Anvilesque

The Summoning at River's Edge by Flaterectomy 2024-04-17T11:38:46Z

Nice game! As someone who frankly isn't usually interested in the writing aspect of games, I still found the adventure you've created to be quite immersive and enjoyable. When it comes to the endings, I think it's fine to inform the player whether they got a good or bad ending, but it's also important to keep in mind that they are the ones playing the game. Accordingly, I would personally avoid predicting—or, in a sense, dictating—how the player should feel (e.g., "mixed feelings" or "unfortunately"). After all, bad endings are not always "bad" in and of themselves; good and bad endings are simply categories to identify and differentiate experiences.

The music was indeed repetitive, but for a game jam I think this is acceptable. I think the music still contributed to the overall atmosphere, and it was generic enough that it fit into all parts of the story, which can also be seen as a clever feat of reusing assets.

Some things to think about (that I thought of while playing the game):

It may be worth experimenting with the dialogue format of "Name: {dialogue}." Since this isn't any formal writing, it's not entirely necessary to use complete sentences all the time. It also gives the text a simpler structure, as one can more easily identify portions where characters are actually speaking.

On a similar vein, you could try out shorter paragraph/page sizes. I don't think it was detrimental to have long pages of text, and it's sometimes helpful to be able to go back and read what just happened again. At the same time, there were times when I felt like I was pretty much just reading a short story, and in an alternate game setting with sprites and actions such as an RPG, developers would lean more towards shorter bursts of text so that the player doesn't feel overwhelmed with the potentially intimidating action of *reading* (of course, that is what the point of this game is, but amount of text per page is still worth the consideration).

Also, I personally would've liked if the "restart game" and "are you sure" indicated that (1) it would just refresh the page, and similarly, (2) why I wouldn't be sure to restart the game (i.e., what I would be losing if I did restart). It made me feel a bit uneasy having to second-guess my choice to restart after seeing the "are you sure," and subsequently a bit confused after seeing it was just refreshing the page.

Overall though, a pleasant experience. All of the choices felt significant, and the endings were clearly different from one another. Not sure if there was supposed to be a moral to the story, but I think there were still some takeaways regardless. Great work!

A Long Hello by gamebuilder 2024-04-24T02:03:53Z

Nice game! I'm fascinated by the use of keyboard keys to navigate through the different areas, as well as the use of doors to travel backwards, rather than a 'go back' button. These choices are unconventional, but they are effective and challenge the necessity of "standard" keyboard controls.

The premise is interesting, somewhat reminding me of the story behind Five Nights at Freddy's. Accordingly, I feel that there is great potential for deep lore in this story, starting even with just the personalities of the characters. The character portraits alone are a strong start.

Felonossa by FabiGhindaru 2024-04-17T12:23:49Z

Nice game! Really enjoyed the overall idea, and I think it was all implemented well. The gameplay is creative and packaged neatly, and as someone who enjoys typing in general, I'm a fan.

The writing is also really good; it all felt consistent, and going through each of them did definitely made me ponder life a bit. And then I realized that there have been clues and new words in each entry the entire time, which is when I finally started playing the game. The unique language and names are fascinating, and each esoteric word was introduced in such a seamless manner, having interesting and significant value to the gameplay both by story and by mechanics. I also enjoyed the little 4th wall breaks and creator comments in the library.

**SPOILER ALERT** Unfortunately, I got stuck as well at what seemed to be the ending, and I feel like what I was missing was the soul's name. Not fully confident I understood what P+N+W meant; my guess is that it indicates the order of the words or some form of concatenation. My approach was to read each entry and type out every single foreign word, seeing if the game accepts it as significant, then go to the last area and type out each word in all possible permutations (i.e., brute forcing). Couldn't figure it out though, and as I'd spent over an hour, Ihad to concede.

Other than that though, the puzzles were satisfying and the whole experience was quite immersive. Really impressive work!

Heart of the Cards by Profugo Barbatus 2024-04-24T01:46:04Z

Nice game! This is the first game I've seen that makes a reference to pop culture summoning, yet it twists the concept in an unexpected (and amusing!) way. The controls and movements are straightforward and easy to pick up (though it did take me until the last room to realize I had a jump, perhaps because it wasn't needed throughout). I also enjoyed the variety in monsters and their attacking patterns.

I've seen the other comments mentioning the slow pace of the game, and while I do agree that the game is slow, I think it also stretches the amount of content available (given the 3-day deadline) to an appropriate pacing. Of course, if more levels are to be added, then it might get exhausting playing at this progression speed, but at the game's current state (i.e., having just one level), I thought I was able to enjoy it for an appropriate amount of time.

One feature I did consider while playing was some sort of SFX for progressing through the next door, or some kind of indication that there has been some change to the map. Currently, this level is small enough that the player can just zoom around looking for the next open door, and the doors open in a relatively obvious sequence. Thinking about larger and more complex maps, however, I think the player would appreciate some kind of cue that they can stop looking for enemies to shoot and start looking for the next room to explore.

