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SJPixels

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game		SJPixels's comment
Apr 5 02:49:11		Death Is Inevitable	♥ 0	I loved the ambience/mood of this game! The dark hallways and the ominous music really made me feel like I was running for my life. The fact that you don't see the monster right away but you can hear its footsteps adds to the claustrophobic feeling. Also, the speed boost potion was really satisfying and fun to use. Some things that could be improved upon: The camera was consistently going behind walls making it really difficult for me to see where I was going. I ended up getting turned around and lost a bunch of times from this happening. Some landmarks like trees or rocks would help give the player points of reference when navigating the maze. Right now it feels like you're just running aimlessly. The item menu is a little confusing and it took me a while to figure out how to use it. I would put the Useable Items descriptions on the itch page so people can find out what the items do. Great work!
Apr 5 03:44:24	55m 13s	Cheap Blue	♥ 8	This was a really fun and cute game! It felt awesome to pick up flotsam and actually see it appearing on your ship. Gave it a real satisfying sense of progression. The art is top notch and the music fits the game really well. Overall I had a lot of fun playing through a couple times. Some things I think could be improved upon: - Turning felt a little too slow. I would say either allow some more fine-tuned controls or make the hitboxes on the pickups a little more forgiving - The sharks were usually just coming up from behind me and hitting me making it feel like there was basically nothing I could do to avoid them (I guess this works towards the theme but it feels a little hopeless for the player) - Reaching the edge of the playable world felt awkward, might be a good idea to show some kind of transparent fog wall so you know when to start turning Great work! Really impressive for a jam.
Apr 5 04:05:11	20m 47s	Bloodlust	♥ 1	Nice little game! The graphics worked well for the game and everything was pretty clear. I liked the day and night cycle and the different environments. I also liked that you show how many enemies I killed at the end of a playthrough. Here are some things that I think can be improved upon: - There is no feedback when switching weapons. They all feel and look the same when using them so it feels a little pointless to switch them - I was not able to figure when I should be hiding in pots and when I should be fighting. It would be good to communicate more clearly which enemies are too strong for you. - I think the combat might feel a little better if you could attack while moving Overall, great job!
Apr 5 13:54:37	9h 49m	Grieventide	♥ 2	Hey, nice game! I played through the whole thing twice to see if there was anything I missed. Things I liked: - I thought the vignette effect around the edges was a great trick to make the game feel more claustrophobic and stressful. - The combat felt pretty satisfying since you couldn't just stand still and attack. - Also I like how you don't explicitly tell the player what their goal is and you let them figure it out on their own! Exploring around the world felt satisfying and I liked that you had multiple enemy types to keep my wanting to explore. - The sound was nice and worked well with the game (other than some volume issues) Some things that I think could be improved on are: - Communicating what has collision more clearly in the art. There is a certain ground tile that looks a lot like the wall tiles (I think it's like a stone path or something). Since I could walk over this, I spent the rest of the game trying to walk over some of the walls thinking they were stone paths. Giving all walls a white highlight along their edges would help communicate that they have collision. - Although the combat felt good, the fact that you can attack through walls trivializes the whole game. Buildings should feel the most difficult since you don't have as much space to back up while attacking but instead they were the easiest because I would just stand outside and kill everything through the walls before going into the empty building. I'd definitely not allow attacking through walls in the future. - I wasn't sure what I was picking up most of the time. They looked like sticks but I have no idea what purpose they served - The main game progression pickups (looked like squares with a pi symbol on them) were way too loud when you picked them up. Some volume options would really help here. Overall, I had a great time playing it. Good job :)
Apr 5 14:41:34	46m 57s	Revenge is Inevitable	♥ 1	Really well polished game! Things I liked: - The art is all super readable and nice to look at. The animations feel snappy and satisfying. I like how you squash and stretch the sprite while jumping. - The music fits the vibe well and got stuck in my head pretty quickly - The controls are pretty unique and I haven't played anything like it before - The game feel was solid. Slicing enemies felt great (although the first time I thought I died) and jumping and sticking to the ceiling is really cool. - The amount of content is really impressive. Every level feels unique and like you have a clear goal. Great job for being able to get this much content in in a jam game! Things that could be improved (in my opinion): - The controls often just felt frustrating. Being near a ledge and trying to click to jump, only to run off the ledge and die was quite common. I also didn't feel like I had enough control of my jump for some of the more difficult levels - Being able to walk over spikes wasn't very intuitive and feels a little strange - All levels should have walls on the sides. Some levels you can jump left or right and you go off the screen and die. There's no way to know whether the camera will move with you or you'll just die without just taking a leap of faith. - I may have just missed it but I couldn't figure out how to get back to the main menu once I was in a level without just beating the level. One time I accidentally clicked a level I had already beaten and was stuck in it having to beat it again when I didn't want to. - I didn't really see how it fit the theme. I guess it's inevitable that I will beat the levels if I keep trying but that applies to every game. Overall, this is definitely one of the better submissions I've played. I'm really impressed by the level of polish and the amount of content!
