Machine Yearning

co-authored: @powerlanguage
Overall★★★★★★★★★★4.53
Fun★★★★★★★★★★4.61
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★4.71
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.21
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.90
Audio★★★★★★★★★★4.31
Humor★★★★★★★★★★4.31
Mood★★★★★★★★★★4.13

Machine Yearning


![screenshot.png](https://welldweller.github.io/machine-yearning/)

You are a robot applying for a job. The poster of the job wants to keep humans from applying. To do this, they have prepared a captcha system with a new captcha _every 10 seconds_ that only robots should be able to solve. Can you keep track of the language you're building, or will your tiny human brain collapse under its own weight?

Play the game here.

Hints


It might be nice to figure this out on your own, but if you're getting frustrated: during some rounds, _you're_ defining what the colors and symbols mean. Just make sure you can remember them for future rounds in order to prove you're a robot!

Credits


* Frontend -- @powerlanguage
* Gameplay -- @daniel-username & @powerlanguage
* Music & FX -- @daniel-username (https://soundcloud.com/d-a-n-i-e-l-2-3)
* Ate hot pockets -- @madlee

Source Code


https://github.com/WellDweller/machine-yearning

Mobile Compatibility


The game should work on mobile!

Comments19

Grandblood3 Oct 2022, 17:41
Cool concept and art. Pretty challenging to figure out first. Liked it a lot. Nice Job!
DrummerManSam3 Oct 2022, 17:42
Really cool and interesting concept where eventually I got to a point I couldnt keep track of the different language and got all messed up lol but I like how simple it is and how well the graphics and music fits the game. Nice job!
Gryph0n4 Oct 2022, 00:21
This game had me rolling with laughter, it felt like learning a foreign language! What an amazing concept!
Michelle Olson4 Oct 2022, 03:55
I am absolutely in love with this game and am pretty proud of how far I got :P the theming is so funny and it really does feel like learning a new language. So unique and so clever - amazing work!
42Xiao
42Xiao4 Oct 2022, 05:51
So great! I loved the artwork and the gameplay is so fun! The music can be too naughty lol, I'm obviously not up to the job.
asbjorn4 Oct 2022, 20:06
This might be the best Ludum Dare game I've played thus far. Really original concept, and it's fun too! It's pretty, and it's well executed. Well done.

I love the name.

Are there more concepts than just colors of shapes, if I would get further? I hope so.

Brb, gonna go play another round.
jeppetp4 Oct 2022, 20:13
Yo, this game is amazing! I tried it once, and got this high score!

Now i think i need a break, but definitely saving this for later :)
asbjorn4 Oct 2022, 20:14
Just turned on sound, and the music slaps too!
const_arch
const_arch4 Oct 2022, 21:28
ahhh I noticed I was almost at 100 and immediately died

That was a good time, really simple but it works so well. The shapes were easy enough to figure out some association with, same with the early colors, the later ones where it forced the name on you were tricky, but in a good way. This game really packs a punch for its complexity level! The music slaps, too.
PepJo5 Oct 2022, 20:14
I loved the game! congratulations :) I must admit it took me a couple of lives to get what was going on, but once I got it I really got into it
vidarn
vidarn6 Oct 2022, 15:21
Very fun, very funny! A great and original idea, well executed. I like how confusing it felt at first, but after a while, you can pick out “croogh wraagi” in a second and feel like a true machine 😆
Doot
Doot6 Oct 2022, 16:37
This was absolutely fantastic. I love the idea, I love the execution, I love the music, the sound design, and I love me a good ghibu rudour.

It's really cool that the game needs no explanation and you understand after a few rounds that when it's a new word, it's your choice.

Nothing to add here, go and release it, it's really great!

Thanks for the game I had a lot of fun ✨
Furano
Furano6 Oct 2022, 17:33
That... Is really cool!!

Great idea!! And awesome music to go with it : I was absolutely *vibing while captcha-ing* !!

À leaderboard of some kind would be an awesome addition!

I had lots of fun playing this game, simple yet really effective and challenging. Thanks @asbjorn for the recommendation!

*Edit: I agree with @doot, you could release it on a mobile platform almost as is!! *
Glacian7 Oct 2022, 12:06
Omg I found this so funny. Brilliant concept and very well executed!
ZungryWare
ZungryWare7 Oct 2022, 17:39
Interesting. It's a memory game where you have agency over what means what. I found myself trying to create some sort of mental association between the words and the picture/color. Moodist was a circle shape because your mouth makes a circle shape when you make an "oo" sound. Shonas was green because green is a relaxing color and "Shoneys" was a location in Rick and Morty where Rick felt safe in his mind. The same sorts of ridiculous pneumonic devices I would use to memorize things for tests in school.

My highscore was 89. Near the end, I usually just had to remember the shape *or* the color, since there were so many shapes and colors selected that there was often only one option of that shape and color. I think you could make it get difficult earlier by making it so that in the later stages, it will more often limit itself to only three or so different shapes.

Creative idea! Nice work!
JMad
JMad7 Oct 2022, 18:10
You deserve so much more love.

This is such a beautiful and fascinating idea. It reminds me of the language aptitude tests (LLAMA) I did a few month ago, to assess how good one is at leanring a new language, with sentence structures, grammar rules etc through pattern recognition. The way the brain works to make up rules without really being told anything is fantastic, and this game is an absolute ode to it.

Couldn't help but read your feedback, @zungryware. It's a meta-level of fun, analysing why we associate one thing to another. You might enjoy going through the LLAMA tests I mentioned above, I had a blast going over why I had ease with this or that.

Back to our captchas. It's simple, it's addictive, it looks just great. Loved to see the timer in the background and the colour gradiant.

I managed to get 69 rounds in!
Turquoise Moon
Turquoise Moon7 Oct 2022, 22:25
I really love this! It’s so interesting! I think it’s really cool that you define everything. It’s nice it works on mobile too.
crimson671 Nov 2022, 13:09
I got 237, is there an end? It says that you can pass.

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