Critical Mass by RatoGodoy
Critical Mass is a fully particle based game where you need to balance your mass, if you have too much you die and vice versa.

WASD to move
Developed in C++ using Pixel Game Engine by Javidx
| Source Code (visual studio solution) | https://eduardopupucon.itch.io/critical-mass |
| Download (62kb) | https://eduardopupucon.itch.io/critical-mass |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/critical-mass |
Ratings
| Overall | 317th | 3.387⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 333th | 3.226⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 373th | 3.081⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 245th | 3.645⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 156th | 3.774⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 26🗳️ | 63🗨️ |
For a moment, I thought some enemies hitting you also added mass - which also seems like a cool idea to explore if you are doing anything similar in the future. The player would then have to balance bleeding off mass, and a sudden cluster of one type of enemy or another could have you pivoting from running towards pickups, or running away - just a thought.
Enjoyed the aesthetic and bold colors, great job
Hope that gifs play in here.
I love that it is simple, yet visually attractive. Nice choice on the colors and very well suited for a game jam like this, where most reviewers do not have time to play complex games.
As @ugly-robot said, the health can be inferred by watching the particles.
That is very well done!
The idea is really interesting though, surely a game you should continue post jam!
^^ @ratogodoy MyFault. Unpacking helps :)
Game loop got pretty old for me pretty quick but I like the presentation.
Extra points for using the OLC engine, love it!
I got 20 score the first try.
I really like that you slow down and the game gets harder.
I tried to dash sometimes to avoid the attacks. SO I think is something that many players will try as well. Maybe is a good feature to implement.
It's a fun idea as well. However, it seems to me that, the higher the level is, the more dashers there will be to disrupt you. So unless I misunderstand the game (which is possible) it will form a certain point onwards always be beneficial to focus on _gaining_ mass, which loses the balance concept in the noise.
Speaking of noises ... (Please ignore if you already know this and there was just _literally_ no time or something like that) Basic SFX is one of the easiest things to make during a game jam: After all [generators like these](https://sfxr.me/) are legal even for Compo entries.
(Just to note though, the rar file seems damaged/corrupted if opening using Winrar, just thought I'd point that out.)