Sacrifice Them by velvetlobster

[raw]
made by velvetlobster for LD 43 (JAM)

An attempt of a game about ascending in life and sacrificing others for it. Play for as long as you can while the timer is running. Sacrifices increase your available time and create money in the world, but soon things start to get crowded ... Screen Shot 2018-12-04 at 12.34.02 AM.png

Ratings

Overall 872th 2.962⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Fun 963th 2.515⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 573th 3.076⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Theme 864th 2.894⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 367th 3.818⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Audio 286th 3.47⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Humor 666th 2.548⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Mood 632th 3.18⭐ 66🧑‍⚖️
Given 64🗳️ 74🗨️

Feedback

Doug Graham
05. Dec 2018 · 03:01 UTC
The graphics looked nice and the audio complimented it as well. Not really sure why I needed to sacrifice anything, as I picked up all of the money with like 200 seconds left, Also hit had trouble keeping up when I put out ~400 sacrifices.
wheatleyscience
05. Dec 2018 · 03:02 UTC
hımm, i like the core metaphor but game look like fairy basic. i collected all money, and explode some of the furniture than sacrifice myself, than i lost myself in others. if you add some new mechanics, it will become a very meaningful game. good idea, good effort :)
Archimagus
05. Dec 2018 · 03:02 UTC
Very innovative game. It does feel like you had an idea for a game, and changed the word Spawn or Sacrifice or something. I do like the concept though. The idea that you are scrambling for money and you need people to climb on top of, but you can get buried by them. I found myself in a corner and lagged the game out at about 204 sacrifices. Though I still kept getting money when anyone picked it up. Once I realized I didn't have to get the money myself that took a little bit away from the game. Again I like the concept and the innovation. Well done.
skettyNmeebs
05. Dec 2018 · 03:07 UTC
![fjjfjfjfj.png](///raw/6d3/8/z/1ef94.png)
I'm not sure if I was doing this right, but I think I won.

Interesting game. I managed to literally juggle my friends by bouncing back and forth and pushing them back up into the air. I'm not really sure what I was supposed to take away from this or if that was the intended purpose, but I had fun anyway lol. I liked the art.
🎤 velvetlobster
05. Dec 2018 · 03:31 UTC
@archimagus actually we got just one day to code the mechanics for it and tried to use our time in the best way possible lol ... we wanted to make a game kinda like angry birds, where you had to throw your business person into a piramid of ragdolls representing other people so to get the prize that was underneath the other people ... when you hit them, the ragdolls would fall into pieces just like in angry birds ... we could not finish that however and tried to use that idea of sacrificing other people to get the money ... it was suppooosed to be a metaphor for how the business world sometimes work ... not a very great one I know lolol but that was what we could accomplish in the time we had =)
one-seed-fruit
05. Dec 2018 · 03:46 UTC
I like the art, the style and overall look and feel of this game.
joh
05. Dec 2018 · 05:41 UTC
Looks nice, a bit aimless (after collecting money, I too just spawned thing until I got stuck.) but its got potential. Your actual plan was neat though.
Gao Ming
05. Dec 2018 · 08:33 UTC
The graphics are beautiful. Great work!
Suchista
05. Dec 2018 · 10:23 UTC
There's something magical about it. I feel like there's too much time, but it's not a big deal.
🎤 velvetlobster
05. Dec 2018 · 14:27 UTC
@joh yes it is pretty aimless the way it is now, its more like an experiment than a game ... it was kinda fun though trying to make a game out of the ragdoll and spawning mechanics in the last minutes before the end of the jam lolol ...
@gao-ming thanks!
@suchista the time thing is a problem ... we see that, you just don't feel any urgency or challenge to try to live longer, which was the intended purpose
OddballDave
05. Dec 2018 · 22:24 UTC
This was really interesting and very different. I don't think I've ever played anything like it. Love the graphics and the audio is great. I played for quite a while. Good stuff. :8ball:
Norb
05. Dec 2018 · 22:32 UTC
Liked the theme of the game. The figures look really depressed and sad. The controls were also really nice. I only think that the gamplay is not fun enough. In your case this is not too bad as the game transports a real message.
tacohej
05. Dec 2018 · 22:48 UTC
Kudos for making something different with an idea behind it. Great polish, I very much enjoyed the music and the sound effects went good with it. Skylines in the background enforced the business aspect of it, but I didn't really understand why they were in a cave(?) :)

