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Cyclopean's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall fun and playability | #11 | 3.774 | 3.774 |
Ranked from 31 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Theme incorporation
This is a retro Cosmic/Lovecraftian Horror inspired dungeon crawler that takes place in the Dreamlands mentioned in the work of H.P. Lovecraft. The location is the Vaults of Zinn, referenced in "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" which is inhabited by Ghouls, Ghasts, Gugs and other more horrible creatures.
The story is a kind of short fan-fiction about the main character, Randolph Carter, and the rift that formed between the cats and the zoogs.
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I know the rating time is over, but this is one of the games on my list that I didn't get to play in time but I still wanted to leave a comment :)
First off wow, I love the visual style of this game! The geometry looks so cool and the verticality really breaks the space up and makes it seem more natural rather than a flat maze. Sound design was also excellent, I loved the ambient background track. Definitely worked well with the visuals to give an oppressive vibe to the dungeon.
The movement was implemented well, I just wish I could move a little bit faster.
I escaped before I saved all the cats, I didn't actually mean to but I should have realized when a door was leading off the map that it could have been an exit. I actually used a map to navigate, I think the minimap was a cool idea actually, it gave me enough information to locate myself but not enough that I was playing by staring at the minimap and it prompted me to explore and learn about the space.
Yes, I totally should have made a different looking exit door! Thanks for the feedback :)
You had me at "Rescue cats." Visual style is cool, although I think the scan-lines on the main viewport was a bit much (doing something like just duplicating every other line and dimmed by half, like you seem to do on most of the interface itself, would probably give a similar feel but not be quite so hard on the eyes). The UI and framing around the viewport looks stellar. Monsters are great too.
I didn't like that rotating counted as a turn, more than once I tried to turn to face an enemy, but strafed into the square instead (stupid game I played before this one with backwards turn/strafe controls confusing my brain!), and then I got attacked, and then got attacked twice more as I turned to face them, instead of getting the first attack in as I'd planned and thought I instructed my character to do ^_^. Having no queuing of movement nor being able to hold down a button to keep moving made navigating the dungeon a bit of a chore. I would have liked a little more choices in combat, there didn't seem to be anything I could do to increase my longevity, no healing or anything, so whether or not I survived just game down to luck of how many times I missed between now and my next level up :(. I got down to 2hp before my last level up, so, luckily, didn't die, but it was close!
I would have appreciated a compass somewhere instead of having to look at "moved north". The fact that the map just showed a general overview was really nice, made me feel like I had to keep track of where I was exploring, but still got a general sense of where I was.
The verticality was great, those rooms really had a nice sense of place and were fun to explore (and recognize, as I learned my way around).
There's a bug/issue where if the game is not in focus it's still capturing my mouse, so if I alt-tab to another program, my mouse is locked to a tiny corner of my screen ^_^. Overall, cool entry, glad I rescued all of the cats!
Right off the bat I have to say I love the name, very Lovecraftian.
Visually I love it, the old school green monocrhomatic aesthetic is beautiful. Looks crunchy, but clear and readable. I also like the enemy and environment art, gives off a very foreboding mood.
The sound was also much better than I expected for a game with this aesthetic.
The control scheme is straight forward and feels good, though sometimes I wish I had continuous movement. I found in other entries I haven't been crazy about using forward movement to interact/attack but I didn't mind it here.
The progression mechanics while simple also worked well. Though I wish there was some way to heal other than levelling up. If the player is unlucky enough to run into a Gug without near full health, the run can be over pretty quick.
I'm not sure if I'm a fan of turning being counted as a move, I lost a fair bit of health just trying to find the first enemy I encountered.
I also wish there was proper fullscreen support, but I can understand that being out of scope.
I should mention I did reach the win screen, though accidentally as the exit didn't seem to stand out as anything special. I don't know if there's a different win screen when you find all cats, but I'm happy I managed to reach an ending at least.
It's no Star Explorers, but I really liked it. Great work!
Its a bit different game for sure. Finding cats was a strange objective, but I guess it could have been crystals or idols or whatever. The mechanics of gathering swords and shields to power up the character is a nice and easy way of progressing. But it felt a bit like the player got overpowered. I never had any clue on where I was going in the dungeon, I just wandered around aimlessly trying to reach new areas until I got out. The soundscape is super nice and it works with this kind of graphics. Super nice retro feel over it. Would have liked the controls to be a bit more snappy, but they worked. Nice work!
Oh wow! That was fantastic. Phenomenal work for just 3 days!
I thought the art direction was distinctive, making your game stand out. I enjoyed the exploration a lot. Well done!
I've escape from the vaults of zinn, scored 518. Also scored 1406 next but died to a Gug this time.
The game is very fun. It looks great, the font is the perfect one and I'm specially fond of the sound effects, the hit one, the upgrade finding one, the different monster death ones, the meow, ..., all feel super appropriate. I love the atmosphere they create. It controls pretty well, movement feels good and bumping into enemies in turn-based mode is my kind of things. The minimal minimap is pretty appropriate so that you look at the view and not at the minimap, I really like it. Verticality sure is great per usual too, it allows a fairly compact dungeon with multiple connexions between areas and this dungeon is really like that, I like it. A small game with some randomness and a score at the end is very appropriate for a game jam as it feels like a complete game without having to be a huge game. Upgrades and level-ups are cool and finally the difficulty seems pretty adequate, which is a huge plus to me. Oh and there're big cats too.
This is a great entry, thanks for sharing (I need to play Islands of the Caliph at some point).
This was AWESOME! Simplicity works very well for you here, both mechanically and in the visual style. I can't say anything that anyone else hasn't already said here. (Especially with the fact this is a jam game, damn! You've done really well!!)
What a wonderful entry, all the more so its 3-day production timeline.
I found everything clear and easy to understand, and the game's simplicity is very much a strength in my opinion. Visually, the game is really appealing and i'd love to know what's happening under the hood to make it look the way it does. Mechanically I have no complaints, yes it's simple, but I sort of prefer it for nice and quick jam games.
I have very little in the way of critique. Of course I would want more, but I keep telling myself '3 days' and I'm enamoured. I wasn't keen on the mouse being locked to the window, however I can see you're aware of that and I could have freed it with escape. I can also see that you've commented previously on improving the movement, so I won't rehash that.
All in all, this is really fantastic, I would like to see what you can do in 9 days if you can do this in 3. Thank you.
Beautiful and unique submission!
It did take me a minute to get oriented without a compass for some reason. Also, the mechanics could have done with some more depth, but that is probably just the result of being part of a jam, ours definitely suffered from this as well. Overall though, really cool, keep up the good work!
Right from get go - I LOVE how crisp and detailed everything looks. It so hard to make monochrome work, in my opinion, but you nailed it so well. Its great.
I saved 8 cats only first time though (but managed to escape first attempt 1409 points). Second attempt I found all cats (7 this time), but haven't found exit and died after unfortunate Gug encounter bringing me a bit too low. Dungeons looks like at least partly random generated? Replayability with scores - nice!
Would like to have something like health potions to heal after Gugs! Maybe some shop to spend gold in future?
(Also, if I may... can you make so your engine is a little bit less messy? I mean folder specifically... maybe make subfolder with all resourses (maybe even pack them?), so they are not laying there all open? Its not a totally big deal, but it may be awkward for future more mass user.)
Thanks for that entry, had loads of fun collecting cats! Meow! :)
Absolutely stunning graphics and quite simple to understand. I played first attempt yesterday and second successful attempt today. And I must admit I don’t remember the story, other than rescue the cats. And that’s a good story in my book.
My first strategy was hugging left wall and see where it got me, and that got me dead. On second attempt I tried to explore every area before going through a door. And if possible explore around the start area before wandering off and I think that made the game like 10 times easier.
I think the information detail in the map worked really well, even though I felt like it might have been neat to know which rooms I had been in and perhaps also if I found everything in the rooms. But the latter might not be good / needed. And the way with the verticality, I’m guessing one can enter the same map grid on two different levels that don’t connect. So that might not work great. I’m mostly happy with the map, but in large part because the game world is sufficiently small.
