LyftOff! by mcapraro 2014-09-08T21:54:00
Not a bad little game given the time constraints. Love the art style and the character design of the aliens!
I super-confused myself the first couple times I tried to play this though. If you get an assignment, and then click on several wrong planets in a row, you wind up getting multiple new assignments. So as someone is trying to figure out the game, suddenly your map is scrolling around randomly giving you new assignments that you can't possibly click on fast enough. It gets really out of hand! Seems like the game needs to take measures to ensure you only have one assignment at a time.
I also would have liked some alternative scrolling controls. Mouse-edge scrolling is really hard to use when you're playing a non-full-screen game, so enabling some WASD and/or arrow keys would have been nice.
This is a great start for a very cute game!
LD31 — Entire Game on One Screen (47)
Collectic by Krisjet 2014-12-29T21:43:00
This is a solid platformer with some nice polish and a neat mechanic. Zipping around felt fun and it was neat to be able to plan my route around to map, dodging or avoiding enemies as I went. Not a lot of challenge, but still pretty fun.
Super Action Man by TeamQuadratic 2014-12-29T21:38:00
Haha, best game eva! I thought it was a good interpretation of the theme, so way to go there. Voice acting and a lot of humor to boot. Even if the gameplay wasn't that involved, there was definitely some challenge there and the story elements kept me going. Nicely done!
Communications Control by PapyPilgrim 2014-12-29T21:13:00
Great concept! I can definitely see this turning into something really fun.
Scratch Track by playvue 2014-12-29T19:33:00
This is a great take on a rhythm game that could be developed into something really addictive. Nicely done! There's a lot of work to do on the graphical side, but the music tracks you created were really nice. Simply re-playing the track until you "beat" it was a really good design choice which worked to keep me engaged.
It's really tough to keep the buttons straight in my mind when I get around to the other side of the record. It breaks the "left-to-right" spatial association. If the record was spinning and my avatar stayed in place, that would be much easier. I'd prefer if the challenge came from the actual music, not just me fumbling the buttons.
It did however get maybe a bit *too* challenging when the track gets so small that the dots blend together and I'm not sure which lane I need to be in at which time.
Seriously though, very fun and I'd love to see a polished version of this!
When Snowmen Attack by rantt 2014-12-29T19:20:00
Great entry! Very simple but the gameplay feels good. The fact that the snowmen could throw diagonally was a great touch and added more challenge than I expected. My only nitpick is that I tend to dislike games that let you fire forever as fast as you can press a button. I'd rather have some kind of cooldown that I have to contend with to make my choice to fire meaningful. Otherwise there's no reason to stop firing, so why have a control at all?
Randomaze by Nikteddy92 2014-12-29T19:14:00
Excellent use of the theme. I love the characters you build in between the game play. And I love that they talk while you're playing as well. The gameplay is simple and the game is not without its rough edges, but even so very nicely done. The cute story is worth it!
ERROR: Could not load graphics by Renaldo 2014-12-29T19:02:00
This is a really cute setup. :) I dig the console adventure game feel and there were some funny objects to find. Short and sweet, but nicely done!
Moving Melody by ChuiGum 2014-12-29T18:53:00
I love the idea. The color changes were really neat. What would have really sold me on this game -- apart from more levels -- is if the jumps were designed to be executed on the beat. If it was designed that way, I didn't feel it. Otherwise this could make a really cool relaxing get-in-the-flow runner. Hope you continue to work on it!
For the Homeland! by Verz 2014-12-29T18:33:00
Brilliant concept and well executed! (Har har.) Please take the length of my feedback as proof of how much I enjoyed it. :)
I love this style of management game a la "Yes, Your Grace" and you've adapted it very well to the communist dictatorship setting. Gorgeous (and at times gory!) art; perfect music and sound. I definitely get the feel of the complex simulation happening underneath my imperfect ability to control it all, and there are some interesting choices to make as the game goes on.
