little BEETLE bottle BATTLE by AP Thomson

Instructions:
Step 1: prepare your BOTTLE for BATTLE (click and drag to swap tiles and make matches).
Step 2: Recruit BEETLES for BATTLE (use the recruit menu on the left). You must recruit new BEETLES for each BATTLE since you START with...fewer resources than before.
Step 3: Repeat
Credits:
I'm AP Thomson! I made this game for Ludum Dare 45. Click on my website (http://apthomson.com) or observe me on the internet (https://twitter.com/bad_tetris)
Fonts are by Chevy Ray and you can buy them here: https://chevyray.itch.io/pixel-fonts
Tips:
Prepare your terrain carefully. BEETLES have a hard time moving across MOUNTAIN and, as dictated by scripture, no BEETLE may walk on WATER.
The BEETLES you can recruit are:
Farmers: Will gather FOOD from FIELD
Soldiers: Will engage in BEETLE BATTLE
Miners: Will gather ROCK from MOUNTAIN
Lumberjacks: Will gather WOOD from FOREST
Archers: Will engage in BEETLE BATTLE from a SAFE distance.
When you are relatively safe, prioritize gathering RESOURCE.
| Youtube | https://apthomson.itch.io/little-beetle-bottle-battle |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/little-beetle-bottle-battle |
Ratings
| Overall | 43th | 4.182⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 12th | 4.273⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 32th | 4.239⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 683th | 3.163⭐ | 45🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 210th | 4.102⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 169th | 3.773⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 331th | 3.184⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 178th | 3.857⭐ | 44🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 30🗳️ | 5🗨️ |
It can be a bit hard to tell what each type of beetle will do. Perhaps some kind of tooltip would help there. Also, I would maybe simplify the mechanics a bit. It's confusing that I gather resources both in battle and match-3 phases, and there are quite a lot of beetle types.
Also, the music at the start of battles is really nice! I get that you didn't have time to make different music for different parts, but would have nice to just play that track you did have all the time.
Music and sounds were simple but worked well. Graphics were very fitting also. This was a great entry.
Where's the noodle eating poodle?
I wish I could always see the recruitment window, since I dont usually know how much the things costs so I can know what to focus my attention during the round (although I feel its usually water)
Awesome entry!

Great sound effects, graphics, solid work all over.
Feels very nice the ability to literally move your castle 1-tile anywhere but at a price of its meter.
Suggestions:
- Multiplayer? (2 to 4 players); (ability to build another castle for a significant amount of beetles + resources)
- Option for additional color palettes
- Expansion of different thematic kingdoms? (earth, martian, underworld)
- At first I thought it was stars but then it were farmers. perhaps have them hold a Scythe? or pitchfork? it may feel more unified as its design. Could be interesting if the worker beetles could fight back..
- Beetle bottle Battle Battle Royale: 64-World-tiles(each world-tile = 7x7); 4 quadrants of 16-world tiles divided between 2-4 main factions + neutral NPC kingdoms to conquer (Have this for 4k Display or to have it local or online-multiplayer)
- Introduce some "Legends" Units or Mythological Creatures or Special Tiles with its unique functions.
- Harvested wheat units icon didn't seem clear to me IMO; I thought it was munition or cannon balls.. :smile_cat:
- Selection of different battle-tunes and/or soundtrack
It's rare to say that this game is quite addicting! :comet:
Looking forward to seeing any further expansion on this entry! solid! :dizzy: