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DUCKLINGS's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Game Mechanics | #1 | 3.500 | 3.500 |
| Overall | #1 | 3.482 | 3.482 |
| Interpretation of the theme | #2 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
| Visual Design | #4 | 3.571 | 3.571 |
| Audio Design | #5 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
Ranked from 14 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 control a duck, acting as the leader, and collect ducklings that fall in line behind you, following their leader.
Development Time
around 25 hours
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
Many assets from Kenny: https://kenney-assets.itch.io/
Beaver: https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/46795133-beaver-animal-isolated-flat-illustration-on-white-background
Fish: https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/exotic-fish-illustrations-set-sea-animals-stickers-pack-underwater-fauna-isolated-cliparts-collection-white-background_24023143.htm
Lilypad:https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/15846185-lily-pad-vector-lily-pad-logo-design
Plastic bag: https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/green-eco-friendly-bag_137410856.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=13&uuid=739da64a-e4f1-473b-ac75-d2d188d5b596&new_detail=true&query=Plastic+Grocery+Bag
Turtle: https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/46888997-cartoon-turtle-flat-design-isolated-on-white-background
Snake: https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/top-view-striped-snake_402088700.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=27&uuid=351b04c9-caa6-4f4f-b604-5a1a47d9b03a&new_detail=true
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Comments
Lovely game! Everything feels very polished, in particular I like the clear enemy triggers and how smooth the ducklings' pathing feels. The hazard progression is very well thought-out, although the plastic bags may be more of a help than a hinderance. I spent quite a while playing, both to try and beat the levels and then to shoot for the gold targets!
Unfortunately, the balancing in the later levels isn't well tuned. With both snakes and beavers in the mix, so many of the ducklings die before you have any chance to collect them. Combined with the punishing enemies and ever-increasing targets, the last levels are a slog. I persevered to beat level 5, but the successful attempt alone clocked in at almost 10 minutes! One way this could be improved is if the ducklings were invincible when they spawn, perhaps indefinitely until you pick them up. Another idea is that the duckling spawn rate could increase as you progress through a level: this would also make losing all of your ducklings less tragic!
Overall, it's a great game, and I had a lot of fun with it! I think it would only take a few tweaks to sort out the last levels and make it even better :)
P.S. I played level 6 for 5+ minutes, and although I didn't clear it, I didn't see any turtles either. Did you run out of time to add them to the game? I'm curious what their behaviour would have been!
Thank you so much for playing and for your thoughtful feedback. I’m really glad you enjoyed the game and had fun trying to beat the levels and go for the gold targets. It’s awesome to hear you stuck with it and got that far.
I think making the ducklings invincible until you pick them up is a great idea. It would definitely help make the later levels feel a bit less punishing.
About level 6, there is actually a bug that stopped turtles from spawning, which I didn’t catch during development! They were meant to be rare and their mechanic was to move left like the bread and, if they detected a duckling, they’d chase it down, similar to the beavers and snakes.
Thanks again for your kind words and suggestions. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts!
This was a great experience! I'm not cut out to be a parent duck I've learned, I lost many little timmys along the way. It felt really balanced, interesting, and applied the theme really well. Definitely the most fun I've had thus far I'd say! Reminds me of frogger. Overall, great work!
Thank you!
Very nice, I really enjoyed this one! The game mechanics felt really good. I loved all of the different ways to escape (like diving or dashing) and it game the game more depth. Though I do think the predators being able to get all of the ducklings if you ran into them was a little unfair. But overall I thought this was a great interpretation of the theme and I had a fun time playing. Great job!
Thank you! Good point, I also found the predators being able to get all of the ducklings a bit too frustrating after replaying the game.
Really fun game! The mechanics are well thought out with the dash and the dive to avoid the predators however, I find the difficulty scaling a bit too hard. Maybe with more predators there should be less ducks to collect rather than more. I love the interpretation of the theme as well, and how you integrated them to the mechanics! The visual design are also impeccable, with polish on everything (environments, predators, everything) maybe a bit of animation would be better but thats just being nitpicky. Audio design was also great with the quacks and everything but maybe more distinct sounds on the enemies (slithering for snake, wood chipping from beaver maybe, etc) would make it better. There are some aspects that doesn't have sound effects but considering the amount of things you've done its already well done! Overall really great job with the game!
You're right, game isn't really balanced properly in later levels. Along with sound effects that would be my priority if I had more time to develop the game. Thank you for your feedback and kind words!