Lars DK

A Small World Cup by rujo 2017-05-03T04:24:51Z

Hey, great game! I played the non-mobile version.

The art style was fascinating and worked very well. Animation and UI were impressive. Mechanics worked great, and I enjoyed the sports tie-in. I didn't notice any significant errors, even in the very cool physics.

Two things I thought limited the fun of this entry. The first was the control scheme. Mouse dragging was an innovative mechanic but very hard to control in real time. Secondly, I felt like the difficulty could be scaled better. All teams seemed to have the same AI and all were objectively much better than I was, which limited my sense of achievement.

Overall a lot of fun and very high quality for a compo entry.

Fancy meeting you here by Local Minimum 2017-04-29T04:36:20Z

I played the WebGL version.

In general I liked the concept of having the mini-games to simulate elements of social anxiety. Like some of the others, I struggled to figure them out. I also wasn't entirely sure whether I was meant to win or lose, or how I was even supposed to do those things. Which I guess might be accurate to real life, but kinda annoying as a player, to the point where I'm actually more invested in the cutscenes (which are hilarious) than the game. The mini-games also came across as fairly short.

There's nothing to complain about in terms of the graphics, which were adequate, although some of the mini-games could possibly have been polished up in terms of their effects (like throwing some particles in there). I'd rather have a smaller number of mini-games well-made and presented, with clear directions. I thought the "blah" sound captured lots of things nicely about the game. Would have been a cool idea for it to slowly build up as the game progressed. I wasn't sure about the music - it was simple and retro, but also weirdly quiet during the non-minigame-parts, and a touch generic-arcadey.

I really liked the design concept and especially how the characters' personal traits corresponded to the mini-games. I liked the use of humor and the theme use was creative. I hope your judging goes well overall :)

Pixlets by MaggardJosh 2017-04-29T11:13:57Z

I played the web version.

Interesting game. I liked how casual it was, the interpretation of the theme, and the cuteness of the characters.

The music was cool for like the first 10 minutes of game-time. After that, it became boring fast. There were a few simple sound effects. Graphically there's not a lot to complain about at all, especially considering this is essentially a casual simulation. It's retro and it's awesome. The UI was good too. I couldn't work out how to un-plant a tree for the longest time.

Mechanically I felt like I couldn't tell exactly who my pixlets were. They all fairly identical. No preferences I could see. I liked the trees as a means to avoid constant feeding. Giving me more ways to care for or bond with my pixlets would certainly have complicated the simulation but also added to the fun factor. The gameplay could also use a much more exciting beginning. The first 15 minutes or so I just spent watching my first pixlet. If the pixlets interacted somehow that'd be cool!

Addicting game with some really solid potential. I really like it!

Aircraft Carrier Simulator by superchihuahua 2017-04-28T23:25:48Z

I played the WebGL version of the game. I tried really hard for about 20 minutes, but couldn't understand where the catapult was to get the planes to fly. Mechanically it was difficult to control the aircraft at first since they seem to have some sort of weird momentum, but it got easier with practice. Could somebody confirm the catapult is working and, if so, where it is?

Aircraft Carrier Simulator by superchihuahua 2017-05-01T08:53:54Z

So I've put in my review. The game was interesting in that I haven't seen an air carrier simulator before, so top marks for innovation. It's an intruiging interpretation of the theme and I can definitely see the potential in it.

The 3D models were very good - maybe a bit more of a hull on the ship would be nice but it was ok. The "water" under the ship was a bit basic - it kinda looked like I was floating on clouds - and there weren't a lot of other interesting effects. I liked the splashes when I accidentally moved a plane off the tarmac, those were cool. The take offs and landings were cool, too.

The gameplay didn't really have a ton of depth. One plane at a time controls meant that mostly I was just waiting for the little plane to roll to the right spot. This wasn't helped by the UI lacking a bit, including tons of time trying to do something as simple as finding the catapult. I liked the little chat messages I got from the pilots. Overall it felt like I had no real decisions in this game - I was just dragging planes around to watch them take off and land. Even collisions between planes had no significant effects. On the plus side, the mechanics that were there, didn't have major bugs.

Final verdict: I really liked the concept. The execution probably could have used some further thought. Still, congrats on an interesting game and good luck :)

Power Department by Cameron Seebach 2017-04-30T08:29:46Z

Hey!

Interesting game! I just gave it a couple of plays. "Power company tycoon" sure is an unusual genre and I think I like it :)

I felt like the video cutscenes, while cool, didn't really add a lot to the game experience. I found myself just ignoring them. The levels themselves were interesting. I wish the effort that had gone into the video, had instead gone into the graphics on the level.

There were some UI issues. If I lose a level, I should be able to start again. Currently the game just seems to freeze on me. If an event destroys a line or something, it would be helpful to see where that happened. The interface for building also wasn't terribly intuitive, although once I got the hang of it, it was ok. The SimCity model will be familiar to most users. I'd also like more detail on which generators etc were profitable in my reports, and the ability to undo or delete something I've built. What UI there was could have been better presented as well. Several times I had no idea people were unhappy with me or what the reason was for it. All the reports seemed to suggest they were neutral.

The music was good and suited the format of the game well. More sound effects would have been cool especially since lightning seemed to strike virtually every single quarter. The challenge was very hard, even on easy settings.

So overall, this was an interesting genre that I hope can be polished more! The game has a lot of potential to build on.

Hi Pluto! by nekoballs 2017-05-13T00:06:44Z

Hey! Great game. I made it all the way to Pluto!

Things I really liked: 1. Fast, frantic gameplay - lots of fun to play! 2. Save points worked well - gave a sense of progress 3. Cool graphical touches - planets spinning, nice background etc

Things to work on: 1. Music would have been awesome 2. Mouse control is tough on webgl ... provide options 3. Asteroids should ideally scale for difficulty - more early on, closer to the earth - then universally harder later

Commander's Log by smbe19 2017-05-01T15:26:49Z

Awesome game. Spent literally hours on this just now.

The first couple of moves in this game are super difficult, the rest (once you have your mining established) are a bit easier. Ideally the opposite should be true. Nonetheless I enjoyed the challenge and so forth.

There were some small bugs - like I found that if you ask for a shipment before building a storage place at the start, you actually get one - but they weren't serious. Graphics were good. I liked the effects around the planet. Pixel art for the station was near professional-quality, and the music built the atmosphere well. I like how the game has an underlying story, too. Voice acting was fine. Could have been more sound effects. The UI was ok, nothing special. +/- for adding resources could sometimes be a bit temperamental. I liked the building system but felt like it would have been much easier if the game didn't automatically assume I wanted to build infinite numbers of something. Mechanically, the game had a solid number of resources to manage which never felt overwhelming but had a good amount of complexity.

Overall this is a high-calibre game, tons of potential, and a good job by all the team members.

It's a Small World, So Let's Crash It into Things by simonhutchinson 2017-04-29T15:58:37Z

I played the WebGL version.

Sound was good overall. I liked the voices. The sound could have been panned to give some indication of, for example, where the death star is. Mechanically the game worked well, although at one point I killed a large planet well before my earth should have been ready for it. Visuals are excellent, if I'd change anything it would be to detail the planets, but I liked the death star and the other particle effects. The scrolling definitely needs work. Near the end, a good chunk of my planet was on the other half of the screen before it scrolled, so I had no idea where I was going half the time. Driving the planet around wasn't too hard, thankfully.

Pretty sure there aren't 18 quintillion planets in this though ;P

Overall it was a super enjoyable game, I played through a whole bunch of times. No fun lacking here and that's the most important thing. Good job!

Hopper by TechnoNugget 2017-04-29T16:55:06Z

This is a stellar game! Wow!

Obviously the sound and music aren't judged here but they do complement the game well, and suit the game. More music variation would be nice.

Art style is minimalist and excellent. The vector graphics are impressive, as are all the animations and effects. Also I know I'm not really supposed to look at this but OMG your source code is so neat! Puts mine to shame anyway. I didn't spot any bugs and had a lot of fun. Physics seemed on point, though I kept annoying myself by dying due to friendly fire. Wish I could turn that off. Other than that the difficulty was ok overall.

The C/X system for firing / jumping was a little confusing even after reading the instructions. C and X don't logically relate to those ideas in my mind. It felt restrictive to have to fire vertically and I wonder if mouse input might have been an acceptable alternative. Given the arcade-like vibe of the game though this wasn't a major concern.

Overall I have few complaints with this game. If anything it could be more innovative, or link more closely with the thenem but it's a very impressive showing given the time period it was made in, and I have every confidence it should do well in the scoring. Had lots of fun with it!

Hopper by TechnoNugget 2017-04-30T01:51:02Z

@technonugget Dude your ES6 code is no less impressive. I'm learning by reading it!

Yours by binaryferret 2017-04-29T15:07:03Z

Hey, cool game! I played the webgl version.

Controls felt a bit awkward to me at first. Sometimes I'd try to place a tree and wouldn't know why it didn't place. I'd definitely have switched mouse buttons for trees and villages. 3D models were perfect, really cute little villagers. Some more detailed textures could definitely have existed though. If the shadows were a little lighter that'd be nice.

Music was ok, quite atmospheric. Probably could have used a little light rhythm. No sound effects unfortunately. Didn't see any serious bugs; the people had interesting AI. I understand timeframes in this competition are tight and that can make it tough to finish those things you really want to add, but even a simple mechanic like - adding a consequence if people run out of wood or something - that would add a ton to the game.

It's a great idea anyway and a bit of a shame we didn't see more to it! But awesome effort anyway :)

In Good Hands by simple-blue 2017-05-01T07:06:08Z

I played the WebGL version.

Amazing submission! Took a while to load but boy was it worth it! Graphics were breathtaking - I really liked little touches like the water and lighting. Would be cool if weather/impacts affected the world (as opposed to just people) but I still rated the graphics 5/5 for this. Models were really good and well animated. UI was awesome. Music suited the game well also in terms of capturing the mood, but felt very repetitive. Sound effects were pretty much spot on, so no major complaints there. The game seemed well coded and I didn't spot serious bugs, except I'm not sure it was intentional for the models to walk on water and totally ignore bridges.

There's one mechanic in this game. That could be fine, and I haven't seen it implemented quite like this before, but it made the gameplay a little dull after a while. More so than playing the game I actually spent a lot of time just exploring this beautiful world you guys have made! When I did lose people, it was generally because they were on the other side of the planet where I couldn't see them, making it nearly impossible to aim those clouds etc away from the people. I'm not sure how this would be fixed but it made me feel a little powerless as a god, ironically. I wish more of the focus was on developing challenges as a player. It limited the fun factor significantly.

The theme was well-established so that was good. Overall I completely enjoyed reviewing this and congratulate all of you on your work. :)

Destroy Blocks by D-Studios 2017-05-12T23:33:33Z

Not too bad at all. Had fun toying with this for a while.

Things I liked: 1. Fun concept 2. Good interpretation of the theme 3. Bright atmosphere

Things to work on: 1. No reason why performance should have been this poor. Loading was also surprisingly slow. 2. Controls were a little difficult to use, especially for navigation. 3. Relatively simply graphics and sound - even for this style, some minor details could have added a lot, like particles.

Stardust - A space adventure by shiitman 2017-05-01T13:53:42Z

Hey, this was an enjoyable game. I'd be interested in "what happens next" :)

The graphical style and mood of this game are very impressive. There were some minor graphics layering issues but on the whole it's everything one can hope for graphics-wise. Some menus seemed to have minor issues as well, although the programming of the dialogue etc was very good. On the matter of UI, I found it difficult to navigate my astronaut sometimes with the mouse. The actual story was great though, with good use of humor and some solid links to small worlds. Mechanically the game was quite simple, I rushed through the story for a few minutes but felt like I'd barely read the introduction by the "end" of it (so far as I could tell). I didn't judge the sound but felt like the music, graphics and dialogue in this game set a very interesting mood.

Overall, this was a very impressive showing. Great job!

Little Mouse Planet by Frodewin 2017-05-01T09:57:46Z

Interesting submission - really good for a compo entry!

Graphically the game has an interesting aesthetic. I liked the cute characters, although the animation was slightly jagged sometimes. UI was good but seriously, the controls were very weird and probably needed UI explanations of some sort.

The sound effects weren't great but I appreciate they were there. I LOVED the voices! Really nice touch though I would have liked if the cat's voice was set apart more somehow. The music in the title screen was ok. Probably could have used some gentle in-game music too.

The gameplay suited the small world theme well. It wasn't super-innovative but it did the genre justice and was really fun for a time, which is all I can really ask for. The water > food > survival mechanic was simple and it worked. It could have increased in complexity as the game progressed, to avoid repetition of the same challenge.

Overall I enjoyed the entry and congratulate you on an awesome job.

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-04-29T02:09:44Z

@jushiip Yeah, especially with Roxie because mining resources and moving about are the only things that cost turns with her XD She's a good choice to start with though, my record with Roxie/Blyrf is 87 turns (something like 200 is more normal though haha). Thanks for playing!

After a while you start to get a sense of where you can find various resources. Nadenudam/Prosadia is probably the closest early source of Titanium, although whichever AI starts in Tromoid may well fight you for it. Of course you want to be moving around every so often too. In my own games I've found about 10 mining turns : 1 trading turn seem a good ratio, although it might be more for more combat-focused players.

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-04-29T09:10:55Z

@Hackschnitzel Wow, thanks for the comprehensive review! You're very right about there needing to be an in-game tutorial of some sort. It was on my initial feature list but after I realized just how hard it would be to code AI, I let it slide. I noticed the zoom issue too. That was the rationale for having the cards get bigger when you hover over them. I did some tests where the background of "space" was white and the planets etc darker ... this would have probably helped with your contrast issue, but it looked really weird. Oh yeah, and Vanilla JS is my specialty :D

@HuvaaKoodia Thanks for the honest review and for really testing the game out! In all fairness I never really do art outside of these game jams anyway, so I'm ok with my art not being the best, while the "programmer" stuff like a simple 3D sphere comes a bit more naturally. The idea of not having character art at all came to mind too ... I spent many hours on those amateur drawings haha, including a few I didn't get to use ... but that's fine, I figured if it's just all lines and blobs it might be a bit too generic. Like the other commenter said I think characters make games more memorable. Maybe next time I should work with an actual artist!

Yeah ... I've spent ages writing an AI for this and as you say it's still very simplistic. Originally the idea was for a multiplayer game. For some reason I did the single player first though and AI for this depth of gameplay is tough! Interesting comment about the smaller world, I hadn't really considered that. My aim with world design was just to allow players to turtle or attack or whatever, give options ... but I guess with the AI having really just one strategy it makes more sense to make players do the same. Again I wish I'd completed multiplayer.

@sgadrat Awesome, thank you so much! I'm really glad it was intuitive :)

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-04-29T16:13:04Z

@spacesparkle I never draw the cards I need in regular card games either! :P

It's interesting you say that about it being slow. One part of me thinks maybe I should just double what you can mine in one turn. That sure would make games more decisive. Another thinks it's actually ok to mine more slowly as it makes things more strategic.

Originally I did plan more of a rock-paper-scissors combat system with 3 types of weapons countering each other, plus planet-weapons which were weak against everything else. But then I thought maybe that would be too complicated for people to grasp quickly. So yeah, it's something I'm thinking about. I experimented with a weapon called "David's Rock" which has a special effect allowing it to defeat the "Death Star" but yeah, the AI didn't buy the Death Star much.

I definitely hope to add multiplayer! Thanks for all your great feedback and good luck with your game too!

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-04-29T19:45:21Z

@cameron-seebach Thanks so much for the review! Sramopt is interesting. Sometimes you can get lucky with them because Earth realizes you exist early, sometimes not. Just have to keep visiting Earth and hope they see you haha.

Composing the music sure was interesting, not least because I was in a hurry. My initial thought was to make it really synthy and dark. But then I tried that and it sounded off, not really fitting with either the board game vibe or the strategy vibe (since it's not really either a scary game nor a game that encourages super-deep thinking in every turn.) So I tried to compromise between space cowboy stuff and space odyssey stuff. And it comes out sounding a bit celtic lol. I do totally hear what you're saying about it perhaps going too far the other way now, sounding full-on "grand market".

Thanks again for the feedback, it's valuable. :)

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-04-30T01:44:04Z

@simonhutchinson Thanks! I'm glad you liked it :)

@technonugget that's a really odd error. I haven't seen it myself. I wonder if your system might be running out of memory somehow? What browser are you using? Becoming more clunky and the page eventually crashing sound like they might be side-effects of the webgl used in the menu somehow, since I can't imagine the browser's CSS layout engine doing that. Or maybe the memory used to stream the music is the culprit, or some combo. The actual game part should be fairly memory efficient but 3D graphics/shaders are what they are I guess.

Thanks for the positive feedback about the design though. When I finish these uni assignments I'm planning on building on it more for sure! :grinning:

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-04-30T04:03:07Z

Bit of an update just now for the extended non-jam version: fixed a number of critical AI bugs, including one nasty bug that would prevent AI players from buying new cards once it had defeated the player in battle! Working on the multiplayer too.

Edit: Ok this new AI is much tougher lol... definitely can concentrate on other stuff now.

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-04-30T14:45:22Z

@technonugget Definitely a graphics memory error. I bet it's the webgl driver. Even on really modern graphics cards, webgl can be touch and go. I'll consider adding an option to launch without webgl - should help you.

@Querk thank you for the feedback! It was a very busy 72h haha. Glad you enjoyed it!

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-01T00:08:59Z

@samurai-spark thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed it :) Yeah, I think a tutorial would have really helped with making some of those mechanics clearer for new players. It's all among the things I'd like to add to the game! It sounds like I'm going to have a hard act to follow next time for sure XD

@dj_pale Thanks, and you're right, it can be tricky, especially with the special effect which causes the piece to change size when you drag it (although I think it looks cool). Bit of a trade-off I suppose. I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway though!

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-01T05:34:27Z

@vkmicro Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was a challenge but I really enjoyed developing it. So glad I'm not the only one here who likes games like this :)

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-01T06:29:01Z

@iak Awesome, thanks for your feedback! I'll be sure to keep people updated with major improvements like that. I already have my multiplayer lobby working, just need to resolve bugs in the gameplay. Oh man it feels so good to not have time pressure with the bugs! Currently the post-jam version fixes a few minor bugs, has a couple of balance changes (for example Cho is buffed) and has MAJOR ai improvements. I have a lot of plans for things to add to this though. I'm glad you had fun!

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-01T08:42:02Z

@danbolt wow, thanks! Interesting you say that because I did prototype this on paper first. A PDF version of what I eventually came up with would be interesting indeed!

@simple-blue I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much!

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-01T12:50:57Z

@rik-thunder Thanks for the very kind comments! Doing LD solo was an interesting first-time experience for me, but I learnt a lot and had heaps of fun making this. I'm pleased to hear so much support for it! :)

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-01T13:31:27Z

@binaryferret Thank you for the review! I'll defo keep everyone in the loop. As I said before I think I've got a hard act to follow next time I do a LD jam! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-03T04:17:27Z

@zeriver Ha, and to think my initial plans were still more complicated. I agree an in-game tutorial would have been useful - it's one of the several things dropped due to complexity. Still I'm very proud of what I did achieve. Thanks for the feedback!

I am planning on developing this further as soon as I get time again. Watch this space :)

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-06T10:57:23Z

@maggardjosh Thanks so much for your kind words, I appreciate it!

@bumblepie Thanks for the detailed review! Game balance is tricky, especially on such limited timeframes. I did make some adjustments in the post-jam version, buffed some things, nerfed others. Gathering rate and vision can of course be addressed with buying cards, which is fairly intentional to encourage players to buy those upgrades.

It's tricky to just boost production or reduce costs because if I did that, the AIs would attack you faster, probably with even better weapons, and all the cards in the deck would run out sooner. This pace allows for more strategic thinking. I've had quite a few "comeback" games myself. AIs have the same basic rules that players have, after all. Especially on the post-jam version, the AIs are actually fairly intelligent in terms of when they make use of trading opportunities to maximise their production. It might be helpful to turn the fog of war off (that's why I provided the option) in the settings to see how the AI plays (this also does make the game a bit easier). Also don't feel like your nearest trading post is the best option - depending on how the cards are shuffled, often you might find the best cards are on the other side of the map!

The only other alternate victory condition I've implemented is Sramopt's, who (using the most obvious strategy lol) have a 1 in 20 chance of forcing a win if they can survive to move 155, and an extra 1 in 20 chance for every second move thereafter. I certainly could increase those odds but then would that be balanced? I'm not sure. It might be worth testing further.

As you can tell I think about this stuff a lot haha, but I'm also aware that nobody knows this game better than I do, and heck, I lose a good third or so of the time (not suggesting my own strategies are perfect though). So I see where you're coming from and why that must be frustrating as a newer player. I'll think about it for sure!

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-06T23:14:32Z

@local-minimum Thanks for those interesting suggestions!

The reason planets light up was that an early design idea was that players could click on planets to see what resources the planets contained. You're right that changing the cursor when you hover over them is a bit of a useless holdover now.

Making the game real time would have saved clicking, but also made the game much more complicated to produce. For example, having to code logic for if you meet an enemy ship in between planets. I also found turn-based much easier to model, although I might try make a real-time game for a future Ludum Dare.

Losing ships isn't the end of the world, but it does mean losing all your orange cards (which can be a significant problem) and accumulated resources. More resources = greater ability to use a planet-killing weapon against Earth (ie the ultimate goal). Additionally, it sends you back to your home planet and forces you to skip a turn. If you lose a battle on your home planet, you lose the game. So if another ship happens to be beside your home, and they have a weapon, it's generally game over.

