360° MICROSCOPE by Brendo

The bacterial experiment is about to run amok! The only thing that can stop it is the patented Microscopic Laser Gun, but it can only fire once every 10 seconds. Orbit the field and eliminate germs before they multiply out of control.
Controls:
Aim with your mouse
Left click to freeze
Right click to shoot the LASER.
Credits:
heckbringer - programming
adhesion - music, sound design, programming
brendo - art, programming
| Link | https://radmars.itch.io/360-degree-microscope |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/360-microscope |
Ratings
| Overall | 539th | 3.556⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 425th | 3.556⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 326th | 3.611⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 505th | 3.741⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 730th | 3.407⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 427th | 3.426⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 550th | 2.896⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 760th | 3.25⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 36🗳️ | 37🗨️ |
I liked that the movement of the gun around the area very literally represented the 10 second timer. The little monsters were cute, and it was cool that each type had its own kind of movement. The music was great, I wish it didn't restart when I died :)
The gameplay was ok, but some things could have been improved. The beginning of the stage was extremely important, perhaps too much so: you could miss an enemy that is already in the path of your gun, or you could do badly with your shots overall, getting flooded with too many monsters as they eventually multiply. On the other hand, once the arena was down to 4 enemies or so, it was a mostly tedious process of making sure all the enemies are frozen all the time, then lining up shots to remove them. I also found the loss condition of a monster running into the gun a bit random.
SFX were maybe a little bit too loud, although the music adds a lot to the atmosphere. :microscope:
Never seen a shooter with this circling around the enemies mechanic. Very unique.
Nice job!