Pumpkin Jam by SoloAdventurerGames

[raw]
made by SoloAdventurerGames for Ludum Dare 58 (COMPO)

Welcome to Pumpkin Jam.

IF THE GAME FAILS TO LOAD HERE PLAY ON ITCH LINK BELOW Controls

-WASD to move

  • Mouse To look around

  • escape for menu.

  • toggle collect all to collect everything at once.

  • doors will only open with specific or greater quantities of candies and brothers.

it is the night before Halloween, and your little brothers have wandered away from the pumpkin patch, scattering poison candy in their wake. Gather up all the candy and find all your brothers to unlock the graveyard gate.

Change: uploaded new build, lowered the fire pit, increased lighting a touch, fixed missing collider in underground, clarified door requirements

Ratings

Overall 169th 3.04⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 180th 2.82⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 202th 2.417⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 69th 3.792⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 56th 3.854⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 119th 3.068⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 124th 2.614⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 67th 3.609⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 19🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

Ira Baciu
Oct 05th · 21:25 UTC
a web game yesssss
D_omino
Oct 05th · 23:50 UTC
I enjoyed graphics, really cool for 2 days limit, but i needed to bunny hop over doors so to get to the rest of location. there is plenty of space for development!
LDJam user 336676
Oct 05th · 23:57 UTC
@d-omino you shouldn't need to do that, each door has a specific amount of items needed to open
Elfb0y
Oct 06th · 00:12 UTC
For 2 days, great job. Controls are a little low gravity feeling but overall really nice graphics and gameplay!
jojocanard
Oct 06th · 00:15 UTC
60 candies and 4 little brothers here ! But it is not enough to get through the door. Nice dark mood. The mouse view spins and hurts my head though.
David Sheffield
Oct 06th · 00:16 UTC
The movement was smooth and seemed pretty bug free, the only thing I'd say is that it was a little dark to be able to see things though I know that the ambiance is supposed to be dark it still made the game a little hard to play!
Maytch
Oct 06th · 00:17 UTC
The amount of work you put into the number of 3d models and effects you have is outstanding!


I managed to get stuck in a fire bit with one of the little brothers:
![stuck.png](///raw/680/51/z/6d2fe.png)
LDJam user 336676
Oct 06th · 00:18 UTC
@maytch oh dammit i thought i fixed that, I moved the fire pit down a touch :frowning:
LDJam user 336676
Oct 06th · 00:19 UTC
@jojocanard yeah the mouse controls need a sensitivity slider sorry about that, and good job :smile: did you check under the bridge?
Quail Weaver
Oct 06th · 01:54 UTC
I as well as others got stuck in the fire... But i also managed to launch myself over the gates haha :sweat_smile: I was able to fly in most places just by continuously moving into things and holding down the jump button :open_mouth: I love the vibes on this though!! Very.. Pac Man World :heart: ![Screenshot 2025-10-05 at 8.50.40 PM.png](///raw/f2a/33/z/6d332.png)
LDJam user 336676
Oct 06th · 01:58 UTC
@quail-weaver did you play on itch or here?
Quail Weaver
Oct 06th · 02:00 UTC
@soloadventurergames here!
LDJam user 336676
Oct 06th · 02:02 UTC
@quail-weaver dammit, I didn’t think the LD site was working I’ll have to update the build asap
gnaat
Oct 06th · 02:19 UTC
Fun!!! Solo Adventurer Games has a natural knack for surreal themes. Total treat for Halloween.
gnaat
Oct 06th · 02:34 UTC
Had to play it on itch.io
bad_fetus
Oct 06th · 04:38 UTC
The game had severe performance issues for me (old PC, possibly also a Firefox issue?) but managed to play enough to get the gist of it.

I'm very, very impressed with the amount of effort that went into all the 3d models and the terrain and the various visual effects, incredible for a 2 day game by a single person. Great work!
LDJam user 336676
Oct 06th · 04:42 UTC
@bad-fetus yeaaah looking at the corn maze causes a little lag for me i expect it got worse for you, sorry I tried to optimize it
bereg
Oct 06th · 12:48 UTC
Impressive work! Such a large level and so many different assets! I managed to reach the end - though I noticed the cornfields have no colliders, which actually saved me some time. This game really needs a Windows build, because the HTML5 version doesn’t go full screen properly and starts lagging badly at some point. Otherwise, it’s a wonderful game!
LDJam user 336676
Oct 06th · 15:23 UTC
@bereg thank you :smile: yeah I felt like people wouldn’t enjoy the maze with colliders.

I’ll see about tossing up a windows build, I just don’t download games during jams so I didn’t think to include one
island-jam-2-group-3
Oct 06th · 21:41 UTC
Impressive 3D work for 2 days! I loved the mood. I would have lower the number of collectibles though :sweat_smile: but cool entry! :slight_smile:
Ira Baciu
Oct 06th · 22:55 UTC
I like the mood of the work <3
She Wrote
Oct 06th · 23:14 UTC
The story and art build the atmosphere really well, I really liked it. However, the logo in the sky took me out of this interesting world a little bit; I think the game would be better without it. The story is quite charming, even though it’s so brief, and you can relate to the idea of trying to find the little brothers. Well done!
LDJam user 336676
Oct 07th · 00:08 UTC
@she-wrote yea that was a happy accident e-bike messing with the skybox, it’s the same texture I used on the candy and I agree removing the logo would be good just wasn’t a priority :smile:
F1Krazy
Oct 07th · 13:18 UTC
I was hoping to see a 3D collect-a-thon or two get entered, and this is a pretty good effort. The graphics are good for 48 hours' work, the art style makes them look even better and creates a great spooky vibe, and the size and variety of the game world is impressive. I assumed that the 60 candies/5 brothers door would be the end of the game, and then I went through it and saw the 148 candies/9 brothers door and went "There's *that much more?!*" I didn't use the "Collect All" button but I appreciate that you added one for people who just want to speed through the game as quickly as possible.

I did find the camera controls a bit finicky. I spent the first twenty seconds or so staring at either the sky or ground until I managed to get the camera pointing in the right direction, and even after that the camera had a tendency to move too slowly or too quickly. The collision detection feels wonky in places - I know you said the corn maze lacked collision to make it easier, but I feel like it defeats the purpose. I wasn't sure how you were supposed to get onto the church roof and had to kinda glitch my way up there with a wonky jump.

All in all, though, a very good effort! I hope this does well!
LDJam user 336676
Oct 07th · 16:12 UTC
@f1krazy im glad I was able to make something you were looking for.

The jump up to the church should be from the houses, I think the jump should be enough if not theres some boxes hidden behind the house nearest the tower, thinking about it i should have done candies leading to them
chuckeles
Oct 07th · 17:28 UTC
Good job, it's a nice game. :blush: I did not finish it entirely but I collected a ton of candies. I love that the player's head makes a proper halloween light! Nice detail.

A little feedback: I think you should increase the gravity because right now the player feels too floaty. Also the camera controls are a bit messy now. You should pivot the camera around the character when moving the mouse up and down, and not just rotate the camera itself.
LDJam user 280624
Oct 08th · 16:24 UTC
Such an atmospheric adventure! I loved the particle effects and animations in this game. It also reminded me that Halloween is just around the corner!
Artificer
Oct 08th · 19:31 UTC
Lots of map for the time you had, impressive work. I like the part hopping between roofs and on top of the church.

![IMG_0111.jpeg](///raw/f4d/56/z/6efde.jpg)
LDJam user 336676
Oct 08th · 19:51 UTC
@chuckeles yeah the physics was something I broke like an hour before compo ended so I panic fixed it :sweat_smile: and 100% I'll be making the rotation move around the character, I got dev brain on that one and thought it was heh

@torte478 im glad you enjoyed it :smile:

