Terrifying Box by TimBeaudet 2022-10-05T16:00:50Z
I think it would be more fun if there was some timer telling you when exactly the controls change. Without that it's a little bit annoying.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → dod108
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 59 | Signal | Radio Tower | jam | 536 | 3.42 | 3.20 | 3.62 | 4.22 | 3.10 | 2.80 | 2.50 | 3.29 | |
| 2023 | 54 | Limited Space | Low on Mushrooms | jam | 741 | 3.39 | 3.26 | 3.18 | 3.00 | 3.32 | 2.80 | 3.38 | ||
| 2023 | 52 | Harvest | Harvest Noon | jam | 530 | 3.31 | 3.26 | 2.78 | 3.61 | 3.43 | 3.30 | |||
| 2022 | 51 | Every 10 seconds | Reload | jam | 260 | 3.84 | 4.12 | 3.28 | 4.05 | 3.54 | 3.32 |
I think it would be more fun if there was some timer telling you when exactly the controls change. Without that it's a little bit annoying.
@timbeaudet I know and it's fine. My idea was to additionally include some timer/bar, indicating when it's gonna happen.
Very good game, addictive and consistent. Suggestions/issues: - Navigating the plot/dialogue should be done entirely with your mouse, similarly as the rest of the game. There is no point in doing the main part of the game to be point-and-click and then navigating the plot options using arrows and space/enter. - Text is sometimes difficult to read. I'm not sure what exactly causes that: maybe positioning + line width etc. Maybe looking at good examples of readable text in games (e.g. Disco Elysium) could help. - There is a bug: when you click on an object too close to the character you don't pick it up.
Anyway, really good game.
Well done, clever idea. Levels are good, the last one is probably the best. I think levels could be a little bit shorter but as smart as the last one. Overall, fun game. Two minor ideas: - after finishing level it could be better to go straight to the "levels" section in the menu, - sometimes it is annoying when I start from the safe zone too early and get reset, maybe including some buffer would be a good idea.
Bugs: - in the HTML5 version movement was slower and it was unplayable, idk if it's something wrong with my browser (Chrome) or with the game itself, PC version works as intended, - in level 3 I was able to go through red closed wall before I got any power-up, maybe it somehow saved the previous one from the previous level.
Anyway, good game!
I kinda agree with @coke BUT that said, I think it can be fixed. The main problem is the movement: it feels waaaay to slow and clunky. After some work on that it can be a really fun game: idea is good, graphic design is great, movement just need to be fixed and the game will be fine.
Well done, really nice game. Mirror being just above washbasin is misleading, i thought it's treated as a single object and it's not. Maybe some feedback when you hover would help with that, something like @dhim mentioned. It would be nice if all or most of the objects had some purpose, but I understand that the time constraint limited the scope. Good game, I like the minimalistic design.
Very good mood, nice graphics and good character control but... there are three easy to fix things which would make this game way better for me: - The biggest flaw in my opinion (and again: easy to fix!): enemies are waaay to spongy. They would feel much much better if they had HP for like 1-3 hits. If you worry that would be too easy, just make more of them or make them faster/smarter/whatever. - Player is too slow. Sprint speed should be the default speed. Then you can get rid of sprinting completely or make it even faster. - Shooting sound is too muted. It should be loud and juicy.
If you're going to create a post-jam version, I'm really looking forward to it. This game has a lot of potential and a very cool atmosphere.
Very nice idea, cool game. The main problem is that it's too random if you don't know the opponent moves. Maybe smaller arena from the start would help.
Hey, music is not yours, please opt out of "audio" category.
Attack should be faster and more responsive, it would be way better. A way to dodge enemies attack would be helpful too.
You forgot to include quit button in the menu.
Keep going, after some improvements it could be a fun simple game!
Cool idea and very cute graphics. Cat eggs are quite funny too. However, the execution has some flaws, which are quite game breaking for me.
