I absolutely love how the story and gameplay are so tightly coupled together; low-vertex shapes are clumsier and every jump makes you weaker. And I'm definitely not scoring you low on graphics, because it has all it needs to work well.
The automatically changing text is a really nice touch, bonus points :)
I had this game on my waiting list but never got around to it. Phew, didn't expect to do a review with 3 minutes left :P
One of the few games where the shapeshifting is your enemy and out of your control! Really innovative!
I'm definitely reading too much into the cutesy game, but it could be seen as an allegory of keeping free speech (various colors/shapes) down to please an existing way of thought where failure causes citizens to leave the support of the queen.
As Swynfel pointed out, you could make it extra evil and have the correct shapes shapeshift as well! Or make it even more fast and it could easily become a twitchy game perfect for mobile devices!
This game has a lot of potential, I hope you improve and release it after the jam!
I wouldn't rate it high on innovation (I've seen many other iterations of this idea this jam), but everything else was fun!
The simple mechanic was surprisingly replayable and the skull breaker was very satisfying :). I would have suggested color-coding the shapes or having indicators instead of text, but I recognized the shape to press quite quickly, so that seems fine to me. I also like how the difficulty (the time between barriers) steps up over time as well.
Feels like the kind of game you could package, push to the App Store and nobody would guess it was made in 72 hours! Well polished is what I mean to say :P
The music is fantastic and everything about the game was fun! My only niggle is that the theme could be better exploited in the mechanics. You could have a little GUI element in the corner explain what the animal is capable of so that the player isn't just shapeshifting for no reason.
I initially thought it was a decent Arkanoid clone until the ball moved to the next level! Really innovative! The boss battle was tense as well, although I didn't beat it :|
I really hope you'll flesh the mechanics out into a larger game after the jam, it's got a lot of potential!
The game fits perfectly within the theme and is a lot of fun to play! I would have preferred it if it weren't time based and encouraged exploration instead. And like the others pointed out, smaller objects or more diverse objects would have been better for smooth rolling.
Difficult, but rewarding. Very charming use of the lighting effect (bloom?). I don't know how I feel about the slippery controls, especially given that the player is made of paper and not slime or anying.
Bonus points for a 12MB Unity game! I've abused my SSD so much downloading 200MB sidescrollers that I really appreciate the small download size!
Really interesting mechanic (very reminiscent of a popular mobile game I can't recall right now), although I'm a bit unsure about that time mechanic in a puzzle game.
Really beautiful looking game! Initially, I felt the car moved a bit too quickly, but as the level sped up, the speed and stiffness of the movement were just right. The post-jam version is absolutely fantastic!
Ooh, first game I found made with Superpowers! How fun was the engine to work with?
The randomly spawning enemies did kinda make each kill unsatisfying and annoying. Still, the theme was implemented quite well and the game was still fun overall :)
I was really confused at the beginning, you should follow flappy bird's example and have a sort of empty area first for players to get used to the controls.
You should probably slow down the learning curve. I'm not going to say turn down the difficulty because the levels were really fun, but maybe add some easy levels in between to slowly raise the difficulty :P
Oh. My. God. I absolutely love the art-style. Not sure how I feel about the shapeshifting, because I was fine with sticking with the default character.
It's really interesting how enemies could camouflage themselves if the background changed to match their color. Keeps the gameplay quite tense because you don't know if you're 100% safe.
The game is so unforgiving, but it never felt like the game cheated me. The level design and game design are one of the best I've seen so far! Great work!
Not many puzzle-like games related to the theme, surprisingly. As a fan of stealth, the game was a lot of fun, but I could use a bit more information, like enemy view-circles and stuff.
Really interesting game, but I think the sound was basically monodirectional, so I couldn't find my way even with headphones. But I really hope you'll polish the idea and flesh it out a little post-jam! I really dig the idea of a sound-only 3D game.
