Dwarf Power

zgragselus 2017-08-01 00:42

I like the entry. Voxel graphics makes it look cute, animations make it lively, multiplayer makes it replayable and it is indeed more fun in more people. As this was your first jam, I tend to always pick one or two things I missed or didn't like that much about game (because for me - a comment with description of what could be improved is more worth than just pointing out good parts):

- I missed some power ups that could help worse player to get ahead of the first one again (through some dirty tricks).

- I was lacking some higher goal (except of buying better tools, that would push me through game) - yet this is common problem with jam games (simply because there is not time to make any more complex goals).

- The game lacks controller/controls setup - that could make it even more interesting, and due to multiplayer it is well suited for it.

Congratulations on making your first jam game. I like it and enjoyed playing it - I bet that is what counts.

indieimpala 2017-08-02 21:16

@zgragselus Everything you mentioned, it is exactly the unfinished cards left on our Trello.. Time just ran away completely. It Does lack the higher goal, so we opted to just keep increasing the power demand every few levels, it works, but could definitely be tweaked and improved with more pickup varieties.

We made animals, a rabbit and a fox looking thing thought that they could pop out at random and bite a player, or maybe pay some money to build a wall in front of the other player's furnace for a day, to help a player catch up.

Thanks for the awesome feedback, getting into rating tomorrow, been catching up on a lot of sleep!

spexxilove 2017-08-02 22:16

I can only agree with what's already been said. Nice graphics and a good idea.

The only thing I want to point out is that when upgrading to the gold pickaxe you can't mine to the maximum inventory size anymore. it stops at 18.

coomzy 2017-08-02 22:19

Really good game for your first jam. Pretty polished, sadly I didn't get to play it two play so couldn't get the "full experience". Didn't understand how to actually win tho

indieimpala 2017-08-02 22:29

@coomzy Yes the single player is definitely not polished, all the UI for player 2 is showing.. which I can imagine is confusing. We actually wanted to take the mode out, but didn't want to cut potential players out.

Give it a try with a buddy, it does it more justice :) Thanks for the comments!

amatwiedle 2017-08-02 22:42

Unfortunately, didnt have a buddy to play, but it was fun nonetheless :smile:

arden 2017-08-02 22:51

Cute little game! I didn't really fully understand how energy worked. (my friend didn't do anything on the first day, and somehow he ran out of energy before me?)

duzzondrums 2017-08-03 07:26

Nice game, I can imagine it being fast paced fun with a buddy to play with for sure! I really like the light hearted tone, the music you picked and the art style really work well!

gris 2017-08-03 18:27

Nice art style. Good job with finishing that much in 72h!

pedrowzee 2017-08-03 23:45

I wish I didn't have to install it. Or if I could at least do it through itch.io

bveeramani 2017-08-04 07:22

I loved this game. I didn't have a friend to play it with, but just by playing the single-player I'd image in it'd be very enjoyable. The rabbits are adorable and the music is very fitting. One recommendation I have is to play a sound effect when the player mines with a full bag; I think that would help communicate to the player that they need drop off the coal. Overall, really great job!

indieimpala 2017-08-04 07:28

@bveeramani Good Idea, maybe even highlight your furnace when your bag is full, players did not seem to always notice it. Thanks for the feedback!

sarah 2017-08-05 05:13

This game is really cute, I like the graphics! And while you didn't make the song, it fits the game really well! Overall, well done :)

frozenfire92 2017-08-05 05:13

Fun game, I enjoyed the style and music. With some more variation and polish it would really shine. For a jam game I would have preferred you just give a zip of the build rather than an installer. It didn't seem to work with xbox controllers for me. I also noticed you can move diagonally faster, are you forgetting to normalize the vector?

phantom-lab 2017-08-08 18:03

Mining for power, I love this game. And multiplayer??!! Are you kidding me? Thats soooooo awesome!

felipe-tavares 2017-08-13 01:13

Loved it! It's so cute! Also, awesome music! And the multiplayer... the pinnacle of awesomeness!

rootpew 2017-08-13 12:20

Wow, that's some overtime done by the artists involved. Excellent visuals!

Great entry overall.

pkenney 2017-08-13 17:32

I happened to have two people here and was able to do a for-real couch multiplayer on this. Nice work, it feels really complete, with nice graphics, animation, and even if you didn't create the sound/music it was well-selected.

Nothing really got in the way of the fun here, I feel like it's nice and responsive. Only a few small issues: I got stuck inside an ore spawn by stepping into it right as it came into existence. I also wasn't clear on whether sleep mattered, I initially rushed to bed but later felt like this just wasted time. Lastly, I slightly experimented with bodyblocking the other player, I wonder if maybe there's a degenerate strategy of getting slightly ahead and then blocking the other player's access to their furnace until they lose?

But it's a really strong entry, nice work!

EDIT: forgot to mention, I really don't care for it being released as an installer. It's not pleasant to have to uninstall games after an LD, and my computer would become a giant mess if everyone released as an installer. Please make it a zip file which I can expand to a folder and simply run directly. Many times I cancel the install and don't play the game, so you may be losing players this way.

indieimpala 2017-08-14 10:47

@pkenney Thanks for the feedback! Valid points made, the ability to sabotage the other player was needed, so as a counter we added the rabbit to bite a player and make them slower, but still doesn't work that great.

If you fail to sleep you will walk 10% slower the next day, same as being bitten.

As for the installer, first time game jam over engineering.. Will replace it with a zip ASAP.

Glad you got to play with a buddy!