Looking forward to see what else you will do in the future.
simonhutchinson
05. Dec 2018 · 23:00 UTC
Very cool. I like the originality and overall aesthetic here. This is what I like Ludum Dare for, these games that aren't like anything I've played before.
🎤 velvetlobster
06. Dec 2018 · 00:12 UTC
@tacohej yeah the cave idea kinda sucks indeed ... it was actually an excuse to have one color walls that would not look so weird and could be stacked and moved around ... the whole cave is actually 2 walls that we rotate, move and stack to make it all look like a cave
🎤 velvetlobster
06. Dec 2018 · 00:15 UTC
@norb the idea was that you can get all the time in the world and all the money by sacrificing others and getting their money (if a coin falls into one of the other bodies, the money actually goes to you) ... but the sacrifices in the end stack over you and you cant move any more ... not sure it is a good metaphor, but it was like our last minute idea to make a game out of our initial mechanics lolol
🎤 velvetlobster
06. Dec 2018 · 00:19 UTC
@skettynmeebs yes you did! =) thanks for playing and for the screenshot ... later i found some bugs or rather strategies that can allow for a greater score of sacrifices and money, like not releasing the left mouse button as you right click like crazy, so that the bodies will stack over you and fall instead of locking you in place
JLV
06. Dec 2018 · 00:50 UTC
Really fun game, one of the most polished entries I've played so far. The gameplay is great, that Ori-style jump is definitely really fun to execute.

Pros :
- Awesome artistic direction, from the graphics to the physics-based animations
- Great atmospheric music
- Unique gameplay mechanic, that makes a lot of sense in retrospect

Cons :
- Somewhat obscure at the beginning : the "sacrifices" create people ? It all get better once you understand that you sacrifice your freedom of movement little by little...

Overall, great job !
PlagueOfMinds
06. Dec 2018 · 00:56 UTC
I think this was a great entry! The graphics are pretty good and convey everything nicely! Also, I feel like you look like a business man, so you end up sacrificing others for more money, showing the evil of companies and how addictive it is to doom others for personal gain, but in the end you will be boxed in and forced to confront your evil. Nice job!
Eddie Li
06. Dec 2018 · 01:05 UTC
Overall good game. I loved the graphics and audio. However, it could use some more polishing and perhaps more explanation. There were some small glitches but well done!
Zayah0_0
06. Dec 2018 · 01:08 UTC
i crashed my browser :) lol
🎤 velvetlobster
06. Dec 2018 · 01:30 UTC
@plagueofminds yeah man you got exactly what we were trying to convey! Thanks for playing btw =)
🎤 velvetlobster
06. Dec 2018 · 01:31 UTC
@eddie-li yeah there is a lot missing indeed, and there are loots of glitches I found myself but then we had already sent our entry and time was over lolol ... thanks for playing it! =)
🎤 velvetlobster
06. Dec 2018 · 01:35 UTC
@jlv thanks a lot for playing! The spawning of people was actually meant to mean the spawn of dead people which was meant to mean a "sacrifice" lol ... I know that metaphor is kinda not good, but it was the idea ... the sacrifice of freedom sounds a lot better you are right about that
🎤 velvetlobster
06. Dec 2018 · 01:36 UTC
@plagueofminds thanks a lot man =)
🎤 velvetlobster
06. Dec 2018 · 01:38 UTC
@zayah0-0 yeah ... after some 400 sacrifices you browser goes easily to lower than 1fps ... which makes it a challenge to achieve a higher record for it just can crash your browser at any minute lolol
relampmarquin
06. Dec 2018 · 01:48 UTC
I find it very cool the way the character interacts with physics, in general the art quite pleased me. It only took me a while to understand a little how everything worked, anyway. good job!
Sauili
06. Dec 2018 · 01:48 UTC
I really like the art concept of the game! Well done!^^ But I'm sadly to say that the game is missing something, perhaps the goal is not so challenging. :/
Aumbra
06. Dec 2018 · 01:51 UTC
The art and music were great and I strangely really liked the movement system. Well done!
Trusty
06. Dec 2018 · 01:53 UTC
Fun game, I really liked the art. Unlimited peons to crush in my path to the top!
Jarmo
06. Dec 2018 · 01:58 UTC
I like the general vibe and feeling of the game, the movement was fun initially. I don't know about the core mechanics, though... I'm not really sure what sacrifices had to be made. I think an earlier primer or on screen instructions may have helped.
Zetorama
06. Dec 2018 · 01:59 UTC
I don't know what I'm doing, but I like it! 8)

I mean, the goal is not very clear… but the graphics, animations, music and especially metaphor of the game are very well bound and developed as a piece of art. Great job and good luck!
Johnsensei
06. Dec 2018 · 02:01 UTC
Loved the art and visual element. Very creative and well assembled sprites. I'm assuming the lose condition was to run out of time, but I didn't see how it was possible to lose if you could keep making sacrifices, unless you ran out of space. I didn't understand what a win condition would be. I get collecting the money, that was fun. But when would it end?

