NOTE: Because of the Theme tie, we allowed everyone to pick either Theme. Using both was optional. To keep things simple, there will still only be one Theme category. Every category in Ludum Dare voting is an opinion, so you’re welcome to rate them as you see fit. But we encourage you to be fair in your scores to people that chose only one Theme, and not both.
ALSO: Itch.io has an experimental game downloader over here. You may find it useful.
Synergy Shakedown is an arcade-style game where you are the manager of a doomed game development team. They need to ship, and they need your encouragement!
Hold the X key to move and cycle between your developers. Double tap the X key to turn around. Rapidly tap the C key to encourage a nearby developer.
This game also supports the Xbox 360 controller on modern browsers. You just need to use the A and B buttons to play. If there is any demand in the comments I'll patch the game to support Guitar Hero controllers.
Enjoy!
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 93% |
| #17 | Humor | 4.00 |
| #86 | Audio | 3.70 |
| #110 | Overall | 3.80 |
| #130 | Mood | 3.58 |
| #165 | Graphics | 3.81 |
| #216 | Fun | 3.54 |
| #323 | Innovation | 3.40 |
| #397 | Theme | 3.83 |
Comments
Cool idea but when it comes down to it is mostly just mashing a button. Would have liked some extra in there. Like a reason so turn around. Just going in a circle worked fine.
I think I broke my keyboard....
Pretty nice an simple game. Nice way to get around the two button controls with the double tap, though that did mess me up a few times.
This game is epic! The concept is pretty awesome, and it really puts us in the shoes of video game developers. The font reminds me of the old MUDs back in the DOS days, but that's really awesome. I'm not complaining!
The intro got a laugh out of me. Nice effort all around. Quality music!
Awesome game! Really enjoyed this one. Loved the idea that you play as a lead and have to motivate your team :D
Usual management method would be to fire all underperformers, but not here. Nice! All managers should be obliged to play it!
I managed to squeeze 8 games from these poor people and I write this only with my left hand as the right one is currently malfunctioning because of frantic button mashing.
Intro is super-funny :D
Its cute, but lacking in depth. I love the music and the aesthetic.
Really nice game! a little weird controls before you get the hang of it! "wow" "10/10"
I think I might have broke my keyboard :p very fun game. I love the tone and graphics
Really liked the art and music. Fun game, I enjoyed it. Great job :)
Game looks great, and sound is cool, but it lacks gameplay. There's not enough variety. But the end result is pretty nice.
Awesome graphics & music! Also a nice interpretation of game development too :)
Great audio and I liked the visuals as well. All of it was very cohesive and felt well put together.
I like all the entries that gave a single button multi-function - probably because I didn't think of it. In this case, I didn't use the change direction very often because I found it easier to just keep going in a loop, but I liked that it was there. If I had to nitpick anything, it would be the title "Synergy" as you aren't really synergizing anything.
great music, very smart mechanics and super easy to understand also very funny, AWESOME! great job =D
This is a really fun game with good music.
I love the idea of "encouraging" your developers to create a game; it adds a lot of humor. (If only making games worked like that in the real world.)
Nice game! A bit repetitive though.
Great idea, very innovative
This game is awesome in almost every way, but unfortunately not very fun. I can't determine any strategy for it, other than going in a circle and button mashing. Yet, it's a very impressive game, it oozes polish, Well done!
Tricky to get used to the controls somewhat, but after a while I got the hang of being able to turn around and maximize my employees performance
Really nice game here :) loved the music and i was getting really into it tapping away
Well Done!!
Good little game! Mashing buttons eventually grew tiring, but I enjoyed the start, and the intro was well-made. Didn't end up switching directions too much though - only ended up doing so accidentally, making it a bit confusing if I tried to start moving soon after I'd stopped.
Your game describes our team during LD jam pretty accurate, haha.
I wish we've had this kind of manager, tho.
Great, now my hand hurts from the mashing
Awesome intro! Cheering music! Freaky-colored retro graphics! Hooray for Phaser!
Nice one ^^" very funny and slightly painful how true it rings. The tapping to change direction was a bit confusing, I tended to just always go the same direction where possible. Still with two buttons there's only so much you can do (yeah, good use of theme too).
Well done :)
The graphics are great - flashing and captions :) I've shipped 9 products and then my carpal tunnel went off :) Great fun for few minutes :)
Funny concept, neat game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you’d like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/iU4q-3Z4nkI
At first I had 6 workers and it was stressful. Then I fired 4 and it became relaxing. The productivity didn't go down.
So, I liked graphics and sounds a lot, they fit each other well. I liked that I could see my games as they are being developed. But I didn't really like the gameplay. The two-button theme just adds more stress, not fun. And the difficulty doesn't seem to increase a lot.
Haha funny concept but I like it! Awesome music and cool sound. Very retro-y. Great game! c:
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What a good music! should have done something like this at my work!!! good good work dude!