The flame of life

by taran-unraveler

co-authored: @aposs

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.00

Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.99

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.30

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.39

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.73

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.02

Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.85

1 GAME 2 JAMS

Ludum Dare 46 and Nordic Game Jam were taking place at the same time. So we decided to use the theme from both the jams to make a game. The themes were:
- Ludum Dare 46: *Keep it alive*
- Nordic Game Jam: *Everyday magic*

Why don't we keep alive the everyday magic that is the light of life?

QA:

1. Why the emojis? The initial idea was to put 6 items around the map and choose 3 of them randomly to become the things you like in this life. So, to keep the light of life alive you had to pickup only the things you liked in this run. Unfortunately, we ran out of time for the Nordic Game Jam and we left the placeholders.
2. Can you send me the fire particle effect? Just google `youtube unity fire`, the first result is what you're looking for. For the sake of credits, the video is from `Sirhaian'Arts`.

> __________________________________________
> # The highest score is `195` by @captaindreamcast!
> # Let me know if you do any better in the comments!
> __________________________________________

Leaderboard:

1. captaindreamcast 195
2. trezza 187
3. aposs 176

____________________________________________

Tags: #2d, #arcade, #singleplayer, #unity

Genres: survival

Tools: Unity

Comments54

Gerbo19 Apr 2020, 21:39

nice particle effects on the player! other than that, the game has one main mechanic, which is pretty straightforward. the game gets a bit repetitive as time goes on, maybe some different types of obstacles or perhaps enemies could have been good

croze20 Apr 2020, 08:45

Ayyy I got 111, for a second I was unsure if I was ever going to lose but I think it slowly speeds up? Cool game!

Snory20 Apr 2020, 09:29

Thank you for your entry.

I wish I could done this type of particle effects on my own, it was really lovely. If you are willing to share, write my, I would love to learn that.

Even thought the music in pleasant it game me vibe of the "adventure" which was not going hand in hand with the game.

For me it was frustrating that the happy emoji were generated in a way that there was no way to collect them all. You know the song? "I want to be the very best, like noone ever was. To catch them is my real test.." - simply, i want to catch them all!

Good job anyway, thanks.

LocksmithArmy20 Apr 2020, 18:49

I liked the fluid motions and how easy it was to control.

raguel20 Apr 2020, 19:48

The game lacks visuals. Adding proper background would make the game totally different. Also changing smiles to something more meaningful will also be good. The concepts of dying light is really good. Reminded me of dark souls for whatever reason :v:

Galgris20 Apr 2020, 20:07

Nice. A bit tricky at first to figure out the controls, but then it felt smooth. I like it.

A slightly deeper meaning than in my game, where it's enough to stay away from evil firefighters to keep the flame alive... :sweat_smile:

cjgammon20 Apr 2020, 20:34

118 was my high score. nice little game. took a second to figure out what i was trying to do, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty addictive.

AstroLabe20 Apr 2020, 20:37

Good idea but the flame feels "heavy" on the controls, you feel all the inertia of the fall when you want to jump

MrVarren20 Apr 2020, 20:40

I like the global mood of the game! The inertia is a bit heavy/slow though, but that's a really addictive and fun game! Congrats! :)

Linx20 Apr 2020, 21:20

Nice effects and gameplay! The flame particles and glow is a very good way to indicate your hp, in the end I was like "oh no, don´t go out yet please!". The gameplay "justification" was a bit weak though, maybe a bit too abstract to pick up happy faces/emotions, maybe you could have picked something more physical to do the same, it felt a bit like a placeholder. Good job though!

tuesi20 Apr 2020, 21:23

Cool game, at first its hard to get into because the controls are a bit strange, but after a while I got into the groove and the game became pretty fun. Great Job!

