Ascend by almost

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

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Ascend is a puzzle platformer where the player loops through seasons, making their way upwards to find their lost red balloon.

Controls:
WASD or Arrow Keys to move, up or space to jump.

  • Something that happens in one season can have an effect in another season *

Notes:
You can jump on colored platforms and colored branches
You can climb vines and icicles
You can jump while climbing
You can stand on bubbles for a second or two before they pop

Alt f4 to quit the desktop version

Walkthrough:
In case you get stuck, here is a video walkthrough, but I recommend trying the puzzles yourself first! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRCgseM1b90

Let us know what you think, how you did, and anything else! We love to hear any feedback :)

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Ratings

Overall 254th 3.934⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Fun 501th 3.595⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 99th 4.068⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Theme 73th 4.324⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 94th 4.432⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Audio 138th 4.014⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Humor 610th 2.948⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Mood 154th 4.041⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 51🗨️

Feedback

charlieboss22
05. Oct 2020 · 23:52 UTC
wow that art!
mlkvr
06. Oct 2020 · 00:14 UTC
Great artstyle and pretty neat puzzles too like smoke and vines in addition to relaxing music, good job congrats!
Veeramandadraws
06. Oct 2020 · 00:49 UTC
Really cool art style! :)
Quack Doctor
06. Oct 2020 · 01:01 UTC
@mlkvr did you make it to the ladder? :) If you get past the tough middle challenge, there is a reward afterwards :P
mlkvr
06. Oct 2020 · 01:13 UTC
Unfortunately i got stuck in the loop but hey that means another reason to play again!
Baconeta
06. Oct 2020 · 02:34 UTC
Ahhhh it's so hard to get past the middle section where the pandas are... can we have a hint!!? :s
Quack Doctor
06. Oct 2020 · 02:41 UTC
@Baconeta

Yesss, you may get a hint, you go bump the middle apple first, the panda would go eat, and hibernate in the winter. You then go hop bubbles to get to icicles, and go to fall again, to get the apple on the right :) This time the panda noms on the right apple, so you go back, hop the bubbles, and keep using bubbles. (The next part is to get the left apple somehow). Let me know if you need more help!
Quack Doctor
06. Oct 2020 · 02:50 UTC
@Baconeta,
If you find the panda blocking the way, it's a one way door from right to left, press jump and while you are in air press left, which would probably help.
Baconeta
06. Oct 2020 · 04:22 UTC
I made it :D! Thank you (I took a one hour nap break first to refresh myself )
Such a magical ending, thank you! A absolutely gorgeous game, worthy of incredible marks.
I can't fault it at all.
Quack Doctor
06. Oct 2020 · 04:24 UTC
@baconeta Yayyy, thank you so much! Yeah the panda level is pretty tough, we were worried if people would be able to beat it.
Baconeta
06. Oct 2020 · 04:29 UTC
@quack-doctor I think I MAYBE could do it, if I spent long enough working it all out. The challenge is just perfect actually, I'm a little impatient though.
pee-thief
06. Oct 2020 · 05:21 UTC
gorgeous!
Victor Hallock
06. Oct 2020 · 05:23 UTC
Great job! This is a game i will be playing more of for SURE!
spyranteros
06. Oct 2020 · 17:09 UTC
Very nice! It was lagging a bit for me but it didn't affect the game play. Nice puzzles!
ursagames
07. Oct 2020 · 06:29 UTC
Your game was played on my stream ( https://www.twitch.tv/ursagames/videos ) on 10/6. Thank you for sharing your game with us! You can find the timestamp of when your game was played here: https://tinyurl.com/yy4oycvv
Shortbread
07. Oct 2020 · 08:57 UTC
Great concept and the art style was really nice!
fabiole
07. Oct 2020 · 10:14 UTC
Graphics are amazing. Some times it's not obvious where the platform are and it's kind of frustrating to restart the loop.
Good work guys
OddSocks
07. Oct 2020 · 10:22 UTC
I got a little lost now and then! But the overall gameplay, art/graphics, and music were all great. Fantastic submission :raised_hands:
Copito
07. Oct 2020 · 10:57 UTC
This was cool but I found it very difficult and had to follow the streamer above to even get past the squirrel :D I might give it another go later and see if I can get to the end
djayne
07. Oct 2020 · 18:17 UTC
Fanastic art work and some great game mechanics. Loved the atmosphere and it felt like I was in a painting. Particularly impressed with the particle effects.
Arad HamidSamiee
07. Oct 2020 · 18:37 UTC
Wow, well done. very aesthetic. I can't believe that I managed to finish the game, it was brain twisting. loved the way instruments blended into other instruments depending on the season. And that ending was _Breath Taking_
Quack Doctor
07. Oct 2020 · 18:41 UTC
@arad-hamidsamiee Wow congrats, you finished it! It can definitely be tough, thank you for playing!
Renge
07. Oct 2020 · 21:11 UTC
Really nice puzzle mechanics with the different seasons playing into one another! Had fun playing it on stream! The only issue I had is that sometimes the platforms are a little hard to differentiate from the background and some interactable objects also maybe could benefit from being a little more accentuated. Great game!
mauricioscherer
07. Oct 2020 · 21:52 UTC
Very beautiful game. I liked the attention with the loop and the connection between them. I was trying to climb the tree but I couldn't, am I stupid? Beautiful game congratulations
🎤 almost
07. Oct 2020 · 22:00 UTC
@mauricioscherer You need to solve a puzzle at the start of the game. Pay attention to any objects that change from season to season!

