Oops Loops by michaelaranda

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

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Description

Poor Dr. Miles was conducting an experiment and now he's stuck in some kind of interdimensional spacetime loop! Help him find the emergency power shut-off to escape the loops before it's too late! Did we mention that Dr. Miles carries a deck of playing cards with him wherever he goes?

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In this platformer, you'll use Dr. Miles's cards to literally change the fabric of time and space around you! It only costs—well, we can talk about that later.

Rumor has it that Dr. Miles's grandfather was a jumping spider, but that's just a rumor, probably.

Controls

Keyboard
WASD or Arrow Keys: Character movement
Q/E: Select card

Controller
Left stick or D-Pad: Character movement
Shoulder buttons: Select card

Credits

Programming
Michael Aranda, Steve McStevenson, Oliver Wright

Art and Music
Michael Aranda

Special Thanks
Acegiak

Ratings

Overall 163th 4.029⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Fun 300th 3.779⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 32th 4.265⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Theme 258th 4.088⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 744th 3.618⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Audio 456th 3.574⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Humor 268th 3.603⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1023th 3.182⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Given 77🗳️ 45🗨️

Feedback

Declan
06. Oct 2020 · 09:44 UTC
Very solid game, nicely executed. I like the concept of the card system modifying the map, and the character art was nice. Well done.
gemberkoekje
06. Oct 2020 · 10:10 UTC
Jeepers, you won!
I liked the level changing mechanic, though at first I really wasn't sure where to go to and I used quite a lot of cards 'in vain'. Maybe a map or at least a compass would've been nice. Also, at least at first, it's a bit hard to predict exactly how the map is going to change. Not sure how to fix that, maybe a sphere in the middle of the card image?
But yeah, very nice and fun game, well done!
Seskon
06. Oct 2020 · 10:16 UTC
Nice Idea, character is very cute, i didnt really want to kill him :(

My problem was that at the beginning it had no real meaning for me what card I use, I just took a random one because I didnt know where to go. It worked out at the the end but it also was more fun at the end because i had to plan what card i use. So maybe it would be better to have a smaller level or maybe a map so you can better see where you need to go.
sacredbacon
06. Oct 2020 · 10:21 UTC
Very clever game, I liked the visuals and the puzzle element was totally unexpected. Had some performance issues on windows but I alt tabbed and refocused the window seemed to fix it. Great game, keep it up!
Adiwan
06. Oct 2020 · 10:22 UTC
Conceptually it is a fine idea. As a player I wished to see the whole map and a choice in which cards should be used upon death.
Also there should be a restart button when you're dead and no available cards.
Despite that I like it.
ursagames
07. Oct 2020 · 05:43 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
GetSky
08. Oct 2020 · 20:16 UTC
A.Ma.Zing. Really cool idea of mixing a platformer with a card game and very well executed! Had a lot of fun playing it and the narrative line made me giggle a little. Very well done!
Flying Dog Fish
09. Oct 2020 · 22:33 UTC
Great game. The only problem I see is that you can get stuck if the card you use produces a hole you can't get out of when you fall in it later.
fabula_rasa
09. Oct 2020 · 23:08 UTC
Wow, that was super fun! On my first try I actually run out of cards juuuust before I reached the power switch. But on my second try, I did it! And with a card left to go.

![Screenshot_1.png](///raw/732/a2/z/39dd5.png)

I never saw a mechanic like that and I think it's brilliant. So fun and it makes you think about your surroundings and plan for the future. And the randomness of cards you have in your hand brings a variation to each playthrough. I really think that you could build a nice full puzzle platformer around this mechanic.

I don't know if full map is needed (as other comments mentioned). I didn't really feel a lack of a map here - maybe it's even more fun without it.

I liked the main character design, animations on him and the comments he was making. All very cool! The world could use some variance (maybe some random cracks on the wall from the experiment gone bad and such) - but that really is just a wish, as I know that jam time is very limited :).

