Ember44

Unlucky fried chicken by Daniel C 2024-10-11T05:16:51Z

Cool premise, but it felt a bit hard to control and understand what was going on. For the food, for example, the fact that there are wheat bags lying around and also a food area with a floating number felt confusing; at first I thought you fed the chickens with the bags, and that the number was some sort of countdown until I got more bags. Same idea with the fried chicken; it took messing with anything interactable and just dragging the buckets around until I figured out you feed the farmer by flinging the buckets at his house...

A little bit of polish, especially in the tutorial, would've done a lot, I think. For one, the tutorial images should be bigger and have some sort of consistent alignment, and should look like they do in game (many of them have blank green backgrounds, which doesn't give the context I need to find these objects while playing). I do appreciate all of the symbols you used to show when things are happening, but the fact that you need them is perhaps a testament to how unintuitive it can be at some points. It's easy to fling a chicken *close* to the coop or the rooster and be unsure whether it triggered or not.

Unlucky fried chicken by Daniel C 2024-10-11T16:21:36Z

@bjornstenlund @bananplyte It's great to hear you're already thinking about these things! I definitely like the idea of giving the player a little interactable tutorial where you force them to understand the core mechanics before putting them on a timer.

Cheddalier by outstar 2024-10-11T05:48:38Z

It's always a good sign when the feedback you're getting is on balancing strategies and figuring out the optimal way to win... graphics, audio, UI, everything is so cohesive and polished there's nothing to complain about! The only things I struggled with a bit were understanding how my dice were matching up with the enemy's dice (the tutorial says HP gets hit only if there is no defending die to block, but I was definitely doing damage when the enemy used dice to block & just rolled lower than me) & what speed was used for. It would've been nice to be able to play the tutorial again, or at least have the basics in the itch description for reference.

In terms of player experience, the game did feel a little slow at times, especially when I hit 6 k12 dice and was just choosing all 6 of them every round--perhaps there's room for bursts of damage to speed up the end once someone takes a clear lead?

Overall, though, I really loved this entry; amazing job!

Butter Time by TomPendergrass 2024-10-08T04:48:28Z

Really like the idea of limited distance I can travel, especially once you introduce the burners to sap my health. Overall, though, I wanted more out of the movement; there's so much potential for momentum-based sliding and launching, but as is I feel rather stiff for a stick of butter. Platformers live and die by how good they feel to control, and I just feel like the game is missing that little bit of juice & the spark of something unique.

Side note, the music got annoying pretty quickly, so I ended up muting it.

Shrew by LightningST 2024-10-07T01:01:11Z

I'm deeply impressed by how much content you have! It can be a little tedious running around the cave & trying to remember which animal is where, but the art & ambience is really strong.

It'd be really cool if the animals had a bit more personality in their dialogue, besides "I am [species]", "I [do thing]," but the visuals and sfx for the dialogue already do a lot. Great job!

Head'quarters by YogurtTheHorse 2024-10-11T16:17:25Z

Amazing game loop that could definitely be taken in so many directions if you were to expand on it. As is, though, I really wanted more from the gameplay besides picture matching. I'm a huge fan of language games & conlang stuff, but I didn't feel like the game gave me any way to interact with the symbols or decipher their meaning. Even as a reaction-based matching game, the lack of new mechanics meant the only motivation to keep playing was to perfect my speed for a better high score (and once I got the top score, there wasn't much to do beyond that).

That is not, of course, to say this is a bad game; I loved the whole atmosphere you've got going on, from graphics to cute sfx and a great soundtrack. I think it's only because you've set up such an interesting premise that I was mildly disappointed to realize there wasn't more content to explore.

Racoon Romance by BangKerpow 2024-10-07T03:19:22Z

Aww this is a cute little game! Gameplay felt a little repetitive once I got the hang of it, but for a jam it's pretty well polished. I will say it took me a while to understand what the sprint indicator in the top left was for, so I kept trying to sprint with 0 stamina left.

If you had more time, you could definitely add some variation to the mechanics, either different actions for the raccoon or the humans, or maybe different stuff you need to find, but you've got a solid base.

The Deep Dive by Acdia 2024-10-06T22:59:36Z

The idea is sure unique, and I love how cute the lil creatures are (the sfx when you pick them up does wonders)! The UI is a bit difficult to navigate tho: I thought the transparent white background behind the tutorial would block my clicks, so it was unintuitive to pick up the creature behind it. I also struggled to tell whether I'd correctly done a level, especially once it got to 2 of them.

Tiny Farm by D.d 2024-10-07T03:30:01Z

It's fun to place seeds and watch them grow (the art is cute!), but I don't really know if there's strategy for the player. I just planted seeds until the plot was full, then waited around until they were done.

It'd be very cool if different types of crops did something different, or if I had some way to control the chicken, but as is I didn't really feel like I had agency.

Miku's Minion Madness by Miku 2024-10-08T04:05:09Z

The pausing between rounds really threw me off, especially since I had to scroll back down to see the "Next Round" button every time. I also really wish the creatures had art when I placed them, since it was easy to lose track of which squares were supposed to be what card (this also meant I didn't feel much strategy in what I was placing down, because it was hard to tell what was working).

Overall solid game, the card art is good & music is great, just wish the gameplay was more engaging. It'd be really cool if there was some system of counters where different cards are better into different minions the enemy sends at you.

Decay and Rebirth by MeowMeowLitClub 2024-10-08T05:24:28Z

Art is amazing, but I still don't really understand how I'm supposed to play. As far as I can tell, I just walk around, click on resources to get them, and then build stuff...which doesn't seem to do anything for me? And then randomly die to the enemies.

I think it could really benefit from a lot more clarity, things like a health bar for the player, animations to show you're fighting back against the enemies, a tutorial and/or UI tooltips to explain how things work.

I can tell you've got some good ideas here, they just didn't seem to quite come together into a full game.

BOILERMEN by diabolical-sloth 2024-10-06T23:39:50Z

Really polished art & music, and the gameplay is super innovative--I did not expect to be controlling a bunch of different creatures at once! That said, I did find it a little difficult to move around with all of them, especially once more coal started falling to block my path.

Keep It Up Kitty by richjbaron 2024-10-07T00:24:15Z

It definitely took a while to figure out what I was supposed to be doing, but once I did I was in the zone! Music and visuals are great, only thing I'd want is more explanation at the beginning.

Specifically, I still don't really get the number at the top---it seems to be my altitude or something, but also my score? I seem to get the highest number by just letting the cat fall, which is definitely not the intended gameplay... The treats also looked too much like gears to me, so I was confused about what to do with them (I think those are treats, right?)

Will of the Wisp by Lachlan James 2024-10-08T03:51:31Z

Definitely agree with the sentiment on checkpoints. The more fae I had the harder it became to keep them all alive, which made me want to drop them off somewhere or just wait to pick them up. Ideally I imagine the player should feel more excited the more fae they have, given the narrative of rescuing them & finding frends. The hitboxing on the toxic gas was also a little unclear, which may have added to the sense of not being able to control when they died.

Overall, though, this is a great game. Music, art, controls are all pretty well polished, and I really like the text that fades in and out as a way to do storytelling.

Lil' Chimeras by EyeofBholden 2024-10-07T01:07:26Z

As has been said, the UI is pretty confusing (the "Be Adorable" text didn't really look like a button to me), and I didn't feel like I had any strategy. It's a very cool concept, but just a bit of polish on the user experience would do wonders!

Goldfish Husbandry by gnats 2024-10-06T23:10:29Z

The art is awesome, and the theme is really cool. Wish there was some more skill involved in catching fish though, as I feel like I'm just doing nothing while I wait for the bite to trigger or my fish to breed.

Tiny Trails by Custodi 2024-10-07T02:49:01Z

As others have said, nice core mechanic! The little creatures are really cute, and everything feels pretty polished. You could definitely take this and keep making levels for a while,

Micro Mayhem by Derly 2024-10-06T23:47:17Z

It took me a while to figure out that you could shoot the tiny creatures to make them explode (it took a while to even figure out I could shoot, to be honest...) and even when I understood the mechanic, I can't say I understood the premise. Would've also been cool to be able to aim the summon, so I could control where I was creating an explosion.

Oh, and on my first playthrough one of the spike knockbacks may have knocked me through the floor and into the endless void...happens to the best of us I suppose

Mini Mutiny by BUDSTER16 2024-10-07T00:17:20Z

This is super fun! I love the same map & time countdown being used both for the tasks and the night; it feels like a really tight game loop. I almost wish it didn't save your progress from day to day, so you'd have to plan out your route and execute it faster and faster each night until you succeed.

Candyween by Megurt 2024-10-11T15:48:43Z

Very nice game! I didn't fully understand what I was doing at first, but the game is clear enough I figured it out quickly enough. I did find it a bit annoying that all of my candies could be reset by a single bark, so perhaps having them be scattered nearby instead of disappearing would be a nice change?

This feels like an innovative entry with a really clear theme, though, so congrats!

RestaurANT by Guadalupe Murgo 2024-10-06T23:34:38Z

Fyi it's bugging out (no pun intended lol) for me; I can install it and open, but can't click anything on the menu screen. I do like the art & music on the menu tho...

Edited: Oops I guess I forgot to try the arrow keys. Maybe a reminder somewhere to help people like me would be good though?

HungryBob by chingiskhan 2024-10-07T01:15:43Z

The controls are fun, and it's satisfying to chomp down on the bugs, but the game gets pretty repetitive pretty quickly, to be honest.

Hive Mind by Ember44 2024-10-07T00:02:31Z

@zimonitrome Oh damn, it looks like fullscreening in the middle of the game causes the text on the UI to disappear. Fun...

As for the shop putting you in a different area, that's intentional. You're returning from your expedition to the colony, then setting out to explore again!

EDIT: The text UI bug has been fixed!

Hive Mind by Ember44 2024-10-07T04:35:19Z

@unloosed just fixed the text UI bug, so hopefully that doesn't bother anyone else!

Hive Mind by Ember44 2024-10-08T22:40:53Z

btw thank you all for your feedback! There seems to be a consensus on wanting better pathfinding and ways to control the ants; I absolutely would've loved to implement all that but alas there is only so much I can do in 48 hours. Giving the ants a chance to automatically join in a nearby attack or move toward food was about all I had time for.

Keep sending your ideas for improvements my way, though, and I might just have to spend some time messing with the system later. It'd definitely be fun to add a multi-select or some pathfinding algorithms.

Hive Mind by Ember44 2024-10-10T22:06:48Z

@icxon recording a video of your playthrough is a great idea & very helpful for me; thank you!

Hive Mind by Ember44 2024-10-15T17:10:30Z

@william-corrin @olddog @upint @kernon @dooskington @historymaker118 @diabolical-sloth and many others... I am excited to announce I've made a [**post-jam version**](https://ember44.itch.io/hive-mind-updated) of the game!

I tried to take all of your feedback into consideration (especially the resounding call for pathfinding!), and also made some quality of life changes that I think will make the game a lot more fun to play. Here are the main ones:

- Pathfinding for ants - Pathfinding for beetles (can no longer climb over logs) - Tracker for days survived and largest colony - Ring around selected ant - Big leaves that require 2 ants to carry (but give 3x as much food!) - Balance changes to dynamically change difficulty as more days pass

I would love to hear your thoughts on this version! Do note that this is not intended to change your ratings (if you haven't played the original, do that now & come back!), but simply to provide you all with the best possible version of the game. I'm still adding features, too, so any feedback you have will be directly taken into the next update!

Here's the link again: https://ember44.itch.io/hive-mind-updated

Daredevil Ant by unloosed 2024-10-07T02:40:57Z

The colliders/movement speed don't quite feel forgiving enough, so I often found myself dying when I felt like I should have lived. I'm impressed with the BG art & multiple music tracks, but something to spice up the gameplay besides just moving side to side would've been awesome.

I do like the premise of trying to get close to raindrops though; it gives the ant a lot of personality.

Stolen Colors by The Spinning Sofa 2024-10-08T23:56:24Z

I really want to love this game: the art is great, the soundtrack is a bop, restoring colors after every level is an awesome sense of progression, and the core mechanic is super innovative. I just... don't get how the gameplay is supposed to work. Because the preparation for a battle is time based, I feel compelled to draw as quickly as possible, as opposed to being strategic with my choices. And because I can choose like 10-15 circles with a single rune, it doesn't feel like I'm making conscious choices & tradeoffs so much as greedily & randomly grabbing as much as possible. Add onto that the fact that there seems to be no way to see the buffs I've applied to my army, only how many creatures I've spawned, and I really feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark.

In the end, I just drew runes as quickly as possible, focusing on the spawns since that's the only thing I could tell was doing anything, and amassed a pretty massive army. I easily won the first battle, but not because of any skill or strategic thinking on my part, which felt wrong.

