LudumData

Grounded! by ajpl

[raw]
made by ajpl for Ludum Dare 50 (EXTRA)

Welcome to my first LudumDate game! :)

Here's the pitch:

You're reasonable teenager, whose friends convinced to throw a house party while your parents are gone for the night.
As usually, things started to go out of control - unknown people started co came by, while litter and broken stuff pops up with increasing rate.
All this time, being good host, you try to clean up and resolve as may issues as possible, before things go over the top and someone calls your parents to go back. Tbh, it's inevitable, only question is, how long can you keep the party going? :grin:

I've crunched a bit to make it to the compo... but well, turn's out it was bit too much for the first time :sweat_smile: I'm glad there is new extra format :)

How to play: - Play in browser - game is mobile friendly :) - Movement: WASD or touch/click anywhere for onscreen thumbstick (this can be changed to 'follow pointer' in menu) - Find issues to solve (yellow and red circles) - stay for few seconds on issue circle to resolve it.

Thanks for playing!

Changelog: - Improved timer visibility - Bigger arrows - Added 'fallow pointer' steering - New map graphics - Music!

Some prod info: - Code: VSCode, TypeScipt, PIXI.js, Matter.js, gsap, and few more - all smashed together in some makeshift "game engine" - Art: doodled in Procreate (iPad) - Music: semi-randomly smashed some buttons in "Launchpad DJ with Novation" app (iPad)

  • Sounds: scratch and door sounds are from from freesound.org
  • Font: found on fontspace.com
Web or mobile https://ajur.pl/ld50/
Link https://github.com/ajur/ld50
Itch https://ajur.itch.io/ld50
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/grounded-1

Ratings

Given 17🗳️ 12🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 258850
08. Apr 2022 · 22:37 UTC
Great submission! :D

![image_2022-04-08_233641032.png](///raw/223/f3/z/4d95e.png)
wavertron
08. Apr 2022 · 22:57 UTC
Congrats on your first entry
RubixNoob13
08. Apr 2022 · 23:32 UTC
Pretty good entry! I do have a couple suggestions based on my play through. The timer is kind of hard to see because the text is white and most of the background is white / very light color. Maybe change the timer color to be more visible to help players see it. Also, I really like that you have arrows to point towards the issues that need to be fixed, but I wish the arrows were a bit bigger. Last, some music or sound effect can really help your entry to shine. Still, this was a pretty fun little game and a cool story concept, especially for a first submission!
TeamMonumental
09. Apr 2022 · 00:15 UTC
Great job on your first entry! I liked pushing through the crowds of people to get to an issue. It actually felt like I was weaving through people.
🎤 ajpl
09. Apr 2022 · 11:37 UTC
@mook Thx! Nice time ;)
@wavertron Thanks!

@rubixnoob13 Yeah, it was better standing out on my first map xD Thanks for the feedback!

@teammonumental Awesome, i hoped for such effect :D
Joror
11. Apr 2022 · 17:37 UTC
Nice little game! I like the premise; I told a little story about what was going on. :smile:
It felt a bit too easy too keep things under control.
Maybe a bit more variance in types of issues would have been interesting.
(and of course a bit of sound - a little bit goes a long way!)
LDJam user 237588
11. Apr 2022 · 17:40 UTC
Nice job! I liked how more and more people showed up and became increasingly annoying since you have to push them away to get to your issue as fast as possible.
I like visual style so far too, you should indeed consider adding some more visuals and sounds :)

An idea to make the gameplay more interesting:
Maybe an issue requires something in order to resolve it. Like a broom or some detergent.
Daniel MacCormick
13. Apr 2022 · 23:58 UTC
Nice work and congrats on your first Ludum Dare submission!

I think this idea is super cool! I really liked having to push through the crowds, especially as the guests started to really build up. It felt oddly satisfying haha - something about the way that was implemented was great.

I think it would be neat to expand on this and have different types of interactions for different issues - kind of like a Cook Serve Delicious style thing. For instance, maybe you have to do a quick puzzle to fix a lamp that some partygoers broke, or use your cursor to mop up a mess. That way, the gameplay would feel a bit more varied.

As an aside, I loved how the music changed in tone/volume as you left the living room area - great bit of polish! Overall, this is really well done, congrats! :)
mirianbr
14. Apr 2022 · 00:00 UTC
Hey, great first submission! I think it may be too easy for most folks here (I managed to keep delaying the inevitable for as long as I wanted, and I'm super slow), but anyways: I loved how easy it is to start playing and resolve the issues -- no need for a mouse or for alternative keys in the keyboard. Fun, easy to play, nice atmosphere. Very good job!

I'd like to have audio effects to signal when things are about to go out of control. More than just visual controls, this can help the gamer (and it's usually easy to add -- not sure about your platform, though). And the random events/issues appearing (despite they are a nice abstraction, smart concept!) could have a random description... It might have been hard to get them to match the different rooms in the house, I get it, but just the yellow and red bubbles could use some story behind them.

Very nice entry nevertheless, looking forward to see what you come up with in the next Ludum Dare :blush:
mcshirt
14. Apr 2022 · 00:04 UTC
overall good submission! I liked the art that was there. It was a little hard to figure things out within the first few seconds, but i ended up figuring out that the purple circles were partygoers after they starting moving around. I also thought that the music was very good, it sounded like i was at a slightly rowdy party.
🎤 ajpl
14. Apr 2022 · 00:14 UTC
Glad you liked it :)

@hilkojj @daniel-maccormick great idea with some tool / mini mechanic. Although I kept it simple kinda on purpose.

@mirianbr Difficulty is bit random currently, maybe too random :) But usually it get to the limits at 8 min.
Funny thing, I had descriptions on my todo list.. I might still add them :D
ryusui
14. Apr 2022 · 00:20 UTC
The concept and execution were really solid here! At first I wasn't sure about the abstract nature of the problem-solving or the guests, but I definitely warmed up to it. (A thought, though - maybe make the visual elements mesh better with the background, or vice versa? The BG is lovely but I do think this game could absolutely work with a more minimalistic geometric look.)

If I had one problem, it's that it becomes impossible to solve any problems that spawn in the left side of the bedroom - there's no way that I could tell to push by the two guests to get over there. Not a huge deal, since I didn't have such problems anywhere else, but it did bother me a bit that no matter what I did there'd be a couple problems I could never reach. ^_^;
🎤 ajpl
14. Apr 2022 · 11:22 UTC
@ryusui Good point with the graphics! At first it was really minimalistic, and when I started improving house graphics, i was kinda carried over xD Now its either going back to more sketchy background, or redoing also player and guests - oh, choices :D
aevek
14. Apr 2022 · 19:06 UTC
Lasted almost 7 minutes! Really cool game. You managed to recreate the stress of hosting a party and trying to keep everything together in a very minimal and quickly understandable form, without giving me the release of being able to drink to help keep stress down because I'm playing on my lunch break. Very well done. The guests managed to be annoying and in the way despite literally just standing there. Congratulations, you made inert circles frustrating (in a good way). Slick visual presentation where the environment looked good and the game state was super clear with the colored circles. I also liked the touch of the music getting muffled in rooms away from the speakers, that was great. Very well done!
deniskazantsev
15. Apr 2022 · 09:56 UTC
I really liked the game! Nice handcrafted art and music sounds great. Especially fading out at some areas.
natpat
16. Apr 2022 · 03:25 UTC
Nice entry! I really liked the music and how it changed in various rooms. The background was also very nice, although it didn't really match the simpler people. There were some fun strategy moments as well, like being able to clear 2 or more issues at the same time.

Some more mechanics could have been nice: the guests moving around, different ways of dealing with issues, etc. Still great work for your first entry!
Don Fouts
17. Apr 2022 · 03:25 UTC
Interesting take on the theme. I thought the mechanics were unique. I really liked the drawn background for the home and wish the characters could have had the same treatment, though with this being a jam I'm sure that was cut at some point in the process. Overall you did a great job and this is a nice entry.
koalatte
18. Apr 2022 · 06:37 UTC
the party music fading out as the player goes outside is a nice touch
LDJam user 279546
18. Apr 2022 · 12:08 UTC
This was a really cool take on the theme with great implementation. It was simple and effective. The background art was great and the music was great for the atmosphere. Its fading was a good touch as well. I love how the issues were not detailed but placed in locations where you could fill in the gaps of what was likely happening. Great job!