kawa-yoiko

Age of Research by ping78 2024-04-23T07:36:17Z

The gameplay is quite polished and well balanced, being a traditional tower defense combined with a unique take on the research of exotic material samples (needs a unit to move around and deploy harvesting units). The functions of units were not apparent to me at first — it became clear when I revisited the description, but the description did not make sense before I started the game, so I suppose this could need a bit more polish. Other than that, the entire experience is pretty solid with the in-game introduction. The map is unexpectedly large, so maybe some easier navigation method could be helpful to the player.

The theme might not be explored to its full potential (the RTS genre already possesses this 'summoning' aspect), but this is already very complete and impressive as a Compo entry.

I also like how you use euphemism on the naming of units, sounds pretty like some sarcasm on civilisation's unlimited exploitation…

Keyboard Warrior by TolMera 2024-04-23T06:39:11Z

Nice implementation of a typing game! It can be a bit confusing that backspace does not work, but this does happen in typing games. I've also spotted a few bugs: - the text sometimes overflow vertically and become hardly readable. - seems that the first word of each line is not pronounced.

All aside, the theme interpretation is unique, and I appreciate how you decide on what to summon — simple but inspiring! We all have so many heroes along our ways of learning, and all may be someone else's hero ^ ^

Colormancer by ildfuglen 2024-04-28T13:43:39Z

The seemingly-simple mechanics play out very well! I especially like the timing aspect combined with the "chain reactions". I think this has decent potential to evolve into a deeper and more interesting puzzle-solving experience, and current puzzles are already quite fun to play with. Chiptune audio is also a perfect match to a terminal-based game. Such a complete package of a "curses" style (which unexpectedly resonates with the theme??) experience is certainly a fresh and creative one for a solo jam!

There appears to be a few potential shortcomings. I'm initially confused about how the switches work — turns out the green-coloured player can directly interact with the green switches and exits, but this didn't become clear to me until a few levels in. Also, the correspondence between the switches and the gates is not clear. It can be fine if that's an intentional aspect of the puzzle, but if not, it might be a tough (in the terminal due to space constraints) but important design element to consider. Further, the player's left hand is too loaded (WASD and E/R are operated by the same fingers); it can be completely lifted by allowing alternative key sets.

Despite all these, I'm appreciating the fun experience. Kudos!

I'm successfully building this from source on macOS with a straightforward change to Makefile (new target with `GOOS=darwin`). If you are interested in merging the patch, I'll send it on GitHub.

Colormancer by ildfuglen 2024-04-28T17:05:04Z

@ildfuglen I've sent it, please have a look ^ ^

@inkweeper's screen appears to be Simplified Chinese. Maybe try changing the code page by `chcp` (or can this be done in the program? I remember something like Turbo Pascal did it)

If Only by Le Slo 2024-04-23T10:47:20Z

It took me a short while to figure out how the ghost is summoned, but once I understood that, I was immersed in the gameplay and fascinated by it. I still haven't solved puzzles 7 and 9, but I'm already astonished by the depth of the puzzles in a short sequence of 9 levels. I feel this has ample potential to evolve into a richer, deeper puzzle-solving experience, but it's just as complete if kept this short and concise.

The presentation is also quite polished, combined with a nice atmosphere. An impressively beautiful piece of work, would I say.

resown by Lushboy Studios 2024-04-18T21:47:25Z

I can definitely see Celeste tributes here! Control, animations, audio, scenes, narrative; even how the characters hold together — a lot of work has gone into all the details, rendering a perfect mood and a pleasing action experience for the setting.

The game might not align quite well with the theme, but I think it has the potential for more extensions and depth, maybe more puzzle-solving and a flowing storyline. This surely can evolve into an intriguing, delicate experience, if the author wills. Yet it's impressive how a solo jammer has managed to deliver such a polished final product. Kudos!

Stars Align by cassowary 2024-04-28T15:21:38Z

Brilliant, elegant, hard puzzles, with a pleasing presentation. Level 2 already requires some mind-wrapping — it's awesome how much can be taught in such a short sequence of puzzles; the design is very compact. Graphics and audio are simple but quite polished, especially with all the little animations and sound effects. Also resonates with the theme well. (I'm also amused by the pun.)

