Recycling War

Ludum Dare EXTRA Jam 58 entry

LD58 Theme:

Collector

Resume:

Multiplayer game for two players.

Goal:

Load the containers with waste made up of different materials.
Choose the right containers for each type of material to earn points.

Versus:

Each player must recycle more trash than their opponent.

Coop:

Players must try to get the highest score by recycling as much trash as possible.

Controls:

Keyboard controls

Blue player: arrow keys and CTRL.

Red player: WASD/ZQSD and SHIFT.

The gamepad controller works on some PCs but not on others.

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A game by _Five Cyclops_
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EXTRA: Unfortunately, we were unable to post the game in time to participate in the Jam due to a compilation issue on Unreal. We were able to publish a version in the days that followed, but unfortunately we missed the deadline to officially participate in the game jam, which is why we put the game in the EXTRA category.

Tags: #3d, #arcade, #local multiplayer, #multiplayer, #physics, #top-down, #unreal engine, #versus

Genres: action

Comments31

STLrain7 Oct 2025, 05:29

Link doesnt work

breadstick7 Oct 2025, 05:42

unfortunately the itch link shows a 404--are you sure your link is live and public?

Zeq7 Oct 2025, 05:58

Sorry, when I click the link, I get a "We couldn't find your page" on itchio...

0x0961h7 Oct 2025, 07:52

404 on your link :(

FiveCyclopsauthor10 Oct 2025, 00:15

The link works again.
So we're not in the Jam, but just participating as EXTRA.
There's still a bug with the co-op score.

QingJing_Zheng10 Oct 2025, 09:46

I played this game with my friend! It is really interesting but for versus we find it hard to ensure what we can collect, the control is a little hard, Push and grab mechanism may be better? But overall this is an awesome game!!!

huihang10 Oct 2025, 13:51

Interesting game

Rogaro10 Oct 2025, 17:27

Interesting game, but the controls are quite tricky and clunky. When turning around, there's a chance of scattering items all over the map

LDJam user 28199410 Oct 2025, 17:47

When I downloaded the game, it said a virus was detected 😅

Kapricorn Media10 Oct 2025, 18:04

I think the idea for the game works, but the controls are kinda clunky and maybe the physics for the recyclable things are sometimes too floaty. It did give me a chuckle, so I did enjoy it!

FiveCyclopsauthor10 Oct 2025, 18:05

@alexandra-suprunovskaya Windows Defender don't find Virus on my side...

FiveCyclopsauthor10 Oct 2025, 18:13

The controls worked much better with the gamepad, but the change in the Unreal version for compiling broke the gamepad controls.
Overall, the physics are a bit wonky, but it works more or less and is still fun.

FiveCyclopsauthor10 Oct 2025, 18:15

I posted a new version of the game that fixes the score in co-op mode.
But the game is still more fun in versus mode...
Co-op mode was added in a hurry at the end of the project, and there are quite a few things missing to make it really fun.

stefaink11 Oct 2025, 20:52

Wish that was in my room

FiveCyclopsauthor12 Oct 2025, 12:22

@alexandra-suprunovskaya I updated the zip file. Can you tell me if you still see it? What antivirus software are you using?

l6ria12 Oct 2025, 13:47

I really like the idea of the game, it's cool

Graf12 Oct 2025, 16:20

My partner was my cat, but he didn't understand the controls and I won it easily, thanks for the experience!

FiveCyclopsauthor12 Oct 2025, 19:34

@0x0961h We updated the link even though we were outside of JAM, so the game is now in the EXTRA category. Feel free to try out the game.

FiveCyclopsauthor12 Oct 2025, 19:34

@zeq We updated the link even though we were outside of JAM, so the game is now in the EXTRA category. Feel free to try out the game.

FiveCyclopsauthor12 Oct 2025, 19:35

@breadstick We updated the link even though we were outside of JAM, so the game is now in the EXTRA category. Feel free to try out the game.

FiveCyclopsauthor12 Oct 2025, 19:35

@stlrain We updated the link even though we were outside of JAM, so the game is now in the EXTRA category. Feel free to try out the game.

Kit Gorn14 Oct 2025, 16:42

The idea is interesting in principle. But it needs some improvement. I haven't tried it with two players, but it's not very enjoyable to play solo. A sharp turn sends everything flying, ruining all your efforts. It would be nice to make the turn smoother. And fix the scoring, otherwise nothing's counting.

FiveCyclopsauthor14 Oct 2025, 19:09

@kit-gorn The controls are indeed very stiff. The game was designed for gamepads, but a change in the Unreal version during the project meant we lost the gamepads (which had smoother controls).
Indeed, objects are catapulted in absurd ways, which is linked to problems between the physics engine and the fact that players control non-physical vehicles.
However, points are only counted when a container is full and leaves. This is not a bug...

Elfb0y17 Oct 2025, 00:15

This was a really fun idea for a multiplayer game. The recycling theme fits the Collector prompt in a clever way, and I liked how it could be played competitively or cooperatively. The chaos of trying to grab and sort trash made it pretty funny, especially when everything went flying after turning too fast. The physics felt a bit wild at times, but that kind of added to the charm. It definitely seems like it would shine most with two players and smoother gamepad controls. Nice concept overall, and I’d love to see it polished further.

AlwaysHungry18 Oct 2025, 17:09

Great idea! Since I don't have a partner, I can only play by myself, haha. But it feels like playing soccer with four goals! Also, I wonder if your inspiration was influenced by waste sorting?

FiveCyclopsauthor18 Oct 2025, 22:42

@alwayshungry Absolutely!
That was really the goal, to sort waste into the right containers. Just like in a recycling center.
We wanted to focus the game on 4-players co-op, but time didn't allow us to take the idea as far as we wanted.

Ginger_Kyoko20 Oct 2025, 16:12

Hahaha, cool idea, but unfortunately, I had to play solo.
Yeah, the problem is that the turns are a bit abrupt, and all your efforts can suddenly be wasted, which is a bit frustrating.
I also want to invite you to play our game "Madness Bar" if you would like our crazy idea 😅

logicalinsanity21 Oct 2025, 17:30

I don't have someone to play with, so just leaving my thoughts based on the video. I don't mind the stiff controls. The frustrating nature kinda seems like it might be part of the fun, and I could easily see where a gamepad would feel more intuitive. But I was curious for your thoughts on if someone could "game" the system by pushing incorrect items into the other player's containers. Is that possible?

FiveCyclopsauthor21 Oct 2025, 20:16

@logicalinsanity That's exactly right. In fact, my opponent in the video does it several times. It's totally part of the game to fill the other player's containers with bad items. But when you do that, you don't fill your own containers and you even help the other player get rid of theirs. Since points are only validated when the containers leave, this can sometimes help them more than it bothers them. But this was entirely intentional in the game's design.

megalukes23 Oct 2025, 03:36

I always find it amazing when people manage to make multiplayer games like this one. I really enjoyed the game, especially because it fits the theme perfectly. It’s a shame you guys couldn’t deliver on time but still, great game!

Solvenoff24 Oct 2025, 21:07

Now that’s an idea :D

Impressive to code a pretty solid AI in such a short time. If I were to add anything, it’d be upgrades and boosts that help you do it faster or slow the opponent down.

Other games by @fivecyclops

★3.42

★3.56

Room of Chaos and Creation

★3.12

LD37