Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → Vesper
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 54 | Limited Space | 👥 | Colossal Animals Repulsion Drill Game | unfinished | |||||||||
| 2021 | 48 | Deeper and deeper | 👥 | Under the Surface | jam | 278 | 3.93 | 3.50 | 3.20 | 4.00 | 4.17 | 3.88 | 2.97 | 4.16 |
| 2020 | 47 | Stuck in a loop | 👥 | Bublik | jam | 1076 | 3.31 | 2.75 | 2.93 | 3.40 | 3.82 | 2.90 | 2.91 | 3.18 |
| 2020 | 46 | Keep it alive | 👥 | Blood On The Snow | jam | 576 | 3.77 | 3.28 | 3.28 | 3.41 | 4.16 | 2.50 | 4.00 | |
| 2019 | 45 | Start with nothing | 👥 | Beyond the Veil | jam | 190 | 3.86 | 3.50 | 3.45 | 3.66 | 4.10 | 4.45 |
Nice work! The way you used the theme was really engaging, and the core puzzle aspect was just challenging enough to keep me hooked. I'll definitely have to come back to this one, and try to reach some higher levels.
Nice! Narrative games are few and far between in JAMs like this, partly because playing those games is more time consuming, but also probably because creating this sort of branching narrative within such a short window of time can be quite tough. Game writing takes AGES. So well done! The inclusion of a map was also a nice touch, though I still got lost half the time anyway. :laughing:
I did feel like constantly having the the "sisters" framed with quote marks was unnecessary, as it's very clear what you're referencing each time, but overall everything was nicely written. Personally would have preferred more of a human element with the nameless followers (but again, those time constraints). The inclusion of followers/supplies was a nice aspect in general, though ideally it would be nice for more of the text choices to have outcomes that could influence the supplies. But as it stands it's a nice built in time management tool at the moment.
I felt like I explored all the available options, so I'm curious - was there anything that didn't end with your certain demise?
Also if you're looking for background music https://incompetech.filmmusic.io has a lot of really excellent free music of the non-annoying variety (you just need to credit the creator in your game). Though honestly just a free low-key sfx of a cold wind blowing would have done wonders for the mood.
Rating has slowed to a crawl by now, but if you want to garner some more views before the deadline then you should really try and rate/leave feedback on some other peoples games, or the sorting system won't prioritise you. Give and ye shall receive, such is the LDJAM way. Good luck!
The mechanics in this were really interesting, and having such a clear tutorial helped immeasurably. The levels ramped up in difficulty pretty quickly, but overall everything was really engaging and felt very polished. Nice work.
The turning function was painfully slow, so most of the time I just ran backwards to avoid it. And it could probably do with a higher difficulty level because I easily got through it with high stats on the first play through. That said though, it was a nifty little game with a nice central concept. Well done.
Great overall aesthetic, and I appreciated how well all the individual functions meshed together during the actual gameplay. These things can be difficult to balance, but you managed to make it engaging and challenging without being too frustrating. Some great puzzle work, well done.
Surprisingly addictive gameplay. At first I was frustrated by the lack of at least one additional life, but once you get used to it that's a crucial part of the gameplay. It's frustrating, but necessary. I also appreciated how smoothly the firing mechanics worked, aiming and hitting the enemies was never a problem. Very well crafted overall. Good work.
Could do with an example of where to correctly hit during the actual game, rather than the current "hit the text" intro. The little blow-dart guy isn't super visible within the game itself, so finding him and then executing a takedown in the very slim time frame is very difficult. Might want to balance that aspect out a little more. Humorous idea though!
I love this so much. Just a gorgeous little game, and really easy to get caught up in. Some sound aspects would have been a nice way to add atmosphere, but I just played music in the background which was fun in its own way. I was blown away by how beautiful and adaptive the tiles were. You guys did great work.
I would like to note that on the Mac version at least, everything ran fine, but there was no way to exit the game. I had to use a keyboard shortcut and force quit when I wanted to close the window (or restart), so some basic functionality there would be nice. But overall this was great, and I played through way too many times trying to see what sort of landscape I could create. Would love to see it developed further. Very nicely done.
Could definitely do with some sort of initial tutorial section to demonstrate what you're supposed to be doing. Definitely quite a steep learning curve, and experimentation with the available functions didn't always yield clear results. That said, the graphics were great and a lot of thought had clearly been put into everything. Shine it up a bit and you'll have a very nice game on your hands!
I adored the way you implemented proper space psychics into the drone movement, it made the whole experience so much more strategic and challenging, and getting the hang of those thrusters ended up being half the fun. Very impressive. The html version wouldn't let me right click, and didn't have sounds for some reason, but that might be a Safari thing. Overall I thought the whole game was really well put together, and had a lot of potential. Good work!
I found the Unicorn, success! (It was an excellent motivator to reach the end). For my part I had zero problems with restarting and everything seemed to work smoothly. The was super cute, well done.
So, overall nice basic protect the camp idea. The movement was a bit clunky, and being able to run faster would have been nice. Maybe also some sort of difficulty/enemy spawning scale so you could get used to how things worked before being overwhelmed by bears.
The animals kept getting stuck on each other so I just kept waving my long feather duster thing (was it a torch?) at them and it had little to no effect and left no time for anything else. Also an audio aspect would have really helped to boost the atmosphere of the game overall. Definitely a few bugs to work out on that front making the whole process smoother overall, but there is potential for a nice management system there. Hope you get time to work on it further!
Indiscriminate slaughter few. This was pretty entertaining, and I really enjoyed the central concept. The car controls were a bit crazy and took some getting used to. It would be nice to have some sort of difficulty increase as you progress or something to make you feel that you're actually moving forward in the game and not just repeating your midnight snacking ad infinitum, but overall it looked great! Nicely done.
Ha, well that was surprisingly abrupt, but I relate so hard to that comment about needing to sleep. Writing dialogue for all those characters is time consuming stuff. XD
Going from what there was, this seems like a really cute idea. Loved the animations, and the flash of mystery with that foxy creature at the end who was visiting your wounded animal friend in the hut. It looks like you had something pretty definite in mind story wise, so I hope you have time to develop it further.