If you play with Stok, you get +1 line of sight from the start to allow for that "planning." Personally I don't need it but I did consider it would be useful for some players. Cards can also be brought to extend your line of sight, at least one of which is quite cheap. AI doesn't actually make use of extended line of sight information (it only looks at neighbouring tiles on the current turn, which is why pathing can be really stupid around blockades), so it won't buy those cards in the post-jam version. At least one of them is really cheap, too. So I'm going to stick by that this wasn't a bad design decision per say, more a fault of lacking a tutorial.

Great to get so much feedback :) Definitely useful and thought-provoking.

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-18T10:33:05Z

Thanks @skosnowich @d-studios @atmospherium @nekoballs @camilovr and @volkoivan for your feedback and helpful suggestions! I really appreciate all of it!

About the tutorial: as indicated before I completely agree. The tutorial in this game was scrapped as I ran out of time.

How I did it in 72 hours: by destroying my health, mostly. Also, being ignorant of bugs.

Difficulty, odd rules etc: the extended version is significantly more challenging. I do think the core rules are ok, although with a tutorial I might have been able to set the story a bit better so the mechanics make more sense.

Thanks again guys!

Conquer Earth by Lars DK 2017-05-20T15:15:26Z

@mesa thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it! To me there's no greater compliment than "I could definitely see myself spending way too much time playing this game."

@jupiter-hadley thanks so much, awesome to actually see somebody play the game on video, seeing what sort of things people get confused about and stuff. Helps me when I'm writing a tutorial for the post-compo version. Glad you found it interesting :grinning: Also I had no idea the name "Ludum Dare" was pronounced that way haha!

Asteroid Field by Mesa 2017-05-19T05:45:45Z

I played it and enjoyed it for a while. I love seeing more JS-based games! :)

Things I liked: 1. Interesting art style - I liked the animation 2. Controls worked well 3. Game ran flawlessly / no bugs

Things to work on: 1. Providing difficulty challenge / setting goals 2. Stuff like audio would be cool 3. Minimize wait time for players

'Cuba' by Vontell 2017-05-01T09:26:58Z

Really cool game! I played the WebGL version.

This felt more like a puzzle than anything else. I tended to lose this game a lot through unrest or running out of money, and I suspect there is no optimal strategy overall. Balance was definitely very hard here. Still, the basic mechanic was fun. Placing districts was intuitive and the UI was fine, though perhaps a little large for my screen. I had the game freeze on me a couple of times during the game over screen. Other than that I noticed virtually no errors. I liked how some tiles affected surrounding tiles, though I would have liked more UI feedback on what's costing me, and the ability to demolish districts. Still, it is simple after all, and for a compo entry the level of complexity here is above standard.

The graphics were definitely programmer art. Which is fine on one level - I like the effort that went into drawing the map. Still I feel like there's room for further development here. I would have liked more sound effects. Music was a fun chiptune-ish loop, a little quiet and repetitive, but I appreciate the effort to include it.

Overall it's a solid first entry and a really interesting game :)

God of Man by pstudio 2017-04-28T23:53:54Z

I played the WebGL version.

The game overall has a "game of life" style presentation. It's minimal, but it's a fun toy. The overlays work well. The graphics are adequate and I especially like the effects associated with blessing, earthquakes etc. Controls were simple - perhaps a cooldown timer on the abilities would have been helpful, to give some indication of how soon different functions could be used. Buttons usually work better than dropdowns but no biggie. As a simulation, the game didn't appear to have any significant bugs and played smoothly.

If there's one thing I felt could have been improved, it was the depth of the simulation. After a few generations in the deep end not really knowing what's going on, it became relatively easy for people to sustain themselves for a long time without any intervention from me as a player. While it's fun to watch people moving about the map, even on higher speeds, it becomes a bit of a chore when at one point I had over 1000 generations pass with no intervention from me, and humanity had survived OK. I also didn't see much point in the plagues etc given this (which I ultimately found unhelpful anyway since the world was large enough that I could keep people migrating around it no problem). If there was an incentive to have the highest possible population in the world, or improve standard of living beyond a meagre hunter-gather existence this might be different, or if there were more resources to manage than just food.

That being said, the game was an elegant, simple simulation. I enjoyed playing around with it for a while overall.

ZEUS VS MOLES by Fouralex 2017-04-29T14:13:25Z

I played the web version. My top score was 31.

Graphically this is the best game I've played so far. The voxel-style models work well and the effects are pretty. Clouds got in the way slightly sometimes of the action. The UI was very basic but adequate for the game's purposes. The music was pretty good at capturing the arcade feel of the game, although the menu loop was a bit short and jarring. Sound effects were clear and sounded good.

I thought the controls were good although it was weird the camera kept spinning around when moving, presumably to stay pointed "up". This was disorientating sometimes. Pathing wise, I felt like obstacles needed a bit more tolerance so Zeus can go through them at the edges slightly. With the curved surface it's hard enough to aim as is. I'd also have preferred more visual feedback on progress than just the UI bar at the top, because moving my eyes up there takes time. Maybe have the earth lose its green or something.

I found the game difficult. Even for a quick game it would be nice if it hooked me in for more than a couple of seconds, though the simplicity of the mechanics might excuse that slightly. I wonder if even just de-spawning dead moles after a time would make a significant difference. But this is more of a personal preference.

Cool game, hope it does well! :)

YOSILand (Your Small Inner Land) by tn7111 2017-04-29T15:35:01Z

Hey! Cool casual game. I kept being terrible at entertainment for some reason. Probably not a good sign for an indie game dev haha.

I liked the paper-drawn style. You selected a nice piece of music to go with it too. I liked the characters, they're cute. Mechanically the game appeared to work really nicely. I could understand what was happening at any point without trouble.

Some little points: * In a game like this, where everything is focused on the text, you want to triple-check things like spelling and grammar. I know that's boring and hard! But for example "Do you want with them?" pretty clearly needs a verb. I get the sense of what you mean, luckily. * Further to this, the text appeared low-resolution / pixellated on my screen. If the text is important, it should be very legible. The font choice was barely ok, but every character should definitely be crisp and clear. * I'd like to know how close I am to the end of my life! Sometimes I'd click away and it would be a surprise. I feel like there's also a lot of potential here for branching choices / making the most of the time you have left. * Also I think those little characters should be giving me advice about what to do in the situation. The characters don't really get involved with the game much which is a shame because you've come up with so much background for them.

Overall, I enjoyed the game for one or two play-throughs. Given the limited time-span of the jam it's understandable you'd want to get the basics down first, and certainly there's a lot here that can be expanded on. Congratulations on what you've made!

Graphite by BAJARYMI 2017-04-29T01:12:35Z

I played the webgl version & enjoyed it.

The game was fun. After a few playthroughs I started to understand the mechanics a bit - simple yet very challenging. Controls were fairly easy to use. Wish the map had more of those shooty-things and/or mana drained less easily from ranged attacks for game balance. Some UL overlay labelling the different bars would have been good too. Art style was interesting, and the sound effects were ok. Liked the art effects like the fog. Was a bit confused about whether the game was going for pencil-sketched - seemed more like retro video game. However this inconsistency was minor at best. Could imagine a nice chiptune soundtrack to this.

Conquery - Conquer The World! by Tanay 2017-04-30T06:55:00Z

Cool game!

