Ominos by OgelGames 2023-10-15T14:52:44Z ♥ 1
I just played after seeing your post about random level generation as you keep working on the game. It's a nice little satisfying game so I'm glad you're continuing development on it.
My only bit of feedback while playing was that I couldn't tell some colors apart: pink and orange were impossible and green and cyan were difficult but doable (I'm not color blind but use a lot of blue light reduction filters on my monitor). I know you said you might change the rules so colors don't matter, but while playing I thought of a "color blind mode" option where the background is divided and labeled, and pieces of each color spawn only in their area rather than in fully randomized spawn locations. I don't know how hard this would be for you to implement, but it was my biggest wish while playing and would be helpful if did end up keeping the rules about colored ominos.
Otherwise it's a great game, I really like the art and sfx!
LD57 — Depths (42)
The House in the Dark Forest by Tygrak 2025-04-26T00:47:03Z ♥ 1
This game was my jam (pun and compliment very much intended), glad I happened to see it a few days ago so I could make sure and play it before ratings ended.
Only negative was that I was confused that the narrator was indicating they were done and wanted to go back to the start, but there were more shinies to find! While I get that it probably would have been a slog, especially for a jam game where people just want to dip in and out, I felt torn between what I as a player wanted to do (keep exploring the awesome maze and see more narrative moments and collect/clear all the shinies) vs what the game was telling me to do without addressing the uncollected memories(?).
That one point aside though, I really enjoyed it top to bottom. Well done!
(also, holy crap just noticed it's a compo game. Extra well done!)
Wyatt & I by Untitled Studios 2025-04-26T00:19:50Z ♥ 1
Nice story and I liked the chess :) glad to see this before ratings end! I very much echo what sudocoffee said about this being a way to convey something about a story that words alone couldn't really achieve, I thought it was really great.
(and I also had the issue with the upgrades system they described, and I'm on a normal windows 10 machine, in case you are going to keep bug squashing after the jam)
Where is Jeremy Wattson? by Dock Frankenstein 2025-04-24T00:25:19Z ♥ 1
That was great! Loved how it's weird but all fits together well. It felt very polished, too.
Only negative for me was the puzzles seemed a bit on the easy side, but since most others here said they were more on the challenging side, it seems you balanced them correctly!
Also, not about the game, I really appreciate you explaining your process for art, anims, and (especially) dialogue. Kinda makes me want to learn Stride3D (which I hadn't heard of before) and ink next jam, since ink has long been on my "to try" list.
On that note, if you don't mind me asking, was there an engine reason you didn't include audio, or was it just a timing thing?
Cinderseed by val.ociraptor 2025-04-23T23:55:53Z ♥ 1
This wasn't the type of game I expected on opening it, but I thought the gameplay loop was solid, and it was a nice, perfectly bite-sized jam game. Most of my feedback is just what Sam said above, especially the desire to see progress all throughout the game, because I was surprised when I lost at the end, as I thought the flower was decently big and the root had grown all the way to the bottom.
Only other "gripe" or negative on the game is that I thought the hitbox on the plant could have been a touch bigger/more forgiving, and on the tar pit as well.
I did like the risk or random based nature of the game, how I'd have to guess each time how long the flower would want a particular thing, this made the otherwise simple gameplay nice and engaging.
Also loved the music and sfx, some of the best I've heard all jam!
Trapped by depths by cRoxx 2025-04-20T17:33:02Z ♥ 1
As others have said, I thought the gameplay could be a bit juicier or the loop a little more interesting in some way. I did like all the little details you added though, with the (nice & glowy) ores flying into and out of you and the outline around interactables, and your implementation of music and sfx even if they weren't your own assets--all made the game feel nice and relaxing, even if the gameplay was a little lacking.
A Few Easy Questions by Jonathan Vogt 2025-04-20T16:42:23Z ♥ 1
Happy to see another IF writer, and your comment at the end about Harlowe being finicky made me laugh--it truly is, though at least it is easy to get rolling with.
