Kooky

GriDelve by fixxel 2021-05-07T20:39:57Z

Well done! It's great to see a turn-based game, where you need to strategise to navigate around enemies safely while completing the level. Nice graphics too, and the controls worked well. Glad there was a key to zoom in.

I did find it a little tricky to pair the overhead arrows with the enemies, and was a little confused at first about the difference between the collectibles, and how many I should be getting before proceeding to the next floor. I guess it's good to get as many as possible, without getting hurt, right (since you need HP to advance, and to keep improving your score)?

Nice entry! It's impressive that you got it all working in time.

Slimes and Sandwiches by Nick Rafalski 2021-05-09T14:37:11Z

Very nice! I always like to see procedurally-generated levels or dungeons.

The graphics were fitting and nostalgic. Well done! As has already been said, some variety in the environment could aid with navigation.

Nice audio to add to the mood, too. I like the atmospheric dripping.

It's also great to see a mouse sensitivity slider included!

Poopy's Journey to the Center of the Earth by Dr_V 2021-05-07T20:48:33Z

Good stuff! It's nice to see an entry that takes itself even less seriously than usual.

This is fun to control. It's satisfying to glide around while zooming down an endless tunnel.

Nice work on the sound effects and music too!

Despair by blaster391 2021-04-27T18:47:51Z

Nice Binding of Isaac vibes!

I LOVE the audio (excellent atmospheric music, funny voiced sound effects, and spooky jarring ghost sound), and I really like the doodled art style too! Good idea to have the protagonist's face show their health without needing to glance at their hearts, and nice death animation. :smile:

I like the stat upgrades. Fun, and encourages more thorough exploring. I also enjoy the in-game messages scrawled on the walls; it helps encourage further progress.

Very nice boss battle and ending, wooo! I'm proud I made it to the end. :grin:

Deeper Trance by dhim 2021-04-27T18:28:21Z

Absolutely incredible. I LOVE how you used the theme, in multiple ways!

I love your choice of using an ever-descending musical illusion to fit the theme (fantastic), and the dependence on autostereograms to fit the theme too. I've never seen those things done in a game before! :grin: Well done!

It's funny that if somebody happened across a person playing this game without first seeing the tutorial, they'd wonder what the heck was happening, and how the player knows what they're doing.

Diggy Diggy Down by Schuster 2021-05-18T19:42:18Z

Excellent dramatic music! Satisfying sound effects. Really nice use of lighting and bump-mapping on the textures, too.

If anything, it might be nice for the gameplay to get a little trickier towards the end. I found the boulders were quite easy to avoid, as long as I was patient and reasonably careful.

Good entry! Absolutely fits the theme very well.

Stabalot by bw_devel 2021-05-18T19:08:10Z

Nice entry! Graphics and music are cute and functional, and simple enough gameplay to learn it quickly.

Started off easy and quickly progressed in difficulty too. Really interesting combat mechanic.

Well done!

Make A Wish by J0ye 2021-05-07T19:45:07Z

Nice entry! Beautiful music, really sets atmosphere that feels deep and introspective. I also really like the bump-mapping you've got on the walls, and the little glints of light from the coin on the walls.

Interesting minimal controls too, adds an extra element of luck and randomness to the game.

Good work!

Blue Eye - Salvage & Rescue by PurpledArtFrog 2021-04-27T17:46:24Z

Really nice entry! I love the underwater sounds and slightly unnerving music, the audio combined with the gradually darkening background really add to the atmosphere.

The graphics are cute! I was a little unsure about the meaning of some of the different icons at the top, but all the little tips on the title screen are definitely a good idea. :grin:

Great work on getting this completed on time! I really like that you also included speed options as well as optional immortality. Very considerate! :grin:

Into David by mosaic 2021-05-09T14:02:38Z

Nice. I love the character art, and how bluntly you explain the game's premise. Made in a couple of hours over the weekend? Impressive! Fits the theme nicely too.

The controls are a little tricky, but I can totally get behind that. Some games are designed with intentionally tricky controls, as long as they fit. It would be nice to have a way to restart more quickly upon death, however, so that once you've seen a couple of deaths or so, more time can be spent actually being in control.

Great and functional sound effects too, I love them. Especially the death sound.

