Mondrian Madness by ThatOtherPerson

made by ThatOtherPerson for LD26 (JAM)

Try to eat as many squares as you can without being eaten yourself. You can only eat squares with a lower level then you, and the level is indicated by the color. Use the arrow keys as the controls.

This is the first time we've written a game, and we enjoyed doing it. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to remove all the bugs, so many are still left. It's somewhat unfinished, but we might try to finish it in the future.

Update: The bug preventing the game from running in Mozilla Firefox has been fixed.

Web	http://t-and-t.github.io/LD26/
Source	https://github.com/T-and-T/LD26
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=18411

Ratings

Coolness	62%	3
Overall(Jam)	2.60	470

Audio(Jam)	1.13	470
Fun(Jam)	2.26	482
Graphics(Jam)	2.88	360
Humor(Jam)	1.25	410
Innovation(Jam)	3.24	188
Mood(Jam)	1.96	502
Theme(Jam)	3.44	208

Feedback

MaxSzlagor

30. Apr 2013 · 03:56 UTC

Nice work! I couldn't tell which square I controlled at first. I was also able to eat squares of the same color. Enjoyed the look of the squares as they moved across the board and also liked how you tied speed to the colors. Would like to see some audio added. Thanks for sharing!

Aceria

30. Apr 2013 · 09:12 UTC

I've failed to work out the controls here completely... What am I supposed to press to make anything happen?

🎤 ThatOtherPerson

30. Apr 2013 · 09:22 UTC

The arrow keys. Woops, I can't believe I forgot to say that. Also, it's rather hard to differentiate your square from the others.

lotusgame

30. Apr 2013 · 09:34 UTC

Nothing happens. Just a colored square that doesn't move...

Diventurer

30. Apr 2013 · 09:37 UTC

It was really hard to figure out which square I could control. I noticed I got to yellow after eating some reds, but I died after that somehow. I suddenly disappeaered (as in no yellows on the screen and I didn't touch anything other than red or orange) and then it said game over. :|
I don't know if it's a bug or I just missed it, but o'well. It could be a nice game with some improvements. Right now it's an alright game. :)

🎤 ThatOtherPerson

30. Apr 2013 · 09:45 UTC

Thanks for the comments! Since it was the first game we've created, we didn't really know how to prioritize our time. I probably should have focused on getting it playable as soon as possible so we could test it, but I focused on rather unimportant things like making the rectangles flip instead. Overall, though, it was an educational experience, and I hope we can submit a much better entry next Ludum Dare :D

lotusgame

30. Apr 2013 · 10:49 UTC

could be fun with more time. Must refresh for restart game. Good luck for the futur.

geepit

30. Apr 2013 · 14:54 UTC

Cool idea. Was pretty fun

JustinMullin

30. Apr 2013 · 15:03 UTC

The idea is fun, I couldn't seem to get the actual play consistent though. Controls worked well, but it was difficult to catch my initial prey easily. Good start, keep at it!

SmilingCat

30. Apr 2013 · 15:08 UTC

Hmm, on my browser (Firefox, latest), the screen draws, then goes blank except for what seems like my square. Nothing seems to work after that.

Dining Philosopher

01. May 2013 · 13:31 UTC

Same problem as SmilingCat here.

bytegrove

01. May 2013 · 14:28 UTC

Best Mondrian entry I've seen so far! The "flip effect" was really neat and I think it would've been interesting if you'd utilised it in the gameplay a bit more, like for example make it possible to eat only cards that are "flipping away" from you, especially as the level system felt a bit out of place.
Really nice work for being your first game! Congrats! :D

Tokken18

01. May 2013 · 14:29 UTC

Interesting! I applaud your concept. The ability to add that level of complexity to something fairly sparse is quite a feat. Though you may have gone a bit too far with the complexity and a bit too far with the minimalism. I had a hard time following what was going on or what i was even controlling at first, once i figured it out, the amount of information I needed to glean from the interface to figure out how to play was overwhelming.

CogComp

01. May 2013 · 14:45 UTC

I like the way the squares move. However, I have to agree with some of the other players, it's a bit difficult to see the difference your own square and the rest.

Bloated Hippo

01. May 2013 · 17:05 UTC

I really like the concept and the flipping looks good ;)

Grouflon

01. May 2013 · 17:11 UTC

Very nice work, with a nice inspiration on the works of Mondrian, a tipiccaly minimalist artist. There is a background in this game and I like it very much. The gameplay is a bit basic, but challenging, I really enjoyed playing your game.

qdowngames

01. May 2013 · 18:38 UTC

I loved the idea! I feel like the player needed more representation and sometimes I died when I felt like I was the one who ate first.

Jarcas Studios

01. May 2013 · 18:51 UTC

Very cool! I like this a lot!

I'd say an outline around the player's square would help a lot... especially since respawn after death is instant.

Also, I could never quite prove it, but I really feel like there were several times that I died when I shouldn't have. Maybe something wrong with the detection algorithm?

Other than that I really like the color upgrade mechanic.

hirsch

01. May 2013 · 20:14 UTC

Nice idea. I would have reversed the gradient so that dark colours have less levels then bright ones like red, yellow, red, etc.
Sounds would definetly improve the amosphrere. But overall this abstract game is fun to play ^^
Well done :)

mrexcessive

02. May 2013 · 10:34 UTC

Couldn't really work out how to score, not lose lives. Reading other comments do agree needs clearer difference for player tile, and perhaps a couple of short tutorial levels... or just text to explain ingame.

captainkraft

03. May 2013 · 01:00 UTC

Not too bad. I like the innovation you've got going. Cool stuff. Well done

CaseyHardman

03. May 2013 · 01:08 UTC

I found it rather chaotic and difficult to understand what was happening while playing. My square seemed to be so slow that finding a square I could eat was more a matter of where that square spawned than it was my reaction time; it'd have to spawn near me if I wanted to eat it before something else did.

Super Hamster

03. May 2013 · 02:04 UTC

Congratulations on your guy's first game. It was interesting, but hard to know when it was lower or higher, and some times I felt like I was randomly dieing with no reason at all. But again, it's your first game, so very well done. :D