April 20th-23rd 2012 :: 10 Year Anniversary! :: Theme: Tiny World
Pico Planets is a auto-orienting 2D puzzle game where you have to jump from tiny planet to tiny planet to get to your goal before your oxygen runs out. Our intrepid explorer doesn't have any thrusters, so after you leave the surface of a planet, you have no control! If you jump too far, you may escape the gravitational pull of the planets around you and drift into space forever!
Three levels take you from learning the basics to avoiding hazard (a sun) and then finally requiring you to slingshot around the sun to get to the other side.
Downloads and Links
Ratings
| #137 | Fun | 3.39 |
| #169 | Overall | 3.43 |
| #336 | Theme | 3.21 |
| #373 | Innovation | 3.07 |
| #375 | Humor | 2.32 |
| #492 | Mood | 2.60 |
| #563 | Graphics | 2.64 |
| #651 | Coolness | 48% |
| #710 | Audio | 1.45 |
Comments
> when I drifted off into empty space, but I couldn't stop laughing
Just imagine if I had time to make an animation for the astronaut.. Arms and legs flailing like crazy.. actually, maybe I'll try (after compo) cycling through the existing sprites and see how that looks. Sound effects would've helped here, too. Even a simple "Uhh, Houston, we have a problem," would be hilarious.
> Would be great to see more levels and a bigger playing screen.
Very much agree with this! I would've made more levels if I had time. It's a bit time consuming to make good ones, so I should make a basic level editor..
Really liked the idea. Would love to see an expanded version of that with more levels and sound.
It can be hard to keep orientation sometimes I think some sort of compass always pointing north or something would be great. Another cool feature would be to have a reset level key for guys like me who end up in the middle of nowhere routinely and have to wait til the oxygen runs out :)
I drifted off second jump every time... you should add a bigger radius of planets to the array
One of the more fun games I've played so far. I would have liked to see a few more levels, and sound would have added to the experience too.
It's a solid game, all it needs is a few more hours polish to make it stand out. As mentioned above, you really missed out on some potential comedy gold!
Really fun game, I hope you continue with this as it's only missing more levels for me to play :)
Wow, thanks guys!
> more levels
Without a level editor, making levels is pretty time consuming. If I had more than 48 hours, I probably would have built a level editor to speed up that process.
> some sort of compass always pointing north or something would be great
Neat idea! I think it helps to have the green arrow pointing you in the right direction, but I agree, a compass or a mini-map would probably help a lot more. Also, I could probably smooth out the camera rotation a bit to make it less jarring.
> reset level key
Either that or detect that you're A) not within the gravitational pull of any planets and B) not moving toward any planets, and then automatically reset..
> I drifted off second jump every time
I hope you tried repositioning your character on the planet before jumping the second time! It wouldn't hurt to have extra planets for early levels to help people practice.
Very well made game. All I can say it needs would be some sort of reset key.
Once had to wait till i was out of oxeygen since i was wandering through space, so yeah reset key would be nice. More levels though, great game though!
I very much liked this game. I did hate having to wait so long to run out of air when you over jumped. I think I played it at least 10 times!
Great jam! I wish there was more! The jumps were extra satisfying. After I beat the game I just jumped around planets for a little while. You should totally keep working on this and make it into a something really awesome.
Too bad it's that short because I had a good time, and the gravity mechanic became fun and satisfying on the last level. I saw someone asking about a kind of compass and I dig that, I also would like to see a better camera that would let me see a bit more of where I'm going in a smoother way. Can't wait to see a bigger better version of your game !
This was really fun and manic. Well done. My only complaint was that drifting off into space was annoying waiting to die, when the game is somewhat fast paced, but other than that, awesome!
Nice game, I liked the graphics and gravity influenced jumps. Maybe making them slower would add some tension and a space-odyssey-ish space feeling.
So much fun, and the gameplay was quite stunning, to be honest. The best of the kind I've seen so far in LD23.
BUT PLEASE ADD A RETRY BUTTON FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! My guy would constantly jump into oblivion and I had to watch him die in quiet desperation...
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Loved this -- just like throwing curve balls! I should have been horrified when I drifted off into empty space, but I couldn't stop laughing.
Would be great to see more levels and a bigger playing screen.