Very well done on your first attempt at using ragdoll physics!

Adventure in Socksland by OwlyCode 2021-04-27T18:14:13Z

Nice! I like the balance of risk vs. reward with the limited flashlight, but trying to trust your memory regarding the hole positions.

Great presentation with regard to graphics, and bubbly sock-related transitions between scenes.

It's also good that you get a bit of battery life back after failing, but as long as you don't fail, you won't automatically get your battery refilled. A nice way to balance the difficulty!

Grabble Story by Mahjoub 2021-05-18T18:46:15Z

I love the aesthetic, the excellent music (yay, Bosca Ceoil!), the sound effects, and the motivational comments in between attempts.

I didn't notice the shop until I saw it mentioned in other comments, but started making more progress once I discovered it!

Very nice upgrade system! It makes the game more satisfying to make progress in.

I also really like the risk-reward system where you can leave an object in order to let yourself progress deeper, but it serves as a hazard on your return journey.

Very nice entry, well done!

Deep Golf by dmdmdmdm 2021-05-18T19:47:50Z

Very nice spooky music and lighting, really helps to form an eerie atmosphere.

I unfortunately accidentally got out of the level geometry fairly early on, on my first attempt. It might be nice to be able to move the camera, to perhaps rotate it or see a view from higher above.

Interesting idea! I haven't seen any other golf entries.

Shoot them down ! by Masaru 2021-05-18T19:56:48Z

I love the low poly 3D models, the lighting and shadows, the lavafall texture, and the fact that my ship is right next to a wall. Kind of makes it feel like we're playing with toy spaceships.

I love the music. Very quirky and easy to listen to.

I also love the description you wrote! Very honest and fun. :) I love the part about you being open to the idea of players going the wrong way at the start!

Very nice entry!

GodMode by Landerack 2021-04-29T20:01:17Z

This seems very cool! It's always fun when a game lets you dash around at high speeds. :grin: I like the precision aiming that the analog controls allow. Nice parallax scenery, too, and you've got some really nice art! Well done on what you got finished!

Cleaning Diver by JaviCoder 2021-05-18T18:19:52Z

What a beautiful game! I really love the water effects (ripples, shimmering light, rising bubbles), the music, and the underwater sound effects.

As has already been mentioned, it would be nice for the swimming controls to respond even when you click on a rock, so you can swim in that direction without having to position the mouse over an empty space, and it would also be nice to keep swimming without so much clicking required.

A very relaxing and very beautiful experience. Well done!

Astral Descension by nyxkn 2021-05-18T19:28:31Z

Great mood. I really love the grim music and somberness of the story. The music fits the setting very well!

Nice gameplay mechanic. I love that there are multiple endings, and secret paths.

Well done, good entry!

Snake Match by Recher 2021-05-07T20:12:02Z

This is really cool. An interesting mix of mechanics. I really like the idea of puzzley games about digging underground and having to be careful where you dig, for fear of dropping objects in the wrong place. Never seen it done with a match-3 mechanic before, nor a growing snake mechanic!

It's also cool that the more you play, the more you level up and the longer you get.

I'm also really grateful that you included an undo key for backtracking quickly and easily.

Well done!

Aftermath by Peace Of Cake Games 2021-05-09T14:46:50Z

Oooh, a Construct 3 game. I'm very much a fan of Construct! It's also really cool to hear that you used your own programs to make the art and music!

Nice presentation, I love how you presented the intro cutscene and transition! I also love multiple endings. Good work on writing the narrative.

Additionally, I like the trailing blood, and the eerie audio and atmosphere. Audio definitely adds a lot to the mood.

Well done!

Haunted Pizza Delivery by msipp27 2021-05-18T19:18:18Z

Nice entry. Basically Super Meat Boy with more vampires and less wall-jumping.

I really like the restart speed, it makes deaths less frustrating.

Cute graphics and background art!

I felt the controls were a bit tricky to get used to, and it was sometimes difficult to judge when I was going to collide with an enemy while trying to squeeze between them.

Also the idea of going to deliver a pizza to Dracula is great. Well done!

GOBLIN HAMBURGER LASER ARENA by youthfulIdealism 2021-04-30T00:45:42Z

Big congrats on your first ever game jam!

