ViktorTheGreat

Islanders by Luke Parker 2023-10-03T02:09:54Z

I think my biggest confusion when I played this game was why I would ever want to cause a disaster. I placed some settlements, and simply waited for my ascension bar at the top to go up. Meanwhile, I got kind of curious and tried each of the disasters, just to see what they do, and after a few settlements were destroyed, I was able to build them back with little worry or cost to me.

Another flaw I see is that the disasters all have different properties as to what they can destroy or how big their range is, making some much safer to cast (if you're trying to destroy homes and protect the wonder), however, they all cost the exact same amount of points. The way to fix this would be, for example, if the safest ones cost a lot of points, but a person really wanted/needed to cause a disaster, they would either have to wait for their points to be high enough, or act immediately and make a riskier disaster happen.

Also, once the bar at the top filled up all the way, the game started making this really loud, harsh buzzing noise? I didn't know what it was, or how to stop it, so that's when I quit. I'm not sure if the noise was intended, or intended to loop for as long as it did, but it was pretty hard on my ears!

Regardless, I really like the visual aesthetic and I love the design of the Wonder! I think it's super cool and unique.

LIGHTDANCER by xk_the_name 2023-10-02T23:12:00Z

This game had great ambience, and the mechanic played really well. I had a lot of fun while playing, too.

However, I feel like the ambush scenes at the bonfire (specifically the third one) were a bit too stacked against you. Maybe the roll mechanic would've made it easier, but I genuinely forgot it was a thing until I read one of the other comments here because after it's introduced, it sort of just fades into the background and doesn't need to be used, unlike the fire arrow mechanic which is essential to progression.

Devolved by benjamin 2023-10-02T22:48:57Z

I like the concept, and the art is very cool and crisp. I was so caught off guard by the title screen, too. In a good way. But I also feel that such a unique mechanic needs more explanation in the beginning.

Also, I think I encountered a bug where if you're in build mode and you try placing it too close to the brain cell, it just disappears and you can't reselect it.

Forest Survivors by donvermo 2023-10-05T23:59:02Z

What a cute little game!

I will say, the controls were a bit more clunky than I would've imagined. I think the part that's most confusing to me is why does the bear always face down even when coming off of a different direction? Or rather, how come he defaults facing downward in a way that overrides player input? It made me feel like I needed to keep moving, which I guess I needed to do anyway, but it was still something that threw me off.

I also had a totally wrong idea at first, I think it may have been due to some unresponsiveness in the controls? But I don't know if that's on my end or on the game's end. I thought it was one of those games where the tiles will update only when you move, and I didn't realize the vines were destructible, so I thought I had to clear the grass while also staying out of the way from the spikes and hoping that they don't block me off from an area.

The game also felt like it was missing something. I know there's a lawnmower power up, but I felt like the core gameplay loop of running around and cutting things down wasn't very fulfilling. It's a great start! But it needs a little more whipped cream on top, you know? Maybe some of the vines become sentient and chase you down, or the trees start to grow in and make the arena smaller and smaller.

I think this is a perfect start to a great little management game!

PIO by sbeif 2023-10-03T21:42:26Z

I really liked the cute chubby bird. The little noise they make is also very cute! However, I feel like the eagles move just a *bit* too fast, especially when you have only one hit before you have to start over. There were times where I would get hit by one (specifically in that little squares level, that's as far as I got) and I wouldn't even realize it.

There was also a bug(?) or maybe just an oversight where, because your hitbox changes with your size, I would eat a bird, and then immediately die because an eagle happened to be within the bounds of the new hitbox before the graphic loaded in, so it looked like I died for no reason.

I will say this though, thank you so much for making the death/respawn screen so fast! Difficult games are 10x more bearable (for me at least) when the respawn is quick.

SLONOKOT by katamary 2023-10-04T21:30:59Z

I have such a mixed opinion on this game, because on one hand, I absolutely LOVE the design of the main character, and I LOVE the art style and atmosphere in this game.

However... I seemed to have encountered some kind of game-breaking issue? Bug? Oversight? When I first played the game, I jumped up onto the platform, pushed the box, and then it got stuck? And I died... and then when I respawned, no matter what I did, I just could not get past that first jump anymore! What would happen was like, I would jump, and no matter where I jumped from, I would just hit my head on the ceiling and fall back down. Even if I held down D (or A) I wouldn't move to the side. The closest I got was in this instance where his feet got "hooked" on the corner of the platform, but then he fell backwards and back onto the ground. Very upsetting, I had to give up because I felt like I couldn't continue, and it makes me really sad, because I really wanted to beat this game :( the art is so so so cool and I love the hand drawn look.