Foo - Squashed Games20 Apr 2020, 21:24

I really like this game :D

DeSpiciestBoi20 Apr 2020, 21:24

The emojis are a bizzare addition, but other than that a fun time waster

HuvaaKoodia20 Apr 2020, 21:42

Simple designs can work, yet care has to be taken when there are only a few moving pieces. This time the speed-up seems somewhat cheap as the controls stay the same. Keeping the speed constant and adding in more obstacles (and taking out the positive orbs as you seem to be doing already) would suffice.

The music is aspirational, but also sounds a bit off key at times. The flame would look better if the particles were rendered in world space, i.e leaving a trail behind the core rather than rotating on the spot.

Well, it works and there are no bugs, so... a successful jam title!

gquibao20 Apr 2020, 22:54

Nice game! I loved the music and the sound effects. The visuals are pretty good. The emojis are a little weird but I don't see it as an issue. The mechanics worked really good and I had no trouble with bugs, so that's great. Overall, great entry!
I really thought I was going to beat your score, but than it got really hard.
Congrats!

matt272820 Apr 2020, 23:17

Reminds me of flappy birds a bit. Nice fire art but I was a bit confused about the smiley/frowny. I guess it worked thought because I figured out I was supposed to touch the happy faces. Congrats on a good project :)

MeHigh20 Apr 2020, 23:20

Reminds me of old games i used to play on the phone :)

Euforia Games21 Apr 2020, 00:02

Nice game idea!

Thompson21 Apr 2020, 10:54

Good Job

valisse2121 Apr 2020, 12:37

The idea of keeping the fire alive is great, but I think it would be nice, if it would lead it to something more deep and meaningful. Anyway, the physics feel really nice and the gameplay is very straightforward. But the emojis look really strange there :) I think it would be nice to implement something more suitable to the game atmosphere instead of theme and maybe some more other obstacles/traps. But good job and, congrats!

valisse2121 Apr 2020, 12:37

Owinmowe21 Apr 2020, 17:39

I like it. A simple concept but a fun one.

nickavv21 Apr 2020, 19:03

Like others said it's a pretty simple concept, and yet I spent more time with it than with a lot of other games in this jam! I got 125, the controls are very fluid and once the speed gets high it's all about keeping an eagle-eye on where the next smily face is. Not a lot to look at but I had fun, great entry!

Pusheeneiro21 Apr 2020, 19:51

Nice little game, but too easy in my opinion.

MantarayTV Games21 Apr 2020, 20:49

It's a bit too easy, but I like the particle effects and the graphics in general. Fun little entry.

Also @pusheeneiro I see you there ;)

Nikola 002021 Apr 2020, 22:08

I like your flame particle system tho the controls are a bit to heavy but it's a good game. Good job :thumbsup:

Ncadieux22 Apr 2020, 05:57

Fun game, I am a sucker for good flames in games. Music was pretty good too.

Reiqy22 Apr 2020, 07:23

Nice game. On my second run I couldn't believe how slow the game is at the start :smile: It's a funny twist on Flappy Bird. Maybe there could be a score multiplier according to the size of the fire.

Bastian Bresson22 Apr 2020, 07:43

Good job finding a game idea that fit both LDJ and Nordic Game Jam. It is a nice little challenging game.

Geryon Games22 Apr 2020, 13:24

The controls feel nice and the particles are beautiful, but I agree with @valisse21 in that the emojis don't super fit your game. Overall, great submission!

Trezza22 Apr 2020, 14:37

Yeeeeeeeeeeah, I did 187, now I'm the champion, no one will ever beat me!! Nice game, nice job.

stanlkm22 Apr 2020, 15:41

I like it links to feeling sad/happy everyday, good work !

CaptainDreamcast22 Apr 2020, 16:37

195, it took like 20 tries, but I wrestled it away. My heart is pounding here, near the end I was in that position where you're really hunched to get as close to the screen as possible. I really wanted to get to 200 but I'll take what I have, that last run was peak luck for me.