I like that you tried to use the theme in an original and abstract way, and I love the logic you use to get from "Deeper and deeper" to "hamburger-powered mouth laser". Incredible. :)

Satisfyingly huge laser weapon (and knockback always makes weapons feel more meaty), and nice use of risk/reward gameplay with the collecting-burgers/speed-decreasing/charging-your-attack mechanic!

I definitely got Crypt of the Necrodancer vibes (one of its bosses in particular) from the setting you chose, is that where you took any inspiration from?

Also, out of curiosity, may I ask which engine you used?

Well done!

Sid by Stuartc 2021-05-18T19:34:29Z

Very nice combination of gameplay mechanics (having to move the lamp around to light the darkness, and not being able to jump while holding the lamp).

The music was very fitting and set the mood, adding to the spooky feel of being lost and alone in the dark, and not knowing what to expect.

Considering how sudden the deaths can be, it could be nice to restart a little quicker after dying.

Nice entry, well done!

Glow of the abyss by mrBell270 2021-05-09T14:25:47Z

Just to let you know, the itch.io link seems to be broken at the moment, but maybe you already know.

Penguin Trouble by Elllelel 2021-05-07T20:27:40Z

Well done on creating your first ever game. That's a great accomplishment!

It's got quite an eerie atmosphere due to exploring the darkness deep underwater when one hit can kill you, especially when the seaweed obscures your vision. Some unnerving music and water sound effects would really complement this atmosphere!

I did find it a little tricky to judge when I was going to collide with something, due to the 2.5d perspective. Maybe it could be possible to make it more obvious when something is definitely on the same plane as your character, or an easier way to judge how close you are to colliding with it.

Great work on getting all of the environment and enemies done and working on time! I love the use of lighting and shadows too, it helps add to the eerie mood.

Someone's Missing... by Erik Bermudez 2021-04-27T18:01:53Z

Well done, nice work! I like the idea, and the multiple difficulties. Cute pixel art, and really nice music too; sets a fitting mood for trying to unravel a mystery while on the way to your doom.

It's tricky to manage to see and process the clues before they expand beyond the edges of the game border, but since that's the main mechanic, maybe that's the intention. :grin:

Deepest Ocean by ache games 2021-05-09T14:16:11Z

Nice inclusion of minigames! Nice music too.

Once a minigame ends, it might be nice to have a clear view of your character and the surrounding environment for a moment, just to give the player time to react in case they're about to collide into anything.

The combination of instant death and stiff movement does make it a little tricky to move with precision.

Well done, a solid entry!

Watch Your Step by Kooky 2021-04-27T17:08:53Z

@purpledartfrog I did have fun, thank you! :smile:

Haha, yeah, it's actually very difficult to fail near the beginning. I tried!

Ahaha, I'm glad you had fun! :laughing: Yes, I shall go check out your entry! Thank you for playing mine! :grin:

@erik-bermudez Ah, thank you, that's great to hear! I did worry that it was maybe a little too simple, or that the controls weren't good enough for it to be fun. I'm glad you liked it, thank you for the feedback!

Watch Your Step by Kooky 2021-04-27T20:02:19Z

@mdotedot Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you liked it, including the leg mechanics! :grin:

@vilcans Oops, yeah, I found a little tricky to explain concisely how the controls work. I'll try to explain in a bit more detail, for anyone who's curious:

• All feet are influenced simultaneously (you can't choose which ones to control). • Left and right control your feet's horizontal speed, but ONLY when they're not on a platform. If they're on a platform, they automatically stop moving, to grip the platform and keep the rest of your feet rolling along in a general circular-ish formation. You can't stop your feet from moving right, you can only slow them down. • Holding up or down halves or doubles your feet's gravity respectively (until you release said key), inflencing the speed of their ascent/descent.

