LudumData

Blood and Snow by Mika la Grand

[raw]
made by Mika la Grand for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

Blood and Snow is a top down survival game set during a snow storm. The storm will be over in seven days. ​Your task is to chop trees and hunt deer to keep you and Emily alive. However, you can't stay outside for too long, because you will freeze to death in the cold.

Schermopname (531).png

Controls

  • Move using WASD and sprint with Shift
  • Switch weapon with Q
  • Shoot/Interact with the Left Mouse Button
  • Collect with E (or by clicking with LMB)
  • Zoom the camera with the scroll wheel
  • Rebind keys in the controlsmenu

Tips

  • Go inside the cabin to warm up and drop off supplies.
  • Restock on ammo in the abandoned cabins.
  • Chop trees by clicking on them.
  • Carrying a lot of supplies will slow you down.
  • The compass in the top right points towards the cabin.
  • Follow the footstep to find the deer.

Theme

This game was made for Ludum Dare 46. The theme was "Keep it alive". In this case, you have to keep Emily alive (the woman in the cabin). I first wanted to go for some kind of monster that you had to bring to some place, but this was hard because of the freezing mechanic I wanted to implemented. Though, Emily is pretty nice as well.

SFX's

https://freesound.org/people/soundscalpel.com/sounds/110619/ https://freesound.org/people/soundscalpel.com/sounds/110609/ https://freesound.org/people/soundscalpel.com/sounds/110620/ https://freesound.org/people/CosmicEmbers/sounds/387481/ https://freesound.org/people/cobratronik/sounds/117136/ https://freesound.org/people/newagesoup/sounds/338674/

Patches

  • Increased movement speed and decreased movement penalty (over encumbered)
  • Added dialog (feedback)
  • Added axe sprite
  • Added failscreen and pausemenu
  • Added ability to walk behind trees (for player and animals)
  • Added day and night cycle
  • Added UI feedback when supplies are used or dropped off
  • Added basic intelligence for deer; they now run away when you shoot or get too close
  • Added wolves; they don't give any meat and attack if you get too close
  • Added carcasses of killed animals
  • Added randomly spawned abandoned cabins with ammo pickups
  • Fixed various bugs
Youtube https://mikalagrand.itch.io/blood-and-snow
Youtube https://mikalagrand.itch.io/blood-and-snow
Youtube https://mikalagrand.itch.io/blood-and-snow
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/blood-and-snow

Ratings

Overall 1322th 3.462⭐ 80🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1520th 3.175⭐ 79🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 2035th 2.842⭐ 78🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1381th 3.59⭐ 80🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1719th 3.237⭐ 80🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1392th 2.684⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Mood 871th 3.58⭐ 77🧑‍⚖️
Given 119🗳️ 145🗨️

Feedback

kwaku
20. Apr 2020 · 22:37 UTC
I couldn't figure out how to chop trees, only tool was the rifle :/
But like the shooting mechanics, scniping deers across whole map :)
🎤 Mika la Grand
21. Apr 2020 · 09:57 UTC
@kwaku Thanks for the feedback. If the rifle is holstered, you can chop trees by clicking on them. I've added it to the list of tips.
Becher
21. Apr 2020 · 10:54 UTC
you can kill your wife XD kind of little feature that is amazing. you shot on your wife, she died... logic.
the game work nice. i think that the character move too slowly but maybe you choose it so good work !
NanoArch
21. Apr 2020 · 16:31 UTC
Good job, I enjoyed the game, the art is good, the audio and ambiance is great, good job, keep it up.
lexi
21. Apr 2020 · 16:37 UTC
Oh dammit, I only made it to day 3 and died right on the doorstep of cold before making it in :sweat_smile:

The mood was great, I liked the sound of the footsteps on the snow and the little trail you leave. I also felt really relieved when finally getting back to my cottage.

All in all great entry, I'd have just upped the movement speed a little bit
Thomu
21. Apr 2020 · 16:40 UTC
Nice little game. I couldnt figure out how to drop off supplies at home and what the benifits of doing this was? is there a score or maybe your wife gets hungry and cold? Either way i shot her and she died so i stopped playing the game there. Would be cool to see animations on the player and the deer, and maybe if you shoot the deer run away (I noticed you said you had little time to impliment AI). Good idea for gameplay loop, just needs some polish and some obvious push/pull to tell the player why they should be doing the tasks they are doing, otherwise why would they leave the cabin. I ENJOYED
Prism
21. Apr 2020 · 16:42 UTC
This game reminded me of the oregon trail minigame where you had to collect food, I enjoyed your game a lot.
ssh.randy
21. Apr 2020 · 16:47 UTC
Awesome! Love the atmosphere, and the nice touch of your spouse in the cabin. found it kinda funny that she could die too
MiniTitan
21. Apr 2020 · 16:54 UTC
I killed all the deer around the house and thought that I would die of hunger, but the storm ended and I survived. 10 trees out of 10
Chonky animations
21. Apr 2020 · 16:55 UTC
nice game the wind and footstep sound effects were great and I love that you can actually shoot your wife.any criticisms would be it's unclear what the point of wood and meat is. presumably you die if you run out of either but they deplete slowly enough that it isn't very much of a concern. I also don't see how to drop them off in the house unless that is automatic. in the case that it is automatic there is no indication of anything happening.
Endymion
21. Apr 2020 · 16:55 UTC
At first I couldn't figure out how to chop down the trees, until I read your description of the game.
You could say the controls for this action are rather unintuitive. Apart from that, it's a great game and I enjoyed it! Good Job!
m0dsat
21. Apr 2020 · 16:56 UTC
Fun little game. Will play it some more to see how far I can get. Just wanted to drop off some feedback. The mood is nice. I guess it's the wind and sound of walking in snow. Would be awesome if you added some darkness, and an old school lamp to walk around with, to create even more mood. The shooting mechanic is nice, that you have to wait after walking or for reloading. Solid entry! Well done. Also, I shot Emily on day 2... not really sure how I feel about it :cold_sweat:
TomBuston
21. Apr 2020 · 17:21 UTC
Nice modd and survival game, I didn't understand at first why I was suddenly slowed down by carrying too much stuff, I thought it was maybe due to temperature?
It was fun tho, good job!
sodap
21. Apr 2020 · 18:02 UTC
It took me a few moments to learn how to chop trees. Overall a good game but I think it was too easy and too slow!
vulgaris
21. Apr 2020 · 22:26 UTC
interesting take on the theme, but perhaps it was a bit too easy to survive. i maybe expected new mechanics to show up as the days passed, or a threat that would appear and force the player to run to the shelter while over encumbered so it was a bigger challenge. controls were easy to grasp and i loved that there wasn't a need for tutorial too!
Duck Reaction
22. Apr 2020 · 19:15 UTC
I enjoy this game, it remember me don't starve in winter :smile:.

The UI is clean and the atmosphere works weel. As @thomu, I didn't get the purpose to get wood and food, you should add a consumtion system with the wife. Also, I would enjoy a camera closer to the caracter and a game play little bit faster.

Really good job !
🎤 Mika la Grand
22. Apr 2020 · 19:52 UTC
@m0dsat Yeah, lot's of people decided to shoot Emily. Originally I just wanted the hit sound to play when you hit her. So, I added the health script that also runs on the deer, but then I forgot about it and didn't realise you could kill her. Though, now it's fixed so that she'll first say "ouch" and on the second hit she'll die and the player gets a game over screen.
xyfeng
22. Apr 2020 · 20:25 UTC
Love the game! Nice atmosphere created. Killed Emily +1......
f4kethis
22. Apr 2020 · 20:28 UTC
Cool little game! I definitely killed Emily twice, the first time was on purpose, the second time I was trying to drop off supplies and smacked her with the axe a little.

I couldn't figure out how to drop my supplies off, if that's a thing that can happen - didn't see any mention of how to do so in the instructions other than go inside, and it didn't seem to happen automatically? I was still moving all slow from being over-encumbered when I went to go shoot more deer after I warmed up.
Bajtix
22. Apr 2020 · 20:33 UTC
Really nice game! I like the graphic style and the sfx. The gameplay is interesting and fits the theme
Blue Pin Studio
22. Apr 2020 · 20:39 UTC
I liked the game, i finished off my playthrough by killing Emily, nice touch haha :P My only problem with the game is the LACK OF BLOOD, afterall it's called Blood and Snow and there was no blood as far as i could tell haha
🎤 Mika la Grand
22. Apr 2020 · 20:39 UTC
@duck-reaction Thanks for the feedback. Did you notice that you can zoom in with the scroll wheel or do you mean zoom in even further?
@f4kethis The supplies get dropped of automatically as you walk into the cabin. There is a little victory sound to go with it, but in the next patch the UI will also blink or something to let the player know.
Yeti Kid
22. Apr 2020 · 20:43 UTC
I enjoyed this game, really well done in the time you gave yourselves. I shot all the deer really quickly and was left with none left haha.
Great job!!!
SludgeKey
22. Apr 2020 · 20:48 UTC
After a couple of wood chopping and deer hunting it got dark real fast....
I'm sorry Emily for killing you with the rifle!! And I'm sorry for then killing you with the axe! Love the sound effects by the way. Nice job
bellewood-music
22. Apr 2020 · 20:52 UTC
Nice game!! Very fun and relaxing to play, I could definitely see myself getting lost in it with more levels to play through :)
🎤 Mika la Grand
22. Apr 2020 · 21:56 UTC
@blue-pin-studio Yeah, that is true. My idea was that the deer would run for a bit after you shot them and leave a blood trail, but then I ran out of time. I'm gonna work on the deer some more and make them a bit more challenging as well. There are also no snow particles for the "snow storm", but ssh haha.
DigitalLimestone
23. Apr 2020 · 13:32 UTC
Very good game! It's very fun to play, and I can definitely see this becoming a fleshed out story game. One thing that confused me is that the colliders of the tree (before you cut them down) are the full tree, when since it's isometric, they should really be just the trunk. And I agree with bluepin, some particles would be nice.

Well done!
kkrac
24. Apr 2020 · 02:47 UTC
You can kill Emily lol! Cute graphics.
NathanT
24. Apr 2020 · 06:25 UTC
Nice entry. Pleasing minimalist art style. Like the tips reminding me of mechanics early on. Kind of wish there was something to do while warming up in the cabin. Also, I looked a bit like Jason with the axe out. :) Had fun using footprints to track the deer.
marcusnystrand
25. Apr 2020 · 14:13 UTC
I think the lack of music helps set the mood really well. It makes you feel more alone when there's only the sound of wind. Good decision! Also, HUGE + for having a camera zoom.

Solid piece of work, well done!
tsombi100
26. Apr 2020 · 14:27 UTC
Nice, though it isn't really obvious how to cut trees. First I just pointed the axe towards a tree and clicked, but it didn't work. You needed to click directly at the tree. That could be improved
🎤 Mika la Grand
26. Apr 2020 · 14:50 UTC
@tsombi100 Thanks for the feedback. The player needs to be in range to cut down the trees and click on the bottom half of the tree. There is an error sound if you're doing something wrong and there is also text telling you what's wrong (like "My arms aren't that long"). Could you elaborate further on your point?
SAVVU
26. Apr 2020 · 14:52 UTC
Great idea I really liked the surviving mechanics! Took some time until I cut down the first tree but after that everything was fine and I could play for a longer time! Nice entry!
Duke
26. Apr 2020 · 15:03 UTC
Hey! Not too shabby. I was surprised how much thought went into the game play mechanics. From the initial impression, it didn't look like too much. The art is pretty rough and reduced but game play wise, it's very lush. I love the ambient soundtrack. Really hits home with the mood of isolation. A little more variation would've been great. Just punching trees and shooting deer will get old after a while. Kudos to the idea to include footsteps. It really helped to find deer and came very naturally. Maybe you can include some kind of experience and/or upgrade system to keep the player invested. Or maybe some random events to shake thinks up? Snow storms oder avalanches. Add more animals to hunt. Maybe even dangerous ones like bears. Man, there is a lot that can be added :) Do you plan to work on it post jam?

I had fun with it and will play a little more. Ha, just as I wrote this, I won! So there was a winning condition after all. Thanks for making this!
🎤 Mika la Grand
26. Apr 2020 · 16:54 UTC
@duke Thanks for the feedback. Yeah corners were cut with the art and animations, but I still think it's some of my best work. I do want to add more depth with the existing mechanics. I was thinking of adding abandoned cabins with unlockable items like a lamp (for at night) and a coat (to increase the time outside). Maybe add wolves as well, which would be attracted by deer carcasses.
ZebraAtomica
26. Apr 2020 · 20:45 UTC
I found your game very polished and with well made mechanics, but it lacked fun and creativity. In my opinion is due to the fact that I almost destroyed the whole forest and had 250 wood+ and 50+food, i believe it's because i could zoom out and make the best tragectory for collecting wood and could snipe deer miles away without problems, killing a bit of the survival mood, the ammount of ammo, also, seens unbalanced and if I overstayed at home, my temperature bar would stack infinitely and I could walk for a really long period of time without having to return.
I do praise the polish in your game and can definately see a lot of potential in it with an addition of story and other npcs trying shot you down or enemies that would hunt you, but it needs either a good story or some differential from other surviving games. Really liked the ambience music and footsteps, it grasped that feeling of loneliness. The texts lines are also a really good way for player feedback and that i liked very much. In overall, it's a good, well made game!

![unicorn spin.gif](///raw/254/03/z/335b4.gif)
stolen_biscuit
27. Apr 2020 · 01:41 UTC
Great graphics, was pretty fun. I found it difficult to know what i had equipped sometimes and i missed a chance to kill a deer from it. I got up to day 7 and then killed emily hahaha good job!
belowzerogames
27. Apr 2020 · 02:10 UTC
I played through it today , overall good job on the mechanics . Just tweak the balance a bit and you have a great game. Good work overall.
🎤 Mika la Grand
27. Apr 2020 · 08:43 UTC
@zebraatomica @stolen-biscuit @belowzerogames Thanks for the feedback and the bug report. I'll improve the game some more.
DaimiloDev
27. Apr 2020 · 14:17 UTC
nice game!
Juan Ignacio Ranedo
27. Apr 2020 · 14:18 UTC
It was very entertaining, the setting enchanted me
NicolasJL9
27. Apr 2020 · 14:35 UTC
nice one!
Moritz Jaeger
27. Apr 2020 · 14:47 UTC
well polished! good job
barret
27. Apr 2020 · 15:11 UTC
fun little game it really remindsd me of the hunting segments in the oregon trail. I'm not sure if much changed as each day passed but would of been cool to see it get more challenging as the days go by. maybe it does and I just didn't notice.

Also the web version would of been nice if it had a fullscreen option, but I was still able to play, some text was hard to read at the smaller size but nothing made the game unplayable.

I liked the concept that you slow down if you are carrying more things. would be cool if there was some kind of wild boars, wolves, or bears that would try and attack you so if you were moving slow you'd be at risk
Robert Li
28. Apr 2020 · 01:28 UTC
I liked the atmosphere of the game. It would be great to have the option to use the wood maybe to build another shelter or expand the ability of the axe. I also think adding a little story would be more fun since I found it monotonous to just find woods and kill deers, and adding a surprise element like attack from wolves maybe. Overall well done.
Littlemiky
28. Apr 2020 · 17:57 UTC
I like the art, it's very poetic, well done !
Tanapat
28. Apr 2020 · 21:51 UTC
I loved this simple game, the ui is great. The dialog was funny.

My first play through i chopped emily to death on day 2.
My second play through I kept emily alive.
My third playthrough I shot her to death on day 1. I don't like her.

