itch.io Spring Selects Series A
On Sale: GamesAssetsToolsTabletopComics
Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
Tags
A jam submission

In the bagView game page

Top down action
Submitted by Sandra Moen (@sandra7764), fourlastor, SheerSt, takecare (@takecare) — 4 hours, 58 minutes before the deadline
Add to collection

Play game

In the bag's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Innovation#84.1254.375
Audio#243.8894.125
Graphics#244.2434.500
Overall#343.8894.125
Gameplay#653.5363.750
Theme interpretation#1233.4183.625

Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

GitHub repository
https://github.com/fourlastor-jams/game-off-2022

Leave a comment

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Comments

Submitted

Hallo,

Thank you for sharing your game. I’ve already saved its RATING;

1. verified: GAME due to observed in SUBMISSIONS LIST; keyphrase: Play in browser; adds: noticeable pixel drawing technique based on screenshots

2. observed: noticeable background music

3. verified: GAMEPLAY to be of slaying all monsters in the level to receive the key to be used to open the door to the next level; observed: MAX count of items in a BAG exists, where: heart item signifies health; adds: if heart item count is 0, LOST state; learns: key item automatically replaces heart item to cause LOST state if remaining heart is only 1;

4. observed: GAME to appear to NOT yet have DROP ITEM from BAG

5. adds: GAME's drawing techniques, et cetera learnable for own ACTION game

Thank you. Health!

Submitted(+1)

Fine game except for the control problems mentioned below. There is no clear relation to the theme. The pixel art and the music are both great. Well done!

Submitted(+1)

I love the core of the game, it's very original and a breath of fresh air for me, good job! 😃

The art is cool and consistent through the game, well done! 😄

Some things that I would change:

  • The rotation of the character should always be the last pressed input. I took some unfair hits in my playthroughs as a result of this.
  • Sometimes, taking things from the floor feels unfair, specially when you are with your inventory full. I think this is one of the main ideas of the game and it may be essential for its difficulty curve, but maybe changing the mechanic of atracting near items to be turned on/off with a button would make the game less frustrating at times.

Other than that, the game has a good idea behind it with a lot of potential to be polished and worked on as a full project. Keep it up guys, you may have a hit game in the future! 😉

Submitted(+1)

Great concept! It's amusing to have to sprint through fields of money to avoid overstuffing yourself, and the "long game" of how things accumulate is interesting. I wish more games would experiment with their inventory systems!

I got stuck after a few levels when it seemed like the key didn't spawn, but it's possible it (or a monster) was hiding behind a tree and I missed it when searching for it.

Some things that would be nice to see improved:

  • Having sound effects for hitting & slaying monsters, as well as when drops appear. Aside from just feeling good, sound would help a lot when a monster is hidden behind a tree and you want to know if it's still been vanquished.
  • Not having the swing direction reset to "up" when you stop holding a direction key would be nice. I tend to let go of the arrow keys to avoid bumping into the monsters, but the result here is that I often swing in the wrong direction and get bumped instead.
  • Collision with the door to make the key open it feels a little finicky. Not huge, but it'd be nice if it were easier.

All in all, great work! I hope you keep trying out experimental concepts!

Submitted(+1)

This game has only 2 (should be 3 now!) review so far. It’s unacceptable!

More people should try it out, its amazing!

Thank you for creating and submitting it.

I recorded a gameplay video with my commentary: https://youtu.be/XbH7wzcN7K4 (it may be still in processing state at the time I post this, so stay tuned)

(I streamed it too, so don’t be surprised when I start talking to myself xD)

You might be interested in some of the idea, I’ll copy a few random ones here as well. I’m usually to lazy to divide them in categories, but I’ll go the extra mile here.

The good parts:

  • It’s a cool concept! I was feeling like I’m playing a puzzle that doesn’t feel like a puzzle game. It’s a good thing for me. :D

  • Good art style + good music. It’s a cool combination that makes the game feel complete. I would say that it’s polished enough to feel like a solid indie game entry that can be sold for money. (But it needs some playable content upgrades to get to that)

  • The game plays smoothly in the browser. No performance issues whatsoever.

Some issues I had with this game:

  • The controls feel a little bit weird. I wish the facing direction wouldn’t reset after I release the button. It creates the issues with attack directions

  • You can also attack while trying to rotate and it will fool the sprite orientation code :D

  • Sometimes the road patters seem to be broken; I’m not 100% sure if they’re persistent or randomly generated, but it’s something you might want to investigate

  • The enemy can hide behind the tree. Not a major thing, but it might catch some less experienced players off-guard. I’m used to this peculiarity, so I don’t even mind. :D

  • Items can go through the walls. This might catch you off-guard too.

  • In the very end, my inventory was reset after the loop. Was it a bug? Have my bag expanded even more? The inventory shouldn’t reset after you get a max bag, so you can lose at some point in the future.

My random thoughts / suggestions:

  • Since it’s a game jam submission, I understand that it wasn’t easy to add and test more content, so read the following notes like in “if you will ever want to continue making this game”, etc.

  • Add some progress tracking. The score, for instance. When you die, you get rated. Players like to see a feedback from the game. :) Right now it doesn’t acknowledge any progress; at least that’s my understanding.

  • A second enemy type would make the game feel less repetitive. Especially if you would have to use some other strategy to defeat them.

  • A second kind of a gem that increases your high score when you die. Upon defeat, every bonus crystal gives you + score in your result (it should take the number of loops you’re taking them with you into account). This will encourage a riskier play style where you take some crystals purposefully to get higher score in the end.

  • A second weapon type that could use a consumable projectile. Maybe it could be the best weapon to kill the second enemy type. Or perhaps it could do something about the green crystals piling up.

  • Adding a second thing of everything increases the amount of combinations making this game more exciting to play until you can’t go on (i.e. you’re full of crystals).

  • I would like to have an ability to play with controller (gamepad). :D This game looks like a good fit for that!

Submitted(+1)

This is a neat game, having your life as an item in the bag that can be overwritten is a cool concept.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the game since in one level I killed all the enemies but none dropped a key.

Developer

It's interesting for sure : ) exploring game design ideas is so much fun! Aw, too bad, must've been a bug we missed. Seems like you had fun though ^_ ^'