Now that verticality. That was amazing. It did so much for making the world feel real, fleshed out and gave a great air to the rooms. One thing though, since going up and down was a common thing, I didn’t at all register that I was escaping the dungeon when I did. I just though I was going up to somewhere. It might also be that since there was no compass or indicator on the map of direction of the player I didn’t notice that I was leaving the map… Or I think that I was. Anyways, I felt disappointed when I won, and that’s not great. I felt like I could have explored some more, found some more cats. Gotten som more loot. So I think it needs a bit stronger signalling or a dialogue letting the player choose to leave or find more cats.
The loot. I feel sword and defense worked really well. And of course cats. But the coins felt like they didn’t belong, especially when you already had the cats. I mean there could be a use for coins, like a fountain that you can toss them in in hopes of getting health restored or something like that. But just collecting them when there already was something else more important to collect feels unnecessary.
I also noticed that it had a bit of mouse issues. Grabbing it and then needing to tab to the game twice before it reappeared.
One thing you could consider too is to scale the danger by the number of cats you’ve rescued. Don’t really know if that makes sense, but I get the feeling if one in careful about looking around a lot the game gets quite easy.
But in general a really great game!
Playthroughs: https://youtu.be/_SlCK44rfz8 and https://youtu.be/DBRoxfVlSzs
Lovely feedback, I am glad you enjoyed it! I plan to do a nice update after the game jam is over, polishing off a few things as suggested. Depending on other factors, I may want to develop this further into a fully realized game, but I am not sure yet. In any case I appreciate you sharing your play-throughs. That is super helpful to me as a developer.
I think I would have, and could have ... and for that matter SHOULD have changed the exit door graphic to an open door with light pouring in. That would have made it clear enough to players that they'd reached the exit. That will be the first change I make, but I can't update the game during the game jam so it will have to wait :)
Really nice work, the visual style here is real cool to see. Movement was crisp, simple enough gameplay. Generally fun.
The one gripe I had was that the game seemed to be really possessive of my mouse, even when trying to tab out to other windows. This might be a me issue though, can never rule it out.
I borrowed a lot of code from another game of mine so yes, it wants the mouse. I should have disabled that, since it is not really a mouse driven game...
You can release the mouse if you hit escape, and go to the main menu, then hit escape again.
Hey,
cool game. I like how polished it is with a nice amount of content for three days work. Level Ups, Power Ups, Combat, Cats, Treasure Chests. Nice. Movement is smooth and esp the sounds are quite nice, as you got feedback on everything happening. The idea for the style is really cool, but I do not like the execution with the flickering very much. I think I would have liked a higher rendering resolution more, so that it looks lowres but doesnt have the pixel jumps. Normally the current style works also ok, but with the monochromatic green, its to wild for me. :D
Meow!
The art style looks really cool. But 16 cats?! I finished the dungeon and only found 4 cats! How can I go on with my life, when I know that so many cats are still inside there?!
Nah, the game is really cool and playes well. Movement is nice and there is nice ambience sound. Good one!
I left the cats as an optional thing, because it would get very tedious it you had to find all of them. But as a personal challenge, I think it works.
I had some playthroughs where I got to the exit safely, but went back for more cats, and ended up failing as a result. So it has an interesting balance of incentives ... something I never really planned for, but due to the fast decision making that had to be done, I think it works better than anticipated.
I finally made it to the exit! To make this in 3 days is a great achievement. I was complaining about the balance at first, but eventually it made me try again to beat the randomness, so I'm not sure. About the eye fatigue, maybe you can smooth the motion animation, I'm not sure.
Great entry!
Thanks for the feedback! Yes, the randomness can make or break you run for sure. Usually it has been reasonable for me, but some play throughs were just impossible from the start.
For the green, I am working on another game with the same idea (this was a kind of trial run for that one, in terms of the colors) and I have changed it slightly. From light green and black, I changed it to a light green and a dark green. This makes it much easier on the eyes, and i hope it will benefit the players. I may come back and do it to this game as well, once the jam is over...
When i first saw the screenshots of the game, i thought it was set in the Matrix universe and it excited me so much! :)) I believe you wanted to give your game a different look with this color palette and i respect that decision. Though i have to say it kind of tires the eyes. I saw everything green for a while after i finished playing the game :)) Joking aside actulally i like the visual style of the game. It feels like a very old school and hardcore dungeon crawler experience. It would be nicer if there was an inventory insted of increasing stats with power ups but it's hard to implement all that mechanics in 9 days time.
