Nice game. I enjoyed the music and the story had it's charm. Also it was a cool easter egg that the cat had 9 lives. Didn't notice until my friend pointed it out. Although the game was too easy in my opinion but maybe you weren't trying to make it challenging so it works.
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Puma Cat - The Paranormal Psychic Detective - A Brainwashed Winter's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Balance | #3 | 3.697 | 3.697 |
| Overall | #4 | 4.091 | 4.091 |
| Weirdness/Charm | #5 | 4.485 | 4.485 |
| Overall | #6 | 3.944 | 3.944 |
| Polish | #8 | 4.061 | 4.061 |
| Visuals | #16 | 4.061 | 4.061 |
| Music and Sound | #18 | 3.636 | 3.636 |
| Fun Factor | #20 | 3.576 | 3.576 |
Ranked from 33 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Video url
https://youtu.be/dK7pOCHos3w
Comments
What a wonderful setting for a game, reading a book as the stories plays out on the book itself.
My favourite part was actually right at the start where I read that the elf ran over and he actually did in the game. I wish there was more of that, like the enemies didn't wait for you to start the level but came automatically when you read that part.
I would have loved if the story adapted to your actions a little too, like if you barely beat the previous level it says something about how you struggled to fend off the previous wave.
The shooting was a little simplistic but I didn't feel that it detracted from the main feature of the game which was the active story.
I loved it, you've definitely got something great on your hands here!
Submitted
Hackysack City Jam VersionAt first glance, seeing the pixel art move independently from the sprite was confusing, but allowed for pretty subtle movement that adds to the style. And once in the game, you don't even notice it anymore. Really awesome execution, and just like everyone else, I'm not gonna shut up about how cool it is to have a narrative on a book spread as the level. Great work especially for a jam game!
Submitted
Feliz NaviDEADVery charming game and a very polished one too! Playing it was kind of inspiring from a design perspective. presenting your games story on in book format as the level itself is something I haven't seen before. This really makes me wonder what a novel sized game of this would look like if there were more visual representations for the setting the book reads about. maybe a novel sized game of this in reality is not so fun but my imagination was captured by the experience. Nice work.
Submitted
Hex Before ChristmasVery great game! I loved reading the story. The art and animations were all great and the music fit well.
Submitted
Gather the CursesThis is excellent. Really high level of polish - I love how after a fight the gold stars let you know it's safe and draw you to turn the page. Very cool sprites that made me want to pick up and cuddle the cat.
Yes, the enemy variants need differing AI to add variety and challenge; perhaps you could have cut back on some of the enemies and spent time coding behaviors. But this is a pretty minor point.
Just kind of magical following a story through on the actual page.
Submitted
Screamin' MeemiesLots of really cool ideas here:
- The levels being pages of a book that tell the story is really unique and a really cool way to tell a story that remains outside gameplay but still stays cohesive.
- The characters being composite sprites that are individually animated allows for really neat effects (tail/ears wagging, blinking, etc)
- Having a character that follows you making it a bit more strategic
For a game that was made in a weekend, this is excellent! However if you plan to revisit this project, which I highly recommend, these are things I would consider:
- The actual core game loop is kind of weak. To me the game was "hold left mouse button over the nearest enemy until they die while moving around in circles so nothing touches me"
- Enemies dying and spawning ghosts is really neat but I wish there was more to it. I noticed that the Yetis sort of lunge at you which I think is a step in the right direction. If enemies had more diverse behavior than just "walk towards the player" I think you'd have a much more interesting primary loop. Projectiles and curtain fire patterns would be a nice way to mix things up.
Submitted
Dragon BossfightSuper interesting concept and very unique. Would love to see more of this!
Submitted
Surprise MechanicsLike the idea! good art and animation. good solid gameplay.
Submitted
Santa's Second hand ElvesHey, super interesting submission. I really like the children's story book vibe! Some notes:
Good Aspects;
Cool concept, fun story to follow along with
Enemy types evolved with the story
Solid difficulty levels throughout
Aspects to Work On:
The sound effects, particularly for shooting, get grating after a while because it's the exact same sound. A good practice is to set the sound to pitch slightly up or down randomly each shot, to give the sound more variety.
The ghost characters were a bit jarring. They popped out and immediately damaged you with no warning, might be good to give them a bit of a warmup before they attack.
Some Brainstorms for New Aspects:
Since you needed to reach the end of the page before the level could start, it disconnected the story from the action. It could be interesting to draw the text during the fight, and leave some sort of enemy hint or clue to finish a level in the text, so a player is encouraged to read while fighting, taking advantage of the little amount of text on the screen at any one time.
Some more animations could be a welcome addition. Most characters only had one perspective drawn to them, and only one animation - walking. Some new animations, even if they're a bit crude and only involve a few moving pixels, could go a long way.
All in all, a super interesting submission! Thanks for your feedback on my project as well, good luck in your future developments!
Submitted
Mechanical WizardHey buddy, thanks for your feedback on the game i'd participated with my friends.
Good points:
- good story and a beautiful idea make this like a book.
- simple is good, your artwork are rly nice, congrats!
- no bugs, very clean <3
Bad Points:
- I have the sensation that IA's are all the same thing and thats bad.
- winter father is the unique person dat gives me a sensation "let me understand this pattern"
- Book idea is good, but at the same time not if your story aways force you to the same thing (press shooot to start) [i also liked the start cus the elf comes from nowere and i'd ran and started shooting, i was surprised and thats cool].
- need to adjust SFX and music volume
Overall your game is good, just need a more complex IA for enemies. (Think about enter the gungeon)
Thanks for the awesome comment!!
Yes, i've only learned two ai behaviors. Chase and patrol hehe. I will definitely study more! (know of any good ai lessons/scripts?)
Yeah music and sound are my weakest points. Was the volume low or loud? I think i set them pretty low.
Thanks again for the awesome feedback!
That's a nice idea with the book, I liked the dark Christmas songs and how it all came together. Good job
Submitted
Santas Broken DownThis game was nice! The method of storytelling by having the characters traverse a book through its pages was very "novel" (with lack of a less pun-esque word). My main gripes with the game were related to the near-zero difficulty level. Most enemies could be avoided by simply shooting forwards while walking backwards. I think that if you varied the enemy AI and attack patterns a bit more, you could have a fun and challenging post jam game. Great Job!
Submitted
DNArcherThanks for the feedback! I will make a more difficult game in the future~ this one i made for my 4th to 6th grade students to play in our English club (some playtested for me lol). But yes, i need to study how to do more AI. Currently I only know chase and patrol behaviors hehe. Do you know a good source for ai study/scripts in unity? Thanks again for feed back!
I loved the book theme, very clever way to include a story. I liked the music choices, my wife said the shooting soundeffect sounded like a baby's heart in a heart monitor though.... I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I also liked how many of the enemies had a sort of second form with the spirits.
Great game! I enjoyed playing it all the way through to know the whole story.
Submitted
The Vampire's LairI really liked this concept! The gameplay was fun and the story was nice, and I enjoyed the music you used as well. In terms of difficulty it was fairly easy, but that doesn't bother me as I still enjoyed myself. Great work!
Submitted
Surprise Mechanics
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