I think the game is lacking a proper explanation/tutorial (at least in the description). I was lost at the beginning, after several attempts I got most of the mechanics, but I still have no idea what the building with an egg in the window does (and when can I use it). I think controls should be in game too and I think it should support keyboard too, not everyone has a controller.
Mechanics are cool, but the balance is way off. Even with armor and sword cats are too weak and they grow too slowly, so I have to do all the fighting and the game is difficult in an annoying way.
There is a bug: when I die and start a new game, I can't move.
At the current state the game is not really fun for me but cool idea and good graphics, after some polishing and rebalancing it could be good. I hope I wasn't too harsh with my opinion.
EDIT: Ok, now I see the explanation in the pictures at the page, my bad. So my paragraph about the tutorial is not really valid, sorry.
Looks great, fun to play, satisfying movement. The only major con is that graphics is sometimes illegible.
Two main flaws: - Movement doesn't feel great for me. Jumping is very frustrating sometimes. It's very important for a platformer to feel good to just move around and this game is not there yet. - Level design isn't too bad, but it requires some polishing for sure.
That said, graphics is really cool and the overall mood is great. I'd like to play a version with improved movement.
Cool game, fun to play and nice graphics. Increasing max HP seems to be useless, since I didn't see any powerup regenerating HP. Icons informing about previous powerups are messy, it would be better to list the stats somewhere or sth like that. Reroll could apply to enemy powerups too or you could pick from 2-3 random player/enemy upgrades instead. Spawning could involve some animation or something, it would make it more fair imo.
I have no idea what the mood does, except that if the mood is puishing and you don't sacrifice the sheep for too long you lose. Graphics is cool but text could be prettier. Movement feels good.
Cool and addictive. It would be nice to have some score.
@rezioz I didn't think about keyboards other than QWERTY, my bad. Maybe alternative shooting button better suited to playing with arrows instead of WSAD would be helpful (or rebinding option, unfortunately I didn't have time for that). Thanks for feedback, it's helpful for future games (or maybe post-jam version of this one if I decide to make one).
@vidim888 Thanks! Actually there is some randomness: enemies can sometimes get up after a longer time, also their reaction time is slightly randomized. But yeah, it probably needs some adjustments.
When my friend was playing this game, he said that it gives some Nidhogg vibes, maybe I should play it and try to include similar multiplayer in my game, as you said.
@legolula @niccolo-temperanza @vidim888 Thanks for praising the AI. I'm actually surprised how well it turned out, especially knowing how simple it is.
Sorry, I deleted my previous comment, because it was mostly my ragequit impression and not a very constructive feedback.
The graphics is great. Some sound effects would help to make a really unique mood.
The biggest issue is the lack of visual clarity where are the dangerous zones. Even inside the building the light doesn't match perfectly with the zone in which I'm killed and outside is basically impossible to tell where is safe. Make it more clear and it could be a really nice game.
Simple and quite difficult but fun. I'm not sure if it's a good idea that the walls harm you.
Doesn't work for me, any idea why?
@lunkums I tried both LD51.exe and ShotgunDerby.exe, installed .NET, still doesn't work. I have Windows 11.
@lunkums Should I have .NET installed? I uninstalled it after last try and now neither ShotgunDerby1.1.1a.zip nor ShotgunDerby1.1.1b.zip works.
@lunkums Now it works. The core gameplay is fine but it needs some polishing in my opinion. Bullets could be faster with smaller spread and enemies larger, that would make it more satisfying. Also larger enemies feel too spongy sometimes. Money counter doesn't seem to do anything, I picked up some yellow stuff once and it didn't increase my money. So, not bad game, but could be polished more.
Cool idea, great graphics. Balance feels a little bit off, maybe after more attempts it gets better. The main issue is the lack of feedback when I destroy enemy submarine: currently it's difficult to tell. I know that it doesn't fit perfectly with sonar but maybe just a text with "enemy destroyed" or sth like that.
I think you should include some defeat message, going straight to the menu feels bad, especially with such professionally feeling graphics. The same with lack of quit button, maybe include pause too.