I liked how short your game is, made me want to go back and play again to test it out and see other options and whether he would respond differently with different choice paths. I ended up using an incognito tab to play three times, and I want to keep playing to see the true ending! In my playthroughs, I tested him but didn't press too hard, and I thought it was odd that in my final run, I went with all the softball questions, keeping him as happy as I could but ended up with a higher score than the previous run. Maybe I had just picked bad questions but I expected softballs to give the lowest score, and instead I ended up with a 70 (the time before was 55 I think, and I don't remember the score from my first run).
Still, as others have said, I really like the concept and the overall game, and I'm eager to go back and see if I can push him harder for the juicier ending.
Also, here's a couple ways to reset if you're interested. (I hope you don't mind me sharing, feel free to ignore!)
Tip for restarting in Harlowe (though there may be a faster way) -- I created a reset story passage that said "Resetting..." then listed all the story variables and reset them one by one then "Done" at the end or something as a clickable link back to the start of the story (and you can compress all that whitespace, too). For local passage variables you should be able to just redeclare them at the start of a passage, but sometimes I know Twine/JS can have a fit if the variable has already been declared.
I'm not sure if it'll work as well in Harlowe, but the other solution I came up with after switching to Snowman was to create a variable array object in my story Javascript file. Each time I created a variable I made it a part of that array (like, story.vars.unease = 0 ), then at the end all I had to do was cycle through the array (or arrays, you can create multiple for different chapters of a story) and delete all the variables. A little harder to set up but much easier to manage once it's going.
Only Rogue Down Clicker #skinedition by Caerind 2025-04-20T15:45:38Z ♥ 2
I couldn't find a mouse sens slider, which I know it's a jam so there isn't always time, but was sad that you had other sliders/options but not that one. Couldn't play much before I got a headache, but my feedback from what I did play: I wish it was clearer what we could land on and what the limit for fall damage was. It seemed like you had to take the prescribed path and skipping even one stone would kill you, even if it was just barely past the fall damage range. If you guys keep working on this or do something like it again, I'd like it if blocks appeared when you're able to land on them or else were a different color or shader when out of range.
Also almost forgot--may be user error, but I had to run around the starting area for a solid minute before actually being able to play. I figured out about buying the life upgrade but couldn't figure out the generator thing. I just went around clicking on stuff (especially the place where it said "CLICK") and eventually the path opened but I have no idea how. But again, I can't be too critical because in a jam any sort of tutorial at all is an accomplishment, and I know that's just what you guys were trying to do.
Depth Of Debts by Oduvan 2025-04-16T01:22:27Z ♥ 1
Played on latest update so I didn't leave a rating here, but did rate it on itch! Loved the game, felt very (and strangely) addictive. I thought I had softlocked myself as well, but then realized you made stamina come back slowly while standing still, very clever workaround! Also, don't know if bug or intended, but I managed to pay off the debt because the counting seemed to be funny. I remember putting in ~450 gold to get to 1k once and jumping up to 1700 instead, and it just seemed to ramp from there. Still, I very much appreciated it because I could beat the game in one sitting and it doesn't look like it has a save system yet. Otherwise, I agree that the stamina felt too limited to start, and bought two upgrades and didn't notice any significant difference. Oxygen was also a bit limited but that is kind of the point around that mechanic, and I never felt like it hampered me as much as stamina, just made me dart in and out and choose areas that weren't no oxygen zones. Loved how open ended the game was with all the different dig areas, I felt like I was going my own way, not just along a predefined route you had set, and I liked finding the little secret area past the first room!
Cloud Sea Catalog by TomatoLamp 2025-04-16T00:20:14Z ♥ 1
Really amazing amount of stuff here. I thought it would just be free roam, take pretty pictures, but the collectibles and ship vs walking around and whole day night cycle with timed events was really impressive. I got everything but two timed events that I just missed/noticed as it was exactly too late. Wished there could have been a way to speed up/skip time so I could get them too. But I can hardly request more features when you already did so much. And it really is a gorgeous game, well done on not just the art/shaders but placing them in the world in such an interesting way to make me want to explore it.
Scares on Schedule by python-b5 2025-04-15T01:36:15Z ♥ 2
First, I echo everything positive and negative that has been said so far. And I just wanted to add two things.
