Play game
Pill Bugs's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Community's Voice | #92 | 3.143 | 3.143 |
Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Creative Vision / Rationale / How Did You Incorporate the Theme
The original vision for the game was about the cycle of being born, living, and dying in childbirth; however, we had to scope down to the simplest of mechanics and objectives: climb up several stairs (with help) to the top. Joe’s music carries this quotidian adventure with whimsy and if you’re not deft enough around the dodgeball, his sound design will either gross you out or give you a laugh.
My concept was an almost Sisyphean meditation on existential meaning (NOTE: I am a childless human, not a pregnant bug). It was James who really made the game we’ve shipped happen—the programming, of course; but the puzzles on the stairs and the goal being the cooling shade with bug friends was his doing. My narrative design exploring passing a libidinal, genetic baton was a bit too grand to be feasible. This game as it is interprets the theme as an image of helping hands. Although pill bugs haven’t got hands, have they? Just pereopods.
We dedicate Pill Bugs to Phoenix, who had to leave production early due to a medical emergency. We thank him for his 3D magic and wish him a speedy recovery to good health and cheer. Sia saw us to the finish line with her art and we love it. Just a pleasant day in the park.
Working across timezones, mostly asynchronously, and losing a member, it almost feels like we are just five little pill bugs helping each other up these gamedev stairs.
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Fun and funny. Definitely needs another key for jumping the big one than [return]
glad you found it fun, thanks for playing
What a nice little game. The ideas are quite funny and well executed! I really like how they start to roll when moving for a while, which feels nice.
I played it solo, which was fine to handle both players. I just dislike the tank like controls. They are a little bit unintuitive to use for me.
Nice work to the whole team!
Yeah, your not the only one who didn't like the tank controls, i probably would have done a different controller set up in hindsight. Thanks for playing
Great concept! The way the level is built around stair hierarchies, and having to survive under a bouncing basketball, feels oddly philosophical.
I played solo and the controls felt a bit like patting your head while rubbing your stomach; I imagine it’d be more fun with two players.Since jumping requires holding a movement key, mapping the big worm’s jump to something like Right Ctrl might feel more comfortable. Nice game~
Yeah that button set up would probably have worked better, i also thought about implementing controller support so youd control each bug with each stick. But I dinny have time to implement it. Thanks for playing
The game and its idea are super cute and fun! I tend to play slowly because I often get stuck with the controls, but overall, I really enjoy it.
thanks for playing, im glad you enjoyed it
A very cute game! I love the lil rolling animation the pill bugs do!! A big fan of the reset button as I fell behind the can at the beginning and couldn't get out! I also love the transparency with the struggles went through as a team. Although the game is scaled down from its original concept, the fact that your team pushed through and gave what they can is still amazing. It honestly helps me feel better because I too, struggled. A shorter game is better than no game! Speedy recovery to Phoenix.
I liked this! Fun little challenge to work out. It's a bit hard to control, but I think there is a certain charm to that being how it controls as well. The only thing I didn't like was the bouncing ball, it felt very arbitrary to me and I just had to try passing till I got it. Otherwise, very fun game, with a nice little music loop!
Hi there, the ball bounces between the same two spots. So you can wait for the closest bounce, move under it, then wait for the second to drop. But we could have made that clearer. Thanks for playing, glad you liked it.
Your game is very creative. It's the first 3D game I've played this time. However, the camera angle is fixed during gameplay, which makes it a bit uncomfortable to operate (for example, I want to move to the left, but I can only press 'W'). I hope to see more of your content in the future! Finally, I wish your friend a speedy recovery. Haha
thanks for the feedback and thanks for playing.
I love this, however I can't find second man to play the game(not the game's problem, my problem)
Hey glad you like it. it's a single player game, you control both pills after the player tries to jump on the can on the first step 🤙
在游戏中会出现如上情况的被卡住的地形，还是比较多的，每次被卡住我都只能按R来脱困
整体游戏还是很可爱的，我很喜欢
There are quite a few stuck terrains in the game, and every time I get stuck, I can only press R to get out
The overall game is still very cute, I really like it
I didn't realise that about the terrain, thanks for letting us know.
This game is cute, I love pill bugs and I laughed at the known bugs section. It was really exciting to find out I could roll around
thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it