Fun and funny. Definitely needs another key for jumping the big one than [return]
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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.







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