snail

Chicken Little by LeviDSmith 2020-04-26T01:12:41Z

Good stuff:

The inclusion of a leader board was really helpful in making the game more engaging-- having a standard for competition is a rare but welcome feature in a game jam game. The core concept was super cool: having the chicken be beyond your control meant that you could choose which apples to hit and which to let fall, creating a really neat feature of having to predict the chicken's movement. Absolutely loved the apple animation; it made your actions feel more weighty and it was just funny to watch the apples flying away!

Areas for improvement:

The apples are simply too hard to hit once they get fast. This isn't just me griping about difficulty; I actually like the large number of apples, but I felt like I wasn't able to hit ANY of them, making the game feel more like luck than actual skill. A slightly larger apple hitbox would have done wonders to make the game feel more manageable. More predictable motion for the chickens might have also helped, but it worked just fine as is, and it definitely grew on me as I played.

Overall:

An outstanding, creative concept which one small issue (the apple hitbox) holds back from being the engaging masterpiece it has the potential to become.

The Angel Recording the Truth by Kevin Prehn 2020-04-29T17:25:03Z

As someone who has never even heard of first order logic, this was an extremely helpful, clear guide. Nothing about this game really stood out to me, but it all worked together to teach the concept in an enjoyable, calming way, which means it worked. Honestly, my only critique is that I don't fully see the connection to the theme, but otherwise your game does exactly what you want it to!

Life of the Party by jelch 2020-04-22T22:41:53Z

Good stuff:

You really nailed the atmosphere-- the music in particular really conveyed the sense of being at a real party. The writing was engaging, and each scenario felt like it made sense, even the absurd ones. The resource management component was nicely integrated, and I'm glad it wasn't made too much of a focus-- it made the writing feel more central, which was the strongest part of the game anyway.

Areas for improvement:

Not a whole lot. Other people have mentioned that more graphics might be nice, and I agree-- I liked having a single background image, but switching places based on location could be cool, and the main menu could have been a little more professional. It didn't feel all that connected to the jam theme.

Overall;

Really fun, well written game! Thoroughly enjoyed!

Morose by 100th_Coin 2020-04-26T02:08:44Z

Good stuff:

This is a very complete game for a game jam. There's a whole lot of content, an actual story, complete mechanics, the whole package. The art is especially gorgeous, with detailed, nicely shaded characters. I really, really liked the puzzle-game style seed combining mechanics-- it definitely felt like something an entire game could be built around, and it's quite fleshed out here.

Areas for improvement:

The whole fighting aspect of the game felt unnecessary and weak in comparison to the main mechanics. Ran into a few bugs (soft locked at the final flower) but that's to be expected in a game jam. UI could have had more options (an undo function, exit) but that didn't really detract from the experience.

Overall:

This is a truly fantastic game, and I hope you keep working on it, because I think with just a little more time it could be made even better!

Also, is it possible to make the white flower? I know that's not the intended ending, but is it actually impossible? I think it can't be done, but I'm not sure.

The Machine at the Center of the Earth by p53 2020-04-23T22:05:23Z

Good Stuff:

Felt like a very complete game-- the animation was cohesive, the level felt reasonably large, and the gameplay was satisfying. I've seen some other people who want an indicator for broken parts, but I didn't find that all that necessary; it could have helped for the non-essential parts, but your warning system with lights created far more engaging gameplay than a mini-map would have. Pretty nicely designed map, with decent navigation options

Areas for improvement;

The jump pad felt buggy, with the boost height often varying depending on how I approached the jump pad. It really needed either a difficulty curve or a fixed ending, because at a certain point I could just keep going forever without dying. A metric for how well you did would also have been welcome. Music might have added a little, but it worked just fine without.

Overall:

Incredibly complete, cohesive, and fun game. For me, the best pard of the game was learning where the machines all were, and I think a mini-map would have lessened that, so I would advise against adding one.