Again, great job. Love seeing teams make games at Ludum Dare.
Ente
06. Dec 2018 · 02:07 UTC
I really like the art and music of this game! Very beautiful and in a way calming. Interesting contrast to the topic of the game. As said before the game probably needs some more mechanics to be interesting for more than a short amount of time but it is a nice concept so far. I didn't really like that/get why you also get the money when it is falling onto the people you sacrificed!? I would have thought you still need to be on the top of the chain. Like this you can spawn new money and be buried underneath all the bodies. Also interesting metaphor, but would you really get the money then? Oh and the aspect of gaining time when you do sacrifices and being able to sacrifice as much as you want doesn't quite fit. There should either be a limit or some drawback for the sacrifices.
Ninnec
06. Dec 2018 · 04:35 UTC
An interesting game but I was kind of confused for a while. I had fun launching the guy around though and I like the way he collides with everything. I sacrificed one person but wasn't sure how he got there to begin with
Nehvis
06. Dec 2018 · 07:40 UTC
Graphics looked very good but the gameplay is kinda confusing. Why would I want to sacrifice anyone?
beats
06. Dec 2018 · 08:47 UTC
The music was super cool, yall got soundcloud?
pcmaster
06. Dec 2018 · 11:15 UTC
I like the dolls and music :)
paulpaul168
06. Dec 2018 · 12:44 UTC
i really like the simplistic graphics! great background music and fun idea! with a little tweaking it could be a very fun mobile game... great entry!
JulienLussiez
06. Dec 2018 · 13:21 UTC
I liked the art and the audio. I think I got your idea but there's a potential to make it more fun. Thanks.
kamekai
06. Dec 2018 · 19:19 UTC
man I was really digging that tune
sky-coding
07. Dec 2018 · 04:32 UTC
It looks like a good start to a fun game. I don't think it's finished - you can spam right click to generate infinite time remaining, and the sacrifices don't seem to have any meaning. They don't really feel like sacrifices, it feels like you are creating new people.
egos
07. Dec 2018 · 11:10 UTC
love art style of the game !!!
The gameplay is a little confusing for me,
Good entry
Emmatw
07. Dec 2018 · 22:55 UTC
Nice game with interesting mechanics! It was pretty fun in the beginning, I think adding some more to it would make it really nice, maybe different kinds of levels, things like that. Other than that, a good game!
Matank
08. Dec 2018 · 09:43 UTC
Really liked the sprites and the rag-doll physics! In general game looked really beautiful.

Gameplay mechanics wise, I felt like there wasn't muchthere - the timer doesn't really have a point because you get more time when you sacrifice and I ended with having almost an hour left on the timer. Anyway, the graphics style and the controls definitely have potential and could be used in a really fun game!
Rodrigo Denúbila
08. Dec 2018 · 13:58 UTC
Interesting concept, I liked the metaphor that you have to sacrifice yourself to achieve something. But I think that the game miss an end, or a objective that I have to accomplish, because after some time I was just swinging around.
wdebowicz
08. Dec 2018 · 16:02 UTC
Interesting game concept, I got that there is some message to the world you want to send with that game.
devilqube
08. Dec 2018 · 22:44 UTC
Nice style of graphics. Quite like the music as well.
Toulou
09. Dec 2018 · 18:06 UTC
This game is weeeeeeird. But it's definitely what's make it memorable. The gameplay is a bit confusing but I had fun playing around with it for a while. I didn't understood money reappeared, I thought I had to progress through the level and that I was stuck.
Anyway, nice little game, an interesting take on the theme. Good job.
Fattori
09. Dec 2018 · 18:06 UTC
nice game, great graphics
Jupiter_Hadley
10. Dec 2018 · 20:56 UTC
Interesting game! I included it in my compilation video series of games from the Ludum Dare, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/Ow-xrYDXDFE
garethiw
10. Dec 2018 · 20:59 UTC
Love the mood on this one. Shame you didn't get to explore the mechanic further, it was nice and simple to play which I love!
MyFriendTames
10. Dec 2018 · 23:42 UTC
The artwork is very nice, and I understod the meaning of the game (I think... :sweat_smile: )

Good job! :smile: :v:
garris
12. Dec 2018 · 06:34 UTC
The look and feel here are great, and the game's interpretation of the theme is done very well. Maybe some hazards and/or powerups? I'd love to see more of this.
Arvejeitor
12. Dec 2018 · 18:24 UTC
Nice game, i like to multiply those guys to infinity and beyond xD
Linus
24. Dec 2018 · 12:47 UTC
![fun.png](///raw/5d2/z/1fc83.png)

It was a lot of fun sacrificing yourself but I didn't really understand how it was a negative thing to do apart from lagging more and more, because it gave me more money and time.

The music and sound effects were relaxing and the graphics were cool. I think that the game would be better with some more gameplay.

Good job!