LudumData

Mushie by Thought Reactor

[raw]
made by Thought Reactor for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

LD-cover.png

Mushie is a classic side-scrolling platformer in the vein of Super Mario - except in this case, you don't eat the mushrooms - you must protect and guide them!

Sent by the Gods of Wisdom, players take control of the young Acolyte Elin as they move throw musty ruins looking for the all-powerful Mushie.

Players will navigate challenging puzzles to push and toss Mushies to the goal in order to win the favor of the Gods.

Updates

  • 4/24/2020: Builds on Itch.io page have been updated to address a bug where moving platforms could steal the player's Mushie and the player could still throw said Mushie

Known Bugs

  • Animation bugs where certain animations do not play or get stuck in loop when landing or throwing

Controls

Keyboard - Move: WASD or Arrow Keys - Jump: Space Bar - Pickup/Drop Mushie: E key - Throw Mushie: F key

Controller - Move: Left analog stick - Jump: A button/Cross button - Pickup/Drop Mushie: B button/Circle button - Throw Mushie: X button/Square button

Built for the jam in Unity using Photoshop CC, FL Studio 20, and BFXR. First serious attempt at a 2D game in Unity for Ludum Dare - hope you enjoy and have fun!

Screen2.png Screen3.png Screen4.png

Youtube https://thoughtreactor.itch.io/mushie
Youtube https://thoughtreactor.itch.io/mushie
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/mushie

Ratings

Overall 1568th 3.344⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1760th 3.063⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1965th 2.887⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1784th 3.375⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1403th 3.484⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1927th 2.071⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 747th 3.65⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 34🗨️

Feedback

KAI
21. Apr 2020 · 08:02 UTC
This was a really gorgeous and entertaining submission!
Great job on the art, the style and the animation but there are two things to point out on the negative side.
The music is VERY repetitive. Even another 30 seconds with changes to it would have helped.
Secondly, the collision with the mushrooms made everything awkward and gave a sense of unfairness. A couple of times a mushroom was on a space just wide enough for it and the character would simply slide off to their death. Or I'd walk up to one and it would be pushed off a cliff.
Certainly one of the better games I've tried so far, though!
peterfiftyfour
21. Apr 2020 · 08:05 UTC
Hey nice lil game! I like the simple style and the movement is pretty smooth. I think the pace of the game is kinda slow and since the mushies are hard to aim it takes a few tries which makes the slow pace a little frustrating. Also you could make the music a little longer and loop it cos it's cool! Cheers
🎤 Thought Reactor
21. Apr 2020 · 13:53 UTC
@kai Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed playing. Sadly, the music was pushed to the last minute and the soundtrack suffered greatly. I'd like to find a way to better balance the pushing and picking up of the mushroom - too much reliance on physics makes it a bit unclear.

@peterfiftyfour Thanks! The pacing was one of my big issues with it too. Should have had levels designed sooner so I could work that stuff out. Glad you enjoyed it!
Thomu
21. Apr 2020 · 16:48 UTC
The theme and art style of this is great! the music is mostly atmospheric although the hard drums kind of take me out of it a little bit. I like the puzzle aspect and they got quite difficult. I did think that the platforms where painfully slow and i found myself waiting for far to long for them to come back down. sometimes if i was carrying a mushroom and was near a platform the platform would take the mushroom upwards although it would still register as me carrying it, i could then 'throw' it from the hight of the platform even thouhg i was far beneith it. Nice Game
greizgh
21. Apr 2020 · 16:49 UTC
I really like the art, its color minimalism is quite relaxing.
This is why the music felt a bit off with that regard, kind of stressing me out to throw those shroom on the other side of the level :stuck_out_tongue:
I was expecting to drop the mushroom when trying to jump, but the game is fair and won't let you do that ;)
Destin715
21. Apr 2020 · 16:50 UTC
Love the atmosphere and the colors!
Sadriparian
21. Apr 2020 · 16:59 UTC
It's a nice and slow paced game. I lime the ideas of the character that looks like it is embedded in the platform while walking. I think the throw mechanic could have a little hint about the direction of the mushroom as it becomes really frustrating, especially when there's more than one.
Luke Perkin
21. Apr 2020 · 16:59 UTC
Really like the concept here, I'm just terrible at platformers.
Piturnah
21. Apr 2020 · 17:01 UTC
The atmosphere of this game was very well done, the post processing was nice. I really like particularly the player character and his animations. I didn't use them but I think it is cool you added controller support, I think this game would play better with a controller. If you want some more critical feedback, I think the platforming felt a little stiff, could do with the character being lighter and faster. I appreciate there's not much time in an LD game, however it would also be nice for the look of the levels to feel a little more polished than blocks of colour. Overall, an enjoyable experience to play.
Gabriel Pittol
21. Apr 2020 · 17:02 UTC
Really good game, atmosphere and music.
LairinLair
21. Apr 2020 · 17:26 UTC
Really like the dark/tense feel that the game pass. The glow in the mushrooms were a nice touch. Ended wanting to play more. Good work!
🎤 Thought Reactor
21. Apr 2020 · 17:49 UTC
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Glad you all enjoyed the game.
Rialgar
21. Apr 2020 · 18:13 UTC
I really loved the moody art and music and had great fun playing it.

