Snowbotron was created for Ludum Dare 31 for the theme of Entire Game on One Screen. You are a snowman in a snowglobe being attacked by mutant snowmen. You have to collect all the presents scattered in a level to shake the globe and progress to the next level.

This time for ludum dare I wanted to add something I hadn't had in previous jam games. So I focused on having at least a little bit of character animation. My snow mutants are obviously inspired by calvin and hobbes, I wanted to get more variety in enemies, but for sake of time only did the one.

Continuing on with my ludum dare games, I wanted to make something exciting but not excessively violent. Snowmen can simply turn back to snow.

What worked well

Snow Mutants

The snow mutants are physics objects and can pile up on each other. They can also pick up the presents you need to collect. While there is a finite amount of presents per level, snow mutants keep on coming, and in greater numbers later on.

Levels have a tally of snow mutants that need to be defeated as well as presents picked up, so even if you grab the initial prsents you need to fight some.

What didn't work well

UI

Players had issues knowing what level they were on, and how much was left of the level or entire game. Many even commented on my game being “infinite” or unbeatable. But the game does have a set amount of levels and is definitely completable.

Going back I would have included an indicator of the number of presents needed to complete a level, a level indicator, and a simple score tally.

There isn't as much satisfaction as I would like for collecting powerups and dusting a lot of snow mutants. A combo or current streak would have been a good addition.

Control options

Another one that is left out for time reasons. Players found the controls acceptable, but indicated that they wanted more. Such as using WASD and mouse to aim, or different gamepad support. I agree that those options would improve the game.

Lessons Learned

Polish. Its not hard to make a simple concept even in 48 hours, mechanically. But the amount of extra finish you can put in will add up. I need to streamline my process for adding control options, sound options, and enough in game indicators on all game systems.