One thing I'd hope for is faster movement (at least for quick successive moves), as sometimes the solution sequence is long and I'm retrying multiple times from scratch. There is an apparently random bug where a key (movement/summon) gets stuck for a while (maybe with accidental triggering of context menus), and the levels' order might need a bit tuning (some later puzzles can turn out more straightforward once things start moving), but those are none of a problem. I can never get enough of such kind of puzzles. Kudos!

Edit: mentions puzzle ordering

Soul Weaver by GreenRadiation 2024-04-18T21:27:20Z

I enjoyed the visuals! The artwork and animations are quite delicate. The mechanics is straightforward and effective — I like the auto-combat design — but I find myself always checking my balance (energy? coins?) to determine whether my summoning attempt was successful (and in many of the times they were not — me using the trackpad might have contributed to that). Not having this feedback in the central mechanic was an obstacle in my playing.

Despite that, I really appreciate the polish in visuals and the automatic mechanics! Great work!

Principal's Office by Thomas_Bringer 2024-04-23T08:24:45Z

Cute game ^ ^ I like the Duolingo-style art! I also especially like how keyboard navigation is possible and comfortable. That added to the polished overall presentation created a very enjoyable experience. Replayability is still great even with fixed dialogues; I'm still curious about some of the other options I didn't make.

As others have mentioned, I'd also like some concluding dialogues — although I was already sure about the truth by the second kid, I would be glad to have some more of this funny writing. But it might as well work out for players that haven't run into the actual confession to play it again to find out what was missing.

Gerald the Blind Butler by maxflav 2024-04-20T11:02:51Z

This interpretation of the theme is smart! (We've done something similar; I'm getting excited to see another puzzle game design on this theme ^ ^) Nice exploration of the mechanics with many nuances introduced in a short sequence of puzzles. The visualisation of sound is a great design in presentation aiding the player's understanding. I'd expect that if this is expanded further, a very fun, immersive experience will arise. I also like the sense of humour in the messages!

Fidget's Familiaria by dreamcastgh0st 2024-05-02T18:12:17Z

The presentation (visuals and audio) is great! The core gameplay built on ingredient collection and magical build-up has the potential to provide quite some time of fun.

As the gameplay streches rather far (spanning several mechanics including dungeon crawler and long-time building/management), the gameplay probably needs a bit more tutorial and polish to present all of its fun to the player. The dungeon screen has some bugs: an attack/action is carried out whenever I click a button to change the action type; also, sometimes the keyboard navigation does not work when the buttons are focused. A few selection screens outside also did not work properly (left/right navigation is glitchy).

Despite that, I'm finding the overall presentation cute, the gameplay innovative and fun, quite appreciable as a jam entry — trying to find how the story works is an unexpected extra kind of fun — and it surely has potential to become something more. It also matches the theme, and I like vibe in the brewing scene with the little recipe book. Kudos!

Summoned to Another World to Fight the Demon Lord! by Asieke 2024-04-23T09:07:33Z

The first attempt is much like a tutorial where I failed hard during phase 3, and in the next attempt I was able to properly plan the actions. This replay is also part of the game, and I enjoyed it.

The mechanic of the Demon Lord fits in with the 'summoning' theme, and at the end it became clear that the player's party are also the ones to be summoned, so the theme can be considered well used. Overall this is a nice little tactics game with an RPG (Pokémon) vibe!

Chain Reaction by Ategon 2024-04-22T17:55:39Z

A frustration of mine is that initially I did not seem to understand how to correctly start drawing; nothing happens when I click/drag with any of the mouse buttons. Turns out that it is only after a line has been established that any visual hint starts to emerge — and the entire drawing mechanic does not work on the web version (I'm using the trackpad on macOS). This made me revisit the game several times before I figured out that specific rough edge, and that only the local version works for me.