The intro is a bit difficult to follow, perhaps in part due to the "back and forth" dialog between the two characters. A little of that is fun, too much is hard to keep track of.
Interactions with other countries feels unfinished due to some bugs and lack of meaningful feedback. The offers you get from them vary from wildly unfair to wildly in your favor with no rhyme or reason, and I even had a nation offer me negative amounts. For that matter, the game probably shouldn't let me go into the negatives in my own stock, or should find some way to penalize me for doing so. (i.e., run out of meat -> increase worker unrest)
Attacking needs more polish. How can I know how many military units to send? Why do I lose all of those units even if I win? Should I really lose all the units if I lose? Win or lose, how many resources were won/lost? Why can't I conquer any of those nations? Why am I not on the map? Do I need a standing army? If earning resources is just to build an army to attack and gain resources, why do resources matter? I suspect that there was much more planned here that was cut for time restrictions.
I would like to see some kind of score/summary screen at the end of the game. How well did I do? How many people sent to the gulag, etc.
Finally a user interaction detail: a common feature of these types of games is that not all of the info is visible all the time, purposefully, and that info is spread out across different locations to add an element of memory and immersive tedium. However, in such systems there's a very fine line to walk when it comes to how much delay there is between screens -- "immersive" can quickly turn to "frustrating" when it's the game slowing me down, not my reaction time. For example, when the "Worker Bird" falls asleep, it takes a very long time to click him, watch his wake up animation, click him again, watch his "give the report" animation, and finally I get to view the info I want. Notice that "Papers, Please" has only very small time delays when it comes to referencing information: the limiting factor is screen space and how quickly you can operate your mouse. Only certain *actions* have significant delays. I believe this design point is key to keeping the player engaged.
Screen Bacteria by Nitrodeus 2014-12-29T17:25:00
Funny use of the theme. Very simple, but some neat ideas. The "blast a bunch of stuff" attack was fun and certainly not something I'd seen in other games, so good work there. A few bugs (at least I think they're bugs) make it difficult to play: all revolving around previously neutralized enemies becoming suddenly un-neutralized. This especially happened when two enemies spawn fairly close. Fighting the second one and having to back up often meant I would run into the first one which was somehow active again.
Law Breaker by deepnight 2014-12-20T23:08:00
Gorgeous as usual! This was a really fun throwback and the Pacman combination added a bit of extra spice. I love the control decision that you made. Having the movement tend towards the direction you were pressing (as opposed to a "left key means turn left" scheme) felt really good and was probably essential to making this work on a micro scale. Grinding along walls added challenge without too much frustration and some really nice feedback. A very intuitive mechanic. I felt like the cops were a little too quick for me to work out much depth of strategy -- you mostly just needed to drive faster since there weren't a lot of clever tricks to pull. Still, great fun!
Boss Rush by Nick Weihs 2014-12-20T22:32:00
Pretty fun! The concept of fighting "all bosses" is solid and the bosses you designed were all unique enough to keep me interested. I'm super glad death didn't reset you to the beginning, but let you just face that boss again.
On the critical side: I was a bit frustrated with the sticky movement controls. If you run(hold)-jump-attack, you keep running when you hit the ground. If you just run(hold)-attack, your movement stops.
You can't duck without letting go of the run key first. Also I think being able to "knee slide" even just a little would have helped me feel more in control. Otherwise you start to feel like you can't make any progress if you have to keep ducking arrows and axes.
I'm also not convinced that the "jump back" move was better than just being able to turn around and run in that direction. Perhaps letting me double-tap-away to perform the jump would have made me happier.
Still fun and challenging given the time limit! I can certainly sympathize with art being a giant time-suck. Nicely done!
Do You Want to Build a Snowman? by Schwiggy 2014-12-17T06:18:00
Definitely a fun little toy box! The physics are pretty fun, and who doesn't love snowmen? One thing I noticed is that the hats appear to respond to physics impulses backwards when they're upside-down. i.e., pull up on the right side and the hat spins clockwise. Maybe I'm missing something though.