When I was playing the music game, I thought that coloring or numbering the chimes/bars would have made it much, much easier for me. Maybe that'd make it too easy, but it always seemed like I'd know which one was hit but after following the sequence through, I couldn't tell by length alone if it was that chime or its neighbor, so I would inevitably mess myself up before completing the tune.
Second, someone before made a good point, but since not many people brought it up: I think the game would benefit from more and clearer feedback when the player does something wrong versus right versus just incidental stuff happening. A couple examples are the sound cue for a new villager entering. I didn't know what this was during the game and only learned about it in the comments, but it messed me up a few times because I thought it was a signal I had done something wrong and was about to fail a minigame or something. Second in the Boo game, there's no indication I've done the right thing, that I just need to do it three times, so I as a player assume I'm doing it wrong but am being gifted a second chance--until suddenly I'm pulled out of it because I have failed or time or ? Again, not clear what failure is or how exactly it happened. I think there's a gamedev term for this--legibility (if I'm remembering correctly). Your game is quite good and quite polished and has lots of content, but both the difficulty and the lack of legibility counteract all the good stuff the game has going for it.
Eager to see what the post jam version is like though!
Distorted Visions by Atenebris 2025-04-15T00:53:59Z ♥ 2
Intriguing bit of gameplay for a made-in-an-hour concept! I'm wondering what the bigger plan is/was. Platformer or a different type of game where the speed boost would pay off?
Submersible L337 by SoloAdventurerGames 2025-04-14T20:18:06Z ♥ 2
I was a bit confused by the green warning light (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it was). Like Wouter, I thought at first that meant there was a collectible, and ended up taking a lot of damage just while figuring out the controls and lights. I guess I probably should have restarted right then, because I ended up dying to heat damage later.
Still, a lot of content for a compo game, well done!
(Also, this isn't really feedback on the game per say, but I've noticed this jam that several of the games I've played you either can't die or the game/level is short enough that restarting costs nothing. I'm going to try to do this more in future, and I would have appreciated something like that here, if I could have kept playing on after breaking the ship, just to see the end of the game for the sake of the jam (I'm going to go back and try again because I think it's good enough, but on some games if I die part way through I just quit). Just something to consider!)
There's No Depth in Top View by sadvest 2025-04-14T19:19:50Z ♥ 1
Nice game! Never felt unsolvable to me, you were very clever about shadow placement! Plus I liked how the controls were very easy to understand and were always visible on screen.
Dungeon Cartographer by finntastico 2025-04-13T21:05:46Z ♥ 2
I thought this was a great idea, I love maze games and thought that mapping was a good impetus to explore around, so it's like this was made for me. Only I think the torch may have been bugging out or something, the fire was flickering in a way that made it hard for me to look at the screen (I do also have weak eyes), so sadly I couldn't finish.
If you kept polishing/developing this game I would 100% buy and play it though.
A Soggy Situation by SvenErik 2025-04-13T20:44:11Z ♥ 1
I didn't beat it but the first time playing, I had no idea what to do. Because the first two screens were "press any button" screens, I tried that. Then I clicked helplessly on the door while my character started to drown. I had just figured out what to do two clicks before the character died and at the death screen I burst out laughing! Not your intended effect, I'm sure, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
There's something about jam games, because there's no dev time to explain stuff or tutorialize, where being dropped in and figuring it out just makes the game great, and this game does that perfectly.
Voidrunner by BinarySpark 2025-04-13T20:30:00Z ♥ 3
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I had no issue at all with the controls, so if you do change them, perhaps keep both versions as options.
This wasn't the type of game I expected going in--top down instead of first or third person, so more arcadey but because of the momentum-based movement it felt tactical too. Honestly reminded me of something from Ender's Game, if you're familiar, and as others have said, has an impressive amount of content and polish for a jam game. Well done!
d6 pool by Uzpykes 2025-04-11T02:04:38Z ♥ 1
I also got bugged/stuck, mine was when I moved to level four. I had used a re-roll the previous level (not really understanding what it was for, I thought it would take me to a new side in that level but instead I ended up on the same side), and for the purple level, I rolled a six. Can't think of any other details to help debug.
I liked the concept, found it all very innovative and well polished, especially for a compo game, though as others have said, it lacked some oomph to make me want to progress or play again after the bug and reach the end. In terms of core gameplay loop it's quite good, though.
What Happened to Pinewell? by Pixelstain 2025-04-11T01:27:25Z ♥ 1
Very cool game, I like the ending and your music and sfx for it--really well done.
Illuminat! by Thieme55 2025-04-11T01:01:12Z ♥ 2
I did it! Whew, I've been picking at it the last couple of days, very tough but rewarding. Looking at the final solution, I appreciate how much it made me change my thought process as I worked on solving it. I wasn't even clear at first that you had to recombine the colored lights into a white beam!
Deep in the Folders by Playrea 2025-04-11T00:37:38Z ♥ 2
Hey I see what you mean, our games have a very similar concept! Yours is way better though :)
Like some other people, I had difficulty with the zombie puzzle. It was a bit frustrating because conceptually I knew exactly what to do and even had the right idea of how to do it, I just always struggled at the last step. I think it was "decay to nothing" made me think I had to clear all the items from the board, and trying to use the pill would mess me up or just not work to eliminate the germ to clear it so the zombie could eat the meat. Once I did get it, I was like "oh duh." So maybe tweak wording or remove the pill to make it a bit easier. I liked that the pill cured the zombie, though, and that you could kill it, nice touches.
SKYLINE EXCAVATOR by swordguy47 2025-04-10T23:42:27Z ♥ 1
Very fun play! I'm terrible at making arcade-type games like this, so I appreciate good ones all the more. My face totally lit up when I hit the double mechanic at the end of my first run. Only critique is that the best runs feel a bit arbitrary, like I'm suddenly shooting up twenty levels and feeling great, but I can't replicate it or do it from skill, so the joy of it wears off after a bit. Still, love that the levels change as you get higher. My last run I saw slanted platforms and one started moving after I landed on it, so I imagine without the level skip mechanic, and possibly with some hand crafted runs in addition to these more randomly generated levels, this game would be fun to try and master.
The OPERATOR by Tomtomgome 2025-04-10T23:27:50Z ♥ 5
I saw someone mentioned a bug on the itch page. I also had a bug, not sure if it's the same one. I accidentally pressed E2 instead of E3 once, and couldn't find a way to clear it (maybe an oversight, maybe I'm dumb and missed it). I had to enter it, then figured I could immediately fix it by entering E3. Only after that, the squad stopped responding to any commands and I couldn't see anything else to do except quit out. I'm not sure if I took over 60 seconds to try to fix it, as I didn't know about the failsafe you implemented. If it happens again, I'll make sure and time it out.
I'll definitely come back to this one though, one of my favorite games of the jam! Love the music and all voice acting, really helps establish the mood!
Go with the Floe by johnnysix 2025-04-10T18:04:47Z ♥ 1
Loved the music and audio design! Am I right in thinking the fish had a death sound effect, rather than you having a collection sound effect, so that you could hear the orcas nearby eating them? If so, nice touch! Liked the game a lot.
Minion No. 1067809362 by ZuhairGhias 2025-04-10T17:37:41Z ♥ 2
Thanks for making the platformer not too hard! I died a few times in the fire level but never felt frustrated with it. As others have said, I liked the holo-spikes mechanic, as well as the intercom at the start of levels to introduce/hint at new mechanics. Very well thought out and executed.
Ciggy by kenevil1 2025-04-10T17:20:20Z ♥ 4
Solid game! A few wishes if you want to develop it further: 1. On screen indicators for the lasers (or just an effect to know where the beam was about to be). Like the above poster, I died a lot in the second level, every time it was because the laser guys had moved off screen and I was standing right in their beam (I probably stood too still because that impacted score) 2. Pre-spawned enemies in the whole level. Maybe that would make it too chaotic, but I thought it was a bit annoying to wait after dropping for the enemies to spawn. 3. Up teleporters? To maximize killing, maybe at some tradeoff to use. 4. Horde mode! 5. Auto weapons! 6. Rockets and mayhem!
