LudumData

UnStuck LLC. by Int

[raw]
made by Int for Ludum Dare 47 (JAM)

Welcome to UnStuck LLC.

cassette_run1.gif In this game you play as TP - a lovely cassette trying to get through life the way he likes: Work -> Beer -> Sleep -> Repeat. Most of his life centers around working for UnStuck LLC., a company tased with helping cassettes who got stuck in an audio loop. Will TP identify the loop, and get other cassettes UnStuck, or will he get stuck in a loop as well? Find out in this loop-packed adventure game with consistently unconsistent graphics! (Can you find all 4 endings?)

Created by:

Int ("I got perfect on the tutorial that I coded myself.")

Michal_Atlas ("That feeling when people work on unpulled repos.")

jandourek ("Graphic design is my passion.")

Controls:

A,D / Arrow keys - Move

W / Up arrow - Interact

Space - Record loop/Stop recording

Travel menu: The selected button is highlighted. W/S (Up/Down) to select. Spacebar clicks the highlighted button. If no button is highlighted, just press W/S (Up/Down)

List of known bugs:

  • Work is Hardcore mode is probably too hardcore

    - The music bars don't fit the screen in Work

ps<em>1.png ps</em>4.png ps<em>2.png ps</em>3.png

Youtube https://gamejolt.com/games/un_stuck/543054
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/unstuck-llc

Ratings

Overall 755th 3.537⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1010th 3.173⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 527th 3.577⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 270th 4.077⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 248th 4.185⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Audio 637th 3.365⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 353th 3.404⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Mood 506th 3.667⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 32🗳️ 32🗨️

Feedback

Christoph Kolb
05. Oct 2020 · 22:54 UTC
Incredible artstyle, love the mix between 2D and 3D.
Also there's a lot of content here, which is really impressive for this short amount of time.
I'll definitely revisit this one later.
BananaGuyBob
05. Oct 2020 · 22:58 UTC
I love the concept, and the art looks super cool. At one point I got stuck and could neither cook dinner or drink beer, but up until then, great job
130N35
05. Oct 2020 · 23:17 UTC
Really interesting art ! A bit confusing about where to go and all, but a good concept though
🎤 Int
06. Oct 2020 · 05:29 UTC
@christoph-kolb Thank you so much fr the positive feedback! I'm very proud of the fact that we managed to finish a game, since it was our first jam for 2/3 team members, who did 95% of the conding. Thank you for loving the artstyle ;) Try if you can find all 4 endings ;)
🎤 Int
06. Oct 2020 · 05:30 UTC
@130n35 Thanks for the feedback! Did the quester at the top right help with that? We wanted to add some discovery to the game, so we decided against signs in the hall, or displaying your money or even anything.
Geryon Games
06. Oct 2020 · 12:50 UTC
I love the loop unsticking gameplay, throw some story, life, and a great artstyle ontop of that and you have an awesome submission. Great work!
The Missing Bracket
06. Oct 2020 · 13:07 UTC
great cute game, although the buttons don't work most of the time
🎤 Int
06. Oct 2020 · 13:10 UTC
@the-missing-bracket Hi, which buttons don't work? The travel menu is controled by W,S (or arrows) and space to confirm.
06. Oct 2020 · 13:28 UTC
@int I told you, that it's not a good idea.
Cydouzo
07. Oct 2020 · 01:57 UTC
Great art style and great music, they give a profound personality!

I saw quite a few games that interpreted the theme the same way you did (the loop is going to work and coming back home every day), but yours was probably the best I tried so far.

Best part is when I realized we can skip going to work and just stay home drink beers. Then my wife got angry at me the next day XD.

I was expecting a story to emerge from the dialogs with the wife and the boss, but I stopped playing at day 7 and nothing had happened by then, should I have played longer? If I had found some story-telling I would have given you a 5 stars in Mood.

Many people already said it, but I'll say it too: the controls to chose where to go were incredibly confusing. When I go to work, I just have to click on Work, but I come back I have to select House or Shop with the arrow keys. It took me a while to understand.
🎤 Int
07. Oct 2020 · 06:44 UTC
@cydouzo Thank you for playing our game! It looks like the menu controls don't work as intended, it was a last hour feature and works accordingly.
I'm glad you tried skipping work :D You were supposed to find some ending, but you probably were moving beteen conditions to meet one (you usually have to do something right or wrong multiple days in a row to find a ending).
We didn't manage to figure out a story more, but it was deffinitevely one of the things we would add (along with a growing beard, which would also start some interactions wit the boss and your wife).
YANIV
07. Oct 2020 · 07:24 UTC
I think it's a good game
Which conveys the idea of the loop of life
Good job
Toulou
07. Oct 2020 · 12:56 UTC
I play games for escapism, not for feeling miserable :(

Seriously though, this is a great game, weirdly funny AND depressing and an original take on the theme. The graphics are top notch. I tried to experiment, like going drunk to work but I was disappointed to see nothing happened. Despite that the game succeed at what it tries to achieve. Good job!
🎤 Int
07. Oct 2020 · 13:03 UTC
@toulou We are terribly sorry for making you feel like that ;). Going drunk to work and more interactions like that (and trust me, we had a few planned) didn't fit in the 72 hour period. I'm glad yu enjoyed the graphics!
Yword
07. Oct 2020 · 17:47 UTC
Really interesting and unique characters! Nice works! ^_^
Daitse
07. Oct 2020 · 18:47 UTC
Love the character design and the graphics in general. The game is surprisinglyfun to play ^^ Congrats !
🎤 Int
07. Oct 2020 · 18:56 UTC
@yword @daitse Thank you for the possitive feedback =)
LelulaGames
08. Oct 2020 · 05:33 UTC
Fantastic style. I love the idea of tapes working at audio. There were definitely some bugs. I left work and it got stuck in the car just driving forever without any options to change, and no reset button.
FireSlash
08. Oct 2020 · 05:52 UTC
I hit the same travel menu quirks others have mentioned, it was fairly confusing at first.

Other than that, neat little game. Clever character design. I with there were more interactions as Toulou stated, but the scope monster catches us all in the end. Food for a post-jam version I suppose.
C64Gamer
08. Oct 2020 · 06:06 UTC
The graphics style is awesome. A short introduction page at the beginning would be cool. Was funny to play. Good job :-)
Docjekyll
08. Oct 2020 · 07:07 UTC
Solid entry.

Lots of interesting details like the parallax effect and the fridge animation in the shop.

The gameplay was less "gamey" than I expected; more like... an interactive narrative experience. But it was definitely an interesting take on the theme. Good work.
🎤 Int
08. Oct 2020 · 07:53 UTC
@docjekyll Thank you! Glad you noticed the graphic details. The intention was more on the narrative side, yes. COuld feel a bit like an adventure game, when you try to discoveer, what the game allows you to do and what happens when yu do so. Thank you for playing!
🎤 Int
08. Oct 2020 · 07:55 UTC
@c64gamer Thank you for playing and liking the style! We ended up with the poster in the bedroom for intruduction (mainly because of time constrains) and made it so the player has to figure it out themselvees.
🎤 Int
08. Oct 2020 · 08:00 UTC
@lelulagames @fireslash Thank you for playing and for the feedback! It was our first jam after all, so more bugs are to be expected. We'll do even better next time!
Chukwuebuka_racer
10. Oct 2020 · 01:17 UTC
Controls are smooth, nice graphics and animation
PeachTreeOath
10. Oct 2020 · 08:39 UTC
Love the meta idea, that there's a looping audio inside this looping game. Hate to admit it but I could never figure out that minigame after several tries. How tight is the timing?

Regardless I could see where you were going with this game. You can definitely start to feel the despair of the character's life as you move forward, just doing the same thing over and over again.

The art is really bold, I'd love to know the process you had for coming up with something like that. Nice work for having so many new folks on the team, I know that can be tough myself!
🎤 Int
10. Oct 2020 · 11:01 UTC
@peachtreeoath Thanks for the feedback! Unless there's a bug in the last version, the minigame should be fine (I was able to nail it everytime, unless it was around midnight), the timing is either on the same note or 1 ahead/after, so you should be fine. I wasn't the one behind the art, I think our graphic designer wanted to try some 3D rendering for backgrounds, with which our 3rd team member is experienced with, and we also really wanted to do pixel art, so this is what came from it. Thanks so much for playing!
PeachTreeOath
10. Oct 2020 · 16:42 UTC
Thanks for the reply :) Yea I suspected it was just my fault for identifying the loop improperly.
Jordan Kelly
10. Oct 2020 · 17:43 UTC
I've never had more fun ruining my life through drink. Great game!
loligxp
14. Oct 2020 · 21:13 UTC
what a great game ^^
Hardcore mode was really hard, but I somehow managed to get through by only dringink beer.
(I'm a terrible cassete being :P)
I also adore the art, it's cute and the expressions on the cassete faces are also great :D
the different endings are also nice, combined with the different musik tracks it made a really nice experience.
well done :D
Archie Evans
14. Oct 2020 · 21:27 UTC
Great graphics and mood!
🎤 Int
15. Oct 2020 · 11:21 UTC
@loligxp I'm glad you managed to find multiple endings, great to hear that! Thanks for playing and enjoying!
rzzl_dzzl
19. Oct 2020 · 17:51 UTC
i'm not a casette being but my life was almost the same
sakura_magika
24. Oct 2020 · 18:52 UTC
i got the poor ending! i tried a few loops of doing a good job at work, but didn't end up reaching an ending with that one, not sure if i just needed to play more times, or if i wasn't heading towards an ending. maybe some kind of indicator of your progress towards and ending would help.

overall, i like the art style and music. cassettes are inherently stuck in a loop! perfect!
JollyJoe
27. Oct 2020 · 07:15 UTC
lol I have to play more, but I love this, it tugs on my heart strings, great work, I kept buying beer and food. love the animations and style and world you made :)