Evolve by oller125
Try to survive for 5 generations. Inspired by the cell stage of Spore.
Controls:
Point mouse in direction of travel W to move in that direction You can use health reserves if you run out of energy. But once you've run out of health, you're dead.
Green food only gives you energy. Killing other microbes gives you DNA in order to evolve.
Balance might be a bit off, especially at the beginning. Was still trying to tweak spawning rates towards the end.
| Link | https://github.com/onorton/evolve |
| Link | https://oller125.itch.io/evolve |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/evolve |
Ratings
| Overall | 149th | 3.571⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 146th | 3.429⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 170th | 3.31⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 59th | 4.048⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 204th | 3.325⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 78th | 3.643⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 230th | 2.553⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 170th | 3.325⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 22🗳️ | 14🗨️ |
I think the spike upgrade is by far the best first upgrade. It makes it so much faster to earn DNA from the small cells, and crucially gives you a very strong defense against the big cells (which otherwise seem to be very dangerous).
Strangely, I think the second spike upgrade is arguably a downgrade, as it makes it harder to move towards the big cells while still keeping yourself safe. It still seemed situationally useful though.
I think that perhaps the main problem with the game is there seems to be no way to defend against the big cells without a spike? Maybe the flagellum also does the job. But what this means is, before getting any evolutions, if you see a big cell you are more or less dead. On very first try I didn't see any before evolving but made the very poor choice to try to bank my DNA for the extra energy. On my second try I saw a big cell when at 90 DNA and couldn't figure out a way to escape. On my third (winning) try I did see a big cell, but it didn't seem to start attacking me, so I was able to get the 100 DNA in time. I guess maybe you have to stay out of their range of detection? But sometimes it seems like they would attack from off screen (e.g. I would hear the music before even seeing them).
On that note, the danger music was a very nice touch!
Overall I think the idea of a Spore cell stage but with more RPG-like upgrade / skill tree type system is a lot of fun. Makes it more possible to focus on having interesting gameplay mechanics that don't have to interact with all the possible body shapes in Spore.
In any case it was a nice little game to play through! Nice job!
Graphics, sound and theme are all excellent and serve the game very well. The music especially was awesome.
I didn’t like the two spikes as much; they felt less useful compared to just one. The controls are smooth, though, and the constant energy shortage keeps the game tense and exciting throughout.
Overall, it’s an engaging experience with just a few minor adjustments needed!