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A jam submission

TetherGeistView game page

(GMTK Jam 2021 - Top 10 Popular Vote) Traverse a mystical world by separating and rejoining with your ghost.
Submitted by O. & Co. Games (@TetherGeist), Jefftacular, rusty fishburger, Doctor Ty, TheCanyonKid, RaeAllenArt (@raeallenart) — 4 hours, 59 minutes before the deadline
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TetherGeist's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Overall#104.4174.417
Fun#114.3654.365
Presentation#144.6634.663
Originality#914.2214.221

Ranked from 104 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
This is a puzzle platformer that dynamically changes as you separate and rejoin with your spirit.

Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?

Yes

We created the vast majority of the art during the game jam

Did your team create the vast majority of the music during the 48 hours?

Yes

We created the vast majority of the music during the game jam

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Comments

Viewing comments 73 to 54 of 73 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

It's a very nice game! I liked it a lot!

The facts that the "separations" are limited but can be refilled if you take some risks, and that your spirit keeps some momentum after rejoining with your body really sell the concept for me.

Very great job!

Developer

Hey, by the way, we updated this to have 15 new levels and a better physics engine.  Would love your feedback on this update! Also... we're running a Speedrun competition (with prizes) over on our Discord channel. Come hang out! https://discord.gg/gZmVadmG

Submitted(+1)

Amazing job! I'm blown away that you made this in just 48 hours, it's so polished and tightly constructed :D

Developer

Hey, by the way, we updated this to have 15 new levels and a better physics engine.  Would love your feedback on this update! Also... we're running a Speedrun competition (with prizes) over on our Discord channel. Come hang out! https://discord.gg/gZmVadmG

Submitted(+3)

Amazing game, especially for a game jam. The art and sound are simple and small scope but well executed and I think that was exactly the way to go. The main mechanic makes a lot of sense, and while it seems obvious, you guys combine it with many other elements creatively and that counts for a lot! Surprisingly I haven't see a lot of games use this as the main mechanic, probably because they couldn't make it fun, but you guys did. The onboarding process is pretty minimal but it's enough to get the player started which is good. 

There were a few instances where I didn't understand how a puzzle worked and had to experiment, especially when it came to more platforming dependent puzzles, and I ended up finish it just by going through my options. This means I hadn't learnt the mechanic to beat that puzzle beforehand well enough. There were only a few cases like this so it's not a big deal, just something to note.

The game starts out pretty great and for a few levels it feels very clever in level design and mechanics. Then, as it goes on longer, it starts to rely more and more on timing-based challenges largely due to the heavy gravity applied to the character. These are interesting level designs too, but they are challenging in execution rather than in puzzle thinking, so the game starts to feel less clever and more tedious. I don't think this is a huge deal because I feel like you guys do enough already in the first few levels to make a fun game jam game. But just a suggestion in case you guys continue to work on this game, which I think you definitely should :). 

Another thing - the game is very condensed in terms of puzzles. It's puzzle after puzzle after puzzle after puzzle. Even within a single level it's puzzle after puzzle. I liked the puzzles a lot, but this causes some puzzle fatigue. It makes me feel like I am constantly moving at slow pace, and you even see this from the very beginning where it takes a while to get past the first level. I completely understand that this wasn't possible for a game jam, but if you continue working on it - I would space out the puzzles with easier sections that do fewer puzzles and more easy platforming, or just easy puzzles. I could also seem some simple enemies being implemented which get damaged due to the join / split mechanics and this could also break up the pace a bit. You guys definitely went for the puzzle platformer route which is cool. I suggest looking at Prince of Persia Sands of Time for good pacing for a puzzle platformer. That game maybe has too much combat, but in general they do a good job at balancing out puzzle platforming with non-puzzle platforming with easy combat sections.

Overall, I think this is actually the best game I've seen in this game jam, seriously. Please keep working on this after the jam, it's awesome! Put it on steam!

I would love your rating and comments on my game as well, so I can know what to improve!

Developer

Thank you so much for all your in-depth feedback! We will definitely check out Prince of Persia Sands of Time and your game :) 

This game particularly is more comparable to Celeste where the majority of the game is a puzzle platform that progressively gets more challenging in technique and puzzles. We are all huge fans of Celeste and could not recommend it enough to others. 

We will explore all your thoughts as everyone's feedback is absolute gold!

Developer

Your thorough feedback is huge! I place a ton of importance on player feedback and iterative design so this is seriously super valuable to me and my team. This post will be heavily analyzed ;)

I’m excited to check out your game! Thanks for playing! 

Developer

Thanks for your very detailed reply. There's a lot of good advice there that we will take on board.

Submitted(+2)

This game is amazing! Very cool concept for a puzzle game that also has potential for some action segments. Also very good visuals and music. Loved it, good job!