Terminal Noise by fusionnist 2023-10-03T22:43:06Z

I'M SO MAD!! I made it all the way to level 26 (and I was close to beating it!) when I accidentally hit my key at the wrong time and not only did it send me back two levels, but it put me in an impossible situation :sob: damn my twitchy fingers...

But seriously, this game was awesome! I loved every second of it, I felt so smart while playing! The graphics are super cool too. I was also stuck on level 6 for a while, and I will admit, there was an element to it that seemed... random? Or just impossible for me to understand/predict. It made it just the tiniest bit frustrating, not being able to know exactly how far back I was being sent when I went in a hole. Really looking forward to the undo-level feature!

Denpo by Strato 2023-10-04T00:46:00Z

I swear every time I died, I would think 'OK, just one more time, just one more'. It might be fatigue from playing too much, or maybe it's the way scores are calculated, but I swear there were times where I felt like I was doing really well, only to look over and see I had a really low score (compared to previous rounds). I think that's my only issue with it, which is really saying something!

Floodwater by John Gabriel 2023-10-02T23:00:46Z

Awesome progression and level design, a great example of teaching mechanics without words. However, I will admit, I was stuck on the title screen for longer than I'd like to admit because I couldn't tell what button I was supposed to press to start...

Worm Out by Kyrios 2023-10-05T23:41:08Z

I, too, struggled with the sensitivity of the mouse in this game, at first I thought it was because I wasn't playing in fullscreen mode, but even when I did, I felt like I could never get my flashlight to be exactly where I wanted it to be. I also feel like the audio sensor thing didn't really work? As in, I didn't hear a difference in sound volume as the creature approached me, at least not enough to think 'oh its right behind me now, isn't it' and the fact that the dark area around the player is still bright enough to see other details in the environment but not monsters really threw me off. I'm kind of conflicted, because I definitely see the vision, and I could see how making the monsters visible at all times can ruin that, but there were also way too many times where I died seemingly at random. Maybe if you make the angle of the flashlight wider (along with a sensitivity toggle) and make the area in the dark *darker* it would be better?

I also think there should be a splat sound when an enemy gets hit, solely because when I encountered one of the black blobs for the first time, I shot it and immediately thought it was unkillable, but tried shooting a few more times in case I missed or something.

The maze aspect was also a bit overwhelming to me, although it could just be my personal preference, I had a hard time figuring out both where I was supposed to go and what I was supposed to do, as there wasn't any (from what I encountered) set dressing or decoration that pointed me in any one direction. Maybe a mini map that doesn't show any detail but rather the position of the character in the arena. Maybe it could even light up along the paths the player takes? And as a final note, I think that the backpack (I was convinced at first that it was a body bag that would unzip to reveal a corpse as I took damage) takes up just a bit too much space on the screen.

But as for the atmosphere and the creature design, I think you really nailed it! The art at the end of the screen looks really good, too. Your monsters are very creative and unique, and I wished I got to see more of them crawling around.

Tidal Towns by Ciber_Turtle 2023-10-04T22:39:06Z

Ohh this game was super pretty and super relaxing. The graphics totally reminded me of the DS (in a very very good way). The music was an incredible fit, too!

I think maybe one critique I have, other than the issue other people mentioned here about having a hard time telling what is at the same height as other things, is the wording of the day counter is a bit confusing, at least for me. Having the text of the in-danger houses and buildings be red was a super duper great touch, but (and this is also because I was playing this game while multitasking other chores) I would forget if "two more days" meant "today and tomorrow" or if it meant "tomorrow and the day after that". Maybe having a little calendar in the corner as well? Even if it only shows you a week at a time or something.

I'm also unsure if this is an oversight, or if it was intentional, but I realized about halfway through the game that buildings are able to hang off of ledges? And pretty drastically, too. I think me trying to put the trees really close together (and being unable to) to save space made me feel like buildings would also need a lot of space on the sides of them, so when I realized they didn't I was (pleasantly) surprised.

I think my favorite thing about the game, though, is how non-intrusive the tutorial is. It's right there, if you need it, not distracting you or forcing you to go through it, but still able to be scrolled through if you want to. Very, very good tutorial design!

Mechanizyn by Lincolnsalles 2023-10-05T22:03:45Z

This game is a really cool tech-demo type project. I just want to start by saying I love the art style. It's so grungy and grimy and feels soo post apocalypticly sci-fi. It reminded me of a game I played called The White Chamber.

