NSFB: Not Safe For Bugs! by wolfybytes

[raw]
made by wolfybytes for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

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NSFB: Not Safe For Bugs! is a turn-based action strategy game! As the bugs, you're landing on an unexplored planet to bring life back to its dead soil. But watch out! Evil lizard aliens lurk on the surface and they will stop at nothing to destroy the outsiders. This planet is NOT SAFE FOR BUGS!

Featuring artwork by Val, music by caseJackal, and code by Emerson!

Controls: Click on the patch of grass you want to move your bug to. You can only move your bug after it has been attacked by an enemy. Moving to a new spot lets you heal and gain a better position, but watch out! If a lizard steps on green soil, it dies. You can heal it back by killing a lizard on it.

Hold right click to rotate the camera.

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Ratings

Overall 377th 3.614⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 578th 3.227⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 484th 3.273⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1076th 2.286⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 19th 4.543⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 118th 3.891⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 527th 2.789⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 275th 3.727⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 0🗳️ 0🗨️

Feedback

velvetlobster
08. Oct 2019 · 04:19 UTC
Noo idea how you managed to make such a complex game in such a short time ... the characters are very very smooth and you even have multiple levels, that is some amazing work ... there could be a story if this would become a full game, it could be a comical story with perhaps permadeath and so on
![Screenshot Capture - 2019-10-08 - 01-17-30.png](///raw/0e4/e/z/28a1d.png)
hello there
Fenderbate
08. Oct 2019 · 17:52 UTC
The controls were confusing at first, but after reading the instructions properly and trying I got the hang of it. Wish there were more levels and characters :smile:
pestodesign
08. Oct 2019 · 19:41 UTC
Adorable graphics!
Jahwffrey
08. Oct 2019 · 19:48 UTC
I adore the look of all these little guys, and I'm always impressed when people manage to make a strategy game for a game jam. Learning the actual controls was pretty tough - I had to re-read the description several times and just try a few things before I understood. Not bad!
gabas
08. Oct 2019 · 20:06 UTC
Really love the graphics, but missed some tutorials and feedbacks.
Swanijam
09. Oct 2019 · 04:47 UTC
This was wonderful!!!!!!! beautiful, beautiful art, sounds, music. I enjoyed it all the way through. This was amazingly polished for a jam game! Thanks for making it!!
antoined73
09. Oct 2019 · 11:53 UTC
Super cute graphics, nice sounds and great music ! The UI is also clean and readable. Liked it ! :smile:
Porocyonak
10. Oct 2019 · 07:18 UTC
very nice looking! love the artstyle. gameplay is simplistic, but still neat
Guilb
10. Oct 2019 · 19:25 UTC
Nice and simple game, could have added at least one variation, for the player or for the bug, just to feel how your game could grow, but overall it is a great game
ruthiepee
11. Oct 2019 · 01:06 UTC
Beautiful, complex game. I can't believe it's a jam game! The music is super relaxing, I've left it on as I'm writing this review. :) I had to reread the description to understand the rules but once I got the hang of it, I had a lot of fun and beat all the levels! The 3D models are sooo cute, I want them as action figures :>
Dovakla
11. Oct 2019 · 17:47 UTC
I couldn't figure out the controls at first. Why did you decide to only allow the player to move on green tiles and only after being attacked? I think it might have been more fun if it played more like a normal strategy game and the player could freely move (maybe capturing the tiles they land on) and attack enemies. It felt like all I should do was move the bugs back and forth and they'd never die.
The visuals and audio are great though. Everything looks really cute and charming.
Good work!
Ava Skoog
13. Oct 2019 · 19:32 UTC
Ahhh I love it so much and it looks and sounds so great, but I don't feel fair rating it before I really understand it properly, so would love some help figuring it out and then I'll play it again! 😰 I read the instructions and played several times, but I don't... get it, and I feel so thick! Should make it clear that I have almost no experience playing strategy games like Fire Emblem etc either so if there is some sort of language being taken for granted in the mechanics, I just don't have it. 😭 I don't really understand when being near a lizard means I attack it or it attacks me, and I don't really understand when a lizard steps on a green square turns the square blue and when it kills the lizard, so I'm just kind of clicking around and getting lucky or unlucky without grokking why. :C PLS HALP
Valentina Hawes
13. Oct 2019 · 20:21 UTC
@ava-skoog No worries! We need a more comprehensive tutorial I think :) Here is how gameplay generally works (I did the art, @wolfybytes did the design/code so she may need to correct me on the specifics!):

1. Your turn! You move your 2 bugs. Bugs can move to ANY green space on the board, not just the ones adjacent to them.

2. Enemy turn! Enemies will take turns moving one space at a time toward the nearest bug, until they reach one. When they do, combat automatically happens, and both the bug and the lizard lose 1 HP (signified by the white dots over each model). If the enemy walks on a green tile, they turn it blue. When you defeat the enemy, their tile they're standing on turns green. This is good, because you can only move your bugs on green tiles, so it gives you more places to move, and also the more green tiles you get, the higher your score at the end of the level!

3. Your turn again! Move your bugs out of the way of danger, any enemies on adjacent tiles will attack on their next turn! But also, enemies will follow the nearest bug, so try to move in a way that they won't walk over any green tiles (if possible). Moving a bug will also restore 1 HP to it.

4. Enemy turn again! They will continue their behavior of moving towards the nearest bug, or attacking if they are adjacent to a bug at the start of their turn.

And so on! You may find yourself in a situation where you need to sacrifice one bug so the other can get away, or where you have to give up green tiles to keep both bugs alive, etc.

Let us know if you have any other questions!
Ava Skoog
14. Oct 2019 · 08:21 UTC
@valentina-hawes:

Thank you so much for the clarification! Played again today, and fared much better. c': I have now rated and here's my proper comment too!

Again, super cute and polished graphics and audio. Love the colours and the creature designs and animations are great. The lizards sliding is a lot of fun. 😍

The ruleset was quite complex/involved; not a bad thing, I just needed more information to get it, haha. Kind of like a board game in that sense (this would totally work as one!) where a little comprehensive rule leaflet would be great.

Zoom was a nice feature to have when the board got crowded. The element of surprise of new lizards appearing was great! The music was really nice and calming which did seem a bit unconventional for a battle setting, but it does fit the genre well where you sit down and think between your moves.

So yeah, biggest criticism would just be to explain the rules better. Otherwise lovely! 💚
saucygames
17. Oct 2019 · 04:18 UTC
music is niiicceee