Crystal Tag by uvwar

[raw]
made by uvwar for Ludum Dare 46 (COMPO)

Screen1.jpg

Run around as a crystal! Grow immobile as a crystal! WOW! Play Tag with Crystals!

WASD or Arrow Keys to move. Press R to reload if you get stuck.

You are Blue Crystal. You have the ability to walk, unlike the red crystals. Tag them to spread your walking ability before you break and become stationairy, and hope the ability is still moving around by the time you regrow. How long can you keep the chain alive?

Ratings

Overall 893th 2.976⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1045th 2.333⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 393th 3.452⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 772th 3.357⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 563th 3.381⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 515th 3.05⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 281th 3.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 7🗨️

Feedback

Feferuco
20. Apr 2020 · 03:21 UTC
Man that was very abstract. I liked how it looked but I could only figure out what to do after reading the description. I guess you could've started with a simpler level to demonstrate the mechanics and then move on to something with more elements.
TomekS
20. Apr 2020 · 03:22 UTC
Graphics are really standing out! Few times I encounter a problem that my crystal disappeared, is this normal ?
Nyunesu
20. Apr 2020 · 03:24 UTC
Heyo uvwar!

So, a little bit of feedback!

Feel free to ignore most of the things due to jam scope etc, but as always I’ll give feedback considering you’ll work on it after the jam.

Could’ve been better:
- It's pretty unclear how to game work from within the game
- Lack of visual and sound feedback for every interaction to the game (except for the particles when the crystal breaks)
- The goal is unclear
- Hard to control
- Music loop is really short, which makes the loop very noticeable

Good points:
- Nice color scheme
- Idea seems to be great, even if the execution didn't


Hope that helps, and if you happen to update this game, come back here in your comment section to remember me and drop me a tweet or something!

If you have time, please click on my profile and give me some constructive feedback on my game (:

See ya!
🎤 uvwar
20. Apr 2020 · 03:38 UTC
@tomeks your crystal breaks and regrows eventually(slowly), just like the other crystals. You won't be able to move when you regrow, though, unless you're tagged again.
TomekS
20. Apr 2020 · 03:51 UTC
@uvwar thanks for the info, that makes sense.
NNNIKKI
21. Apr 2020 · 15:00 UTC
I appreciate the idea, however I think that it's fundamentally broken because the player has so little actual interaction. You just tag some crystals and then have to rely on random chance to continue playing; there is little direct correlation between being able to play and your actual skill. What I would suggest is that after you die, you take over the soul of another crystal, or even something as minor as respawning immediately so the crystals have a higher chance of hitting you. That way, the player's actions will have meaningful consequences, and their decisions will be important.
stephan steinbach
21. Apr 2020 · 18:24 UTC
I agree with Nyunesu... for me the biggest difficulty was getting the hang of the controls. The character is small on the screen and I wasn't clear on how the "regrowing" was working. But the idea of setting up a chain is cool and the whole thing feels really different and unique.
WERT
22. Apr 2020 · 11:19 UTC
It’s pretty unclear to me how the game works without reading the description. I didnt actually know that I regrow and there could be something that tells you long your chain is or how many cristals can walk. Otherwise I really dig the music and the idea. A very relaxing game
Jupiter_Hadley
23. Apr 2020 · 12:27 UTC
Interesting game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 46 compilation video series, if you want to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/POu9WBNgI08
SirFetishFancy
23. Apr 2020 · 15:27 UTC
I think it would be better if crystals that were tagged also turned blue. Better graphics than most ludum dare games but the music is too short & repetitive. Not enough feedback as you play. Sounds as tags take place would be nice. I think there is potential in this.
ruthiepee
24. Apr 2020 · 22:02 UTC
The music is infinitely listenable. The particle trails are beautiful. The way the crystals move in loop-de-loops is just plain fun to watch. I played for maybe 5 minutes and the blue crystal came back which was a nice surprise. I could write a 4-page bulleted essay about how good this game is
foolmoron
26. Apr 2020 · 18:55 UTC
The crystal movement is really good, seems natural and also robotic in an interesting way. I like how there's no functional difference between the red and blue crystals other than you can control the blue a little bit - so the result ends up being basically the same whether you are touched or not. Like you as the player aren't really that important in this natural system, it's gonna go on or stop regardless.
dcrdro
10. May 2020 · 15:34 UTC
I agree with comments above, pretty hard to understand what to do ;( But idea generally as I understand it, pretty good and unique. And very good visuals and audio!
Space_man
10. May 2020 · 21:29 UTC
Cool concept, though it's not very clear what's going on without reading the description. It could be interesting to see this idea expanded into something with a bit more player interaction.
Dan Thompson
10. May 2020 · 21:55 UTC
Thing I didn't like was just how much idle time there is--I reached a point where I kept regrowing and breaking and just hoping for another crystal to cross my path and allow me to move again but it just didn't happen. That said, it looks great and is enjoyable to watch and the music, despite being a bit repetitive, captures the vibe of being in a cave with shiny crystals perfectly. Very good job for a jam game, I just wish there was more the player could do.
grandtheftmarmot
10. May 2020 · 22:44 UTC
I thought this was fantastic. I could imagine this being an exhibit in an art museum or something. I personally liked the amount of instruction you gave, or would have even enjoyed no instruction, as the game kinda takes off on its own and you don't know what's happening. Maybe the only thing I think would be neat to try would be to minimize the time the player can't influence the game, but that also kinda defeats the purpose of it. Good job!
Groogy
10. May 2020 · 23:07 UTC
Really cool and unique. Would have been nice though with some information being shown like: time until you break, time until you regrow and maybe time you've been able to keep things going? Or a score of some sort?

The music did get a bit repetitive quite fast I felt. Idea I had while playing, though maybe wouldn't fit within dev time for the compo, would have been to have some various chiming noises and play them whenever crystals hit into each other and as such make your own tune that way.
Tim Eriksen
12. May 2020 · 16:33 UTC
What a cool experience with very nice looking graphics :slight_smile: I don't feel like there was much gameplay as I ended up just sitting there not getting hit by any crystals. Good job making all of this in 48 hours :smile: