Downsize by Jiggawatt

[raw]
made by Jiggawatt for LD23 (COMPO)
A short but sweet arcade/puzzle game about shrinking worlds while their inhabitants, attached to their creations as they are, try to stop you. That last level is tricky.

Now with 50% more packaging! Start the game from /dist/downsize.exe.

Ratings

Coolness 65% 3
Overall 3.26 261
Audio 2.42 457
Fun 3.29 173
Graphics 2.77 499
Humor 2.14 471
Innovation 3.20 309
Mood 2.69 424
Theme 3.14 379

Feedback

jerombd
24. Apr 2012 路 13:03 UTC
Looks very great and promising... but I don't really know how to read this .py files :( You should add an "how to read/install" files in your description or in the downsize.txt file... in this way every noob like me will run your game ;)
馃帳 Jiggawatt
24. Apr 2012 路 16:09 UTC
Yeah, I just managed to package this properly into an .exe. Go ahead and try it.
Cosmologicon
25. Apr 2012 路 03:42 UTC
Very interesting concept, but without an explanation of the movement of creeps and bombs, I couldn't figure out how to strategize. I mostly won by luck until I got stuck on the level with the isolated L-tetromino. No matter where I went I couldn't get the creep to make a bridge to it. I found the isometric display difficult, because one wrong step meant you had to start the level over. Why not simply disallow wrong steps?
馃帳 Jiggawatt
25. Apr 2012 路 06:46 UTC
It just seemed more intuitive to have missteps cause restarts. If you somehow ended up isolated on a single tile island with unreachable tiles left, you'd have to press R to restart. But manual restart would be a whole new feature applicable in a very specific situation. This way, restarting is incorporated into the gameplay while also being a hazard. It's part of my design philosophy to minimize manual or "meta" features like that.
NeiloGD
28. Apr 2012 路 07:34 UTC
Really like this, struggling a little on the 3rd level. All I can recommend really is to ramp up the difficulty a little slower, but it can be tricky to design good puzzles!
馃帳 Jiggawatt
28. Apr 2012 路 07:42 UTC
Yeah, I guess level 4 should be level 3. The third level is a serious bump in difficulty, you get a level with two creeps before the level with just one.
samoojamies
28. Apr 2012 路 08:03 UTC
Awesome little puzzle game! Finished with 1421 moves. I like the retro style.
dr_soda
28. Apr 2012 路 08:10 UTC
I like how this entry really took "minimal" to heart for the whole theme of Tiny World. I also appreciate the idea that the protagonist makes its own world smaller intentionally.

This puzzle elemants are very well designed and fun. I approve.

I think level 6 might have deteated me tonight.
Ishisoft
28. Apr 2012 路 09:14 UTC
Enjoyed the first couple of levels, really couldn't get the hang of level 3 though. Even if I managed to kill both the creeps I'd end up cutting off access to the remaining tiles. Might give it another bash later.
triplefox
28. Apr 2012 路 09:14 UTC
In the end I got stuck because levels were designed very precisely and I couldn't really figure out how the AI was going to react. Wonderful aesthetic and puzzle concept.
馃帳 Jiggawatt
28. Apr 2012 路 09:22 UTC
If I had some working recording software, I'd love to make a playthrough video. I think this is the sort of game that would really profit from it.
Norgg
28. Apr 2012 路 09:55 UTC
Wow, that last level is pretty nefarious. Finished in 1312 moves.
summaky
28. Apr 2012 路 10:13 UTC
I like it a lot! I had some problems understanding the movements of the creeps and thus I couldn't make a strategy to win level 3, but I managed somehow.

I love the visuals, but I am a little confused with the controls because for some reason, I always forget which button is which direction... Also, if I try to erase a tile with shift but there is none, I always expect the game to do nothing, but instead it moves to that position. I've lost so many times because of that! :-D
Arkazon
28. Apr 2012 路 10:15 UTC
A good concept, I like it and it follows the theme well. Got a bit annoyed at the isometric view - doesn't map very well onto directions on the keyboard! I also got defeated by level 3, I could only kill the creeps by cutting myself off completely.
Jhelle
28. Apr 2012 路 11:43 UTC
Not a fan of these games myself but I can see it is well build and liking the gameboy graphics :).
tripleVisionGames
28. Apr 2012 路 12:13 UTC
Oh my I suck at this game! Good fun though, great little puzzler, seems I am just sucky :(
馃帳 Jiggawatt
28. Apr 2012 路 12:14 UTC
Alright, managed to record a playthrough video now.
tlaine
28. Apr 2012 路 12:34 UTC
Man, that was hard! Good job though.
PabloAM
28. Apr 2012 路 13:01 UTC
I have lost a bit at beginning try to manage the game.
But I like the idea :)

Good job!
Lawrence Esswood
28. Apr 2012 路 14:23 UTC
Finished in just over 900 moves. That last level!!!. Nice one, when I first saw it I thought "Oh this idea again", but you really did something new with it.
Lawrence Esswood
28. Apr 2012 路 14:32 UTC
did it again in 400 XD
Endurion
28. Apr 2012 路 16:37 UTC
Neat enhancement of the old Sensitive gameplay. However the two creep stage is really really mean ;)
I gave up on the stage with an creep and a bomb and the secluded L. The bomb always went off before a bridge was built to the L.
moop
29. Apr 2012 路 11:21 UTC
Fun game and I enjoyed playing it. Had some trouble where holding shift would sometimes move me instead of erasing.
Jedi
29. Apr 2012 路 11:30 UTC
I really like it! However, my brain just couldn't get around the controls being rotated 45 degrees. You should let the player use the numpad (7,9,1,3) on this.
馃帳 Jiggawatt
29. Apr 2012 路 11:34 UTC
Oh, right. Wonder why I didn't think of numpad controls.
SLiV
29. Apr 2012 路 11:50 UTC
Very enjoyable and very intriguing. The concept is well conceived and well executed. Good job.
Julian Spillane
30. Apr 2012 路 15:37 UTC
Really fun (albeit incredibly difficult) puzzler. I love the innovative concept and your presentation. I found that level 3 really ramped up the difficulty curve, but it was still great fun.
MrDanH
30. Apr 2012 路 17:42 UTC
Cool game, way too hard for my tired brain after a day at work though
cobrajs
01. May 2012 路 22:06 UTC
Excellent puzzle game! The retro graphics are awesome, along with the retro sounds. I couldn't beat the last level without the walkthrough, though :P
chambers
05. May 2012 路 21:21 UTC
Fun game, loved the graphics and the sound. A more moderate difficulty curve would make the game more fun, as Julian Spillane said. I die by accident too frequently though, so I think it'd be better if the game didn't let me move to an empty tile at all, instead of killing me...

I couldn't pass the second bomb stage no matter how much I tried >_<