Anyway, nice game.
Graphics is nice and consistent. Maybe it's just me but gameplay is quite dull, maybe if it was more dynamic then it would be more satisfying. It seems like all (or most) enemies die after one shot. If that's true, then double bullets are quite useless.
Nice game, quite fun to play. Good idea for the main mechanic, level design could be better. For example the beginning uses the mechanic of hidden platforms too little in my opinion. It would be nice to write down what the controls are (they are pretty easy to figure out, but still). Also if you recommend controller, make sure it works in the menu too.
EDIT: Forgot to mention: graphics is very cool. It would be nice to have some sound effects, it could create a very nice mood.
For a first game you did well, things you did right are for example: - you kept your game simple, which is very important at the beginning, - graphic style is quite consistent, - you included sound.
Tips from me: - make text bigger, - include some restart button after you die, - maybe make the character a little bit faster.
Graphic design is very distinctive and consistent, good job. Minor suggestions: - hitflash should be more visible: don't be afraid to replace all colors of the sprite with red/white during hitflash, maybe put it on enemy weapons too - even simple free sound assets would make it more satisfying - some floor tiles blend with enemies too much
Honestly, it's not fun. But thats ok, given the fact that it's your first attempt with this engine. I'll give you some feedback, I hope it will be helpful. (I played singleplayer only.)
First of all, I'm not sure if I understood it correctly, but you have to collect all souls in order to win, but they disappear and never come back. If that's the case, then it's not a good design: you lose when you miss your first soul and then what's the point of playing after that. But I could be wrong with this one, maybe it works slightly differently, please correct me if I got it wrong.
The movement is too sluggish in my opinion and the projectiles have far too short range to be satisfying. Try different settings to get it right. It's not easy, but making movement and shooting satisfying is very important (and rewarding if you get it right!) is such a games.
The graphics is generally nice, except the weird lighting. But the "default-looking" GUI makes it much worse and it looks just lazy. Try to draw even very simple HUD (seeing your 3D models i know you can!), experiment with different fonts etc. and I guarantee that the game will look much prettier.
The audio is nice, I don't have any issues with that.
I noticed a bug: shooting using mouse works only once or twice and then stops working. There's no such issue with E or space. Sometimes camera glitches too.
I hope it's helpful and not too harsh.
To be honest not much fun. First of all, everything is so dark that I barely can see anything and it adds difficulty in a very not fun way. Same with the slow, sluggish movement. The sprinting speed should be the default walk speed, such a slow movement is not fun at all in such a game, at least in it's current state. Control scheme is weird, if you use keyboard only, then I'd like to use both hands, eq. JKL instead of QEF. I have no idea, when the harvest is improper. Btw, what's the limitation of sprinting? The ship integrity decreases faster when you sprint or what?
It's nice that you used highlight for interactive elements, that's always appreciated.
I hope my feedback is helpful and not too harsh.
Well done. Good mechanics, well executed, nice graphics. My only issue is that in my opinion the cure meter filled too quickly, it would probably be better to keep it longer, without any need of adding more content. And (but this is minor issue) at first I didn't get what "alch" does, I eventually figured out that it fills cure meter, but "cure" would be more obvious. Anyway, nice game.
Well done. My only issue is that the graphics could be better without mixing pixel sizes (but the style is surprisingly consistent despite that). Maybe adding another mission with higher spice requirement after succesfully completing one could be fun. Anyway, good game.
Solid take on the clicker genre. Buttons and text could be prettier and better fitting the graphical style. Other than that, I don't have any issues. Good game.
What is the objective of the game? I'm kinda lost, I don't know what to do.
@dragonmoffon Could you help me? I really want to give this game a chance, but still have no idea what to do.
@dragonmoffon Where are the enemies? I can only walk around, reap the grass and use the shop, still no idea where the gameplay is.