I liked the concept (although not sure why planets have walls around them ... could have just been magic circles or something lol) and the fluidity of the gameplay. I won on my second try, but it was challenging nonetheless. I would've definitely stuck around for a level 2. The music was good if repetitive (without a good loop), and the sound was good, even if these were post-jam things.

I agree the mouse controls made the game much harder. I'd have preferred a keyboard option for sure. I also would've liked a full-screen option, and ended up zooming on my browser to fit the whole canvas. Although this made mouse control even harder! Graphics could also have used a significant facelift. Some effects were there, while they were nothing special.

The mechanics were solid but missing some crucial elements. Personally I think it would be valuable to give the player feedback on why AI behaves as it does, for example by including the player's line of sight. The UI could also use more valuable information such as labelling the player health bar. Once you figure out the puzzle of how to win, the game is fairly straightforward.

That being said this was a fun challenge and I think could be an exciting level 1 for a much bigger game! Lots of fun to play and write this feedback on.

Rogue Planet by valkling-friend-of-all-things 2017-04-29T10:22:07Z

Hey! Excited to see another JS game :)

I really liked the concept. Lots of fun to play with. It really drew me in.

The sound I could barely hear. Not really sure if that was an issue on my end. A few sound effects couldn't have hurt though.

The visuals were fine for this style. I liked the glow effect. I felt like the world itself could have been developed a little more graphically, though. Having the guides animate rather than jump might have helped a little bit, or alternatively making it some sort of radar display.

I actually thought the coding was fairly impressive. I got an idea or two by browsing the source lol. However, I feel like maybe some of the elements of the design didn't make a lot of sense to me: first, I'd rather that if a colonist returns to my base, I should be able to send them out again. Otherwise it feels like all my guides are going to die anyway so I might as well kill them off searching for stuff. Second, I felt like the control over the pathing simulation had little effect on my success or failure in the game. It just felt like a level of complexity the game could have just managed. Maybe I'm missing something. I'd have preferred that effort invested into developing the world or more content.

Considering this was a compo game it's really impressive and could be the basis for an awesome post-compo game. Hats off :)

Still Waters by mihaylovartem74 2017-05-12T23:23:37Z

Awesome game! I played the webgl version.

Things I liked: > Clear link to theme > Pretty shaders & animated characters > Atmospheric, well-composed music

Things to work on: > Plan your UI carefully to teach people. I struggled to understand how to do things like rest or drink or switch people. It was easy to die unintentionally without warning. Bars are easier to interpret than colored icons. I'd avoid locking the mouse. UI was the biggest issue with this game. > Reward the player for their achievements as they play. If the goal is too difficult they'll give up otherwise. The game could definitely be gamified further. > Instead I'd have made the environment less full of ships and other details. More atmosphere like fog would have suited the intended mood well.

My little planet by mindtricks 2017-05-01T09:10:18Z

Cool concept, fun to review! I played the HTML5 version.

The music was a nice loop, a little repetitive, but it set the tone well. I wasn't sure about the implementation. Once you stop music you can't start it again, it seems, and if you lose and start again multiple music tracks are played at once. It was a bit odd. Sound effects would have been nice.

The graphics were ok, nothing special. Icons were well-designed. Could have used more detail for example in the backgrounds.

While exploring the endings was fun, I'm not sure what the actual goal of the game was. Managing a planet is a means, not an objective. Did I want it to survive as long as possible? If so could I see how many turns my planet has survived somehow please? As a game I wasn't sure what I was doing. As a toy it was odd too because every outcome seemed so negative!

Overall an interesting idea and take on the theme. I liked the humor and the variety of options, but wish there was more of a clear objective or set of objectives to aim for. Good job!

My Very Own World by SpaceSparkle 2017-04-29T00:15:18Z

I played the WebGL version.

The presentation of this game was fantastic. Slick graphics. I liked the theme with the scroll and the fireplace. The models of the units and cities were well-done as well. The music was a touch repetitive but suited the theme well. End turn sound effect was weird but all the others sounded great.

I know the web version is post-jam bugfixed so I can't speak much to the programming or AI quality of your actual submission. However I noticed no significant problems.

I found the battle system impossible to understand. Instructions didn't help much either. Couldn't see any significant difference between units. I always seemed to have plentiful resources because of the "one action at a time" restriction. After a turn, it wasn't always clear what move the AI made, so beneath the slick presentation I couldn't work out some of the core mechanics. Also, after losing the game, it would help to be able to go back to the menu. I lost a LOT. Combat, rather than empire management, seems to be a big part of the game since the AI usually took me out within a few turns.

Design issues aside it was a cool game with a neat concept, awesome visuals and a high quality of presentation. I enjoyed it!

AaaRrr - Fight epic battles on our small (and flat) world by Hackschnitzel 2017-04-29T03:14:39Z

I played the WebGL version both solo and with a friend.

So I think it's clear the music is a winner here. I like the "arr" sound effects as well. The graphics are cute if a little simple, and the physics works well (although what's up with cannonballs "jumping" on water lol?). The concept is brilliant and everything is really clear.

Three points of potential feedback because I'm mean: 1. This is tough to play even two-player on a cramped keyboard, especially with the very strong current. This made stalemates inevitable because sailing to shoot your opponent typically makes you lose too. I feel like if the current was weaker, cannonballs would make more difference to who wins or loses. One of my ships got stuck on its side and couldn't sail anymore XD. 2. I couldn't test if you had gamepad support but if you do, that would resolve another part of the issue. 3. I hate criticising anything about art, so this is picking at straws, but I do feel like the water could have been more than a blue plane. I mean, I get this is supposed to be a jam and that your art style wasn't terribly focused on shading things realistically, but come on, you have an island with cool palm trees and particle effects around the sides, lighting etc etc ... a little more detail in the water itself would be nice, even if just a moving texture.

All that being said I really enjoyed it and am sure it will score well for fun. Simple, beautiful idea, for the most part really well-executed. I'm a fan.

Smell World by sgadrat 2017-04-29T14:44:32Z

Really pretty graphics! Love the scurrying effect on the little rodent as well. Controls and UI were well-thought-out, except the use of the down arrow which, unless in full-screen mode, gets confused for a scrolling action (this could have been fixed via scripting). Likewise I'd have used different controls to advance past the post-level screen. The cheese pointer animation was awesome. The music suited the game well, although I missed having some sound effects in there as well. The game made good use of the theme. I didn't notice any bugs.

About setting focus for inputs - yes, it should be just document.getElementById("game_drop").contentWindow.focus(); //run this shortly after the page loads

My only gripe is the game doesn't have a lot of depth. Procedural maze generation isn't really special enough to keep me hooked, although it's cool and all. At least give me a counter to let me see how many levels I've completed! This game is crying out for depth to keep me playing. Don't get me wrong - I love a good casual game - but even that implies some light challenge to keep me occupied.

Fun, amusing game though - you can really see you guys had fun making it!

The Dark Castle by Joror 2017-12-13T06:04:28Z

Well that was cool. I liked how you could go back and see previous endings you've managed to get. It made me wish for an undo button haha. The narrative was enticing and the art moody. The UI seemed large but was otherwise ok. Music was atmosphere done right. Sound effects and theme use were a bit minimal. I really enjoyed playing this game for a couple of playthroughs.

A succubus totally did not take my soul and force me to write this.

