One Card Hero by dylanwolf 2013-12-20T03:23:00
I think this is a great game. It is simple yet I wanted to play a couple times more than originally anticipated. I don't really like random gameplay elements, so it would have been nice to have a more reliable way of getting the right card you wanted at the right time.
The graphics and audio were very well made. I enjoyed them and your art style is interesting.
I think that if more time were spent on the gameplay, this would have been a perfect game, great job! Keep up the fantastic work and have a fun time doing it!
LD30 — Connected Worlds (6)
Parallel by Adam Gould 2014-09-01T15:29:00
Gameplay:
(Positive) + Easy to learn controls and game mechanics.
(Positive) + An interesting idea for a puzzle game. I enjoyed looking for the objects to interact with.
(Negative) - Not really any puzzle solving; only look for the specific objects to interact with. It would have been nice if there were more objects that could be interacted with other than those required to solve the puzzle. This could have been done, for example, by making it so the gem gets moved away from the portal in certain situations or even making a specific order in which objects had to be interacted in. Also, I noticed that the fans could be toggled on and off, so there could have been a timing puzzle used with this.
(Negative) - Having the walls on the right highlight as the mouse moved over the triggers on the left made things a bit too easy to find; only highlighting objects when the player was right next to the trigger could change this.
Graphics:
(Positive) + The graphics are consistent and each one looks like it belongs in the same world.
Music:
(Positive) + The music fits the game very well, in both mood and quality of the instruments used.
(Negative) - The music does get a little repetitive after a while. An option to mute the music would've been nice.
Final Thoughts:
A lot of potential for improvement, mostly need to make the game feel more puzzle like. Overall great job!
The Lair of Maldar by dalbinblue 2014-08-29T18:10:00
Theme:
(Positive) + Some guys came up with the same idea of having the code a part of the game in my game design class last year, but you've made it interactable and it works much better than what they created; plus you've done it in much less time as well!
Gameplay:
(Positive) + Keyboard controls are simple and easy to learn. Chose some odd key bindings that I don't see too often, but they ended up working out. I imagine it would be difficult for a left handed person possibly, but I don't know for sure.
(Negative) - It's not obvious right away that you have to shoot the right part of the code in order to change it. Having a keyboard in game that the player could interact with might make more sense.
(Negative) - The gameplay is a pretty standard platformer that uses backtracking. A little bit of additions to the code world might help break things up. For example, you could add a puzzle aspect by allowing the change of a few different variables, but allowing for only one to be change at the same time.
Graphics:
(Positive) + All the graphics are consistent with one another and fit nicely into the world.
Final Thoughts:
Very great game and I had a lot of fun playing; congratulations for your accomplishments even if you were not completely satisfied with your results!
Into the Deep by RandomM00 2014-08-28T16:10:00
Gameplay:
(Positive) + Mechanics of the game aren't difficult to pick up, making it easy to learn the game.
(Negative) - Very similar to Lunar Lander as far as controls and the idea of not crashing into the walls. Using ideas from other games is unavoidable, but there should be some effort in adding or destorting the existing mechanics into something that feels different. A simple example of something different could be having a puzzle aspect such as using the thruster to burn a piece of wood that is blocking the path.
(Negative) - Horizontal collision detection is far too unforgiving. It doesn't matter what speed the player is going at; if you collide with a wall to the left or the right then you have to start over. This was very frustrating in a game where the whole idea was to navigate your way through tight spaces.
Story:
(Positive) + The story itself is fairly interesting. The idea of an explorer going to new lands where he doesn't know the consequences is pertinent to real life, not knowing what exists in where we've not explored. You've left it rather open to interpretation, but this is how I viewed the story.
(Negative) - I feel that having the story drive the theme doesn't really make it based on the theme of Connected Worlds. I'm not saying that you did this, but it is completely possible to have a full game idea before the compo and then just adapt the story to the them without much effort. I prefer to think of having the theme drive the creation of the gameplay, but perhaps that is just me.
Graphics:
(Positive) + The graphics, while simple and primitive, were all consistent throughout the game and nothing felt out of place. Nicely done!
Final thoughts:
Overall there are definitely some improvements that can be done. Take a look at all the mistakes, and analyze what is actually a mistake and what is not so that you may not make them again. Congratulations on finishing, and good luck to all you game development endeavors in the future!
World Swap by Turkey 2014-08-27T23:52:00
Gameplay
(Positive) + Fun puzzle mechanic that seems fairly difficult at first.
(Positive) + I do enjoy good puzzle games, and there is enough challenge in this game to make the player think a little bit.
(Negative) - After realizing that it's possible to just switch back and forth until ready to move on, it's easy to tell where to switch next. Perhaps making it so the player cannot swap on the same time in a row (would have to do something slightly different for the start tile), or even have a timer that automatically switches every few seconds.
(Negative) - The hit box for the character is a lot larger than the character; this was the cause of my losing some levels because I thought I was fully on the tile but was not.
Graphics
(Negative) - There is not a nice transition between all of the graphics. There are clear seams in the world where each tile begins and stops, and it breaks the immersion. They don't have to look nice because of the time constraints, but I feel it's important for everything to look as if it belongs in the world.
(Positive) + The graphics look nice if they were isolated from the other graphics, however.
Overall a very good game; congratulations!
Planetshaker for Android by Maek 2014-08-27T22:41:00
Simplicity
(Negative) - The game is a little bit too simplistic. More depth could be added by provided, like perhaps making the planets move around or by having planets that you should avoid connecting to or you lose points; things like that.
(Positive) + On the flip side, simplicity is great for mobile games as often times they aren't played in long sessions, just in periods of down time during the day. So it's good that you are thinking simple, perhaps just a little more complex would create improvements.
Graphics
(Negative) - The graphics aren't anything extraordinary.
(Positive) + The graphics are consistent across the entire game and each one looks like it fits in with the rest.
(Positive) + The randomness in planet color is a great touch; I prefer the use of the random number generator for aesthetics as opposed to gameplay elements.
Overall, this is a nice game, especially for only one day's time! Keep on improving and keep up the good work!
Nibiru is late! by Inudenis 2014-08-25T13:00:00
Negative Points:
- Asteroids controls. I abhor the controls in Asteroids.
- Mayan calendar in the intro looks out of place.
- Idea of eating something smaller than you to get bigger is common.
- The background fooled me; I thought I was moving even though I wasn't.
- Planets appear out of nowhere. This was frustrating when they appeared right in front of the player. Would've been nice if they appeared off-screen.
- The destination is randomly placed, and can be difficult to find until you figure out to look at your distance. An arrow pointing to the destination would've been nice, so that the player could focus on dodging bullets instead of constantly looking back and forth between the character and distance.
Neutral Points:
. Even though the idea of eating smaller objects is common, it was nice that you decided to use that as ammunition.
. Gives the illusion of slower movement as you get bigger, even though you always move the same speed.
Positive Points:
+ Sounds weren't anything extraordinary, but they also didn't have the "nails on a chalkboard" effect. That's a success in my ears!
+ Graphics (aside from the Mayan calendar) were consistent throughout and looked nice.
+ Loved the twist at the end, adding humor to an otherwise grim situation.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, this was a pretty good game! Congratulations for finishing on time!