Tardigrade Travels: A Tardigrade's Terrifyingly Terrific Traversal Through Time! by Plasmak

[raw]
made by Plasmak for Ludum Dare 56 (JAM)

Note: the HTML5 above is broken—download the ZIP and play the EXE instead!

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Travel through dangerous environments as a near-invincible tardigrade!

Tardigrades (pronounced /ˈtɑːrdɪɡreɪdz/), affectionately dubbed “water bears”, are eight-legged microscopic marvels known for their remarkable resilience. But did you know you can now embark on a totally bizarre adventure through time AS a tardigrade? Yes, indeed!

Now you can be a pint-sized powerhouse that defies DEATH!

A game made in 72 hours for Ludum Dare 56 (Tiny Creatures).

Credits

Sarah Mak (@Plasmak) - Game Designer, Writer

Joan Wu (@aakarma) - Game Designer, Writer

cydisq (@cydisq) - Tech Director, Programmer

Justin Peh (@pyxel) - Programmer, Audio Integration

Audrey Yong (@audddible) - Art Director, Artist

Angelina Tan (@angiezles) - Artist

Ryan Pua (@Zirunos) - Artist

Yang Quanhui (@qhboiboi) - Artist

Benjamin Tan (@botwoj) - Artist

Jazreel Low (@Jaz) - Composer, Sound Designer, Additional Game Design

Ratings

Overall 508th 3.586⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 632th 3.293⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 729th 3.069⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 320th 3.931⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 218th 4.196⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 334th 3.534⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Humor 178th 3.714⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 549th 3.5⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 40🗳️ 29🗨️

Feedback

Rita Shvets
08. Oct 2024 · 04:10 UTC
Making a game about a water bear is a brilliant idea, guys! I especially like the graphics, everything is done so nicely! Like!
Pachino55
08. Oct 2024 · 04:18 UTC
Cool game, would recommend
dinobobbo
08. Oct 2024 · 04:25 UTC
I couldn't find the .exe - the zip tells me not found D: I'd really love to try this game as it looks like the team is stacked with a lot of creative direction!
LilieBagage
08. Oct 2024 · 05:26 UTC
Same than dinobobbo! I would enjoy to try this game (Travel time lover here) but the .zip is not found!
🎤 Plasmak
08. Oct 2024 · 06:24 UTC
Sorry for the inconvenience everyone! The ZIP has been reuploaded, and the download should work now
dinobobbo
08. Oct 2024 · 07:57 UTC
Thank you for the fix~!

The game is really cute - love how the tardigrade looks and its animations! I'm not even sure if all of that information is true about tardigrades, but I'd believe it :D this is like a fun children's book.

Some of the sequences lasted a bit too long in my opinion (like the ice age) and I'm not sure if space was the end or if I was supposed to discover something there.

Great job!!
Saprina289
08. Oct 2024 · 20:31 UTC
I really enjoyed the game! I was a little confused about the ending. I wasn't sure if the space part with the other tardigrades was the end so I spent a long time in that area. I think more direction or a game complete screen would be helpful for that. It would also be good if there was a way to exit the game without having to tab out of it! Very cute little experience.
Master Age
22. Oct 2024 · 09:55 UTC
Cute game, love the animations and the cutscenes. This could be fun story driven adventure game if the tardigrade was given a personality
Norah
22. Oct 2024 · 12:37 UTC
I absolutely loved the animations !! It's such a fun game, congrats :clap:
SleepyStudios
22. Oct 2024 · 13:44 UTC
Those cutscenes were great! I loved the little story transitions too that was a nice touch. Good take on the theme but like another commenter said above I was a bit lost at the end in space. Nice work.
JohnMiner
23. Oct 2024 · 05:18 UTC
Really love the artstyle, animation and choice of sound effects. I think you guys should lean more into the educational aspect of the "game" by adding more fun facts about the water bear. Gameplay-wise there isn't much to actual play though. Great work!
LDJam user 403938
23. Oct 2024 · 07:28 UTC
Wasn't expecting animated cutscenes that's for sure. The whole package is presented in such a nice and educational way I really appreciated it as a sort of interactive learning experience.

