Companion by roBurky

[raw]
made by roBurky for LD22 (COMPO)
Arrow keys or WASD to move

There is no goal.
Other than maybe finding a purpose in life. Or at least someone to share it with.

-----

I tend to work by thinking up some kind of interesting interaction first, and only thinking about a challenge or goal to go with it later on. This is very definitely still in the stage of experimenting with interaction.

I do kind of like what I had here, but it does need a lot more feedback for the player to tell what's going on - when you've died, what the companion is doing, and so on. And ultimately, it needs some kind of direction or purpose.

Ratings

Coolness 24% 506
Overall 2.63 377
Audio 2.07 388
Community 1.43 704
Fun 2.35 347
Graphics 3.68 70
Humor 1.69 389
Innovation 2.95 168
Mood 3.11 125
Theme 2.83 277

Feedback

FrankieSmileShow
20. Dec 2011 路 01:05 UTC
VERY cool! I love how you interact with the little cube, it seems to have a lot of personality. Is it me or the little square cuddles up with you for a while if it takes damage? I wonder how much of it is intended and how much is just me making it up! All in all, very cool feel to it. Its too bad it doesnt have a goal, Id probably be playing it much longer.
Jilius
20. Dec 2011 路 18:21 UTC
The game would be really good if there were any objectives (which i can see a lot with this), but just wandering around doing nothing just doesn't cut out for me :\.
A restart button (dunno if there's any) after you "die" would be nice too.
The graphics looked nice and fitted the mood.
Aaron
21. Dec 2011 路 00:45 UTC
I really liked this. It had personality and mood in bundles, and I'm glad you experimented.

I think just a bit more feedback/suggested meaning would have gone a long way. I didn't know that I died (or could die), so I was staring confused at my screen for a good 5 seconds. The cube doesn't rotate to movement, making it a bit static until it finally interacts with something--not sure whether that was intentional. And I got into the experience, and definitely enjoyed it, but it didn't really pop because maybe I'm just not somebody who naturally self-imposes stories/meanings to visual interactions. Something more--like tiny hearts that popped up when you're nearby a cube (or maybe that's too bold)--would have really helped me out.

All in all though, pretty awesome experience.
馃帳 roBurky
21. Dec 2011 路 01:50 UTC
Aaron: Those are all very good criticisms, that I agree with. Dying needs more feedback. The static starting rotation looks a bit weird. It needs some kind of purpose or goal at least as a background to you goofing off playing with the little cube.

FrankieSmileShow: You're not imagining things. :)

Jilius: Yeah, a restart button would have been a good idea.

Thanks for playing and leaving comments, everyone.
Stavu
21. Dec 2011 路 15:01 UTC
I think it's a beautiful game. I absolutely loved it. Personally I was happy just to play around with the little cube, and after a while I got so attached to it that I was willing to defend it with my own cube's life. So personally, I didn't feel like I needed a purpose. What I do think is that there should be a bigger variety of creatures and objects to interact with - things that will make this abstract world more explorable and playful for me and my baby cube. Also, I love the art, though I think the game could benefit from some music or background sounds.
Amazing job :)
kato9
21. Dec 2011 路 17:37 UTC
Nice visuals and feeling to it. Seems like it could serve as the basis for a more complete game.
Saxon Douglass
23. Dec 2011 路 02:49 UTC
I love the graphics and interactions... I hope you keep working on this!
matthias_zarzecki
01. Jan 2012 路 13:47 UTC
Love the companion-cube.