Get Away From My Human by hectorid 2020-04-22T22:54:48Z

Good stuff:

LOVE the graphics. The whole thing works together to give the game a cohesive, interesting theme. In particular, the game over screen is wonderful. I like how you have one enemy that attacks you and one that attacks the human-- a neat little twist that gets you to really consider which enemy to go after first

Areas for improvement:

As others have mentioned, being able to hold down to fire would be nice. I found the game a little too hard-- a slightly slower intro could have made the game engaging for longer. Sound could have been nice, but I understand if you just didn't have the time

Overall:

Great sci-fi aesthetic around a simple game that, while well executed, a few small issues kept me from truly enjoying.

Ritualist by Unx 2020-05-05T22:22:09Z

Good stuff:

Your attack felt super powerful, through a combination of the long start up time, the imposing sound effect, and the large, intimidating, detailed pixel art. The angels' attacks struck a nice balance of being tricky to avoid without seeming unfair in any way. The music was outstanding in adding a moody ambiance fitting nicely with the game's tone. The pixel art was also impressive, and nicely fitting thematically.

Areas for improvement:

A start menu before the game started could have been nice, so that player can start when ready but not do anything before the angels spawn. A couple more animations along the lines of the attack would have really made the game pop-- an animation for the angels dying in particular would have really made your attacks feel even stronger. Some more clarity involving what the switches did could also have been nice.

Overall:

There's definitely a core of a game here, particularly relating to the fantastic, moody presentation. A little more mechanical depth and you'll have a fantastic game!

Heartbreaking by mAnimal 2020-04-22T17:29:47Z

Good stuff:

Liked the music, it just sounded nice. I really liked the idea of speeding up the heart as a mechanic-- it helped spice the game up and give it a unique feel. The controls were smooth, which helped make the game not feel frustrating, even as I was dying multiple times. There's a good amount of content here, the game felt long for having been made in 48 hours. The difficulty was perfect-- not too hard, not too easy, which made the game satisfying to play

Areas for Improvement:

The sound effects were a little grating-- maybe making them a little less jarring would help (given that I heard the death sound quite a bit). The graphics were a little unpolished, but that's to be expected in a game jam. I really wish you had used the mechanic in your bonus level more-- it would have really emphasized the innovation of this game. Your level design was hit-or-miss: some parts felt good and made use of the mechanics (I'm thinking of the level with a bunch of little platforms), but others just felt like generic platforming levels.

Overall:

You have a cool concept, and some good clean execution, creating an enjoyable game to play. However, it would have been nice if you had fleshed out your idea just a little more. Also, you actually came up with a very similar idea to me (something circling around the player) but went in a totally different direction with it, which was super cool to see.

My Pet Tulsi by Flash22 2020-04-28T21:05:33Z

Good Stuff:

Your time management feels exceptional for a first game jam, and it shows in a well-rounded game where nothing feels particularly rushed. I like how you split the colors so that half the good options are lighter and half are darker-- it gives the game an extra bit of challenge. It feels perfectly balanced, with the game feeling difficult but very forgiving.

Areas for improvement:

A more unique, complex central idea could be better to focus on in the future as you start gaining the experience to follow through. I would have liked a quit, menu, or replay function at the end. It didn't really matter for this game, but it might be good to research pause menus for future game jams. A couple more sound effects would have really made the game pop.

Overall:

This feels great for a first game! You already seem to understand how to manage time well in a jam, as shown by your full exploration of a very simple, manageable concept. I'm excited to see your games improve as you gain more experience!

Dying Spark by snail 2020-04-22T01:05:38Z

Couple of things.

1. I accidentally included the wrong files in my upload, re-uploaded and hopefully should be playable now.

2. I know I need to play and rate games, I've just been pressed for time recently and didn't get the chance last weekend. Thanks so much for everyone who found my game anyway-- I'll make sure to get to your games first!

Dying Spark by snail 2020-04-23T02:51:51Z

@adam-konig @p53

Thanks for the feedback! I edited the description to hopefully make clearer that you can hit your own core. An instructions screen would have definitely been an improvement, I just ran out of time

Dying Spark by snail 2020-04-24T04:15:22Z

@jelch Thanks for the feedback-- you don't need to click multiple times, you just need to hold down and the reload happens automatically. I originally wanted a charge-up animation, but just ran out of time-- probably a first priority to add, along with instructions and sound.