@dragonmoffon Thanks, I managed to unlock and fight the boss. So my feedback is that the biggest issue is the lack of proper communication of game ideas. The game should explain its controls (I think scolling wheel was not mentioned in the game) and its mechanics better. Besides that, the game is not bad. Farming feels like a separate game made for the sake of theme and could be more satisfying, but it's not annoying or anything. Some free sound assets would make the game better, but I understand that you probably didn't have time for that (btw you could opt out of audio category, because there is no audio). The combat is fine, the only issue is the lack of feedback when I hit the boss or boss hits me: some flashing of player/boss could help. I hope the feedback is helpful and not too harsh.
No idea how to play, I'll give it another chance if you explain me how to play.
@fc85057 Thanks! Regarding the lore question, the enemies were inspired by Slavic folklore (I'm Polish): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Midday
I'm aware that you can kinda cheese the game by going constantly to the one direction. But when I tried this I made a mistake after some time and died anyway and given the time constraint I decided to leave it as it is, since the additional balancing required to completely fix that could be time consuming. I hope it won't be too game breaking.
@pfannkuchen this is meant to be like this, because diagonals would require another set of sprites and I'm not good at drawing and didn't have time.
@n-feofentov I'm not surprised that it gives such vibes, because the enemies are inspired by exactly the same folk creature.
Yeah, I didn't have time to balance the berries and harvesting better. As for the collisions, I think it would feel better if there was some depth rendering system implemented, again unfortunately I ran out of time and wasn't able to do that :(
Nice game, good idea and well executed. Minor issues: movement sometimes felt too sluggish, it wasn't immediately obvious that these tanks are full (seemed like 2/3 full and I have to do it again), you forgot to hide the cursor and in the menu I wasn't sure which option is highlighted. And these bars at the bottom of rhythm section could be more visible. But these are minor issues, I mean just polishing improvements, but overall the foundation is solid and the game was fun.
Idea is nice, but the execution has some problems. For example the projectile would work better if it aimed automatically instead of firing in the direction you are facing. Other skills also feel underpowered and the design should explain better which plant correspond to what. Graphics is ok, but would be better without mixing different sizes of pixels. Combat feels not great, maybe pushing enemy with scythe could help. Anyway, if you plan to further develop this idea, it has some potential.
Weakest point of the game: farming. It was kinda boring, not terrible but nothing really fun. I quickly ended up with enough resources, ignoring the farming for the most part. HOWEVER, the strongest point: mood and exploration. Overall atmosphere, audio, graphics and the encouragement for exploration made it a good game.
More technical points: it feels a little bit annoying that you have to wait until you can click something again. Btw, is the mouse really necessary here? I would make the controls completely keyboard-based.
To sum up: mediocre harvesting game, but a good game in general. I'd love to see more of your (especially exploration-oriented) games in the future, this is really promising.
I think the camera issue is more visible in the web version, but still present in the PC version.
However, the main issue is the communication of the ideas. I still have no idea how to craft stuff, even after reading the documentation.
Nice graphics (but droplets could be larger and there could be some highlight of the selected element in the menu) and sound, good job. However, the movement is not great, it feels sluggish and unsatisfying. Unfortunately getting movement right is crucial in platformers, so the game is not fun at the current state. Enemies are bugged I think, they don't hurt me at all. Also the level is too easy, I can ignore most of the droplets and finish it anyway.
I hope the feedback is helpful, sorry if it feels to harsh.
The idea is good, however the execution at the current state is not very fun. The biggest issue is that the movement is very sluggish and unresponsive, in this kind of games it's very important to make the movement very polished. Graphics is good, menus could be more fitting the style and there are some issues with resolution in the intro, but overall the visual style is very nice. Last but not least, I have one more feedback/tip: don't use mouse to control the menus (and hide the cursor during gameplay, it's annoying) when the game itself doesn't use the mouse, it's not very comfortable when I have to switch to mouse only to click "retry". Use space and WASD instead, since it's used to control the game anyway. And if you allow to use arrows as an alternative to WASD, please make sure that the crouch is possible using arrows too.
