Incredible game! Very polished and fun to play. Unique game idea, great music and I love the atmosphere and art. I have nothing negative to say :)! Love this game.
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Balance Ma'atters's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Graphics | #8 | 4.333 | 4.333 |
| Overall | #19 | 3.836 | 3.836 |
| Theme | #36 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Audio | #37 | 3.564 | 3.564 |
| Gameplay | #40 | 3.641 | 3.641 |
| Innovation | #41 | 3.641 | 3.641 |
Ranked from 39 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Challenges
Open Source
Build it with Phaser
GitHub repository url
https://github.com/leokuo0724/Balance-Ma-atters
Comments
Wow, thank you so much!
I'm so glad the balance mechanic, the art, and the turn-based combat all resonated with you. Hearing this kind of feedback is incredibly rewarding! And I’m especially happy you noticed the music—it’s a soft spot of mine.
Thanks for playing! From the screenshot, it looks like you might’ve made it close to the final stage—congrats 🎉
157 days ago(+1)
Wow, thank you so much! I’m really glad the balance-focused design came through clearly—that was a big part of what I wanted to get right! I wanted players to feel rewarded for thinking ahead, and punished for overcommitting.
There’s definitely a lot of room to expand, and hearing you'd like to see a full version really motivates me. I actually planned to add some card effects during the jam, but ran out of time in the end 😅 I'll definitely consider making a full version after the jam! Thanks again for playing and leaving such thoughtful feedback!
156 days ago(+1)
Thanks for the suggestion! I haven’t played Tactical Breach Wizards myself, but from your description I get the idea—and it sounds really cool. There was actually a game with a similar mechanic in last year’s Gamedev.js Jam too!
I can totally imagine a version where you plan all your actions, then commit and watch the turn play out like a mini battle—it’d add a whole new layer of strategy! Definitely something I’d love to explore further. Thank you!
159 days ago(+1)
Thanks so much for the kind words! 🙏
I’m really glad you liked the tutorial and onboarding. Since the game mechanics are a bit complex, I felt a solid tutorial would help ease players in without overwhelming them. Super happy it worked out!
And yeah, I’m glad we both picked that myth!! 😄
159 days ago(+1)
Thanks again for the great feedback! 🙏
You're totally right—I originally planned to include more card effects like Quicksand, Burn, Bleed, and Critical hit. Unfortunately, do not have enough time to implement those ideas. 😅
As for the poison boss, as I mentioned on X, the only winning way is to hit hard before the venom gets you. 😂
Really appreciate the kind words about the tutorial and audio too. 🙏 If I have time in the future, I will extend this game more.
161 days ago(+1)
Thank you so much for the feedback!
I put a lot of love into the details, so it’s amazing to hear you noticed and appreciated!!
Holy moly! Amazing job! This game was insanely and phenomenally fun to play. The gameplay was great, the art and audio design were lovely, and all of the gameplay mechanic were balanced quite well (I apologize for the pun). I cannot understate how much I love the art design, and I adore the combat. Literally everything was near perfect, but I do have a few small suggestions :)
Unfortunately, it seems there is a typo in the tutorial, where "shield" is spelled "shied," which is practically the only major error this game has; fix that, and it's golden.
Also unfortunately, while I was writing this comment, I went back to replay the game so I could look at the name of one of the cards, and once I finished the tutorial, the first card I played didn't get removed once I played it, but instead, stayed on screen. I was able to continue playing it and to continue damaging the enemies, allowing me to beat the entire game. I'm uncertain of how it happened, but I think the card that remained may have been the last one I played during the tutorial. You can see the card in the screenshot below.
Other than those two unfortunate errors, everything else was absolutely lovely and enjoyable. On my first run (which didn't encounter and glitches), I managed to make it to Apophis with 1 health remaining, got an amazing first hand with "Unbalanced Draw", allowing me to play all of my cards, draw a new hand, and balance my large scale, taking out both of the smaller snakes and half of Apophis' health. If it weren't for the fact that venom hit through shield, I would have won the fight on the second turn, but I still had a lovely time, and that goes to show how well-designed mechanics can synergize in amazing ways.
Sorry that this comment is so long, but I wanted to give my honest feedback mixed with the small bug report.
Thank you soooo much for taking the time to write such a detailed and thoughtful comment! Hearing how much you enjoyed the gameplay, art, audio, and overall design truly means a lot to me. Feedback like yours is incredibly encouraging and makes me motivated to continue making even better!
I'm really sorry about the issues you encountered. The card bug you discovered -- thank you so much for the detailed description and screenshot. It sound like the issue happens when cleared all enemies and click "end turn" button; I didn't properly handle the card drawing state in this case. I will fix that along with the typo issue after the game jam!
It's so cool to hear about your battle against Apophis -- that's exactly the kind of epic moment I hoped players would have! lol It's awesome seeing the mechanics come together like that.
Thanks again for all the love and for helping me spot the issues!!
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