Dying Spark by snail 2020-05-04T21:16:51Z

@pillitoka I think this is the biggest issue with not having instructions in game-- I don't think I made it clear that you can use the mouse scroll wheel to switch weapons. I actually did implement 6 different weapons/variations that should all be accessible in later levels, but please let me know if that doesn't work for some reason

Save the Earth Initiative by AljosaCT 2020-04-28T21:34:52Z

Good stuff:

The tutorial was great, teaching everything you needed in an entertaining and funny way. The multitask mechanics were well balanced, just the right amount of stuff to do to feel frantic but not so much as to feel impossible. Graphics were solid. Destroying asteroids felt super satisfying for some reason.

Areas for improvement:

As some other people have said, some kind of difficulty leveling might be nice-- that way you can also make it harder as you go as well as consistent. The "calm" button appearing on any screen was a cool idea but I feel like it should be explained better, maybe with the tutorial forcing you to switch screens in order to reach it.

Overall:

Liked it a lot! Simple but well executed and very fun game!

Branch Out by Thermacon 2020-04-26T00:53:17Z

Good stuff:

It's pretty cool the way you're forced to push your roots down and your leaves up, creating a very recognizable tree, although I might have liked more explicit reference to this. The way you balanced out the usefulness for each resource makes the management in the early game interesting-- balancing between nutrients to keep growing, sun to survive, and water as a way to occasionally add extra management. The art style was very functional and communicated both tone and mechanics well-- I especially liked the procedurally generated tree leaves.

Areas for improvement:

As other people have said, the big one here is UI. I ran into an issue where I couldn't see the instructions on the opening page, which made learning the game a little frustrating at times, I kept accidentally pressing the menu button, and the stop/start function was unnecessary and overcomplicating. These are all little things-- maybe if you had the chance to have your game play-tested, it could have helped spot this kind of easily overlooked stuff. It hit a point eventually where I had essentially infinite nutrients, and the way the resource use worked I could only increase either sun or water by one without depleting the other, turning an interesting, engaging resource management task into a slog. More complexity might have helped this, but that's hard to do in 48 hours.

Overall:

This game is at its best in the middle of a play-through, after you've accustomed to the UI quirks but before the gameplay becomes repetitive. At that point, the game is an admirable combination of the satisfaction of watching a beautiful tree grow under your care and a frenetic, engaging resource management game.

Pollinate by Adam Konig 2020-04-23T23:02:15Z

Good stuff:

The graphics are beautiful: I have absolutely no idea how you made everything it 48 hours. The music helps make the game as relaxing as you intended it to be. The camera work really helps, particularly when watering the flowers. The tutorial is helpful without being jarring. Honestly, it all just works together to achieve something pretty unique for a game jam.

Areas for improvement:

Not much. The turn controls feel a little floaty-- slightly more precision there could help navigation. It might be worth removing the point system-- it breaks the immersion a bit and doesn't really contribute to the mood you're going for. Some framerate issues, but that speaks more to the scope of your game than anything else.

Overall:

Really fantastic, super relaxing game. Absolutely incredible for 48 hours!

Feed The Slime by PythooonUser 2020-04-22T18:55:06Z

Good stuff:

This game looks beautiful, with a detailed environment that clearly had a lot of work put into it. The sound effects were good-- I liked the ambient bird chirps and cute slime noises. I didn't run into any issues with the webGL build. I loved the ending!

Areas for improvement.

This might have been what you were going for, but there isn't really much here. You just run around picking up a few sticks, and that's it. Would have been nice if there way maybe something a little more engaging there.

Overall:

This is a beautiful little scenario, very cute and charming. I just wish there was a little more beneath the exterior-- but I also understand that it's hard to do everything in 72 hours, and it's clear that that your effort went into perfecting what you have-- and you certainly succeeded in that!

Gerald's dog by Ikrad 2020-05-06T22:48:22Z

Good stuff:

I really liked the simple art style-- in particular, adding the black outlines to highlighted objects was a good, low-confusion way to add contrast and make the game feel more alive. The music was good and helped add to the tone of the game. Unlike many resource management games in this jam, this one felt difficult and a little more complex, with more stuff to manage, leading to longer engagement. The stat displays are clean and clear while also fitting with the art style of the game.