Nice! I like the simplicity, the basic gameplay is good and fun. Minor nitpicks: fullscreen would be nice and hidden cursor would look more clean.
I like the idea. With more polish etc. it could be very fun. In the current state it's a little bit poorly balanced and not very clearly explained (MTG-like phases are a little bit confusing without clear explanation). I didn't have the shield spell, probably a bug. Also, in the level with the feedback spell, the enemy could kill me in their first turn and I couldn't do anything: not fun. Btw, feedback spell is not clear: what is the corresponding space on a grid? The place with the same coordinates from the top left I guess, but it's not clear. Anyway, cool idea.
Nice game! My feedback: - Text should be larger, especially the timer. - As someone already mentioned, it would be nice to have some indication of how long the reversed controls last. - I had some strange flashing white bars on the screen, looks like some kind of a glitch. - Minor nitpicks: cursor should be hidden, spacebar should also start the game.
I liked the graphics, audio and overall feel.
As far as I understand from the description, you used previously created assets. This is allowed by the rules, but you should opt-out of graphics/audio category.
Except for that issue, great game! Everything is very nicely polished and explains itself quite well. Humor is good, fun to play!
Nice game, I really like the pixelart graphics! Overall gameplay is nice. It doesn't feel very natural to switch focus from gameplay to story and vice versa. I think it could be better to enlarge the gameplay area and provide the story text inside. Also, I'd use other, pixelart font, black without the frame. It could match the style better. HP should be on the bottom, or closer to the level. Anyway, the platforming feels fine, which is very important. Good job.
EDIT: I noticed that you can go to the other room without picking up the sword and can't go back. This should be fixed somehow.
Nice idea! My feedback: - My main issue is the character movement. It feels super clunky, I think mostly because the character horizontal speed/acceleration is too slow. It's super important to have really good character movement in platformers. However, it's difficult to nail perfectly, so don't feel discouraged, just focus on this next time. - It would be nice to show controls in game, eg. using some prompts during gameplay. - I prefer to use d-pad for movement in platformers, so maybe allow that and use other keys for dropping abilities.
I hope this is helpful. Good job!
I like the idea's simplicity. However, at the current state, the game is frustrating and not really fun: I gave up during the first level. It should be way more responsive and maybe use less sheep (5 instead of 15 or something). The game is pretty self-explanatory, which is good, but the wording in the instructions about "greener places" was confusing, because actually the target area was less green. This should be fixed by proper level design. Anyway, the idea is simple and clear and could be polished into a fun game.
Nice game! My feedback: - Shrinking should start after you start moving. - Background is a little bit tiring to look at, I'm not exactly sure why, but maybe keeping it fixed instead of rotating could help. - Maybe some fixed number of laps for each level could mark the level as completed. It would be a nice thing to have alongside the score imo.
@igli Thanks! I had this idea for buying upgrades, but ran out of time.
@natrist Thanks! In fact they do stop chasing you when you're sufficiently far away from them, but maybe tying it also to time and shop proximity would be a good idea.
Btw, @natrist did you feed foxes with blue mushrooms? I'm not sure if that possibility was communicated clearly.
Nice and cute game! My main issue is that imo boxes should stop increasing your anxiety when you're inside besides just decreasing it. Also, it seems like they're bugged, they didn't work every time. Besides that, good game.
Is it possible to use ZIP instead of RAR? I don’t have WinRar and don’t want to install it just to open this one file.
Is it possible to use ZIP instead of RAR? I don't have WinRar and don't want to install it just to open this one file.
@devil-ovo Thanks!
Nice idea! My feedback: - The game was too difficult for me (not in a fun way), I wasn't able to finish any mission successfully. Maybe it's just me, but maybe the balance is a little bit off. - Proper fullscreen would be nice. - As other people mentioned, you can fall from the raft and can't get back.
I liked the low-poly graphics!