This definitely has a lot of potential, but the way the controls are scattered across the keyboard takes some getting used to and never feels entirely smooth.
Also I was a bit confused about the appearance of what looked like ramps (not the red one) in the background, but no matter what I did I could never actually get on them? So overall a bit of a learning curve. Some of the tutorial text isn't really visible when you need it to be on the first play through. Fairly sure there was something beyond a waterfall at one point, but I was so busy trying to stay alive I never had time to read it. Could use some tweaking here and there, but the art was great, and the core gameplay has a lot of potential. Pretty impressive that it ran as smoothly as it did considering the time in which it was made, so well done!
The gameplay/ramping difficulty level was so well handled (and that's always the trickiest part with these things), so really, well done on that front. It was entertaining, but challenging. Just hit the exact right sweet spot that can make games addictive. Also I loved the slightly retro interface for the UI, the aesthetic aspects all fit perfectly.
Great work! I felt compelled to collect each and every form, and the gameplay was easy to use while still being engaging.
After dying in the first couple of encounters with the shadow monster I think I accidentally glitched through to land where it no longer existed and was able to handle my crate harvesting in peace. That said, the initial encounters with it were so effective that even though the Shadow Monster wasn't there, I was still SUPER TENSE. "Oh it's getting dark right this second? RUNRUNRUN to the light!"
The one thing that could probably use improvement is the visibility of the crates, but otherwise the game is very simple and evocative, and everything worked beautifully (except for that one monster absence). Nicely done!
Great overall atmosphere and graphics, the inner landscape was suitably ominous, and all the sound effects in both locations really maximised the effect to the point that I started to find that constant beeping and general noise in the office somewhat stress inducing myself. XD
I liked the various gameplay elements and how they were implemented, and can definitely see the potential. It would be nice to have more/equal content in the office environment, as all that constant diving in and out of the inner landscape was weirdly disorienting and enhanced the general feeling of helplessness as the player. But hey, it's a JAM entry, and none of us ever have enough time to implement all the things we'd like. Overall, it was beautifully designed, and the core idea shows great promise. I look forward to seeing further developments!
Adored the graphics in this, and the characters were amusing. Poor squire, doing all the work. Implementing different rune functions to herd around your idiot master is definitely a different take on things, and it was very enjoyable over all. If I have any complaints it's that it would be nice if it were a little more challenging. Well done!
That was such an unexpectedly thoughtful and emotional experience, lol. Started tearing up in my third play-through before I fully comprehended why. It just catches you all of a sudden. On the first play-through I stuck to the path (as most people probably did), and only noticed the little balls of light partway down, but once I did, wow.
"Did anyone tell you to stay on this path?" What a question.
All those melancholy little creatures, all those paths not taken, the tangles in which you sometimes get lost, the sadness. You absolutely nailed the atmosphere here, and though the music isn't one of the categories you're being judged on, I'd like to applaud you on your choice anyway because it was so very perfect. The map at the end is also a great feature, and really upped the replay aspect for me personally. I kept wanting to go back and see what I'd missed. You guys did a beautiful job, well done.
"Inexplicably angry gnomes." AND SO MANY OF THEM. That description had me chuckling before the game even started.
However, the Axis aiming was super weird and often inconvenient. Having to move around with the keyboard while simultaneously aiming with the mouse, and then the gnome it just every so slightly out of your range. It was a bit frustrating, and I'm sure there's a way to keep it challenging without handicapping the player to such an extent. Those gnomes are fast enough, and the ducklings are helpless enough that it's all guaranteed to be a cluster-duck anyway (sorry, not sorry). :duck:
That said, it was very fun to play and overall I thought you guys did a great job!
Really nice balanced gameplay. It comes across as remarkably polished, well done.
This is definitely one of the better "keep the fire burning" games. The mechanics worked really well (enjoyed being able to toss things at the fire), and the gameplay was really engaging. The randomised elements and slowly ramping difficulty/number of enemies also helped immeasurably with keeping one's interest, and boost the reployability considerably. Very nicely done!
This was great! Loved seeing all the different growth phases of the tree, it really made one invested in its continued survival. Though I didn't realise you could swap the towers out (managed to do one by accident in the game but thought they were randomly spawning like that) until I read some of the comments here. Might have made things easier in the long run, but I made it to the end all the same. It was really fun. Stellar work.
Those thirsty mongrels go through the rum like it's air. Proved to be quite tricky, but overall a really fun management game. As others have said, some audio would really go a long way towards making it feel more complete, but that's the nature of a JAM game, there's never enough time for all the things we want to implement. Nicely done!
Great concept, and I loved the little intro section! But then I'm a sucker for a humorous underworld scenario.
I agree with the other comments though. The info panel technically provides all the information that you need, but if there was a small initial walkthrough/tutorial that showed you the function/impact of each action and location then it would definitely be a more rewarding experience. I actually thought the boat manoeuvred really well considering, though it was pretty fast from the get go so maybe ramping that down so the upgrades have a more appreciable effect might be nice? But otherwise I had fun, and thought it was a great idea. Well done.
There are so many LDJAM games this year that revolve around keeping fires lit, but this is by far the most beautiful of them. The gameplay was simple and relaxing (but not so easy as to be boring), and the subtle sound effects really helped to seal the mood. But boy, that art is something else.
By the by, if you're looking to generate more ratings LDJAM has a system that rewards people for participation. The more games you rate and leave feedback on, the more visible your own game becomes. Seems a shame that this has so few ratings. It was really nice work.
Quite challenging. If the objective is to stay alive as long as possible then a high score counter would nice so you know what you have to beat. Absolutely adored the reload screens, they were such a great idea. Overall it was really enjoyable, well done.
This was so impressive. Melancholy, but really compelling. The UI was so smooth and professional looking, though it did take me a minute to figure out that the Treat/Refuse text options were draggable stamps. Small correction though: "Pen-friends" should be "Pen pals" (it's just a weirdly specific term), but other than that the text was great.
It would have also been nice to see who all the patients for the day were before making your decisions, but overall I really liked the way you tied it all together, and the experience was really immersive and thoughtful.
