Bibli-otter-phy by Mathstr0fficial
Please note: items can be collected correctly! To pick something up, press Confirm and then wait without moving or getting hit until the indicator below your health/breath meters is full :)



You are an otter. You are also a librarian.
The tablet of all knowledge awaits in the darkest depths.
Collect lesser tablets and decipher them to gain abilities.
Collect lost gifts and use them to decorate your library.
Avoid dangerous sea creatures. You cannot fight back.
Return to the surface to catch your breath and cache items.
| Link | https://shielddoespixels.itch.io/bibliotterphy |
| Link | https://shielddoespixels.itch.io/bibliotterphy |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/58/bibli-otter-phy |
Ratings
| Overall | 50th | 3.725⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 21th | 3.842⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 67th | 3.526⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 10th | 4.263⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 69th | 3.775⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 90th | 3⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 86th | 3.45⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 6🗳️ | 7🗨️ |
I think the speed slowdown from carrying items is a bit rough at times, but on the flipside, the punishment for failure isn't too severe, so it balances out.
Here's my video playthrough! Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPcspBANpO4

Loved the gameplay loop of swimming around looking for things and then decorating the apartment.
The controls were not intuitive at all though, especially when it came to collecting the items. I thought the browser version was broken before I saw other people's gameplay.
The otter is cute, and I love the custom otter outfits! Especially the fairy one.
I found some bugs:
- I found a crab walking on the inside of the wall.
- You can't select a decor object 2x2 on the two upper squares if there is a 2x2 to the right of it.
Overall, great work for a compo entry!


Picking up items could be a little smoother. It wasn't obvious that I needed to hold down the button, and it didn't always work as expected. I think it would also be nice to have some additional places to recover oxygen, to allow for longer dives and more novel exploration time.
The library decoration part is well put together, but it feels like a separate game. Collecting tablets was interesting enough to stand on its own, so I ended up skipping most of the gifts in favor of those sweet, sweet upgrades.
This game reminds me a ton of the UFO 50 game Porgy, except much more balanced- and going for a different kind of vibe, of course. The quality of life features like running out of air draining HP instead of an instant game over, and being able to retrieve your "ghost" (?) to get back dropped items, are EXTREMELY appreciated. This game could have VERY easily felt like a slog (*cough*, Porgy, *cough*) but you did a great job in making sure things feel snappy and fair. On that note, making the "final" collectable relatively easy to collect with a small-ish number of upgrades was very kind for those wanting to kind of 'get in and get out' while still giving incentive for those with the time to go for a fully decked out library.
The stat upgrade tablets were also fun, although I wish there was a way to tell what the tablet gave you before you grabbed it... although, maybe that's removing too much of the mystery. Being able to drop items to swim back faster could have been nice, too, but might have been weird to implement. Oh, and implementation wise, everything felt great, the various transitions and text pop outs worked well, and the library especially is just wonderful to play around with. All in all, great work!!
PS: I forgot to mention the art! Great sprite work, especially with all the unique decorations and options for customization. And, seeing all the tablets show in the library really sells the theme. :)
It was super fun, too. I always love when the tension is built into the core of the gameplay. Slowing down when you collect things is great, and I had some nail biting runs, hoping I'd get back to the surface in time. I like the "collect your body" aspect to it, especially as it goes on and I'm worried I'd never find those things again.
I'm impressed by the scale of the game. There is so much to it. I do wish there was some difference in appearance of some parts of the map. It would help me navigate and know when I had been somewhere before, but for a jam game it is maybe too much to ask for.
I also wish there was some way I could go for a specific power up. Early on I really wished I had more inventory space, though if I had it, I'd imagine I'd wish for more speed.
I think the best strategy is probably to ignore the gifts entirely and just get power ups as fast as possible.
Overall, it was super fun. I really liked it. Good job!