DNADream by Zener

[raw]
made by Zener for LD24 (COMPO)
A game about growing a plant until it gets to the Sun. To make it grow and turn as you wish you must select the gens you want the plant to have.

The controls are mouse based, just click on a DNA ball to add or change a gen.

I hope you enjoy it, all feedback is welcomed and enjoy the compo!

Ratings

Coolness 33% 832
Overall 3.06 324
Fun 2.82 359
Graphics 3.06 323
Innovation 3.72 60
Mood 2.77 296
Theme 3.53 132

Feedback

dvdking
26. Aug 2012 · 20:47 UTC
pretty good game
Ithildin
27. Aug 2012 · 20:22 UTC
Nice game! it is simple yet addictive, and the DNA animation has turned out really good looking.

Just a minor issue...despite the difference in transparency, it is not obvious at first sight that you must click on the opaque nucleotides, some mouse over effect might have been the icing on the cake.

Congrats!
VAMflax
28. Aug 2012 · 12:06 UTC
It's hypnotic. I suppose it could do with some kind of *impending doom* if you don't hit the sun fast enough, but I like the base game mechanic.
hungyg
28. Aug 2012 · 12:11 UTC
didn't really get what happened why, but good game anyway!
ButtercupSaiyan
28. Aug 2012 · 21:55 UTC
It's one of those simple but brilliant ideas. Good game, I really liked it, especially once I figured it out!

With certain goals or enemies and adding complexity, I think that the core mechanic to this is fun. It might need a little tutorial stage though. I had no trouble figuring out that clicking on the DNA balls reveals a left, middle and right option and it regrows each time, but it's not immediately obvious.

The graphics are bright and easily understood. The whole package comes off very nice. Just wish it had some audio of some kind.
DevoreUK
29. Aug 2012 · 11:51 UTC
Love the concept and the layout of the UI DNA etc. For me the timer ticked down too slowly making the game potentially go on for ever.

If you decided to take it further you could make it more difficult by asking the player to touch multiple things as the plant grows making the DNA order more important. Even have some points that are bad to go through that would kill the plant.

Overall good job. Congrats.
Benjamin
29. Aug 2012 · 11:52 UTC
Interesting concept, but it would have been more challenging if we had to connect 2 or 3 suns at higher level. I like the core idea.
🎤 Zener
29. Aug 2012 · 16:04 UTC
Yep, the idea was to add more complexity on higher levels, more suns, more items, more gens, but I run out of time :)
juaxix
30. Aug 2012 · 00:23 UTC
I dont understand the game, what is the level done condition?
🎤 Zener
30. Aug 2012 · 09:24 UTC
It doens't have levels, unlimited play until you run out of time
tdsmale
04. Sep 2012 · 11:56 UTC
Great idea, well executed!
pythong
06. Sep 2012 · 10:31 UTC
i liked the animation of the dna, but the sun seemed a little small. also, sounds/music would have been nice
Josh @ Dreamland
11. Sep 2012 · 03:19 UTC
Quite innovative. After a score of 5100 I had so much time left it wasn't a challenge anymore, but the concept was still neat.
Joana
11. Sep 2012 · 22:05 UTC
I really liked it! The only downside I see was that it becomes too easy as it is. I only needed to move the first four slots in order to touch anything that came up. If you continue to add some other types of challenges (like the mentioned several suns at a time), it would be a great addition that could make the game a lot more strategic. The potential is definitely there though!

It also took me a while to figure out what to do with the "DNA" on the right side of the screen, so if you want to continue this that's the first thing I'd correct (maybe have some introductory text that goes away after a few seconds). It doesn't even need to be all that explanatory: just put a "Click here!" text with an arrow and by experimentation people should figure it out. :)