a matter of life and death

Done for Ludum Dare 46 in 72 Hours.

For my family.

This is my first completed game and my first game jam.

This is a simple game about the circle of life. It is about observing all the interactions as you control the tiger and try to get a high score by eating zebras.

How To Play

When you have the green light to move, use either WASD or the arrows to control the tiger. When the tiger moves she leaves behind tiger tracks, a zebra will not cross her tracks. Use the tracks to control the herds into larger groups. When you eat a zebra you will also eat all zebras that are touching that zebra. Eating larger groups gives you more points.

The tiles all have interactions with the animals.

The Zebras need to eat grass at least every three turns.  Grass when eaten turns into dirt. Dirt when rained on turns into a impassable lake. When a zebra dies its bones fertilize the ground to create overgrowth. When a zebra enters an overgrowth is spawns an additional zebra. The game is forced to conclusion by lakes being created when rain is generated on dirt. Rain has a 2% chance to spawn on any tile at the beginning of tigers turn. There are many other interactions.

Each turn you lose 50 points. If you get down to 0 points you starve. If all the zebra’s die you lose.

Credits;

I did not make the music or sound. I coded and did the “art”. My brother Josh Harriman created the title screen.

Music: SoundImage.org Tiger SFX: FreeSoundEffects.Com

I wish I had more time as I know the game ins’t perfect. It feels a little sluggish while you wait for your turn. Also its very luck based.

Thanks for Playing.!