LichLoop

co-authored: @wheybags
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.59
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.61
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.73
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.47
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.55
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.52
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.17
Its a game! Not a great one this time, but that is OK. It isn't an original idea either, but it was fun to implement. This was the first time we've used Unity for a Jam, and almost the first time that Tom had used Unity at all.

Goal:

Use the thralls to collect the orbs. Make a stable loop and don't bump into other thralls or fall into pits. Complete the objective before your thralls run out of energy.


Controls:


- WASD or Arrows: Move thrall
- Backspace or E: Undo last move
- R: Restart current level
- 1-4: Change to a different thrall (also resets that thrall's memory)
- 5: Observe mode
- N: Start next level (once you win)

Hints/Stuck?:


A lot of the strategy is just about choosing where to waste time, and for how long.

Development Info:


- Engine: Unity
- Language: C#
- Graphics: Aseprite

Credits:

- Music - Memoraphile @ You're Perfect Studio via https://opengameart.org/content/spooky-dungeon
- Dungeon ambience - JaggedStone @ https://opengameart.org/content/loopable-dungeon-ambience
- Font - PixelMush @ https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/fonts/pixel-font-tripfive-64734
- Buttons - Kenney @ https://kenney.nl/assets/ui-pack-rpg-expansion

What worked:


Ben: It was a healthy jam! I got enough sleep and managed jam stress well.

Tom: I really enjoyed making some pixel art for the jam. It's the first time I used my own pixel art in a jam, and I normally don't make any of the art so that was really nice. My sleep schedule wasn't as great as Ben's unfortunately. It was nice to get a feel for Unity too, as I've not used it much before.

What didn’t work:


Ben: I am still getting used to using Unity in a team with version control. There were a lot of times when prefabs, tilemaps and editor settings would change even when nobody pushed a change to that file. I'm sure there is an explanation.

Tom: Same as above. Also in general not that impressed by unity vs custom engine for a small project like this. Spent a lot of time messing around in GUIs for what would be a few simple lines of code with a basic rendering library.

Team:


- Programming, Design, Art: Tom Mason (wheybags) / https://wheybags.com
- Programming, Design: Ben Buckton (abregado)

screenshot
Tools: Aseprite, Unity

Comments22

WiredSound
WiredSound5 Oct 2020, 17:22
Great concept and cute pixel art - really enjoyed!
Aimainiac
Aimainiac5 Oct 2020, 17:27
I liked it! But, the collisions of the thralls seemed to be a bit iffy.
wheybags
wheybags5 Oct 2020, 17:41
@aimainiac Yes, I think there's an issue where if one thrall is about to move off a tile, you can't move into that tile on the same turn because it's not empty yet. It should be that the thralls are processed in order, but I'm not sure if that's working right. Visualising each turn for each thrall could make that easier to understand.
CodeForJoyCaro
CodeForJoyCaro5 Oct 2020, 19:35
Like the music and the pixel art - simple but good. Playing it was a bit frustrating though. And the font is not so easy to read.
MohamedSaid5 Oct 2020, 19:36
good idea i really liked the concept ,just need some polishing to be more good to play
Peter Jonsson
Peter Jonsson5 Oct 2020, 19:40
This game is a well-executed implementation of an amazing concept. It took some time for me to get used to the mechanics, but I enjoyed every second of it. Very well done!
GammaRomeo5 Oct 2020, 21:07
Fun game! Took some time for me to get used to the mechanics. Later on realized that you had to wait a bit with one of the thralls to allow the other one to pass safely. I found quite innovative. I would probably like more stronger feedback as to the fact that hitting the thralls on each other is not good. Nice job overall!
Nocity
Nocity6 Oct 2020, 02:55
Cute style and nice puzzle design. Wouldn't have thought you could make such interesting gameplay with the concept of running around in circles :thumbsup:
Viut6 Oct 2020, 03:14
The puzzles are really well thought out, pixel art is also looks really clean.
Dr_V
Dr_V6 Oct 2020, 10:26
Simple and clean art (font is a bit too simple under smaller resolutions), simple music, nice implementation overall.
DaSpikeyBoss
DaSpikeyBoss6 Oct 2020, 10:28
Really fun game with great levels and art.
beardywombat
beardywombat6 Oct 2020, 10:33
Had fun with puzzles. The collisions when thralls tried to move into a vacating tile was annoying. An indication of who will move first or allow parallel movement would be nice
kovalok6 Oct 2020, 10:37
Nice pixel art and nice puzzles. Rerouting thralls felt hard and it was better just to start over because the new ones just blocked everything. Good job overall though. :slight_smile:
Danae6 Oct 2020, 12:32
Neat puzzle game, takes some time to think out your strategy, but fun!
Tomssuli
Tomssuli8 Oct 2020, 17:23
Nice puzzle! Music and presentation fit together. I would have liked to choose any thrall in any place any moment and not totally reset it, but maybe it would have become too easy.
blobo
blobo8 Oct 2020, 17:34
Oh cool, I love the puzzles! I definitely think the second to last level was harder than the last level! I love the artwork and the music is great too! Wonderfully done all around.
vladeeg8 Oct 2020, 17:39
Cool puzzle, would be cool to play on a mobile I think!
Thomas Volpato
Thomas Volpato8 Oct 2020, 17:48
5/5!!! nice game. The level are smart I think you could give some more levels and publish on some store
Arad HamidSamiee
Arad HamidSamiee8 Oct 2020, 17:58
Brain twisting game with good looking sprites and nice sound effects. well done people
Samuel Hollywood-Summers
Samuel Hollywood-Summers9 Oct 2020, 16:04
An interesting concept, and consistent aesthetic. I enjoyed solving the puzzles up until the 5th, which I lost patience for. I noticed in the comments that this bug is already known, but it would be nice to be able to jump onto a square that another thrall is leaving in the same step. If you hadn't declared that the idea is not original, then I would have thought it was, I've not seen gameplay quite like this before. A great submission, which I enjoyed playing!
Matootsy
Matootsy11 Oct 2020, 17:39
I like this kind of puzzle game. The fact that you are making paths for differents characters is perhaps not enough to match completely the theme, but this is a very good concept anyway. The retro style is clean. In level 4 I found this bug where the two characters knock out when they are close, even if the respective paths don't overlay. But whith some improvements it must be a nice small game.
naali
naali14 Oct 2020, 03:40
Nice job, I liked this a lot. It seemed easy at first but at level 5 had a jump in difficulty for me. Took me some time to beat that level.

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