The Pond by SunShiranui

[raw]
made by SunShiranui for LD29 (JAM)
The Pond is a place, hidden from view, where small creatures fight for life.

They live, they reproduce, they die.

You can watch them, or maybe help them.

But in The Pond, everything starts and ends the same way: with life and death.

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Left click to move the water.
Right click to drop food pellets.
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This is a simple simulation game I made in a few hours. I usually make something with a team of people but I had an exam on the 28th, so I quickly made this instead.

How long will your colony survive?

Twitter: http://twitter.com/SunShiranui

- Behind the curtain:
For every creature born, there is a chance of genetic mutation. This increases or decreases life expectancy and is hereditary.

Occasionally you might get colored creatures. If you can get a colony composed only of those, post a screenshot!

Food temporarily extends your creatures' life. It's not necessary for survival. Make sure your first two creatures live enough to mate!

Every creature has a randomly generated name. Hover over them to see it.

Ratings

Coolness 68% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.51 178
Audio(Jam) 3.78 91
Fun(Jam) 3.01 359
Graphics(Jam) 2.82 578
Humor(Jam) 2.27 490
Innovation(Jam) 3.73 84
Mood(Jam) 4.15 31
Theme(Jam) 3.57 163

Feedback

conormn
28. Apr 2014 · 20:57 UTC
I love this game. So simple. Great idea and very nicely executed. It also has one of my favorite songs :)
Seme
28. Apr 2014 · 21:01 UTC
Wow, just.. Wow. What an amazing game. So simple, but still greates huge impact to the player, at least for me. Music was perfect to build up the mood.
Snoother
28. Apr 2014 · 21:12 UTC
Incredible. It perfects mood; wonderful minimal design and wonderful music. It's captivating too. Definitely one I'll replay later.
Custard Games
28. Apr 2014 · 21:13 UTC
Great execution of a simple concept. I know it kinda defeats the purpose of the game, but a neat trick I found was to drop pellets in the middle at a slow and constant rate. This causes them to all converge onto one pixel and mate a lot.
hexabeast
28. Apr 2014 · 21:17 UTC
Original game, and really realistic "water".
PartyBoat
28. Apr 2014 · 21:21 UTC
Super relaxing. Loved it.
Lucariatias
28. Apr 2014 · 21:27 UTC
Easy enough to continue by placing many food pellets in, but at the same time a beautiful simulation.
Water physics are marvelous and the song fits it perfectly.
Crabman
28. Apr 2014 · 21:35 UTC
Wow, that is beautiful!
Halbernacht
28. Apr 2014 · 21:45 UTC
Very relaxing and fun. Giving the fish their own names was a nice touch.
MattV
28. Apr 2014 · 21:45 UTC
wow I actually felt a little sad when all my pink ones died! So much from so little! Great job!
Halbernacht
28. Apr 2014 · 21:46 UTC
Very relaxing and fun. Giving the fish their own names was a nice touch.
drnick
28. Apr 2014 · 22:17 UTC
Very interesting and certainly innovating concept. I like the way you used genetic algorithms. Also, having water mechanics was unexpected: many of us would have just made some semitransparent blue rectangle. The music complements the game quite well. Also, what Custard Games say is true, but it won't detract from the game as you have a choice to use it or not
spartangeek
28. Apr 2014 · 22:21 UTC
funny thing
weazen
28. Apr 2014 · 22:38 UTC
Very soothing. I left it open for a while while I was doing other stuff just for the music!
dosER_42
28. Apr 2014 · 22:42 UTC
Crashed on start

