Ratmancer by Wolfox121

[raw]
made by Wolfox121 for Ludum Dare 56 (JAM)

You are the fearsome Ratmancer, second coming of Cheezus Christ. Your goal, to rob the Giant Baron of his legendary beer, and have a wild bender with it! You'll need your wits about you though, as the Baron guards his spoil well - sneak through his mansion, use your rat army to distract his guards, turn off his lights, and rob him of all the beer and cheese he's worth!

Controls WASD -> Movement Shift -> Sprint Control -> Crouch Space -> Jump Space + Control -> Crouch Jump to Gain Height E -> Interact Left Click -> Throw Distraction Right Click -> Ranged Interact Escape -> Pause

Credits Kyle S - Producer & Lead Programmer Tony T - Lead Designer & UI Jordan M - Character/Prop Artist Max - Level Artist Noc - Cover Art

RatToss.png Guard.png GlowRat.png RatStun.png MainMenu.png

Ratings

Overall 525th 3.574⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Fun 596th 3.333⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 710th 3.091⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 659th 3.544⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 576th 3.621⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Humor 317th 3.455⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Mood 476th 3.588⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Given 70🗳️ 48🗨️

Feedback

Gaudy
07. Oct 2024 · 23:34 UTC
very good art and gameplay
BrainH
07. Oct 2024 · 23:35 UTC
The artwork is a highlight! Found a bunch of cheese and wasn't sure how to progress, I love the menu level navigation
SHAKIROVICH
07. Oct 2024 · 23:43 UTC
Id like to see it being made into full game, Thief like game about rat king would be fun. Enemies AI a bit easy though, maybe make them faster or detect you faster.
cliva
08. Oct 2024 · 00:22 UTC
The idea is quite humorous, most of the graphics look very good, there is a sense of style, however, often it's unclear what to do, the game seems to lack a goal (which is obviously not the case), and the very original level design - it's not always clear where I can jump and where I can't.
AlxJE
08. Oct 2024 · 03:00 UTC
Extradinary graphics and Ui design, the mouse tail to indicate how many mice remains is a funny way to show ammo reamians! Good JOB!
Smothbreen
08. Oct 2024 · 10:17 UTC
Pretty good, the movement is nice, feels a bit like rat dishonoured, also liked the main menu interface. main issue for me is just that there is no challenge since the enemies are so slow and you are so fast, also I'd trim down and focus the levels a bit
HardyTryer
08. Oct 2024 · 11:04 UTC
Wll done, UI menu is my favorite part - pretty smart. Graphic style is gorgeous, atmosphere is dense and nice. Congrats with the jam done!
LDJam user 0
08. Oct 2024 · 12:04 UTC
You ever get that feeling like your playing a game from your childhood, like you just turned on your grandma's old computer and found a game labeled Doom and had a blast playing? That's what this game was if I was on acid while playing.

The UI is unique as they worked rat tails as a counter for the amount of rats you currently possess, unfortunately I found it hard to see at some points higher then 5 and there is a hard cap of 10 at a time (Can't find any more then 10 but that irrelevant). The cheese is constantly moving with the player and I find it innovative and jarring as I can actively see my cheese increasing in size but also get motion sick from how much is vibrates at times. As for the main menu UI, I enjoy the hand but it is a bit annoying to tab out with it. Otherwise its funny, especially when you die (laughed my ass of for like 5 mins).
I also found voice lines to be amazing in a sense of its amazing how many different rat sounds can be made from the human voice.

Gameplay wise, I honestly enjoyed myself as I traversed through the 3 dungeons of the game. The first dungeon was a cake wake but I will admit if took me a bit to open the first gate as I didn't realize the rats can hold the levers (btw, throwing all your rats through the fence does not help you in the long run). After that I got stuck trying to get cheese on a fountain, It took me 10 mins to figure out how to jump onto this thing before realizing I could crouch jump on it and got it first time. Level design flaw? Maybe. Self Stupidity? Most likely.

Also can we talk about how the life system is also your means of attack? Guards patrol the dungeons and when they spot you, they can smack you for one rat. If you don't have any rats left, you die. I find this funny and also stupefying as they only chase you for maybe 2 meters and go back like nothing happened. But lets not forget, this is a stealth game! I get splinter cell vibes as I traverse the darkness and as soon as I touch a light source, my game informs me my body can be seen by jaws as white spikes surround my screen, just about blinding me. But worry not my friends as if you are spotted, you can throw your rat (Children? Lives? Summons, we're calling them summons) summons at unsuspecting and suspecting guards to distract and blind them for a small period of time. Once I found the lever to open the gate to escape this Level, I noticed all of the guards moving towards the gate. Honestly I thought it was cool that they did that but annoying if your trying to do a not seen run. I'll leave the other 2 levels alone as they are equally fun (But there is a ladder that, when pushed, will launch you out of the level and cause you to fall eternally).

TLDR: I thought this game was super fun and innovative but it needs more rats.
Almaz
08. Oct 2024 · 17:21 UTC
I liked it! The gameplay is really addictive
Remembered a game from my childhood - g-force:)
Shiiro 10psi
08. Oct 2024 · 23:55 UTC
Cool concept, solid controls, nice UI theming. Lost a lot of tension when I realized the guards had no real chance of catching me.
swaglazio
09. Oct 2024 · 12:21 UTC
love the artistic direction !
thatcher roehl
09. Oct 2024 · 12:28 UTC
fun and unique game, but maybe could've been a little more clear on unlocking the gates to the next stage?
steel465
09. Oct 2024 · 12:29 UTC
Really solid fundamentals, however the level design is a bit unintuitive and the guards pose no real threat.
bacalear
09. Oct 2024 · 18:45 UTC
atmospheric cool graphics
ParzivalVulpine
09. Oct 2024 · 19:34 UTC
I love the sneaking around gameplay, I didn't realize I could spring with shift but after that, I felt like a cool thieve, plus I love the character design. Great job!
pomidor_carry
09. Oct 2024 · 19:44 UTC
Really cool esc menu, quite funny

Adorable main character. Also liked that this note with how many rats are left is designed using rats tails.
AStrayRae
12. Oct 2024 · 06:37 UTC
Lovely game. The setting and art is super atmospheric, especially love the rat attack animation on the guards! Also +1 for the forgotten art of crouch-jumping! Praise be to Cheezus Christus :pray: :cheese:
kokostyrko
12. Oct 2024 · 15:08 UTC
The game impresses with its graphics and style, but it's often unclear what to do next.
someone
14. Oct 2024 · 23:13 UTC
I really love what you did with the menus, and the little touches like the number of rats displayed by their tails.
The guards did seem to be quite blind that I rarely needed to throw rats at them.
The small steps in the floor you had to jump to get past were quite annoying in last level.
Monado
17. Oct 2024 · 02:52 UTC
:cheese: :rat: :rat: :rat: :rat: :rat: :rat: