xkcd Game Jam

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A jam submission

The Man Who Fell SidewaysView game page

A co-op game of romance and weird physics

Submitted by randomphantom — 13 hours, 40 minutes before the deadline

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The Man Who Fell Sideways's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Innovation	#2	4.694	4.694
xkcd-ness (how well it matches/interprets the comic)	#2	4.667	4.667
Overall	#3	4.500	4.500
Fun	#5	4.250	4.250
Audio	#6	3.778	3.778
Visuals	#13	4.028	4.028

Ranked from 36 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Link to xkcd comic / 'what if' article the game is based on
https://xkcd.com/417/

Please list any pre-made art/music/other assets that you used.
Music by A Himitsu - Smile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJmYTwELY3Q
Font - Humor Sans and XKCD.
Certain art from XKCD (e.g. coins). Trees from openclipart.org.
Unity game jam template used https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/modules/beginner/live-training-archive/game-jam-template

Team size

1

Team's social media links:
https://twitter.com/Randomphantom6

Anything else you want players to know before they play?
This is a Co-op game but can be played single player (much tougher though!). Controls are WASD and direction keys. There is a devcheat key if the going gets too tough.
Play for the ending sequence!

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Comments

ezamelczyk7 years ago

Man this game is hard, but fun! The best of all of submitted in my opinion. Although I don't like controls. To me arrow up means jump for that sideways man.

Normal DreamSubmitted7 years ago

Great premise!
Too bad for the level design that isn't that great (or rather not adapted to the the finickyness of the controls). I couldn't get past level 3, and the frustration that came with it didn't really match the overall tone of the game.

randomphantomDeveloper7 years ago

Yeah, level 3 is really a stone wall in terms of challenge - I had reduced the challenge on this particular level from the original (as it was virtually impossible after I fixed some of the platforming bugs) but it's still a pretty challenging ordeal for single player. Hope you attempted crouching to get through the gaps at the least. Thanks for playing!

CosmologiconSubmitted7 years ago

Great job! I'm a sucker for mind-bending puzzle platformers and this bent my mind! Only got to 2/4 on level 3 - I'll need to come back and actually complete it.

Submitted

Simple Machines (xkcd game jam 2017 entry)

Itooh7 years ago

Tough platform-puzzle, but I eventually made it! \o/

Great mechanic, with nice ideas at each level. The level-design itself is quite nice, with a lot of coins that seems impossible at first, but actually have a clever solution. My main issues were with the bumpers (they can be a bit capricious), and the portals (only for the harsh sound they are making).

Dialogs and story are also simple, but enjoyable. I like the overall tone.

Good job!

randomphantomDeveloper7 years ago

Glad that you made it to the ending, at least it wasn't in vain :D Was hoping for it not too be overly challenging, but that's how it is with game jam games! Looking to fix the bumpers and portals, thanks for the feedback.

TechnostalgicSubmitted7 years ago

I liked the gameplay alot and it's also pretty cute. It was difficult to play myself, though I still had fun! Nice job, and thanks for the experience!

One thing I think could be improved is the visuals. The terrain, the characters, and the coins are all completely mismatched and it bugs me.

Submitted

" Frogger " XKCD style

randomphantomDeveloper7 years ago

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah the visuals are somewhat mismatched at the moment, will be going for a XKCD Hoverboard feel for the platforms in the next iteration!

Norbez Jones (call me Bez)7 years ago

This is really good. I don't much like the original comic (dude falls into a woman, somehow has sex with her without her consent, and she has a kid--that's not particularly funny to me, even with the falling stuff), but I think this really took the comic to the next level, showing the two people actually getting to know each other through gameplay. I honestly like this game better than the comic.

The co-op puzzle stuff is really well implemented, and paired with simple-but-understandable gameplay, neat graphics, and well-chosen music and sound effects. I'm still stuck at level 2 though (I can't figure out how to get the coin on the top-left corner! Level 2 really brings the gameplay up a notch), but I really want to play more. Can't figure out the cheat code, so I can't progress yet, but I love this so far.

I would love to see a really long, full version of this after the jam. This is a great game. Thanks for making it. :)

randomphantomDeveloper7 years ago

Thanks for playing and the cool comments! Hint: to get that coin each person takes turns jumping on each other. Found a XKCD comic hinting on the cheat code: https://xkcd.com/727/

YirggzmbSubmitted7 years ago

Oh, one of my favorites so far! Didn't make it very far because it's just me playing, but I really enjoy the concept.

Submitted

XKCD Jam - #161 Accident

Etra's Games for Non-Gamers7 years ago(+1)

Dude DUDE like make this a full game now I freaking demand you go slave in basement and make this a stellar game ASAP. This has so much potential and it felt fully fleshed out. You even to mechanic personification to really make you care for characters in 10min. Take a month make this I've only got 50 subs but I'd even help advertised DUDE please.

Anyway one thing I do want to mention is I'm doing a review of design on the games in this jam so here's a shameless plug to my channel if you want to be notified of the vid when released: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Vj46GGL9VMUvd4YTMtjXg

randomphantomDeveloper7 years ago(+1)

Thanks and I'm really looking to expand this with more levels and hopefully a level select. That looks like an interesting channel, subbed!

Etra's Games for Non-Gamers7 years ago

My XKCD game jam analysis is out!

BlazingMammothGamesSubmitted7 years ago

I loved the execution on this idea! The music got a bit repetitive over time, but other than I had a great time playing it!

Submitted

RacsoSubmitted7 years ago

Awesome job, randomphantom. The game atmosphere is quite the thing, and the puzzle component is awesome. I was playing alone but stopped when I got to the level with jumping springs, as this game deserves to be played as is meant to (co-op).

Submitted

randomphantomDeveloper7 years ago

Yeah that's when it demands some precision platforming from both players at the same time, still doable single player but its really better in co-op. Thanks for playing!

Jiri HysekSubmitted7 years ago

Really charming game! So xkcd-y, smart gravity puzzles, nice animations, I really like it!

Submitted

ChIA - Chess Intelligence Agency

Willbl3picSubmitted7 years ago

I like it! Very nice co-op game, with a unique twist.

Submitted