Apart from that, I appreciated the game once I got into it. On top of the ordinary drawing mechanic is a nice combination with alchemy-based automatic combat, with decent graphics and audio, a well-thought-out help book, and the added fun of global rankings. I'm also intrigued by the tarot references :crystal_ball:

Grave Crave by lildyll 2024-05-03T13:30:32Z

I love the presentation (graphics and audio)! The gameplay is also quite fun in that it's easy to get the restaurant running, yet some challenge is provided to properly manage all the customers and workers.

I feel that an initial in-game tutorial (or at least, an indicator of what can be interacted with in the scene — customer tables, table of orders, kitchen, etc.) might be lacking, since it took me a moment to figure out where to click at first; also, I think the game can become more interesting if the difficulty ramps up as time passes — as others have mentioned, for instance, if the number of customers gradually increases, it would quickly turn into some challenging hectic scene (as is the case with many restaurant management games :P). A bug I ran into is that Ghouls start glitching in movement and failing to carry out any action at a later stage of gameplay (~10 minutes in), which resulted in a few failures of service and stopped me from getting further.

Despite all these, this is quite a polished game with a cute presentation and an enjoyable little experience. I liked it a lot!

The Old Summoner by litterattus 2024-04-18T21:06:21Z

The mechanics feel interesting with the right amount of polish in presentation (graphics and sounds are simplistic but very cute!). The balance in mechanics is perfect. This reminds me of retro console games, but the addition of modern touches makes this an even more delightful experience. I believe this can be digged deeper as you're planning to, but I've already had much fun with this!

The controls may be a bit obscure in the beginning, as the player is required to remember quite a few keybindings and rules; maybe the introduction can be made a bit gentler. Despite that, the explanation turned out quite clear once I understood the backing logic.

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-18T17:00:29Z

@tetrergeru Haha we're surprised that you remember that previous entry! Did you try dragging the screen of vases? Can you provide details on how the problem appears for you?

Thanks for the feedback <3

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-18T19:27:23Z

@jaxah Thanks for the feedback ^ ^

We acknowledge that the rule is presented very implicitly, so please refer to the [hints](https://github.com/ayuusweetfish/Nectar-Nexus/blob/master/misc/solutions/README.md) if you are interested!

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-18T19:30:01Z

@dan-allison Thanks for the feedback ^ ^

Would you mind clarifying the meaning of "when you need to go over one of the flowers more than once"? Because each pollinated flower only needs to be visited once. I'm not sure what's being misunderstood here ._.

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-18T19:42:20Z

@impalpable @nanmingle @i-cam Pinging early commenters to say that we have added sounds and solution documents, so please check them out if that interests you! Appreciate your feedback <3

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-18T19:54:21Z

@dan-allison Thank you, I get it now! Indeed, it's us not making it crystal clear (^ ^;

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-19T14:53:48Z

@20akshay00 @luamct Thanks for the feedback! You're right in that we had intended to guide the player through all the nuances, ideally enabling them to play the game by logic rather than feeling, but it's indeed still difficult to piece together the whole picture. Thus, we've added a screen for a graphical explanation (similar to that in [the tutorial document](https://github.com/ayuusweetfish/Nectar-Nexus/blob/master/misc/solutions/README.md)). Again, we appreciate your feedback and compliment ^ ^

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-19T21:59:28Z

@pacelin You can use the [web version](https://0-th.art/Nectar-Nexus)! If you want to run it locally, you can download [LÖVE](https://love2d.org/) and drag the .love file onto this application.

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-20T08:45:10Z

@skleembof Aha! That was quite an oversight for us! Indeed, it should have been better that level 4 be redesigned to eliminate the multiple, longer solutions. We did not intend that this be the only chance for the player to learn (the help screen and a few following puzzles all are), but yes, we would probably want to go through quite a few more hoops to effectively communicate everything to the player…

Nectar Nexus by Jupiterintardis 2024-04-28T17:18:41Z

@cassowary Glad you like it! And you've really spot these details! ^ ^ (Your entry is quite a brain-melter as well, though it was late at night when I played it).

Indeed, I feel we're missing on some more grinding on the introduction of rules, as almost everyone has been mentioning. The movement rules had quite a few nuances that are tricky to describe and grasp (and I think this is what your design gets ingenious at — one straightforward (straight-backward??) action with no tricky corner cases hidden). Thanks for your feedback, I'm delighted to have another puzzle game wizard here!

