Escape the Loop by magnusfurcifer

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

Not my best effort to be honest, I'd already got pretty deep before I realized I wasn't super jazzed about the idea and I think it shows in some of the bugs and lack of polish and content. That being said, sliding feels pretty good I think.

Intro: Short escape runner game for LD47

Try to escape the loop while not being murdered by the loop cleaner. Collect the 3 keys to open the door!

How to Play: Left and Right Arrows move

Space Jumps

Down Arrow Slides

gameplay.PNG title.PNG

Ratings

Overall 1316th 3.118⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1056th 3.118⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 996th 3.158⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Theme 250th 4.092⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1492th 2.135⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Audio 1074th 2.043⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1213th 1.897⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1509th 2.271⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Given 40🗳️ 51🗨️

Feedback

Diefleder
05. Oct 2020 · 01:01 UTC
Nice Idea. It was fun. Wish there were more levels :P
Listonos
05. Oct 2020 · 01:44 UTC
The physics were little wonky to fully enjoy this, often walls pushing out away unless you had a good momentum. Jumping and slide button mashing helped. Sliding does feel good though if you get used to those issues. Actually finished so good job on getting the most out me as an audience.
Spiderhead20
05. Oct 2020 · 02:10 UTC
Some of the collisions needed to be polished, but I get it, I always have trouble with the colliders in my games. I love the idea of running in a literal loop.
DMac
05. Oct 2020 · 02:12 UTC
Hey, this is the best 2D implementation of the theme I've seen so far, in terms of level design, a loop with backtracking and a kill wall. Captures feeling stuck in a loop well. :thumbsup:
paperfly
05. Oct 2020 · 11:09 UTC
Overall very good idea and fits the theme very well. I could definitly see myself playing this game for a loong time if the collisions where a bit more polished :)
kovalok
05. Oct 2020 · 11:12 UTC
Idea was cool and actually finishing a jam game is always nice! Hit detection could use a little polishing and more levels would be awesome.
Tutti Ankka
05. Oct 2020 · 11:17 UTC
It's not a bad idea. I think this would be really fun if turned into fully polished game. Right now it's a bit unpolished to say but I enjoyed the one level it has, despite the collision bugs.
rhoff95
05. Oct 2020 · 15:05 UTC
Great game! Interesting concept that I think could easily be expanded upon. Seems like a game where N+ style platforming would work really well, the player needs the ability to be agile and I think the collisions/movement here prohibits that some. I would also like to see another take on the death system, is there some other way to penalize the player for getting hit by the cleaner? Maybe the last key they got starts to float back to its location and they have a short time to catch it again. Good job!
Gilad Bar Ilan
05. Oct 2020 · 15:21 UTC
Nice idea! But after you get it the game becomes too easy.
Pennycook
05. Oct 2020 · 22:10 UTC
The idea of implementing an endless runner in a loop is a really good one, and I like the fact that the same level changes slightly each time around. That's a neat mechanic, and one that you should definitely explore more if you keep working on this.

As others have said, the collisions and physics feel like an extra enemy here. The part where you have to slide up a ramp is brutal (but very rewarding when you finally manage it). :laughing:

I like the sound effects, but some music would have helped. I recommend [musagi](https://www.drpetter.se/project_musagi.html).
nerdytopic
06. Oct 2020 · 03:33 UTC
Dude that one ramp- that's brutal. The slide mechanic was really well implemented. It felt "cool" to complete a slide in time. Perhaps having the loop cleaner start off a bit slower and ramp up as the player collects keys would have been a good way to ramp up the difficulty? I also think having a little cleaning animation on the front side of the cleaner would have added to the "OH GOD GOTTA GET AWAY" aspect of it. Nice job!
marbles
06. Oct 2020 · 06:26 UTC
I like the fast and smooth movement speed but the collisions are not "smooth". Sometimes I would get stuck. I wish there were more levels though. It's fun.

Maybe you could expand on this later on. You could add changing terrain for example.
Default Labs
06. Oct 2020 · 06:47 UTC
This was a bunch of fun! I really love the way the game felt and the use of the theme was really neat :)
Fonics
06. Oct 2020 · 14:48 UTC
Short but sweet. I seriously wish there were more levels, this is a ton of fun! The movement feels very good even with the occasional bug and the pace of the "loop cleaner" and your character speed is balanced perfectly. Excellent entry!
Yeti Kid
06. Oct 2020 · 17:32 UTC
Really good concept! Would like to see it fleshed out and more variety but great job!!
EnzoUP
06. Oct 2020 · 17:40 UTC
Nice little short game, more levels would be nice, it's just way to short in my opinion, but it is fun, also the physics are a little broken sometimes but a little polish would change everything and make it amazingly fine to play, great entry for a compo, good luck!
TheWustache
06. Oct 2020 · 17:51 UTC
I actually really like this! It's short and a little rough around the edges, but all the important elements that make this game unique are there. And sliding feels really good, although there is some skill to it. I played through it multiple times because I liked the sliding so much :)
Roikku
07. Oct 2020 · 19:54 UTC
Keep growing as a developer! Sometimes you may be presented with concepts you don't like, but you can still learn a lot by atleast trying.
PROJECTaroid
08. Oct 2020 · 17:31 UTC
Nice game, it plays really well. I like how you approached using the jam's theme in the level design.
honey
09. Oct 2020 · 18:36 UTC
I was getting stuck here pretty often, even the slide didn't get me through, sometimes it helped to "jumpslide" or any other button mashing

![scr.png](///raw/59a/31/z/39d5d.png)

The arrow keys to move, space to jump (not being able to use WASD) felt a bit unintuitive and caused me a bit of trouble. Also I felt that the cleaner moves a little bit too fast to actually collect anything. Still interesting idea, making a feel-good platformer controls within three days is hard :( Still good work, you definitely have something to build upon!
dk5000p
10. Oct 2020 · 14:19 UTC
Some of the sliding was a little weird but I was able to collect all the keys and escape.
ForgeronStudio
13. Oct 2020 · 13:59 UTC
This was really fun to play! I agree that the sliding is fun. I think that for me the main issues were how fast the camera moves and the occasional bugginess of the movement. I still really enjoyed playing, and I look forward to seeing your future games!
gamescodedogs
23. Oct 2020 · 16:41 UTC
Nice idea, but you need a better artist. But, nevertheless - very fun.
Stefan B.
27. Oct 2020 · 13:48 UTC
controls feels a bit strange, when sometimes walking together with sliding would not bring you forward, instead standing still and slide will. But after a bit getting into the controls, was a quick win :)