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| Timestamp | Since previous | Game | pickens-inc's comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 5 20:43:20 | Stronkey Kong | ♥ 2 | What a magnificent entry! I spent a lot longer playing this than I thought I would. Incredible polish for a compo game, and I loved how much it felt like Donkey Kong reimagined. The music especially was appreciated, how nearly everything was *just* different enough from the original, and the main theme was great, using that little five note motif repeatedly. The controls were pretty clear once I read instructions and it was a nice clear indication of progress. I do have some constructive criticism. The main one I think has been echoed a little in that there were times, especially near the beginning, where it felt like a real grind trying to earn enough - especially for that ladder. Losing 1000 meant having to sit there grinding potentially ten barrels, and sometimes this didn't always feel fair - I wasn't sure how to deal with the flame enemies without the hammer, and they'd sit there rudely in the one place I need to build or surround me on both sides. Generally cutting down the -1000 punishment and making everything way cheaper (and maybe making powerups more frequent, only saw two in 20 minutes) would be a big improvement for a jam experience. That said, it was still a remarkably fun and cute game with wonderfully authentic graphics and a tight controls. Well done! stronkey.png | |
| Oct 7 14:33:35 | 41h 50m | Deathrail | ♥ 2 | This was a neat little game! At first I thought the challenge was a bit too high, but then the short length compliments that, and I realised after a bit that there were actually two separate levels so I wasn't starting from scratch every time. I am probably reading too much into it, but I interpreted the clash of her pixellated, rough art style (she's cute by the way) juxtaposed with the clean minimalist style of the environment to be some sort of smbol for her rebellion. Intentionsal? Probably not, but it adds to it for me, in a way that clashing styles rarely do. The controls were prety intuitive and the main mechanic adds a layer of complexity to a pretty standard genre. My only real criticism is that it would be nice to have some better way of conveying the imbalance without having to look at her. My eyes are mostly trying to focus on the path ahead, and having to keep glancing back at the character to see where balance is was the main reason I'd die. Possily on purpose but it does feel a bit unfair at times. Overall, a solid entry! And the music was great too. Well done. |
| Oct 9 19:14:15 | 52h 40m | Scootles | ♥ 2 | A solid entry in all regards! The graphics were appealingly cute and I've certainly never played a game where you are driving a mobility scooter around. I actually think that the instbaility mechanic is more of a hindrance to the overall experience than a help, as it reduces the idea that this a skill-based game, and can feel at times more frustrating than amusing. Still, it was always funny when I did accidentally just ram into someone at a million miles-per-hour. Very well done! |
| Oct 9 19:38:46 | 24m 31s | Sky Burns Red | ♥ 1 | Really solid entry! I love creative rhythm games and the simple input system allowed me to be able to better acclimatise myself to the constant monitoring of the stage balance as a mechanic! Which never felt unfairly tricky as you saw I was even able to beat the last level so hurray! As mentioned on stream I would have liked to have more audio feedback on getting a successful beat to add to the satisfaction and meaning I don't have to be on the lookout for the UI tags all the time. It also would have been nice to have a better idea as to the state of repair of the stage and the happiness of the crowd as you can never really have a good look at the stage in the moment/. I'm really impressed that you managed to get an editor in there and I hope people more talented than me make some cool levels for it! Well done! |
| Oct 9 20:08:34 | 29m 48s | Manicat | ♥ 1 | As I said on stream, that was a much much better experience than I was expecting given the obviously shitposty aesthetic it was going for - usually games like that have an equally "deliberately bad" gameplay loop. However it's clear to see how much thought and design had gone into the game feel as the gunplay was surprisingly satisfying and improved in half a dozen ways that weren't immediately obvious to me until I took a second. The sound effect for the gunshot is really nice, the camera movement, the particle effects were both very satisfying and so did the time slow during kills which added a moment of much-needed clarity to the current situation. It even felt nice to die. I also successfully found the cabbage, though as I could not ride it I would consider this game unplayable. (only joking it's great fun, well done) |
| Oct 10 23:00:18 | 26h 51m | Fission Horse in The Escape From the Condemned Stables | ♥ 1 | What a compelling entry! I really rather enjoyed that. A silly and enjoyable concept with a great mix of takes on the theme. Worth it for the pun alone. I found the controls rather difficult and the experience was marred only by a few small things. Some feedback beyond UI for your approaching overheating or too much speed would have been great, and I think two ways of dying in addition to the standard anti-horse hazards was enough, the addition of the spike wall on occasion was a little bit too much to keep track of. But overall, well done, lots of content and a great game for a compo entry. |
| Oct 14 23:51:42 | 96h 51m | Darkness In Bloom | ♥ 2 | Sorry this post took so long to come about! I played the game a while back but life caught up to me, so to remind myself of how it all works I played it again just now! So let's go. First off, that's a really cool mechanic you've put together. The duality system is freaking cool and it's made all the cooler by the litany of UX that has gone into it. From the visible effects and the particles to the way your character changes dependent on the level of your chaos and life,. And the sound effects were just magnificent, that looping sound that still somehow sounds like a flock of doves taking flight as you give life is probably my favourite sound effect in the game. A lot of my constructive criticisms have already been echoed here, but really I just wish I got to make more use of the mechanics in a more nuanced way. I liked that you had to drain life from the enemy to give it to the pillars, but garnering too much chaos could mean you have to buff your enemies. That's clever, but I think the only benefit of giving life being to be able to open the gate is not quite as satisfying as the way draining it very obviously makes you safer. My other constructive criticism is on the lack of utilisation of the environment, and here I think I could probably tie both of these issues with one solution - what if you could - on select tiles - give life to bushes and buds that form walls or slowed terrain - both for you and the enemy? It'd allow you to be able to gain control of the terrain, and perhaps they'd slowly wilt. I'd as a result probably try and modify the actual forward objective in that scneario however, perhaps to collect something or survive for a certain amount of time. Anyways. Enough with the cc! The ending was great, I love the little twist and I noticee upon playing the second time that the dude is the same state as you too, as I was in the skeleton-y Gravelord Nito-y form, and so was he! Really nice touch. We have cast ourselves into that first flame and all is right with the world again. Overall, a really solid entry, as I've come to expect from you guys! Well done. |
