Mudball by JD_Isaac

[raw]
made by JD_Isaac for Ludum Dare 49 (JAM)

Use A/D or left/right arrow keys to balance the Mudball and collect the falling mud.

First ever project. My only goal was to finish anything and learn something. The code is nightmarish, I'm very glad no one gets to see it, but it mostly works.

I used the channel SoundEffectsFactory on YouTube to get a few sounds with Audacity to make some edits, and used Paint.Net to make a few assets, but my main focus was on the code.

Ratings

Overall 1171th 3.184⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1199th 2.975⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 793th 3.263⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 857th 3.421⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1282th 2.737⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 853th 2.921⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1267th 2.816⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 14🗳️ 10🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 271014
16. Oct 2021 · 22:52 UTC
Nice job for a first project! It's simple to understand and plays well. I played the first two levels and then skipped to the last one to see how the difficulty ramps up. I like how the droplets get easier to collect when you're small, but it simultaneously becomes harder to dodge the spikes as well as making it easier to tip the platform because you're so large. I think it fits the theme well. Overall it's better than a lot of other submissions I've played - well done!
pedrocoden
17. Oct 2021 · 01:38 UTC
nice work man :)
Shakedimus
19. Oct 2021 · 19:51 UTC
Man the idea was simple but the game was quite hard. I enjoyed it even though it is very simple. I liked the fact that you had this trade-off between keeping the scale balanced but getting to the mud drops. It was a bit weird though that there were levels but they were essentially he same. A high score system would've been better I think. Overall a fun little game with a simple but interesting idea! Good job! Also mudball is a funny name :D And the graphics and music are simple but are very pleasant.
dsoberdan
19. Oct 2021 · 22:57 UTC
Just wanted to say that I was not able to play it on Mac! It wouldn't let me open it because "Apple can not check it for malicious software". Hoping to try it on my PC if I get the chance later!
Papaver
20. Oct 2021 · 00:38 UTC
Nice! I like how the missed droplets change the balance.
I played and finished levels 1, 2 and 6, but level 10 was too much for me.
Well done!
Shea Kelly
21. Oct 2021 · 06:58 UTC
very good game, i really like your concept
LDJam user 261242
21. Oct 2021 · 07:22 UTC
Really great!! It's a great idea about the theme and it's really fun!
LDJam user 238700
21. Oct 2021 · 08:54 UTC
A nice small game! I wasn't sure what to expect from a game named mudball, but this executed on a simple idea really well! Sometimes the game felt slow with the pace mud was falling from the sky, but the great music and really pretty background helped a lot with that! Nice job.
LDJam user 117129
21. Oct 2021 · 10:54 UTC
Haha, I originally thought I was supposed to dodge the mud balls and got quiet far with these giant mud balls on either end. I think it's cute ^_^ good job!
curleyrach
21. Oct 2021 · 12:57 UTC
Really cool concept and take on the theme. Graphics and audio work nicely. Good job!
jk5000
21. Oct 2021 · 13:34 UTC
A fun little game. Well done.
Adafheyesh
21. Oct 2021 · 16:25 UTC
It's cool how the simple mechanics result in something with a bit of depth! Thinking about whether or not to go for a mud-drop, weighing whether it's too risky to go far out, or if you want to let it to hit for the counterbalance, etc... it makes for a more engaging experience than you might initially expect. And it all feels natural and intuitive, too -- no contrived mechanics or anything. Nice find!

Like others have said, it didn't really feel like there was a big enough difference between each level. And it does get pretty difficult by the end. Would be interested to see if there are other ways to expand on the design beyond ramping up the challenge.