Survivalgo by despdair2
A simple play test of a game to teach algorithms to children. This version made in Ludum Dare 46. You can play it from commands at the top of the screen. I am planning to use this in real life at my classroom so ludum dare was a good excuse to start this project. I hope you can gain enough insight through this mini version. Also this is my second game in this ludum dare, you can find my compo game at https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/precious-animals

| Youtube | https://despdair.itch.io/survivalgo |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/survivalgo |
Ratings
| Overall | 1769th | 3.256⭐ | 86🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1582th | 3.143⭐ | 86🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 1203th | 3.298⭐ | 86🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 2448th | 2.59⭐ | 85🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 1834th | 3.12⭐ | 85🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 1320th | 2.913⭐ | 82🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 1893th | 2.125⭐ | 74🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 2157th | 2.727⭐ | 79🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 103🗳️ | 110🗨️ |
* The isometric style does take a little to get used to with the controls, but I think it adds to the charm.
* It wasn't clear to me what would happen if I wrote a partial program (as in level 2) and ran it. It turned out the answer was "you keep adding to the program, and it will continue from where you left off". I think this is intuitive but I was worried that it would restart the program from the start.
* A tile limit might be good in some levels to enforce usage of the loop!
I can see it as a play and learn software for kids in ipad.
Note: Arrow buttons when stacked go over the 'Run' button, making it hard to press. I like how this also teaches you about perspective, angles of lines for drawings. Also on level 4 there is a bug with the repeat button (level after when you taught about the repeat button), when I click the finishing arrow then repeat on the last tile it continues then turns left (off the map and to death). Love your work.
I would have like to have the possibility to change actions order around or remove some without having to restart everything.
Overall it's a good idea and if you push it you can have a cool game !
Still, I think this is a really promising start! I love the idea of game-ifying education, especially programming. Definitely worth continuing!
Limiting the number of moves per level and forcing the player to have to use the loop function could add some cool puzzles as well!
I liked the beach tile.
If you're planning to give this to kids I'd suggest you add some borders between the tiles so that the children can count easier how many steps they need. Also, an undo button.
Well done!
It was a little abstract with the diagonal arrows, cause my brain was stil thinking in left right down up relative to the person.
Super easy to pick up and understand, very clear, not confusing at all. Great feedback. I didn't even read the instructions to figure out how to play
If it's aimed at children, the jump in difficulty from level 1 to 2 might be too abrupt. Maybe some levels in between for a more gradual increase?
I love how you used "scary" to describe the red tiles, it shows you're thinking of your audience.
The restart function felt a bit confusing at the beginning because I thought it would not delete the commands, but aside from that I had a great time!
I think an easy improvement would be to introduce the grid, so you could easily see how many cells would you normally travel.
More programs and more complex objectives, as well as the actors on the field would help a lot - but that's just about amount of time invested, right?
Otherwise, it was pretty self-explanatory and well done.
Really liked the calm music!
https://youtu.be/ejsMgcyObLY?t=1210
But you did a lot in just 10 hours, good job. I hope you keep developing it.
Really nice, i liked it a lot!
Besides that, nice game and fun gameplay. easy to understand and looks like a fun learning tool.
- I like how you introduce stuff through levels rather than through long explanations!
- The second loop level, although good on its own, was a bit too much of a jump in my opinion. I think a longer left-down-left-down-left-down loop could've been in between.
- The graphics are a bit on the simple side, but communicate the intent well.
- I think the loop might've been clear to me only because I know that loops exist. Maybe an example level that shows a loop in action would be nicer to onboard players without that knowledge?
- It took me a bit to figure out that the "exit" symbol was a loop delimiter. I think a design where you put blocks *inside* the loop like [e.g. in Scratch](https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/scratchblocksct.png) might be clearer.
Unfortunately I couldn't get past the level where the enemy appears. After trying around a bit and restarting a few times, my character refused to move at all (it only played the walking animation), and after a while, the enemy also stopped moving.