Off the top of my head, I could see a couple things helping with this. First of all, you NEED to be able to see the attack speed, damage, etc of your army & how it's increasing with the circles you choose. I could also see limiting the number of runes per preparation phase, so maybe you get 60 seconds to decide how to allocate your, I don't know, 5(?) runes. I'd also decrease the number of lines you can draw per rune & maybe add in some more blanks/locks so the player has to be a bit more strategic about the way they draw connections. Then, of course, you can make different levels require different strategies to beat, so the skill of the game comes from understanding what your opponents are doing & how to counter it. If all of that was in the game, I could see it being a really interesting army design puzzle.

I know this comment ended up as a bit of an essay, but I only write so much because this game has so much potential. Apart from the gameplay flaws I love the world you're creating here!

Stolen Colors by The Spinning Sofa 2024-10-15T16:13:57Z

@uniowl I'm loving the post-jam changes you made! At first it still felt a little random to pick what stats I wanted, but once I started to put together a bit of a strategy making my army became a lot of fun (in case you're curious, it's to prioritize tank & mage spawns, then damage, health, & attack speed). It does feel like a lot of stats to learn, especially for your first playthrough, but that's not necessarily a bad thing; it gives a nice learning curve.

I think you also did a great job balancing the different classes against each other. I don't know how much of this was in the original game tbh, but seeing the enemy warriors shred through my tanks but then get killed by my mages really drove home the importance of looking at the expected enemies and planning my army accordingly. I feel like you've now got a really strong foundation, either to leave as a finished game or keep building on!

The one thing I think needs fixing: as @tarisma mentioned, my soldiers (tanks, usually), would occasionally get stuck and not advance with the rest of the army, which can be a fight-losing bug if you get unlucky enough.

Genus Arcanus by petit 2024-10-06T23:58:08Z

I love the feeling of taking care of my little guys, and then brutally murderering them (the surprise of the blood splatter when I first sacrificed one was great). Unfortunately the game kept crashing/erroring out on the second generation; otherwise I would've been very curious to figure out how the whole system works.

During what little I was able to play, though, I was definitely confused about my goal. Am I trying to breed the best possible creature? Get maxiumum mana? Something...else?

Strange New Tides by Indie Game Academy 2024-10-08T04:34:51Z

I hate to add to the criticism, but @vipaka is right: it really does feel like too many cooks in the kitchen here. The 2d pixel art on a 3d background is pretty glaring, but what was worse for me was the simple lack of polish on everything. If you have 40 people working on the game, surely 1 of them could've taken 15 minutes to find a font, but we end up with default font on a sqaure white or black background in far too many places. Similar thing with the audio cutting out, or the lack of sfx when you do stuff (e.g fishing, mining geodes), or Munch clipping through objects, or the fact you have to click a small bit of text to continue through dialogue instead of anywhere on the screen... the list goes on.

This feels to me like a classic quantity-over-quality problem, where you set out to do something too ambitious and lost track of how you were going to integrate it all and make it feel good to play.

Rhythm of the Tinymon-Catcher by DropMania 2024-10-08T23:22:52Z

This is impressive for a compo game! As a rhythm game enjoyer myself, you didn't need much to hook me, but as others have said the mappings (and songs themselves) are well done. I definitely would've liked more visuals for the notes, both for aesthetics & theming (make it pretty yay!) and for making the experience of hitting the notes more impactful. Even just making the little bar that pops up when you press a key bigger would've been nice.

A couple minor bugs/inconsistencies: - Twice I lost a battle despite beating the listed high score; is that not the amount you need to win? (For example, hitting 220 on the house directly across from the starting one, even though it says HS: 210) - Escape isn't a great key for restarting a song, b/c the game works much better in fullscreen, and escape...takes you out of fullscreen. - The music restarting when you enter a new area is a little annoying (mostly noticeable in the very first house) - I wish there was some way to leave a conversation/battle once you've started, but it's either play through it or restart the game

Two Types Of Kids by upint 2024-10-07T23:32:15Z

Interesting premise, but it could've used a bit more direction. At first I had no idea how to control the feet (intuitively I expected WASD or clicking, so simply dragging the mouse was unexpected), and once I did know how to control it I didn't know what my goal should be (avoid the ants? kill the ants?). Imo a score counter/game over system would do a lot for you!

I do love the polish you've got going on (timing the stomps to the music is a great touch), just would've loved something added on to the main mechanic.