Ludum Dare #50compo
Guardian Angel
Theme Summary
In this game you play a guardian angel trying to delay the inevitable things that happen to people. You cannot possibly delay them forever but you can attempt to hold these things off as long as you are able.
Gameplay
The game is a hand/eye coordination challenge. You have to use your mouse and try to keep within the safe area while it moves around the screen. Each time you go outside you lose resources you need to keep delaying the inevitable. There are multiple levels and the difficulty ramps up on each playthrough.
Game Design Notes
I wanted a game mechanic that reinforced the theme. The best way I could think to do it was to have something that you would eventually fail. The goal being to delay the failure as long as possible.
Each level is also a scenario that applies to the theme. I tried to give each scenario a pattern, sound and animations that worked together to create a separate concept in each one.
Each playthrough increases in difficulty which means that you have a reason to keep going if you find the game enjoyable. It gets harder and harder as you progress.
Tools: Unity
Comments31
PeteyWoufes4 Apr 2022, 16:29
Nailed the theme, well done!
BubakGames4 Apr 2022, 16:32
Nice simple game.
oneowerse4 Apr 2022, 16:35
The idea is great unusual, I like it as a workout for the eyes :eyes:
I held it up to 12 seconds max
I held it up to 12 seconds max
LDJam user 2735574 Apr 2022, 16:42
Ooo I really like it! Simple idea but really well executed. The number of different levels really bumped it up for me
Papaya4 Apr 2022, 16:44
I like the various scenarios that complement each level, and how the core game play adapt to the scenario as well. For some feedback, I feel like it is better to use keyboard controls instead of mouse imo.
m114 Apr 2022, 16:55
Absolutely fits the theme - great job!
blockerz4 Apr 2022, 16:58
@jd557 @mcmuniz I am glad to hear the number of levels was good. I wanted to do more but I felt like I had illustrated the concept and wanted to move on to polish.
@papaya I thought about keyboard controls but was thinking it would make it a different game. The balance would have to be changed and the directions you can move more limited. It is a good idea to explore though for sure.
@peteywoufes Thanks! I put a lot of thought into the theme and how best to get a mechanic and mood that supported it. I felt it was hard with this theme because most games you inevitably lose so taken broadly it applies all over. I wanted to try to get a more direct interpretation as much as I could.
@bubakgames @oneowerse Thanks for playing!
@papaya I thought about keyboard controls but was thinking it would make it a different game. The balance would have to be changed and the directions you can move more limited. It is a good idea to explore though for sure.
@peteywoufes Thanks! I put a lot of thought into the theme and how best to get a mechanic and mood that supported it. I felt it was hard with this theme because most games you inevitably lose so taken broadly it applies all over. I wanted to try to get a more direct interpretation as much as I could.
@bubakgames @oneowerse Thanks for playing!
Garazbolg24 Apr 2022, 18:46
Such is a simple idea has no right being this fun !
The variety from level to level really kept me engaged. And the jokes .. THE JOKES ! The Alarm clock and taxes hit too close to home for me.
I used to play osu! so the age level was easy for me whereas the dishes one was really hard with its tight turns and random direction. I don't know if a ramping difficulty would be better, tho.
Great job !
The variety from level to level really kept me engaged. And the jokes .. THE JOKES ! The Alarm clock and taxes hit too close to home for me.
I used to play osu! so the age level was easy for me whereas the dishes one was really hard with its tight turns and random direction. I don't know if a ramping difficulty would be better, tho.
Great job !
caudatecoder4 Apr 2022, 20:40
I love your take on the theme with simple and clear visuals and some sfx and music!
Gameplay gets repetitive quite fast but it's kind of the point and I still had some fun with it. Especially with those very relatable "inevitable things", haha
I was recording my playthrough of your game so here’s a link in case you’d like to see it
Your game starts at 6:36
Gameplay gets repetitive quite fast but it's kind of the point and I still had some fun with it. Especially with those very relatable "inevitable things", haha
I was recording my playthrough of your game so here’s a link in case you’d like to see it
Your game starts at 6:36
blockerz4 Apr 2022, 21:43
@m11 Thanks for the comment. I really wanted to hit the theme as close as I could.
@garazbolg2 I am glad you found the humor in it. It is hard to know how people will take it. As for the ramping, each time you go back to the main menu and begin again the difficultly increases. You may mean within the levels which also would make sense. My thought was to order them by difficultly so the patterns are that ramp. Which patterns are hardest seems to vary among people though. Please let me know if I missed the point there. Thanks for checking it out!
@caudatecoder I appreciate the recording and talking through it. That is very helpful for feedback. Thanks for doing it! I had thought about tax day being different around the world so that one is U.S. centric for sure.
@garazbolg2 I am glad you found the humor in it. It is hard to know how people will take it. As for the ramping, each time you go back to the main menu and begin again the difficultly increases. You may mean within the levels which also would make sense. My thought was to order them by difficultly so the patterns are that ramp. Which patterns are hardest seems to vary among people though. Please let me know if I missed the point there. Thanks for checking it out!
@caudatecoder I appreciate the recording and talking through it. That is very helpful for feedback. Thanks for doing it! I had thought about tax day being different around the world so that one is U.S. centric for sure.
jk50005 Apr 2022, 08:16
The idea is simple and pretty fun. It do feel like a small mini game, and I wish there was a bit more contend. Overall an okay little jam game.
blockerz5 Apr 2022, 15:36
@jk5000 Thanks for trying the game. I was definitely inspired by mini games like Wario. It would have been cool to do a variety of mini games for each level.
