LudumData

Running With Scissors by Daze

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made by Daze for LD 40 (JAM)

Running with Scissors Planner (A Ludum Dare 40 Gamejam submission):

Running with Scissors Planner is a frantically-paced topdown puzzle game, where you guide a classroom of savage, scissor-wielding five-year-olds back to their desks safely!

Their delicate dance is choreographed one leg at a time, until your entire room somehow manages to get back safely in one piece!

Each child had a given length of time to find their desk!

If you take too long to finish a leg, or you have a deadly mishap, the leg resets, with one second deducted from your timer!

We present 4 levels, with an extra special finale!

RunningWithScissorsPlannerScreen1.png

RunningWithScissorsPlannerScreen2.png

RunningWithScissorsPlannerScreen3.png

This Ludum Dare Submission was a collaborative effort by creators:

  • Mark Harbaugh: Programming, planning, concept, GUI

  • Chris Bolton: Programming, level design, planning, concept, GUI

  • Dennis Varvaro: Pixel Art, level design, planning, concept, sound

This Ludum Dare Submission samples these foley sounds from freesound from these users:

  • caballeroholandabiofoníacantodecacatúaencautiverio.wav User: Artesmediales

  • Short Alarm bell in school hall (some clock ticks etc).aif User: sbyandiji

  • Bloody Blade 2.wav User: Kreastricon62

  • Yay.mp3 User: zut50

The following music was used under an Attribution 4.0 International License, from the Artist "RoleMusic":

  • Goto80

  • Another Beek Beep Beer Please.

  • Savage Steel Fun!

Find more of our work at https://twitter.com/aloftstudio

Windows http://s3.aloftstudio.com/RunningWithScissors.zip
Other (web) http://ld40.aloftstudio.com/
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/running-with-scissors

Ratings

Overall 2th 4.514⭐ 74🧑‍⚖️
Fun 8th 4.333⭐ 74🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 7th 4.299⭐ 74🧑‍⚖️
Theme 7th 4.444⭐ 74🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 47th 4.535⭐ 74🧑‍⚖️
Humor 29th 4.176⭐ 73🧑‍⚖️
Mood 89th 3.986⭐ 71🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 8🗨️

Feedback

Joel Rochon
05. Dec 2017 · 02:21 UTC
Great Job! Very interesting concept!
GivagoFritzen
05. Dec 2017 · 02:34 UTC
Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery Nice
TylerCode
05. Dec 2017 · 04:50 UTC
Rage building towards your past self
Filipe Leal
05. Dec 2017 · 05:31 UTC
Nicely done! I loved the concept.
ManBeardGames
05. Dec 2017 · 05:39 UTC
This was a really well done game. Absolutly enjoyed playing it. It would be really cool, when you finish a level to have the entire sequence play out so you can watch it.
Matthew Roelle
05. Dec 2017 · 06:39 UTC
This was the coolest entry I've played so far!!! Amazing job!
Ashtrail
05. Dec 2017 · 07:24 UTC
Amazing game ! The concept is pure gold, your past self is most demonic AI ever created !

Everything is really good : the gameplay :ok_hand:, the art :ok_hand: and the music :ok_hand:

With a bit of polish (+ a bit of bug fixing, especially when you finish a level) and more content you could ship this !

Congratulations !
Mike Cullingham
05. Dec 2017 · 15:23 UTC
Good game. Nice graphics, fun music and good sound effect choices. Was really hoping to run from Mrs. Slayer.
TechnoNugget
05. Dec 2017 · 23:50 UTC
Hey, my game had a similar concept, except with more guns and violence! :D
Good job. The graphics were A+ on point! it was a little weird moving around carbon copies of what looked like the exact same kid though, a little bit of variation woulda helped
Fis
06. Dec 2017 · 00:06 UTC
Oh my god - I am so flashed about your game. I can't belief but I had to give you best score I've given so far, deserved! This game is soooo stunning and I was sad there were no further maps.

