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[Physics Jam] Simian Slam's itch.io pageCategories Your Team is Eligible for
Professional
The More Monkeys You Have The Worse It Is
Best physics gameplay
Best Ragdoll physics
Technical Achievement
Best Visuals
Best Sound
Best Humour
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Comments
This was really fun once I got the hang of it. The vines and the bending branches work great.
I know the controls got a couple people confused, I was playing on Desktop and confused me at first (I had ignored the information in the title screen). Clicking on the monkey wasn't that intuitive, might have worked better with right click... though if this was intended for mobile I'd suggest making making the monkey release when releasing the drag (and adjust the physics so that it's more about gaining momentum and using the branch springiness rather than quickly dragging and tapping the monkey).
That is to say, with a little bit of adjusting, I feel like this could be the basis for a good game. Feels like a successful prototype to me. And it's already pretty polished!
Sad that the monkeys couldn't hang off other monkeys!
I personally think it might have been even funnier if it were Tarzan-like people swinging through the jungle and trying to get bananas. i.e. people behaving like monkeys is funnier than monkeys behaving like monkeys.
Thanks for the awesome review Evan! I was thinking of a mobile game from the start but I know for the game jam it needed to be desktop so I want it to be as simple as possible. Thats a good suggestion on the dragging. I know a few people struggled and I think I got too close to the controls while making it and I was hoping it was a small learning curve to get over but it might have been a bit bigger than I thought.
Monkeys can hang on monkeys! I wanted to make a level where that was required to pass a level. What ends up happening is that if a monkey thinks it can stand on the ground then it would rather do that. Its a bit more obvious on the last level where there is a bit of room.
The plan was to have a few types of monkeys with different pros and cons and the goal is to get them all across to the end by working together. My GF likes to draw monkeys so that's why this whole game came to be :)
this fulfills my caveman banana savenging needs. Thank you for this work of art.
I found it a little tricky at times to click on the monkeys when they were spinning at light speed on branches and the camera was moving automatically, but that was probably partly me messing with the physics system as much as possible to launch them into orbit. I LOVE the bendy branches and rope physics, great work on that! Overall a really satisfying little game with wonderful art. Now gib banana.
Thank you so much for playing the game and for your kind words! After rigging the monkeys I tried to put physics elements where ever I could and I still wanted to do more but ran out of time. Evan was right, its is easy and satisfying to get physics in your game but it's difficult to master them and get them to do what you want so sometimes the monkeys can go off into weird places. Im glad you couldn't break it at least and enjoyed yourself ;)
An awesome prototype! great tutorial, and great art. I wouldve liked a quick reset button, but otherwise loved it.
Not much to add that hasn't already been said, great game. For a future version you'll probably want to take a look at that last level, couldn't tell if it was a bug or intended but you're able to just keep throwing the monkeys while in the air near the end to get them onto the platform, I also couldn't tell if this was only while holding at least one flower or not.
Thanks for the feedback. Wow, you were not supposed to be able to throw them while they were on the air :') It was a level I made in a rush to be finished so thanks for bringing up this issue, I didn't think that could happen.
There's a whole lot of good in this.
Like others, I think the polish, like level transitions, is so cool. The sounds and facial expressions make me feel like I'm flinging real-life monke's around, which is awesome.
It's a really interesting line to walk between frustration and fun and I think this does a good job playing with that line (especially for a jam). Like you said in other comments, I did find it unclear if I'm flinging / letting of stuff at times. Adding clarity for that would probably go a long way. The banna grab + happy face at the end are such a nice reward for making it through.
Agreed with @Itizso that having a save + continue feature would also add a lot. :)
Thank you for your awesome feedback! Its really affirming to hear the same message from different people. Ill definitely look into these things if we take the game further :)
Great work on the game. I really like how the main menu is also a tutorial.
I nearly had a heart attack when a flung Monke fell from a great height and let
out a screech!
I had a bit of trouble getting the Monke to let go at times. ( I played the desktop
version, maybe the hitbox is more responsive on the mobile version? I'll install the apk later!)
It's really inspiring to see the amount of polish the game has in less than a week. I can't wait to
play the updated version. Let us know when you upload to the playstore!
Thanks so much for the feedback! Sorry the Monke gave you a scare ;) I wanted to add some emotion to them so they feel alive in the game, so they might let out a few screeches but at least they are happy by the end of the level :) The letting go thing is tricky and I maybe could have spent a bit more time on it. Sometimes it's hard to tell when you are doing just a click or a really short drag. I'll definitely have this fixed before it hits the play store ;)
I'm glad I could help!
This is some A-class monkey business!
Thank you! After seeing your game I thought the monkeys also need to break things! Maybe for v2.0 ;)
Awesome game! My favourite of the jam so far. The start screen alone is worthy of a prize. The visuals are really great. The ragdoll physics is (frustratingly) good and I love the humor (and animations). And great use of the diversifier. I just wish I could select between monkeys by taping on them. Oh, and a save game feature (so I don't have start from the beginning again after taking a banana break ; ) But then again there's only so much you can do in a week, and you guys have done a lot. Best of luck for the judging (not that I think you guys need it). Great work!
Thank you so much for your kind words! We are so glad you enjoyed playing it. And thank you for your input we wanted to do so much more like have different types of monkeys with different properties but we never got that far. Hmmm, you should be able to interact with all monkeys on the screen and you don't have to select them, clicking on an icon only moves the camera to follow that monkey but. Saving would be really cool! The system already works kind of like that, would be super easy to add in :)