Apr 5 20:03:28	5h 21m	Wrath of Dog	♥ 3	This was really fun! Awesome idea that fit the theme well. Some things I liked: - The art was cute and super readable. There was never any confusion about what had collision and what would hurt you. I also liked that you took the time to animate different playable characters. I just wish we got more chances to platform with the deer! - The music and sound served to create a nice calming atmosphere while I was going through the puzzles. - The level designs were all unique and interesting and it felt great to solve the puzzles - This fit the theme perfectly as there are many points when it feels like you're racing against the clock to get to the next spot before you get zapped - The idea itself was really great and well executed. I can see a lot of potential in designing cool puzzles with these mechanics. Things that could be improved: - Depending where your previous vessel died, you could lock yourself out and have to restart the level. I think once one of your characters dies you should remove collision on them - The platforming controls felt a little floaty and not very precise. Some of the smaller platform jumping sections felt frustrating because of this - I didn't really understand the levels where you can see the dog and all you have to do is walk or jump over to the statue. Those felt kind of pointless - Sometimes I found myself waiting for quite a long time for lightning to strike me. It may be good to have the ability to speed up time or something so that you still have to reach the target spot on time but if you do it super quick you don't have to sit around and wait for 10+ seconds Overall, this was a nice and polished submission with a great idea behind it. Nice work!
Apr 5 20:10:35	7m 07s	Goblin Escape	♥ 1	This looks really cool and seems like a really ambitious amount of content for a jam game! Unfortunately as soon as I placed a mine, the menu became transparent but would not disappear. From then on, I couldn't do anything at all and was forced to restart the game. This happened 3 times before I gave up.
Apr 5 20:19:09	8m 34s	Bear’s Flower	♥ 2	I'm unable to play this which is too bad because the art looks awesome
Apr 5 20:27:26	8m 17s	Cursed Ronin	♥ 2	Good job on your first Ludum Dare submission! Our game actually had the same idea so I wanted to check this one out. I like the idea of the blade draining your health. Unfortunately it didn't seem to be working for me as my health was always at 100%. The ample coyote time on jump off ledges felt nice but the level design made it so once you fell off some platforms you could never get back up on them. Great job!
Apr 5 20:37:20	9m 54s	Weed it & Reap	♥ 0	Nice little game! Things I liked: - The art style was cute. Specifically sketch/paper look of the characters was really nice - It fit the theme well and was quite a creative idea for a game - The voice lines were... interesting. I found them pretty entertaining but I could see them getting irritating if you were playing the game more than a couple times - The music was nice and fit the game really well Things that could be improved: - The movement felt kinda strange. I often would tap a movement key once and move twice and then kinda get stuck for a second. It didn't feel like I was really in control - There wasn't really feedback that I was hitting enemies other than when they died - The other reapers died way too fast and then I was left just running around an empty room after Overall, great job!
Apr 6 00:50:59	4h 13m	Can't Tax Me	♥ 2	This is a really awesome game to have completed for a jam! The learning curve was pretty steep but once you figure out the controls it gets a lot easier. My first attempt I only got around lvl 50 but my second I got 192! Things I liked: - The art was very readable and communicated exactly what it needed to. The scythe swing felt satisfying and I liked the FX animations for the various special attacks. - The music was catchy and the enemy death animations were a funny touch - You really nailed the theme. At first it was stressful but once I just accepted that each level ending was inevitable, I had a lot more fun with it. Things that I think could be improved: - I didn't really like that enemies could attack the door from below the platform. Especially in the early levels where you don't have the powerups necessary to deal with them it doesn't feel great to have to jump down below to kill one enemy knowing that will leave the door open to 20 enemies up above - Although there were different looking enemies, they all felt about the same in terms of gameplay. I know this is a jam game so it's tough to really pack content in but I think 2 different enemy types (and then variations) would make the gameplay a lot deeper Overall, this was a really fun game. Most jam games I just play through once but this one had me come back for a second playthrough and the second was even more fun!