One of the better games I played this jam. Very nicely done.
aevek
10. Oct 2020 · 06:04 UTC
Oh man this was great. My first attempt was an absolute disaster but it taught me all the lessons I needed to have a couple of spare cards on the second go. Never played a game like this before and I loved it! Great game.
Ruling Spear
10. Oct 2020 · 14:17 UTC
This was a great concept! Feel as if the death and card mechanic should have been introduced a bit sooner, but overall was a fun! Great potential.
wizard sino
10. Oct 2020 · 14:21 UTC
Jeepers!
zacharieg
10. Oct 2020 · 14:38 UTC
Nice game ! The concept is very cool but you could made a puzzle game with this concept it's a pity... But the game is cool anyway and I finished it ! (keep that concept it is very cool)
tatawanda
10. Oct 2020 · 14:54 UTC
Frankly, really nice entry. I won't go into much details since the other comments already did, still the list of some good points : Animation, game feels, the idea. Really great.

Now, what could be better:

-Some way to know where your objective is at the begining, or for the layout to be more clearly
organized, I wandered a lot in the hallway before finding my way.


-A visualisation of the map change if you die one one point, I mean it's okay to map mentally but
more comfort is possible

-A suicide key ? I mean you can get stuck with some card layout. I "lost" the first time because of
that

-And maybe not begin from the starting point each time, or more possibility to create shortcut,
travelling to the previous point can be really tedious some times.

Voilà, again cool idea and cool game :D
kiryu
10. Oct 2020 · 15:26 UTC
Awesome game! Really! I like the concept that you really have to think about what you want to do next. Also it´s nice that there is not "the only solution". Had a lot of fun - well done!
coderTrevor
10. Oct 2020 · 19:36 UTC
Wow! So much fun and super innovative! It's very hard and punishing, but fair. I kept thinking I was going to ragequit but it kept me going. I finally beat it! The audio was perfect and I really like the polish - moving around feels great. It's hilarious and oddly satisfying when your dude's head flies off. It's really cool how the cards add variance to each run and give the player something to manage, and you can make shortcuts for yourself if you plan ahead. Great job!
![Jeepers.png](///raw/e3d/3/z/39f03.png)
andriirinah
11. Oct 2020 · 15:32 UTC
Liked it. I fell into a hole and couldn't escape. Had to restart the game. Solid game, congrats!
Samuli
11. Oct 2020 · 15:39 UTC
I loved the gimmick. End game platforming was quite tricky. I think game could have been great even without tricky jumps as the controls weren't super tight. Superb job overall!
island-jam-2-group-3
11. Oct 2020 · 15:46 UTC
Cool and innovative gameplay! I wouldn't mind playing a extended version ;-)
steambrain
12. Oct 2020 · 07:33 UTC
Controls were fine for me, but I agree with @samuli - final platforming part was unnecessary. It'd be fun if it wasn't "get all the way back if you fail scenario - finished it second time, first one failed a bit too much on those jump precisely parts.
Very strong entry nevertheless, graphics, theme, sounds, everything is on the point!
bentglasstube
12. Oct 2020 · 09:06 UTC
Overall this was enjoyable. Toward the end the platforming was a bit frustrating, mostly because you had to start back at the very beginning and redo parts you had done in the past. I wound up finishing with one card left so the difficulty was reasonable but I definitely though about bailing after too many restarts that I felt were unfair. The jump sounds were charming and the music was nice. The artwork was nice as well. Thanks for sharing!
renearanda
12. Oct 2020 · 09:35 UTC
![anxiety level oops loops.jpg](///raw/056/83/z/3a0a6.jpg) I have never known a greater anxiety than this moment. Great game, looking forward to its updates!
Wendel Scardua
12. Oct 2020 · 11:11 UTC
The card mechanic is fun and the platforming itself is great... I only wish there was some suicide/restart button because I got stuck inside a hole
GuitarBro
12. Oct 2020 · 23:16 UTC
The card mechanic is super cool, though as some people above mentioned, it would be nice to have some preview of what it's going to place when you get near an orb (or whatever they're called :stuck_out_tongue: ). Ended up softlocking myself twice which kinda stunk. Audio-wise the game is nothing special, but well made all around. Music was subtle but reinforced the theme and something about the footstep sounds was oddly satisfying(?) to me. Also, I'm pretty sure that intro serving as a tutorial was totally intentional in which case hats-off to managing to fit an "invisible tutorial" in a game jam. My one biggest complaint though, was that there's nothing guiding you in any particular direction and there's lots of branching paths, so even some indicator as to which general direction you need to head would make it considerably less frustrating to fail. Overall, nicely done though.