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Feedback comments for LD39
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| Timestamp | Since previous | Game | Shell Pirate's comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1 09:36:00 | FRIEND-1 | ♥ 1 | This was a pretty good entry. I really liked the feel of the aesthetic and the overall mood. The graphics were very minimal but they worked surprisingly well. As far as I'm aware there was only one sound - that being the beep of Sputink. While this was a nice touch to the atmosphere, it did get a little grating after a while. The gameplay was nicely done and a fair share of fun, despite me finding it pretty difficult. I liked certain touches a lot, such as the fields the satellites emit which help you to locate them if they are off screen. However I do feel like the game could have stood to be a bit more forgiving as I found the asteroids pretty hard to avoid, especially with these very floaty controls. Overall, for a first LD, this was a good entry - loved the mood of it, but it could stand to be a little touched up in other areas such as the sounds and overall game feel. Good work! | |
| Aug 1 09:48:04 | 12m 04s | Sparkling | ♥ 1 | This was a solid entry. The controls and mechanics took a little getting used to at first, but once I got the hang of them, it became pretty fun. Initially I wasn't quite sure what to make of the floaty movement and the slow shooting speed, but then I realized it was done on purpose and I started timing my shots and being very satisfied when I managed to pierce a bunch of enemies at once. The graphics weren't anything super special, but they did their job well enough. The music was quite nice and the sounds were once again serviceable. I will say that maybe you should consider adding a little bit more feedback to the player getting hit (some screen shake, or maybe a more distinct sound). Overall, good work, especially for someone who doesn't have years of gamedev experience behind them! |
| Aug 1 10:01:01 | 12m 57s | Deep Space Nine Volts | ♥ 2 | Nice work on this one! The graphics had an amateur-ish feel to them, but it felt done on purpose and they had a lot of charm, especially the little drawing when you die. The soundtrack was simple, but effective, and I enjoyed the gibberish when then captain was speaking (both because I found it charming, and because it was a nice audible indication that some information is being given to the player). The controls worked as intended and the game was pretty fast-paced and hectic. If I had to critique, I'd say that a more straight forward layout would be nice, or at the very least a bit more time to familiarize yourself with the existing one. Some more time to read the tutorial text would have been swell also. Overall, great work! It was pretty impressive what you were able to achieve given the time limit. |
| Aug 1 10:29:31 | 28m 30s | Lightrunner | ♥ 1 | I'm blown away by this entry. First of all I really liked the aesthetic of it. The graphics, while simplistic in style were obviously made with a good amount of polish and care and the simplicity felt like a stylistic choice rather than a necessity. The music was awesome as well, and while not being the most memorable piece composed, it was very atmospheric and fit perfectly with the mood of the game. The gameplay is what really impressed me most, as this is one of the rare times when a LD entry feels on the edge of being a full-fledged experience rather than a proof of concept or a simple prototype for a future game. The mechanics were easy to grasp but I really enjoyed the Super Meat Boy type of design which involved me failing a lot, but being able to super quickly get back in and try again. The game felt difficult, but without ever feeling unfair. The scope of it is also amazing for a 48 hour entry. My one critique has to do with the controls. Two things: while I very much appreciate the ability to use a controller, I would definitely allow the user to use the analog for movement as well, as for example, the players using an Xbox 360 pad (such as myself) might not enjoy using its frankly terrible D-Pad for a precision platformer. The other thing is, the game generally had a pretty stiff feel to it, so perhaps adding a bit more momentum and weight to the movement and fixing up the clunky feeling collision detection with the walls would be a good thing. Then again it could be a choice rather than a flaw. Overall, really impressed with this one, fantastic job! |
| Aug 1 12:28:37 | 1h 59m | Mars 9 | ♥ 1 | Nice work! I liked the artstyle and the music. I think they complemented each other well and contributed to the nice oldschool feel. The gameplay was easy to understand and get the hang of. However, I found that the game had a very methodical and slow pace to it. I believe this mainly due to the fact you have to be very conservative with your power usage and also because the enemies have a pretty long period invincibility frames. I believe this slows the game down unnecessarily, so perhaps you can address it in the future. Regardless, good work on your entry! |
| Aug 1 12:43:37 | 15m 00s | daemon | ♥ 4 | A decent effort. I liked the artstyle of this one quite a bit and the same goes for the music. Both contributed to the dark and ominous atmosphere. The controls are a bit clunky and a touch too floaty for my liking. The mechanic of the souls could be interesting, but I believe the player should receive more visual and audio feedback when they get hit (knockback, screenshake, more sound etc.) The game is also just a bit too difficult and think that is partly due to the fact the camera lags way too much behind the player which forces them to wait for it to catch up and also doesn't allow for good visibility of the obstacles ahead. Overall though, nice work! |
| Aug 1 12:52:32 | 8m 55s | Powerless: Trump Teaches Typing | ♥ 2 | As the token Trump game of this LD this one was quite alright. I like the graphical style and music. They both give off a crude and hard to take seriously vibe which I think is quite fitting for Trump. Gameplay-wise I thought it was a fairly standard typing game but I do think more leeway would have been nice. Then again, I'm not the fastest typer ever so it could be a fault of my own (English not being my native language and all). Overall, good work! |
| Aug 1 13:04:40 | 12m 08s | Hungry Harry's Climb | ♥ 1 | Very good entry! I really liked the old-school 8-bit aesthetic both graphically and in the sound effects. It reminded me of Ice Climbers on the NES for whatever reason. I found the controls very responsive and the climbing satisfying. The random level generation is a (n)ice touch as well :D I do think more indication should be given to where exactly the exit is as I reached the top but wasn't able to find it before accidentally falling back down. I also think the energy mechanic was a little surface level as well, but it's a good game regardless. Great work! |
| Aug 1 13:21:22 | 16m 42s | BATTER-E | ♥ 1 | This one was pretty impressive for a 48 hour game. It's more than obvious that this is essentially 'Totally Not Nuclear Throne: The Entry', but that's not really a bad thing. Nuclear Throne is a ton of fun, thus, this game is fun as well. The weapons feel good, and it's a joy mindlessly blasting enemies to hell and back. The music is swell and while the graphical assets are nice I will say that I have some slight issues with them. They mainly have to do with the color palette, as enemies and even the player sometimes easily blend with the environment (such is the case on the second level where you have a red background with red enemies on it). A better use of complimentary colors would have made the game look a lot better. A thing I liked a lot though is the decreasing of the player's firepower with the decrease of their energy - it made energy more than just health and it also added another subtle layer of player feedback when it comes to informing them how their energy levels are doing. Overall - very good work! |
| Aug 1 13:38:04 | 16m 42s | Spacy adventure | ♥ 2 | A solid entry! I liked the art style of it: simple, yet charming. I will say while the particles are great looking, they do kinda get in the way of the gameplay. Due to the small screen size they take up so much of it that it gets difficult to keep track of the important stuff (the enemies, their bullets, item drops etc.) Some music would have been nice as well, but the lack of it is understandable. Overall a good and polished entry. |
| Aug 1 13:45:09 | 7m 05s | Geralt's secret powersource | ♥ 2 | A solid entry! The graphics are good for a compo game and the gameplay is simple and to the point. The music is a nice edition. I do think the game's controls are a little stiff which hindered my enjoyment of it. It gave me a nice chuckle when the censored graphic appeared, though. Overall, good work! |
| Aug 1 13:58:19 | 13m 10s | Little Light | ♥ 1 | This is a very solid entry! I loved the mood which was set by the dark and ominous looking world and the ambient soundtrack. The gampeplay was solid as well. My main issues have to do with the fact the player accelerates a bit too fast for my liking. When you combine that with how dark the levels are the game becomes difficult to play because you move very quickly and your visibility is limited so you can't see things coming. I'd also make it so when you're next to a fire you don't have to sit around and wait for it to recharge you. Making it happen instantly will speed up the flow significantly. I only say this because it's obvious you're going for a fast-paced game. Overall, good work! |
| Aug 1 14:11:55 | 13m 36s | Low Energy | ♥ 1 | I liked the graphics and the music. Both were simple, but fit together well. The take on the theme wasn't anything super special, but not every game has to reinvent the wheel. The controls were alright and the game was pretty fun. Some of the collision detection feels a little wonky and I will say that the fact that the horizontal moving platforms don't move you along with them threw me off a lot. Overall though, a good effort! |
| Aug 1 17:12:09 | 3h 00m | Plugzzz | ♥ 1 | I found this entry pretty neat. The art style was really nice and the ominous atmospheric soundtrack did wonders for your presentation. I agree with the above people that the physics were very wacky, almost to the point of hindering gameplay in some of the later levels as I had some trouble keeping up with which plug belonged to which machine as it became a jumbled mess of cables. In that sense I guess it works just like it does in real life :D I joke, I kid. Good entry, nonetheless. |
| Aug 1 18:01:04 | 48m 55s | Night Driver | ♥ 2 | This is a great entry! I loved the overall aesthetic of it. The graphics reminded me of 80s virtual reality movies and the soundtrack was very 80s sounding as well. The rain effects and ambient sound effects definitely added to the fantastic mood as well. The driving was very standard and nothing really out of the ordinary but it was still a great deal of fun. Nothing really to critique here other than the suggestion of adding more features and mechanics and polishing up general game feel. Overall, great entry! |
| Aug 1 18:19:10 | 18m 06s | Pain That Binds Us | ♥ 2 | I really liked this one! The art was nice and polished and served it's purpose very well. The music was good, but while I liked the super hero-esque score at the beginning I found it just a touch unfitting towards the middle of the game. I am definitely glad that once things started getting darker the music switched up. The gameplay isn't too much to write home about since this is mostly a storytelling exercise, but I do like that the QTEs were forgiving, since it's annoying when story-based games throw in needlessly long and drawn out ones. The story was nicely done and quite touching so good job on that front. Overall, really good entry! |
| Aug 1 18:31:53 | 12m 43s | Torch Boy | ♥ 2 | I would really like to see the main shooting mechanic expanded on in a bigger game, because I think it's pretty creative and could be very fun. As it stands though, I can't say that I loved the game. The room is a little too tight and the amount of enemies is way too big for the player to have a feasible chance at getting to the key (or at least I felt like I didn't). Without being able to reach the key, the game starts to feel pointless as you can just sit in a corner and never die. That said, I still think the mechanic is a great idea and the artstyle was pretty well done. I suppose I can just say work on it more and it could become a really great game. I guess that is also one of the forms success can take when it comes to Ludum Dare entries, so good work on that front! |
| Aug 1 21:26:45 | 2h 54m | Limited Light (Tech Demo) | ♥ 1 | I hesitate to critique this entry, since it's basically just a proof of concept, but here goes nothing. I really liked the atmosphere of it. The graphics had a very solid GameBoy-esque feel that I see quite a few entries go for but you've definitely put in the effort into designing the assets despite their simplicity and it shows; the game looks great. Outside of the graphics, I dig the flashlight mechanic and it definitely reminded me of Luigi's Mansion. You've got something there and with enough content added and some work on improving game feel (adding sound, maybe some subtle screen shake etc.) this can be a solid game in the future and for that I congratulate you! |
| Aug 1 22:16:21 | 49m 36s | Rats will kiss the gunner's daughter | ♥ 2 | Fantastic entry! I really liked the art style; I thought it worked very well for setting a pirate-esque atmosphere (I promise I'm not biased :D) and the music was very soothing and didn't get in my way when I was thinking about my decisions which is all I can ask of it in a game like this. The gameplay was quite simple, but surprisingly engaging as it had me put quite a bit of thought into my interactions with the sailors. At the end of the day I executed the wrong man, but still it was a very fun ride while it lasted. Overall, a rather fun and impressive entry! |
| Aug 1 22:33:49 | 17m 28s | Take my charge | ♥ 1 | I liked this entry! The graphics were simplistic, but they had a very clean look that reminded me of an interface for an application. The sounds had much the same aesthetic and both were fitting due to the AI undertones. The main mechanic was pretty clever and I thought that while it was simple, you explored enough different scenarios with it that you gave it depth. If I had to critique, I'd say that the controls could stand to be a touch more responsive as some of the jumps were a little difficult and a soundtrack would be a great addition. Overall though, very good effort! |
| Aug 2 10:19:55 | 11h 46m | Snow Train | ♥ 1 | I liked this one! The graphics were nice and simple, but they served their purpose well and the noises of the locomotive added a nice touch of atmosphere. The general concept and mechanics were pretty fun and quite original. I haven't really seen a train survival game before. They worked alright but they lacked polish, at least in my opinion. I encountered a few bugs (such as the fact stray bullets could hit me even if I was inside the locomotive and the fact I was able to carry the water and wood at the same time). These problems are understandable though for a Jam game. If I had to improve the experience in any area I'd say focus on the combat mechanics as they didn't feel very weighty and the enemies moved a bit too fast for my liking. Overall though, fun game and a unique concept worth expanding upon in the future! |
| Aug 2 10:30:06 | 10m 11s | Squanchy Squids | ♥ 3 | A good effort! The visuals were pretty cute on the character sprites, but I'd say perhaps a more cartoony background would fit them better. The atmosphere was good as well, but some sound would have definitely added even if it was just some ambience. The gameplay concept is a decent idea but I'd say it needs some work. I think that the controls are what brought it down for me. Perhaps rather than the control scheme you have now, you could consider implementing tank controls: W moves you forward, S moves you backwards and the direction of movement is the direction you're facing. I say this because I found myself pressing W and expecting to go in the direction I was facing, but I ended up going upwards which wasn't very intuitive. All in all though, good work! |
| Aug 2 10:42:20 | 12m 14s | POWER BEAT RACER | ♥ 1 | This is an alright entry. I quite liked the simple but effective artstyle and I especially enjoyed the little racer portrait in the bottom left. The music was nice and rhythmic which is what one should expect from this type of game. What hindered my experience was the lack of labels on the orbs and the fact that the timing felt off. Perhaps a more forgiving time window would fix this, as I found I had to press the button ever so slightly before the beats hit which threw me off completely. If you address these issues, I think this could be a quite fun arcade-y experience. |
| Aug 2 10:53:46 | 11m 26s | Full Metal Combat | ♥ 2 | The graphics served their purpose (the player gave off some very obvious Master Chief vibes at least to me), but I would have liked a slightly higher resolution background. The music and sound was nice and added quite a bit to the mood. The gameplay was functional but I'd definitely say it lacked the punch it needed to be super fun. Adding things like screen shake, more meaty sounds and the like would have helped a ton. I especially had an issue with the audio-visual feedback for the player getting hit as there literally didn't seem to have any. When you couple that with the fact the aliens seemed to have way too large of an attack range it didn't feel satisfying facing them. I definitely think that if you address these issues as well as add more enemies and upgrades you could have a solid foundation for a wave-based shooter on your hands. |
| Aug 2 11:09:58 | 16m 12s | INVISIBRO | ♥ 0 | This was a nice classic platformer. I liked the art quite a bit, but I'd say a slightly lighter color on the tiles would help them pop out against the background quite a bit more. The sounds were simple but functional and an ominous dungeon like music score would have added a lot to the atmosphere. The main mechanic isn't super original, but it is dynamic and quite a bit of fun. The controls are nice but there's definitely some work to be done until they feel just right. For example, the character is a bit too fast for the environment. The jumps are quite precise in places but he goes from 0 to 100 real quick so it makes them trickier than needed. I'd say either slow him down, or make it so he has a bit of acceleration when starting to move from a stand-still. The other main issue is that while the camera was nice and smooth I think it moves a little bit too slowly thus hindering the visibility of the player. Overall though, it's quite fun, functional and pretty so good work on that front! |
| Aug 2 11:27:11 | 17m 13s | e Negative | ♥ 2 | Fantastic entry! I loved the artstyle - you kept everything to a unified palette much like oldschool GameBoy and NES games did, but you made the things that needed to stand out do so via good usage of lighter shades and outlining. The music was nice, but I will say that I liked the second half of the song when the drums kick in significantly more than the first one which sounded just a bit too messy and detuned for my liking. The gameplay mechanics were great! They very much reminded me of Dark Souls in terms of the combat and the platforming was satisfying as well. You had a good variety of enemies that all functioned differently in terms of the ways you had to defeat them. I also loved how you implemented the power meter which incentivized the player to keep moving and perfect their timing in the combat and plafroming as to not become too slow and clunky. If I had to nitpick I will say some of the level design was a bit unforgiving, and the jumping felt off at first as I expected it to work in a similar way to, for example, the Mario 2 crouch jump where you charge it up and release the button to launch yourself. Having the robot jump on its own regardless of whether you held down the button threw me off a bit, but I got used to it fairly quickly. Overall, definitely one of the rare 5-star entries that I come across. Fantastic work! |
| Aug 2 18:06:11 | 6h 39m | Probe Abuse | ♥ 3 | Very solid entry! The main gameplay mechanic was quite interesting and fun and I think there are a lot of possibilities that you can explore with it if you decide to continue work on this. Obviously there are a lot of things you can polish up, but as this is a Jam title lack of polish is understandable. I'd say that even though the art wasn't bad I think that there are quite a few assets that still look like programmer art and clash with the style of the game (such as the power bar for example). I will also say that the probes felt a little floaty. I don't mean this in a bad way, since it didn't really hinder my experience, but perhaps some more careful work on the animation speed in relation to the speed of movement will fix up this issue (they felt like they were animating too slowly for how fast they were moving). Also some pacing issues could be addressed, such as perhaps speeding up the time it takes to upload upgrades. I might just be nitpicking at this point. Regardless, very solid entry! |
| Aug 2 18:12:18 | 6m 07s | ZapDune | ♥ 2 | I enjoyed this entry! The game looked very nice and the animations were all fluid, but it did get a little busy to look at at times, so perhaps some more work on making the characters and enemies pop would be good. The music was nice, but a little too loud and bombastic for my own personal tastes. The mechanic was simple but it was quite fun running around hectically and fixing up your turrets. For the future I'd say giving the player some more mobility outside of the hook (maybe a double jump) as well as the ability to fend off enemies themselves would be nice. Just my two cents, of course. You did well! |
| Aug 2 18:41:26 | 29m 08s | Artax | ♥ 2 | Fantastic entry! I absolutely loved the art and sound. So much care was given to them and it most definitely shows. There are so many little details, from the adorable whistle sound to the fact your robot emotes and hungrily opens its mouth when you come near it with a battery, to the smooth animation. It's all really simple sounding stuff on the surface but it creates a wonderful and caring relationship with the robot almost immediately without having to say a word. The sound while simple sets the perfect mood for the game from the aforementioned whistle to the soundtrack itself which is playful but still gives off a bass-y underground cave sounding vibe. The main mechanic was very well executed and I liked the puzzles. They weren't super hard, but they were satisfying. One of the only critiques I have is that the pacing could have stood to be a bit better. I realize the robot is supposed to be slow but dying via a bottomless bit due to a slip of your finger only to have to slowly make up your lost progress isn't super enjoyable. Still, I could just be bad at the game lol. Perhaps a larger amount of checkpoints could fix this issue. Addressing the lag spikes and allowing the player to use a dedicated jump button rather than W would be fantastic as well. Regardless, absolutely superb entry! |
| Aug 4 14:16:35 | 43h 35m | Recapitate | ♥ 1 | I liked the graphics of it. It had a nice charming NES style to it, although I will say some of the colors kinda blended into the background - in particular the eye turret bullets in the section with the white tiles. The music was alright, but a bit too repetitive. This, of course, is understandable for a Game Jam entry so I can't be too harsh. The main gameplay mechanic was fun and nice spin on more mundane shooting mechanics. The only issues I had was that the character accelerated a bit too slowly for my liking, resulting in a stiff feel. Having to pick up your head from the ground was annoying at times as well but that felt more like a design choice rather than an issue. That said, overall you did a very good job, especially for the compo and this was a fun ride! |
| Aug 4 14:34:01 | 17m 26s | Powerwatch | ♥ 2 | Very solid entry! I liked the graphics quite a bit. It's nice to see some pixel art that doesn't fit the usual 8-bit or GameBoy aesthetic most go for. The sounds were servicable but some music would have done a lot for the mood. That said for a compo entry the lack of it is understandable. The mechanics weren't very original but they worked just fine and it was pretty fun shooting zombies. I will say the player moves a little too fast and the zombies spawn a little to close to him so I ended up running into them quite a bit. That said, good work! |
| Aug 4 16:41:31 | 2h 07m | Escape! | ♥ 1 | Solid entry! The graphics and sound were very minimalistic but it didn't bother me much. The gameplay was fun and challenging. That said, a couple of things you could do to improve is perhaps implement grid based movement, similar to the old Pokemon games so the character feels easier to control. Also some kind of visible grid in the background would have been nice (some floor tiles or something as to be able to more easily keep in mind the bullet trajectories). Overall though, good job! |
| Aug 4 17:07:39 | 26m 08s | THUNDER RUNNER | ♥ 1 | This was a fantasic entry! The graphics were stylized but still very enjoyable to look at and I definitely appreciate the little touches that elevated them above most others. Mainly the smoothness of the animation, the lightning and rain effects and the bounce of the clouds. I also liked the music and sound a fair bit because they contributed a lot to the mood. The gameplay wasn't anything super imaginative or new, but it was so polished that I didn't really care because I was having too much fun. My only suggestions have to do minor details, such as darkening the thunder clouds a little bit more so they stand out better, and resetting the double jump after destroying an enemy. Still, fantastic work! Here's my best run: score.png |
| Aug 5 11:03:57 | 17h 56m | No Sorcerer's Sky | ♥ 1 | The graphics weren't spectacular, but they served their purpose well enough. I liked the little story panels as well as the space cows the most - they really added some character. The music was nice and ambient and it set a good mood for the game. The gameplay was pretty expansive for a LD entry and for the most part it worked pretty well. I'd say working on the clarity of the different mechanics would be nice in the future. For example, coveying and explaining some of the things better to the player (such as having to click to pick up scrap, when they got hit and which things are a threat to them, as well as a better indication of what the power usage is of the different modules). The lack of all these things is understandable though for a Jam title. Overall, solid work! |
| Aug 5 11:29:52 | 25m 55s | Gradient Descent | ♥ 0 | Very good entry! The graphics were simple, but colorful and I enjoyed them probably because I have a soft spot for games that convey human emotion and drama through very abstract things such as geometric shapes and the like. The music was fantastic - very relaxed and emotional and I was particularly impressed with how picking up orbs played a musical note which fit majority of the time. Obviously this isn't the trickiest effect in the book - just make the notes within the scale and hope the player picks them up in accordance to the tempo. That said, even if it's simple, it still impressed me and added a lot of charm and made the soundtrack feel organic. The encounters were pretty well done and added to the desolate atmosphere of the game as running into all these orbs that have run out of power and are dealing with emotional situations really set a grim and fitting mood. I will say that the gameplay was definitely the weakest aspect, even though I didn't hate it. It was refreshing to play an easy and chilled out entry in the sea of very hard old school ones. That said, adding more challenge would give the choices more weight as the player would have to take into consideration whether or not it's worth saving someone only to have to go through more orb collecting. As it stands it's more of a minor annoyance than really a challenge you have to take into consideration. Some more impact for the individual choices would be nice as well, because as it stands it doesn't really matter who you decide is worth saving but it's rather an all or nothing situation which eliminates the value of the individual choices and drama of these characters. All in all, however, I really enjoyed this one. Great work! |
| Aug 5 11:43:32 | 13m 40s | uRUNium | ♥ 2 | Nice work! The graphical assets were good and I particularly enjoyed the smoothness of the animation. That said, there are some things still left you can work on. For starters the pixels seemed blurry and not crisp, which is probably due to interpolation. If possible in your engine, I'd turn it off. The other issue is the color palette. I understand the power plant is meant to be a dark place but these colors are a bit too muddy and I believe giving some more vibrancy and light to the player and tiles would not only look better but fit better with the quite jolly soundtrack. Speaking of which, the music was decent, if a touch repetitive. The gameplay is largely without major issues and it's pretty good fun even if not super original. My only complaints would have to do with the fact you get booted to the map after dying which slows the pace down unnecessarily. I'd just restart the level and let the player quit if they want to. Some more indication of which tiles will fall down and hurt the player would be good too. That said, this was still a fun and very solid entry so I congratulate you on that front! |
| Aug 5 11:59:55 | 16m 23s | LED Adventure -- Running out of Power | ♥ 1 | The graphics were decent. I will say that the background and foreground were a bit too similar both in color and look so it made the game unnecessarily busy to look at. I'd make everything from the player to the tiles stand out a lot more. Also some of the parallax was messed up in the first level. The soundtrack was good and fit well enough and the sound effects were alright. The gameplay has potential but there is a lot of polish still left to be added. Firstly the jumping has a huge amount of momentum, which makes it very difficult to control yourself in mid-air. It reminded me of Castlevania jumping, but unlike that game this one didn't feel designed around it. Secondly the shooting could feel a lot more satisfying. For starters, I'd make the bullets bigger and quite a bit faster and then I'd add some screen shake, or freeze to make it feel good when hitting the enemies. Some other minor things you could fix up is giving the falling platforms a different sprite so the player doesn't have to guess if the platform they're jumping on will crumble beneath their feet. That said, I can definitely see a good amount of effort being put in to this, it just has a way to go before it's a polished experience. Good effort, nonetheless! |
| Aug 5 20:54:50 | 8h 54m | Wayside : A world awaits you | ♥ 1 | Very good entry! The graphics were simple, but I think they worked for the most part because of the muted color scheme which fits well for a puzzle game. The soundtrack was nice but a bit too repetative and the looping sounded a little off (noticed that especially with the first piece of music). The edition of multiple tracks was nice, however. The mechanic was simple and similar things have been done before in multiple mobile games but it was still very fun and well executed. I will say i expected to have some more momentum to the launches at first but I got used to it. Overall, very good entry! |
| Aug 5 21:01:46 | 6m 56s | Plug Me | ♥ 1 | Fantastic entry! The graphics were simple, yet very charming. The style reminded me of some of Vlambeer Games' work. The music was nice and energetic, although I wish it didn't get interupped so much (although I guess that's a natural side effect of having fast-ending levels). The mechanic is probably the most imaginative take on the theme I've seen so far. The controls are tight and while the game is challenging it feels very rewarding. Overall fantastic work! |
| Aug 6 11:32:14 | 14h 30m | HE BEAT HER. | ♥ 1 | I liked it! The art was phenomenal especially for the compo and the music was pretty good as well. The gameplay was nice and I liked in particular how you could find out information on one run then use said information in the next one. If I had to critique I'd say making the whole thing more forgiving or maybe limiting the player's freedom would be good, since when presented with a blank box to write anything in it gets a bit overwhelming. [SPOILERS] I say this because, for example, I found out that you could distract his ex by talking about sad things but none of the keywords you'd think to type in the 'What do you distract her with?' box seemed to work (talk, sad, speak, etc.) I might just be being dumb, of course. [SPOILERS] Overall though, this was a really impressive entry with a lot of depth so good work! |
| Aug 6 11:58:59 | 26m 45s | The Light City of Karola | ♥ 1 | Definitely liked this one a lot! The graphics were good and I especially enjoyed the particle effects and the squishiness of the character. The music was nice and fitting and so were the sound effects. The gameplay wasn't super original but it made up for it by being a very solid and polished fun platforming experience. My only two critiques would be that it was a bit short (totally understandable for a LD entry) and the fact that the zoom out effect when you entered the little recharge stations was a bit too sudden and jarring for my personal tastes. All in all though, very very solid entry! |
| Aug 6 13:10:13 | 1h 11m | Mothership | ♥ 0 | Solid entry! The graphics were nice and crisp and when coupled with the atmospheric soundtrack they made for a good space-y mood. The gameplay was simple, but it worked well for the most part. I'll say that at times it felt a little unclear exactly which enemy the units were attacking and how much free will they had (whether ot not I had to manuallly select each enemy to attack or they had a certain amount of autonomy). Other than that, very solid entry! |
| Aug 6 13:19:25 | 9m 12s | B1NMAN_ROFP | ♥ 1 | Solid entry! The graphics were nice and I especially liked the monochrome aesthetic of the sprites and tiles, which made the red in the enemies and the beam stand out. Some sound would have definitely added a lot, but I can't be too harsh; I ran out of time to do proper sound on my first LD, too. The gameplay was simple, but I liked the enemies that only move when you move. They added a nice bit of strategy and definitely surprised me as I expected a fast-paced shooter when looking at the screenshots. I'd say one of the things that brought it down is the camera shift when moving which felt unnecessary as it didn't really give me more visibility but rather just made me feel dizzy. The other thing is that I felt the beam knocked me back a bit too fast and a bit too much which made me feel like I wasn't in total control. Overall though, very very solid effort, especially for your first LD! |
| Aug 7 08:16:29 | 18h 57m | Solar Miner | ♥ 1 | Very solid entry! The graphics were quite simple, but they had that NES charm to them and worked well. The music was much the same, although I will say the audio mixing could be improved as I found the music was too loud and overpowered the other sounds. The gameplay was fun and seemed pretty polished. It could stand to be a little more forgiving on how much ore you lose upon death, though, but that's of course just my opinion. Overall, very solid presentation and polished gameplay. Good work! |
| Aug 7 18:33:50 | 10h 17m | VoltRush | ♥ 1 | This was a good effort! I liked the graphics style and especially the warm and muted color scheme. That said, quite a few things blended into the background and you could have definitely made them stand out more (for example the pipes which really looked like background objects at first as well as the spikes when the backround got lighter in certain areas). The soundtrack was pretty good, although it overlapped itself when restarting (can't put too much blame on you for that as I had much the same issue). The gameplay wasn't too innovative but it was a solid platforming experience. I only wished the camera didn't keep the player so close to the bottom of the screen; it makes it unnecessarily difficult to see what's below you. Other than that, solid entry! |
| Aug 7 19:13:20 | 39m 30s | Ministry of Synthesis | ♥ 1 | Fantastic entry! The graphics were simple but it's clear that care and time went into them, plus, they convey the needed information very well. The soundtrack was nice and ominous and the sound effects were servicable. I will say, while I think the sounds being emitted through the blocks is a great idea and it eases the puzzle-solving experience, it does get a little annoying after a while; perhaps only play them when the player has pressed the C key. I also would have liked a bit more time spent on being taught the mechanics, but the lack of that is 100% understandable given the time limit. Other than those two relatively minor complaints this was a great entry with a fun and creative mechanic that had a lot of polish behind it. Good work! |
| Aug 8 09:21:02 | 14h 07m | Devil's Curse | ♥ 1 | Very good entry! The artstyle was retro but it didn't lack a good amount of polish. I particularly enjoyed the white characters and tiles set against the dark backdrop; it really made them pop. The music was nicely done and had much the same charming retro feel. The sounds were great and crunchy and they really added to that NES audiovisual aesthetic. The gameplay was simple, yet a good deal of fun and there really isn't much to critique outside of adding more content in the future. The main mechanic was a nice spin on the theme, but adding more abilities for the player to lose would give it more variety is what I mean. Another thing it could possibly benefit from is some screen shake and freeze to really give it that extra punch. All in all though, very good work! |
| Aug 8 10:08:01 | 46m 59s | Unlit | ♥ 1 | A solid entry! I liked the graphics they were nice and ambient, and it's not as often that we see a 3D LD game. The sound design was okay as well - some very minimalistic but fitting music and a nice punch to the sounds. The gameplay wasn't anything special, to be honset, but it worked well for the most part. I encountered a few glitches you've already probably been alerted of such as spike hitbox issues, checkpoints positioned directly in the path of spike traps as well as the ability to sometimes jump in the air and stay afloat there if you hold down the jump button (particularly after respawning). The theme could have also been integrated better as I found I never had to keep in mind the power meter and thus it became rather arbitrary. In a game about waiting and timing your advances from safe zone to safe zone perhaps a timer isn't the best fitting feature anyway. All in all though, I can't knock your effort, plus this entry was fairly solid despite my critiques. |
| Aug 8 10:25:18 | 17m 17s | Robo Power | ♥ 0 | Good entry! The graphics were simplistic but I especially enjoyed the color choices. The music was suitible and the little screens in between with the mayor talking added a little bit of character (I will say an option to skip them would be nice though so a player can get right into the meat of the game without as much padding). The puzzle mechanic was easy to understand but it definitely got me thinking. The levels you designed all seemed pretty good and I'd definitely like to see an expanded version with more mechanics because this has potential. Overall, good entry! |
| Aug 8 12:42:13 | 2h 16m | Stray Impulse | ♥ 1 | Very solid entry! I liked how you kept things minimal with the art at least stylistically, yet you added some nice polish to things such as with the smooth turning animations and the flame graphics (Though I will say the smoke trail particles did feel a bit out of place with the pixel style you have going on for the rest of the game). The lack of music is a little disappointing but not too big of a deal and the sound effects were crisp, punchy and satisfying. The gameplay was fun but it did take me a while to get used to the controls, especially if I was using the mouse to fire as I kept expecting the ship to turn towards it rather than having to manually turn myself using WASD. After I got used to it though, it was a fair bit of fun. Good work! |
| Aug 8 16:12:02 | 3h 29m | Robot Is Powerless | ♥ 3 | Solid work! The artstyle was serviceable, although I will say a bit more shading would have given it some much needed depth. Speaking of depth, I experienced a few issues with it - at certain times enemies appeared below objects they should have been on top of which messed with the perspective. The soundtrack was probably my favorite part of the experience as I think the trap-flavored and EDM inspired songs aren't seen too often in Ludum Dare entries, which usually go for something more old school. I was particularly impressed with how the tracks evolved with different little elements being added and that kept me from getting bored with them. The mechanic was fairly simple, although it did take me a bit to understand exactly how it worked. Once I did, it was all a matter of timing rather than really figuring out any meaningful puzzles, which I suppose is an amusing challenge in its own right. I did like how you mixed a puzzle game with some Roguelike mechanics and managed to fit it within the theme, though. That said, after what I assume to be the last level, the game simply went to a black screen and didn't even bother to stop the music. I'm not sure if this is a bug and there's supposed to be more, or it's just your idea of an ending. Regardless, this was a solid entry without many major issues to speak of, so good work on that front! |
