Tiny Creatures
This is a very small game prototype. I'm a solo dev focused on learning to scope what I can design and build within a limited time frame.
The game is focused on a single core mechanic, placing signs to direct the tiny creatures away from harm and guiding them to their destination. I was able to implement all the core mechanics I defined up front as well as a few that I discovered were essential along the way. It is otherwise deliberately simplistic in visual style and makes no effort to provide any notion of replay value. One simple level to mess around in to validate the core concepts of the gameplay, that's it. I do find it pretty entertaining to whistle at the creatures though.
Some ideas of where this could go include:
* Limited number of signs available to complete a level
* Different coloured creatures that only respond to different coloured signs
* More types of signs, for example one that makes the creatures jump over obstacles, or one that causes the creatures to stop and wait for another whistle before proceeding
* Additional hazard types and other obstacles, such as rocks that must be jumped over or navigated around
* Unique characteristics for different coloured creatures, for example some might move at different speeds
* Additional interactions for the player while the creatures are moving, such as needing to interact with a button that can raise/lower a lift to help the creatures proceed
Now the question becomes, is the game idea any fun? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
The game is focused on a single core mechanic, placing signs to direct the tiny creatures away from harm and guiding them to their destination. I was able to implement all the core mechanics I defined up front as well as a few that I discovered were essential along the way. It is otherwise deliberately simplistic in visual style and makes no effort to provide any notion of replay value. One simple level to mess around in to validate the core concepts of the gameplay, that's it. I do find it pretty entertaining to whistle at the creatures though.
Some ideas of where this could go include:
* Limited number of signs available to complete a level
* Different coloured creatures that only respond to different coloured signs
* More types of signs, for example one that makes the creatures jump over obstacles, or one that causes the creatures to stop and wait for another whistle before proceeding
* Additional hazard types and other obstacles, such as rocks that must be jumped over or navigated around
* Unique characteristics for different coloured creatures, for example some might move at different speeds
* Additional interactions for the player while the creatures are moving, such as needing to interact with a button that can raise/lower a lift to help the creatures proceed
Now the question becomes, is the game idea any fun? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
Comments25
I'd make a preview of the sign being placed and maybe ability to snap to grid as it was a bit hard to control it precisely.
@richjbaron I do have one small fix that I didn't get around to which was to actually have the creatures move towards the centre of the sign after hitting the area of influence before changing to face the direction the sign is pointing. I think this would help a lot with the precision problem. But then I'm wondering if this as a 3rd person puzzle game actually even makes sense or if it makes more sense for it to be isometric or even just straight up 2D? This is why prototypes are so much fun to play around with and learn from!
Needs more time in the oven. Great entry for a jam though!
- Need add a fuction to remove only one flag
- Add more tables types (teleport/tramploline/accelerator and etc)
- Need to thing about table placement, be more intuitive and easier
- And add more obstacle content.
- It would be great if the signs could be placed based on the camera view rather than the character’s perspective.
- A 'forward' sign at the start would be helpful, since I'm not the best at calculating rotations, haha.
Overall, great entry! Well done!"
I like a lot of the future ideas you listed as well. If I was going to make a game like this, my assumption was that it would work best as a top down thing, without any real player character, but I think your last idea above, about manually interacting with buttons and things, is very interesting and worth exploring.
Other people have mentioned controls and things, and I agree, but if you keep working on this at all, I'd be interested in seeing how it turns out!