Ludum Dare #51compo

Compulsive Jousting

by mavvy

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.94

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.85

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.61

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.96

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.99

Audio★★★★★★★★★★4.18

Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.52

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.87

Story

> You've been a competitive jouster your whole life. Today, you have found the ultimate prize: The Golden Lance! It is powerful enough to defeat its opponents in one go, but at a cost: you must win all of your battles within 10 seconds or it will take you back in time to the start of the battle! Are you up to the challenge?

Controls

> Mouse - Click to pick a place to charge to.

Credits

> Everything made from scratch by me.
> Thanks to Matt and Evan, my best friends IRL who put up with my near-constant Discord group call.

Notes

> As per the rules of LD, the source code for the game can be found as a download on the itch page. You're more than welcome to check out the inner workings of my chewing gum and duct-tape engineering.

Edits

> Also as per the rules for Ludum Dare COMPO, any and all changes made during play+rate will be noted below.

FIX: Fixed off-by-one error that causes crashes in level select mode.

POST-RATING FIX: Fixed another off-by-one error where the game wouldn't load the 10th level's star status correctly from the save.

Tools: GameMaker

Comments29

LDJam user 2789182 Oct 2022, 19:48

Cute idea, and a lot harder than I expected! Great job!

Paroxysmal3 Oct 2022, 02:19

Very very polished. Fun and stressful (in a good way)

Nicholas Maddalena3 Oct 2022, 02:21

I like this one! It reminds me a bit of 10 Second Ninja. I could absolutely see myself getting lost in this game just trying to really optimize a route through different levels

Nate9543 Oct 2022, 04:01

Omg I love this so much! The level design is really good, I love how getting the star on some levels feels almost like a puzzle. I found myself trying to beat levels in the fewest clicks possible too. Awesome game!!

eerongal4 Oct 2022, 01:20

This is a pretty good idea. Takes a moment to get a handle on the controls, but once you do it becomes a pretty unique puzzle game. Great job!

LDJam user 2788274 Oct 2022, 05:09

Love the music and presentation so much, the idea was cute and fun too. Very satisfying puzzle design. The stars were a nice bonus challenge if it got too frustrating as well, very smart for the jam.

retrowillgames4 Oct 2022, 18:16

Super fun game. Level design was great. Ended one level with 0 on the clock which was satisfying and exhilarating. I went back and got every star after beating all the levels. I think the art could use a little bit of polish. Just a few extra tiles to add a bit more interest. Overall one of my favorites, followed you on itch :)

Jimbly5 Oct 2022, 03:25

I really like being able to observe and think a bit before the timer starts counting down =). Really nice game, an impressive amount of levels, really cool level select screen with animations and tracking which stars you got, fantastic details =). Graphics and audio also very nice.

Allie Vera5 Oct 2022, 04:08

I couldn't help but bob my head to the music even as I gnashed my teeth trying to mow down hapless opponents in time. Really fun game! I have a soft spot for the design for the scared lancer opponents, I just want to give them a hug (after I run them through to escape the time loop).

cogcomp5 Oct 2022, 17:01

Played this a similar joust game on my C64 the other day (the game was called "Joust"). This is a really nice adaption of the same idea and properly modernized with cute graphics, nice music and easier controls. I really liked it. Well done in a well executed game idea!

M4ttU5 Oct 2022, 20:14

Fun little game! Love the level select and the Clear message. At first, I found the controls a bit annoying because of the "lack" of pathfinding but then I realized that it was my job to do the pathfinding :laughing:

Well done!

Sublustris6 Oct 2022, 06:29

Nice game! Cute gfx style. Looks very polished and complex, 5/5.

sterco_raro6 Oct 2022, 16:06

Very fun, very polished game!

La bread7 Oct 2022, 03:18

Maybe because im a fast and cool gamer but I didn't see the point of the 10 second timer and variety of enemies? Still kinda fun with how easy the movement is.

Paul Avallone7 Oct 2022, 05:18

Amazing art and music worked so well together. I found it a little weird that none of the enemies did damage to you if you hit them at the wrong angle and there wasn't really anything to avoid unless you wanted to go for a star. The enemies didn't feel different enough so the levels started to feel a little samey. Still had fun playing though. Level select is a nice touch. I loved how responsive all the UI is. I really love the concept and it would be really cool if you continued development on this.

Shibaya8 Oct 2022, 09:26

Interesting concept! Had fun playing it! Good job!

commanderstitch8 Oct 2022, 20:33

So awesome with art, graphics, sound, level design, flow, stars, glory, love, honor, jousting, armor, happiness, color, sophistication, yeah. great stuff.

johnnysix9 Oct 2022, 00:28

Great job, really slick work for a compo game, especially down to a nicely featured menu and some banging music!

I found the jousting a little slow on the acceleration, with the later levels too, it'd be awesome if he could ricochet off things, or you get a combo bonus for doing a bunch in a row without bouncing off the walls or something?

Lincoln Sin9 Oct 2022, 06:02

Wow I liked it a lot. This is such polished work. Great animation and great sound design. Not to mention the multiple soundtracks! Very simple idea, but very well executed!

StvUP9 Oct 2022, 06:40

Nice and solid game! Music was really really good!

ZwodahS9 Oct 2022, 12:16

The star/collectible is a great addition. If you want to take it, the path that you need to take is sometimes different from the default path.

Congrats on the submission. ! :)

Diego Escalante10 Oct 2022, 04:06

I had a good time. I wish there were more levels! But I enjoyed the variety of environments, the optional stars, and the level select menu. It made it easy and tempting to go pick up the stars I missed. :) Visually, the game is wonderful, I love all the bright colors and crisp sprites. Nicely done all around!

chispaLBC10 Oct 2022, 15:22

cool game! Got all stars and it is fun to play so congrats!

LDJam user 30124510 Oct 2022, 15:25

This was a solid game and I enjoyed the challenge. This is a viable vertical slice of a potentially great little casual game here with lots of scope IMO. I feel it would be a great fun time passer particularly on mobile platforms :)
Overall, a very well delivered submission with some cute graphics and easy to pick up gameplay, a key mechanic conforming to the suggested theme, and all done delivered in 48 hours... Sir, I salute you!
Thanks for making :))

robeecodes10 Oct 2022, 20:43

This is so awesome, the movement, graphics and audio were great and I even dipped back in after the story mode to get all the stars

Let's go! :100:

sulfur cretin11 Oct 2022, 20:23

Really goofy game that's a bunch of fun, all of the times to get the star were really good. Always with only a second or two left, making it feel more hectic

Talops11 Oct 2022, 20:42

The most important criteria when reviewing compo games is polish, and man, does this game have some! I am extremely impressed!

I am the type to write more spicy critiques than average in these streets and yet I find it difficult to grasp at anything; everything is rounded out and nicely finished. The clean pixelart direction, the destructively juiced-up UI, the top tier audio for a compo game, the consistent fantasy that reminds you of 16-bit sonic game moods... You know exactly what to concentrate on in a compo game and it shows.

Oh right, I found something to complain about!

I want more of this.

:smirk:

Huge congrats!