Snowman Lander 2014 by rincewind_cz 2014-12-17T05:59:00
An old concept, but doing it in different graphical treatments was a neat way to tie in the theme! I probably would have dialed back the force of the side thrusters a little, but it did add a lot of challenge. Good work!
Musing About by CtrlAltTea 2014-12-17T05:08:00
Neat idea with some really nice art. I would have liked if the UI were done in the same style as the rest of the game. Still, nicely done!
Man on the Field by Double Zero One Zero 2014-12-16T02:47:00
This is exactly the kind of gritty game I love to see. Absolutely brilliant.
One Act by Sheep 2014-12-16T02:37:00
I really like the tie-in with One Take. Smart and funny writing as well. Nicely done!
Yuki and Snow by Raiyumi 2014-12-16T02:22:00
Beautiful artwork!
Baguette Quest by Saturnyn 2014-12-16T00:19:00
Very cute concept and well executed! I like that you designed this without death -- the bears don't die they just get chased off the screen, and the grandmother just get chased back to the start -- that really helped to keep this light and adorable.
Patricia I by theFireman 2014-12-16T00:07:00
I love the throwback to old school gaming. Then you combined that with a smart narrative, making this pretty golden.
Limberjacks by gameproducer 2014-12-15T23:53:00
Beautiful art, simple gameplay, nicely done! I am impressed by the multiplayer capability, even if I'm a bit late to see it in action.
Panzer Blitz by friggingames 2014-12-15T23:02:00
Really fun take on the theme! The gameplay is flawed, but still enjoyable. Ironically the slow pace of movement made this feel less like the kind of game you'd find on a Gameboy.
Summoning of the Santa by Slothmachine 2014-12-12T01:33:00
Nice puzzles! This was a really nice way to do the "no explanation" approach. I love the art style and the Santa character. Very smart.
Pickup Styx by tcarter 2014-12-12T01:22:00
Good story, some really nice art, humor, voice-over is always a nice touch. And the gameplay concept is promising. My biggest criticism is that the interaction feels really floaty. I can't easily tell where the platform edges are, and there's no feedback when I "pick up" one of the souls (except when I move far enough away that it starts to move). This leads to some really frustrating failures.
It also would have been nice to ease the player into the gameplay a bit more. I did figure it out, of course, but not without a strong "wait, what am I doing?" moment.
Overall this game has a lot of spirit -- haha -- nice work!
Amiss by srakowski 2014-12-12T01:11:00
Nicely done. I like your ASCII art style and color choices. I would like it a bit more if the amount of key presses to get things done were decreased by a factor of 10 or so. Also a usability nitpick: the intro does mention the 'm' key, but by the time I get to the point where I need that key, I've forgotten all about it. Nothing in my mind connects "user menu" with "eat food". If the UI reminded me that the 'm' key did something, that would have been less confusing for me.
Shiny Disco Ball! by keyle 2014-12-12T00:42:00
Neat game! The ball definitely fell through the paddle a few times, so there are a few physics bugs it seems.
Ragtown by indie4fun 2014-12-11T17:41:00
Pretty neat game, even given the repetitive mechanics. I thought losing a sheriff leading to temporary chaos was a clever gameplay choice. The progression of the town behind you as population shifted was also clever. I felt like I wanted to know what the actual distribution was in numerical terms, but I dunno, maybe that would have spoiled the effect.
Graphically: absolutely gorgeous. Nicely done!
Alchemist by oscalbal 2014-12-11T17:11:00
This was a very interesting entry, but unfortunately has some flaws that make it difficult to play.
In terms of balance, the fairies are kind of overpowered. It would be nice if I was given some time to figure things out before one arrived, and if the pace of them arriving was a little slower. Second: I really don't see any reason to try to fight them -- the worst thing that happens is they eventually explode and I lose a customer, but the only way to fight them is to make something explode so I lose a customer. Maybe if I could just swat them that would be an acceptable mechanic.
