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The Drowning Man is trapped beneath the ice of a frozen river. You must help him swim to safety, avoiding the nasty looking fish and floating debris. Guide him to the holes in the ice to help him survive.
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2014/04/27/the-drowning-man/
Built using JavaScript and Phaser. Graphics drawn by hand, photographed and messed around with in GIMP. Music composed using Reaper.
Downloads and Links
Ratings
![]() | Coolness | 70% |
#154 | Audio | 3.49 |
#249 | Theme | 3.62 |
#421 | Humor | 2.63 |
#431 | Mood | 3.13 |
#640 | Overall | 3.10 |
#743 | Fun | 2.81 |
#826 | Graphics | 2.74 |
#843 | Innovation | 2.67 |
Comments
The holes might be a bit too far apart? I never managed to rest in more than one of them in a round. The fish monsters are cute, though!
The music is so appropriate!
The game's a little hard (no thanks to the evil piranha).
Thanks! It was way too easy so I tweaked the difficulty just before the deadline but didn't properly test it. I may have tweaked too much!
Great audio, and cool take on the theme. Fishes were a bit too hard to avoid. With a couple more obstacles, maybe a couple different 'themed levels' this could be a cool infinite runner type game.
I liked the idea, and with a bit of tweaking of the difficulty I think it would be even more fun. I would like to see the holes closer together and you have less time overall for each breath!
Simple idea, but effective. I like the fish art, although their attack patterns are occasionally very mean! ;)
Nice music!
That music is brilliant :) The controls felt slightly stiff. Apart from the really enjoyed it!
Really great music! :) Simple and nice gameplay, solid work. The holes could have restored a tiny bit more of oxygen, but that's a minor complaint. :)
Fun game, I really enjoyed the text at the end of the game. Kept playing it over and over again just to see it!
I really like the idea. The graphics are full of character, I especially loved those pesky fish!
The music was great too. :)
A lot of fun, also bonus points for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy quote! :D
Nice! Though it seems like the collision detection is a little to liberal, especially near the back of the player.
Nice! Though it seems like the collision detection is a little to liberal, especially near the back of the player. Great music!
Fun game and the music is fitting. The reaction to the controls are a bit to slow for me. That is maybe just tast. Nice game.
Really nice interpretation of the theme, and I like the mechanics. Maybe the player could stick a bit more near the holes cause I passed lots of them due to the inertia.
I liked the music a lot, but it was a little difficult to play because you can barely see what's beneath the ice. (I know that's what this is all about, but still...). The controls are really well balanced, but I found the movement of the fish to be a little bit too fast (when they quickly charge in your direction).
Quite nice game overall. Good job! :)
Really nice concept, good game! I included it in part 4 of my Ludum Dare compilation video series, if you'd like to take a look :) http://youtu.be/as-BlCZWXm0
Good job! You should explore this idea a bit more, as in trying to break the ice or something in order to survive.
Thanks for everyone's comments, glad you enjoued the game! I'm taking them all on board and planning a post-LD update to the game.
Good idea, and those fishes look really cool. I liked the music too, but could also do with some sounds to tell you what's happening (whether you are taking in the breath or slowly drowning) if you decide to develop it further.
Very cool mood in this one, and I especially liked the game over text and that it changed each time (since I had to see it enough times haha). I think it's pretty solid, but it did feel a bit too random at times: the fish were erratic and hard to judge, the holes would often have planks of wood in them, and sometimes I'd get a whole heap of holes or none at all -- just felt a bit punishing sometimes! Overall great job though, +points for character :)
Well done. It's simple, and easy to pick up, but fun to keep playing as well.
I would like this to have a proper background story- why do I want to swim beneath the ice? Do I want to get to somewhere or to someone?
I like the music, it's really catchy.
The graphics are mostly OK and do their job. The swim animation of the player would simply look better if the gradient wouldn't be flipping sides with him.
Another font (and maybe another font color) would have done great on this. Oh and the ice also could have various transparency - this would create a nice effect!
All in all a cool idea and good music!
The music is great. I felt the need for any sfx of the man hitting, etc.. so the game can be more inmersive. liked the controls and the funny quotes :)
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I like it,
Its simple, plays well and I like the music.
Good game