A spiritual successor to Ships Shooting Squid, the first-place-winning entry in the 10th GM48, Sinker Squid pits a crafty crew against the depths of the ocean in order to snag what all true pirates strive for:

PRECIOUS BOOTY.

Blast a slippery squid into the deep blue, dodge a variety of sea creatures, and grab the glorious treasure!

Enjoy these briny gifs!

Explore Explore the open sea to find treasure! Launch Get out there! Each squid launch culminates in a plunge to the depths! Bioluminescence Will you brave the bioluminescent deep?

Made by Vinnie - Bacon - Buttons

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  • Fachewachewa
    Patron

    This game is so cute :D Would have loved an animation for the boost! Apart from that the presentation is perfect.

    Like other have said, it's not easy to see the depth of the obstacles, but in a jam that's not that big of a deal. The squid sprite might be a little too big though, it's sometimes hard to see what's coming if you're in the middle of the screen (I was trying to avoid staying on the edges).

    Tescend
    Submitted

    Tescend

  • Brupibo
    Lv. 10

    My feelings are exactly what Kwisarts said. Graphics, music and controls are well done (and awesome) just lacks on gameplay department. It gets too repetitive too fast. I think this game worths a post-jam version with a more varied gameplay when descending, because the rest is very good indeed! Good work!

  • Kwis
    Lv. 67

    Oh the graphics and musics are nice! I like how the squids are bouncy but would have liked a bit of animation! The boat section was reeeeaaaallly enjoyable and I deeply regret that this part was not emphasized in some way (although it would have been further away from the theme). It is really fun to see the boat move and jump! That's unusual, a boat jumping! In comparison, the core gameplay is a let down :( I didn't enjoy it much because it was very hard to tell how close were the stuff coming...

  • Problematicar
    Lv. 37

    This game was really interesting, Art and Sound had a really nice style and they were both awesome, a perfect fit for the game.

    Gameplay seemed monotonous and too simple at first, but the sheer number of enemy variety made it really fun, It's also pretty innovative I guess, I never heard of squid-based booty hunting before.

    The style is probably the best part about this game, doesn't look, or sound, or play, like any other in this jam, and this is definitely a plus, great job.

    Path Y
    Submitted

    Path Y

  • Veralos
    Lv. 38

    Everything about this game's presentation is super well done. The graphics are fantastic (I especially like the depth effect with the obstacles coming at the squid), the music is really nice, and the sound effects are appropriate. Dodging stuff as you descend is pretty fun, though it can be hard to tell where things are in relation to the squid. Also, the boat section seems kind of pointless (though it is fun sailing around the place).

    • BaconBoy123
      Lv. 14
      BaconBoy123 Artist of Sinker Squid

      6yrs ago

      Thanks for checking it out!

      We really liked the idea of a rail shooter but hadn't ever seen it done vertically into water before... so I'm glad the feel of everything really translated well! We initially had a lot more planned for the boat section, but the curse of the game jam struck, haha. We're thinking of having different oceans, ports, maybe even some secret islands and stuff. We'll see!

      Thanks again for playing, we really appreciate it!

  • BigPancakeNorton
    Lv. 1

    I really like the look and sound of the game. Everything about the artistic side of the game is super smooth and polished, everything looks and sounds great and charming.

    Unfortunately though, the gameplay is a bit of a letdown in my opinion. It was pretty hard for me to understand at what depth the obstacles would start hitting me, so I ended up spending most of the gameplay segments stuck to the very edges of the screen, in which I was practically invincible. Everything else about the game was really tight and well made though.

    • BaconBoy123
      Lv. 14
      BaconBoy123 Artist of Sinker Squid

      6yrs ago

      Thanks for the review!

      The gameplay loop is something we worked really hard on, but obviously there's some flaws, haha. Thanks for pointing them out – some ideas that we were thinking would help would be a visual tell that would help you see when you can be hit by an enemy, or maybe just like a subtle audio cue. We put some enemies in the later levels that try to guard against wall-hugging but more would definitely be helpful. Maybe like a cooldown timer that makes you have to keep swimming to keep descending?

      We'll talk about it some more, but we REALLY appreciate your feedback. Thanks again!

  • SpaceMyFriend
    Lv. 15

    This looks and sounds reaally good! However its sometimes hard to tell if I'm gonna be hit by the flowers or not. I love controller the boat. That feels really good and responsive and everything is else is super polished!

    • BaconBoy123
      Lv. 14
      BaconBoy123 Artist of Sinker Squid

      6yrs ago

      Thanks for checking it out!

      We had a lot of time for polish than usual and glad that it shined through a bit. A 'tell' when the enemies are able to be hit would definitely be helpful! That's unfortunately another feature that just didn't make it, haha. We're glad you enjoyed it though! The boat is seriously my favorite part. If we continue working on it, we'd love to expand the overworld a bit more and make exploration more engaging!

      Thanks again for the review!

  • WangleLine 🌸
    Patron

    I really like the game. Sweet sound design, good looking animations, good music.

    But sadly the gameplay isn't very innovative and by standing in a corner it's very easy to dodge the flowers

    • BaconBoy123
      Lv. 14
      BaconBoy123 Artist of Sinker Squid

      6yrs ago

      Thanks for playing and for leaving a review!

      There were some explorations to the gameplay loop that we mulled over adding but got cut due to scope(powerups, more sea creatures, etc). Regarding your crits, we specifically added some creatures in the later levels to help guard against the corner-hugging technique, but it probably needs some more attention.

      All in all we're happy with the end product but are super thankful for your comments. Thanks again!