As a JS programmer, the game is really cool (I looked at the source)! I noticed you're using pos3d in howler.js to set the position and it didn't seem to work for me (even though I'm in Chrome). Maybe you could try going straight for StereoPannerNode (it's actually surprisingly simple) and *really* exaggerate the stereo to help out players. Just a suggestion, you obviously have more experience with this :)
Initially I thought it was going to be a generic "shapeshift to jump higher" sort of game, but the automatic movement made it more of a puzzler. Really well designed game :)
Oh. My. God. This is absolutely beautiful. Didn't really feel like shapeshifting, but that's just a small thing. This is one of those ludum dare gems. Well done :)
The game was really interesting and the music was fantastic, but it felt really unforgiving and it wasn't really satisfying. As Lythom suggested, maybe it's got something to do with the keyboard? Or maybe WebGL lag? Still fun though :)
Unfortunately really simple and overdone for this theme, but what worked for me was settling on the most unique sounding idea a few hours into the jam :P
The world needs more cyberpunk! Great atmosphere, great story, but I would have loved a few more branches or choices to really make it feel like a game.
The button-press thing was actually quite interesting for a text-based game (I don't play many text games, so you might know this already). But every time I held the button, I felt like I was supposed to make a big decision and the game was letting me back out if I could. This mechanic would pair well with a choice-consequence storyline.
Overall, great game! Hope you'll work on a post-jam version with more story and some visuals or something!
Really interesting idea, but it's difficult to know when to enter the hole. Maybe match by colors instead of shapes or have the transitions be shorter?
Interesting idea! I really hope you do something with the concept of potential->kinetic energy (or maybe something like potential->frictional or kinetic->light) idea and develop it post-jam. I think it has a lot of potential.
It's a really interesting idea having the enemies be shapeshifters. Spotting and keeping track of them makes this feel a lot like a strategy kind of game, and the noir atmosphere created by the art and music is absolutely fantastic.
5/5 humor for the description :P Otherwise a simple game, but quite good considering you restarted the game halfway through. It could have benefited from a score counter or something...
The art style was really different and the music really worked with it. The only thing I didn't like was that my arrows got wiped out if I lost, so there was no chance of trial and error. Overall, quite fun :)
Oh god the screams every time you shapeshift, horrifying everytime. Having played quite a few of those types of NG games, I think you totally nailed the feel, especially given the time frame.
And the engine is definitely more perfomant that Unity's bloated excuse for WebGL :P
Love the minimalist visuals, but you could have left the controls on the screen as a reference, because I found myself just pressing keys until I hit the shape I wanted. Otherwise, a really fun simple game :)
When I found that I had access to a ship that's good all around, I expected to only use that throughout the game, but the levels were really well designed and I ended up using all the shapes equally. Nicely done.
Could definitely use a bit more polish. The shapes didn't have much difference, so I found myself sticking with just one that moved fast. Generally plays well and accomplishes its goals :)
Simple fun game. The difficulty settings were a great idea because I needed some time to figure out the order of the shapes for hard mode. Generally quite fun :)
My only criticism is that the game's mechanics aren't presented very clearly. For example, it would probably be better to represent your energy as a number or mention that it was linked to the brightness.
Otherwise, it's a really well-made game, considering the message. The separation between the top and bottom works to convey the game's message really well!
I'm not sure whether a rhythm game where you have to look at the bottom half of the screen works well with a story where you look at the top half. It's an interesting POC for a story-based rhythm game, but it doesn't really work (at least for me)
The graphics are quite simple and I think the game could be improved by defining certain enemies as "tanks" or "cannons" rather than squares or triangles.
Otherwise, the strategy element works quite well and fits quite well with the theme.
LD35 — Shapeshift (83)
Infinite Vertices by CoderCameron 2016-05-10T00:57:00
I absolutely love how the story and gameplay are so tightly coupled together; low-vertex shapes are clumsier and every jump makes you weaker. And I'm definitely not scoring you low on graphics, because it has all it needs to work well.
The automatically changing text is a really nice touch, bonus points :)
I had this game on my waiting list but never got around to it. Phew, didn't expect to do a review with 3 minutes left :P
Make your Queen happy by Rafos Games 2016-05-09T22:52:00
One of the few games where the shapeshifting is your enemy and out of your control! Really innovative!
I'm definitely reading too much into the cutesy game, but it could be seen as an allegory of keeping free speech (various colors/shapes) down to please an existing way of thought where failure causes citizens to leave the support of the queen.
As Swynfel pointed out, you could make it extra evil and have the correct shapes shapeshift as well! Or make it even more fast and it could easily become a twitchy game perfect for mobile devices!
This game has a lot of potential, I hope you improve and release it after the jam!
Stoopid Robats by Gravedrinker 2016-05-09T22:29:00
I wouldn't rate it high on innovation (I've seen many other iterations of this idea this jam), but everything else was fun!
The simple mechanic was surprisingly replayable and the skull breaker was very satisfying :). I would have suggested color-coding the shapes or having indicators instead of text, but I recognized the shape to press quite quickly, so that seems fine to me. I also like how the difficulty (the time between barriers) steps up over time as well.
Feels like the kind of game you could package, push to the App Store and nobody would guess it was made in 72 hours! Well polished is what I mean to say :P
Shapeshifter Biker by Reuno 2016-05-09T21:23:00
The music is fantastic and everything about the game was fun! My only niggle is that the theme could be better exploited in the mechanics. You could have a little GUI element in the corner explain what the animal is capable of so that the player isn't just shapeshifting for no reason.
Overall 4.5/5 without hesitation!
Xenosphere by oxysoft 2016-05-09T17:19:00
I initially thought it was a decent Arkanoid clone until the ball moved to the next level! Really innovative! The boss battle was tense as well, although I didn't beat it :|
I really hope you'll flesh the mechanics out into a larger game after the jam, it's got a lot of potential!
Shifty by ReyHax 2016-05-09T17:01:00
A simple concept executed well. That to me is much better than complex games that bug out a lot.
That said, it's sometimes difficult to orient a square in a square hole, but generally a good game :)
Block 1 by crazyrems 2016-05-09T13:07:00
I absolutely love the simplicity of the mechanics and they have been used to their full potential! Really love the Portal-like atmosphere as well.
Galaxy Shift by KamikaziUk 2016-05-09T00:14:00
Naa na na na na na na na Katamari Damacy!
The game fits perfectly within the theme and is a lot of fun to play! I would have preferred it if it weren't time based and encouraged exploration instead. And like the others pointed out, smaller objects or more diverse objects would have been better for smooth rolling.
Paperchase by DragonXVI 2016-05-08T19:56:00
Difficult, but rewarding. Very charming use of the lighting effect (bloom?). I don't know how I feel about the slippery controls, especially given that the player is made of paper and not slime or anying.
Bonus points for a 12MB Unity game! I've abused my SSD so much downloading 200MB sidescrollers that I really appreciate the small download size!
Rontangle by erdiizgi 2016-05-07T16:34:00
Really interesting mechanic (very reminiscent of a popular mobile game I can't recall right now), although I'm a bit unsure about that time mechanic in a puzzle game.
Party at the Knightclub by Elisée and friends 2016-05-06T13:29:00
The writing humor is spot-on the graphics and audio work together fantastically! 5/5 on all those aspects!
Superpowers is a relatively new engine, isn't it? How fun was it to work with?
Shapeshift Racer by 02fc.exe 2016-05-05T06:07:00
Really beautiful looking game! Initially, I felt the car moved a bit too quickly, but as the level sped up, the speed and stiffness of the movement were just right. The post-jam version is absolutely fantastic!
Bonus points for a 3D game that isn't 200MB :P
An Abnormality by TheCain 2016-05-05T06:00:00
A bit short, but still entertaining nonetheless. I didn't rate you on humor though (doesn't really make sense to vote for that category)
Linedancer by jonask 2016-05-03T10:30:00
Really interesting mechanic!
Radial Storm by levsha128 2016-05-03T10:21:00
It's not exactly a new idea, but I really found the idea of the curved pong paddle quite cool. The game is quite buggy though.
PolyShift by Cyberlight 2016-05-03T10:18:00
Felt more like a playground than a full-on game, but still fun.
Blubbymorph by antarka 2016-05-03T07:07:00
Ooh, first game I found made with Superpowers! How fun was the engine to work with?
The randomly spawning enemies did kinda make each kill unsatisfying and annoying. Still, the theme was implemented quite well and the game was still fun overall :)
Soko Match by francoisvn 2016-05-03T06:03:00
Really well-done difficulty curve. Great game!