The game looked very polished, but I was thrown by the heat/core control feature - though I see in one of your replies to an earlier comment that the controls are different in the html version, so that'll be why they weren't working XD.
Nonetheless, overall I was impressed by how smooth the movements were and appreciated how well everything was put together. A very nice entry, well done.
Nicely done. There was a bit of a learning curve with the mechanics, but overall the gameplay was fun and challenging. I personally would have preferred a bit more atmosphere/setting regarding why there's an angel swooping around trying to save Satan, it would have made my more invested in the outcome. But otherwise I had fun! Great music too.
Seemed cute, but I couldn't figure out what the objective was so I just ended up aimlessly carrying my flower around. There was a panel on a wall with different coloured flowers which presumably had a function, but clicking on it didn't work? Still, I appreciate the nice little central concept of the little Roomba preserving its precious flower.
Congrats on successfully completing your first Jam!
Hahaha, that was great. Loved the versatility of the gameplay, and that animation of the angel crashing down to earth is just pure gold. Easy, and fun to play, and the humour was wonderful. Very nicely done.
Such a great little game! There's definitely a few ways to make it more challenging, like punishing people for pressing the wrong key by accident, but even as it stands it was surprisingly challenging. Excellent work considering the time constraints, and the pixel art was awesome.
Such a strangely engrossing little game, I could have probably kept playing it for hours. The core is so simple, but it really works, and there's something very soothing about gathering all those batteries and building your little towers of light to repel the adorably gremlin-esque hordes. Loved the overall mood and aesthetic. The audio was repetitive, but somehow it never became annoying and veered more to the hypnotic side. Very well done.
Gorgeous design work. Took me a minute to figure out that I wasn't supposed to just exclusively feed wasps to the Ookie, and that throwing them away/at each other was also an option, but overall the gameplay was both fun and intuitive. You guys did a great job.
I love how quickly the content in the instructions pane escalates. Do x to pick up/extinguish fires/put animals back in cages, and then suddenly you're exorcising demons and sending them back to hell (as one does). Very amusing.
That said, the difficult level was insane, and the fire was almost always out of control, no matter how on it I was, and the refill point was an age away when one factors in how little juice it has. Would be nice if things ramped up a little more slowly so you could get used to managing the various shows before all hell breaks loose (sometimes literally) on all fronts. Also some directional cues pointing you towards any brewing disasters would be a nice addition. But yeah, with some tweaks on the gameplay balance you could have a real winner here. The look and overall feel was really impressive, well done.
I loved the graphics and the setting of the game (like seriously, the "abandoned" library aesthetic is the best), and it felt really well fleshed out and interesting. The game mechanics were intriguing, and I enjoyed the different powers/collection aspects. The audio could have used a bit more fleshing out, but considering how much effort was clearly put into the visual side of things it's not surprising that fell by the wayside a little (there's never enough time to do everything).
But as it currently stands it's very laggy, and the combat (and well, everything really) feels like it's happening in slow motion, so there's definite room for improvement there. It would also be nice to have a more granular view of what your attacks are actually doing to the enemy and whether their health is decreasing, because all of that felt a bit vague. But overall, my take-away was pretty positive, and I think it has a lot of potential. Nice work!
This was really refreshing.! The whole presentation with the in-game chat, and the background gameplay was so interesting and different, and you did a great job with the characterisations of the various players. It all felt very natural, and well made. Congrats on a successful Jam!.
Don't fear the reaper, lol. I appreciated the humour in this. Personally I found the text beeping a bit much, but that's individual thing, and what the gods invented the "decrease volume" button for. Definitely enjoyed the concept and your overall take on the theme. As someone else mentioned, sometimes due to the player speed (or lack thereof) the margin for error felt way too narrow, and though you knew what needed to be done, actually executing it required a frustrating number of repeated attempts. That said, challenge is a key element to games like this, and it's good that it's difficult. Could maybe use just a fraction more balance. But I definitely enjoyed it, and thought you did a great job. Well done!
That was remarkably polished, and the gameplay felt really smooth. At first having to coordinate the A/D keys with the spacebar while also aiming with the mouse felt counter intuitive. I would have preferred to keep things as close together as possible and just use the W key for jumping. But after a couple of levels I'd gotten used to it.
I definitely second that comment about the capsule breakage sometimes being a tad too sensitive. While the breakage is an obvious element of the gameplay, being able to safely put down the capsule when you need to go off and shoot things is equally important. Sometimes I'd be able to put it down carefully in one round, would try and repeat the exact same move the next time, and it would smash for no obvious reason. But I imagine balancing that sort of thing can be quite tricky.
Also a couple of times the capsule ended up out of reach during gameplay and there was no way for me to retrieve it because it was too low down on the bottom platform, or right in the middle of a large column and unreachable from either side. Not a massive problem in and of itself, but there was no way to manually restart, and sometimes no convenient holes in the platforms through which to fling oneself so I had to reload the whole game from scratch.
But overall I really had fun playing, and loved the graphics - especially the way the little robot's eyes always follow the flower. It was simple and uncluttered and really engaging. The catching/throwing mechanic with the claw worked beautifully, and the whole thing felt very well put together for a JAM game. Hats off to you.
@scott-steffes Ah, I see. That absolutely makes sense in that case and ups the coordination challenges significantly. :laughing: I think I started doing that because when you first get the capsule it's in that state, and when you're getting hang of the controls initially it happened organically, so using it that way seemed intuitive. Also if you're careful you can lay it down on top of the platforms rather than within them (though as I mentioned before, not with 100% consistency). Thanks for clarifying!
This was delightful, and it was such a refreshing and unique take on the theme as well. Really well done!
As some of the others have said, a little more variation to the words would round it out nicely. It might also be nice if there were some sort of reward system if you reach a certain level of affection with one of the admirers, just some small goal system to keep one engaged and feeling like you're making progress within the "story". There was a tiny glitch where when you died and the game restarted none of the letters were clickable anymore, had to refresh the page.
Also the love/passion/intelligence managing system was a bit opaque at first and by the time you realise you've made a horrible mistake you couldn't back out of writing the letter. But that said I thoroughly enjoyed the central premise, the management system was just challenging enough to be engaging, and overall it was a breath of fresh air.
