CGDC4: Jabo
The next competition entry comes from Russia (with love) by another two-person creative team: Eugene Karataev (Flash developer) and Artem Popov (artist).
Jabo is an acronym for Jump And Ball Operation, and it somewhat describes the basic premise of Eugene's and Artem's action game starring a frog with a very long tongue. Use the frog's tongue as a grappling hook to propel yourself towards the shining star. The rest is up to you. Please continue the wonderful comments you folks have been giving to each of the participants in the comments.
Game link: https://jayisgames.com/cgdc4/?gameID=17
It was a really simple game, which I liked. No instructions whatsoever, you are left to figure your strategy out.
My only gripe with the game is that the first few levels should have been made easier. I was on the verge of quitting when it got so tough trying to get to the star without going too high or too far. Some background music would have been nice too.
Completed!
Very nice game. Particularly like the control system - very intuitive, but takes a while to master.
My one complaint would be the difficulty curve. I found the levels were wildly out of order in terms of difficulty. Last level was trivial - was I not supposed to have needed that technique already? Second to last level was a nightmare - took me over a dozen tries (I lost count, in fact).
I liked the art, but the lack of music hurt the atmosphere. I agree that the levels were not ordered very well. Also, this was difficult to play within the JIG game window because I once clicked on the "back to menu" button by mistake.
I like it, it's a humorous and fun game. Funny little frog :)
The only annoying thing is that I'm not allowed to swing outside of view enough. I think the game should start over when his entire body and tongue are no longer in view, not when barely half is body is outside of view.
This was neat, but it ended before I realized it was over. a lot of people are going for a stylish approach, and this one is no different, but the lack of music during gameplay made it really tough to get into. Also, it is another one that only tangentially uses ball physics. Could've been great, but came out only so-so. By the way, that second to last level bugged me a bunch.
Neat game, but yeah. The first few levels (I couldn't beat the fourth) were far too hard.
I liked this game a lot, and it's one of very few entries so far that I've played from beginning to end. I felt the game was short enough that it was not hurt by lack of background music. I've found that in many games the mindless techno-loop most people pass off as background "music" detracts from the atmosphere instead of adds to it, so I am glad that this designer did not go that route.
The use of the theme was cursory, but it was still better than other entries. My only suggestions would be to switch the last two levels (second to last level was devilishly tough and worthy of being the "boss level") and also to make it so that one click does not exit the end-game. I had clicked past SuperFrog in my excitement to reach the next level before I had realized I'd won!
Nice entry, well done. Also, this game just SCREAMS for player-built levels.
Cute!
I really liked this one. The graphics were nice and simple and the gameplay mechanic was great. I also really liked the little tune that played when you failed a level.
As other have said, it was a bit difficult sometimes, but still fun. One that I would play again.
Great job guys.
Ali
Nice concept, although music and a little story would not hurt. Also I find it frustrating that I can lose while still holding on to a planet. That boundary is rather unforgiving, a recurring theme during this competition it seems.
Would like to see a remake.
As has been said already, that second to last level is ridiculously hard, especially considering how easy that last level is in comparison.
Superb game otherwise though, i found it very addictive, the music that played when you lost was very good, i think i would have preferred more space around the sides but bigger gaps between balls, to move the emphasis onto accuracy of throwing the frog. I initially also would have liked the star to be able to be attached to, though can understand why you chose not to do that.
I'm still trying to through (what must be) the second to last level. Man is it tough! But this is a very fun and cute game. A little story of what the heck the frog is doing out there would be a nice addition.
The super frog at the end is super cute!
This grappling hook feature shows a lot of promise and it's implemented well. Swinging around is really fun but grabbing onto a ball just trying to climb up or get some momentum is less fun.
I think if you made the tongue move faster you could make some very exciting levels. I'd scale everything down/make the screen bigger so that you could get going really fast. Also if the frog is sitting on a surface I'd like to be able to do a jump.
The second-last level, the one with two balls on either side of you... I ended up beating that one by discovering a hidden ball
somewhere above you when you first start the level
- is this how you're supposed to win? The only other ball I could reach was on the right, and I couldn't get any momentum from there without hitting the wall first. Were other people able to catch one of the balls to the left??
Nice little game, reminiscent of the 'two strings' games on dofi-blog. A bit hard, specially with the side walls being out of bounds, and level difficulty didn't really ramp up linearly, but oh well. A bit more tongue speed would be appreciated, though.
I think it would have been more challenging if you weren't able to click and hold his tongue to a ball. I did most of the game pretending I couldn't click and hold. Made it more fun. I do agree that it was far too easy to accidentally go out of bounds. But, heck, it was entertaining. :)
I really liked this one. Something about grappling hooks strikes a chord with me.
However, I can't get past the level where I start by plummeting downwards...
the frog is very very cute, i love it!
the audio visual experience, however, was not as good as i'd hoped. it was largely reminiscent of other swinging games and i thought the idea of climbing upwards through swinging was a bit daft.
having said this i did enjoy the game, a good 6/10.
The second-last level, the one with two balls on either side of you... I ended up beating that one by discovering a hidden ball - is this how you're supposed to win?
It's not what I did. My approach was:
1) Catch the second ball down on the right as you fall.
2) Re-grab the ball several times, keeping to the left edge in order to avoid hitting the right wall.
3) Walk yourself up the left-hand side of the ball then across the top.
4) As you begin to slide down to the right, pull yourself fast across the top and immediately release your grip.
5) Your frog will be catapulted across the board right to left and begin to drop as it does so.
6) As you come within tongue range of the left-hand side, grab the ball slightly above you.
7) Swing into the exit, releasing hold in order to drop onto it with sufficient accuracy.
But as I said above, that took quite a few tries.
Gave up on level two, when I was done in by a combination of lag and frustration at being killed by crossing about a third of my frog off the screen.
I like this game but I find that the sense of gravity is really strange. It took me longer to get used to the really floaty feeling of the frog then the mechanic itself, and when I finally did give up it was because of this.
Cute! The game's title, by the way, is not only an English acronym but also a Russian pun -- jabo sounds phonetically like zhaba, which means "toad" or "frog" in Russian and other Slavic languages. (Hence the probable inspiration for the name of Jabba the Hutt.)
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