One Final Task by HuvaaKoodia 2017-12-15T04:46:04Z

I really enjoyed this game. It wasn't the most innovative puzzle I've ever seen but it had really good graphics and effects. There were a few sound effects, but I do like some music even in puzzle games. The puzzle mechanics worked really well. Most of the levels were simple to grasp, although a few were a bit tricky, largely owing to the unfamiliar blocks and remembering what each one did. I think the theme link was "more blocks = trickier puzzle" but not sure. A robot has taken my job now anyway so I'm retired from the block-pushing industry :)

Like a Boss Rush by dcolgan 2017-12-13T05:19:02Z

Game gave me an error on startup. I liked the text interface and the art above. Definitely some nostalgia. This is the funniest game I've played so far. Good instructions. I thought the story seemed very linear. Kind of like a visual novel but with no real options. Given this, it almost felt like a contrived obstacle to add the text-based element. That aside I enjoyed the story itself. Theme definitely felt tacked on. Overall enjoyable enough for the story alone.

The Swordest Sword by basmanovdaniil 2017-12-14T21:21:14Z

I love the sword movement. Graphics are simple and cool. Theme link was tenuous. Audio wasn't there. Hard to tell if I was being hit or hitting with the particles. Having a score or record of achievement would have been awesome. Inclusion of arena mode was great, although I found arena much more difficult. Overall a really interesting entry.

Astrofarmer by hunttis 2017-12-14T21:30:49Z

This was nice. I liked the mechanics with the grass and the enraged creatures. Controls were a bit clunky - very impressed with the tooltip popups down the bottom though. Graphics were cute. Music was very nice but some sound effects would have helped. I thought the game was quite short. The sliders at the top would have indicated ships would come multiple times but the game was over quickly. I also didn't know why I would shout. Still for the brief time I did play the game, it was enjoyable.

Unnatural Occurrences by Plasmonic 2017-12-05T10:20:44Z

Awesome sim. Loved the depth and the humor. Art was beautiful. Sound effects nice. Some moody atmospheric stuff was there - not quite music but spooky enough. Menus quite simple but I liked the inclusion of settings. A little hard to figure out how much suspicion would make me lose etc. Some in-game explanation of mechanics would really have helped - some icons and numbers don't mean a lot. But after some trial and error I figured most of it out I think. Keep improving that UI :). In summary, a very impressive showing with great mood and art.

Tuftles by Zirrrus 2017-12-16T13:13:45Z

Cool simulation. Audio didn't work for me. Graphics were cute and the UI had some nice touches. Visual feedback when completing an action on a tuffle would help. Some difficulty in needing to select the tuffles to see their stats. Tuffles didn't feel at all interesting as individuals. As a sim it became overwhelming fairly quickly, but the basic mechanic felt solid. Very interesting to just let the tuffles roam around for a bit on their own.

Contamination by Lars DK 2017-12-05T10:44:24Z

@Ynk Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the suggestion. Sometimes you can get hundreds of enemies on the screen at once so it's definitely a trade-off with things like particle effects, especially on a mobile browser and with the complex pathfinding all of these hundreds of units need to do. Didn't want too much lag so we settled for a simple death animation for each character.

@Emery Thank you so much for saying that because in our team some wanted a faster pace, some a slower one ... these things are so hard to make everyone happy with. I'm glad you liked the concept and enjoyed the options.

@tthe I'm glad you enjoyed it and congrats on your score. Feel free to submit it to our high score table! Thank you for the feedback - I've also noticed that mashing keys too fast can sometimes seem to stop the character in some situations.

@mateusculpo Well done with the score and I hope you had fun. I'm very glad to have worked with an actual artist this time around - as my previous LD submission would indicate, I'm still practicing lol. Sorry for any RSI you may have from playing this game. I've played it more than anyone and my fingers are shattered. Noted for next time - this is not a genre I personally play much so I had to delegate most of the design away to my team.

@backyard-dev Awesome, I'm so happy you had fun! I wrote a concept track for this but then our musician blew my effort out of the water. Then he came up with an even better one. All three tracks were different musical styles so you can sort of see what our sound effects person was up against. The game was supposed to be arcade-apocalyptic-like and kinda became progressively more western.

@gustavhehehe Mine is still tired now! Our musician will be happy to hear you loved the music. Will definitely remember the suggestion for next time.

Contamination by Lars DK 2017-12-05T10:54:02Z

@masadow Happy you had fun - that's my priority :) ! Our team had a brief debate on that bullet sound effect. Our main designer wanted more of a pew-pew sound so that's what we went with. IDK. We used to have a wall-hit sound effect that was similar but louder. I replaced that with the current noise effect you hear near the end of the jam. Glad you like the graphics. I did most of the map stuff and our main artist did the characters / menu background. Would you believe I spent almost 5 hours trying to make a fancy WebGL background for the menu? Sadly it was too bugged to include. Thanks for the controls feedback - as I've said to others this genre isn't really one I know well so I'm totally reliant on your feedback on that.

@gamequester I'm glad you liked the music, and super glad you liked the gameplay. If a game is fun, well, that's the whole point of games! Controls seem to be a bit of a theme in the comments - am definitely taking that one onboard. Thanks for your constructive suggestions, much appreciated.

Things are getting worse by Dyn 2017-12-16T03:19:19Z

I didn't hear any sounds at all. Could be a bug.

The graphics were extremely good. Some nice 3D models produced in the time allowed and especially the animations were very impressive. Some nice little touches like shadows were there too. The user interface was confusing and player input seemed very limited. There were long periods of just watching the action helplessly. Combat was predictable. The link to the theme was weakened by the lack of player investment into their character. But really good effort on the graphics and pulling everything together. The game ran virtually on its own for ages and I didn't notice any significant bugs. :)

Please Come In by Steve Johnson 2017-12-13T06:19:36Z

I like the idea. Theme connection was a bit odd. Graphics were cute. Scrolling thing was off-putting UI-wise. I wish drunkenness had so few impacts in real life. I'd have enjoyed more things to set the mood, including sweet party music, and of course a completed story :)

Please Come In by Steve Johnson 2017-12-16T01:40:36Z

@steve-johnson I think the issue is that the text always comes against the bottom of the screen and appears before the scroll finishes, giving the illusion that there's a long article to read. I'd have preferred some option such as: - only showing one text at a time with the option to toggle a longer feed; or - having clearly delineated boxes around each message and no scroll; or - centering / enlarging the current message and have the older messages in a vertical carousel above it. Something like that.

Phaeria's Mine by AVAVT 2017-12-16T02:25:18Z

I had fun with this, even though I only walked out with 34 gold. Because of the way units stacked, I thought it was often hard to tell at a glance how well I was doing defending different parts of Phaeria. I liked the tavern upgrades but wanted more understanding about how unit types etc worked. The graphics were really good and the music was alright. I especially like how well this submission is linked to the theme. Awesome to see more HTML5 strategy games on the web and thanks for an enjoyable game!

Flowers + Bombs by justking144 2017-12-05T08:30:22Z

This was a neat little simulation. Unusually for this sort of thing, the graphics were fairly good. I had some significant lag in rendering these graphics on my computer. For some reason I couldn't hear any audio so I left that unrated. The challenge of the game didn't seem to be great. Controls were simple and effective. Overall I felt like the concept was good and graphics neat, but the gameplay wasn't too engaging.

Debt Crisis by Invixel 2017-12-23T11:04:47Z

My high score was only 70s! Gave it a few good tries though.