| Aug 8 19:52:24 | 3h 40m | The Color of Days To Come. | ♥ 1 | Very intriguing entry! I found the graphics style you chose pretty unique and the surreal representations of faces coupled with the cardboard cutout aesthetic fit perfectly within the mood you were going for. The music was also very good at setting the tone. There isn't much in terms of gameplay I can critique since it's a storytelling experience mostly, but what was there worked well enough. I only have a couple issues. Firstly, some of the scenes dragged on a little too long without much happening both in general and in terms of interactivity for the player (particularly the space scenes). Secondly, and this is very minor, it did probably take me longer than needed to figure out how to brush my teeth (the most challenging the game got in terms of gameplay lol). Anyways, symbolism wise there's most likely a lot to discuss since it seemed pretty heavy in that area. I'm not the one that usually formulates grand theories about these sorts of experiences but it did get me thinking about what you intended by a lot of the things. I particularly found the space scenes fascinating. Could the two moons symbolize him and his girlfriend and how she now seems unreachable almost as if they are literally a world apart? Could the giant planet that makes one of your moons fade away be depression, or is it just the reason your girlfriend left; perhaps another man? This would make sense because after the smaller moon leaves you it and the other one start orbiting in unison rather than never being able to reach each other like they were previously (obviously symbolizing that your partner has moved on with someone else and they're happier). Does the following scene symbolize literally feeling like the weight of the world is on your shoulders without your girl there to support you? And does the clock that appears just imply that under depression time becomes meaningless as you have no control over it (notice that no matter if you spin clockwise or you spin counterclockwise everything plays out the same, indicating that you can't bring things back to how they were, nor can you move on). Does the scene with the soldier training simply show how time withers your outlook on life? (notice how the chief of training is literally time itself, which could indicate that time under depression simply cements your decision to end it all). All these questions are fascinating and what's even better is I don't know if I'm completely on the mark or totally missing the point. Great entry nonetheless, and apologies for turning this into an English essay :D |
| Aug 8 20:11:16 | 18m 52s | Runic Forest | ♥ 1 | Solid entry! I quite liked the artstyle, although some animation on the wizard would have been good. The music is top notch and fit the atmosphere perfectly. The voice acting was a great unexpected touch as well. Gameplay wise, I liked the variety of spells you had and shooting bad guys was pretty fun. Although, this being a game jam title, you could of course work on polish quite a bit more. I'll say the wizard felt a little too slippery for starters and the attacks felt quite limp. I'd make the sounds stand out more, then add some screen shake or freeze the game when hitting an enemy for a split second so the atacks have more punch. My biggest issue, however, is that there seemed to be no audiovisual feedback for getting hit and for an action game that is of upmost importance, at least in my opinion. Of course these little bits of polish are things that even some fully released games don't get right, let alone game jam entries so take this as just a bit of constructive criticism for the future. Good work and good entry regardless! |
| Aug 8 20:46:53 | 35m 37s | Shekateka | ♥ 2 | Pretty fun entry! I liked the graphical style - very Binding of Isaac-esque, although I will say that a more Nuclear Throne type of lighting rather than the smooth one you have now would have looked better in my opinion. The sound design was decent, although more punchy sound effects would be appreciated and the music was low key enough to not get annoying but good enough to set a nice ominous mood. The gameplay was pretty good fun, and I especially liked the idea of having to move from socket to socket in order to keep firing. It definitely made the game more dynamic and unique and it was a good take on the theme. My usual critiques with most LD entries apply here as well and they have to do with game feel. Adding screen shake, a split second freeze when hitting enemies, explosions, enemy flash, etc. would just make your already good foundation much more fun and satisfying (I'd suggest watching Vlabeer Games' video on the subject of game feel for more info). Other than that though, a fun entry with a nice mechanic. Good work! |
| Aug 9 11:47:40 | 15h 00m | Greenville Deliveries | ♥ 1 | Good effort! I liked the graphics for the most part and I particularly enjoyed having both day and night stages - it was a good touch. The soundtrack was nice and jolly as well. The gameplay was surprisingly fun once I got the hang of it. I will say that some of the obstacles made no sense as they were clearly below you and it felt stupid to have to worry about dodging them. The timer at the beginning took a little too long and slowed the pace down and the random generation often just placed the house right near the start, making the level essentially pointless. I'd work on that, the game feel as well as explaining the mechanics better to the player and then you'd have a very solid game. All in all, good effort! |
| Aug 9 12:03:20 | 15m 40s | [Web] Apocalyptic Gamer | ♥ 1 | One of the better entries I've played this LD! The graphics within the console game were very good and stylized but where it lacked is with the outside graphics - the hands looked out of place with the much more simplistic art for the console itself which wasn't helped by the blurry edges they had. I'd just suggest sticking to one consistent visual aesthetic for the outside world. The music was nice but I do wish that it wasn't cut off so frequently by adjusting power usage. I understand why you did it, but it'd be nice if you found a way around that. The core gameplay is where it really shined - this is probably one of the most original and fleshed out takes on the theme I've seen so far. Everything worked well, it was challenging and with enough variety to not get boring. The only suggestion I can make is to just keep adding content on top of what's already here and is great. All in all, very very good entry! |