So yeah, very hype game, the feel of it felt very polished, I never felt that I lost because of the controls. There were different ways to play the game, especially after the 150 mark where things really get wild, that was great. I personally experimented with either staying in the middle, or sticking to the bottom (in the end I felt the middle strat worked better). The visual design felt very clear, I liked that even as a small flame you still had a chance to see the green emojis in time. Very good job on your entry!

ciaccodavide22 Apr 2020, 17:29

Very challenging!

Needs a battle royale mode. :rofl:

Niels22 Apr 2020, 23:58

A little bit challenging, Don't really like that some pickups are placed really close to each other.

Kate9024 Apr 2020, 14:30

It took me a while to understand how jumping works. I'm still not sure what was jumping, emojis or spark? Way of keeping a fire alive is original, nice thought!

InsanityCode24 Apr 2020, 20:11

I like the flame and its visuals. But these emojis... :scream:
At some point it seemed pretty unfair when collectibles spawned really close to each other with no way to get the good ones only.

Cjblobby24 Apr 2020, 21:55

Cool graphics and audio, however the vertical velocity was too difficult to overcome by jumping, maybe make it bigger or set the velocity rather than add to it (like flappy bird). Good game overall though

VectorWolf25 Apr 2020, 11:44

Cool game but really challenging!

ryzy2725 Apr 2020, 12:58

Nice, polished game. My top score is 147, it was too fast for me after that :D

Music is nice and if you have managed to add textures, the mood would be awesome.

You have nailed the controls. It's a bit hard at first, but you can master it after playing for a while.

Great! Cheers!

GOD COLO25 Apr 2020, 18:27

This game is super fun! Really like how the emojis are the enemies! :smile:

FPGames25 Apr 2020, 22:11

Nice little highscore game.. The fire particles were amazing..The music is really good as well.. Good job!

Gaming Night25 Apr 2020, 22:13

Funny little game, it made me think about an old helicopter flash game I used to play when I was younger. Not so original, but efficient!

dasilvacontin25 Apr 2020, 22:14

Tough game, fun because it's challenging! Good job!

Reisn25 Apr 2020, 22:23

Nice that you combined the themes of both game jams. Pretty fun minigame! Got 89

Magnanix27 Apr 2020, 10:37

Very fun little challenging game :). Love the idea of the intensity of the flames being your life/health. The emojis sort of threw me out of the immersion, but made understanding the game a lot easier :P.

Nice work!

eduardogacn28 Apr 2020, 06:18

nice game, good job!

NaBo36929 Apr 2020, 10:04

Neat little game, hard but fair!

kjscott29 Apr 2020, 10:31

Fun little game, I kept going at it to see how good I could do. I think my final score was about 150 on my best run. My only suggestions would be it would be nice to see final score after you die in the game and when you start a game to press space to start after reading the message or have the instructions as a separate button in the main menu.

kjscott29 Apr 2020, 10:31

NiHuShu29 Apr 2020, 21:50

Cool idea to combine two jam themes. With a few updates it could be a cool mobile game. Tho around 150 points it becomes a lottery rather than skill based game but still I really enjoyed it :D

Dave Follett30 Apr 2020, 02:41

The game has a flappy bird kind of feel to it, the flame looks great. One suggestion would be to leave the score on the screen after you die. Great job.

fabula_rasa7 May 2020, 19:10

This game is kind of addictive! I found myself restarting and trying again and again.

As nice as the fire particle effects was, it was kinda unfitting to the emojis. Something more drawn, cartoony would work much better. Or maybe if you made your emojis from pixel art - the divide between styles would not be so big.

Graphical incongruities aside, I had fun with this little game! The gameplay really has something charming in it. Well done!

Amerigo Gazaway11 May 2020, 15:45

Interesting concept and take on theme! Lol at the emojis, curious to see what would be there in place of them. The music is nice, I think the gameplay might be better/easier if you don't die when touching the ceiling. Nice work