I'm unsure what your future vision is for this, exactly, I think it could be a really cool puzzle platformer type thing, but what I think it should have, no matter what you decide to do with it, is some kind of balance between walking and flying. I think having the flying be a limited resource is a great idea! Although I think it can be tweaked just a tiny bit, as it feels really heavy right now. In return, walking should be much faster, and energy gain should also be a bit faster, just so that the player doesn't have to spend a whole lot of time waiting for it to refill. Finally, in regards to the lightning chain things, I think it should be lit-up all the time if you want it to stay as a constant threat. I worry that if you have it flash like that, it could convey to the player that when it's not lit-up, it's safe to touch, as that's usually how that mechanic works in games.

This game is incredibly unique though, I really think you nailed the visual aesthetic and feeling of it!

Hot Drills by CodeRaurus 2023-10-05T22:25:01Z

I think I would've spent a lot more time with this game had the movement not been so frustrating to me. I could see this as one of those games that's really satisfying and fun to play, because for the most part, it was! I could really see the vision and gameplay loop here. However, the lack of grid based movement (at least for a game that seems like it could really benefit from it) and the confusing controls made it just the tiniest bit hard to play for me.

Also, this is less your fault and more me being laid-back in my play session, but I didn't maximize the screen game screen on itch, so the text was super duper tiny! And because of that, I totally glossed over the whole overheating thing and thought that the holes that opened up in the ground were like, the doors/pathways to the next level or a lower floor of the mine? So I sat on top of it for a second before realizing nothing was happening and I moved on :laughing:

Wrecking Jail by Guilloteam 2023-10-10T22:21:43Z

I love the art direction and character design. So fluid!

SUPA SEAL-MAN!! 小さな氷山島に魚の事故!! by MoonDweller 2023-10-03T22:53:26Z

For some reason, I was convinced that the game was about just staying on the iceberg for as long as possible (and dodging the fish) so I was super confused when the iceberg sank for the first time. But otherwise a fun little thing! I will admit though, I feel like it was missing something, maybe one extra move, like a spin move or something that clears fish faster but is hard to control.

I love the style though, it totally reminds me of something someone would've put in a 'WTF Japan' compilation back in the early 2010s!

Prickle by Kultuk 2023-10-04T21:06:53Z

This game made me a lot more frustrated than I'd like to admit. The artstyle is really cute though, and I love the animation that plays when you restart a level (I did see it quite a lot).

Depths of Eonar by GreyNovemberGames 2023-10-03T00:03:40Z

Something I noticed that affected my enjoyment of the game a bit was that my mouse didn't lock to the monitor it was playing on, so as my hand naturally drifted around, if I ever accidentally clicked on my second monitor, the game would minimize, but continue running, and I had to scramble to get back into the game. This happened while I was being attacked by rock monsters in the boss dungeon, and it was a bit frustrating. Definitely not a huge huge issue, but something to be aware of.

Otherwise, very fun!

Cold and Unforgiving by ViktorTheGreat 2023-10-02T23:45:51Z

@katajisto I actually built it in RPG Maker 2003 :sweat_smile: so I don't think I have any control over the way it resizes, sadly. I do know usually F4 toggles size and F5 toggles resolution, though

Cold and Unforgiving by ViktorTheGreat 2023-10-06T20:41:09Z

@fusionnist Thank you! I love RPG Maker (and I also can't code lol) so I was very happy to use it here!

There isn't really a 'full game' in particular that I have planned to make right now. This game fit two purposes-- as a Ludum Dare entry (which honestly kind of just happened and fell into place, based on my thought-up premise of a less morbid cold equation trope) and as a tech demo to show one of my less game dev inclined friends what a game involving these characters could potentially look like. He and I have this floating idea of a sort of multimedia project following these characters and their adventures around the Midwest, with him wanting to focus more on comics/animation with the characters. To be honest, I have no idea what would hypothetically happen after the cut to black at the end haha! This whole sequence might not even end up being 'canon'. The whole thing is up in the air and undecided, we're both way too novice to take on such a huge concept. But the idea of influencing the story/ending up with different outcomes for specific plot threads is definitely something I'd opt for.

Cold and Unforgiving by ViktorTheGreat 2023-10-11T20:28:58Z

@skel3ton

Yes, unfortunately, because of the stuff I had to cut, the routes are very empty. Originally, there was going to be a battle system (and thus a healing/items/skills system) and more of a navigational mechanic, and the 3 maps you traverse through after the first night would've played differently based on the person/skill you ... picked. However, I had to cut it due to time constraints.

