The Race Against Death

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.85
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.68
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.55
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.03
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.79
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.41
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.61
EPILEPSY WARNING: THIS GAME HAS MILD FLASHES!

deathSpin.gif
The key to staying alive is to stay ahead of Death. After all, once Death catches up to you, you die. So that's the name of the game. Outrace him for as long as you can, but beware - Death catches up to everybody.

The game consists of a simple track you navigate in a loop, your score is your "age", or laps. At the beginning you'll get a head start against Death, but your lead will inevitably shrink, as Death's AI is simply to repeat your best lap over and over, akin to an unfair Mario Kart ghost. You can get better laps to get farther ahead of Death, but every improvement only makes your lead more difficult to maintain.

The scenery will change as you "age" - Will you live a long, fulfilled life, or will Death catch up to you early?

Control information available on-site

PRO TIP: If you wait a long time before finishing your first lap, Death will be forced to wait that extra time after he spawns, and you can use it to gain a huge lead. I recommend you do this if you'd like to see all 5 tile sets, reached by age 64, however it can make the game somewhat dull.

Tools used: Notepad++, Freesound.org, Audacity, Aseprite

screenshot

Comments19

Izokia
Izokia20 Apr 2020, 22:38
THIS GAME MAKES ME GO YES! The quality of control is amazing! Im so glad I found this. Pixel art and control reminds me of Mario Kart Deluxe for the gameboy SP and the it easily hits the theme. 100% no doubt my favorite so far. Only complain, THE DANG GHOST BEATS ME! AHHHHHHHHHHH! Replayablility is a certainty. Great job with this one.
PxGluz
PxGluz20 Apr 2020, 22:41
Really enjoyed the concept, survived till 24, couldn't help but always be alert when the death was closing in on me.
vrerabek
vrerabek20 Apr 2020, 22:41
Loved how the environment changes. I didn't quite understood how to survive longer, but still played for longer than I wish to admit. The sound efects are great btw!
IzzyPizzy20 Apr 2020, 22:43
Pixel art IS VERY GOOD and very nice concept of the theme. The controls is very polished. This game is VERY GOOD
Tednesday20 Apr 2020, 22:44
Made me have an existential crisis 10/10
Norris Eldridge20 Apr 2020, 22:58
Loved this one! Really like the graphics and the audio. Death's laugh is perfect. Really challenging too! Well done!
LDF Productions
LDF Productions20 Apr 2020, 23:18
Loved this game! Awesome idea, first time I died at 18 :( like the controls, reminded me of Micromachines from the Sega Genesis, so cool!
Gray Fustos21 Apr 2020, 01:26
Awesome concept, loved the details like number of frames +/- you were (from death)
sayumeki
sayumeki21 Apr 2020, 03:36
Very polished execution of a creative concept, I enjoy it a lot!

I feel the controls were very tight and it was the right level of challenge where I could usually turn fast laps but had to be cautious not to get complacent. Does the course get more difficult as life goes on? I think that could be an interesting mixup.

I like how you also caught the strategy of sandbagging the first lap to gain a lead - I did the same thing.

One GUI improvement I'd like is a more persistent lap time counter - I saw the +/- frames to best lap flash every lap but I had trouble reading it in time while staying focused.

Great work!
Foursay
Foursay21 Apr 2020, 04:02
Very cute racing game! the pixel lamination for reaper is fantastic lol
Aditya Kumar
Aditya Kumar21 Apr 2020, 04:03
I'm horrible at racing games, so take this with a grain of salt, but I had difficulty adjusting to the controls. Mostly that "W" mad my character goes left. But I loved the interpretation of the theme and the audio
Salmonmeagarauthor21 Apr 2020, 04:08
@aditya-kumar I also wasn't really satisfied with the controls, the whole "up goes right" thing is probably my biggest dissatisfaction with the game. Sorry it hurt your experience!
cannedveg
cannedveg21 Apr 2020, 04:20
Killer sound design and pixel art! Definitely reminds me of Mario Kart!
Kent Reese
Kent Reese21 Apr 2020, 04:23
Honestly scared me that first time. Nice little racing game
Shaolin Dave
Shaolin Dave21 Apr 2020, 06:17
In general I like games that keep the controls simple, so thanks for sticking with simple WASD.
I actually really like that you used a stearing-type control for this. Seems strange but it still worked out.
I loved the aging character and changing scenery, too.
peterfiftyfour21 Apr 2020, 07:24
This was awesome! the controls were great. I'd love to see some different tracks with corners and stuff!
I lived a good life
itsonrandom21 Apr 2020, 08:13
Neat concept, like how the environment changes as you get older. Did death speed up/become a better driver as you get older, or did I just get worse? Was a nice touch if so! Controls were good, I found the car seemed to drift a bit which made steering a bit harder, but otherwise really enjoyed it! Great entry
PeteyWoufes21 Apr 2020, 08:58
Interesting concept, and I love the art! Controls weren't as tight as they could have been. Theme has been matched and implemented well. Good job!
MisterKeefe23 Apr 2020, 18:48
Good entry. Solid link to the theme and executed really well. Impressive to do this all in vanilla.js without using a framework!
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