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SparkyDoc07

Feedback comments for LD55

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game		SparkyDoc07's comment
Apr 16 08:37:36		Shrine garden: saved by the bell	♥ 7	The idea of summoning ghosts towards you was quite interesting, and my team was actually thinking about trying something similar. We couldn't find a good game loop for that idea, so I'm glad to see someone who could. The game was fairly intuitive, keeping the game mechanics simple, so a tutorial screen didn't seem necessary. However, it wasn't until my 3rd run that I realised that I could dash across the river, so maybe some form of indication would help. I would have preferred this game to be on a larger map with the shrines closer together. This would have given the player more time to take action when a ghost spawns. A few issues I faced: - Sometimes a gong would not activate, either when the player was too close to the gong or was dashing from the opposite side - The howl would sometimes not trigger. I assumed that this was due to some cooldown between howls, but I'm not sure since I would be able to make 2 or 3 howls in just a few seconds of each other at one point - Some ghosts did not turn around when a howl was activated. This was most evident either when they were just on the border of the circle, or if they had spawned a few frames after the howl Overall, with some of the gameplay issues fixed, this would be a great jam game.
Apr 16 08:48:19	10m 43s	Furriend: A Paw-some Summoning Odyssey	♥ 4	Wonderful game! I appreciate the twist on the summoning theme (i.e. thanks for not making another ghost platformer)! The gameplay is simple, artstyle is adorable, and mechanics are brilliant. Also, I would like to appreciate the fact that you gave me an option to switch between perspective and orthographic. A few things I would have really appreciated, 1) That the summoning circles be controllable with keyboard input like WASD 2) That the camera be free to turn/spin around the game field 3) Some form or tutorial or intro screen, since I didn't understand how to move the summoning circle until I read the game's description from the ldjam website. Ideally, a game should have all relevant info in the game itself You've earned yourself a top score. Enjoy! P.S. the ldjam website allows you to upload a WebGL build directly on the game page!
Apr 17 05:41:52	20h 53m	de-monday	♥ 3	_Upgrades by day, rubber duck destruction by night_ Love the concept! A great twist on the Summoning theme. I don't have any major issue with the game itself (except for the fact that I'm bad at it) but I do have a few suggestions. 1. Upgrade permanence: Make all upgrades permanent. This justifies spending time on them, knowing that they will benefit in the long run. 2. Add perma-transactables: To keep the spirit of temporary upgrades, add some form of reward for killing enemies (simplest being coins, or thematically, souls). These rewards should be transactable to get consumable upgrades, like a speed or strength potion. This is the equivalent of temporary upgrades to speed or strength. 3. Mouse compatibility: Make attack and interactions mouse compatible. E.g. if I click LMB then I can attack an enemy. 4. Hypercasuality: Hypercasual games are easy to play mobile games with usually only 1 or 2 major game mechanics. This game feels very much like a hypercasual game, so maybe lean into that? Add touchscreen compatibility for movement and interaction, add a main menu, etc. Overall, this has been a blast to play. I'd really like to play it if you decide to publish it for mobile.
Apr 17 06:01:44	19m 52s	Conjurer's Cup	♥ 3	THIS IS SUCH A BAD GAME IS SO DIFFI-oh wait I'm winning JK IT'S SUCH A GOOD GAME!!! Lol but in all fairness, I'm enjoying the idea. This feels like foosball with a twist, and I'm all for it. It's a good strategy game, just 2 ideas from my end: 1. Keepers need to be balanced: they are presently too strong and can only be killed by a minion which has no other purpose except to run forward. Consider reducing keeper speed and increasing size. 2. The game field could be larger: Currently, I find the field too be too claustrophobic as soon as I have more than like 4 minions deployed. Consider increasing size. This plays well with reducing keepers' speed. 3. Spawn times must be reduced: Spawning minions takes quite a long time. This is annoying when paired with the slow mana refill. Moreover, if the enemy deploys a fetcher or a runner then you need to wait for quite a while before a pike gets deployed. With this fixed, this would be a really enjoyable game. P.S. I see that your Smart balance metric on LDJam is quite low. Consider giving feedback on other people's games to increase your games chance to get feedback.
Apr 17 08:23:41	2h 21m	Summonion	♥ 4	I have no words! This game checks all the boxes; a good take on the theme, a nice concept, cute arcade-like graphics, wonderful audio, and a nice game loop. Of course, I can't not give at least one suggestion, that being that the player needs some kind of progression. Every round, you can see that the enemy gets stronger, so it is only fitting that the player also have some way to do so. A few ways to implement this are below. - Monetary method: Every day, the player gets 200 gold (or equivalent) with which they can buy... anything! Spells, potions, fences, slingshots, whatever. This make the game increase in strategy as it builds further. - Thematic method: The player can choose to sacrifice the onions to gain some temporary reward, e.g. speed boost, health boost, etc. - Content method: Maybe, as the day progress, the player unlocks new crops like wheat, spice, corn, etc. These crops could have unique characteristics, e.g. corn explodes into kernels on impact, spice does poison damage, etc Add progression, and you game goes from a simple _cute and funny for the first 5 minutes_ to a much better _replayable and strategic for hours on end_, which also happens to be sellable as a full game. All the best on your future ventures!