clever game, Delca. i think the only thing missing is a teleport sound effect. i appreciate that it saves progress between sessions, as well. good fun and nice submission!
I like the main mechanics - it's like a reverse Osu! I like that the patterns are the same on each attempt, and the ticking in the background helps maintain the rhythm for the trickier levels. The area attacks feel fair as there is some warning before they go off. The turret type attacks are interesting as you need to account for the path that the attack travels and to not accidentally teleport into it after initially dodging it. The attacks feel fair when you have space to move around and are aware of when they go off.
This did make levels 5 and 6 (boxed and dizziness) feel a little unfair on initial playthroughs:
- Boxed had little room to move around, which is fine given the level's name. However, it felt like an increased spike in precision and timing was demanded. You need to dodge in a small zone whilst also accounting for the attacks' passing over in rapid succession, whilst also not accidentally clicking into the red zones. I think the issue I had was that I needed to pay attention to where my cursor placement was whilst also paying attention to the timer on the other side of the screen. If I focused on the timers, I might move into the red zone or the path of an attack by accident; if I pay focus on the cursor placement, then I might mis-time my dodge. A potential solution might be to have the timer as part of the laser sight instead, as that would be tracking the player.
- Dizziness feels like it can only be beaten with prior knowledge. Aside from the points on the floor and the level's name, the attacks will go off without an initial warning, the initial order, and the initial direction. This contrasts with previous levels where the timer shows gives a clear indication on which attacks will go off first.
The decision to restart the level after 3 hits is a good design choice, as it allowed me to maintain focus on the level's pattern - I eventually managed to get no-hit runs on all the levels as a result!
wow this is hard as hell and I am not so good with motor reflex stuff.
One thing that is interesting here, just like hard games like celeste (in this case I see it more like a Thumper, horror rhythm type of thing) is that after a while you see yourself memorizing the sequence and the timing so it gets less scary.
I can see this being a very addictive loop, the game core has lots of potential for that, I can imagine this with a frenetic soundscape and you have a strong potentially addictive touch experience (Thumper with one finger would not be a bad thing).
Thanks, glad you liked it! I played a bit of Rabbit & Steel earlier this year, the concept and desire to do something similar really stuck with me even after beating the game.
I honestly love this little game, the concept is so simple but the levels and mechanics are so creative and do a fantastic job of building off of it. Bravo on getting so much out of that ticking sound, I was sweating bro. 10/10 'Boxed In' is bullying me and I like it
Thanks! I did try to make each level unique and scrapped a few ideas along the way that felt too repetitive, hence why I ended up with only 6 levels, but I am glad that this feeling of each level have something special to them got across in the end.
(by the way, that sound that made you sweat was me pulling on a roll of measuring tape. Nothing to be scared of :-D)
Comments
clever game, Delca. i think the only thing missing is a teleport sound effect. i appreciate that it saves progress between sessions, as well. good fun and nice submission!
I like the main mechanics - it's like a reverse Osu! I like that the patterns are the same on each attempt, and the ticking in the background helps maintain the rhythm for the trickier levels. The area attacks feel fair as there is some warning before they go off. The turret type attacks are interesting as you need to account for the path that the attack travels and to not accidentally teleport into it after initially dodging it. The attacks feel fair when you have space to move around and are aware of when they go off.
This did make levels 5 and 6 (boxed and dizziness) feel a little unfair on initial playthroughs:
- Boxed had little room to move around, which is fine given the level's name. However, it felt like an increased spike in precision and timing was demanded. You need to dodge in a small zone whilst also accounting for the attacks' passing over in rapid succession, whilst also not accidentally clicking into the red zones. I think the issue I had was that I needed to pay attention to where my cursor placement was whilst also paying attention to the timer on the other side of the screen. If I focused on the timers, I might move into the red zone or the path of an attack by accident; if I pay focus on the cursor placement, then I might mis-time my dodge. A potential solution might be to have the timer as part of the laser sight instead, as that would be tracking the player.
- Dizziness feels like it can only be beaten with prior knowledge. Aside from the points on the floor and the level's name, the attacks will go off without an initial warning, the initial order, and the initial direction. This contrasts with previous levels where the timer shows gives a clear indication on which attacks will go off first.
The decision to restart the level after 3 hits is a good design choice, as it allowed me to maintain focus on the level's pattern - I eventually managed to get no-hit runs on all the levels as a result!
wow this is hard as hell and I am not so good with motor reflex stuff.
One thing that is interesting here, just like hard games like celeste (in this case I see it more like a Thumper, horror rhythm type of thing) is that after a while you see yourself memorizing the sequence and the timing so it gets less scary.
I can see this being a very addictive loop, the game core has lots of potential for that, I can imagine this with a frenetic soundscape and you have a strong potentially addictive touch experience (Thumper with one finger would not be a bad thing).
Awesome game man, love it, weirdly reminds me of the "don't stand in the scary red area" boss fights sometimes do, its a cool idea, very addictive!
Thanks, glad you liked it! I played a bit of Rabbit & Steel earlier this year, the concept and desire to do something similar really stuck with me even after beating the game.
I honestly love this little game, the concept is so simple but the levels and mechanics are so creative and do a fantastic job of building off of it. Bravo on getting so much out of that ticking sound, I was sweating bro. 10/10 'Boxed In' is bullying me and I like it
Thanks! I did try to make each level unique and scrapped a few ideas along the way that felt too repetitive, hence why I ended up with only 6 levels, but I am glad that this feeling of each level have something special to them got across in the end.
(by the way, that sound that made you sweat was me pulling on a roll of measuring tape. Nothing to be scared of :-D)