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Balance the Books!'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Innovation | #20 | 3.808 | 4.071 |
| Overall | #47 | 3.555 | 3.800 |
| Theme | #52 | 3.875 | 4.143 |
| Graphics | #73 | 3.675 | 3.929 |
| Gameplay | #107 | 3.274 | 3.500 |
| Audio | #111 | 3.140 | 3.357 |
Ranked from 14 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/cristinarubylee/gamedevjs-2025
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Comments
You have a README which is great (maybe add a screenshot or two), but you'll need a License file as well (these are two main criteria for open source category.
Interesting concept - I like the moving monster book. It'd be good if we didn't have to switch between table and bookshelf for every single time. Maybe have it so we can carry something like up to three books between the table and bookshelf? (seems manageable). I like the sound effects too. Great use of the theme.Hi! I just added a License file to the repository. Could my submission still be considered for the category, or is it too late as the file was added after the submission deadline?
Great work on adding this; looks good. I do need to honour all those submissions that were completed in full on time.
That makes sense, thank you for the response!
Interesting mechanics. I also like the graphics and the general atmosphere of the game. Good job!
Great little game! I got level 5 after a bit of trouble (I also got the passed/failed bug). I love the art very much!
I couldn’t quite figure out book 7, but i gave it a good shot!
LOVE the aesthetic-the reflection was a subtle touch, but really pays off
https://x.com/tariusdamon/status/1917735099237560566
A truly innovative idea. I loved the graphics and gameplay, and how they fit in with the contest theme! Well done!
I would be very grateful if you would try my game too, rate it, and share your feedback.
It would mean a lot to me!
An interesting idea to arrange them so that they don't touch each other.
Fun little game! Very creative idea and love the little background story too! The puzzles were challenging and a very cool concept overall.
I did find a small bug with the floating/moving books only level where I both passed and failed the level and both text overlays (Oh no and Passed appeared over each other - I think since the books were a bit too close together but only at the end of the timer)
Thank you! I'm glad someone read my mini story :D
Also, yeah the bug is pretty annoying... I encountered it a little bit when I was playing, but I forgot to put out a fix before the deadline. I'll probably reupload my game with a bunch of bug fixes after the jam is over :]
Nice gameplay, it's quite addicting. Graphics and Sound are good!
But, I stucked in the level of balancing all of floating book
Thank you! Yeah, I realized it's not really clear you can scroll up during the table screen 😅I'll probably update the description to change that...
I couldn't figure it out at first but when i got the hang of it it was really good, The sound effects are really good as well. Would love if you could go check out my game, Load it up!
Just played your game and had a lot of fun! I thought the cutscene was pretty funny :D
Great game! I love the gameplay, the visuals and sound effects were pretty good too.
Overall, great game! I feel dumb tho how do I beat Level 3-
Thank you! Also nah, you're not dumb at all- The third level is a little bit weird, but a hint is you can scroll up in the table level as well!
Love it! The sound effects and visuals are spot on. Had a lot of stacking books listening to that satisfying “clunk” whenever I put one down.
Not usually one to comment much on sound effects, but I gotta say, that clunking book sound was really really good. You had me soo addicted hahaha
Aside from that, the game was great. Good attention to detail.
Had a bit of a trippy time when I beat the level AND stacked too many skull books at exactly the same time, but really solid overall.
Amazing job, kudos!
Thank you for your feedback! The sound effects and music were all royalty-free assets from Pixabay, but I'm glad you liked them! I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I spent quite a bit of time just replaying my game over and over with slightly different sounds 😅
Adhksfhksdhfkhs i definitely was a bit too ambitious with my idea for this game... Originally, I had wanted to add items to manipulate the books and more types, but I got too caught up in the visual details. For example, I was trying to add a reflection from the books on the table, and it doesn't look exactly how I wanted it to be, but I spent a lot of time so I kept it anyway- I learned a lot and had fun though :D