Good start/jam entry!
A Leap in the Dark by mmemim 2025-04-10T01:22:01Z ♥ 7
I also got to only 800 m (could use an apple or two) but really liked the game. While playing I thought "This feels like a real game!" as in the most polished entry I've seen yet, and also a good concept that could be developed into a full game. As it stands, I was amazed to see the depth goes down to 2000 m, and I'll revisit after the jam or later in the ratings period to play some more.
Relic Rift by tetrapteryx 2025-04-09T23:09:46Z ♥ 1
Nice little puzzle game! I liked all of it, art, audio, idea, mechanics! Only slight issue I had (often the bane of LD puzzle games) was the balance. Level 5 (I think it was--that's my other modest complaint, the level number didn't show on screen during play, only flashed briefly at the end) felt like I solved it on accident or with little brainpower because it was introducing the auto tile mechanic. It happened so quickly I didn't really pick up on what had happened until I happened a few more times in later levels. Maybe you didn't design for the levels to get harder, only more complex, but level 5 felt like I wasn't being challenged with the previous mechanics, only introducing the new mechanic. Even so, I *did* like how you added new mechanics with each puzzle, and the overall design was great.
Archeologic by auxC 2025-04-09T22:32:58Z ♥ 4
I agree with what everyone has posted so far and wanted to add that I appreciate whoever thought to highlight blocks that you are about to or able to grab. Also, though some people have already said it, I thought the controls felt very strange. The camera wasn't so bad for me, but it was really unintuitive for me to drag blocks from a lower level up to make a match. I had to restart the game a few times while I figured out what to do (since you have to drag up to start the game), and I still don't feel very confident with it.
I think it's the nature of the camera angle, and maybe the easiest fix would be a keyboard only or gamepad mode, where you can press the up arrow or move the stick up on a gamepad and move the block up (or to the side or down). Or even just 3d match three/tetris without the controlling the archaeologist: you highlight a block then can move it up down left right, then move the camera to move it in the third dimension.
Also, while I also had bombs all the way down, I may have nearly gotten stuck/unable to finish. I'm not sure, but it looked like there was a block with no nearby blocks that matched. Everything was chaotic because bombs kept chain exploding and blocks falling, but I'm worried that could be an issue: you're stuck at the bottom with a block you're unable to match blocking the exit, and all the bombs already exploded. Something to consider if you keep developing this game.
Below Birdsong by levi kingma 2025-04-09T22:08:21Z ♥ 3
I don't have too much to add, everyone has covered a lot of the obvious positives and negatives. But I did want to say that in a short jam like this, less is more. I think this game would have been better with *either* the canary/oxygen mechanic (which is a very cool idea) *or* the monsters you have to avoid (and more ways to avoid them or a hearts system). Taking one and polishing it into a gameplay loop is better than two mechanics that feel flat.
But most first games are like this, and I can tell you both poured a lot (of time, life force, etc) into this game, so kudos on your first Ludum Dare!
The Void by Iluvatar 2025-04-08T22:00:53Z ♥ 2
When I played, I didn't realize you could click through dialogue and for some reason never thought to try. The slowness deflated an otherwise great game, and I only thought to go back and check when no one else commented on it. Maybe make a note of that somewhere in game (and if you did and I missed it, oops!).
Also love the audio. You can always tell when there's a dedicated person making the music, and @kobylarz did a great job with it. I don't know which of you did sfx but those were great too.
SINKING by xWilQ 2025-04-08T21:04:21Z ♥ 1
I was in the same boat as randomhuman above, I got to the lighthouse on my second try, but must have missed the key item for it and had no on-screen explanation of what to do (nor even, and this is embarrassing for me, the objective, which I had forgotten. My brain just said "Go up! Escape water! Water bad!" and when I got to the lighthouse without whatever item would allow me to finish the game, I quit in mild confusion). That's not to say I didn't like it, and it's my bad as much as it is an oversight in design.
I agree with what others have said though, with polish it has the makings of a nice rapid-paced free movement puzzle adventure game!