I wanted to give multiple attempts for the mechanic in different patterns. For this attempt at LD, I also wanted each level to have polish through unique animations and sounds along with a background music track. That was the place I focused my efforts on content. I agree that more gameplay variety would be fun too.
I wanted to give multiple attempts for the mechanic in different patterns. For this attempt at LD, I also wanted each level to have polish through unique animations and sounds along with a background music track. That was the place I focused my efforts on content. I agree that more gameplay variety would be fun too.
munkkeli6 Apr 2022, 14:48
A very unique idea and great implementation. As other have already said, the variety in levels really makes the game fun. I also appreciate that every level comes with its own set of graphics and sounds! Makes the game feel really polished. ps. I could not get the game to load on Firefox, but switching to Chrome seemed to fix the issue.
clemonades6 Apr 2022, 15:21
This was great! Simple unique idea that you can finish in time and polish. Each level is unique and there's more variety than I was expecting. Great job!
blockerz6 Apr 2022, 15:26
@munkkeli Thanks for checking out my game and commenting! Since you also had used Unity WebGL, did you have to do anything different to support Firefox?
I had thought the builds would work in all major browsers. If not, then I will look into if there is something specific I am doing to break Firefox. I just starting using WebGL about a month ago.
I had thought the builds would work in all major browsers. If not, then I will look into if there is something specific I am doing to break Firefox. I just starting using WebGL about a month ago.
blockerz6 Apr 2022, 15:35
@clemonades Thanks for playing! I am glad the variety in the levels was sufficient. I had a lot of fun with them.
szym6 Apr 2022, 18:26
Nice little game. fit the theme neatly. I liked the visuals and the different little story it brings on each challenge.
Well done :)
Well done :)
munkkeli6 Apr 2022, 18:26
@blockerz No, I only selected WebGL as a target. I think Unity should handle the compatibility between browsers too, but there might be some bugs with the implementation... For me, it seems to throw an "Uncaught DOMException: The operation is insecure." error. If I, however, disable the built in tracking protection the game seems to load just fine. So I think this is a Unity problem, and not an issue with your game. :slight_smile:
zantze6 Apr 2022, 20:00
Interesting idea, and it fit the game well. Great little entry!
theslate6 Apr 2022, 20:52
Great idea. It kind of reminds me of towlr style games except it tells the player what to do. Good work!
blockerz6 Apr 2022, 21:52
@munkkeli Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the information.
@zantze Thanks for checking it out! I am glad you enjoyed it. I was curious how you generated your maps so I was checking out your source today. I really like procedural generation. I have participated in the 7 day roguelike challenge every year since 2014. Last year I made a turn based procedural zelda-like and this year a turn based spy hunter where I generated roads. I have been interested in trying 3D map generation.
@theslate Thanks! I had not heard of towlr so I looked it up. It seems like something I would be interested in for sure. I learn new things every game jam!
@zantze Thanks for checking it out! I am glad you enjoyed it. I was curious how you generated your maps so I was checking out your source today. I really like procedural generation. I have participated in the 7 day roguelike challenge every year since 2014. Last year I made a turn based procedural zelda-like and this year a turn based spy hunter where I generated roads. I have been interested in trying 3D map generation.
@theslate Thanks! I had not heard of towlr so I looked it up. It seems like something I would be interested in for sure. I learn new things every game jam!
LDJam user 2345677 Apr 2022, 14:31
It is a good game to improve your skill with the mouse. At the beginning I didn't expect to find such a wide range of levels.
Helen7 Apr 2022, 22:20
On my first try I didn't see the "next level" button, then I saw all the comments like "wait, what?".
So I played all the levels. Nice entry!
Music fits very well, the graphics are simple but match to the rest.
It's cool that you have so many levels.
So I played all the levels. Nice entry!
Music fits very well, the graphics are simple but match to the rest.
It's cool that you have so many levels.
blockerz8 Apr 2022, 15:38
@helen Thanks for stopping over to check out my game too! I have a friend that had the same issue with the Next button. I should have colored or highlighted it.
This was my first jam using vector art. It looks like you had some experience with it. Let me know if you had any suggestions there.
This was my first jam using vector art. It looks like you had some experience with it. Let me know if you had any suggestions there.
DzejPi10 Apr 2022, 19:39
Very nice little game! Impressive amount of levels. For some reason, I missed the "Next Level" button the first time, but thankfully, I read the rest of the comments and found out that there was much more than the first one. :) I like that every level is telling some different story. Great job!
blockerz12 Apr 2022, 15:36
@dzejpi Thanks for the feedback! It sounds like the Next button in the corner was a more common issue than I realized since you are the 3rd person to mention it. I should have highlighted it better. I also had the message at the end of the level in the upper left which takes your eyes there. I am glad you caught it and tried all the levels.
@oneowerse @jk5000 @bubakgames The last couple of commenters mentioned they missed the Next button and almost didn't see all the levels. I wanted to confirm if you had a similar issue based on your comments. Thanks.
@oneowerse @jk5000 @bubakgames The last couple of commenters mentioned they missed the Next button and almost didn't see all the levels. I wanted to confirm if you had a similar issue based on your comments. Thanks.
bentglasstube19 Apr 2022, 23:42
This was a really nice little minigame thing. The funky shapes later on keep it from getting too repetitive. The music, sound effects, and artwork for each stage really added to the polish.
Jupiter_Hadley2 May 2022, 13:20
Very challenging game! I included it in my Ludum Dare compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/QO-q-Xmgol0
I was surprised by the amount of levels and the dificulty curve, I just kept thinking "OK, this must be the last level, it can't get much crazier than this" :)