42

@kmfnj I don't plan on revisiting this game, at least not for some time until after LDJ, but it's not a concept I'm opposed to at all. Do you have any ideas for how to tone down the concept to be more easily accessible but still frantic and anxious? Thank you for the feedback! :D

Galgris19 Apr 2020, 23:01

I think I like it. Didn't get anywhere though. Not sure I am suposed to... :) frustrating... in a good way that is. I like the idea and style.

Shouji19 Apr 2020, 23:07

I liked this game a lot, the humor was right up my alley. (As dark as it is) The amount of panic I had when the clown starts shaking really made the game exciting!

binroot19 Apr 2020, 23:13

Loved the concept! Reminds me of Coffee Talk, with Pagliacci

Furfel19 Apr 2020, 23:18

A clown and an alcoholic... What can go wrong :joy:?
Easy mode is not that easy, I don't even dare to try "nightmare"

Paroxysmal19 Apr 2020, 23:24

Cool concept and like the dithered graphics. The thumbnail zoom was awesome too...heh

Sergei19 Apr 2020, 23:30

Oh, it's "stressy"! I can feel the stress of the clown through his animations! I like the concept!

Wilson Taylorauthor19 Apr 2020, 23:30

@paroxysmal I noticed that!! That was a happy accident but it TOTALLY worked out!!

beeguy19 Apr 2020, 23:40

I love this. I cant even beat medium, I wouldn't dare try nightmare. God I love this concept so much.

Paroxysmal19 Apr 2020, 23:55

@wilson-taylor Yeah it did...I kept moving the mouse over trying to figure if its one of those 3d photo effects...but figured out its just the way the dither is being refreshed.

James_777720 Apr 2020, 00:16

This is so hard but a lot of fun and very funny!

WZQXRYS20 Apr 2020, 00:21

This is one hard game, nice job man!

joannetteg20 Apr 2020, 00:31

Super original, love the idea ! And thumbs up for that disclaimer !

Fathy Basha20 Apr 2020, 00:38

Pretty hard but pretty fun!

madbookstudios20 Apr 2020, 00:43

The music is really nice, and really adds to the panic of rushing to get the orders right. It's a cool concept, and nostalgically reminds me (in a good way) of the flash web games I used to play in school.

stolen_biscuit20 Apr 2020, 00:49

Really hard but very funny! Love the concept, might use this to learn a few drink recipes ;)

Ciber_Turtle20 Apr 2020, 00:50

Nice art!

lapinchatware20 Apr 2020, 00:54

Interesting game. I feel like all the text could be more poetic and rhythmic. Like the music. Simple to understand and play but really hard to master. There is a lot of text to read and I definitely do not read fast enough. Overall I like it. Good LD submission.

Wilson Taylorauthor20 Apr 2020, 00:58

Thank you to everyone!!

@stolen-biscuit just remember that a martini is NOT 1 part gin/vodka to 1 part vermouth! That's how you get a weird, slimy martini! My trick is that I fill the shaker up with ice, pour a bottle's lid's amount of vermouth in, do a light shake and then strain out the rest of the vermouth that isn't stuck to the ice cubes! Then add your desired amount of gin/vodka and pop in an olive or two!

20 Apr 2020, 00:59

It's very frantic and fun. It also has a unique spin on the key word.

ubershmekel20 Apr 2020, 01:05

A lot of text. Way too much for my attention. The gameplay itself felt beyond me. But perhaps this is more interesting for folks that are into alcohol recipes? Maybe I didn't understand?

dk5000p20 Apr 2020, 01:05

I enjoyed that it had a story, but succeeding in sending the drinks was very difficult. I also felt the controls probably have worked better with just mouseclicks anywhere and not specifically in the box. There was also a lot of text to read, while also trying to serve drinks, so I kind of was removed from the game.

pulkit garg20 Apr 2020, 01:06

really cool concept

Nick Barrash20 Apr 2020, 01:08

The art was great! I was a little confused about when I should be preparing a drink, or reading the text.

BlipBloop20 Apr 2020, 01:09

Haha this is great! Shooting shots is a bit tricky but its quite fun

rich20 Apr 2020, 01:10

The art style is really interesting. You took the theme and ran with it!

MickM20 Apr 2020, 01:19

Not too bad eh - I did the standard thing of jumping in without the how to play part and didnt fully get it. How to play helped!
The drinks book was a little cluttered for me initially but once I got into the groove it was fine.
Nice gameplay - a few simple elements combined really well eh. Nice

ViniFlores20 Apr 2020, 01:25

Hahahah I got kinda lost because I dont drink, but i loved the concept, and you brought some life together with the art and music, congratulations man :)

TheGameGoyal20 Apr 2020, 01:35

Very sick concept!

rjerez19220 Apr 2020, 01:42

Liked it. Had a hard time finding out that there was a book with the recipes... I was like already looking for them in internet and not finding anything useful. A point I don't like is that the font is different on some parts of the UI.

