Curious Archibald by Magicolo

[raw]
made by Magicolo for LD31 (JAM)
CURIOUS ARCHIBALD

Archibald has always been a curious one. Obsessively looking to surpass his limits he went, one day, to the oracle to receive guidance on what challenge was worthy of his ambitions. The oracle gave him no less than the ultimate question to solve: "What is the meaning of life?".

Satisfied of his inquiry, Archibald went directly to the bar named "What is the meaning of life?" and asked the barman his greatest unsolved mystery. Without a word, the barman gave Archibald a glass of what seemed to be water while staring at him. Intrigued, he drank the liquid and instantly fell on the floor cold dead..... or was he really dead?


Developped for the Ludum Dare 31 event. The theme was "Entire Game On One Screen". Here is a timelapse of my development (you might want to play the game first as there are spoilers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-tumEDYPOs

CONTROLS:
-Mouse

GAMEPLAY:
-Use objects in the left panel to modify the runner's path
-Press the "RUN" button to start the simulation

TOOLS:
-Unity
-SharpDevelop
-GIMP
-Reaper

LESSON:
-It's harder to make a "too easy" puzzle game than making a "too hard" puzzle game.

Ratings

Coolness 76% 2
Overall(Jam) 3.22 500
Audio(Jam) 2.88 431
Fun(Jam) 3.18 408
Graphics(Jam) 2.42 861
Humor(Jam) 2.45 574
Innovation(Jam) 3.36 304
Mood(Jam) 2.82 668
Theme(Jam) 3.71 340

Feedback

mpath
09. Dec 2014 · 19:32 UTC
It's difficult to suss out what the icons do. Perhaps include some rollover help text or something next time. Otherwise, smart work here. Keep it up!
andrs
09. Dec 2014 · 19:38 UTC
Nice game and smart game. Really fun mechanic
Alendro
09. Dec 2014 · 20:30 UTC
Nice art. Seems like a fun game. Needs a bit more guidance
wilpel1234
09. Dec 2014 · 20:31 UTC
Good job!
MrBadIvan
09. Dec 2014 · 20:33 UTC
Nice idea!
flyingbear
09. Dec 2014 · 20:50 UTC
I loved this! It really appeals to the tinkerer in me. I've played some games like this before, but what sets this one apart is how you pick up the new pieces to work with as you progress through the level. And how you're going back and forth between setting things up to go further into the level vs. getting setting things up to acquire that one new piece.
Brassawiking
09. Dec 2014 · 21:15 UTC
Really well done! I got stuck in the upper right with the black holes and didn't figured out how to pass.

Some improvements:
1. Don't restart when you die. If you die then you always want to make some changes.
2. Make sure it is deterministic. It fells a bit random at sometimes if the runner makes it or not.

Superb work with this one!
🎤 Magicolo
09. Dec 2014 · 21:59 UTC
If anyone finishes the game, can you post you run count (in the bottom left corner)? I'd like to know how many tries it takes to get through :)
hbocao
09. Dec 2014 · 22:51 UTC
Loved the Incredible Machine vibe! Goob job!
LeReveur
10. Dec 2014 · 00:28 UTC
I like puzzles, especially Incredible Machine like, and this one seems really good. But I'm stucked just after taking the red mushroom, because unlike previous gains, no new room opened. Am I doing it wrong, or something ?
Anyways, I give you a good rate, because it's a good job you done. :)
bitapps
10. Dec 2014 · 02:30 UTC
Its look like a "maze game", nice work
TeamQuadratic
10. Dec 2014 · 06:21 UTC
Cool concept! Seems like it could be a really cool game!
Crosstales
10. Dec 2014 · 15:32 UTC
Wow, that's a cool game and idea - I like the mechanics and style!
Well done!
reheated
10. Dec 2014 · 18:59 UTC
Absolutely wonderful. A huge amount of gameplay in a small space. I appreciated the way you reused areas to make multiple puzzles. The music is great, and I laughed at the ending.

I finished it with about 170 runs. But last night I played and got too tired and gave in, and I'm sure I played over 100 runs. Put me down for "about 300". So... it's hard.
5k0d
10. Dec 2014 · 23:36 UTC
well done
Verz
11. Dec 2014 · 10:16 UTC
Really fun! I like the idea a lot. Also the music is quite nice :). Congratulations!
🎤 Magicolo
11. Dec 2014 · 18:35 UTC
Thanks everyone for you nice words. Don't hesitate to tell me what doesn't work with the game, that's how I'll get better ;)
Cyros
15. Dec 2014 · 19:53 UTC
First level is really hard, great job though!
rodobodolfo
15. Dec 2014 · 22:26 UTC
Challeging Game! vry good concept. A checkpoint system would be nice...
arzi
15. Dec 2014 · 22:37 UTC
Very good puzzle game, although too difficult to be completed while rating games. I really like the concept, it would be a good idea to expand on this!
ramyaanudeep
18. Dec 2014 · 16:26 UTC
heyy....wat an awsum job guys
ynots
18. Dec 2014 · 16:47 UTC
nice..
johnbrynte
28. Dec 2014 · 11:18 UTC
A really nice game idea, sort of a fusion of a platformer with upgrades and lemmings! It would have been interesting to merge the play mode and the build mode a bit more, like having a stream of ghosts, but maybe that's not feasible when the level is so long. More explanation of the power ups, or just making everything a bit bigger, might have helped.
NeiloGD
30. Dec 2014 · 00:51 UTC
Linux build there is no data folder, and the Windows data folder doesn't work either.