@artificer Thank you, i wanted to focus on level design over mechanics this time, and im glad you got onto the roofs i should have made the path a bit clearer.
Eugenik
Oct 09th · 01:39 UTC
Top-notch graphics!.
TimeLost
Oct 09th · 17:46 UTC
The graphics are a nice low poly. The sounds and music are nice and atmospheric. I liked backtracking to the other areas to open new doors. One of the doors sent me flying :laughing:. You can seemingly bounce off of the candies. I liked the map design overall. The particles from grabbing a candy are nice. In general, nice collect-a-thon :)
YibiRabbit007
Oct 11th · 08:52 UTC
A simple collection game, here are some of my gaming experiences:

- The environment is very dark, and the pumpkin and the little brother are well hidden, making it feel more like a game of hide-and-seek. However, the skybox of the entire map seems poorly handled, and moving your mouse causes the game to lag. I guess this is due to too many light sources.

- The motion matching has some issues; it feels more like a delayed performance.

- Starting from the second railing, I can 'jump' over these wooden planks by getting close to the trees and taking a specific angle. Therefore, there are some level requirements that I didn't fully meet, which should be a minor flaw in the level design.

- The differences between levels seem to be only the terrain; collecting pumpkins and brothers is everything. I recommend adding some extra elements, such as witches or candy houses, which should better suit your game.

All in all, this game is a cute try in "collector"
LDJam user 336676
Oct 11th · 14:10 UTC
@yibirabbit007 thanks for the feedback, I did what I could solo for comp with a busted thumb
YibiRabbit007
Oct 11th · 14:18 UTC
@soloadventurergames Oh! I'm sorry to hear that, I wish you a speedy recovery.

![ThanksCAT.gif](///raw/afd/36/z/6f42f.gif)
sslees
Oct 12th · 04:10 UTC
This is the first game I've playtested this compo that was Halloween themed, and it was really enjoyable. I saw the teaser you posted of the trees when developing and knew I had to check it out. Really nice entry for a compo. It reminded me of collecting gems in Spyro. I think playing with a trackpad was my downfall, so I might try again with a mouse to see if that makes it easier to control. Overall I love it.
Wouter52
Oct 12th · 13:08 UTC
Oohh I really need my pumkinspice latte while playing this game! ☕

My potato-pc did not like the 3D aspect, but it was fun for me to play nevertheless. You had enough different kind of areas to not make it boring, which can happen really fast in a game where the core component is collection.

This is really impressive for a compo btw! You know how to 3D model **Fast**! Even with the busted thumb (is it healing ok??) I love the little details, like the players punkin-face reflecting on the walls, the doors that dance in the night and the soloadventurer-watermark-thing in the skybox. I could not find it.. but didn't you do something similar in another of your entries? It looked familiar

And then we have to talk about the gravestones.. First I was like "I don't remember typing in my alias" and then it hit me: am I in the credits? 🙊🥹 To what do I owe that pleasure? That is so awesome! Thank you!
LDJam user 336676
Oct 12th · 13:59 UTC
@wouter52 I don’t know why but when I started ludum dare 2 years ago your posts caught my attention, you’re also always doing the jam, out of everyone I follow you were the only one actively taking part this time, being involved with the site and posting things.

Your game burnout was one of the first I played and I remember bring thoroughly impressed and inspired to do better next time.

Edit: and the thumb is good going to take a few more months to fully heal but I can half use it again.
LDJam user 336676
Oct 12th · 14:02 UTC
@sslees im glad you enjoyed it and you nailed the inspiration for the game play, and I’ve been all about Halloween this year so it just felt right given it’s October :smiley:

Hopefully you have a better experience with a mouse
Jim jagers
Oct 23rd · 21:22 UTC
The models and settings are a big highlight for me, I did have an issue however where I was constantly fighting with the camera as the game would often lag a bit while moving it and if I moved it a bit upwards or downwards it would shoot up or down. I dont know if this is an issue with my computer or if its a game issue, but besides that I had a good time
LDJam user 336676
Oct 25th · 03:31 UTC
@jim-jagers im not sure it’s probably on the games end rather than your end, the camera controls sent great I needed to refine them but ran out of time.
Wouter52
Oct 26th · 07:51 UTC
Ayy congratz on the results! Three of em under 100 is very respectable! :smile: