Not Late, Or Early by ShaunShepherd

[raw]
made by ShaunShepherd for Ludum Dare 51 (JAM)

Package toys and send them away exactly on time! Not Late, or Early. There is a handy timer and a beat every second to keep you up to speed. But those sorts of things don't hang around forever. How in tune can your internal timer get?

The objective is to score as many points as you can before you strike three times and get fired. If you place the box on the conveyor belt too early (before the red bar) or wait too late (when the timer fills) you will receive a strike. Eventually the timer and beat will disappear, so you better learn the rhythm. As you place the correct toys (top first) into the box it will gain points, once that box is put on the top conveyor belt it will score. This score may be multiplied depending on how close you are to the 10 second mark, the closer the higher the multiplier (orange is x2, yellow and the line x10!).

*Audio on highly recommended

Note: Make sure to place the boxes on the separate conveyor portion at the top (the middle one), there is a wee bug.

Controls: Wasd or arrows to move and 'e' to pick up.

Ratings

Overall 1119th 2.88⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1123th 2.64⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1090th 2.64⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1005th 3.14⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 664th 3.5⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 729th 2.659⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 29🗨️

Feedback

spacecadet
04. Oct 2022 · 14:42 UTC
Addicting game. I really liked the pixel art and the hectic feeling of packing the stuff. First I though I could pack any stuff shown on the box so some indication of the order would have been helpful to avoid confusion. Overall a really nice entry. Good job!
Phillip Scott
04. Oct 2022 · 14:53 UTC
Like the look but the game doesn't seem to be working I put items in the the box (from the top down) gain points but the list just auto refills all the time - so no end.

Shame - good work though!
barce
04. Oct 2022 · 14:56 UTC
Very cool artstyle! I didn't understand the gameplay at first, had to play it more than once but overall I liked it!
Trusty
05. Oct 2022 · 02:57 UTC
Fun game, the art style is neat, love the toy sprites.
LabToast
05. Oct 2022 · 02:59 UTC
nice game! There appear to be some resolution issues on my screen, at least in the embedded version. Maybe that caused me to miss it, but the lack of button prompts led to struggles. A looot of trial and error before I finally realized "e" picks things up.

Very hectic and fun gameplay! I feel like highlighting which item the player is about to pick up would be useful, as I often accidentally picked up the wrong item due to mispositioning myself.

Kudos on the art!
waffleworksgames
05. Oct 2022 · 03:09 UTC
I really like the pixel art! The concept of packaging the toys on time was pretty neat. Would love to see some sort of difficulty curve in the future
jonmerrin
05. Oct 2022 · 03:09 UTC
Truth be told, I'm not sure I understood the timer... I always got an x regardless of how many boxes I filled in the timer, and I never got a game over. That said, the pixel art is very cute and I like the concept. Overall, really nice job!
FireSlash
05. Oct 2022 · 05:17 UTC
I never felt like I was getting good feedback to understand the rules. Using more explicit failure states would help direct the player towards their goal.

The art is really nice and cohesive. Started to make sense after I read the rules and experimented a bit.

Nice work!
TobiasD
05. Oct 2022 · 23:35 UTC
Took me a while to work out what to do, but was fun once I got it! As stressful as working in an Amazon warehouse! Would recommend arrow keys and E, WASDE was too hard on one hand ha ha! FYI Didn't get any audio :(
chuckeles
13. Oct 2022 · 07:27 UTC
![CleanShot 2022-10-13 at 09.25.42@2x.png](///raw/f53/8/z/5318e.png)

It took me a while to figure out what to do. I got stuck on this, two boxes went away and then no new box arrived anymore. So I at least placed the items on the conveyor for the lady to take them :grimacing:
TinyLittleStudio
13. Oct 2022 · 09:44 UTC
As others have already mentioned the game does not explain itself too well. It took me a short while to understand what to actually do and then I encountered the bug with the conveyor belt not giving me a new box. But some mistakes are to be expected in a jam submission. The idea is neat and i like the visuals a lot. It is a solid project. Good work!
🎤 ShaunShepherd
13. Oct 2022 · 10:15 UTC
@chuckeles yeah unfortunately I forgot to fix that bug, it happens when the box is put on the top conveyor belt but not in the middle portion sorry about that hahah
Quoc
16. Oct 2022 · 07:45 UTC
Really cool game and nice artstyle. I enjoyed playing IT :)
dimesto52
16. Oct 2022 · 10:26 UTC
i dont understand this game, too many bug for me sorry
Martynas
16. Oct 2022 · 10:28 UTC
Love that you have to memorize the 10 second rhythm, seems unique!
chromaphase
16. Oct 2022 · 12:03 UTC
Very nice and cute, sound is a bit harsh tho! If you could change the tempo sound somewhat! Even if its hard to do this kind of sound in the 8bits style... ;)
Roka Josh
17. Oct 2022 · 08:14 UTC
Interesting game idea, I had the same issue as others with being able to infinitely wait filling a box then handing it in perfect time. I am not sure if you are meant to not miss more than three boxes but no gameover ever happened. Otherwise, good game!
BathPirate
19. Oct 2022 · 18:54 UTC
Wow! This is a great game! Very decent implementation and to the point