Apr 6 18:18:08	17h 27m	Drowsy Drop	♥ 5	What a great game to come out of a jam! Things I liked: - The art was really nice looking and I was impressed by the amount of unique sprites and animations that were in the game. The character designs were perfect and really gave off that creepy Little Nightmares vibe. - The music fit the mood really well. I loved how things got more sinister as time went on. - The dash felt good to use and was working properly - The re-use of assets was done really well by using recolors for new levels Things that I think could be improved: - The run felt a little too slidey/floaty for me. I would have liked some more precision. The collision boxes could probably be reduced a little as well - The goal of the game wasn't too clear to me. Am I just trying to stay alive for as long as possible each level? I eventually figured it out but was confused for the whole first playthrough - I think it fit the theme pretty well but why would I want to stay asleep as long as possible if I'm having such bad nightmares? - The gameplay felt a little shallow. All you really do is run in circles and dash when you get stuck on an object Overall, I think this game is just incredible art and sound-wise. Great job!
Apr 6 20:53:29	2h 35m	UFOTag	♥ 3	Funny little game! Things I liked: - The two parts of the game going on simultaneously so that there is never any downtime - It fit the theme well as I knew eventually I would lose - It's a funny concept even though it doesn't really make sense XD - Although the art is nothing revolutionary, it fit the aesthetic of the game pretty well - I liked the music and SFX and really liked that you included a volume slider in there Things that could be improved on: - I think it would be better to just be able to place towers with your mouse instead of having to awkwardly navigate over with the UFO. Also the time it takes to place a tower is way too long - As far as I could tell, towers are basically useless and do almost no damage. Right from the start, I saved 20 cows and built the strongest tower in the spot with the most time to fire and it barely delayed the next bomb. The final tower should be powerful and delay a bunch of waves - At first I liked that fact that you don't have to click a button to abduct a cow, just hover over it. The issue is that sometimes you are trying to go over and place a tower as fast as possible but if there are any cows between you and the tower you want to place, it automatically starts picking up those cows and locks you into this long animation while you helplessly watch the game end. This could be solved by just clicking to place towers
Apr 6 21:18:53	25m 24s	Straw Journey	♥ 2	This was one of the most fun submissions I've played so far! Things I liked: - The art was cute and fit the game really well. Everything was super readable and easy to understand - Although the music was a little repetitive, it was catchy and also fit the game well - I like the amount of content you fit in with the crafting, islands, and shooting. It really feels like there is constantly stuff to do - Hiding the guy in the hull of the ship was a great idea and gives you an added level of stress while you play - There was lots of feedback that added to the overall gamefeel and made it a lot more fun to keep playing Things that I think could be improved: - I think the game should end if any single crew member dies. Once the guy in the hull died, I could keep the guy up top alive forever so the game became extremely easy - This also makes the game not really fit the theme. Losing didn't feel inevitable because I could just keep one guy alive forever - The boat tilting back and forth was a neat effect but after a while it was making me feel motion sick - You should have separate controls for going up and down ladders (W and S or Up and Down arrow keys) because sometimes you want to pick something up but instead you go down a ladder, wasting time or killing you Overall, really awesome job. I'm super impressed with the amount of different mechanics and the level of polish for a three day jam!
Apr 7 14:33:57	17h 15m	Hearts Ablaze	♥ 0	Wow, I think this is probably my favourite submission I've played so far! Things I liked: - There is so much polished feedback that adds to the gamefeel. From the screen shake when you blow up terrain, to the many little FX animations. Even the little message that tells you when there is 1 enemy left is such a nice quality of life touch. The whole thing just feels insanely polished for a jam game. - I loved the audio. The music is catchy and perfectly matches the tone of the game. All the SFX that you need is there and sounds high quality. - The use of a single resource for time, health, and ammo is a really cool idea and makes this game fit the theme perfectly. It really did feel inevitable that I was going to lose (and quickly!) - I love the way you implemented upgrades where instead of picking them up in the world, you have to make a decision between levels. This adds a nice aspect of strategy (especially since you can skip upgrades) - The art is a very cool style. Any single screen shot wouldn't be some super impressive piece of art but it's all so readable and useable in a game setting that while you're playing you're just thinking "damn this game looks good". Really great job, Alphons! What I think could be improved: - I did feel like the difficulty could be scaled back slightly (on Easy) so that you could have a little more time to learn the mechanics without having to restart over and over. Then you could move onto the harder difficulties without having already played the game 10 times. - I think it could be explained a little more clearly that things like the shotgun or the exploding shot use a lot more health to fire. You kinda just have to learn this stuff by trial and error. I wouldn't say this would be an issue in a full game, but for a jam game I think it's good to overexplain (people only want to spend like 10 minutes playing these generally) - While I love the art, it looks very grid based which doesn't match the free movement very well. However, I'm assuming this was probably a choice because of the lack of time with a jam. Also, to save some time I think you could have gotten away with a single 3/4 facing direction for the enemies. - I think some health pickups on the ground would have been a nice touch and served to let you extend the runs a little longer if you were quick in your exploration Overall, I was blown away by this game. Like I said, I think it's my favourite I've played so far!
