Ludum Dare 59: Kittenbaticorn

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 Cover image. It says "Kittenbaticorn" and shows a screenshot from the game with the Kittenbaticorn flying, and the level geometry is lit up with scattering stippling from the player's echolocation.

Use your unicorn horn echolocation power to find your way home!


tl;dr: I made a game for the Ludum Dare 59 game jam. You are a Kittenbaticorn lost in the darkness. You echolocate to navigate your world, and you can tune your frequencies to interact with your environment. This game has destructible terrain and immersive shader effects!



The jam

The theme of the jam was "Signal".

I made this game for the Ludum Dare 59 game jam in 48 hours.

I made all the design, code, art, music, and sounds!

Screenshots

An animated GIF showing the pixel-art Kittenbaticorn flying.

An animated GIF showing a recording of some gameplay: The player adjusts their frequency, echolocates, sees the world, and breaks some blocks.
You echolocate to see the world around you, and also to destroy obstacles!

An animated GIF showing a recording of some gameplay: The player echolocates at the right frequency to damage an enemy and destroy blocks.
Your echolocation can also damage enemies that want to eat you!

An animated GIF showing a recording of some gameplay: The player collects a coin and shoots a rainbow from their horn.
If you collect all the coins, you get a fun surprise!

An animated GIF showing a recording of some gameplay: After destroying blocks, water flows out and falls.
Also, sand and water can flow if you destroy the supporting blocks.

Retrospective

  • The game concept:
    • My initial idea for the game was actually two concepts: echolocation to see the world, and having the level and objects resonate with your ability at matching frequencies.
    • I think the echolocation concept came out GREAT. I'm really pleased with how the shaders ended up, how the core game loop feels, and how immersive it all is.
    • I think the frequency-resonance idea didn't contribute as much to the game experience. It probably wasn't worth including. But it was fun to work on!
    • Also, I should address the elephant in the room—I mean, the Kittenbaticorn. I asked my six-year old daughter what she thought I should put in my game, and this is what she told me to do! Not to brag, but she's a creative genius. I didn't know the theme at that point, so I'm lucky it actually fit!
  • I think "signal" was a particularly strong theme. For the most part, I'm seeing more variety in game concepts from the submissions for this jam, and most of them really fit the theme well, and in ways that make compelling game experiences!
  • I made all the art, sounds, and music myself with no AI assistance.
  • I used Claude Code to assist with some code systems—especially the destructible marching-squares tile system.


🎉 Cheers!


This is a simple icon representing my sabbatical.





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