Areas for improvement:

A little more in-game instruction would have been nice-- I didn't figure out the controls for the stat displays at first, which diminished the clarity of the game and meant I missed out on some of the experience. The mini-games felt pretty bland; I understand that that didn't seem to be much of a focus, but adding a little more engagement, particularly to the feeding minigame, might help. This could also be a good place to add personality to the dogs, as gustavo.christino has advised. The background was a little bland in the hub-- maybe you could fill the empty space in the middle somehow. Occasional movement bugs.

Overall:

This game feels extremely polished, clean, and complete, which makes it fun to play and really makes the most out of a relatively simple concept!

Pub Crawl by BMo 2020-04-28T22:37:05Z

Good Stuff:

The idea of having higher health correlate to more drunken mechanics is creative and absolutely brilliant. I also liked how it depleted over time, forcing you to consider how to destroy enemies quickly. There's a lot of content in this game given that it was made in 48 hours. The enemy hit and death effects were super satisfying, I think due to the combination of sound effects, color change, and particle effects. At first I thought the bullets were too fast, but I actually started appreciating the challenge as I got more experienced, particularly with the smooth shooting and movement controls.

Areas for improvement:

As other people have mentioned, I think the main weapon should be made automatic, possibly with the manual becoming an upgrade to let you shoot faster. It was just so much clicking, hurting my hands to the point where I couldn't even finish the (long and hard) game, even though I wanted to and now feel like I missed out on good content. Having a radar tell where enemies are could help make cleaning up any remaining stragglers easier, which would be particularly nice given that drunkenness decreases over time.

Overall:

This is a vast, enjoyable, fun game that feels very complete, and I only wish my index finger could have been strong enough to let me finish. :)

Mind The Vagazar by Ryan Ackermann 2020-04-28T21:51:24Z

Good stuff:

Very good sound, with the evocative soundtrack along with the satisfying sound effects. I really liked the graphics. I liked your twist on the theme, keeping alive the hunters by satisfying a hungry beast was a cool concept based around a relatively cut-and-dry theme.

Areas for improvement:

As others have said, a harder difficulty curve would have helped enormously. This isn't necessarily feasible for 48 hours, but I would have liked a few more twists to keep things engaging, such as different hunters, or steaks going bad. A boundary to prevent the player leaving the area could have been nice, but it was fine not to have one.

Overall:

I love the presentation, through graphics, audio, and story, although I would have liked a little more in terms of game play.

Sacred Gardener by Hanamigi 2020-04-22T03:04:09Z

Good stuff:

The art design was nice, the colors worked with with the game, and in particular the walking animation felt nice (kind of round and fluid, fitting nicely with the comforting aesthetic) The sounds were extremely well done-- there weren't too many, they weren't at all jarring, and they just sounded good. I played it without music and I think that helped give it the soothing tone you seemed to be going for-- just a bit of wind in the background would make it absolutely perfect. This is kind of silly, but the movement speed was just right-- not too fast and not too slow

Areas for improvement:

The gameplay isn't particularly deep or rewarding, just walking back and forth. Someone else mentioned that it works to give the game a soothing, meditative quality, and I completely agree, but saying that up-front in the description would make it feel more intentional. It felt a little too long, but that might also connect to the gameplay being sparse. I'm certainly not the first to mention it, but more overt player feedback would be nice-- probably would help with the game feeling a little aimless. This is really nit-picky, but outlines are typically supposed to be only 1 pixel thick when making pixel art. Here, it actually works pretty well with your other art, but it might be something to keep in mind going forward. Check the start of this tutorial for more details http://samkeddy.com/pixel-art-outlines/

Overall: This is an INCREDIBLE for a first game jam, particularly given that it sounds like you didn't spend the whole 48 hours working on it. It feels polished and completed, and that's a great place to start, since I'm sure you'll be able to expand in scope as you get more experienced and faster with coding. In the end, it's a game about watering plants, and I felt like you really captured the meditative sense of caring for something even if there might not be immediate results.

Stand and Deliver by lathomas64 2023-05-01T02:19:05Z

So YOU'RE the reason my url is stand-and-deliver-1 :laughing:

Jokes aside, cool game! I do wish I could target specific enemies with attacks -- given the different types of enemies with different attacks, it would've been cool to be able to make more strategic decisions about which one was more dangerous.