Gameplay was frantic and the difficulty was high. Difficulty settings help. I actually thought the polish was ok. There was ok-ish music, sound effects, and some neat pixel art. Buttons were clear although the info screen was a bit crowded. Use of the "o" key was a bit random. It was hard to tell how much of an impact each cleared debt had. More and more death robots kept coming no matter what I did. This made the link to the theme harder to interpret. The game had a cool classic arcade mood. Hope this helps :)

Bits by GeroX 2017-12-23T07:58:16Z

I enjoyed the entry overall. I liked especially the variety of challenges and the retro theme. Some of the UI was annoying ie having to click into input boxes and the console's slow typing speed, but these were quality-of-life issues - the core of the game was a solid, albeit short experience. The game was fun. I scored you a medium number of points for innovation, mostly because of how you applied existing challenges to the theme. Use of the theme was OK but it could have been clearer on why the number of points you need keeps changing and why everyone gets so many lava lamps. Graphics were great and the two-tone thing set the mood well. Sound effects were appropriate, but a bit annoying (try less attack maybe?) and I like music, too. Some attempts at humor were nice. So in summary, well done on your first entry! Congrats.

Cup-O-Matic by Masadow 2017-12-05T11:11:24Z

Really enjoyed the graphics and audio. It set up a super cute mood that made me want to eat cupcakes. Yum. I also liked that you could remap input controls and that the difficulty was challenging - my best score was only 1480. Felt sorry for the dead poorly-frosted cupcake at the end. I blame my corporate overlords for forcing me to frost too fast. Controls were simple once I read the instructions above - would have been nice to include that in-game too. The game also felt quite short - like something to casually pick up for a couple of minutes at most. You could say the game left me ... hungry for more ;)

The Cleaner by mateusculpo 2017-12-05T11:26:25Z

Took me several tries to complete this. The trick seems to be to give cats cookies. I'm not sure this game isn't a ploy by my neighbor's cat to get me to feed him. He HAS been staring at me weirdly all day ... anyway, I liked that you had two different maps and some cute graphics. That + icky subject matter = weird mood. Music was calming which was odd with countdown. Mechanics and controls were very good. Menus showed evidence of being produced in a game jam. It was a very satisfying puzzle to complete overall.

King's Gambit by shyguy567 2017-12-13T05:11:50Z

I really liked the lore and attention to detail in this game. For the most part (except some cut off text in buttons) the UI was nice and the graphics charming. The sliders indicating military strength and disposition were particularly cool. I liked the inclusion of music, although the soundtrack didn't loop well and the victory music was a bit random. Link to the theme was a bit tenuous although I could kind of see it. I thought the gameplay had the potential for significantly more depth. With so much lore there's a lot of potential for interesting mechanics. It also wasn't obvious why some characters stopped responding to my clicks sometimes. It kind of felt like a quiz on the game's own lore sometimes, like a simple memory game. But for that end it was well executed.

Goodnight Sheep by littlecloudflower 2017-12-16T02:02:28Z

I loved the concept. If my subconscious ever made a game I'm sure it would play like this. Parts hit a little close to home. Mood was extra cute and well-executed. Beautiful sound effects and visuals. Music was ok. I thought the story was kinda short and the gameplay was a bit repetitive. Clear link to the theme, too. Overall this game sets a wonderful atmosphere and and the story, while short and a little non-interactive, makes this game really interesting, especially when supported by gorgeous art and sounds.

Leaf Me Alone by Ryfi 2017-12-16T01:50:51Z

I already hated leaves before I played this game, but I hate them even more now. Also for some reason it's raining perfectly sawed off, thick logs of deadly hardwood. No wonder they invented the leaf blower. All I had in this game was a measly rake. I wish raking had a slightly stronger effect on the leaves in front of the character. The power here was all too realistic for my tastes. The sound effects were great, music was ok, and the leaves were awesome. I also thought the inclusion of personal high scores were a nice touch. This game was good for 2 playthroughs but eventually, this game triggered me with all the annoyances of the real autumn and made me super happy I live in the Southern Hemisphere, where we are currently still enjoying summer :)

Money Talks by Kyoute 2017-12-05T10:05:10Z

Enjoyable little visual novel. Nice art and use of photography. No audio but that's ok. Story generally fitted theme. Choices felt a bit inconsequential sometimes, not sure why. Overall a short but satisfying story.

Human Rises by Tinis Games 2017-12-13T06:13:50Z

Cool game with some interesting mechanics. I wish I could see: > My budget (ie why I was losing gold or something else) > Tooltips about policies > Graphs about the progress of different nations over time > More types of policies and more policy options (probably with a different UI) Market trades seemed back-to-front and the game UI seemed designed for larger screens. Sims are hard to get right in this respect. Music and sound effects were lacking. I thought the UI background was nice. Overall this game was tough to get into and left me wanting more, but I had enough fun with it in the end.

PICK UP all the girls by Yohoho Games 2017-12-05T09:47:37Z

Nice use of theme. Simple, effective graphics. I actually liked the Benny Hill soundtrack choice but don't think it's worth an audio vote, because it's not original. Mechanics so easy to understand that I will now call myself a master pick up artist and boast at events that I have picked up hundreds of girls. Or maybe I'll join a cheer team. Anyway, would have loved to have seen more level development and UI/sound cues. Great effort. :)

Cargotastrophe by Pixelectric 2017-12-05T08:49:10Z

I liked the compass leading you back home and the animation for the capturing of space items. Controls were simple once learnt. After a while it became apparent that there was no real progression and not much challenge to the game. Probably needed more in the way of game structure. The items themselves were cute, there were a few (ok) sound effects (no music) and I could see the link between the theme and your deteriorating ship. Overall a very solid effort! :)

Brickris Tetout by fluffy 2018-04-24T03:45:26Z

Awesome game, my privilege to play it :smile_cat:

Good parts: I liked the use of the theme and how you made both games work together. There was this really cool retro vibe to the whole experience that made the game feel more arcade-like. The music was so smooth & perfect for the game too, a beautiful throwback to the original soundtrack.

Ok parts: I liked the "old arcade machine" graphical vibe and there were some snazzy special effects. In the heat of a difficult game, however, these effects were mildly distracting since they were right behind where the player's focusing. I liked the scoring too - would be so nice if there were leaderboards or something!

Ideas for next time: The mechanics are a bit crazy and could have been perhaps explained a bit more. What made it double as tricky was the control scheme, which wasn't at all what I was used to, and also the breakout ball didn't always move in the way I'd expect it to (sometimes changing speed weirdly etc) to make the game super-unpredictable. With all the stuff that was going on at once I got overwhelmed pretty fast.

The Tale of Witchnook by Lars DK 2018-04-24T22:48:14Z

I added a firefox hotfix so people who use that browser can play too. Since it only affects the one platform I think that's allowed.

Thanks so much @vkmicro @nardandas @untitledq and @samuel-qian for all your detailed and extensive feedback! Really appreciate it. I'll be sure to rewrite rabbit spawning, cursor handling and add more content in my post-jam version :smile_cat:

Tweet Fighter by iamtalin 2018-04-25T09:57:07Z

Awesome game, love the art, heaps of fun to play!

Things I liked: * The characters. I wish there was more than 4 but all of them were super fun and well balanced. You even managed some really cool animations. Birds in robots is so ridiculous but it works so well. * Humor was #birdtastic. Seriously. * The rest of the art was professional-level quality, too. I like it when people take care with even how they present common controls.