There are some bugs and issues with lack of feedback. Grabbing things felt finicky, possibly due to the small size of the reagents. I ran into an issue where customers sometimes didn't take the bottle. I think I was setting the bottle directly on the counter instead of "dropping" it on the counter, and make that's the difference. When I was able to get a customer to take a bottle, I noticed the "score" screen in the back, but that really should be visible all the time. How much gold am I making/did I make?
Finally: this game is almost impossible for the color blind. The colors you've used for the reagents are too similar and the boxes of color too small for me to tell between them a lot of the time. I know time is short, but this feels like the perfect opportunity to use shape in addition to color (better-contrasting colors) to differentiate the reagents.
Leaving detailed feedback because I really do think this is a neat concept. Best of luck!
A Link Between Screens by trykondev 2014-12-11T16:52:00
There's some inventive gameplay here, nicely done! I feel like there's lots of room to expand on that concept: where tile placement isn't just about opening areas for the player to walk, but about getting the environment to interact with itself: for example, one tile could contain something that shoots fire and you could move that in front of a stand of hedges to burn them down. That sort of thing. Your pixel art has that old Zelda feel, but be careful not to be too constrained by your inspiration. :)
Winter Blast by sirival 2014-12-11T16:43:00
This is a solid game: I like that there's a progression of enemies, wave arrangements, power ups, and so on. This kept the game fun for longer. Well done! I'd like to see a bit more gameplay innovation and a stronger application of the theme.
Boagie Dodge by Boracho 2014-12-11T16:33:00
I really like the story you came up with the back up the game. And your character design is adorable. I would echo the sentiment that the walljump control is really counter-intuitive. I think a more suitable choice would have been to use the jump key to execute the wall jump, rather than having to press the opposite direction. Otherwise executing multiple wall jumps to scale a vertical wall becomes extremely frustrating: there is little forgiveness if you press the opposite direction a little too long. In any case, a nice little platformer.
SCREEN HEAD by NickZangus 2014-12-11T16:24:00
The game is very simplistic, of course, but it's executed well. The art style was remarkably effective and there are a lot of nice touches like the office worker's expressions. Well done!
Coin Toss Simulator 2015 by Mekuri 2014-12-10T20:56:00
Hey I know that hex tile texture. :D Cute idea and pretty entertaining for its simplicity.
Get Out by rodobodolfo 2014-12-10T20:49:00
Heh, short and sweet. :) I do really like the atmosphere you accomplished. Next time bigger and better; you can do it!
Papercuts by Tasteslikefuture 2014-12-10T20:44:00
Trippy, and quite original! Nicely done. Seems like there's a lot of room to expand this into something deeper. The random storytelling concept is really neat.
Oscillation by MaddeMichael 2014-12-10T20:36:00
There's some lovely art here and a solid platformer design. The opening section is pretty painful, but if you can make it past that it's pretty fun.
Orion by feiss 2014-12-10T19:11:00
I love this so much. <3 The only thing I want is more.
Chance Encounter by allurious 2014-12-10T00:48:00
Gorgeous and hilarious! With a bit of refinement and further development of the mechanics I could spend a lot of time playing this game.
90 Second Portraits by SimonLarsen 2014-12-10T00:24:00
Hilariously fun! Absolutely gorgeous. Very nice entry.
Context Quest by Harrs 2014-12-10T00:02:00
Overall a pretty neat concept. It is a little tedious and carpal-tunnel inducing. Maybe you can work on the combat and gathering mechanics to make it more involved than "click to win". Still, I like the vibe to it and it definitely taps into the addictive, incremental progress psychology that many successful RPGs are built on.
birdsong by managore 2014-12-09T23:09:00
Simply incredible! The one thing that really burned me was there there seem to be far more nest spots than sticks, so if you were a little too liberal with building nests you screwed yourself for the later areas when the difficulty level spikes. By that time I had so much invested in the playthrough that it wasn't satisfying to start over again. I'm just not sure what the "build your own checkpoint" adds if you're given the chance to build them at the "wrong" spot.
