Play game
LoopPool's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #771 | 4.077 | 4.077 |
| Audio | #974 | 3.538 | 3.538 |
| Artwork | #1107 | 3.923 | 3.923 |
| Narrative | #1497 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Enjoyment | #3866 | 2.923 | 2.923 |
Ranked from 26 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
You run a mobious strip pool in space, the ultimate cosmic loop!
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
Chris McKenzie - Software Development
Andy Walker (camtarn) -Music (incl. guitar/banjo)/ SFX/programming /text/ graphics and HORRIBLE HONKING
Emma Hanna - QA Tester
Chekara Kane - Text / SFX / Play tester / Idea haver /Local Menace
Crow Mackie - Art Lead/Sufferer of Pixels/Sad Dog Alien Noises
Stephen Woodfin - Miscellaneous pixels/QA
Additional Assets:
Space background - https://www.solarsystemscope.com/textures/
UI - https://kenney.nl/assets/ui-pack-adventure
Additional SFX - https://filmcow.itch.io/filmcow-sfx
(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Lunar Frog
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Art looks great
Thanks, glad you liked it!! -- Chris
Love the art and music together, the vibe of a classic space western with the melodrama of a suburban swimming pool is a very fun combo! I found it kinda trick to ring the aliens, seemed to miss more than I wanted it to. Cool game!
Thanks!! We're really happy you enjoyed the vibe of the game. The ring throwing is definitely the trickiest part of the game from all the feedback we've received, something we'll want to rework more if we return to this game, but glad you found it fun and cool! - Chris
I really like the mood of this game! The setting is unexpected, and there's something vibrant with the environments, colorful sprites, the music and the small dialog. It's just pleasant to be in that universe. The game itself is a bit weird. The controls are confusing, I still don't know how I'm supposed to throw the lifebuoys. Eventually I just went directly to the swimmers needing rescue and pressed E. It also took me a while to understand how to recognize swimmers to that are in danger, and what to look for when searching them. But it's a little chaos that made that game fun. Once I understood most of the rules, I admit it became repetitive. I don't know if there is an end? It was still a sweet discovery anyway. Congrats for making that game!
We're really happy you enjoyed the vibe of the game! Yeah, unfortunately we ran out of time for some of the additional elements we wanted to add to the game, one of which was going to be a mini-map to help locate drowning swimmers. Something we'll want to focus on as well as a fleshed out tutorial if we return to the game.
For the throwing mechanic, if you hold down E while not next to a drowning swimmer, it'll show the arch of the throw and will increase and then decrease the range of the throw, releasing E will throw the ring to the spot the arch ended at. It's a bit tricky with the forced movement of the river and some more balancing is needed so it's as usual to use as just going up to the swimmers.
There is no end game at the moment, so it will get repetitive after an amount of play, we'd love to eventually add building mechanics and river expansions, as well as a story mode to delve into the three alien races and the very silly politics between them.
-- Chris
Although I like the visuals, the controls are pretty hard for me to understand. I cannot aim directly to the swimmers and there are not enough floats for me to hold. I also feel a bit dizzy playing this.
Thanks for giving the game a try! Shame about the dizziness, there's a setting on the main menu that disabled the river's forced movement on the player which might help, but the mobius strip nature of the river definitely doesn't help with that sensation. We'd love to add some more map options into the game with both more simplicity and some with more complexity.
For the aiming controls, they work on the camera movement so the aim follows the direction of where you're looking, while holding the E button increases and decreases the throwing range. Once E is let go the ring is thrown.
Thanks for the feedback! It's greatly appreciated!! -- Chris
Charming game! I might have let 4 or 5 people drown though woops!
Whoops, it happens, aliens just aren't used to water. Thanks for playing!! -- Chris
Super cool idea, the art is sick!
Thanks!! We appreciate it! -- Chris
I had a lot of fun with this one! I love how fast paced and hectic the game becomes as it progresses. With all the controls it took a second for me to figure out how to play the game well but once I got it down everything felt reasonably well tuned (my one criticism is that maybe throwing the preservers should be a bit more lenient, I could never consistently save anyone with the throwing mechanic since I was constantly fighting against the current of the loop). I liked the player movement a lot, felt a lot like the old Doom games and it felt very well polished, being able to move around quickly and snappily very much compensated for my struggle with throwing.
The style and aesthetic of the game was great, with the music and the overall art style. I loooove how you mixed the 2D and 3D gameplay. All in all, congrats on completing the game jam, and a job well done!
We're so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for all the feedback, it's greatly appreciated! Definitely need to tweak the throwing mechanic more -- Chris
I legitimately like this game! It's got a great loop haha! For reals, I like the concept, I like the gameplay, I like the setting. I think tighten the controls, make it more clear which life saver you're grabbing, more levels and add some more juice. Great job!
Whoo!!! Thank you! Glad you really liked the game, and absolutely, the controls will be the first thing to get reworked should we return to this concept, as well as a tutorial level to slowly introduce everything. I would also love to do more shapes now that we've figured out the core physics, there's so many different rollercoaster inspired tracks I can think off, with even more loops!! As well as a massive flood of juice! -- Chris
okay so i love the concept of a loop in space and also a loop in the lasso very clever
The game is well done but was a bit too fast for me. The art is very cool and added a lot
My brother did a game with a similar name but with such a different concept , your game was so creative and well done
very impressive! if you like to try my brother's game its here :) https://zyhu.itch.io/pool-loop
Thanks!! There's definitely some balancing and adjustments needed, there's a disable forced movement toggle in the settings so you can travel the river at your own pace, without it dragging you all over the map, makes the game a little easier but even then it's still quite hectic!
No way! Definitely a man of vision, best name in the jam if you ask me! I popped over to try it out and managed to get to level 9, really loved the physics and that title animation with the changing letters, that was great, a really nice touch.
Everyone who reads this comment go check out the linked game above, another great game with an amazing title! -- Chris
Music top))
I'll let our musician know! He'll be really happy to hear people enjoyed the tune!! -- Chris
nice name
Thanks! -- Chris
who is chris ?
This is a very unique art style. I hope you keep it for future games too!
Thank you! The comment is greatly appreciated, I'll pass along the message to our art lead Crow, they definitely knocked it out of the park this Jam! -- Chris
The art style is very memorable and the game itself is very chaotic, but also pretty fun!
Thank you! We're glad you had a good time, all art credit to Crow Mackie for our title screen art and all the core pixel art assets, they really knocked it out of the park this Jam -- Chris
Art is very cute and adorable, I love the title screen design as it's what captivated my attention! I had a little bit of a hard time playing as there's a lot going on with different keys to remember. Just a little too fast paced going around the loop to get a good handle on what you're supposed to do. All in all great art and great concept.
Thanks! I'm glad you loved the art, our art lead Crow spent the Jam knocking out all the core 2d assets used in the game including the title screen design so all credit to them.
I wanted to also highlight the Disable Forced River Movement in the general settings, it was the only configuration setting I managed to squeeze in on time, but it allows you to ignore the river movement so you can move at your own pace, definitely makes the gameplay more manageable while you learn the controls, though even then it's still a chaotic ride! Thanks for playing!! - Chris