Ludium Descent by qwertus 2025-04-08T14:57:01Z ♥ 1
I had trouble wrapping my head around your game. I think I'm in a submarine, using the screen to navigate to my destination? And the green lines indicate clear space around you, if they're shorter there's an obstacle? I tried twice and both times it said I met a terrible fate, but didn't give any other feedback, leaving me as a player very confused about what was happening and how to do better in the next run.
Depth Cores by no_firing 2025-04-08T14:13:36Z ♥ 1
Good game, I clicked from the feed yesterday after you talked about going from one concept to another and ending up at extraction shooter, like so many games these days lol.
Gameplay loop is solid (I mean, you didn't deviate from the recipe, but executed it all well). I liked the level design and how it introduces you to the game at the beginning, most jam games just throw you right in.
My only critique (aside from the lag, which I fixed by switching from my laptop to desktop and playing from the download instead of online) is the arrows from the free zone. As a player, I was inclined to keep going straight, and then there was an onscreen prompt to keep going straight, so I thought the arrows were for later. When I checked after the first extraction, one of them was indeed the shop-to-be, but the other was more tutorial! LMB to shoot is intuitive, but I would have liked to see all instructions in a straight line that the player must walk through, then extras like the shop to the sides. I imagine this area is a shooting range to be, but still would like to see all tutorial parts on the core path.
That nitpick aside, well done!
Ludum Dare 57 Depth Of A Phrase by Beebster Games 2025-04-07T22:47:37Z ♥ 3
My mom *loves* word games (and I like them, too) so I turned this one over to her, then after a while my dad came and we ended up working on it together! Thanks for providing a nice game that was such a big hit here. For reference, we just finished puzzle 3 (I think?) after about 1 hr 15 minutes and will finish the others tomorrow.
Here's some feedback/desires they had:
1. A bar at the top that says the phrase that you have selected so far, whether or not it's right, so that you can see at a glance what you have--trying to keep the phrase in mind and follow it through the zigzags while looking for the next part was tough.
2. A way to see how long the phrase is--possibly an option to show it at the top, possibly in the form of another type of hint (like, Completion Hint: you're at 9 of 15 letters and 2 letters wrong), or like just providing a letter range for how long the phrase will be (like, 10-15 letters long).
3. Possibly an option to know if you've hit an end--like the square turns a different color or something.
4. Maybe tile color variation to reduce eye strain (like a palette of similar colors and possibly different background colors for different puzzles)
I think that was all it, but they scattered to the winds after telling me everything all at once, so I'll edit this post if I get more from them tomorrow.
Cheers for the good entry!
EDIT after beating: I'm pretty sure we finished the game today, though I'll be honest, when the credits screen came up, I thought we were at eight puzzles, not ten, and I was worried I had hit the credits screen by mistake but couldn't figure out how to get back to the game or whether we'd beaten it.
Regardless, we all **liked the game a lot**, and I have a little bit more feedback to add.
First, as someone already said, I think there is a typo in one of the puzzles, though at my count I thought it was puzzle 6: there is a 'th' word instead of 'the' which may be how the phrase is usually said, but for this puzzle game was very confusing! Second, I want to say I really liked the way you did hints. I'm not sure how you programmed or selected them, but they were always very helpful, showing us where to look when we hadn't been considering that letter, or the correct choice when we were stuck between two possible and unlikely paths.
Finally a clarification on the first part in yesterday's feedback: If there would be a way to track the letters a player has selected and show them as regular text somewhere on the screen, to help us see the phrase we are building at a glance without needing to retrace through the zigzag and sometimes backwards text. My mom kept instinctively looking for this and requesting it, so I thought it important to pass on to you, though I can imagine there are several challenges like how to make the text read the right way around and have the correct spaces, even if it's not the correct phrase.
Thanks so much for being quick to our feedback into action, and once again for making this game for the jam in the first place!
Heaven Denied by Dingbat 2025-04-07T20:57:11Z ♥ 1
I ended up failing toward the end of day three, felt it was too much of a slog to replay and get to the end of day four (though I can hardly judge, I'm the same way with lack of save mechanics in my LD games).