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: ThePond.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 535eb84c
Fault Module Name: ig4icd32.dll
Fault Module Version: 8.14.10.2230
Fault Module Timestamp: 4cc50139
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 002092cd
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
🎤 SunShiranui
28. Apr 2014 · 22:45 UTC
Have you fully extracted the archive?
ViKing Games
28. Apr 2014 · 22:47 UTC
Relaxing and beautiful. The music fit the mood very well, and the water physics were fantastic. Good job!
Crabman
28. Apr 2014 · 23:03 UTC
Yesssssssss! http://imgur.com/xrylD01
🎤 SunShiranui
28. Apr 2014 · 23:08 UTC
Haha! Well done! :D
TijmenTio
28. Apr 2014 · 23:51 UTC
Feel so mellow now
Therrato
29. Apr 2014 · 00:55 UTC
I loved how you named them all, somehow my first 2 times they kept dieing
Thorig
29. Apr 2014 · 05:36 UTC
This game made me giggle, because the first time I had an explosion of life without food. On the second and third try the beasties died within 25 seconds and they had food and the water was moving.
rylgh
29. Apr 2014 · 07:11 UTC
lovely
Romko Pidstryhach
29. Apr 2014 · 11:27 UTC
So simple, yet so addictive! Very relaxing and cute. Nice job!
InfectionTeam
29. Apr 2014 · 11:32 UTC
An outstanding work of art!
Jared Sartin
29. Apr 2014 · 13:47 UTC
Sweet! Wonderful simplicity!
donan
29. Apr 2014 · 14:33 UTC
Nice one. Its a cool idea :D
ninjacharlie
29. Apr 2014 · 18:47 UTC
I liked this one a lot. One of the more relaxing entries :)
Almax27
29. Apr 2014 · 20:10 UTC
Wonderful mood, good choice of music, well done!
ioboi
29. Apr 2014 · 20:32 UTC
Super cool and kind of addictive entry :D
robcozzens
30. Apr 2014 · 02:28 UTC
Sweeeeet!
So peaceful and pleasant.
mcapraro
30. Apr 2014 · 04:36 UTC
really neat feel to this
iambored2006
30. Apr 2014 · 09:09 UTC
I love this! Also, thanks for making the font available, been searching for this one for months.
AmmoreChicks
30. Apr 2014 · 10:06 UTC
Nice!!!
dsoft20
30. Apr 2014 · 10:56 UTC
A relaxing good game.
I love the water physics
ZeppelinCaptain
30. Apr 2014 · 11:14 UTC
Great for relaxation. Nice and small, maybe a bit too small for my taste. More details in the system would have been nice.
Catman
30. Apr 2014 · 20:36 UTC
A good, minimalistic simulation, and the water animation is really, really well done. Great work!
zkenshin
30. Apr 2014 · 21:07 UTC
Very calming, good job (:
hbocao
01. May 2014 · 00:27 UTC
I like this. So soothing. I would totally dig if you expand the concept. Awesome entry.
anissen
01. May 2014 · 19:16 UTC
Great little game. Very tranquil :)
tomvert
11. May 2014 · 19:45 UTC
A charming and relaxing game, I love the music, you could add different pond, or the passing of seasons (I don't know). Nice game :)
King_Mew
11. May 2014 · 23:52 UTC
Beautiful but simple! I love it!
KayZ
12. May 2014 · 15:53 UTC
Nice simulation. But it was soooo sad when Uuxiu, the only child of Xikou died a lonely death, not leaving any other red creature behind. The same goes for Vivii, she never even had a parent of the same color and was always excluded from everything :(.

At one point I had 5 different colors at the same time, with white coming back. https://imgur.com/cvL28h8
gre
12. May 2014 · 17:41 UTC
quite cool.
whendricso
14. May 2014 · 04:12 UTC
Couldn't install, got an unknown error on my Android
ChuiGum
14. May 2014 · 06:52 UTC
Very simple yet entertaining
csanyk
14. May 2014 · 22:00 UTC
For black and white dots, they're fascinating to watch.
Franklins Ghost
18. May 2014 · 06:45 UTC
Nice little simulation and liked the touch of giving the little creatures names.
Diptoman
18. May 2014 · 09:48 UTC
Relaxing and engaging. The colored mutations made it all worthwhile. Has a great feel to it.
Jeremias
18. May 2014 · 20:43 UTC
Retro Aquarium Simulator 2014 :D
jorgemoag
19. May 2014 · 01:29 UTC
mood +5 thnks for making it!
jsmars
19. May 2014 · 06:43 UTC
Lovely idea!
DavidErosa
19. May 2014 · 11:31 UTC
Nice little game. I found that it fits amazingly well on my phone :)
jerombd
27. May 2014 · 15:38 UTC
Really great simulation game (but is it really game afterall?).
The audio track - Erik Satie <3 - is a nice touch