Rubiq's Garden by youdonotexist

[raw]
made by youdonotexist for LD23 (JAM)
WASD for character movement
Arrow Keys to move the world

Can you beat all 10 levels?

Protips:
- Try defeating enemies by shifting them into traps or off the board
- Keep track of the door - otherwise, you'll have to search for it

Update: Apparently our game inspired a comic from one of our players, which adds a (strange, dystopian, and unintentional) backstory to the game. You can find it under the 'An Interpretation of Rubiq's Garden From a Player (Comic)' link above.

Ratings

Coolness 46% 688
Overall(Jam) 3.36 74
Audio(Jam) 3.35 62
Fun(Jam) 3.18 64
Graphics(Jam) 3.32 122
Humor(Jam) 2.63 94
Innovation(Jam) 3.93 14
Mood(Jam) 3.00 96
Theme(Jam) 3.14 97

Feedback

Lidfrid
23. Apr 2012 · 14:05 UTC
Not bad at all, Don't use Comic sans! :)
Krisjet
23. Apr 2012 · 14:21 UTC
Nice game. Like the main mechanic, was it inspired by the Labyrinth board game by any chance?
jbourrie
23. Apr 2012 · 16:20 UTC
Our first reference came from Yoshi's Cookie, but later we also made the connection to Labyrinth.
MTO
24. Apr 2012 · 02:47 UTC
really enjoying the mechanics on this one, good work
Rex Peppers
24. Apr 2012 · 13:34 UTC
Very cool how you can move the main character either on foot or by moving the ground underneath.
NAMKCOR
25. Apr 2012 · 18:34 UTC
I liked the concept, though it felt a little glitched. When I moved a row or column with a wall, it didn't push enemies with the wall, instead it pushed them towards me.

I also didn't feel like this was a very creative use of the theme, though it did fit.
pythong
25. Apr 2012 · 18:36 UTC
that dying sound was really creepy
Jiddo
25. Apr 2012 · 18:46 UTC
The mechanics are really clever and could make for some interesting puzzles. The enemies made the game a bit hard though, and often spawned on top of the player. Especially the pollen thingies were a bit too hard to avoid. I'm sure you could take these mechanics to much greater heights if you expanded upon them and had more time to think up clever level layouts.
Jeremias
25. Apr 2012 · 21:44 UTC
Very nice graphics and music/sounds, but some gameplay is very annoying:
- searching for gold
- shift yourself into death (enemies or such a killing "rank")
- enemies should shift with plants or die, not jump in you
- these flying things which kills you instantly are very annoying ^^
karnakgames
26. Apr 2012 · 02:50 UTC
It has everything to turn into a great mobile game!
KunoNoOni
26. Apr 2012 · 23:55 UTC
I really liked it. Very Interesting puzzle game :)
Zythiku
01. May 2012 · 03:59 UTC
Cool idea. Would be nice if there were more tiles you can get to get rid of the enemies, especially that smoke monster.
onehandclap
01. May 2012 · 16:55 UTC
Quite a lot of fun, congratulations! =)
jbourrie
01. May 2012 · 18:44 UTC
Thanks for all the kind words :) On the "smoke monster" (aka the Burrower, since he's "supposed" to be underground) there are two ways to get rid of him: either steer him into an exploding bomb... or just shift the ground underneath him right off the board! Once he's off the board, he can't follow you anymore. (Another hint: walk one way and shift the opposite way to walk the ground like a "treadmill", standing in one place while shifting everything off-screen. This is the best tactic to get rid of the burrowers)
jbourrie
01. May 2012 · 18:46 UTC
@NAMKCOR: On the theme, the garden wasn't the only intended use. The original concept was "tiny world", as in the world itself is only 8x8 tiles, and you're shifting new things into that small space. Maybe it didn't come across as neatly as we hoped.
robcozzens
06. May 2012 · 01:45 UTC
Pretty cool, but there was a bit too much going on all at once.
someone
11. May 2012 · 17:53 UTC
Very nice game. The mechanics are solid, though I did manage to get stuck in a bush once somehow. The music works well.
A bit irritating when starting a busy level and dying before you even locate the player.
Good work.