Jelly Pacifist by Dan McAlister

[raw]
made by Dan McAlister for Ludum Dare 48 (COMPO)

Jelly Thumbnail.png You are a jellyfish monk exploring the deep. Can you maintain your pacifist vow?

Ratings

Overall 451th 3.46⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 596th 3.083⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 348th 3.4⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 318th 3.78⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 438th 3.46⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 259th 3.479⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 79th 4⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 25🗨️

Feedback

Vitor Figueredo
26. Apr 2021 · 14:28 UTC
Nice take on the theme. I've really enjoyed although the turtle seemed more like a missile. hahaha. it was really hard avoiding it.
Greg the Egg
27. Apr 2021 · 07:53 UTC
Really cute! The concept and music are great, and the art for all the sea critters was nice!

It seems like the consequence for hurting is much less than being hurt though? Perhaps I need to beat the game without killing anything and there's a second ending, or is the punishment having to see their corpses?

The only thing is the jellyfish really feels slow and methodical. Maybe that's the intention, but I felt like I was wrestling with the controls trying to avoid enemies.

The story, music, and art are all very nice. Good job!
Bea
27. Apr 2021 · 17:18 UTC
Dang! That made me genuinely emotional! While its mechanically very simple, it uses the distinction (but also non-distinction??) between hurting and being hurt to great effect. I felt a sense of genuine sorrow for each turtle that unintentionally killed as it hurled it self out of the darkness toward me. Thanks for a good one.
WetBurritoSupreme
27. Apr 2021 · 18:08 UTC
Very emotive, it was a good experience, especially after the intensity of the jam. The music, art, lighting, and controls all come together to make a well polished game. Thanks for this one!
Fatebreak
28. Apr 2021 · 18:13 UTC
Fascinating and well done! I expected something sillier from the title and description, but this was really sweet and emotive. Very poetic truly. I could tell this was a personal piece. Well done!
LJFMX
01. May 2021 · 22:14 UTC
I loved the writing and pacing of the game. Those poor little turtles never saw it comin'!!!! I think I killed 90% of the sea life in your game. I'm a monster!
jryzkns
01. May 2021 · 22:34 UTC
I really liked the experience this game brings about. At first I felt that the movement patterns were too easy to get past with the fish/octopus (since they only go in 1 direction), but then I encountered the tortoise, which were a lot more interesting and challenging to get past (and might have single handedly caused the extinction of the species in a single playthrough :upside_down:)
OcO
03. May 2021 · 19:23 UTC
Didn't think I'd be getting sentimental because of a twitching jellyfish but here we are haha.

I liked the concept of wanting to achieve neutrality while going deeper and deeper. While I wanted to play the game properly, I chose to be on the offense because 1) it's frightening how the screen dimmed each time the jellyfish got hurt and 2) there's no apparent penalty for hurting others. I did wonder if karma awaited my unkind gameplay (perhaps the sea turtles would be more angry if jellyfish had a higher kill log?)

The music was beautiful and so was the message. Thank you for the experience.
nandelind
04. May 2021 · 05:12 UTC
This was a very good portrayal of life...making mistakes, learning to hurt fewer, still being valued and not giving up in spite of frequent failures. Thank you for the encouraging view. I wondered if there would be points or something at the end listing how many I killed, but I'm glad there wasn't. Great work!
congusbongus
04. May 2021 · 11:14 UTC
Nice, the game is a whole package and gives the player a very calm and introspective feeling.
m-trigo
08. May 2021 · 22:02 UTC
I caught myself apologising to every animal I accidentally hurt.

This was a smart and beautiful game, thank you.
fueelin
09. May 2021 · 18:16 UTC
I really liked the idea and animations! The music was very pleasant too. I think it might be nice to make the jellyfish just a little bit faster. It felt reaaaally tight trying to dodge some of the fishy friends. Nice work overall!
dhavavamba
11. May 2021 · 19:46 UTC
Good, An advic: The jelly could move with WASD!
cdunham
12. May 2021 · 09:03 UTC
Nice idea for a game, I feel it could've been executed better. There seemed to be no punishment for killing enemies accidentally. The movement felt way too slow, and I think having WASD controls would've felt better for an underwater game. Some of the enemies felt unavoidable, which made it frustrating when you wanted to avoid killing anything. I like the messages spread throughout the levels, it added some nice lore to the game and helped its mood a bit. Good work overall.
ardorugus
15. May 2021 · 03:04 UTC
There seems to be no way to stay a pacifist. Quite meditative with philosophic vibe, however more like of a journey to the dark side of the force. Then - bam - jelly pascifist stands out like Douglas in 'Falling Down'. A disturbing piece that might hold more background (to explore on whatever caused you to make this game). However, interesting narrative.
Radiotrophia
18. May 2021 · 16:12 UTC
Mwhahahah I killed them all 0w0