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A jam submission

Bit Bonsai 1.0.0 🪴✂️🎉View game page

A virtual bonsai tree for you to shape up! Submission for LOWREZJAM 2022.
Submitted by OneFineDruid Games — 9 days, 14 hours before the deadline
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Play Simulator/Desktop Toy

Bit Bonsai 1.0.0 🪴✂️🎉's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Authenticity (use of resolution)#2214.0004.000
Audio#2572.3572.357
Overall#2622.7682.768
Graphics#2652.7142.714
Gameplay#3052.0002.000

Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Did you work in a team?
Almost!

Was the resolution a challenge?
Pico-8 made it relatively easy.

What did you learn?
A lot! Mostly I wanted to brainstorm a bunch of different game ideas and see what the best one would be. In the end, I had most positive feedback about this idea (my first) and will probably do the same again!

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

Cute idea, but the start could have definitely be a bit faster. Possibly starting the bonsai partially grown would have been nicer than staring at an empty screen for a few minutes before you could do anything. Trimming was also really awkward - needing to place the cursor at very specific spots was more difficult than it should have been, and for a while I genuinely thought there might be a bug preventing me from doing anything. The inactive toolbar also just confused things. Maybe you could have just hidden that until they get implemented.

Sometimes the time would just stop for about 30 seconds before moving again so not sure if there was a reason for that or if it’s just a bug. There’s also visible flashing behind the tree as the background colour changes.

I kind of wished it looked a little nicer. Maybe some softer colours, a more interesting background, or some more detail on the tree.

Developer

Thanks for playing! This was my first game and I used Pico-8 which has a limited color palette.

Submitted(+1)

I like the concept with bonsais, it's different, rare and creative.

The music is too short and become repetitive, but with turn off is enough (with key C you can turn music off/on too, I don't know if this is a bug). Maybe a 2x function will be a good option for future updates.

Good job! :)

Submitted(+1)

I really enjoyed playing this. The pace of the game is kind of slow, but I like that about it. I think if it was any faster it’ll spoil the relaxed feel to it. Great job!

Developer

Thanks for your comment! The time in game is getting irl seconds, which is equal to hours in game. The music is also composed at 60bpm to set the pace a little more.

(+1)

Much welcomed reprieve from the fast chaotic world we live in. God bless the Bonsai tree!

Submitted(+1)

Like life, it takes time. :) 

Good graphics and overall use of the jam limitations!
One question! You can't enable using the mouse on PICO? I never used so this is a genuine question.
Other than that very good job! :D

Developer

Thanks so much! It does not out-of-box, but there are undocumented pokes that retrieve mouse co-ordinates. Maybe something to look into!

Developer

Looks like it works. Haven’t been able to solve using both though…

Submitted(+1)

Looks good :D 

I can't give my ideas since I don't use the engine, but how does it feels to you? Better with a mouse or keyboard?
Maybe more experimentation could bring an answer here :) 

Submitted(+1)

Such a great chill game!

I found the speed of the game a bit slow since I am impatient to try all the game jam games, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It was a great experience creating a little bonsai tree on my own!

Well done!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thank you! Yes, very much a different pace from many of the other games. Going to be adding improvements to keep players occupied hopefully!

Submitted(+1)

This is a super cute idea! Definitely really chill! 

Developer

Thank you! :)

Submitted(+1)

Very chill game indeed, it was fun checking on the bonsai in between playing the other games from the jam. But I've yet to make a good looking bonsai, I just ended up ignoring for to long only to grow too big.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing! Many more updates planned which I’m hoping to start next week.

Submitted(+1)

Nice work - I would recommend adding a way to speed up the time for people like me who are impatient :)

Developer(+1)

Thanks! Yep, That is going to be the fertilizer feature to speed by 2x.

(+1)

I love this game! So relaxing!

Developer