What was ok: * I thought the card-based element was well implemented but perhaps not taken far enough in design terms. Here the cards just felt like a gimmick to mask the real control, which was still keyboard buttons, pretty standard for fighting games. Just something to emphasize that they're cards and not just buttons on a keyboard would help. * The difficulty was good but I could swear the game was cheating on anything except the lowest difficulty. I found trying to put together my combinations didn't really yield any cool results.

Ideas for next time: * Music was super well-chosen. Sound effects are super too, so try to put some of those into the game ;) * I didn't think the gameplay was super deep. I literally won several games by just hitting QWE-RT (fa-tweet-ity!) ... so yeah, that's a problem because in a turn-based game, the whole point is to slow down and think about your moves, what you can do and what threats your opponent might have. In a regular fighting game it's not so much a problem because it's all action based and people just button mashed. Pretty soon that's what I just did here.

Beat The Narrator! by CursedEmbassy 2018-04-25T08:12:20Z

Interesting game, enjoyed playing it. You're obviously super creative and you got me to chuckle a couple of times :smile_cat:

Things I liked: * The hand-drawn art style was fantastic. Lucas character art was a special highlight, and you have a cool way of drawing clouds. * I had fun discovering the jump mechanics on my own. Actually I don't think you did a bad job avoiding bugs at all - the whole thing worked better than many platformers I've played. * The music, too, was pretty good even on a short loop. Music is usually my "thing" but it definitely added to the mood of this one.

Things that were ok * Low brow humor, profanity, etc ... kinda felt cringey like a bad stand up comedy gig in parts, but it also added to the mood a lot. * Random jump-cuts and loss conditions (press enter to lose?) sort of added to the humor, but the whole thing basically screamed "I'm bitter about Lucas" to me. In which case, if this was a humor thing, a slightly better option might have been something like: choose how you want to die (choice of various insane methods to kill the onscreen character). The way it worked out - especially since (AFAIK) the game has no win condition - it's weird.

Ideas for next time * A visual novel is VISUAL, not audible. Cool story but it was entirely told through narration, not graphics. * Try pacing the game so the first jump is not the hardest one. Make the first challenge a player encounters super easy and the last one near-impossible. * Platformer sound effects are pretty much a must. Even a short jump sound is helpful.

You Can't Dodge Your Feelings! by Autumnotopia 2018-04-25T09:15:00Z

@autumnotopia I'm trying to figure out the controls. What exactly am I meant to do?

Rhythm Card Hero by gogu 2018-04-25T09:04:43Z

Took me a while but I finally managed to beat the game! Really happy about that. :)

Things I liked: * Awesome interpretation of the theme and cool concept. * Card designs were simple and top quality. Cutesy characters too. * The game ran smoothly & without any obvious bugs or other issues.

What was ok: * Sound - probably was ok for how simple the game was, but given that rhythm games are generally built on sound, some simple music and more sound effects would have been appreciated. * Although the screen presented for the game was basic, little bits of detail go a long way. Blue text on a blue gradient probably isn't the best UI idea.

Ideas for next time: * The user interface really needed to be explained way more. I died several times working out the controls and that was after reading your description. Card effects, for example, were rarely really clear to me. * Now that I've beaten the so-called level 1 character I just win? Where's level 2? Just speed up the tempo or something for a cheap & easy way to increase the challenge XD.

Crash to the Past by UntitledQ 2018-04-24T03:26:25Z

Awesome job!

Things I liked: > User interface was fantastic. Nice use of visual cues and prompts. I generally always knew what I had to do next and how to get there thanks to clever camera work. > Some very pretty low-poly 3D models. There were some cool particle effects (including, for no apparent reason, white dust going upwards?) and the whole thing didn't lag one bit. I especially liked the backdrop. > Physics was on-point in a totally unrealistic, crazy fun way.

Ideas for next time: > Space travel and historical time-period would be ok, but there wasn't a lot of "medieval" stuff here. Yes there's cannons and a castle in the background, but being shot around in a spacesuit from flying cannons is (if anything) clearly something from the future. This lack of balance made the theme hard to get. > I liked the variation in the levels - it added to the replayability a lot - but some generated levels were literally impossible because it set you up after a few cannons to go straight into a spikey ball (automatically with no escape). > I like sound.

Overall this was a fun, arcady experience that I enjoyed reviewing.

Fintastic Escape by ImDivingDeep 2018-04-24T04:19:46Z

Fantastic game! I had heaps of fun trying it out.

Things I liked: Really impressive visuals; nice mood set up with lighting and ambient music. Attention to detail in modelling. Atmosphere manages to be both relaxing and unsettling - great balance shown here.

OK stuff: Very few bugs - just a few visual glitches I noticed but that's to be expected with doing something so bleeding-edge and with only a few days. The fishing part of the game went by extremely quickly compared with the puzzle part. Sound effects were great but there weren't that many of them ... more would rock.

Ideas for next time: Make the first couple of clues bleeding obvious so people get the idea of how to play. It took me a while. Give players visual and audible prompts for the user interface. I don't think electric eels work that way. :P

Decked Out, a Dress Up Card Game by DrEvilBrain 2018-04-24T03:57:42Z

This game wasn't horrific by any stretch! It actually amused me for some time coming up with different really dumb combinations.

Good bits: It works; I didn't notice any serious bugs. Good take on the theme - haven't seen this genre combination before. Interesting ideas in the game description. Plus I'm a sucker for card games. Also I like the way you set up the mood with cartoonish drawing and music etc.

OK bits: Charming programmer art. Humor because I enjoy making silly character combinations.

Ideas for next time: Don't rewrite all your code in the last day. Actually avoid rewriting all your code on ANY day. Make simple sound effects.

Memories ~ of a Gacha Tale by tastelikecoke 2018-04-24T12:23:29Z

Cool game! I played the Windows version.

Stuff I liked: The Ren'Py thing worked a treat for this game, provided a lot of options. The story was engaging and generally well-written. I liked the awkward pauses and emotional tension you built up with the script. The girls were cute. The art was a highlight of this for me.

Things that were ok: The RNG mechanic was interesting but the way it played out basically turned the game into a standard visual novel. There wasn't enough drama over what option might be picked ... I didn't even know what the other options were. The concept is great, but the execution felt like it was missing some tension/drama. Nitpick here: in terms of the story, it helps a lot if the character has a clear motivation / problem to overcome. You sorta tried to set up that he didn't know if he'd fit in, but you need to show that not just tell us. Make him do something awkward or be socially excluded at the beginning. What you showed instead was that he sucked at maths (didn't answer maths questions right), but then later it turns out that he was not given the chance to show he was actually great at maths so that was confusing. Basically what I'm trying to say is that the main character's motivations should be more obvious, but the overall quality of the writing and especially the dialogue was excellent. This also helps in terms of ending the story in a rounded-off way.

Ideas for next time: Sound didn't work for me at all. I just got radio silence no matter what I tried. Made it kinda hard to give you an audio rating. The game was 99% story and 1% RNG. If the RNG is supposed to be a major part of the game it should feel like it and be used often. Make things more humorous and awkward by adding random weird stuff to each encounter, IDK.

For a first LD effort I'm suitably impressed, especially with the amazing art and a solid effort at a story. Well done!