If i could suggest an improvement, it would be to limit our bullets. Infinite bullets make it too easy and the gameplay gets stale quick. But other than that I loved all the aspects of the game from the art, sound, ui, dialogue etc.
disperse
29. Apr 2020 · 02:51 UTC
Great job, maybe a bit easy for a survival game. The controls work really well, I didn't find it hard at all to hunt and aim at the deer despite a lack of reticle. Meat is harder to come by than wood which is plentiful. Hunting is satisfying and the tracks left in the snow really add to the experience.
Matt Greenbury
29. Apr 2020 · 12:56 UTC
Was fun i really started to loose time in it, the sound and art was great maybe a little easy but was a great bit of fun. Thanks for the game.
Lyrcaxis
29. Apr 2020 · 17:15 UTC
bitch be like: "go hunt some deer honey"

and then I lost
_delph
29. Apr 2020 · 17:16 UTC
Really good sense of atmosphere with the wind blowing, and when you weighed yourself down with supplies it certainly added tension on getting back in time.

Other than being weighed down I didn't find it very challenging, the rate at which resources were used compared to how quickly you could gather them didn't put a lot of pressure on. That said it's actually nice to succeed at the goal of one these jam games!

(That said I think I did notice that sometimes my temperature wasn't always dropping? So maybe I had a bug that made it easier for me!)
Virimine
29. Apr 2020 · 17:24 UTC
Nice entry! I liked the survival theme a lot. From a gameplay perspective, it gets a bit repetitive and there isn't much to do after a while.. I don't know if there is a n actual endgame... or you only lose when you get cold... But from a narrative perspective, I think, this repetitiveness adds to a deeper meaning...
And you can kill Emily lol :') Good job! :D
soldierbear
29. Apr 2020 · 20:00 UTC
Great submission. The only thing that stands out to me is the balance but that is definitely the hardest thing to get right in a game jam.
🎤 Mika la Grand
01. May 2020 · 20:54 UTC
@daimilodev @juan-ignacio-ranedo @nicolasjl9 @moritz-jaeger Could you give some more feedback next time? Mention something you like and why you like it. In addition, to something that you think could be improved.
TeamJS
02. May 2020 · 11:24 UTC
Beautiful visuals with the minimal palette! I particularly enjoyed seeing the trees grow into chop-worthy sizes. Maybe the difficulty balance was off, but after a while I decided it was easier to wait out in the cabin than go into the cold. So maybe if the rate of meat/wood consumption was faster could propel the character to go out more? Nice work overall! - J

Very pretty! I liked the way you did the night effect, it was really effective. I found it a bit monotonous and not very challenging. I decided to see if I could find the edge of the map (which I did, but died shortly after). Great little contained experience, I like the family element too (not just survival for your own sake). Solid effort! - S
fabula_rasa
04. May 2020 · 20:32 UTC
Very cool little game. I enjoyed playing it. Graphics are simple but putting everything in this snow-covered serene landscape really works beautifully. And sounds are nice as well.

Gameplay gets repetitive after a time but I found that the game is just long enough for that not to be an issue. I also think that you should start the player of with less supplies. As it is now, danger of running out of anything is really low and I ended up with loads of wood and deer meat; wasn't worried at any point about my supplies situation.

I kept Emily alive through the snowstorm! But I kinda wish you went with your original monster idea instead and combined it with this one. I mean, if I would be keeping my pet monster alive, I would understand that he is not helping me with chopping trees and hunting. But Emily? She is just an unhelpful, lazy, demanding, bi... :laughing: Sitting by the fire, gnawing on roasted deer leg while I freeze my ass of in the woods! I am not surprised that some players in the comments decided to shot her instead :laughing:
tobiasw
12. May 2020 · 15:58 UTC
The minimal graphics together with the soundscape create a great atmosphere - very evocative of a snow-covered landscape. And while the gameplay is minimal too, it is nice and doesn't overstay its welcome. I especially enjoyed the hunting - "blood and snow" indeed. And several times I got tense situations where I wasn't sure whether I will make it to the cabin in time and got in last second.

On trying a second time (to actually zoom in - I only remembered that this is a feature because I read a few comments here), I discovered that the trees are taking revenge on me and don't want me to enter my house:![chrome_2020-05-12_17-45-12.png](///raw/830/1/z/34119.png)