This was adorable. As someone has mentioned it would definitely make a nice little game for kids, and the graphics were super cute as well. The only game that wasn't intuitive was the panda one, which is regretful because no-one wants their pandas to be sad. But yes, all of it was just super cute. Well done.
"Curse your sudden yet inevitable betrayal!" Haha, that was surprisingly involved. The double jump was initially a bit sticky for some reason, but didn't give me any troubles after the initial trek up the mountain. I'm impressed with the fact that you managed to make an essentially complete game/story within the time frame, and there were so many different aspects to it! Really well done, and very enjoyable.
As the resident writer in my JAM team I know how time consuming writing this sort of branching narrative can be, and the fact that you managed to pull of this much content within the restricted time-frame is really impressive (and even more so if English isn't your first language). Bravo! I always hope find more text centric games during these Jams, but they are a rare breed.
Overall I thought the story was atmospheric and intriguing. The UI was simple, but it did the job and was easy to use, and the music really helped to cement the mood. I hope you manage to finish fleshing out the story! Nicely done.
@fabula-rasa The quotation marks bug me too! Only noticed it once the build was uploaded, but it seems to be some weirdness with the font. We're definitely on it. Likewise with the suddenly super loud battle music. All the transitions in that whole opening scene need some work really.
I think the UI will likely get a complete overhaul by the time we're through, but adding some transparency is a great idea. Thanks so much for playing and commenting, it's much appreciated. :smiley:
@julian-hartinger The sometimes invisible enemy really didn't help matters in the second fight. :laughing: We've fixed it now in the updated html5 version, and tweaked some of the basic interactions so hopefully things are a bit easier. Thanks for playing!
@g-a-gamestudio That's a pity. Not sure what it could be. Did you make sure the player character was facing their opponent? You right-click to turn, and it costs 1 AP. That might be the problem. Otherwise had you clicked through all the text that was showing on the right side of the screen? The fight doesn't really engage until all the text is gone (and I always forget about that myself XD). We've released an updated version with some fixes so you're welcome to give it another go. Either way, thanks for taking a look!
@red-ash The combat is definitely a bit more difficult that we expected. We've made some updates that hopefully make things run a bit smoother, but the path to success does involve a bit of strategy. The vampire can't move, turn to face you, AND attack, so generally it's best to exploit that and move around accordingly. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it as well. But I'm so glad to hear the game caught your interest! Hopefully you find the time to give it another try. :smile:
@scott-steffes That text/fight transition gets me every time as well, and it's definitely on the to-do list. Great idea about putting a blocker on the attack command until it can actually be used. I think it's safe to say the whole fight system as it currently stands needs a fair bit of adjustment. XD But that's why all this feedback is so great! Thanks so much for taking the time to play it through, we greatly appreciate it.
@larsspawn The best strategy I've found is to exploit the fact that the vampire can’t move, turn to face you, AND attack in one go. Move around with that in mind and you'll get the hang of it. But things could definitely be clearer, and it's something we'll be working on in future. We originally had at least three separate locations planned (but then realised that was completely insane for 72hrs), so there will definitely be more content at some point. :fingers_crossed: Thank you for playing!
@kiddychris Ah yes, we're working on making the fights clearer and more intuitive. There are instructions, but there's a ton of text in the intro and it's easy to miss them. Basically you right click in the direction you want to turn, and the action costs 1 AP point (so if you've used it all up on other things, you have to wait for the next turn). And thanks, the Banner Saga is glorious, and definitely something to aspire towards, we're flattered it came to mind. Thanks so much for playing!
@davidsheadgames Ha, thanks for holding off. We definitely had a couple of issues with the fight system, and some layering issues causing invisibility etc. But we've just released an update that hopefully addresses the most obvious problems. To turn the character you need to use right-click (costs 1 AP), and also keep in mind that the Vampire cannot move, turn AND attack in one go, so with some strategic manoeuvring one can generally get the drop on him. But yes, if you want to give it another try we'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks again. :smile:
Ha, great central concept, and the time management mechanics were fun and challenging. Nicely done!
Who are these numpties just sitting around singing while you go out there and face monsters to feed their fire! Rude.XD
This was pretty atmospheric, though considering the prominent guitar I was surprised by the lack of guitar stuff on the audio front. The graphics were great, and floppy moustachioed guy by the fire was one of the most entertaining pixel animations I've seen this whole Jam. But it would have really upped the challenge if you had to race all the way back to the fire each time to disperse the demons. As things stand, it was actually pretty relaxing after a while. Would have also been nice if the forest map had openings all around and not just in one direction. But overall it has a solid core with lots of potential. Nicely made.
Nice work! It was both fun and challenging once one had a handle on the controls, and the graphics were excellent.
I really enjoyed the core idea/mechanics. Didn't manage to "win" on the couple of play-through's I made, but I certainly enjoyed it. I know from experience how tough it is writing this much content for a game in 72 hours, so I take my hat off to you! Very well done.
This has an amazing amount of content for a JAM game, and the choices one had to make were surprisingly cohesive and linked to the other characters responses really well. With time you could develop the existing base here and make a really robust storyline. I liked the whole core concept, and the character art, and the game UI felt very polished. Nice work!
I really enjoyed the innovative use of audio in this, and the gameplay was really smooth. It would be nice to see the base idea developed into something a little more complex post-JAM. Well done!
So bizarre, but I loved those plant designs (the skull plant has my heart). Definitely second that comment on mixing up the sound effects a little, as repetitive noises can become annoying. Sometimes the clicking was not as specific as I would have liked, and that lead to a brief moment of panic where I thought my plants were going to die - but, that's what it's all about, so things were good on the engagement front. A strange but diverting little game. Well done!
Great atmosphere, the music and sfx were very soothing, and the graphics were stunning.
I felt that the instructions regarding the properties of the various firefly colours and flowers were sometimes a bit vague. Green is attractive, but to what? Flowers? Other Fireflies? What effect does the "Red Blooms" actually have? Most of them were fairly straightforward and had obvious effects once you added them, but others were a bit obscure, and just clarifying the wording there would probably go a long way.
