Shape Defender

bloodyaugust 2024-04-15 20:26

You have the bones of a good survivors-like here. I don't think the lens mechanic really landed for me: as it is, it was better to just avoid the enemies and make sure I hit as many of my shots as I could. Perhaps the base damage could be lower, but I think the core of why I didn't use the lenses was because every enemy became a soup of mixed colors. If you could do something to address that, perhaps that mechanic would have a chance to shine, but I'm not sure how you'd accomplish that. :sweat_smile: Either way, you have a complete game here with SFX, and that alone is definitely worth commendation after being done in a weekend. Great job! :tada:

vrdiy 2024-04-15 20:35

Very cute game, has a nice classic feel to it. It could use some more difficulty, currently you don't need the dash to dodge as you outspeed the enemies pretty hard. The idea of the lenses is really cool! Although I wish they stuck around longer so you could get more use out of each one. The slo-mo is a great touch. Good Job!

human-writes-code 2024-04-16 07:54

I'm a sucker for a survivor-like game. This one has an interesting mechanic that I haven't come across in one before with the lenses and the colour-classing of enemies. It plays smoothly and the controls feel responsive.

I think the lens mechanic was a little difficult to use effectively. Perhaps placing coloured "zones" which allowed your weapon to do more damage to that colour enemy inside the zone would have made it more impactful? Or maybe just letting the lens last longer? I found myself placing a lens but then being quickly chased away from a location where it was useful. I do really like the concept though and I think it is a mechanic that is well worth developing further.

In general, the game would have benefited from some music and general design stuff like a title screen. Overall, though, great work! Well done and congratulations on getting it completed this time around!

bzoo345 2024-04-16 09:03

Thanks for the feedback everyone! for a first completed entry on a LD Jam I'm quite happy with how it turned out, and now at least I have an idea on what to improve for the next one

andyp 2024-04-17 01:11

after going through lots of games with demons and other otherworldly beings, its refreshing to play a game with abstract characters again. SFX were a treat, i like the lighting of the projectiles, and the lens concept was interesting but hard to use. i won mainly by running in circles :see_no_evil:. nice work!

kotolazer 2024-04-17 16:15

The game feels very nice, but I didn't understand how to summon someone, or what pressing "E" was responsible for

runningopenloop 2024-04-18 06:43

I really liked this one. I actually didn't quite figure out the lenses at first either as the regular fire was reasonably effective and I was able to keep ahead of the mob following me. In spite of your press 1, 2, or 3 instructions I felt I could click and drag, by the end of the first game I took you at your word.

The mob made it hard for me to use the lenses at times, but I felt there were some strategies I could hone, like making a lens, firing through, then jumping to the other side and firing back. - perhaps generate less enemies but give less damage to enemies when not firing through lens. - And then enemies damage more too.

I think more shorter levels with "patterns" that would allow you to defeat the enemies if employed would make this a great game. Of course the damage would be higher and you would have to restart the level if you got hit to much.

I think you could evolve this with mirrors and other board objects.

Although it has just about nothing to do with it... the game reminded me of the board game Ricochet Robots 2nd edition (blue box). I think it was the gray tones and the colors + the colored mirrors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricochet_Robots

Let us know if you make updates!

scurvystevon 2024-04-19 01:47

It was fun! I played all the way through

oldmanjoe9 2024-04-19 19:51

This was a decent survival shooter. First run through I couldn't figure out how to get the lenses to work, had to reread the rules to see that I had to press 1,2,3 but after getting them to work they didn't seem that useful because of the debuff to damage hitting enemies of different colors. If there were a way of improving the usefulness of the lenses that would be good

maxplusplus 2024-04-21 11:33

Fun game! I like the "weakness to their own colour" concept and I think with some adaptation and tweaking it could really shine -- I would also recommend adding boundaries to stop the player running off-screen and winning easily :sweat_smile:

oliver-richmeier 2024-04-22 05:13

It's an interesting idea but the enemies just weren't aggressive enough, I could outrun them and take them out easily without using the lenses. There is definitely room for expansion and potential for more strategic play.