I appreciate the lack of a fail state as a way of conveying the absolute survival machines that tardigrades are, but mixing that with an uneven sense of conveyance makes the experience feel a bit more stressful than it needed to be. The fireballs and nuclear particles are very very hard to dodge, and even though you can tank them and move on as if nothing happened that is pretty much impossible to know on first playthrough, plus I think all stages could've benefited from that counting down bar that the nuclear section had over to the left.

This one is more of a personal idea than an actual suggestion, but if death is an impossibility in game, maybe a score that keeps track of how well you survived could encourage repeated playthroughs and provide a sense of accomplishment to players. However this is only true if that's the kind of experience you'd want to create, as an edutainment piece I think it's already a successful venture.

Graphics are of course incredible, the cutscenes are really cute and the stylization of the tardigrade and its walk cycle (swim cycle?) are absolutely pitch perfect, I couldn't get enough of it dopey lil face. Great job to all involved!

-Boat
BoxedVodka
23. Oct 2024 · 15:59 UTC
So cute! I absolutely adore the animations and sound effects. & I also leared some new stuff about this little creature. :D

A very fun game to play, although I did get lost during the "trdigrade can get lonely" stage. Not sure what to do other than floating in space. Also the radiation particle level is a bit hard to dodge, I basically tanked it through (but the getting hit animation is also really cute!)
Langotriel
23. Oct 2024 · 18:36 UTC
So much animation! It was a fun little adventure and I look forward to the projects you guys come out with in future ludum dares! :D
badbons
24. Oct 2024 · 12:59 UTC
Spongebob screen made it really funny. Now I wonder if space level is intentionally infinite or if I quit too soon :D

Perhaps its some deep lesson about preciousness of life
🎤 Plasmak
24. Oct 2024 · 13:16 UTC
To move to the credits, you need to bump with all the tardigrades in the stage—sorry for not making this clearer!
tetrapteryx
24. Oct 2024 · 15:49 UTC
Adorable, funny, and unexpectedly educational?? The animation is absolutely stunning, especially considering the time limit. This is a unique experience. Well done!
Game-mon
24. Oct 2024 · 16:06 UTC
So cute!! The art + animation is an instant :star::star::star::star::star: for me, very well made, it's clear artists of this team are super talented. I also like the simple minigame-based gameplay. The hit frame + sound had me dying. Excelletn work!
ssiannas
24. Oct 2024 · 16:28 UTC
Awesome cute animations. The arcade minigame play is great for this sort of jam.

I'd love to see the little fellas evolve into a bigger project.
Tetracold
24. Oct 2024 · 16:31 UTC
I think this is the first time I see a educational jam game! it's a really fun creative and well executed idea. the artstyle, the cutscenes and the humor are all great. I also thought it was clever to use the water bear's resilience as invincibility from damage

also is that a high pitched oof sound when the water bear gets hurt? If so that I thought that was funny

I really enjoyed this one, great entry
Brain Siege Gameworks
24. Oct 2024 · 18:38 UTC
Is a rather cute game featuring a lesser known but rather fascinating species. I don't really know what to do when you're in space.
LDJam user 399892
24. Oct 2024 · 21:27 UTC
The graphics & animations were really good, and the theme, sound and story were fun. I wish it had felt more like a game, like having some reaction when not pressing the button till the bar runs out for example. Something like "see? almost invincible!". I was also confused in two specific moments: when the tardigrade started floating out of nowhere in the radiation scene, and in the last space scene (I wandered for minutes to nowhere, then played everything again to find out what I actually had to do). I don't know to what extent these were intentional, but it would be better with a fix or more context. Anyway, nice game overall! Love tardigrades.
PSV Games Studio
24. Oct 2024 · 21:44 UTC
Nice game! Very interesting concept, beautiful animations and beautiful graphics, you executed it very well. Good job!
Geckoo1337
25. Oct 2024 · 14:39 UTC
This is what I expect from a solid team - a project with minigames. The aesthetic is gorgeous, especially the color and the tiny creature itself. Sounds great too. The main mechanics work well as expected and I have fun playing. One of my favorite entries for this event. Well done ++
Korteh
25. Oct 2024 · 17:06 UTC
that Tardigrade is so cute!
love the game, very fun and educational. Also amount of animation work done in just 3 days is insane!