See me missing the moving platform:
https://youtu.be/lctd9w48ufs
🎤 Thought Reactor
21. Apr 2020 · 18:32 UTC
@rialgar Thanks for the video! It was really helpful seeing someone playthrough the game - and reproducing the bug with the moving Mushie! Glad you enjoyed it.
Feingehacktes
23. Apr 2020 · 18:22 UTC
fun little platformer.

My only two complains are with the limited keyboard controls, everything is for the left hand, right hand does nothing. I personally also don't like jumping with space, so adding a few different control schemes would be nice.

The second problem was the slow pacing of the game, especially with the platforms.

Other than that it was a fun game with a fitting art style. Well done
🎤 Thought Reactor
23. Apr 2020 · 18:48 UTC
@feingehacktes Thanks for playing! I like your suggestion for the controls. I really designed the game around a controller scheme, so the keyboard scheme got a little less love than it should.

If I end up going back to this one, controls and pacing are the first thing on my list, for sure. Glad you enjoyed it!
ZaiusPanda
24. Apr 2020 · 09:52 UTC
It's a nice game, I liked the theme and the colours. But I saw some animations bugs, like sometimes after falling the character still has the jumping sprite on, I guess this happpens when you hit something before touching the ground, but I'm not sure. Also if you grab Mushie and walk below a moving platform the platform squish you a bit and it robs your Mushi, but the character state doesn't not change so you need to "leave" Mushi before jumping or anything. I haven't test it, but I think you would also be able to throw it away.
🎤 Thought Reactor
24. Apr 2020 · 14:53 UTC
@zaiuspanda Thanks for playing! That bug has been addressed. I should update the published version with it! :D
NathanT
25. Apr 2020 · 22:42 UTC
Very slick art that fits the mood perfectly! The character animations were excellent. Accidentally bumped my shrooms into the spikes and didn't expect them to die, but it fits with the theme. Also liked the soundtrack. Good jam!
johnnysix
29. Apr 2020 · 21:08 UTC
Pretty cool. The responsiveness of the platforming character, and perhaps the speed of the moving platforms could be increased a bit, it felt a bit floaty.

If you keep developing, I'd say use the same key for pick up / throw the mushroom.
ThePirateNun
08. May 2020 · 00:02 UTC
This is a super cool little game! I really enjoyed the graphics, and the colors really gave it a cool mood and feel. I think if this game has a little bit of bug fixing and polish (you can jump infinitely when pressed against a wall and sometimes I would just get randomly turned around) it would feel even better. i also think, it might be nice to make respawning a little quicker to make the game flow a little better. It's a very interesting concept, and it was very fun to aim the mushrooms and get better with trial and error. I really liked it and I hope you keep developing it moving forward!
Junber
09. May 2020 · 19:02 UTC
Pretty cool game. That fact that platforms move really slowly and that the gravity for jumps is low makes for a methodical pace (which isn't bad) that make dying quite punishing (which also isn't necessarily bad for everyone but for me it made progressing a bit frustrating). The graphics look really stylish, the music is pretty nice, I quite like the idea and had fun playing this. Great job!