LudumData

The Return by seizethedia

[raw]
made by seizethedia for LD 42 (JAM)

Hello friends! I am a solo-dev, this is my 3rd LD and as always it has been a HUGE LEARNING EXPERIENCE!

The Return is a turn-based dungeon crawler made in 72 hrs. My goal was to make a hectic, dangerous, turn-based experience, where every step you take could mean death. Space to move becomes limited as the evil poison in the air spreads…

There was more to explore with this idea and there was tons more I wanted to implement, but alas I am one dude still learning how to pixel barely getting by with coding. But that's why I'm here! LEARN!

Hope you enjoy it!

Instructions: UPDATE New tile indicators! New Abilities UI! < ---- Use your first ability to clear poison at the cost of HP

Tiles that blink indicate incoming poison, those tiles are still walkable but have a chance to turn into poison. If you're standing on poison when your turn ends, you will die.

W, A, S, D (North, West, South, East) // Q, E, Z, C (North-West, South-West, South-East, North-East)

or for Numpad users - 8-4-2-6(North, West, South, East) // 7,1,3,9(North-West, South-West, South-East, North-East)

Walk unto a tile to:

  • Attack!
  • Grab and equip an item! ( You will auto-drop any currently equipped)
  • Consume Food to gain HP!
  • Gain XP from killing stuff!
  • Level up for max HP Boost and a new ability!

Mouse-over items, enemies, and tiles for a tooltip info panel!

HTML5 (web) https://seizethedia.itch.io/the-return-home
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/the-return

Ratings

Overall 666th 3.316⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 690th 3.139⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 454th 3.316⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 201th 3.974⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 697th 3.289⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 322th 3.368⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 373th 3.368⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 14🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

tg1397
14. Aug 2018 · 22:51 UTC
It took me a couple play throughs to actually understand the mechanics of how floaters attacked you. I think one issue is that there was not really motivation (for me at least) to go get the objects because if I did that, the stairs would almost definitely be cut off by the poison. If it was on my way, sure, but other than that I was just charging for the exit each time. It's frustrating that a tile can go pink when you step on it and instantly kill you. I liked the combination of slowly limiting movement and enemies, however.
BoopsGames
14. Aug 2018 · 23:06 UTC
I really like it! Just couldn't figure out how to restart after dying, so it really affected replayability for me.
Ganonwarrior
16. Aug 2018 · 03:49 UTC
The game is a bit confusing but after a while playing I get it. The idea is original and that's a very good point! I really liked the song too.
chelC
16. Aug 2018 · 04:07 UTC
I had quite a bit of fun playing it! I died a lot, but the fast gameplay kept me trying and trying again! It's always a question of whether you go for the armor or jsut try to beeline it. I wish the mechanics were better explained, though. And I believe I ran into a bug somehow where I could no longer move and I had to refresh the page. No idea what triggered it. Anyway, great job!!
Darkphnx
16. Aug 2018 · 04:32 UTC
Great use of the running out of space theme! I really enjoyed the music and art style of this game. The gameplay was a bit confusing at first though, and it'd be helpful to have some sort of indicator on what squares were going to turn hostile before you stepped on them, and the same can be said for the enemy attacking mechanics. Overall, great work!
🎤 seizethedia
16. Aug 2018 · 12:13 UTC
Thank you all for your feedback! I'm working on making things visually more clear and giving you a way to save yourself from the poison. Should have it up by today or tomorrow!
KingHamster
16. Aug 2018 · 12:54 UTC
I like it. The music really creates a feeling of urgency. I gave it a couple of runs but couldn't get much further than the feral frogs. Might have a go again later, replayability is great.
dk5000p
16. Aug 2018 · 13:27 UTC
The controls and objective were not immediately clear but after a few playthroughs it made more sense. The floaters did not really make me think enemy I can attack and more made me think bomb. The game was still fun and I liked that it had a story. A tutorial might help and knowing how to get rid of a pink square you are standing on might help.
Sam Machell
16. Aug 2018 · 13:33 UTC
to me this felt as though it would work better as a puzzle game, the way the poison spreads is a clever idea to make the player hurry to the next floor, but i think it would work better if it was specifically designed rather than random, as it feels unfair often. but as others have said the music helps create a great pace!
thegunmaster
16. Aug 2018 · 13:40 UTC
Very interesting game! The graphics could have used some work in my opinion though. the art style itself is fine, kind of cool, but I would have made the game less static. For instance by adding sliding transitions when you move, and animations for tacking and delivering damage. But pretty cool game none the less :)
Nam Nguyen
16. Aug 2018 · 13:48 UTC
Sometimes I walk on a tile and that tile randomly becomes a deadly tile, and so I die T_T. I think the random generation of deadly tiles should take into consideration of where the player is, and whether there is a way for him to go to the end - if not, end the game right away. Overall, great work putting in this, the map generation really increase the value of the game. Well done!
Norris Eldridge
18. Aug 2018 · 14:09 UTC
Hey I liked your entry :) Music was pretty good and made for a nice atmosphere. I quite like the art style as well, simple and easy to understand. I think my only critique is that often times it felt like the best strategy was just run straight at the exit. Not sure if this was intended or not. Another thing was that often times I'd get cut off from going in any direction so I'd have to just run around in my circle until a block killed me lol I guess it would be nice if once the game detects you can't get to the exit, just kill the player at that point? Either way, solid entry! Nicely done!
🎤 seizethedia
18. Aug 2018 · 16:31 UTC
@norris-eldridge There's supposed to be an ability you can use to clear poison in your path, but it clearly needed a tutorial or something to explain that it exists because I think hardly anyone notices it.
Wesxdz
18. Aug 2018 · 17:44 UTC
Sometimes it felt arbitrarily difficult. Maybe providing more player abilities or food would help. I liked how you used the theme with the poison tiles.
Autumnotopia
19. Aug 2018 · 04:43 UTC
I couldn't tell if it was actually randomized or not, but it gave me a lot of real cool roguelike vibes. I think your interpretation of the theme is really cool, and everything seemed reasonably coherent to me!
eptwalabha
19. Aug 2018 · 21:31 UTC
Hey, your game is nice but hard… I coudn't level up to lvl3.
I like your take on the theme. Good job on your entry.