But... there was no ending scene :(
Michael Clavell
06. Dec 2017 · 00:07 UTC
Amazing game! The game froze on me with 23/25 on level 4, but that may just be cause I was playing on web. One of my favorites this jam!
jlreymendez
06. Dec 2017 · 00:18 UTC
Very cool and innovative game! Those kids are surely well coordinated
Timestop
06. Dec 2017 · 00:22 UTC
This was a really interesting design. I had no idea how to play at first, but I figured it out. For some reason, the final dialogue window from the bird never disappeared, so it gave me like half of the view (unless that was intentional design, then I'm just going to say it's hard).
Regardless, I loved the visuals. Looked very First Party SNES, which I would say is a compliment. A very sought after style.
ElFapo
06. Dec 2017 · 00:31 UTC
Very original concept! Art style + Animations looked amazing. I also like the music for its interesting harmonies
marekkpie
06. Dec 2017 · 02:26 UTC
Top 10 for me, for sure.
broccoli
06. Dec 2017 · 03:48 UTC
Easily one of the best games of the jam. Solid work. Extend and sell this.
Jeppe
06. Dec 2017 · 08:26 UTC
Really top-notch game. Only downside is that I felt bad for the kids :(
CG_Fred
06. Dec 2017 · 08:49 UTC
Awesome game, the best game I've played so far on LD40. Totally impressed, looking forward to see more levels, you need to publish and complete this game. I LOVE IT!
Yokimbo
06. Dec 2017 · 09:16 UTC
Wow, incredible job!
MestreRothLD
06. Dec 2017 · 15:09 UTC
Amazing game, very well put together. Art is great for the concept.
Did you take inspiration from Does Not Commute? BTW, our concept is similar too, just more chaotic. ^^
spierek
06. Dec 2017 · 17:16 UTC
Good stuff. Would be nice to see some indication of the order in which you'll control the kids so that the player could plan their moves, but this still is a pretty solid entry.
Togis
06. Dec 2017 · 17:42 UTC
I uploaded my gameplay of this game on youtube, you can find it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUY-E6xkfUY

Thanks for being part of the stream :)
alterkot
06. Dec 2017 · 17:44 UTC
This could really use the superhot treatment of ghosts moving only when you're moving, as of right now it's really easy to exploit by just waiting while everyone else moves before you move yourself (I realize timer combats this, but I think it's much harder to balance through it).

Of course I don't have to say the idea, graphics and sfx are great :)
Raogs
06. Dec 2017 · 18:06 UTC
Awesome idea, really well made.
drazil100
07. Dec 2017 · 04:25 UTC
Fantastic game all around! It took me a while to understand what was happening but once I did I got really into this. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to play it more!
Joe Sycalik
07. Dec 2017 · 05:37 UTC
This is certainly my favorite game so far! Please do continue to expand upon it because you definitely have a real gem here! Seriously, I have nothing but praise for this game! It might be good to have an arrow to your seat in the future if you expand on the game and made bigger or more complex levels, but I personally love how hectic it gets =)
Racso
08. Dec 2017 · 00:32 UTC
This is a great game! I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Really, awesome job!
gassasin
08. Dec 2017 · 03:53 UTC
Best game i played so far in this LD:) Awesome reglex/logic game!!and the art! ooo booiii
Brainoid
08. Dec 2017 · 10:58 UTC
One of the best games I played for this jam. I hope people will realize that the other sisters are the ones you controlled before, because HonestDan couldn't and I was surprised. This game deserves a good rating! GOOD EFFORT!
Racso
08. Dec 2017 · 12:58 UTC
@Brainoid That's true. I also had trouble with that while watching the stream, but I also think that's probably because I wasn't looking in the first rounds. When I played the game, it was way more clear, as you see the increase in the amount of girls running as you play (but, then again, I already knew they were ghosts, so...).
jasperarmstrong
08. Dec 2017 · 20:20 UTC
Very cool game you've made. I feel like I've seen this mechanic before, but you executed it very well in this game, and it fit the theme beautifully. I really like the idea that everything that goes wrong in the game is your own fault. There were a few times where I wanted to move diagonally, but it's probably better that you can't. Also, the game started to feel like it was going on too long towards the end, especially when I got to the level with 25 kids to seat. Overall, though, this is great, and one of the best I've seen in this jam so far.
Honest Dan
09. Dec 2017 · 22:36 UTC
Fantastic game. I had never seen this mechanic, so felt original to me - but reading other comments maybe it's something that's been done before. However, I still rank you very high on that - well executed and the parrot was my favourite character... as he never cut me with scissors!
jenninexus
10. Dec 2017 · 06:10 UTC
Everything was lovable & endearing - the characters, music, environment but at the end of the 3rd level I got caught in the ground (in a collider?) I tried R for restart 3x but happened each time!
fluidvolt
10. Dec 2017 · 16:50 UTC
What a great idea & game! Love the visuals, and the blocky-head kid sprite. I like having a bird as a teacher :) This is really fun. Weaving in and out of my previous trails gets tense, and I love playing risky... running right through the middle of a group feels great when you get it right. The gratuitous violence was funny in a cartoony way, so that gets a thumbs up!
Thorneto
13. Dec 2017 · 07:14 UTC
I didn't even realize what was happening in the first level and I still thought it was cool. I was even more impressed when I understood on level 2. Great game with a lot of polish, nice job.
ibrahimshersha
16. Dec 2017 · 15:43 UTC
nice job, well done!
Jeremy Ryan
22. Dec 2017 · 20:37 UTC
Incredibly polished, I like the whole aesthetic --- graphics are great, music is groovy, controls/objective is intuitive and smooth.
tangiblegames
22. Dec 2017 · 22:31 UTC
It's a bloody nice entry! Though the concept isn't exactly new, execution was top notch. It's a balanced entry that I just /had/ to complete. I can only complain about collisions (trying to move past the benches, but colliding with them). Other than that - a joy to play and great to look at. Thumbs up!
talisra22
22. Dec 2017 · 23:13 UTC
nice hob!
GeroX
23. Dec 2017 · 03:08 UTC
It was Amazing, I loved the graphics and the Sound
mshopf
23. Dec 2017 · 15:46 UTC
Absolutely enjoyable game. It gets really hard in the 4th level. Very nice art, great gameplay! I also love the setting.

The only critics I have is that often I don't know where my seat actually is - I try getting to it, and take a detour, which take too much time (and space) to be able to win. So sometimes it's pure luck whether I'm going in the right corridor or direction. If you could point to the general direction of my seat (e.g. an arrow at the edge of the screen) when the flashing table is not visible, that would be awesome.

Also, please blink the next girl at the beginning, so you have a visual clue where to find the next character - sometimes it takes a few seconds until you recognize which girl is the next. But as the timer isn't counting yet, this is only a minor nuisance.

All in all this just very minor nitpicking, great game! One of the most fun games I played in this Ludum Dare!
Noxbuds
23. Dec 2017 · 16:39 UTC
Absolutely incredible. Eventually just imagined the routes as roads, the kids being cars trying to drive on them; I had a side of the road for a direction. Took a couple of tries for the last level, and even then it was pretty close.

Loved the music and sound effects, loved the graphics and loved the underlying concept. My only criticism I think would be, as someone mentioned above, that it you don't really know where your seat is. It felt like a lot of the time was wasted just figuring out where the seat was, and many deaths resulted in one of the previous kids running in random directions seeing where the seat was. Very fun though :)
keckles
23. Dec 2017 · 17:45 UTC
Very cool concept it got pretty hard after a while the only issue i noticed was when the time ran out it just froze the game idk if that was just me or what
Goat Toaster Games
28. Dec 2017 · 00:54 UTC
This was a very nicely polished game! Fantastic graphics, quite funny and a good challenge. Well done!! :grin:
Shivur
28. Dec 2017 · 01:01 UTC
Good concept!
YouBeStrong
28. Dec 2017 · 02:11 UTC
25 kids running with scissors clearly is worse than 9. I think the funnest part is telling yourself "why the hell did I move there with the previous kid?" as your current kid gets impaled with scissors going at running velocity. Great work guys!
ludipe
28. Dec 2017 · 11:11 UTC
Loved the concept and the execution. Art is great, gameplay is fun and it's super polished.

Well done, this was such a great game, I'll probably come back later to it and keep playing :-)
ardorugus
28. Dec 2017 · 13:32 UTC
Funny concept! A puzzle with scissors with some mild-deviation towards children which is totally fine for GameDev. And the squawking manager is like a host to the show with opening credits saying, like, "this is a true story". Overall moody with some black humour behind the concept, but nice game for the glitched kinds like mine. Thanks.
Indie Gaming
29. Dec 2017 · 01:49 UTC
CONGRATULATIONS!!
https://youtu.be/eEhA45oQ828
WarIIn
25. Mar 2018 · 15:17 UTC
Amazing game, one of the most polished and weird interpretations of the theme I have seen. The difficulty of each level felt balanced and seeing all of your old selves desperately running across the map is so funny, the only issue was a graphical glitch I encountered when I tried to move as the level ended.