I enjoyed the experience overall! The Kuriboh sprite is very cute, and from a game dev perspective, I'm inspired by the 2D aesthetic that also circumvents the pains and tedious labor of 3D modeling. The SFX were satisfying, and I feel like I accomplished something by defeating the final boss. Great work!

Summoner's (photography) Apprentice by Ansible 2024-04-17T13:51:41Z

Nice game! The idea is very unique, and the gameplay reminds me a lot of Papers, Please (in a good way!). The artwork, though simple and perhaps incomplete, is somewhat charming to me, as it still captures the essence of the environment.

I do wish there was a bit more feedback when getting the results, or hints while choosing objects and placing runes. I've played this extensively and tried to figure out a consistent way to get the right potion, but I haven't been able to figure out. And I gave up on the runes entirely, as I couldn't really see a connection between them and any other aspect of the game, besides the end results. As a result, it sort of becomes a black box problem with many different possible explanations, and without any guidance on what to focus on, it becomes very difficult to solve.

But perhaps that is just the competitive, completionist, a-little-tilted-that-I-couldn't-beat-the-game side of me speaking. This game is still fun to play and quite immersive; the fact that I got hooked into trying to figure it all out speaks for itself. The different stages are cohesive and seamlessly connected, with a clear end goal. I really felt like an apprentice grinding this work out! Awesome job overall.

(Also, no need to say "sorry" for asking the player to refresh to play again! My game ended up breaking several times when adding a "play again" feature, so it's completely understandable and maybe even preferable to just ask for a quick refresh.)

The Worst Wizard by Gabriel Bissonnette 2024-04-18T09:39:51Z

Nice game! Really charming visuals and audio, it feels very polished overall. Your team made great use of the "Summoning" theme and built an enticing world around it, even with just a few notes and areas. I would definitely continue playing if there were more!

I'd say my favorite part of the experience was, as others have mentioned, seeing each pepePainting along the way. To be frank, the indirect storytelling through those fun little illustrations (and short captions) left me more interested in those frog wizards than the one I was controlling! That sort of indirect storytelling feels very wholesome and seemed to share a lot about... both wizards' personalities, really, whether they are to be interpreted as analogous or narrative foils. Personally, it reminded me a lot of vlog and TV show montages, where the audience can experience life in the world as it occurs naturally, so I'm really glad you chose to add those in.

Overall, well done on all fronts! Short and sweet, I'd definitely consider it a worthy "Summoning" game.

Gods of the Forest by Dan Allison 2024-04-16T08:43:56Z

Nice game! Really like the visuals, the music, the UI and dialogue and story, it all ties together nicely. I most enjoyed the god-like appearance of the trees, and the ending to the story was quite enticing. The spellbook gameplay mechanic is creative; it feels like I'm actually referencing a spellbook and holding my wand (the mouse) to cast it. I also greatly enjoyed the structure of learning a new spell per area and making significant use of it thereafter.

One critique I would give is that the third level (the one that gives the healing spell) was a bit difficult to figure out, as it wasn't intuitive to me that the icicle freezes water. Perhaps, simply, an area of water in the first level would remedy this. I did manage to get around it by realizing that it is possible to stack wind tunnels on the same spot to get a crazy high boost, though I assume this is not intentional.

I also often got stuck on the sides of walls or enemies, and if I recall correctly, I personally solved this by adding a Physics2D material with 0 friction to the colliders. Not sure if this is applicable in this implementation, but I figured I'd inform you just in case.

Overall though, well done! Definitely a game jam result to be proud of. (And don't overwork yourself if you're too exhausted! It's just as important to take breaks and pace yourself as it is to continue the grind.)

Salmoning Time by Anvilesque 2024-04-17T12:35:38Z

@fabighindaru @oddballdave @astride @ecenizo Thanks for playing! Yeah, I definitely understand the difficulty of the game. The controls are indeed 'S' and 'K,' and it's a call-and-response kind of mechanic: Salmoner sings for 4 beats, then the player inputs the notes that appear on top afterwards. The notes to input are almost always in line with the way the Salmoner just sang. It's like what happens when a singer says "repeat after me" (which, in retrospect, Salmoner should've said as well).

The structure is kind of like sheet music (each circle represents a sixteenth note), but I totally get that that can be difficult to get used to, even with experience with sheet music. Given the lack of feedback (something like "late" or "early" visual indicators) as well, which I now realize is a crucial missing feature, and the darn calibration system that broke last-minute, and the fact that I did make the timings quite tight (probably a window of <100 ms for each note), rest assured that this is not an easy game, to say the least.

Regardless, I appreciate your time spent playing my game, I hope you had an enjoyable experience regardless, and... SALMONNNNN!!!!!!

Salmoning Time by Anvilesque 2024-04-18T10:11:54Z

@heretic OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Salmoning Time by Anvilesque 2024-04-19T00:12:52Z

@mariorod @gwethelynn @gabriel-bissonnette Thanks for playing! Yeah, this was a valuable learning experience for me in terms of game difficulty, and I'll be sure to focus more attention on that in the future. Glad you all had fun though!