Shiftagon by VideoDog 2016-05-03T05:51:00
I was really confused at the beginning, you should follow flappy bird's example and have a sort of empty area first for players to get used to the controls.
Do Robots Dream About Yoga? by MementoGames 2016-05-03T05:44:00
5/5 on humor, even though you ripped the sounds straight from Portal 2 :P
The movement is really imprecise, but that's kinda what makes it fun.
Sunshift by guimonpa 2016-05-03T03:42:00
You should probably slow down the learning curve. I'm not going to say turn down the difficulty because the levels were really fun, but maybe add some easy levels in between to slowly raise the difficulty :P
Blobby Slime by williambsm 2016-05-03T02:10:00
Really cool, but the jump sizes are wildly inconsistent.
Goo Away! by Bioruebe 2016-05-02T05:55:00
Weirdly fun once you get the hang of it.
BlobWall by Sophie Houlden 2016-05-02T04:22:00
Great game! Not sure why you've disabled rating...
Cavern of Flight by Hempuli 2016-05-02T02:53:00
Getting a really Limbo vibe from this :)
Magical Cyclone by fsqrt 2016-05-02T02:16:00
I really love the art style, but without pickups or a cooldown, it really becomes a button-masher.
The Mimic by ponywolf 2016-05-01T22:36:00
Oh. My. God. I absolutely love the art-style. Not sure how I feel about the shapeshifting, because I was fine with sticking with the default character.
Mr. Purrgalar by KairosXIII 2016-05-01T22:07:00
Fantastic idea! The learning curve is really short and the game is well tutorialized!
Fylgjur by Aaranos 2016-05-01T22:03:00
Skeletal animation, fancy!
PolyShift by FatKarate 2016-05-01T22:00:00
It's really interesting how enemies could camouflage themselves if the background changed to match their color. Keeps the gameplay quite tense because you don't know if you're 100% safe.
Phanto: The Elementalist by JayProg 2016-05-01T21:53:00
Really well implemented! The art style was really cool, but the web version seemed a bit low-res. Otherwise, it was a lot of fun :)
Polytopian by sudojess 2016-04-26T08:20:00
There were a lot of bugs, but given the innovative mechanic, I can forgive that :)
What I can't forgive though, is the control scheme. I think this is a really cool game, if given a bit of polish.
Quadrilateral Circle by FrozenCow 2016-04-26T08:09:00
The game is so unforgiving, but it never felt like the game cheated me. The level design and game design are one of the best I've seen so far! Great work!
Changeling Infiltration Simulator by ProjectX593 2016-04-25T06:24:00
Not many puzzle-like games related to the theme, surprisingly. As a fan of stealth, the game was a lot of fun, but I could use a bit more information, like enemy view-circles and stuff.
Slime Quest by QuexD 2016-04-22T20:22:00
A very simple and polished set of mechanics that work well! A bit on the short side, but polish > length in my opinion :)
Soundscape (Find the Light) by johnbrynte 2016-04-22T19:26:00
Really interesting game, but I think the sound was basically monodirectional, so I couldn't find my way even with headphones. But I really hope you'll polish the idea and flesh it out a little post-jam! I really dig the idea of a sound-only 3D game.
As a JS programmer, the game is really cool (I looked at the source)! I noticed you're using pos3d in howler.js to set the position and it didn't seem to work for me (even though I'm in Chrome). Maybe you could try going straight for StereoPannerNode (it's actually surprisingly simple) and *really* exaggerate the stereo to help out players. Just a suggestion, you obviously have more experience with this :)
Shape Escape by JoeManaco 2016-04-22T19:12:00
Initially I thought it was going to be a generic "shapeshift to jump higher" sort of game, but the automatic movement made it more of a puzzler. Really well designed game :)
Zen and the Art of Transhumanism by GreyShock 2016-04-22T19:07:00
This might just be the best game I've seen this jam. Great work!
Sculpt Master by LimeniusTeam 2016-04-22T18:40:00
Could definitely use a bit of polish, but a really unique idea once you get the hang of it!
Just Roll With It by kumoi 2016-04-22T17:58:00
I can only imagine how fun this would be with an Omni and a Rift. Do you guys have a video? It'd be fun to watch!
Can't Drive This - #cantdrivethis by pixel_maniacs 2016-04-22T17:47:00
I was going to say this would make a fantastic post-jam game, but I see you already submitted it to Greenlight :P
Please make a two-player version!
Subject 74 by chobrah 2016-04-22T17:38:00
The alarm is annoying. Adding a snarky comment about that isn't going to make it less annoying :P
Really funny (but hard) game though, love the enemy dialogue!
NeoTrap by omarhuseynov011 2016-04-22T17:20:00
Really cool game and I understand the interpretation of the theme, but the level could have changed more with the music. Still, lots of fun!
Genius Loci by glbs 2016-04-22T16:36:00
Oh. My. God. This is absolutely beautiful. Didn't really feel like shapeshifting, but that's just a small thing. This is one of those ludum dare gems. Well done :)
RhythmicalCreation by lycoris102 2016-04-22T16:18:00
The game was really interesting and the music was fantastic, but it felt really unforgiving and it wasn't really satisfying. As Lythom suggested, maybe it's got something to do with the keyboard? Or maybe WebGL lag? Still fun though :)
You're A Mimic! by rhill 2016-04-22T16:12:00
Hmm...I should play Ace Attorney...
Really funny game!
Polygonal by NightShadow0 2016-04-22T16:02:00
Thought the game would get boring quickly but I was wrong! Liked that you kept the gameplay fresh by introducing small changes in the game.
Boring Human Existence by chunkybrewster 2016-04-22T15:57:00
Unfortunately really simple and overdone for this theme, but what worked for me was settling on the most unique sounding idea a few hours into the jam :P
Hope you do better next jam!
Feather by runvs 2016-04-22T15:51:00
The world needs more cyberpunk! Great atmosphere, great story, but I would have loved a few more branches or choices to really make it feel like a game.
The button-press thing was actually quite interesting for a text-based game (I don't play many text games, so you might know this already). But every time I held the button, I felt like I was supposed to make a big decision and the game was letting me back out if I could. This mechanic would pair well with a choice-consequence storyline.
Overall, great game! Hope you'll work on a post-jam version with more story and some visuals or something!
Side Effects by The Mad Strauss 2016-04-22T15:36:00
Fantastic art style! I haven't rated you on the audio, since the music isn't yours.
Pegs In Space by Smiley 2016-04-22T05:08:00
I love how the game speeds up to match the difficulty. And I was surprised at how well I kept up! Good game!
BLOB Passage by Per 2016-04-22T04:51:00
Really interesting idea, but it's difficult to know when to enter the hole. Maybe match by colors instead of shapes or have the transitions be shorter?
EnergyShift by Miziziziz 2016-04-22T04:37:00
Interesting idea! I really hope you do something with the concept of potential->kinetic energy (or maybe something like potential->frictional or kinetic->light) idea and develop it post-jam. I think it has a lot of potential.
Mr. E by leo_p_mahon 2016-04-22T04:26:00
It's a really interesting idea having the enemies be shapeshifters. Spotting and keeping track of them makes this feel a lot like a strategy kind of game, and the noir atmosphere created by the art and music is absolutely fantastic.
Pluto's Tears by kestrelgames 2016-04-22T04:14:00
OH. MY. GOD. SO MUCH PERSONALITY. I LOVE THIS GAME.
Moonlight by Phaix 2016-04-21T21:53:00
Really cool concept, hope you'll work on it post-jam. The mouse sensitivity was *really* high, but the game was pretty forgiving.
Shape Attack by end3r 2016-04-21T20:42:00
I really love the art style!
Dance Dance Pathogen by SnedHlepPls 2016-04-21T20:28:00
Yeah it is, Skruffye, but that's what we get for only testing our game inside Unity. Lesson learnt :P
Galaxy Survivor by treylon 2016-04-21T20:02:00
5/5 humor for the description :P
Otherwise a simple game, but quite good considering you restarted the game halfway through. It could have benefited from a score counter or something...
Shapeshifter by Logun 2016-04-21T19:51:00
The art style was really different and the music really worked with it. The only thing I didn't like was that my arrows got wiped out if I lost, so there was no chance of trial and error. Overall, quite fun :)
Shape Soup by jeroenwimmers 2016-04-21T06:10:00
This game has a lot of polish for a ludum dare game :)
Blockboy by cheesewhiz999 2016-04-21T03:07:00
I really liked the tutorial level, but wow, the levels were difficult. Not really my thing, but people do appreciate hard games.
