itch.io

Oh no! I haven't documented it but there is a pause menu in the game that can be accessed by pressing the escape button. In this menu you can reset the level at any point... It's intentional that the player can get into unrecoverable situations (like losing all of their buggles). The intended way out was to reset the level from the menu... but since it wasn't documented, players might not know. Oopsies.

This game has a lot of personality! It was pretty ambitious for the duration of the jam. I don't see a lot of games in Big Game Jam with heavy themes. I know it isn't the exact way you guys might have wanted and there are some bugs, but at least it's fully playable and these bugs don't detract from the overall player experience. My entry last year had some file issues and got too buggy on the last day (I was unable to fix it in time for submission) so I feel your pain. A game like this requires a lot of art and programming for the different game states (ladder climbing, maze walking, and puzzle solving). The audio really helped to tie together the atmosphere. Big fan of yarn. Great job!

There is alternate method of camera movement using the arrow keys. I forgot to put that in the description earlier but I have now included it. In an update after the game jam I plan to provide players with the option to turn off the automatic camera movement altogether since I can see how it might get irritating. Thanks reminding us!

HOLY MOLY. This knocked my socks off. This has to be my favourite game of the whole jam so far. I LOVE IT. Balancing control of the 3 characters is really clever. Its short and sweet. Made me so happy :) How wholesome. How did you guys come up with the idea? It's really good!

The drilling mechanic feels really unique! I like the idea of both scaling a mountain and drilling into it at the same time. I enjoyed making my own staircases. The minerals mixed in amongst the other blocks was a good decision that adds variety to the gameplay. Overall very creative use of the theme!

I'll check it out now

It was simple and fun! The art style is unique which really helps the game to stand out. I am impressed that this project was made by a solo dev in 9 days. I had fun! Great job! 

The ending leaves me hopeful for a sequel or another story in this universe.

Glad you like the concept! When we first came up with the idea, the character designer saw a short video on instagram of ants climbing up each other to form a tower. The game's core mechanic is using buggles to create towers to things and the ending... I won't spoil it for you :)

Awesome game! At first, I felt confused by the controls but after a minute, they really stuck (and became second nature). I really enjoyed the simplicity of it! I wasn't gamer enough to beat it all in one sitting this time but I will probably come back to it after my next class. I can definitely see myself getting hooked on this. Great job!

Thank you! The artists and musician worked really hard! If you have a pile of buggles standing on the ground, moving the buggles on the bottom causes the whole mass to move (kinda like a vehicle). It can take a little getting used to since buggles will grip each other (like magnets). I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you!!!!!!! My team used to consist of just my sibling and I but this time her roommate and a musician friend joined us! On top of that, we both had experience from previous projects under our belts! I'm incredibly fortunate to have great teammates. It was a huge scramble and we all stayed up pretty late everyday just working on it :}

kgfdsaferthyjukiljkhgfdshdfguh

greatest game of all time <3

Incredible. If I spoke French I would be crying right now. Thank you for blessing our French-speaking brethren with the greatest and sexiest story of our time 

Hey I get it--I should have considered the whole privacy thing! Sorry about that! I was just curious about the program you used--I should have just asked you that over itchio. I wish you luck as well! 

Sorry if I alarmed you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for playing!!!!!!!

I got through the opening by testing and tweaking the gravity and jump power. I went a bit higher on the gravity and lower on the jump (I think it was in the 150-250ish) range. I didn't recognize that the graphics were default--I don't have much experience with GDevelop. I do agree with you that adding their own graphics would be a great step in polishing the game; the assets don't have to be perfectly crafted but doing their own art or partnering with an artist is very important for making finished product--especially on future projects! 

I really liked this game! Would you mind chatting with me over discord? My sis and I wanna learn more about making music for our games and yours sounded so good! I hope it isn't too much trouble!

I haven't seen many games (if any) with this style of humour on here--thank you for making something different! 

Good feedback! We plan to refine this idea further so keep your eyes peeled after the jam if you're interested!

Great job! I had a lot of fun figuring out which ratios of jump strength to gravity worked for different situations! I feel like these mechanics give this platformer a puzzle element!

I believe this game takes the theme in a very intriguing direction--if we consider a ratio which allows us to complete one situation as "stable" then we would lose stability when the situation changes and our previous combination (or the default one) no longer applies. This would call for us to "re-stabilize" the jump strength and gravity ratios once more to suit the new situation--which requires trial, error, and prediction on the player's end to create a combination which will once again allow us to progress. In these ways--this game is actually quite good at incorporating the theme! As the situation and ratios required to progress are always variable--the game incorporates instability into the gameplay and player experience. Very clever~

I really really loved the situation where the player had to squeeze through the opening with the spikes at the bottom. Through trying to solve this scenario, the player is taught that the gravity is floatier than the jump. Where before we could super jump by maxing both bars, we now require careful calibration--which shows us that jump strength and gravity are mechanically different--it may be slight but slight is significant when it comes to precision platforming. This game encourages mastery, problem solving, and planning! Games like this tend to have more niche appeal but when it comes to indie games--niche is always better!

I'm not entirely sure why some of the commenters in this section (like 2 lol) weren't very helpful or encouraging. I think this game is great and the dev shouldn't abandon this game after the jam--I wanna see them add the shortcuts they mentioned in the comments and additional levels. I had a lot of fun with this game! Keep it up!

Edits: Grammar 

sure thing!

Thanks :D!!!!!!!!

I'm glad you liked the game! I will keep your suggestion in mind!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thx for playing! :D

Thanks for noticing! We were very careful when we planned this project to set up design pillars and stay within scope! 

If you wanna see more routes, you could mess around with the dialogue options now to see what makes the detective more suspicious or see what hurts Mr. Torrence's sanity more but honestly, after the rating period and judging period, we plan to put out a patch that elongates the game, incorporates early game overs, shows the player what options affect which stats, and adds at least one additional ending--keep your eyes peeled!! :D

No problemo 🫡

Maybe just a warning somewhere for ppl who are a bit sensitive? It's hard for me to give any definitive advice since the colour stuff doesn't really affect me.

 I really love it as it is now--it's unique and the flashing visuals set it apart! The flashing serves as a great obstacle for the player since it's a bit disorienting--along with balancing ourselves and trying not to bump into the walls, it adds an additional layer of challenge and depth! The fact that you were able to tie the aesthetic and narrative into the mechanics of the game itself is very impressive!  Personally, I prefer flashier games like this! If you had a flashing lights/colours/epilepsy warning at the beginning, you could filter out the people who wouldn't be able to handle it while also exciting the people who are interested in that sort of thing!

I believe your aesthetic decisions are exactly why this game feels so unique and the challenge that the flashing colours presents to the player serves makes your game even more fun to play! It's a tricky balance--

Edit:  I hope I didn't overstep, I actually really love this game--I rated it all fives

Additional Edits: Grammar

This game is definitely underrated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EPILEPSY WARNING--this game's music and aesthetic are so cool and unique--the game also plays very well!!!!!

Just the right level of challenge without being too difficult! Gave me a migraine but every second was worth it! I'm showing this to my friends! Good job!!!!!!!

you have 12 votes good for you friend! 🥲

This was fun! It's simple and controls very well! I also like how you added controls for mobile~

lmao ours also has 9 ratings TT 

I understand your pain! I'm rating you now

Here's ours if anyone wants to check it:

Grey Scale by Angry Water Snake, BottledRocket (itch.io)

The whole mechanic around breaking blocks with special objects is simple and fun! I also think it's really cute that the light switch in the intro screen actually turns off the lights when you press it--what a cool easter egg!

I suspect it was because I did not play it in full screen mode--at a certain point around the beginning during my first run, enemies would be all over me and when I used the breathing attack and timed it correctly, it would go off but wouldn't hit. But that only happened once and the rest of the time, the game played great! I really enjoyed it and I love the aesthetic and sound track! Every other time I played it, I played it in full screen and it played perfectly. Tbh I'm not sure if there is anything you can do about screen related issues like that but just know that it did not affect my rating (I gave it 5 for all categories)

legit the story of this game held me captive lmao--I also really liked that you could skip levels if they were too hard so you could keep up with the story. WE NEED A DEFINITIVE CONCLUSION TO THE CANCER MAN SAGA

Wow just wow. This game gave me double cancer--I hope I can be as strong as Manny and learn to wield the power of the purple cancer crystal! 100/10

Yeah, we wanted to make sure he couldn't truly get away with it lol! I'm glad you like it! You're right that it can be a bit confusing to tell who you are at first so after the game jam I think we'll add an intro to make it a little more clear 😊

I'm glad you liked it!!!! :D

This game is great I love him so much he just wants to lick the frogs <3

Stacking the blocks is really satisfying 🤤

This game has a lot of potential! I found it quite fun! Definitely add some more levels when you get time!