Gap Dango Shooter by zundou 2023-10-05T00:51:14Z

Such a cute little game! It made me hungry lol

Torch by Gyrooo 2023-10-04T01:07:47Z

The visual style was very cool and unique, it reminded me a lot of early 3D games-- which I love!

I must admit, I got stuck on the title screen for WAYYYY too long trying to figure out what to do. I know it *says* to give the guy the torch, and this may just be me being an idiot, but I thought that was like... a metaphor for playing the game? Or like a tagline or something? I like the creativity, but I feel like a more traditional title screen would've worked better. Especially because the mouse/the drag mechanic isn't used at all anywhere else in the game, so it feels a bit out of place. I also think it would've been cool if we actually got to see the mummies. Even if it was like, they freeze when you get near them if you're holding a torch, but then they actually follow you at a distance if you aren't being careful.

But a very fun little game nonetheless!

My grandma's stories by Aquillot 2023-10-03T21:23:22Z

I absolutely love games with unique visual styles like this, it's one of my favorite things about indie games! I loved looking at the hand drawn pictures and being able to see all the lines of the pens and crayons. It felt so much more personal that way! I felt like I was being handed a sketchbook.

Unfortunately, I was completely unable to understand what to do during the baptism scene. I tried multiple things, like waiting for the music to be done before hitting space, hitting space and holding it, spamming the arrow keys, and doing some combination of those and other maneuvers. I even tried hitting other keys that weren't listed on the page! It really makes me sad that I was so stumped, because I wanted to experience more of this game. Textless games like this are very tricky, because in order to convey the goal/objective to the player, you have to be very masterful in your design, and that mark was missed here I fear.

Hanabatake by Spica 2023-10-03T01:52:24Z

I think the biggest piece of advice I can give is to never underestimate the importance of a tutorial! I flew through the first few sets of levels, thinking that the only rule was just 'connect the flowers', so I did that. However, I reached a level where I got stuck in a corner and couldn't seem to place any more flowers. I checked the book, only to realize there had been two huge mechanics I had been missing! And when I hit the arrow-circle icon, I thought it was just going to reset the level I was on, so I was upset to see the entire game reset and send me back to the beginning.

The gameplay was very fun, and very exciting, and I think your game does good of not throwing too much at the player too fast. However, I feel like it could've also benefited a lot from a more traditional tutorial. The first time a new color flower is introduced, it's far enough away from the others that it doesn't need to be engaged with for the level to progress, so there's nothing to make sure the player knows what it does before progressing.

Your art direction and sound effects were very good though! It was a very cute and well polished experience.

Limitverse (ludum-54) by eugene-b 2023-10-05T21:47:48Z

This game is an incredible looking proof-of-concept for a future project. I absolutely love the sprite art, both for the monsters and the environments. Everything is perfectly colorful and shiny!

It definitely feels like there's something missing here, though. I'm unsure of what exactly all had to be cut, but I think a few more mechanics/actions for the player to take as well as some dialogue to explain the situation would be a good starter. Movement also felt slow for a shooter like this. And I was very shocked when my character took damage from his own bullet! It's realistic, and can work good if the mechanic is justified (i.e. if bullet hell is the genre you're aiming for) and I can see how it can be used to make the player more careful with their shots and less likely to just fire into open space.

There were also a couple spots, especially near doorways, where I hit some invisible walls and couldn't move forward. I think the thing I want to point out the most, though, is in regards to the designs of the maps. Being completely honest, I'm not sure how far a game could go using maps that are just single, square-shaped rooms. I don't mean to sound rude, but I felt myself getting a bit bored! I can see from the screenshots on your itch io page that certain rooms will have furniture in them, but my suggestion would be breaking down more of your wall tiles or the things affixed to the walls in the room maps into placeable objects. Even if you keep the geometry of rooms relatively simple, having the player be able to explore more intricate maps will help keep them engaged. Seeing too much of the same thing can lead to all of it blending together in the player's mind.

Combat also needs something, although I'm sure it will have something to do with the money counter in the corner. Currently, I didn't seem to find any real reason to kill enemies, as not only did they take multiple hits to kill, but they served no real reward.

All of that being said, I would absolutely love to follow this project along in its development, that is, if you continue to develop it! I think it's a really cool idea and an absolutely gorgeous world, and I can't wait to see where it goes!