I was actually stuck on the tutorial until I read grayhaze's comment about pressing Enter.
Squirm by zenmumbler 2016-04-20T21:50:00
Oh god the screams every time you shapeshift, horrifying everytime. Having played quite a few of those types of NG games, I think you totally nailed the feel, especially given the time frame.
And the engine is definitely more perfomant that Unity's bloated excuse for WebGL :P
SHΔPE by TiRSO! 2016-04-20T21:42:00
Love the minimalist visuals, but you could have left the controls on the screen as a reference, because I found myself just pressing keys until I hit the shape I wanted. Otherwise, a really fun simple game :)
Super Jelly Blaster by adcrusher 2016-04-20T21:32:00
A lot of the games I really loved were the simple ones, including this one :)
THIS IS AMAZING by JokerDen 2016-04-20T21:22:00
Found this on Newgrounds. Really innovative idea!
luvShape by luvShape 2016-04-20T17:06:00
The gameplay is basic, but I love the graphics!
GelWars by Gromek999 2016-04-20T16:58:00
When I found that I had access to a ship that's good all around, I expected to only use that throughout the game, but the levels were really well designed and I ended up using all the shapes equally. Nicely done.
Gallery by ToadieTechnika 2016-04-20T06:11:00
Simple mechanics, but I like the abstract atmosphere of the game.
Under and Above by Xinelu 2016-04-20T06:00:00
Could definitely use a bit more polish. The shapes didn't have much difference, so I found myself sticking with just one that moved fast. Generally plays well and accomplishes its goals :)
CHORUS by Pantelis Petsopoulos 2016-04-20T05:54:00
Simple fun game. The difficulty settings were a great idea because I needed some time to figure out the order of the shapes for hard mode. Generally quite fun :)
Infinity Access by Hyoga-3D 2016-04-20T05:48:00
My only criticism is that the game's mechanics aren't presented very clearly. For example, it would probably be better to represent your energy as a number or mention that it was linked to the brightness.
Otherwise, it's a really well-made game, considering the message. The separation between the top and bottom works to convey the game's message really well!
The Fantastic Theatre Of Unexpected Endings by Raysangar 2016-04-20T05:34:00
I'm not sure whether a rhythm game where you have to look at the bottom half of the screen works well with a story where you look at the top half. It's an interesting POC for a story-based rhythm game, but it doesn't really work (at least for me)
Shifted Defence by Jorisslagter 2016-04-20T05:27:00
The graphics are quite simple and I think the game could be improved by defining certain enemies as "tanks" or "cannons" rather than squares or triangles.
Otherwise, the strategy element works quite well and fits quite well with the theme.
windowframe by managore 2016-04-20T05:21:00
This is absolutely fantastic. I really hope you're working on a post-jam version.
I'd buy it.
level dog by Remynfv 2016-04-20T00:09:00
If graphics are a bit odd and the game doesn't really match the theme, why am I having so much fun? Great game :)
Shapeshift by Mathias Olsson 2016-04-19T06:36:00
It's really fun to see unique interpretations of the theme. Great game!
Sheep Shift by A-Flat Miner Studios 2016-04-19T05:40:00
The embed on the compo page is broken for some reason, but the itch.io page works fine. Otherwise a really unique interpretation of the theme :P
Shifter by sP0CkEr2 2016-04-19T05:21:00
The game is a bit slow, but the color/shape combo is a really neat and well-implemented idea.
Mechshift by sumguy67 2016-04-19T05:14:00
A basic game, but a solidly implemented one. Nice.
reshapybius by psychonull 2016-04-19T03:20:00
Really enjoyable and unique concept!
You Are What You Eat by MagnesiumNinja 2016-04-19T02:08:00
Beautifully tutorialized and quite well made. I really like how you took Hotline Miami's mechanics and expanded them to a whole new level!
ScapeShift by ClockwerkClover 2016-04-19T02:04:00
The gameplay didn't really feel focused, but the idea does have potential if there were points, levels, objectives or something like that.