Ludum Dare #51compo

CARAVAN

by p-r

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.04

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.04

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.30

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.65

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.54

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.04

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.54

Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.94

Protect the caravan against the demons using boulders.

Every ten seconds the player is allowed to place a boulder by clicking the left mouse button.

https://p-r.itch.io/caravan

Post compo:

- Pause menu requires escape button to restart the game, thus avoiding accidental restarts.

- The player can either place a boulder in an empty space, or shoot a demon. By shooting a demon, it spawns additional two at the bottom.

Hopefully this adds an extra strategy element since the demons eventually breach the barriers and thus the player will rely in some sort of luck not to get caught.

Tags: #arcade

Genres: action

Tools: Phaser

Comments20

mak_niker1 Oct 2022, 17:02

Pretty fun to play, i felt some tension

LDJam user 2993521 Oct 2022, 18:47

very interesting concept with a big field for additional mechanics :)

LDJam user 3037161 Oct 2022, 20:06

Great game, had fun!

vipbasil1 Oct 2022, 23:48

cool mechanics. nice game.

LDJam user 2930462 Oct 2022, 07:45

I liked how more creatures joined when you placed rocks.

DavidBradbury3 Oct 2022, 04:13

Good tug and pull of mechanics. Thought I was being clever by not placing rocks to reduce spawning enemies, but then I noticed the caravan wasn't moving! Fun arcade-styled game, good work.

jaykayey3 Oct 2022, 04:13

really enjoyed the concept. My heart started racing every time a new monster popped up. I definitely tried to find the best spots to place the blocks. Good job!

LDJam user 3007453 Oct 2022, 11:35

Great game! and slooooow caravan... I tried to keep a line of rocks but there were more and more monsters breaking it. Once the line fell, it was only a matter of time for my caravan to die.
Maybe you could give more than one rock every 10 seconds.

Pixelydian5 Oct 2022, 17:12

I like the simple controls! And you have a pause button! Neat concept, and I liked the randomness of the demons. Like one time one started rushing towards the caravan and I had a mini heart attack, but then he ran back to the bottom. :laughing: Good job!

JakobTheQuizGuy5 Oct 2022, 21:16

Simple game with a great concept! The music is nice.

Ben Barsdell8 Oct 2022, 00:22

This is an interesting concept. The 10 sec timer made it feel very slow, and once the number of demons grew large it became inevitable that they would reach the caravan, but I like the overall idea of placing boulders to block them in. Maybe the player could be given one block to place per demon? The movement of the demons also felt very random and even when they had a clear path it seemed that they would take a long time to reach the caravan. The graphics are simple but clean, and the music is very chill. Nice work!

p-rauthor8 Oct 2022, 20:30

@ben-barsdell the idea to place as much blocks as demons is very nice indeed thank you

Usenrame8 Oct 2022, 22:25

Great game concept, and I like procedural part of the game, definitely enjoyed

Taximan9818 Oct 2022, 22:38

Very cool, figuring out the AI and learning where the best places to put blocks was fun. Music reminded me of dwarf fortress which is a bonud 100 points, great game!

LDJam user 1472279 Oct 2022, 13:41

Cool!
I can watch the camel jiggling all day :D
caravan is too slow, but the demons aren't the smartest creatures as well
I enojoed playing it, especially the music!

Lukuluk9 Oct 2022, 14:46

So sad I miss-right-clicked! :sob: It would be better to use the Escape button (or a button in the top right or left corner) to switch a menu on/off!

I had the same feeling as @ben-barsdell , and the proposed solution looks really nice!

Also I really liked the song choice, giving some lighness to the game experience :)

p-rauthor9 Oct 2022, 19:37

you are correct @lukuluk, the menu controls were sloppily designed

hungryroy10 Oct 2022, 05:51

It was interesting to try to figure out the best place to put blocks. Early on you want to stop their progress, because once they break through to the top half there is so very little protection. That caravan moves like those NPCs on escort missions lol. Surprisingly enjoyable entry despite the simplicity.