I like that the idea is simple. However, my main issue is the camera: it often goes into the walls and is unnecessarily so much to the right from the character. Yes, many games don't center the camera on the character, but there have to be a reason for that, e.g. it is convenient for 3rd person shooters, when the target is more important than the character. Here it makes avoiding the fire more frustrating and difficult (not in a fun way). Maybe the zoom of the camera should be different too, but I'm not sure. Anyway, at the current state, the camera is really bad. With the camera issues fixed, it could be way more fun. The rest is simple and intuitive, that's good.
Sorry to complain, but if music is not made by you during the jam, you should opt-out of audio ratings.
Anyway, nice job! I really like the graphics, it's funny and consistent. Game itself is a little bit too simple, so it gets boring after a while, but it is quite satisfying for a while. For you first jam entry: really decent.
@the-xj-project Sorry, I thought "Steampowered" was someone's else name, now I see it's the name of a member your team. My bad, I apologize.
Really fun game! My feedback: - I'd make player have more than 1 HP. It could make each attempt a little bit longer and more satisfying, without necessarily making the game too easy. - Some things need more polish, eg. there should be some death animation etc., but I think it's just the time constraint that stopped you from doing that, since there are other very polished animations. - Imo menu should use keyboard only, because the mouse isn't needed in the gameplay itself. - Controls should be explained in the game, especially if they are so simple.
Anyway, very fun to play and addictive.
Very good game! My only nitpick is that the jump height vs platform height seems a little bit too tight (maybe it's not the height itself, that would require some investigation) so I missed platforms often in a frustrating way. Besides that, great job!
My feedback is similar to @python-b5: one-hit death in this particular game is kinda frustrating and diminishes the potential fun a lot. Otherwise, pretty solid game with a good amount of juice and vibes. Maybe not very innovative, but I guess that's not the point of this game. Cool!
The idea is cool. I didn't find other strategy than the same what the AI is using (maybe it's a me issue). Indication which systems are connected could be a little bit more visible. Maybe option to zoom in would be nice?
Super cool! Second game was a nice surprise.
Super cute!
It looks nice, works as intended and the narrative fits. That said, there's not much game in this game. It would be much more interesting if there were some puzzle element to it. Or maybe, for example, path disappeared before you get to enter a command, so you'd have to memorize it. Or a simple timer could make a nice challenge. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying it's too easy, just too boring to my taste.
@pastry-chef Thanks! There is attack icon (lightning symbol) when attacking or in autofire mode
As you mentioned, it's pretty broken, but the idea is interesting. I'd like to see post-jam version for sure.
Sometimes it's a little bit frustrating but cool. Landing indicator if you are descending too fast could be nice, it's difficult to eyeball. I don't aggree with @makintosh about zooming out, I think the signal navigation is kinda cool part of the challenge.
Tried yesterday and had the same bug as @william-capon If it's fixed now I'll give it another try today evening :)
Now the space works but I get "landing failed" when I get all poses correctly. Anyway, cool idea. Very pretty artwork. My nitpicks: - Difficulty curve is a little bit off: it starts with a small number of poses and slow aircrafts, which is good. Then, it immediately jumps to fast aircrafts and more poses. It would be better with a more gradual change. - I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the idea to hide cheat sheet behind a button and additionally punish player with less points. Having to spend time clicking and looking is a punishment in itself. And since it gets difficult even if you remember poses, maybe cheat sheet constantly on the screen for newly introduced poses would be good? And then you could turn it off after a first mission or two with a new pose. Idk, just an idea. Cool idea, I like when games experiment with weird controls.
Interesting idea, although I don't really know what I'm supposed to do: run when detecting signal, turn it off and stay in place?
Good game, very good idea, but a little bit too frustrating for my taste (especially moving antennas).
The idea is cool, visuals and audio are solid. However, first levels can be solved by just spamming spacebar. Then, in the levels where you finally have to more strategically press space, it gets frustrating because of (I think) too small rhythm window. But better levels and more polished timing/difficulty and it could be very nice.