Critter Catchers

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.19
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.23
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.03
Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.58
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.00
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.25
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.24
Hello~! This was my + my team's first game jam ever! We wanted to make a party game that is cutesy but with deception mechanics inspired by games such as Hidden in Plain Sight.

We learned a lot as first-time jammers and first-time game developers! Multiplayer doesn't quite work, but you can still play solo and catch the NPCs :)

The team: four software developers and one 3D artist (who was so clutch in making the cutest tiny creatures)!
Everything was made by us except for the audio/BGM!

Check out the itch.io for more details about the game as well as instructions: https://skonoms.itch.io/critter-catchers

==Details from the itch.io page==

Critter Catchers is an entry to the Ludum Dare 56 game jam (https://ldjam.com/).

Plot: you are a sentient critter among a crowd of NPC-critters. There are other sentient critter-players, but you have no idea who they are (nor do they know who you are). Discreetly collect energy to power the crane to take out your friends to become the last critter standing!

If the YouTube video claims to be private/unlisted, you can view it directly (YT clobbered the volume of the music and sounds 😭): youtube.com/watch?v=WhWs6idGC7A



How To Play:

Controls: WASD or arrow keys to move. Left click on the mouse to deploy your crane when you have full energy (as indicated by the battery bar).

When you run the game, resize the window to be smaller. The battery sprite should be in the bottom left corner.

To play - press Host (Server + Client) in the top-left corner. If you use a relay service like Hamachi or port-forwarding, then you can play multiplayer (not guaranteed to be working)!

Once you're in (for real), try to figure out which character you are as subtly as you can!

Technical Details:

KNOWN BUG: You will need to start the host, stop it, and then start it again to get the game working properly. Not sure why!

Another bug: there's multiple cranes on the screen. I dunno why.

This project is built in Unity 2022.3.48f1 with networking backed by Mirror.

The game is buggy! - thank you for playing this game with an open mind!

The Team:
This game was put together with love by Rodrigo (artist), Karl (dev), Shen (dev), Irwin (dev), and Liz (dev moonlighting as an artist's intern). This is our very first game jam, so thank you for your time!

Additional Credits:
BGM - Pixel Playground from Uppbeat, license code: XEURHI7IZQHJ6NZ5
Royalty-free sounds from Pixabay.

Comments22

Theresa7 Oct 2024, 23:55
This is so cute I love the goobers
hubol
hubol8 Oct 2024, 02:34
The characters are adorable!
LDJam user 08 Oct 2024, 02:43
Nice concept and artstyle! I followed instructions but i think game didnt started properly
thatscooljack8 Oct 2024, 04:14
looks cute but I couldn't seem to control anything :(
dinobobbo
dinobobboauthor8 Oct 2024, 04:24
@thatscooljack thank you and yes! In the instructions there's a known bug - you have to click 'Host Server' and then click 'Stop Host' and then click 'Host Server' again to get it to work! Not sure why it's like this as it doesn't happen in the unity editor itself :( I hope you can give it a go!
haogege
haogege8 Oct 2024, 06:29
Its painting style is very cute! But no matter how I operate, no small man follows my operation... I don't know who I am anymore
dinobobbo
dinobobboauthor8 Oct 2024, 07:04
@haogege thanks for the feedback! That is the intention of the game :)) it makes more sense in a multiplayer game where everyone has to figure out who they are controlling and to avoid giving that information away to the other players by pretending to be an NPC.

You also can accidentally grab yourself with the crane! So there is a good chance you knocked yourself out ^__^
Mitsukoy
Mitsukoy8 Oct 2024, 13:48
The game looks very cute but i couldn't do anything ...
dinobobbo
dinobobboauthor8 Oct 2024, 18:16
@mitsukoy thank you and yes! In the instructions there’s a known bug - you have to click ‘Host Server’ and then click ‘Stop Host’ and then click ‘Host Server’ again to get it to work! Not sure why it’s like this as it doesn’t happen in the unity editor itself :( I hope you'll be able to give it a go!
Kseniya
Kseniya8 Oct 2024, 22:20
I had fun! I'll continue playing this game
Oduvanic9 Oct 2024, 08:46
Very cute graphics and characters! Very cute! but I didn't understand what to do in how the gameplay goes..... But you guys are great
NikitaStarostin
NikitaStarostin9 Oct 2024, 22:37
The idea is cool, but my character got stuck after I pressed the bullet. The graphics are cartoonish and cute. for jam trying to implement servers is a strong idea. Well done!!! But for the flaws, 7/10. Next time please emphasize during the jam on the playability of the build!
dinobobbo
dinobobboauthor9 Oct 2024, 23:27
@nikitastarostin Thanks for the feedback Nikita! In the instructions and comments there’s a known bug - you have to click ‘Host Server’ and then click ‘Stop Host’ and then click ‘Host Server’ again to get it to work! Not sure why it’s like this as it doesn’t happen in the unity editor itself :( I hope you’ll be able to give it a go!
dinobobbo
dinobobboauthor9 Oct 2024, 23:28
@oduvanic thank you! Yess if we had more time I would have loved to flesh the concept out more to be more clear - it's basically a deception game where no one is told which character they are, but you have to find out on your own and then discreetly take out your opponents! If multiplayer was working, the goal would be to eliminate your friends before they take you out, since the NPCs can only pick up batteries but not launch the crane themselves :)

Thank you so much!
TavEVIl10 Oct 2024, 04:03
Love love love the character design!
apparently I'm not very good at posing as NPC..

but I had fun regardless!

Good job! really hope you guys are able to fully flesh out your ideas for this down the line
Ghatazorg
Ghatazorg10 Oct 2024, 20:55
Super cute but I didn't understand how to play :'(
LDJam user 277851
LDJam user 27785111 Oct 2024, 12:37
Doing multiplayer on gamejam is definitely the most ambitious goal.
You guys have already done a great job!

(here is a doodling for you)
Slippie11 Oct 2024, 15:51
@ghatazorg Thanks for the feedback Ghatazorg! In the instructions and comments there’s a known bug - you have to click ‘Host Server’ and then click ‘Stop Host’ and then click ‘Host Server’ again to get it to work! maybe give it a go again and see if it works for you!
Cam Moore
Cam Moore16 Oct 2024, 15:01
I didn't get to try the multiplayer but thats super cool. Fun little game almost feels like something to be in Wario Ware or Mario Party!
john-wuller16 Oct 2024, 23:14
Fun concept, but it seems like you need more than one person to play. The concept reminded me a lot of Panoptic. It's a fun game if you have more than one person!
Valmontechno
Valmontechno19 Oct 2024, 14:00
Very nice graphics. But the game has a lot of bugs (characters moving upside down or not at all) and I couldn't really play.
Found a bug?
Tell us on Discord