PolyPickle20 Apr 2020, 01:46

The multitasking fast paced gameplay and music combine to make a really hectic and chaotic mood, and the cannon adds a little bit of fun to the mix. Very challenging, I can only win on easy.

I did enjoy trying to speed read through the prompts and responses and pick out the important information. Some very funny 'slip of the tounges' hidden in there

mcshirt20 Apr 2020, 01:48

very cool art style and pacing. it feels very frantic to play, which is a great thing for this game!

Wilson Taylorauthor20 Apr 2020, 01:48

@rjerez192
that last point's a damn good one.

@polypickle thanks! glad you noticed!

DarriasArt20 Apr 2020, 01:48

great idea

BlackOpsBen20 Apr 2020, 01:50

Haha! This game me a real laugh! Very well done! I LOVE the "uhhh" sound when you press menu buttons!

SSStormy20 Apr 2020, 01:51

Solid art and a wonky sound track. Pretty neat.

I felt like I was fighting the cannon to get it to shoot where I wanted it to at the velocity I wanted it to. It didn't feel right. I got a hit nonetheless!

NikeStores20 Apr 2020, 01:54

Love the concept once I fugured out how to play! I am blind I guess because I didnt find the book of recepies for a while and I only played easy I cant imagine how hard the other modes were!

Drachmor20 Apr 2020, 01:57

Comically intense interpretation of the theme, I love it! Definitely one of the most unique games I've yet tried.

ishmandoo20 Apr 2020, 01:59

Fun idea! The clown vibrating makes me nervous

Barelos20 Apr 2020, 02:02

Interesting game, The game play is not very intuitive but the feel and graphics are very nice

Divic20 Apr 2020, 02:05

I am terrible at making drinks, and my clown realized it all too soon. Great stuff~!

Kubeec20 Apr 2020, 02:07

Nice work!

watswat520 Apr 2020, 02:08

I've always wanted to be a bartender. Every day I peek out my window, I see a world waiting for heavy alcohol consumption and poor advice on bad life choices. That could be MY bad advice.

8/10 I feel prepared for the real deal.

Wilson Taylorauthor20 Apr 2020, 02:11

@watswat5 i always just imagined being a bartender was composed entirely of telling clowns not to off themselves

ForeverTrash20 Apr 2020, 02:13

Some cool 8-bit art but for anyone who doesn't have any bar tending skills and can remember drink names and mixes it's pretty difficult and boring.

Wilson Taylorauthor20 Apr 2020, 02:15

@forevertrash I totally respect that. Did you try opening up the drink book though?

I mean either way, not trying to dissuade you, but I thought that maybe you missed it.

Anyway, thank you for trying it regardless!

ZerohBeat20 Apr 2020, 02:15

Wow, really enjoyed it. Did not expect that I have to shoot the shots to him :D

Ryvencore20 Apr 2020, 02:17

Good stuff!

AdonisDevs20 Apr 2020, 02:18

Woah! Very chaotic, but enjoyable. Probably pretty realistic too I'd imagine, haha.

SirTyler20 Apr 2020, 02:20

I really like the gameplay and LOVE the concept, a funny twist on a dark idea. Only complaints is I would prefer being able to use the keyboard to control the cannon rather than having to click the button everytime.

rickzyYT20 Apr 2020, 02:34

Lots of fun and very intense (started in hard), the music was on point and really made the tension kick in.

VeniTheRich20 Apr 2020, 02:34

I like the game! The music and art contrast the stress of the situation, but the pace of the game and its difficulty kind of put YOU in a stressful situation to empathize with the clown. I like this combination. I am still struggling with the medium difficulty, but this is probably just me. Keep up the good work!

ForeverTrash20 Apr 2020, 02:38

@wilson-taylor Actually no I didn't, I'm about to try it out again! Thanks for the tip

ForeverTrash20 Apr 2020, 02:42

Still definitely takes some skill! Much better now knowing I have a key I can access but I still can't get past 2-3 drinks on easy mode, the timer goes down sooo quick 😂 Much more fun now that I have an idea what I'm doing,

Wilson Taylorauthor20 Apr 2020, 02:48

@forevertrash Cool! Thank you for giving it another try, and I'm glad you like it a little more! :)

mhykah20 Apr 2020, 02:56

Hilarious game! I love the music and sounds. It took a while for me to understand how it worked but once I did I played a few rounds!

Wish the text in the tutorial was a bit easier to read. It was also hard reading the textbox with the timer going down but I guess that's part of it. Great job!