It would have also been nice to have more concrete goals along the way, building towards some final challenge, but that's obviously a more time consuming undertaking. As it stands, this was a really nice JAM entry and I enjoyed what you did with it.
I agree it was a little difficult finding things in the farther reaches of the darkness after a while, but this was quite fun, and the mechanics were nice and easy to use. Well done
By the way, not sure if you are aware but for LDJAM the system rewards you for playing and rating other peoples games. So the more games you rate/give feedback oe, the more visible your game is likely to be. Seems like you haven't had much traffic, so if you were wondering why...well, that's it. Good luck!
@aboogoost I wasn't rescued (the fire wasn't high enough) but I did hear the helicopter come by. It was surprisingly challenging! I gave it a few goes, but I'll have to give it another try later on when I have some more time.
Interesting core concept here, though the actual effects of the actions could have used a little explaining. I had no idea how to correctly make use of the mulch, and it took me a while to figure out that the trees on their yellow tiles weren't dying, despite the resemblance to the desert/sand tiles. Honestly, just adding some basic indicators there would go a long way. But like others have said, there's lots of room for development and expansion here with weather systems and different plant types, etc. Hope you have the chance to develop it further!
"Death, my Darling." Haha, this game has so much attitude in the best possible way. Loved the core idea behind it and the story/setting has tons of potential. But above all else, the audio was amazing. Well done.
"Nothing to see here, just a nice Victorian lady standing casually next to a corpse. Move along, move along."
I loved this so much. Turns out I had a victorian-frenkenstein-esque-corpse-stealing-game sized void in my life, and this filled that void. The design, the way the voice acting added so much story and atmosphere to the whole experience, and then the whole morbid, grisly corpse cutting concept of the game itself. It warms the cockles of my shrivelled black heart.
If I had any critiques, it's that: a) I would like more, much more, b) as things presently stand there isn't much incentive to go to the upper levels (it looked like there were at least three?) so you guys definitely need to work on the gameplay balance there. Also worth noting that your voice cues for the chest/hand surgery are currently swapped, and sometimes people have multiple body part layers (in the html version at least). But overall everything ran pretty smoothly. Such an impressive entry considering the time limits. Admittedly I'm a sucker for stuff like this, but it might be my favourite thus far. :black_heart:
Cute little game, and I loved the way the gameplay revolved around handling the elements. It took me about 5 tries to figure out how to actually get the wind to work in the html5 version and then it was still really unbalanced and required constant attention (so I was repeatedly swiping but my tree always suffocated), but I see it was designed with a mobile platform in mind. But overall the concept was nice, and the atmosphere was very relaxing.
Ha, that was cute. I really liked how the music started coming apart as you gradually got rid of the individual notes. The lengths one has to go to to get a decent night's sleep. :smiley:
Fun little game. I liked the way you gradually increased the difficulty, and added new elements like the birds and the trash bags. The controls were also really responsive, so as the player you always felt fully in control of your fate. Nicely put together!
Took me far too long to figure out that the Gashapon wasn't something you implemented in-between levels, but once I'd figured it out it was very fun. Tons of re-playability and challenge to it. Everything was nicely thought out and the mechanics were smooth and easy to use. Very impressive overall.
This was great! I absolutely loved the overall atmosphere, and the graphics were spot on, but the gameplay itself was fun and challenging enough that it compelled you to keep going. The whole core concept of keeping your little-candle self alight is wonderful, and I'm really impressed with how balanced you managed to make the levels feel considering the time restraints. Well done.
I see your comments about the unstoppable dialogue being a deliberate feature, but it definitely got a tad frustrating. Overall great work on the sound effects, they really enhanced the stress factor. Sometimes the supervisor definitely caught me when he shouldn't have, so there might be some tweaking needed there. That said, I thought it was a good idea (with surprisingly dire consequences). The gameplay was simple and effective, and everything looked very polished. So nice work!
This looks amazing for a game JAM, and the audio was really impressive as well. I think most people have covered the key points. The core idea is great (I'm a sucker for anything Cthulhu related), but the combat is very slow and awkward at the moment, and it's difficult to tell what kind of impact you're having in the fights.
I see the stuff about the red cursor and not repeatedly clicking, but when you're just awkwardly standing there being repeatedly stabbed by multiple assailants one's instinct is to click as much as possible in the hopes that something will work, and right now it's difficult to tell if you've correctly "hit" an assailant or not. Adding more complexity on that front will definitely make things more rewarding. I also only had two enemies become incapacitated, allowing for the soul sacrifice bit, everyone else just died and disappeared, so some further balancing there might also be good.
Adding health bars to the individual characters would also be a nice addition, that way you can really see what kind of effect you're having. But great atmosphere, and the idea of the cult members being part of an interchangeable whole is a fun dynamic. Hope you get to work on it further!
The firing/aiming was really smooth and easy to use, which can be tricky to pull off during a time frame like this, so well done on that front. I also enjoyed the multiple dragon forms. As others have mentioned, it did feel a bit too easy, but if you managed to tweak the enemy balance so it's more challenging, and maybe ramp up the enemy variation a bit by bringing in the soldiers earlier it could be really fun. Nicely made!
Lovely little game! I also couldn't get the tutorial to work in the WebGL version, and sometimes the jump key was a bit sticky which could be a bit frustrating, so that needs a bit of smoothing out. As some people have mentioned, being able to double jump, or fall down a level would have been nice (being able to interact with the ladder might have also been a nice shortcut tool on that front).
But I really liked the atmosphere with the background noises and the visuals were lovely. That little whimper sound the fox makes is a great motivator. Overall a very nice little Jam entry. Well done.
This is a nice little game, and it would be fun to see it extended to encompass further difficulty levels. Overall the graphics and sound design were pleasant and fitting. The text for the intro bit was overlapping quite a lot in the fullscreen html version, but it wasn't an issue as everything was still readable (just mentioning it in case you weren't aware). I also appreciated how intuitive the game mechanics were, and thought the RGB slider was a really interesting inclusion. Well done!
