Greebs

Stuck in the Rhythm by Thejaspel 2020-10-06T20:53:21Z ♥ 3

The idea of getting stuck in a dance loop is fantastic. The execution feels incomplete at the time of review.

There is an "escape" prompt when the first dancing level appears but it doesn't stay on long enough to read it. The "Get Closer" prompt does not trigger any new event or concept once the player is closer and spinning with the partner. The visual cue on the dance grid isn't clear if it is telegraphing where the player should be or where the partner will go next. The player and partner spin when doing the dance crossing paths, which feels like this is visually supposed to inform that the dance relationship is building, but the meter doesn't move.

The major missing component to this little dance game is the positive feedback for beat successes. It could be there, but it feels like there isn't or that it isn't forgiving enough to be playable. If this game had no other changes or fixes to it, even being stuck in the loop not making any actual progress would FEEL rewarding instead of the player getting constant negative feedback. Check the relationship/combo system/button timing in case there is something missing/not working under the hood. OUCH! I'm a bad dancer.

Where the game shines is its presentation of the mood. Again, a "Dance/Rhythm" loop is the best kind of loop to be stuck in. The player character has a spacey Cadence (Necrodancer) and Robin (Iconoclasts) nod going on, and that's good here. The partner having more than one dance state is cool, and them spinning together makes the art feel alive, even in this tiny space. I spent extra time just crisscrossing with the partner. The song is cosmically Daft Punk repetitive enough to keep it going and experiment on the grid, and I ended up collecting banana peels just for the sprite reaction.

Swing to safety by Noirox 2020-10-06T19:34:08Z ♥ 2

A strong concept with a good-but-rough execution.

Gameplay: The quick failure/respawn state makes up for the "difficult to dial in" controls. The momentum acceleration ramps too quickly to turn it into a skill the player can build in order to take on the difficulty ramp of the level obstacles. The CONCEPT of this is amazing and zeroing in on getting the player to have semi-consistent "Good Jumps" is the best way to combat "retry frustration" here for mess ups. Right now it doesn't quite feel like it's my fault I keep dying, and I want it to feel like it's my fault. But also, it's definitely my fault.

Art: I would prefer a flat color BG over the landscape blocks considering the arcade feel and active art elements, HOWEVER I like the idea of a bubble bird enough to want to see what this would look like built out, regardless of what the final concept would be. Clown in a hula-hoop. Spaceman with a gravity shield. Hamster in a wheel. Small circle in a bigger circle. Two chickens in a bubble. Limitless potential. Everything important was presented clearly and was in service of the gameplay!

Was it FUN? YES. A lot.

Degrimer by Beebo Studios 2020-10-06T00:03:10Z ♥ 3

Playthru on Web version.

"Good, clean, humorous play with a cohesive concept for the theme."

The player character is easy to keep track with the color choice and size. The machine ridges braking up the loop were a good level design decision!

The two things that hurt the play most were:

-Tracking player bullets. The clear bubbles, their size relative to the arena and the obstacles, and their velocity weakened the experience, mainly during the spin cycle. I felt like I was blowing, well, bubbles, and not bullets of bleachy justice.

-The Camera choice. Overall it isn't bad, but for the majority of the play, the main obstacle/enemy isn't present onscreen, even running up to the top and all around the arena it was difficult to keep in-focus. This lack of presence acts against the player's main goal/focus. The henchmen help bring a bit of focus back, so overall not a huge problem.

It wasn't clear if the player had health or not at first. I went back and intentionally had the grime hit me and watched the screen until I died. Got the proper endscreen!

Good job balancing health replenishment and the pacing is great. switching between the two modes is a great idea, I would love to see a forecasting system for that.

Bonus Points for Jorgen Von Pink Mr. Clean and cats in a washing machine.

Beer Tavern by sharbelfs 2020-04-22T07:19:14Z ♥ 1

I'm a sucker for resource management games and drinking games which is why I own 3 failed bars.

The highlight of this game was watching a little meeple come in and get toasty for the first time. I'm not patient enough to play out whether or not there is a viable path to multiple-story brewhouses, but the ones that I did have shutdown within 3 months or less were a regular "brewhaha" while we were open. I thought the soundtrack was gonna mess me up but I have to say - it fits, and it gets inside after a bit, but it still felt a bit loud, just like a real bar..

On the negatives, the text is a bit small and dense (but you had a great hierarchy of info in the purchase menu which totally makes up for that!). The purchase menu itself could have been a bit bigger. The theme connection is a bit too loose.

Raising my glass to the only alcoholic business venture game I've come across this jam!

Feed Meh by MrTroy 2020-04-22T06:19:34Z ♥ 1

Always up for a little "murder people and feed them to my carnivorous plant" action!

The highlight of the gameplay was the first two ACK's: The first time I was chomped on getting too close, and the first time meat was harvested. Even in this simple form those were very satisfying moments.

The two major complaints as an experience were that the camera drags too far from the player when at full speed, and that the grounds are too sparse of resources. Having a larger harvest of non meat would help balance the play while waiting for a big score of meat AND it would help with player trace direction in relation to the plant if too far away. The speed of the play was excellent and easy to replay. The plant's small bits of animation do well here.

Overall, 4 out of 5 Moranises and one dentist would recommend.

Livefire by lonewookie 2020-04-22T05:52:04Z ♥ 1

The ruleset felt great learning, the playthroughs became more enjoyable with each loss, and the art choices were great within the restrictions of PICO. Playing without sounds didn't take much away from the experience. There didn't feel like there was enough speed difference from normal drop and pushing down. When I was playing and found a good rhythm it looked and felt like dancing fire on the screen.

This has been the best use I've seen so far of using a "Keep the fire alive" takes.

Balloony by Ryfi 2020-04-21T23:15:14Z ♥ 1

THIS GAME HAS NO BUSINESS BEING AS ENJOYABLE AS IT WAS.

The concept of "Don't let the balloon touch the ground" has officially been perfected here. The graphics are exactly what they need to be, the upgrades and dangers make PERFECT sense, and the reasoning for having that many balloons is somehow AIRTIGHT... Whatever this game was going for, it nailed it.

Even Billy could play this game. Minus 2 points for the lack of cake. Happy Birthday, Billy.

Die-Alect by Jake White 2020-04-21T22:55:40Z ♥ 1

Could just have sat and watched these little meeps walk around all day. But eventually... they died.

A chill experience with words. The highlight of the game is when the player has their first interaction battle. Hearing the little fellas speak as I was type-matching the phrase was a great payout; thanks for that tiny moment!

Body and Soul by blabberf 2020-04-21T19:08:14Z ♥ 1

When I die, if I ever do, I too want to be a shambling corpse protected by my soul flying around and shooting crap into oblivion. Just top-tier everything.

Art choices were all great - I did get a little disoriented when around all the baddies, not knowing exactly where I was destroying stuff. Sound was solid and fit with the action. Pacing was just the best. The game gives you everything you need to understand the game - which is difficult to pull off. Big Win!

Bondfire by daidiimon 2020-04-21T18:48:28Z ♥ 2

Fun little firestarter. The music and SFX were excellent and enjoyable, but felt out of place thematically (more of a space shooter than a woodsy-campy, playing with fire feeling). Catchy as heck though!

The gameplay was smart and strong; the horde definitely grows to an uncontrollable level too quickly, not allowing for the player to prepare upgrades fast enough to combat the difficulty increase. This does have the effect of creating a good panicky, unprepared for the apocalypse feeling, though, and who doesn't like a little "all hope is lost" feeling now and then?

The art is pleasant and CLEAR. Even in the chaotic bits I could tell what was happening.

Loved the push and pull of fighting versus feeding.

Magic Mirror Delivery Service by Zerion 2020-04-21T18:12:30Z ♥ 3

As a puzzle game, this breaks the glass. The difficulty progresses well until the "boss" level, which we were not prepared for. Fairly forgiving fail states and use of light and pressure triggers to create variation in design made it enjoyable. Not a huge fan of the princess design, but definitely get the humor in it. The Mirror delivering lines to the delivery meeps was a great choice! The audio feedback for damage was enough to get the point across to be more careful during play.

An option that I would have liked to have was separate controls of the two characters so that they could be controlled simultaneously for a two player experience, but that would have created its own set of problems... Good job!

The last tree by DeadBoyGames 2020-04-21T17:28:15Z ♥ 1

Great aesthetic, and after a few rounds the flow of growing the tree feels rewarding. The attack feels good with the delay and with multiple strikes in a line. The only unclear information is when the shadows attack the tree, and how many attacks it can withstand. The game crashed after growing the tree to the top edge of the screen. Kudos for Robots with swords and watering cans.