Box by ShaunJS

[raw]
made by ShaunJS for LD31 (COMPO)
Concept: A one level platformer where the player can reshape the environment. Even the game instructions and settings are a part of the level itself!

Controls:
*A/D or Arrow Keys for moving.
*Space to jump
*Right mouse button absorbs blocks
*Left mouse button places blocks
*(Alt+Enter to exit fullscreen)
*((Jump on the red exit block, to exit the game))


The game is part sandbox, with no obligation to the player to necessarily do anything until they pick up the mysterious purple block in the upper right corner. This starts the progression of the game where things get more dangerous! Continue collecting purple blocks to 'win'.

The idea I was going for was to always make everything on screen a part of the game, mechanically. So the title and control instructions can be broken apart and picked up, the volume 'bar' can be destroyed(and rebuilt!) and even your score displayed at the end of the game (which itself is a special surprise!) can be broken and altered if you want to pretend your score was higher.

Decided against putting music in the game as I felt the general feel of the game was better without anything I could have added in the time.

Ratings

Coolness 57% 3
Overall 3.90 50
Audio 2.61 608
Fun 3.66 130
Graphics 3.14 518
Humor 2.37 647
Innovation 4.15 41
Mood 2.97 512
Theme 4.32 45

Feedback

shwapps
07. Dec 2014 · 23:12 UTC
Great job! :)
tigerbyte
08. Dec 2014 · 01:19 UTC
Really neat use of the theme. Took me a while to figure out I had to dig my way down to the exit. Took me a while to figure out I could hold the mouse down to gather up more than one block. I like the "stack" style gathering.

The whole concept overall works well as a 48h submission.
The death animation also made me squee. And I don't squee.

Well done. I'll rate it properly when the judging is officially underway. For what it's worth I think it's an improvement over your last entry.
paperweight
08. Dec 2014 · 08:23 UTC
Good work mate :)
Cruion
08. Dec 2014 · 11:39 UTC
Great game! Got to see some of the development of this on Twitch. Both the game and the development was entertaining. Excellent use of the theme and great innovation.
WisdomUnit
08. Dec 2014 · 20:48 UTC
A good game. But quiet easy and short. But it was worth the 20 min
pfitzner
08. Dec 2014 · 23:30 UTC
It didn't work on my computer.

Something about a bad Cabinet?
DavidVisscher
08. Dec 2014 · 23:32 UTC
Really quite awesome!
EndingChaos
08. Dec 2014 · 23:34 UTC
Haha wow fantastic entry. extremely creative
Rene Damm
08. Dec 2014 · 23:36 UTC
Cool idea. Great execution. Most literal "Entire Game on One Screen" execution I've seen so far. Quite fun when you realize that what appears to be the main menu is already the game. Cool idea with the building mechanics.
Nobuyoshi
09. Dec 2014 · 00:15 UTC
Great game, simple and fun! It's Awesome!
Odefus
09. Dec 2014 · 00:48 UTC
I love how you can pick everything apart. Took me a while to figure out how to escape the spawn. Makes good use of the theme. Solid little sandbox to play in.
MintArcade
09. Dec 2014 · 01:19 UTC
Bit tricky at first, but once understood - that a cool game.
Paperscraps
09. Dec 2014 · 01:24 UTC
Great use of the theme. Very fun game.
Integershift
09. Dec 2014 · 02:56 UTC
Enjoyed the stream really well done with the game pretty innovative as well.
Diventurer
09. Dec 2014 · 05:49 UTC
I like how simplistic it is. It's ideas like this one that I wish I had when working on Ludum Dare. My game was too ambitious (again!) and couldn't finish it on time.

I followed your livestream, and it was interesting to watch on my second monitor.

To have different screens, by making the boxes dissappear and reappear is very nice. As for how the game looks, I have to admit it looks much better on fullscreen than in a small screenshot. The colours show much better.

I really like how one enemy appears every time you get a point.
oranebeast
09. Dec 2014 · 07:57 UTC
I really like the matching technique.
aaronjbaptiste
09. Dec 2014 · 15:08 UTC
Nice idea man! Didn't even realize I could destroy everything until I reread the instructions. Really liked it.
leoxdnardo
09. Dec 2014 · 15:58 UTC
Awesome!
Rodaja
10. Dec 2014 · 15:59 UTC
It was weird how sometimes I could "break" some squares and not others.