Apr 7 22:28:55	7h 54m	Sundown	♥ 1	Nice submission! What I liked: - I think the idea fits the theme really well (our game actually had a very similar idea behind it) - The parallax scrolling was nice - The movement acceleration was a little jarring at first but it was nice to be able to rocket across the screen to get to your next victim - The UI was clear and I always was aware of how much health and ammo I had - The music fit the theme of the game and was pretty catchy What I think could be improved on: - I think a little more effort could have been put into environmental art. I know not everyone is an artist but I can see the effort put into the characters and the background layer with the cactus so I think giving the tiles a little love would help make the game much nicer to look at - The controls were a little difficult to use, especially the wall jump. The run felt so fast that wall jumping completely broke my momentum - I didn't really see a point in ever using my gun. I still used it because it was there but I could always just run up and hit something once or twice and it would take the same amount of time. And since you have to go to their body to drain them anyways, the gun doesn't seem necessary. - The boss could have been a little tankier. I didn't get to see any of his attack because I just ran up and destroyed him before he got to do anything Overall, I had fun playing this. Nice work!
Apr 8 04:05:24	5h 36m	Mythic Garden	♥ 5	Wow, super polished game for a jam! Things I liked: - It fit the theme perfectly. I knew it was just a matter of time before a plant died but I never knew when it would happen. Great idea to only be able to see a few plants at a time and have to constantly run around. Made things really hectic! - The art and music were both outstanding, far beyond what I expect from a jam. They both gave the game a bright and cheery theme. - I like that you added in multiple ways to water plants and a bunch of extra upgrades. This makes the game feel a lot deeper and I'm just really impressed by the amount of content you squeezed in while keeping it polished Things that I think could be improved: - I didn't like that you have to click rapidly to fill water but then hold the mouse button to water plants. I think you could choose one or the other and stick with it (I like hold mouse button to fill and to water) - I was never really sure exactly where my balloon would land. It would be nice to have that be a little clearer Having multiple fountains spread out would be a cool addition. Or to be able to place your own mini fountains instead of always running back to the middle would be cool too Overall, I'm super impressed with this game. crazy level of polish for a three day jam!
Apr 8 14:11:29	10h 06m	Meteor Storm	♥ 1	Hey! Played it a few times and got a couple scores in the 20s (no clue if that's any good) Things I liked: - The art is a nice style and everything is very clear - The game fit the theme well as you know eventually your loss is inevitable - The music was also nice and catchy - The controls were very snappy and I felt like any damage I took was my fault Things that could be improved: - I think it's a little zoomed in. I think it'd be more fun if the camera was zoomed out more and you could complete more rounds - The gameplay is kind of shallow. It's essentially just a reaction speed test you could go do online. Some secondary gameplay like choosing powerups (single hit shield that you place on one side, health upgrade, etc) would help to give the game some depth without adding too much dev time - It was not clear at first what the controls did. I thought I was trying to move my ship out of the way and died 3 times before I realized the thrusters actually destroy the rocks. This will be a common problem since people generally assume that thrusters move a ship and to do so, you would activate the thruster on the opposite side of the way you want to move. This makes it unlikely that a new player will accidentally destroy an asteroid and figure out the real goal of the game. I would just clearly state this on this page and the itch page Overall, nice and polished little game!
Apr 10 22:01:45	55h 50m	Bleed	♥ 1	Interesting game! Things I liked: - The music was a little strange but it actually did a great job of giving you a sense or urgency and anxiety - The movement felt good - The minimap was a nice touch and easy to read - I liked that every level was a little different Things that could be improved - I think you should start every level with your sword equipped - I felt like I was getting hit a lot despite attack the enemies as they came in at me. Maybe giving the attack a little bigger range would help - The environment was a little too samey and undetailed. Everything looked identical. Even just tinting the walls and floor different colors on the different levels would help mix it up - I wasn't sure what the blue orbs that I was collecting were used for. Were those just points? Overall, nice job!