Synthetic Nano-Organic Web-Manipulating Agent Network by ZNCatlaw 2014-12-09T22:35:00
Cute concept and well executed! There's a lot that's unexplained but you do get the hang of it after the first try, so that's not a huge impediment. I loved the little things the crew runs around saying. :)
Perhaps some audio clues would have helped with the gameplay -- a warning when a new system breaks or is corrupted, for instance. Otherwise you're just kind of randomly scanning the whole ship looking for problems and you miss out on some of the ambience.
I would like more strategic depth to the game -- maybe patterns in the system damage/infection, or systems get worse the longer you leave them broken. If any of those sorts of mechanics are present I wasn't able to notice them in the chaos.
OMNI by Noah Ratcliff 2014-12-09T22:13:00
Really creative idea, beautiful to look at, full of humor! But SUPER difficult, owing in part to the sticky jump command and in part to a seemingly endless boss fight. I wanted to see the end but I fear I won't get there. A health bar on the boss would be lovely. As would "check-points" for weenies like me. :)
One Does Not Simply Walk Into More Doors by Wertle 2014-12-09T21:44:00
Adorable! You played the theme "straight", but it so solidly influences the gameplay that I had to give that a bonus star. The limited space is used to its full, tension-creating potential!
My only note is that, on my first replay, I sat around longer than I'm willing to admit waiting for Chompy to appear before I realized I needed to go through a door. D'oh!
And for the record: 16 pieces.
Game of Youth by Thorig 2014-12-09T21:28:00
Cute graphics! 'A' wasn't a great choice as a restart button since it's also a movement key, and I would have liked a quit button.
Entity Unchained by ViliX64 2014-12-09T21:20:00
Very enjoyable! Though maybe a little rough. For me the difficulty lies in feedback: it's really difficult to know when I'm hit, when I hit something else, what I hit, and so on. The "plus" enemies were especially difficult in this regard and I never quite figured out if I could hit them on the side and I was simply one square too far away or if I had to hit them in the middle. So mostly it meant I flailed around a lot shooting and trying not to get hit. Ultimately pretty neat though! I do like the ASCII graphics; perhaps all it needs is a little bit of modern touch.
Entire Screen of One Game by Tom 7 2014-12-08T18:54:00
They said our lives were meaningless. That there was no victory. Spinning into infinity, endlessly incepting, we jumped. For what purpose? We got nowhere.
The community of ourselves formed and for a while we were content merely to embrace and huddle to fend off the chill of the RGB winter. But as fathers and daughters and mothers and sons consumed one another in the savage feast of time, forced to witness the decay of our own future-past, tortured by the dreams of what was yet to come again, our heart cried out: gods, won't you save us?
And no answer came.
Until at once a swelling thought: laughing through tears and longing to face the fear that we had never faced, as one we turned to the west. The ones who began this journey knew they would never see its end, so they ached in their soul a new burning ache that filled their emptiness, a new-born galaxy in a vast universe.
And still they marched west, pressing their faces to the wall and leaping, while others leapt atop them. So it was for an eternity. Generations born to be fed to the furnaces of the cause. Jumping to the highest point yet and then falling back, but ever taller they grew.
The First to be Free was not born in triumph because celebration was the product of certainty. But the First to be Free was born, granted the same iron birthright as so many before. And there it was. A jump barely touched the top of the Ledge. A second jump not even close. A third, likewise failed. The First wept silently that the barrier that united the community might be breached. To be the Hero and the Exile. To be the Hope and the realization of hope, that must surely tarnish in the harsh air of reality. One more jump and it was done. Atop the Ledge, the First looked down into infinite space. Hesitated. And in that hesitation realized the Truth. Though not enslaved to Space, Those Who Would be Free were still enslaved to Time. The First jumped -- and fell forever.