| Aug 9 12:16:52 | 13m 32s | Danger Forever | ♥ 1 | Solid entry! The graphics were serviceable and I liked the look of them. The music was nice, although it could have stood to be a bit more bombastic to add to the energy. Much the same can be said about the sound design. The gameplay was rather fun for a while. My only issues have to do with balancing. It felt like the enemies just shot at you no matter how far away you were from them and thus it became a cluster of enemy bullets with very little chance to avoid them. I'd suggest making them slower, bigger and only making the enemies shoot when they can realistically be shot at by the player as well just so it feels more fair and the player has a chance to swerve around them. Other than that, solid entry! |
| Aug 17 13:17:42 | 193h 00m | Long Distance Runner | ♥ 1 | This was a solid entry! Firstly, the graphics were simple but sweet and I particularly liked the color palette. Although the music was enjoyable, it did seem a bit too techno-esque for the general look and feel of the game. That said, it doesn't mean it's bad by any stretch of the imagination. The gameplay worked as intended and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun. However, I had some issue distinguishing between the lanes at first and the cars, while realistic in scope, did feel impossible to avoid at certain points. The feeling of getting hit due to no perceivable fault of your own is never something you should intentionally have the player experience, although I don't see much of a way to avoid it, I suppose. The take on the theme was also a bit surface level, as it was essentially a health bar with no real connection to the theme outside of the cute willpower thing. I guess that's fine though, as the theme is meant to be loose and more of a guideline. On the whole, I enjoyed it! Solid entry! |
| Aug 17 13:30:06 | 12m 24s | Light It Up | ♥ 1 | As this is your first LD entry, I can't be too harsh. I will say that not everyone is an artist so the programmer art is understandable to a degree. The sounds were alright, although some music would have helped tremendously. Despite the fact that the gameplay does have potential, it's currently plagued by a variety of issues you can work on. Firstly, the slow acceleration makes your jumps unnecessarily tricky to land at times and the collision detection bugs out occasionally as well. Not only were the enemies way too many, but they also moved very quickly which made the best strategy to just sit in one spot and jump. As you'd imagine this isn't very fun to do, so more incentive to move around would be nice. I suppose that's what the light out mechanic is for as well as the points but making both of them have a stronger impact would help. Overall, I apologize if I ended up sounded overly critical. This is a solid foundation for your first time, I'd just love to see improvement in your future LD work. |
| Aug 17 15:26:32 | 1h 56m | Tax Rebel | ♥ 1 | Pathfinding is definitely challenging stuff as I discovered back in my first Ludum Dare some years ago, so congratulations on implementing it! It's obviously not perfect and sometimes the player and enemies don't quite move as intended but for the most part, it worked well enough. The graphics were nothing to write home about, but I understand not everyone is an artist. Sound would have helped giving the game some much needed character. A lot can be done on making things more clear as well (such as for example giving the enemies an FoV cone). The main objective is also pretty simple and not very engaging. I did like the opening screen, though. While I didn't love the experience as a whole, as a pathfinding exercise it worked well enough, so I commend you on that front! |
| Aug 17 15:50:57 | 24m 25s | Space Power Defender | ♥ 1 | I dug the graphics. They were nice and colorful and worked pretty well for a game jam entry. The music wasn't bad, but also it wasn't particularly interesting either. The sound effects were quite charming, however. The gameplay was pretty fun and for the most part worked perfectly well. I particularly enjoyed that you had different types of enemies. I'd say the only major thing I'd work on is game feel (I suggest watching the Vlabeer Games video on this subject). I also didn't quite enjoy how your bullets could collide with your power cores. I feel like if you want to have it like that you should make the power cores solid so you can't just pass through them (it doesn't make much sense for your bullets to be stopped by them, but not you yourself). I might just be nitpicking of course. Overall, solid work! |
| Aug 17 16:28:05 | 37m 08s | Plagued Station | ♥ 1 | Fantastic entry! The visual style was quite Cave Story-esque and I loved the color palette in particular. I enjoyed the music quite a bit as well, and the sound effects contributed to the atmosphere, too. Gameplay wise everything appeared to be working as intended and the only issues I have are mostly polish related. I will have to agree with some of the previous feedback about the gun jump being a bit tricky to pull off, although I managed to mostly get used to it. I'd say it's probably downright impossible on a controller especially because of the requirement to push two directions at once. I wouldn't know because I didn't bother with using my Xbox 360 pad due to the B button being used for jumping which threw me off completely. Another issue I had was the fact that when backtracking though certain areas it felt as if the enemies were positioned in such a way that they could immediately attack you as soon as you enter the room. Other than that, I was very impressed with it! I liked the power mechanic (even though it felt like at certain points I was cutting it way too close), I liked the rescue objective and I really enjoyed it as a whole! Fantastic work! |
| Aug 21 21:02:19 | 100h 34m | Last Shine | ♥ 0 | This was a solid entry! From a visual aspect it had a great deal of charm and it looked way above average for a Game Jam title. I also enjoyed the humor and the take on the theme and while the music you had was good, I don't understand why you didn't have any playing during the main chunk of the game. Perhaps it was a bug (I played the web version). The gameplay was quite standard and worked okay, but I believe some things can be done to improve it. Firstly, I found that it wasn't as satisfying as it could have been. Perhaps some screen shake or enemy flash or something along those lines would make it feel even better to battle enemies. Speaking of the enemies I found myself often times getting ganged up on and it didn't feel very good as I didn't seem to find a way of getting out without brute forcing my way through it by dying multiple times. I eventually figured out that perhaps I was meant to use the blocking but I found it very unintuative that it was a toggle. I'd much rather be holding down the button to block and releasing it to stop. Overall, this was a solid entry with lots of charm and a cool take on the theme, but also with a couple of things left to iron out. Good work, regardless! |