Really impressive, though the jump was a little sticky which made things challenging at times. I appreciated how well you integrated the "tutorial" aspect at the beginning there. It's something that a surprising number of people forget to do. Overall a fun little platformer. Congrats on completing your first Jam!
Nice take on the theme. Though you might want to fix your wording in the initial letter - "Unless you do exactly what i say, i will release my hostage." Release means that they'll let them go, which seems very benevolent for a kidnapper who hasn't received their money. Also in the final News bulletin it should be "finalize her divorce" not marriage. Again, opposite meaning.
But good job overall in weaving enough information into the dialogue for the player to draw their own conclusions, it's really tricky to pull off. I did feel like the way the questions were phrased was a bit restrictive, as some of the basics like "Who are you?" are covered in the briefing and who is going to waste 2 hours on asking that question when they already know? So some variation there might have been nice, but game writing is time consuming, and you did pretty well within the 72hrs timeframe. I also enjoyed the timer aspect, and how the search for more information made things more dire.
This was a really nice take on the theme, and has a fair amount of re-playability. But gosh, those villagers were hard to please. XD Truly, the life of a Bard 'tis not easy.
Very well done.
The presentation was really good, but yes, it would definitely help to know what all the little icons specifically represent. Adding some sound elements would also improve the atmosphere dramatically. But overall it seems quite amusing and lighthearted. Hope you manage to implement the improvements you have in mind!
Well that became really addictive in a really short amount of time. Great example of how to use deceptively simple controls to maximum effect. That was fun, and challenging. Well done.
The HTML5 version didn't like restarting and blanked out so I had to refresh the page every time I died, and it would have been nice not to have to sit through the into bit every time (as dying is quite common). But otherwise this seemed fun. Keeping the chicken alive proved quite challenging and but it's fun once you get the hang of it. Also, haha the sound effects are perfect.
I liked the simple graphics and how effectively they added to the atmosphere, and that fire audio also goes a long way towards solidifying the mood. Effective use of simple obstacles like wind/rain and wolves. It did feel quite easy, but the building blocks are great, and I'm a sucker for a Prometheus narrative. Nicely done.
Cute game, and I appreciated how speedy the controls were. Every now and then there was an issue were my ducklings had been depleted beyond the acceptable level, but the game over screen refused to trigger (despite me repeatedly going into the pond), but generally everything worked well. It seems deceptively easy at first, but then you learn! :smiley: Nice work.
That was surprisingly distressing. Poor chicken...that first bit with the car really took me by surprise. Initially it was a bit difficult to gauge when the car was coming so some more sound/visual cues might have been nice there, but then once I realised it wasn't randomised it was easy enough to overcome. Full marks for mood, and the mechanics were great, so simple but so intuitive. You guys did an amazing job.
Ah, the screams of the masses as you subject them to indiscriminate slaughter. XD
Really liked the evolution/form progression, though sometimes the victims are just too far away to be reachable by any means. Also liked the way the voice became more dramatic after the initial changes. But it would definitely be nice if you could variate the gameplay a little more so it's bit less repetitive, maybe add some evolutionary skills. Still pretty nifty overall considering it was made within 72hrs. Well done!
Nice little memory game with some surprisingly creepy undertones. I enjoyed it!
Demanding little satans. Tsk tsk. That was really fun! Though by the time you reach four little devils you're basically running around like a mad thing. Alas, it would appear we are not up to the task of raising a bevy of dark overlords on our own. It's worth mentioning that I really appreciated the tutorial aspects of the first level, it helps you settle into the grove of things and is a factor that people often overlook, but you handled it really intuitively. Very well crafted overall. Good job!
This was short and sweet. The little envelope man was a tad overenthusiastic on the movement front, and tended to slide around a lot (usually resulting in one's imminent demise), and it would have been nice to have more levels, but c'est la vie. I liked the art, and the basic mechanics. Congrats on your first game jam, you're off to a great start!
Seconded, I really liked the inherently tragic aspect of it being a story about passing on your life skills to your pup before being killed, in the hopes it'll enable them to survive. Went through the tutorial process several times though, and I agree it would be nice not to have to go through the whole thing every time (providing you can somehow track if the child has acquired all the necessary skills). Still, a nice little game. Well done.
Amazed by how many levels you guys managed to pull off within the allotted time, everything felt so well put together. Very enjoyable!
Absolutely stunning graphics, but yes, it took me ages to figure out what was going on and what sort of effect I was having on anything. I really wanted to get invested in it.
I was especially lost in the beginning as the html version initial stuck me into a little black walled box with just two deer, and I just hunt out for some time shooting light into the darkness for no apparent reason, so that was weird. Was able to figure out more once I reloaded, but the mechanics and objectives were still pretty opaque. Again prancing about, wildly shooting light at shadow blotches without it having much of an effect Some better tutorial aspects would go a long way towards making this a more enjoyable and immersive experience. But it's very pretty, and I'd love to see it fully developed.
I do wish the mechanics had a keyboard alternative. As someone playing with a trackpad it was a bit awkward and I kept accidentally sawing/shooting things when I meant to do the opposite, or shooting wood instead of picking it up, and hitting the spiders proved to be surprisingly difficult. But overall it was atmospheric and challenging, and with a bit of fine-tuning it would be really fun to play.
Nice simple concept, though I felt sorry for some of the other insects. Including the bigger bugs later on definitely helped to up the ante and make things more challenging. I also appreciated the subtle colour change when you bug-count started edging towards the higher end of the spectrum. With this sort of game it's easy to become super involved and just end up playing it endlessly trying to beat your own high score, so you definitely nailed the engagement aspect. Nicely done, and congrats on your first JAM!
Could probably do with a bit of a summary of the controls. Wasn't sure if I was supposed to furiously mash keys or just sort of hold them there? Also a score counter would be nice to see if you're actually having an effect. Still, liked the concept!
That multidirectional rush of monsters in the beginning there was killer, and there didn't seem to be a logical way to get past them short of furiously jumping down and hoping to get propelled out of the way through sheer luck. I didn't have time to keep going over it (the one time I did manage to get past them I promptly fell off a cliff XD). But overall the mood and graphics were really stellar. Nicely done.