So, in summary... it's a bit tricky to summarise, other than saying the arrows influence the overall intended direction of your feet. :sweat_smile:

I'm glad you loved the headphones! They were actually a spontaneous decision; originally there were no headphones! :smile:

Watch Your Step by Kooky 2021-04-27T20:11:14Z

@bipmo-bopmo Thank you for the comment, I'm glad you had fun! I agree with you about the effect the controls have on the gameplay! Originally I intended the controls to be a lot more precision-based with regard to the gameplay being about making sure your feet land on platforms accurately, but didn't get quite as much fine-tuning done as I would have liked. I was originally going to have the game only use up/down keys, and later decided to add in left/right controls as well, which I think I did mostly to give a bit more control over things when there's a chaotic amount of legs on-screen. :sweat_smile:

@delicioussalad Thank you! I do seem to have a tendency to like doing slightly unique things with physics. :smile: I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Watch Your Step by Kooky 2021-05-07T16:21:11Z

@dhim Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked the music! Regarding MuseNet, it's quite easy to use. The website has some instructions, but essentially, you go to the website, and can then choose which instruments you want to be used, how many musical notes you wish to be added at a time, what musical intro to use for your music (if any), and what style of music you would like to aim for. You then curate your song in sections, deciding whether you're happy with the notes provided, or if you'd like to generate some different ones. It's all mouse (or touchpad) driven.

There are certainly other similar tools out there, and each one has its own unique interface. Each can be tweaked in their own ways, some tools/programs more complicated than others, and with quite varied results. I really enjoy seeking them out, experimenting with them, and seeing what can be done!

Watch Your Step by Kooky 2021-05-07T22:10:16Z

@smilewood Thank you very much for such detailed feedback! I'm really glad you liked the concept, the art and the music. I completely agree with you about how the game would benefit from giving more feedback to show how the player's input is actually affecting things. That's definitely something I would have liked to work on if I'd had a bit more time, but I got caught up in making sure things worked properly, and finetuning things. Up, down, left and right (or WASD) all do have an impact, but the movement is kind of vague and floaty. Something for me to work on. I did at least make the character's head tilt based on their running speed though! :laughing: Thanks for playing!

Watch Your Step by Kooky 2021-05-25T15:09:12Z

Sorry I'm a bit late replying to everyone!

@peace-of-cake-games Wow, well done on making it so far with just one leg! 😁

Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you liked playing! The extra-legs feature was actually kind of an afterthought; I thought, "Yes, I COULD just program this game to have just two legs... but why stop there? If I plan ahead, I can make it work with any number of legs!" and boom, I had the ingredients for leg sauce. 😁

I'm really glad you enjoyed all the extra legs so much! You're right, my intention was that the extra legs are supposed to be a bit like extra lives, to help you a bit for every time you've failed. They may or may not serve that purpose very well yet, but I'm very glad you could see what I was going for!

@lmb Thank you, I'm glad you love the idea. I love crazy ideas too! I always enjoy trying to make something a bit different, so your feedback is really appreciated!

I agree about there being a lack of clear feedback showing how the player can get a better score. Originally there were going to be less legs, and the player would be in control of making sure the feet descended at the right speed to be timed correctly to land on each individual platform. But then instead of finetuning that idea, I ended up working on other things, like testing all the extra legs... (and the parallax background)

I really appreciate the feedback! I would definitely like to work on making the controls more responsive, so it feels like the player is more connected to the gameplay.

I do indeed very much hope to participate in the next Ludum Dare!

Finally, oh wow, I see what you mean re: Jethro Tull! That's really cool, thank you for pointing it out!

@turkey Totally agree with you. Honestly, in this version of the game, that's how I usually play too, until I get down to the last legs. Hopefully I can make the controls a little more useful. Thank you for the feedback!

@recher Oh right, I've played Heave Ho! That's a very nice comparison, thank you! I very much agree on enjoying emergent behaviour based on simple mechanics.

Indeed, I did have to program in some specifics to make sure the feet were rolling in a circular-ish fashion rather than just randomly bouncing in something of a tangled mess. Your description of the movement pinpoints what I was trying to achieve, so I'm happy to see you describe it this way!

Reading your comments about the creature advancing alone certainly inspires me to consider trying to program it to learn, evolve, and adapt. Very interesting to think about, thank you.

Your idea about it being an idle game certainly inspires me too! I've been having a think about this, and will do so some more. Thank you!

Your final remark certainly emphasises once more that I should definitely consider letting this creature evolve, and stop trying to tell it what to do.

@yurikun Thank you for your kind words, and thanks for playing! I'm glad you liked it.