Idea Catcher——Summoning Tools by DrgCandle 2024-04-18T10:43:30Z

Nice game! Really incredible look overall, all the illustrations/animations are cute and consistent with the overall environment. I really enjoyed the freedom you gave the player to stop and think with the option to pause, and also to pick and choose which tools to use, without forcing the player to use them all or to use a certain solution. I personally really liked the difficulty balance, and finishing the game was quite satisfying.

I'll be nitpicking now (just in case you wanted a few critiques), but here are a few aspects that were somewhat unclear for me:

1) The buttons on the main menu screen. To be honest, I was already caught off guard by the amazing art and didn't realize that it *wasn't* a cutscene, that I was waiting for nothing to happen and the 'Play' button was on the screen the entire time. However, making the buttons look even just slightly more like clickable buttons when not hovered over is probably enough to remedy this, so it's no big deal at all.

2) The fact that 'Space' could be used to pause (and that I could pause in general while still playing the game). I understood that 'Space' was used to begin movement (the giant 'PRESS SPACE' makes this clear), but it took me a few levels to realize that I could use it to pause as well. I'm not sure whether it was intended for the pause feature to be used while playing the game—though it seems intentional, as the player can still place tools down while paused—but it could still be useful to know regardless. Again, a simple fix like a tooltip/textbox informing the player about this would probably be sufficient.

Don't get me wrong though, this game is fantastic, very well put together. I'm truly inspired by this great feat your team has been able to pull off, and I hope every single one of you is proud of the work you've contributed to make this game possible. Simply put, amazing!

Shadow Summoners by Shenon 2024-04-17T12:05:03Z

Nice game! I think there's a strong overall structure/idea to the game that fits the theme well. The art is consistent, and the animations bring life to the gameplay. The music is also simple, making it easy to listen to repeatedly, yet also fitting.

In terms of the gameplay and the controls, it was a bit confusing at first for two reasons:

1) The "Keys" menu says to right-click to summon an ally, but I believe it's actually left-click.

2) In the WebGL/itch screen, when not in fullscreen, the player can't see the UI on the bottom-right, which I think is a pretty significant feature of the game. Regardless, I could kind of figure out what Q did, so it wasn't too big of a deal, but it's still important info for the player to have. What I'm guessing could fix this is using anchor point instead of position to set the location and size.

The village area is a nice start and has great potential for further development. Enemies could target houses or break down walls, for example. I will say it may be better to only have 2 summoner sprites on the field, one for each type of creature, or to have a separate player sprite that summons the creature. I was expecting there to be a total possible summon count of 4 given the 4 summoners.

Overall, the idea is clearly portrayed, and the art is particularly pleasing. Thumbs-up from me!

Luminth by crushedsummers 2024-04-16T08:05:03Z

Nice game! The art aligns with the overall mood of the game quite well. I particularly like the choice to use clear white fog as opposed to illuminating a dark room, as it keeps the game bright and serene. The game over seems to express death; great contrast, though it would perhaps be more suitable to lean towards a more subtle idea such as being lost or wandering. The music fits well, and the presence of SFX enriches the atmosphere significantly. The footsteps are a little harsh, though, and given that is the most frequent SFX played, I would suggest a more floaty, filtered feel for them.

The gameplay certainly warrants the use of the "Summoning" theme, which is great (this theme was difficult!). The instructions are simple and mostly intuitive. It appears as though the lights turn red upon death, perhaps to indicate a wrong path, but it can be somewhat confusing when all of them change color. Another confusion I had was the lack of a thing in the incorrect path; the creature pops up out of nowhere. As a result, the game becomes more trial-and-error, exhausting every path before finding the correct one. An idea I had to mitigate this was to use the red lights only when the player places them down themself, perhaps when the light is within a certain range of the creature. Then the player would know to avoid that general area and be more careful when traversing through the maze. Overall, a pleasant experience. Great work!

Blood Rite by LetsSnack 2024-04-19T07:51:07Z

Nice game! Really enjoyed the overall atmosphere, and I think this game really takes great advantage of the "Summoning" theme. The art is great and consistent, and the animations keep the environment lively. The music and SFX also tie into the mood of the game quite well.

After reading the other comments, I will say that I personally did not find using E to sacrifice rats to be too big of a deal, but I do agree that an alternative like Shift (or better yet, allowing the player choose their keybind) would be preferred.

The gameplay is pretty straightforward (especially with the tutorial) and pretty fun to play after trying it out for a bit, though I'm still not entirely sure what the "hero" refers to, on the upgrade cards. One thing I will say is that I felt like there wasn't much reason to use any skeletons other than the cheapest ones, as they were the fastest, most suitable against the melee enemies, and, well... cheapest. Of course, it's great to see variety in the types of skeletons, and I think providing these options alone makes the game more fun. So, it could be worth considering how players can be given more incentives to use the other skeletons, whether by introducing scenarios in which they are more useful, or by reworking their abilities.

Overall, a pleasant experience. Great work!