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A jam submission

polyrhythmiaView game page

a challenging 2-button rhythm game based on polyrhythms
Submitted by Just a Guy, Smokin' Joe — 40 minutes, 39 seconds before the deadline
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polyrhythmia's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Innovation#613.6003.600
Audio#893.4503.450
Theme interpretation#1373.4503.450
Overall#2622.8002.800
Gameplay#3102.4502.450
Graphics#3362.5002.500

Ranked from 20 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

GitHub repository URL
https://github.com/taylorbrook/polyrhythmia

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

A bit on the hard side but I enjoyed it. I was a little confused on how the D key worked the best for me. 

Developer

thanks for giving it a try - yeah, it starts hard and doesn't let up to be sure

Submitted(+1)

I'm still not clear what the right and left buttons are for. It seemed like I got similar results if I just used right or left?

I imagine that there is much more you could do with this mechanic. Thanks!

Submitted(+1)

This game needs a good in game tutorial. Even with the explanation on the Itch page I was still totally confused when trying to play this game. Where can I see which of the 2 (6?) buttons I need to press?

It took me 4 tries and I was halfway through typing a review that I totally didn't understand how to play this when I decided to give it one final try and just try one button. Apparently that was the way to go, since I just used the S button and that seemed to be enough to at least have a chance of hitting all the notes.

The difficulty in the tutorial is already through the roof as the window for hitting a not is very small. When getting to the faster parts I am not even able to keep up with the moving blocks and I am just trying to hit the notes in rhythm with the sound instead of the visuals.

There sure is a fun game hidden beneath this, but it needs a good amaount of polish ! :)

Developer

thanks for playing - it's a two button game, just left and right. But yes this could be made more clear. Add yeah, the precision of the window is a problem, unfortunately it may be one that is impossible to overcome with godot. In any case, I appreciate the comment and thanks for trying!

Submitted

I really like rhythm games, and even though I think this one has a good concept, I find it a bit challenging for me :) Anyway, I really like the idea and the visuals! I hope you'll keep improving it :)

Developer

thanks for playing... yes it's friggin hard

Submitted(+1)

Dang, this game is really difficult! I think the concept is very interesting, I don't think I've seen a rhythm game function like this one before. It's very cool! I definitely want to return to this and see if I can improve. Things get crazy when one hand is on an even number and the other on odd. It's fun! I'd love to see this game iterated on. Nice work!

Developer(+1)

thanks - yes it's super hard! I plan on making improvements when the jam is over and eventually working the concept into a more well-rounded rhythm game. Thanks for playing!

Submitted(+1)

Good job! 

Submitted(+1)

Good and engaging rhythm game!

Considering the type of game probably is better to use the arrow keys for the input and consider their direction.

In the complex good game, keep it up mate!

Submitted

This looks great!  I played the web version and it was running okay, but it took me quite a while to change the tutorial level.  Ultimately a well done execution.  I think this could be finished some and really get some people playing for a while.

Developer

thanks for playing - yes the menus on the web version is esp. unintuitive because the "on hover" function didn't change the look of the buttons the way it does on the destop versions. Thanks again for playing and sharing your thoughts!

Submitted(+1)

This is really nicely done.  I think there are a few implementation issues, but I think a few tweaks would make this stupidly addictive!

But dang, one thing I will say, as a musician and someone who likes absurd stuff like StepMania :-P, this is a really creative way to take those concepts and make actual brain training fun!  It's quite difficult, especially when the circle on one side climbs up before the other side xD.

The tutorial is very good, but I would suggest indicating both hands.  Just the order I did things in, I read the controls, saw I needed a right and left trigger, and was confused why only left was doing anything at first LOL--small potatoes here, though.

For any of the slightly faster-paced stuff, it gets a bit jumbled quickly.  

The biggest thing here, I think, is that the feedback (the green flash on the wheel) is when the square crosses it, not when the user hits the button.  The only visual cue the player gets is the rating which isn't precise.