I enjoyed the game and variety of people, all the little touches you had from the train to the dialogue over their heads, and the accompanying audio, as well as all the information you had for each person on the different screens. Very nice compo submission.
(and I should add, the failure was me testing the system at first, then agreeing to make the wrong choice for the guy who asked, then being lazy when it came to a tough choice and getting it wrong... so I deserved it lol)
Poor Julio... by Sayeg 2025-04-07T20:27:12Z ♥ 1
Brilliant idea. I love the way it ends. And, really, how fitting it is, how if you're distracted with your own thoughts or sadness you miss what someone is saying, and you guys could manifest that in a gameplay mechanic by having to divert your attention from what he was saying to check the sadness bar. Really well conceived and executed.
Down Wheel by neowhoru 2025-04-07T20:07:27Z ♥ 1
I have no idea why but the embed isn't working on my laptop, and the download isn't downloading. It's probably an "it's me not you" issue, but just wanted to give a heads up in case there is actually something funky with the download.
Either way, I'll try again with the embed on my desktop later.
Swoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooord!! by She Wrote 2025-04-07T19:50:59Z ♥ 1
Hitboxes for item placement felt a bit tight, like you could only place something in the middle of the previous object. Still, once I saw that I almost hit the heart or weakspot or whatever once, I kept playing until I could beat it. Even though it probably depended on getting lucky with tall, skinny items, the frantic trying to place them to reach the heart felt nice and fun.
Cave of Gorbs by fusionnist 2025-04-07T19:38:40Z ♥ 1
Love it. Took a little getting used to all the controls and that I could easily mine for stone. After that it was smooth sailing.
Two things I didn't like: First, on my laptop it was a pain to redirect my cursor, I personally would have preferred an option to mine/throw bombs in the direction I was moving. I'm sure on desktop it's a much easier experience and better. Second, I had no idea what any other collectibles were for besides stones. Maybe I missed it, maybe it's a mechanic that you haven't implemented yet, but they felt kinda meaningless because I had infinite lives and energy (both of which I enjoyed immensely, made for a very cozy/chill game).
One thing I really loved: the variation in tiles! I felt like I had just about seen the gist of the game when I got to the city tiles, and then the same when I got to the pink (crystal?) tiles. Both of them were interesting and made me want to keep playing/exploring. I stopped for now but wonder what other stuff there is to see deeper down.
The Investigator by ImmortalFox 2025-04-07T18:47:45Z ♥ 1
Agree with all the previous comments, primarily that there felt like very little feedback/game to play. I would have much preferred just clicking through the dialogue at my own pace rather than having a timer--sometimes I ran out of time, other times I was waiting for the clock to tick down because I couldn't figure out how to make the day end. Overall I just felt very confused because it took a bit to realize what was going on, and that the only real decisions or meaningful action on my part is guilty or not guilty but the game didn't seem to respond to those choices at all. But I'm just saying all that because you asked for feedback as a new dev. I did like the music and art, and for your first real game it's great!
Sonar by Kawair 2025-04-07T18:16:48Z ♥ 1
I've made games like this before, so I'm a fan of yours. Always like navigating in the dark with some twist like your sonar. Only wish for a bit more feedback from it when you're stuck in a cave. I played twice and both times got stuck at 120m or so in a cave system that I couldn't find the exit to. But I agree with the above poster, for three hours this is great.
Also like the background music.
Edit: Forgot to mention, I love the cover art, feels very LD to me :)
Dungeon Chef by Clare_Chan1738 2025-04-07T18:00:16Z ♥ 1
I started trying to make people the wrong potion to see if there would be any effect. I don't think there was, at least with the changes I tried (like hallucinations instead of insight), but doing that may have caused the game to soft lock. I can't pull any more ingredients off the shelf for the quest to make the Potion of Somnia for the little boy.
And yeah, I wish there was a way to replenish ingredients somehow. Maybe like how those shop sim games you buy ingredients at the end of the day with the money you made, or people give you more ingredients as you make them their potions. Obviously a bit of a stretch for a compo game, but just a thought.