Motivation by maxplusplus

[raw]
made by maxplusplus for Ludum Dare 55 (JAM)

The vastness of the cosmos is at your fingertips. Summon your dreams.

Epilepsy warning: this game contains some sudden bright lights!

Made in 72 hours in Godot 4. Also my first solo entry to a game jam! Hope you enjoy playing it. If the HTML embed doesn't work, try the itch link (I tried following the embedding guide but it still seems broken shrug).

Credit to Daniel Linssen for his m3x6 and m5x7 pixel fonts, and thanks to David for playtesting :) All other assets made by me.

Ratings

Overall 152th 4.022⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 201th 3.891⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 19th 4.304⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 91th 4.326⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 233th 4.217⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 347th 3.609⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 428th 3.31⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 287th 3.891⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 20🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

m0rph1y
16. Apr 2024 · 16:34 UTC
Good game but it's like without tutorial and i can't understand nothing in this fact

But idea is good and i liked that.
ecenizo
17. Apr 2024 · 10:37 UTC
Sorry maybe im too dumb but i wasnt able to progess in any way.
EDIT: After checking some more comments I understood what was going on. Great game!
Pigeoncode
17. Apr 2024 · 10:43 UTC
Really cool idea, I love you implementation of the theme and the visuals when you summon something are slick. I did struggle around a bit before I realised I needed to click on the words to the right. And ended up kinda brute forcing the last significant puzzle. If you had more time it would have been great to have a small little tutorial/guide for the player and for the game to tell you when your very close (like you only have 1 word wrong or something). But overall really enjoyed this entry, well done!
Sn4pi
17. Apr 2024 · 11:01 UTC
What a unique idea and great implementation! The play with words and how you created the shapes with your text - You took me in a state of awe! The graphics have a nice touch and the gameplay is good enough. Music is neither overly well made nor annoying, it's just good.


What I could imagine to developo this idea further is to give the player different choices. Like he could choose to summon one or the other in order to progress through his own story. This idea would also be great for communities to write their own summoning scripts and puzzles.


Good job and thanks for playing our game!
Smoky01
17. Apr 2024 · 11:02 UTC
The gameplay mechanics in this game are so intuitive! It's like the controls become an extension of your own instincts. Plus, the art style adds a unique flair that keeps you engaged throughout. Definitely a gem worth exploring!
Ben Yazi
17. Apr 2024 · 12:07 UTC
Very interesting puzzle. Short, but had to think.

I summoned motivation!

![2024-04-17_16-06.png](///raw/cf6/b2/z/64100.png)
🎤 maxplusplus
17. Apr 2024 · 12:38 UTC
Thanks everyone for the lovely comments, and I really appreciate the feedback! I'll be honest, after testing the game for so long I completely overlooked the fact that I didn't at all indicate that you could click on words, that's my bad. At least this comments section will provide something of a guide to anyone who gets stuck :sweat_smile:

@sn4pi thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it :D Yeah for sure, I think branching paths and more involved puzzles could be really fun, and I like the idea of doing a better-developed, less vibes-based version of this story
nrankin13
17. Apr 2024 · 13:56 UTC
That third puzzle in the spell book was delightful. Very clever; good job!
mumu
18. Apr 2024 · 13:27 UTC
I enjoyed both the idea and the execution! I found out the words are clickable completely by luck tho lol, I would say that's the only problem I have with the game.
KeithSwanger
19. Apr 2024 · 10:48 UTC
I liked that a lot! Nice job with the writing, it was intriguing without being too cryptic. I'm sure writing with a certain shape in mind was quite a challenge for yourself! The art is great, very coherent, and I loved that you decorated the room with the items that are summoned. I would love to play more of a game like this! Great job, regardless of it being your first solo entry!
JUSTCAMH
19. Apr 2024 · 14:54 UTC
I really really love the mechanic used here! The very first puzzle, was such a moment, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and the game immediately blew my mind! :heart:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2123757357
🎤 maxplusplus
20. Apr 2024 · 07:55 UTC
@justcamh cheers again for playing it on your stream, it was awesome seeing your reactions and the live feedback was much appreciated! As you said, a meta-puzzle to finish things off would have really tied things together -- unfortunately I had already overextended myself with the summoning animations, so I didn't have time to come up with something more fulfilling :sweat_smile: maybe next time!
EmaZuro
20. Apr 2024 · 10:44 UTC
I really enjoyed this! It was so innovative, I loved the game mechanics! I had to look into comments to get it, but I get that authors blindness is real. Loved it!
UniOwl
20. Apr 2024 · 16:30 UTC
![изображение_2024-04-20_192913754.png](///raw/f39/95/z/648d9.png)

Very clever theme interpretation! Was a bit frustrated at the start (because english is not my first language), but with trial and error I managed to complete the game. Liked the art a lot and enjoyed the puzzles, despite that it was a bit hard in some places. Great job!
LDJam user 250824
20. Apr 2024 · 16:56 UTC
This felt pretty new! I've been clicking around randomly and I was almost certain the "todo" on the table didn't work because it was bugged and I was stuck, but then I accidentally clicked a word, and it made sense at once. This was a nice little moment. I like feeling lost and then suddenly finding the answer. :) Great entry!
17 confused villains
20. Apr 2024 · 16:57 UTC
Such an awesome entry - the visuals felt very stylish, and I loved the mechanic. The puzzle design was consistently strong. I thought figuring out the "bones" of the mechanic without a tutorial was fun, and didn't take too long, but understanding what was "close" means in the game's logic took quite a lot more trial and error. Not enough to be frustrating by any means, but it could maybe use a bit of clarity. My only point of contention was the music - I thought the track was lovely, but because it was so short and kept looping + restarting after every summon, it started to become a bit repetitive/annoying by the end of the playthrough (IMO)
Tyrannas
22. Apr 2024 · 13:47 UTC
Really great Idea and graphics, I love it! Puzzles are fairly intuitive at first and it was satisfying on the first puzzles. But I have to say, I struggled on the pizza one, like I really don't understand why "source" needs to be highlighted. And the one after that "Immortal Fruit" where 6 words need to be highlighted I just don't get the logic haha. Probably since english is not my main language but I'm totally stuck and it's a bit frustrating.

Overwall is a great entry, polished and refreshing ! (Just for the music like @17-confused-villains said, it's way too short and become annoying quite fast, I know you put a volume button but it's not really the same since it's still better to play with with sound than with nothing IMO). Anyway, great job !
deformhead
22. Apr 2024 · 20:20 UTC
Really hard to understand at first (took me at least 5 minutes to understand how to progress, looking at the comments then trying again). I really think you should put a little note or clue on how to play at first.

But once I realized how to play, it felt nice!

Really great art, music is a little redundant, but really fits the mood, indeed!

:clap:
MSolomon
25. Apr 2024 · 22:18 UTC
Short, simple and enjoyable, although for some pages it was difficult to understand what I had to look for, I had to go by process of elimination with help from the prompt on the left.