I think if you kind of made that indicator a "shadow" of the square (and bigger) - taking a page from DDR/StepMania again here, and the aim being to hit it when it visually lines up, and the "flash" or whatever is the user's input, then it would be a lot clearer.  Additionally, I think if the circles were larger, that would make the squares more spaced out--which would let us actually "see" the rhythm differences better.  Stuff that lines up and offsets like 5 on 7 or something is really tough to pick up on with the current....scale ;).

Making that feedback correspond with the input would also make it easier to pick up on if there is, indeed, lag.  Calibration based on a super slow/obvious tutorial level could address that, but I know it's not like we got all year to make these :).

Anyhoo, just getting detailed there because I really like it, enough that I might clone this sucker and take a peek if I have the time!  

Developer

thank you for this detailed comment, these are great suggestions! I esp. like the calibration idea. In the end, I'm seeing this game as a prototype for the next rhythm game, so these comments from you are very helpful. Thanks again and glad you enjoyed it despite the issues.

Submitted

I love rhythym games so I was really sad that my game lagged all the time. Having a latency setting with a metronome is something that would make this playable. I couldn't finish the tutorial, I did understand what I had to do but I had to click way before the blocks hit the light to have a perfect score, so it was very confusing visually. Anyway I liked the vibe of the game and the sound was very soothing, so I didn't rage quit, tried the tutorial 4 times and then gave up. Thanks for making this anyway :)

Developer

thanks for trying it out - sorry to hear about the lag problems!

Submitted(+1)

this was really interesting and fun! i couldn't figure out how to select the first level after completing the tutorial, but the tutorial was really well made and i think the concept came across well 

Developer(+1)

oh shoot - yes I think you're not the only one thrown off by the menu. The spokes on the wheel allow you to select the other levels. There's much more than the tutorial and I'm sorry it wasn't clear! 

Submitted

oh i see now! that's very cool, but yeah not super intuitive haha

these levels are really fun! i am so bad at them but i love the idea

Developer(+1)

cool - yeah the transparency change on hover for the buttons broke on web, which really didn't help. Even the easy level is hard for someone who practices polyrhythms, but hopefully a fun challenge! Thanks again for playing.

Submitted(+1)

Oof I suck at rhythm games. But apart from that the gameplay was really interesting and I bet someone with more skill could have a ton of fun. I really like the visuals paired with the music, I don't know if it was intentional, but it felt like those "liminal spaces" images you see online. Good job on the game!

Developer

thanks for playing!

Submitted

Really hard rhythm game. I was terrible at it haha. The sound design was nice but would have bee nice if the rhythms were more incorporated in the sound. The radial menu  was a little confusing but once I got it it was super cool. 

Developer (1 edit)

yeah, it's super friggin hard to be sure! I've had a decent amount of feedback on the menu - something for me to improve on once the judging is done. Thanks for playing!

Submitted(+1)

Fun idea, unfortunately, I'm really bad at rhythm games but it was fun to try!

Submitted

This game is really hard. I guess you might play some sort of percussion instrument. Although I also play an instrument myself, but playing quater notes on one hand and triplet on the other is almost impossible for me.  This is the game with the best theme interpretation and innovation I have seen so far. Interpretating SCALE in this way is very creative.

Developer

yeah - even the easiest polyrhythms are not easy! It's always amazed me what some rhythm game players can do, though!

Submitted(+1)

awesome idea. a bit laggy for me on mac but i really enjoyed it.

Developer

thanks for playing!

Submitted(+1)

I liked this game a lot. Boy is it hard!

Like, I'm someone who's pretty decent at rhythm games, and I play a bit of music, and this was really tough lol.

One thing to note about the design of rhythm games is - usually, the music is designed where you shouldn't need to look at the visual elements for timing (the guitar hero notes, the DDR arrows, etc) because you can determine the rhythm of the song by listening to it. But with the rhythm constantly changing, the only way to determine it is by looking at the squares circling the petals.

An alternative would be to have the game as a call & response sort of thing, a lot of rhythm games work like that, and it would be a way to get the player used to the polyrhythms a measure in advance. But here, I had to play both the call and the response, for songs I hadn't heard before.

It was a very pretty game, but I think more could have been done with the game design to help teach players about polyrhythmic music

Developer(+1)

thanks for the feedback - abslutely the call and response idea is a good one! And yeah, even the easy level is pretty hard for sure!