Wilson Taylorauthor20 Apr 2020, 03:06

@mhykah Thanks!

kmfnj20 Apr 2020, 04:20

@wilson-taylor ideas for toning it down:

- instead of suicidal, maybe he's just sad.
- instead of a gun, have him holding a balloon that pops
- instead of serving him drinks/cocktails, have it be making different kinds of pies or something with multiple ingredients that you have

I think that could still have the same frantic gameplay folks are enjoying, but just wihtout the subject matter and maybe appeal to a different audience. Thanks for hearing me out! 😎

Wilson Taylorauthor20 Apr 2020, 05:19

@kmfnj No problem! If I revisit this game I'll keep this in mind, make the game more accessible! Thanks!

Alex Mulkerrin20 Apr 2020, 05:37

Difficult game here, at least on easy you can win just by talking to him. I had problems getting the cannon to fire, the button seemed to be obscured by the buttons on the itch.io interface. Still I liked the sound design.

Phlip4520 Apr 2020, 06:20

Really liked this one though it was dark. Just wanted to mention that I see what you did there. Clown, IT, like the movie. I know explaining the joke is faux pas but I didn't put two and two together for quite a while. I think that removing the memory aspect by not having to look in the book and it just showing on screen would make it a little more enjoyable for me personally, but it makes sense if you were trying to make it difficult.

OfirMa8520 Apr 2020, 06:49

Amazing game! Very intense gameplay, the music fits perfectly!

Fizzget20 Apr 2020, 07:27

Quite a difficult game but there is definately a learning curve. My note pad of cocktails is helping!

Dpeet120 Apr 2020, 08:14

Enjoyed the game, and I really liked the idea.

Reino Angelo20 Apr 2020, 08:54

The graphics and gameplay of the game is really niiice and it reminded me of the old bartender game back in the flash days haha awesome work but i think its quite difficult and a little overwhelming reading the text and mixing drinks but other than that love the concept :)

Dinaharison20 Apr 2020, 13:12

A little bit stressful but i liked the concept, this clown does not like the russian toothbrush :laughing:

dhim20 Apr 2020, 20:44

Man that stress!
I got lucky on the first try as i knew the cocktail. Was harder on the second when you have to read two things at the same time. And not just hmm hmm at the guy!
I love the panic of doing 3 thing at the same time, the cognitive work load is intense and the music is keeping you on your toes.
> The recipe book is unreadable in the good way ( hard to read at first, meaning you have to focus even more )
> The script is very good, I must try a text based game next time!
> I don't like the canon though. It feel off ( i mean it goes well with the clown, but with the bar...) its input button is supposed to represent what ?
Having visual cues would maybe help making it less frustrating, I mean I am one hell of a bartender I know how to use it, and it would make one more thing to look at.

Amazing entry. Wish you the best

Wilson Taylorauthor20 Apr 2020, 20:47

I'm straight up overwhelmed by the positive feedback, thank you so much everyone!

@dhim those are really good notes! If I revisit this at any point, I'll have them written down!

lesinvisible21 Apr 2020, 23:31

Nicely done, I liked the core mechanic and quirky theme play. Best LD46 game I've seen so far.

22 Apr 2020, 09:37

I find it slightly hamfisted that a game about a clown committing suicide has to have a big disclaimer about suicide hotlines in the description, something about that feels a bit disingenuous, but I digress.

The idea of the game is interesting, but playing it felt a bit tough. Difficulty curve was clever and I respect the game for what it is, disregarding the bizarre contrast between "ha ha funny clown suicide" and "suicide isn't a joke."

Wilson Taylorauthor22 Apr 2020, 20:32

@anonymous, previous commenter

I feel that. Honestly I do.

But I'd rather have a small bit of unpleasant and strange contrast below the game area than to hear that someone found this game right before blowing the big one and think that I didn't try to say anything about it.

I mean, this is a DARK game, let's be honest.

AnarchoApathy23 Apr 2020, 04:55

my big takeaway is i know less about cocktails than i thought... really well done overall and on the difficulty curve especially. that usually goes out the window with these compressed dev cycles. i didn't manage to beat nightmare yet but i feel like i found the rhythm and its doable

Wilson Taylorauthor23 Apr 2020, 08:07

@anarchoapathy allow me to be the first to say that Nightmare Mode IS DEFINITELY NOT BALANCED TO BE DO-ABLE

PLEASE, I beg you, there are other great Ludum Dare games to play, do not take the ungodly amount of time it would take to beat Nightmare Mode!! D:

But I'm glad you like it!! :)

Rodrigo Denúbila29 Apr 2020, 15:23

Nice game. I went in easy mode and was hard already. Cocktail cannon was to hard to hit the target. Good job!

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