Also, for anyone who is totally stuck, here is a video walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRCgseM1b90
And there is also a video playthrough from ursagames' stream at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/762956252?t=3h15m12s.
mauricioscherer
07. Oct 2020 · 22:07 UTC
@almost Wow amazing! thank you!
orlandobatista
07. Oct 2020 · 23:13 UTC
Wow that was cool! Challenging puzzles and very neat graphics, musics and overall mood! Impressive entry for a jam, congratulations!
cireneikual222464
08. Oct 2020 · 01:40 UTC
Fun game! The art is great, has a surreal feel to it (especially at the end).
svyatozar
08. Oct 2020 · 20:57 UTC
Great stuff! I could not get above the roof level, but I noticed how the music changes with seasons.
Quack Doctor
08. Oct 2020 · 22:40 UTC
@svyatozar
Hi! Thank you so much for playing, a couple of comments above you, almost (one of our devs) posted a walkthrough in case you are stuck, check it out if you want to see the ending :)
Quack Doctor
08. Oct 2020 · 22:41 UTC
@svyatozar
and yess thank you for noticing that (I wonder how long you were stuck to notice that lol), there is sound of rain during spring too!
aeveis
12. Oct 2020 · 03:19 UTC
I beat it! It took a while figuring out how to affect things in seasons, and that I could climb the icicles and vines. Those trees were much higher than I expected, had some interesting puzzles. Nice job!
blobo
14. Oct 2020 · 05:25 UTC
Really cool puzzles! It took me a while before I figured out that I could climb icicles and vines, but the game really picks up! Really cool idea, and the artwork is incredible! Great work.
AreyWarlord
15. Oct 2020 · 16:31 UTC
Awsome puzzle idea. Awsome art and awsome music. (controls need a bit of polishing)

Great game!
Rolly
18. Oct 2020 · 04:06 UTC
It's a very solid entry. I love the art, both visuals and music. The puzzles were very clever. After ~5 times running through all the seasons wondering what I had to do (which was nice, it let me enjoy the art!), it was very nice to understand that I could actually change the squirrel position to influance the other seasons.

I completed the game without watching the walk-through video, but spent some time on the panda part. I understood that I had to make it go on the right to use its bubbles to access higher platforms, but it somehow felt wrong to go left (so, "back in time") to take advantage of its new position. Also, when going to the left, the position of the panda is actually reset in summer and spring, so that was a little confusing.

Good entry!
LRVStudios
20. Oct 2020 · 03:45 UTC
Impressive! Gorgeous art - in every aspect. Great ambientation and really interesting puzzles. And everything with a solid ideia inside theme. Well done!
louis-denizet
20. Oct 2020 · 19:44 UTC
Very great entry! It was really moody and beautiful to watch, It is a very clever answer to the theme. I must admit I had to watch the youtube video as I was stuck in some puzzles but overall very good job!!!
rosero42
20. Oct 2020 · 20:06 UTC
Oh my god I love this art! This is pretty fun too and well executed
sakura_magika
23. Oct 2020 · 23:04 UTC
this is incredible for a game jam! i love how the music stays in sync between the seasons but different instruments come in to play the melody. the art was beautiful, i love the painterly look, and how it transitions from season to season. i really liked the rain in spring.

the mechanics are great, changing things in one season to move forward in the other. i think there's an inconsistency with the bear's position not updating in every season, but that's minor.

my main criticism is that it was really hard to jump on the bubbles, and climb on the vines / icicles. i ended up getting stuck at the first place where you need to jump on the bubbles. i couldn't figure out what to do after making the second apple drop. i watched a play through, it seems you need to backtrack several seasons, because the path is blocked off, to get back to winter, but that wasn't obvious to me, and i just couldn't get back up on the bubbles again a second time.

the creature at the end was very surprising! the clouds were beautiful too.

i think a bit more tuning with the movement, jumping, and climbing mechanics would have made this entry perfect!
666Savior
25. Oct 2020 · 01:45 UTC
Excellent puzzle game, there were a few sections that were a little difficult, mainly because it took me a while to figure out the mechanics of certain things.