Cute little shooter game. I liked the banana gun, and the balanced mix of monster's with their varied health and speed.
Nicely made little game. Would be nice to have something to occupy one's time during the tunnelling phase, and the healing rewards for the bodies vs how long it takes to actually kill the little guys feels a bit unbalanced, but overall the gameplay was fun and effective. Well done.
I appreciated the core idea of the game, but ultimately felt like I was just randomly clicking different species/qualities as fast as possible to stop that rising red text. Would be nice from the players perspective if it felt a little more skill based. I think being able to pause the countdown while looking into the various actions would make a difference. As it stands right now everything progresses so quickly that you can't really "plan" a course of action on the fly, which seems like a shame.
But all that said, I thought the way you implemented the idea was refreshing, and everything was extremely well presented. Though an audio aspect would definitely help to improve the overall feel. Nice work!
Typing games are always fun. It would definitely be nice to see which word you're currently writing. I see some people have mentioned highlighting the letters within the words themselves as/when they are typed, but it could also be as simple as showing what you've just typed at the bottom of the screen. Small things go a long way. Having the Total Score/Total Words left display more prominently, or in a different text or colour might also be a nice addition as it's all very homogenous right now.
I also found the level at which the words disappeared to be quite inconsistent, and some would disappear way higher up than others. So on that front, having a clear line marking the point of no return might be a nice touch. But overall good job, it was fun to play!
Great little game! The pixel art was really nice, and the changing music helped to keep the atmosphere feeling fresh. The difficulty level did sort of stagnate over a while though, and the html version seems to have a bug where it never ends (though I see that has been mentioned already).
It would be nice if the tables were more accessible - at one point the room was quite crowded and it was difficult to select the table itself and I just kept interacting with the nearby guests. Same sometimes with the doors. Also (in the html version at least) all the food on the kitchen table was invisible, which made things tricky. Was never really sure if the food effect was persistent or not. Sometimes the requested item would already be on a table already, but people would still be asking for it and I didn't know if it still counted, or if I had to order fresh. So some clarity there might be nice.
But with a couple of small adjustments you could have a really nice game. It was fun and easy to play. Very impressive for a Jam, and I liked the core idea behind it. Well done!
Very effective use of audio there, it caught me by surprise during the tutorial and really boosted the tension throughout. A simple, but interesting game idea. Nicely done.
Ha, that was surprisingly stressful. Chess, but EVERYTHING IS MOVING. It was definitely an interesting mechanic, though the movements didn't seem to particularly like me and by the time I managed to actually get my little warriors to move where I wanted the enemies had already passed. Definitely approve of your bullet-time idea for an addition. You could always ramp up the difficulty depending on how long people manage to stay alive. But overall an interesting idea, well done!
Mwhahaha. I reached the end and feel immensely satisfied. That had just the right level of frustration to be addictive, and though waiting for that little shambling skeleton to get himself together can take an age, somehow it's part of the charm. Really fun to play, well done.
Nice little maze game, I personally felt the tile randomisation made it more challenging, and the Ghost/Heart elements were a nice touch. The sound effects were lovely and relaxing. Definitely something that could be expanded to cover multiple levels. Well done!
The repetitive spike death got to me in the end, as the margin for error seemed infinitesimal at times. And I agree with the other commenter about having a jump scale, it would help to make the player feel more in control. But overall it was a nice little platformer. Well done!
Really nifty little game (and highly addictive). Everything felt amazingly sooth and polished for a JAM game. The last level was a tad frustrating, but I got there in the end.
If anything could be improved, I'd say the pick up action is a little bit precious sometimes, and could be more forgiving, and sometimes due to the nature of the FoV the little creatures blindside you if they're coming from below - also had some very high floating chicken issues, and some wobbles with the creatures getting stuck in their loops/becoming hard to lure. But honestly, the problems were miniscule. I played it for wayyy too long. Fantastic work!
Nice little game. The premise was interesting, and the visuals/sound etc was all very atmospheric. The Ghost movements were smooth, and the timing aspect was a nice touch.
The fact that the game continues after "the end" is a little confusing - I initially thought there was more stuff to do (like opening that door at the end of the hall). But overall well done! Would love to see it expanded.
That's a pretty impressive compo, and the levels had way more depth than I was anticipating.
The directional mouse control was a bit overly sensitive, and I found myself getting a bit disoriented/turned around at weird moments. but overall everything worked pretty well. The crossbow bolt as a puzzle solving mechanic definitely has potential, and with a few moody sound editions the whole thing could be very atmospheric. Nice work!
Played all the way to the end. Of all the games I've played this Jam, this feels like the most complete. Honestly can't think of a single issue, it was fun and polished from start to finish, and the difficulty felt well balanced. Wonderful work!
Well someone is a coffee-holic, lol. Nice little task management game.
I couldn't stick with it for too long because the WEBGL version was giving me hassles with the cursor swinging around all over the place and making it impossible to select the things you wanted (likely just a computer issue on my end, everyone else seems to have managed just fine). But what I did manage to play was very enjoyable, with fun sounds, and a nice element of challenge (finding the right balance for these games is hard).
Well done!
Haha, during a Jam I think we all find the coffee-holic within.
I'm using Windows 10 with an Opera browser. It's a borrowed machine, and not my usual setup so everything is very creaky. I think sometimes the webgl just sends it into a panic, so don't worry too much. :wink:
Nice worldbuilding, and the inclusion of a combat system was a nice surprise. Game writing takes aggggeeess, so (as the other comments have mentioned) it's genuinely impressive that you managed to do so much in such a short time frame. Always good to see a text entry for these Jams. Well done.
I usually only play games that have a browser version, but this one looked so intriguing I decided to make an exception, and I'm really glad I did!
I think it was a clever concept. Game writing takes ages, and making a bunch of alternate words/sentence fragments that can fit together is no mean feat. Considering how limited your time was and all the other game mechanics you had to perfect to pull it off, I think you did a great job.
As to the run on sentences and errors mentioned in the last comment, ideally yes, that's something you'd want to fix. But while one is playing the game it's not like you're going to go back and re-read all the text in its "letter form". And again, considering the time you had I thought it was very coherent.