Nexus Conquest by Blazejmg917 2024-04-23T09:35:14Z

This is impressively contentful! Although I did not figure out how to restart a mission from the fleet after I failed the first one, I did find the game delicately set-up and tuned, with an intelligent AI and some decent challenges. It appears that there is an abundance of variations on every element, with a lasting, far-stretching gameplay, so this surely has potential to be a great crossover of turn-based strategy and management games!

The help text was long and written in capitalised letters, so it was a bit hard for me to grasp everything at once, though it gradually became clear later. Some revisions on this might be helpful.

The Bread Soceress Panini! by Aly Name 2024-05-02T17:20:06Z

This is the kind of stuff that catches my attention in no time. Playful graphics and narratives, and hidden inside is a turn-based puzzle game that smells like ~~bread~~ a chessboard? Where's my 'Add to Wishlist' button?

Praise your hands! It's impressive how such a complete package can be made in a jam working solo. Graphics and narratives — people have complimented it too many times, I know; but really, it's what I wish I could draw, to be honest > <. Levels and boss fights — although I gave up early today (more on this later), the first levels have already left me intrigued with this mind-wrapping yet relaxing gameplay, and I'm eagerly looking forward to revisiting this with a different playing environment. Even a level map that gradually unfolds, with save/load abilities utilising the clipboard? That really feels like something to be shipped publicly. (When will it be on your website? > ^)

The game had quite a few technical glitches on my side — the transitions frequently left black stripes on the screen, the moves/lives indicators might not appear, and for once the keyboard controls completely stopped working so I needed to restart. I'm on macOS with Firefox 126. Maybe Godot is to blame; nevertheless, there are definitely a few aspects in interaction that could benefit from improvements. The way that the board follows the pointer feels a bit 'floaty' (i.e., it might move without the player's intention). The isometric display is potentially confusing regarding keyboard controls, and sometimes characters in the front obstruct those in the back, making it difficult to see the whole picture.

All these did not stop me from trying to get through a bit of it and appreciate the game. I'm surely coming back later!

PIED PIPER by arColm 2024-04-23T17:37:44Z

As a fan of puzzle platformers like _Celeste_ and _VVVVVV_, I surely enjoy this! The controls are smoothly tuned and the puzzles are intriguing (minus a very minor glitch of rats stuck in wall blocks afloat), with cute, detailed 1-bit graphics. The melody part (an _Ocarina of Time_ tribute?) might not seem quite well justified (since they could easily be replaced with separate buttons without harming the integrity of the game's setting), but anyway, it adds the right amount of challenge in execution. Overall this is highly polished and enjoyable as a compo submission. Kudos!

bergs by burnttoastdev 2024-04-22T16:23:03Z

Brilliant design and theme interpretation! This was quite an enjoyable puzzle platformer experience, with a core mechanic introduced and explored in depth through level design. The simplistic graphics are also effective in conveying the mood and the cues. One mild hindrance, were I to get picky, is that it was not made clear that getting to the unactivated finishing point before activating the switches does not get the puzzle solved. An improvement I can think of is to add a hint for the height of the coming berg, similar to Tetris.

I'd personally be more grateful if there is an "undo" button (given a deterministic random sequence), but never mind, I guess such punishment for failure in execution is what puzzle platformers are about (^ ^;

Aphrodite's Day Off by RileyKhin 2024-05-03T16:14:35Z

Visuals and sounds are very delicate. The Greek mythology background is an attractive setting introduced well (with that specific typeface that resembles the Phoenician alphabet!), and the interpretation of the theme is innovative. The gameplay is simple (that *Papers, Please* style of Yes/No decisions) but very effective, combined with the captivating writing, making an enjoyable read. The only thing I'd hope for is a bit more guiding at the ending (I was not quite sure whether it has really ended — at my first playthrough the cutscenes stopped at Aphrodite's response; the second time I reach a dialogue with Aphrodite and it freezes after a few sentences.)

A personal note: our team also thought about such decision-based visual novels involving deities and supernatural powers, but eventually dumped this idea. Kudos for making this a reality ^ ^