I also liked how you incorporate the jam's theme. I think i've read "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" years ago. I know a little about Lovecraft's "Dream- Cycle" mythos. I'm not sure it could be considered as "Cosmic Horror" like the "Ctulhu Mythos" but doesn't matter. Anyway i think it's a great setting, i also considered using this setting for the jam. I think this is why you used this particular color palette, to give dream or nightmare look to the game visually. Also saving the cats is i think a reference to another "Dream-Cycle" story "Cats of Ultharr" it's very cool touch!
Combat is a a little straightforward but again it's impossible to create full fledged dungeon crawler game in 9 days. Also it would be great if the automap would have show us the rooms we've been to before. So that the players wouldn't be losing their sense of direction and going to the same rooms over and over again. Final words are, it's a pretty cool game with decent mechanics and polished gameplay. I really liked it. Great job and good luck!
Thanks for the detailed feedback!
I want to address some of it because they are very good questions and deserve answers.
1. The green palette is a reference to my first computer, the Apple IIc, which came with a monochrome, green monitor. Definitely a nostalgia thing for me (and others). I think Matrix was referencing this same kind of thing, as many older computers had similar green monitors.
2. Dream Quest is cosmic horror in my books, as Randolph Carter is defying the "outer gods" by seeking to find the "gods of Earth" on his quest and as a result risks being pulled into the ultimate nuclear chaos Azathoth several times throughout the story. As we infer, this would be a fate far worse than death.
3. Inventory and better mapping would surely have been implemented, but it was not due to there only being 9 days. It was because I started this game with only 3 days remaining in the jam :) However I rather like how things turned out being so simplified. I think if I had more time I would have found a way to ruin the flow of the game somehow. Not that it can't stand a few improvements...
4. Cats play a specific and important role in the Dream Quest and they save Randolph from the moon beasts, just before they are going to hand him over to Nyarlothotep (the Crawling Chaos and messenger of the "outer gods"). Randolph also accompanies the cats on their war against the zoogs, and I used this as the starting point for the game's plot.
Sorry to get so technical here! I really do appreciate your kind words.
I think the first computer i have ever touched in my life was Macintosh CE in my father's workplace. Then my uncle gave me an old Macintosh LC. Aplle II is way older, i think it was released in 1981. Man i love old Macs! You are clearly much more well versed than me regarding the Lovecraft lore so i wouldn't debate with you on that! :)) You made me want to read to the whole Lovecraft collection again :)
I checked your Itch.io profile, your games look fantastic, i'm following you now. I saw Islands of Caliph on Youtube a few days ago just learned now that it was developed by you. That game is an old school masterpiece, i'm definitely buying it!
It was a great pleasure to know you and talk to you. I wish you all the best in this jam and in your future projects!
Likewise, my friend! Stay in touch :)
I like it, I do find it a little too random but it's not that much of an issue, I'm indeed a fan of XCOM games but the kind of mash and see if you can don't really match my taste, randomness apart, the game is great looking, sound is awsome and overall presentation is just "Genuine", very awsome!
Oh man more games need cat rescue as a core mechanic!
I seriously loved the aesthetic. Really good looking game.
Much appreciated! Yes, I agree! That was a totally unplanned thing that occurred to me on day 3 of development. Suddenly I realized what the setting and back-story should be and the cats had to be included. 2 of the meows are recordings of my own cats :)
Pretty fun.
I dig the aesthetic.
Though the text was a little hard to read with how crushed it was.
I accidentally left the game before finding the final cat :'(
I see it as a short term game you could (potentially) play multiple times. In some playthroughs I had to leave without all the cats because my health got too low, while others I was able to get them all. I still have games where the first ghast just kills me outright so there is some healthy random number stuff going on :)
Guess I was lucky then. I was low on health by the end, but I'm pretty sure I got everything.
Here's the playthrough: Cyclopean by Schmidt Workshops
I never knew I could enjoy a mono-green palette as much as I did with this entry. Great job on the art and atmosphere. The mini-map was barebones but didn't reveal everything, I assume this was design choice but it encouraged me to make sure I explored every square before moving through another door. Combat was basic and the story was limited during gameplay but it all fit together. I accidentally finished but I think I should have known the big staircase was the end looking back.