Chirpy Deity by Chunie 2023-10-03T00:19:38Z

I feel like the progression is just a *tad* bit too slow, as I was about ready to turn in (I thought I had seen everything the game had to offer, in a pleased way) when I found the first feather. I also feel like the systems could've been explained a bit better, as I was kind of in the dark as to what the numbers/icons on the side of the screen were and why they changed.

The art is very cute though, the little bird blob is sooooo cute!

Endangered By The Bell by Leviathonk 2023-10-06T21:12:29Z

What a charming little game! I really liked it, the sound effects were great lol

A Bit Too Hot by Kris3 2023-10-05T00:06:43Z

The concept here is super cool and interesting, and I love how chill Monata is with everything happening around her. She's so laid back!

I have to say, the use of mixels here really bothered me here for some reason :sob: I know pixel-perfection can be really really hard to achieve on engines that weren't designed with it in mind, but a good piece of advice I have is to basically try and keep all on-screen assets that use pixel art at the same (or nearly the same) pixel size, to simulate pixel-perfection.

I also found a bug (that it seems like some other people found as well) where clicking her sent her flying out of bounds, I ended up having to reset pretty early on! I also think having your mechanics be more clear would also be very helpful. The first time I found the lava, I thought it was a dead end, so I turned around and went exploring elsewhere. The only reason I knew to click was because I read it in the description! Another good piece of advice I have is to make sure your controls and mechanics are explained in-game, because the player shouldn't need any supplemental material (like a store page or read me file) to play it (unless it happens to be a selling point of the game, which is a rare case and is usually reserved for puzzle or mystery games).

Finally, I wonder what the reasoning was behind not having her be centered in the screen during gameplay. It makes sense that she would stray from the center of the screen when you get close to the edges of the map, as to not show a bunch of black void space, but it really threw me off during free movement seeing her tucked so far away in the side!

This game is a great start, though. You have a lot of great ideas-- they just need to be workshopped a bit!

Space slug by Normality 2023-10-05T01:14:11Z

I think the harshest and most honest critique I can give to you is that I quit less than two minutes in because the movement system was atrocious to me. It goes so against the norm of top down movement that, even with a guide, I kept wanting to just hit D to go right instead of having to turn to face the right direction and then move forward from that angle with W. And although it might be easier if I was using something more analog, the key presses were so sensitive and so heavy that it drove me absolutely mad. It took me (what felt like) forever just to hit the dirt pile. I knew I was done playing when I went over to hit the yellow cube and aimed my little guy just perfectly to slide right into it (from very close range as well) and, despite that, I went soaring over the top of it and off into the distance. I would feel like, for a game that requires (what I'm assuming) quick action and tight control, the control scheme would be a bit easier to understand/use.

I think my fear with a control scheme like this is that, like I mentioned briefly earlier, it's so different to what people would expect that even with a tutorial, the mindset/thought process/muscle memory that would come out during urgent gameplay could ultimately end up screwing over the player. I know this happens to me in a lot of different games, either because my hand drifts one key row over or I really do just default to how I think it should play. And honestly, because it might be such a non-issue (or even a bonus!) to some players, I think having multiple available control schemes available would be great! If the game controlled by aiming the direction/angle with the mouse and moving forward with just one key like W or space or whatever, would allow for the same sort of loose, rapid-change, flowing control that I think you're going for here.

Finally, I know the game takes place in space, but I felt like the color palette was a bit lacking. Try checking the absolute values of the colors you're using to see what colors pop against each other and what colors blend into each other. I'm not sure if it was the colors or just the movement, but even with what little time I spent in the game, I started to feel a bit dizzy/headachy.

Space slug by Normality 2023-10-05T02:04:52Z

@normality

It's kind of hard to say, about the dizziness. Because I still can't really tell what *exactly* it was, but I feel like it had to do with the movement speed and, yes, to a degree, how fast the camera would have to whip around in order to stay focused on the slug. It could also be the colors in the sense that, because they tend to blend into each other, your eye has to work harder to differentiate things. And when THAT combines with the superfast movement and whippy camera, it all gets harsher.

And yeah, maybe if the tutorial was a bit more thorough to get the player more used to the control scheme, it would help a bit, rather than having them in a very large arena-space and tell them to aim for a (relatively) smaller object. An easy-control or more tuned down version (like a menu toggle or something) could also be helpful if you want to maintain the high speeds for players that are ok with it (and even default to it), but want to give a helping hand to those who either can't handle it visually or those who can't manage it physically. Giving each player the option to choose what they feel most comfortable with is, in my opinion, better than shutting players out.