Adding the symbol was a nice way to add a bit of mystery. And with a bit of time and polish to fully flesh out the story, I think it could be quite a nifty little text game. So well done!
Wow, that was so involved! I just kept going deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole (and there were undoubtedly a lot of things that slipped past me). It's a really concept, and so well executed. Very nicely done!
I adore the art design in this, it was so distinctive and textured. You also used your sounds to great effect and it really helped to cement the mood of the game. Took me a second to figure out what I was supposed to be doing on the first level, but after that it was smooth and intuitive. What a wonderful entry, I'm so impressed!
That song is my new favourite thing. Honestly you guys did a great job, the intro is so simple and yet it adds so much to the game.
I would have liked it if the collision sensitivity was just a hair less finnicky. As things stand it feels more luck than skill based (some of those car/shark/outcrop combos are genuinely unavoidable) so that became frustrating after a bit. But also it's definitely a game that rewards many, many play-throughs, and for a JAM game the difficulty balance was pretty impressive.
Overall I had a lot of fun (and only swore at the computer several times :wink:).
Ha, that was lovely! Including some voice-acting was a wonderful decision, and really helped to highlight the lighthearted humour of the game.
The art was great, audio was excellent, and the gameplay was surprisingly intuitive. I worried a bit at first because that info pane with the instructions went away before I could finish reading, but when it came down to it everything made perfect sense.
The game really does a good job of capturing that mood of joyful discovery, and it feels like it has a lot of potential replay value. Wonderful work, well done!
P.S. That monocle was everything. :heart:
Such a gorgeous little game. It was so soothing to play, and the music and visuals were beautifully done. I had a glitch in the webgl build (win 10, opera browser) where the score bubble at the top of the screen stayed blank, but webgl is a strange and finnicky beast, and it was still very enjoyable to play once I figured out what I was meant to be aiming for.
It reminds me a lot of the initial Jam version of Dorfromantik - it has that same pleasant scenery/soft music/casual worldbuilding vibe to it. You guys did a great job, and I'd love to see it developed further. Well done!
As all the comments before me have mentioned, the audio/visual aspects of the game were superb. The fog, the journey along the water, the shadowy story being told on the river bank - they were all very atmospheric.
But as a 'game' it was very passive. I felt like a spectator, rather than a participant. Obviously it's a difficult balance to strike in a game like this, but it would lovely to feel like you as the player are more involved in the journey - even if it's through something as simple as steering the boat.
To be honest at the end I felt like I'd missed something, and I tried clicking on the stars to see if there was something else left to the story. But nope. I get the basic gist of the story (again, beautiful artwork, great music and atmosphere) but I never connected with what was happening on an emotional level, which is a pity.
All that aside, it was gorgeous, and what game-play there was went by very smoothly. It was a nice relaxing experience in the midst of all this Game Jam madness. Nicely done!
A fellow point-and-click game! Always wonderful to see. As all the previous comments have said, you guys did a great job with this on all the fronts (especially the audio, the theme music was *chef's kiss* perfect), and the story was concise but engaging.
I did get a little stumped looking for the cigarettes. Because the interactables aren't clear one does tend to just haphazardly start clicking everything is sight when you get stuck - just in case it yields something. But then again that's half the fun (and I see where I went astray now). :wink:
It was a really delightful entry. Kudos to your whole team!
Such an impressive compo game, it felt so polished. The gameplay itself was very relaxing, even when you get to the timed mode a the end there's something soothing about the whole process. Such a nice use of the theme too. I had to make myself stop playing so I could get on with life. :smile: Very well done!
The visuals on this were next level, just gorgeous. And I love that you took the time to establish the setting and the mandrake lore a bit with the opening scene (though the text itself could do with some fixing :wink:). The sounds also did a great job of establishing the tone. It was a sensory feast.
It took me a while to get a feel for the gameplay, and as others have mentioned, the various resource stats could have been clearer. I saw the symbols, but somehow it was still a bit obscure, and sometimes the low stat warnings had a very low threshold before death.
The hazards were also a bit vague. At first I thought the ants would actually sever root offshoots (which could have been fun, and made the calcium stat more useful) but I presume they were just causing damage of some kind (though again, this wasn't super clear).
However, once I figured out that I should be growing strategically, rather than just propagating all over the place, it was a very different experience. Seeing that hand lifting up from the pool at the bottom was also a great motivator to get to the end, and I enjoyed the experience immensely. Lovely use of the theme too! So very good work all round!
I could easily see it expanding even further to flesh out the world (that text intro really got its hooks into my mind :smile:) and further root puzzles of advancing difficulty.
Haha, on my first run through I completely forgot about the spacebar = scanner option and just kept blasting through the bedrock at top speed until my eventual demise. It was somehow still fun! And even more so once I actually played it using all the available tools. :smirk:
Adored the corporate propaganda voice overs, they were a really nice touch and made it feel like there was more behind the basic gameplay (which I always enjoy). As others have said before me, it feels very polished for a Jam game, and your team did a great job on every front. Bravo!
Ahh, this was so addictive. I had to make myself stop playing in the end.
A simple idea but very well executed, and the sounds really enhanced the atmosphere in a big way. My only complaint is that I would have liked a tiny bit more leeway on the hull meter (or some way to upgrade that through point scoring as you went further down?), but the balance worked pretty well all things considered.
The depth meter also shows a crazy amount of distance to cover, so making the difficulty more graduated or slowly introducing new elements as you go deeper could be a nice way of keeping the gameplay fresh. But overall it was smooth and fun. Good job!
“The ovum was not impressed.” :smile:
This was hilarious, and very playable. I felt compelled to fertilise the egg, and couldn't leave until I had. The swarm controls were challenging, but I was definitely getting the hang of it by the end. And the music was absolutely spot on. Well done!
**"Nothing follows at your heels."**
It only took me a few lines to become emotionally invested. Those hollow dog-shaped spaces that you worked into the initial text were beautifully done, and watching the layers of of the house gradually unfold was equally rewarding. It was all so subtle and lovely, and I also particularly enjoyed the mechanic that changed the text as you moved to make a selection. Very nicely done all round.