Fun mechanics, I think with a little more variations in colors people would paint different levels with it.

good job!
🎤 ShaunJS
10. Dec 2014 · 17:42 UTC
@Rodaja, the only 'indestructible blocks' are the ones that make up the purple "end game" area in the top right. It was the one concession I made to the "everything can be broken" rule. I don't like that I had to do that though and on reflection would like to see if there'd be a way I could still allow those blocks to be broken. It's an interesting problem.

Thanks for playing!
yokcos700
10. Dec 2014 · 17:55 UTC
The means of exiting the game is very unique; I like it. In fact, this game is innovative in almost every way except the title. I have not played nor seen such a sandbox game and I really rather like what it brings to the table. Graphically, it's very clear what everything it; red moving things are hazardous, everything else is fine (that I saw) and in terms of audio, it's solid (although music would be nice)
BabaJaga
10. Dec 2014 · 19:14 UTC
Looks like the author was thinking... (•_•) ( •_•) ⌐□-□ (⌐□_□) outside the box.

Yeeeaaaah
Boracho
11. Dec 2014 · 09:26 UTC
Oh man, really clever use of the theme. I don't think I need to tell you about the art, haha. Super fun game, and a great entry!
EthanWebster
11. Dec 2014 · 17:01 UTC
Great game!
KedumeBits
11. Dec 2014 · 20:07 UTC
Very nice concept and execution. Congratulations.
GrabenGroup
11. Dec 2014 · 22:47 UTC
great work. i love the endgamemechanics ^^
i learned the very basics of game maker with your tutorials. our game was made up with a lot of your code/ideas.
thank you for that. :)
AMS
12. Dec 2014 · 01:35 UTC
This is really cool, a blast of creativity, good job!
Taunia Sabanski
12. Dec 2014 · 01:35 UTC
Solid handling of the controls, could move and jump really easily, nice and smooth. :)

The gameplay is really awesome and unique, I haven't seen anything like this yet, this LD. I enjoyed being able to break down the scenery and figure out my own pathways towards the purple squares while strategically trying to avoid the red enemies.

I could probably sit and play this game for hours. :) The only thing I could possibly suggest would be music and more/larger/different levels post-LD. I feel like this game could hold way more content, and it could be a really massive, ever-changing thing. :)

Fantastic work! :D I really loved it!
Yarek
12. Dec 2014 · 01:40 UTC
One of the best games I've seen so far. Really unique and very well done :D
Sharky
12. Dec 2014 · 01:51 UTC
AWESOME and innovative game! Could desperately use some music though and maybe a way to more stylize your graphics? like maybe making them look like lego blocks?
Florent
12. Dec 2014 · 09:11 UTC
Had to Ctrl+Shift+Delete to exit the game. It didn't even responded to Alt+F4...
Cool game anyway !
JayCee23
12. Dec 2014 · 13:27 UTC
It was a good game. Then I clicked on exit. Then it was a great game. Then I realized that volume probably worked the same way.
Blew my mind, man.
🎤 ShaunJS
13. Dec 2014 · 01:36 UTC
@Florent, you have to dig to the red exit button to exit! I know it's a little unclear though :(
jojocanard
13. Dec 2014 · 15:40 UTC
Awesome idea, awesome system.
Really nice animation system, particularly the death scene.
I didn't make it to the end yet, but I will !
PIXEL^3
14. Dec 2014 · 07:49 UTC
I watched this game played in a stream beforehand and it felt really cool and novel, but then when I came to play it for myself I found that the novelty had worn off and it wasn't as fun as I expected.

I get that the purple blocks are completely optional and I could just opt to build a castle instead but their presence makes me want to collect them which spawns the hazards and after hazards are present it stops feeling like a sandbox. It's worth noting I'm not the kind of person to build castles in minecraft either so maybe it's just not my cup of tea.

-AlucardX60
Andrew
17. Dec 2014 · 09:07 UTC
Wow fun game! It gets really intense towards the end. Hah! That was a brilliant adaptation of the theme. Good stuff Shaun! :)
johnbrynte
18. Dec 2014 · 22:39 UTC
It took quite some time for me to understand that you could only place/remove blocks in close proximity, didn't really get why though. Perfect take on the theme and a very nice game overall!
InToGames
20. Dec 2014 · 19:30 UTC
Nice concept! I would have liked to have been able to see my sphere of influence -- took me a while to work out why I couldn't affect certain blocks (derp!) Well done :D