Developer

Thank you for your kind words! I agree, some action segments could be quite epic with this mechanic

Developer

Hey, by the way, we updated this to have 15 new levels and a better physics engine.  Would love your feedback on this update! Also... we're running a Speedrun competition (with prizes) over on our Discord channel. Come hang out! https://discord.gg/gZmVadmG

Submitted(+2)

Great mechanic, really well executed :D

Submitted(+3)

Oh man, tonight I wanted to try a bunch of games but this was the first I tried today and now I'm afraid I'll be disappointed in everything else I'll try xD I'm amazed you managed to create so many levels, all interesting and make this new mechanic work so well.  It's so polished it doesn't feel like a jam game, it's definitely the best game I tried so far in this jam. Thank you for creating this!

Side note so that this comment can perhaps be useful other than the praise: There was one frustrating thing. In what I think was the second to last level there's a part where the body bounces on a platform while the spirit should pass through a gate on the top right. There every time the spirit would pass through it would immediately get snatched back by the falling body and the window was so narrow that I had to do try that like 20 times (also it's a bit weird that the fall speed during that bounce is regular while usually in spirit mode the fall is slowed down). 

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much! I enjoyed your game last night so I'm glad you were able to enjoy ours as well. We had a big team so that we could make it the best possible. For example, my only job was to provide level designs XD Jordan was the true mastermind.

I really like what you said about the fall speed for the spring, that would be great to implement for post-jam development. Thank you for the feedback!

Developer(+1)

Wow thank you for the crazy high praise! I’m super proud of how well the team came together in such a short time. I’m honestly kind of floored by it myself.  

And yes! I have that same frustration in the second to last level.  Lol you can actually see it in the gif. Certainly something we’ll redesign post jam.

Thanks for playing!

Developer

Reading back through the comments, this is still one of my favorites.  I figured I'd resurface this game on your notifications feed lol. We updated this to have 15 new levels and a better physics engine.  Would love your feedback on this update! Also... we're running a Speedrun competition (with prizes) over on our Discord channel. Come hang out! https://discord.gg/gZmVadmG


Submitted(+1)

Thanks man, I appreciate it. I'll make sure to try the updated version this weekend :D 

But even before that, congrats on the results of the jam and especially for keeping working on this, it's definitely worth it! 

Developer

Thank you! This is new territory for me. Usually, the end of the Jam marks the end of my game lol. This one got so much good feedback, we're scoping out how to turn this into a feature-length.

Submitted(+2)

All I can say is AMAZING! You have created a platformer all your own, and I really hope you go for a full release! Give Celeste a run for its money!

Developer(+1)

That's high praise! Thank you, and thanks for giving our game a try!

Submitted

It is always a pleasure to play a game like yours!

Developer

Hopefully it's alright, we've been using this as a pull quote. Was honestly one of our favorite comments during the jam lol! Also, we updated this game to have 15 new levels and a better physics engine.  Would love your feedback on this update! Also... we're running a Speedrun competition (with prizes) over on our Discord channel. Come hang out! https://discord.gg/gZmVadmG

Submitted(+1)

That is awesome! I really hoped TetherGeist would get a full release, and I am happy you guys have decided to go for it! 

It's totally fine with me if you want to use my comment! In fact, it is an honor!

Developer

Thank you! The encouragement seriously means a ton to the team :)

Submitted(+1)

Wow, really nice game! Great take on the theme, very polished, challenging but fun puzzles. Great job! :)

Developer(+1)

Thank you, and thanks for giving the game a try!

Submitted

Thank you for making it! Hope to see you again next year.

Submitted(+1)

The pixel art is really cool and the main mechanic is not only a great idea, it feels awesome !

Developer

Thanks for the feedback, glad to hear you liked it!

Submitted(+1)

really really liked it, cool concept and amazing presentation. I'm not a fan of puzzle games, in fact i found the transfer mechanic really fun just to play with

Developer

Thanks for playing! We worked really hard on making the spirit mechanic feel good, so we appreciate your feedback!

Submitted(+2)

Wow I loved this game, great job.  I enjoyed it so much.

The audio was great, and the spirit-mechanic is really fun.  I think my favorite part of this game is the physics of the mechanic.  It seems like the momentum transfers between the hero and their spirit -- is that correct?  In any case, great game!

Developer(+1)

Yes, that is correct! I think we have a little fine tuning to do with the momentum fusing back together so it feel more controlled, but exploiting the momentum is fun I think!

Submitted(+2)

Looks amazing, great sound and fun to play, I liked a lot this game.

Developer

Glad you liked it, thanks for trying it out!

Submitted(+2)

It was easy to cheese some places, but it gave a lot of satisfaction when it worked :) thanks for this experience! 

Developer(+1)

That's great feedback, as we were trying to make something that would be fun to play again in unintended ways as soon as you got the advanced mechanics down. Thanks for playing!

Submitted(+1)

mmmmm thank you and goodnight :)

Developer

You are very welcome.

Submitted(+1)

WOAH! Very well made game! No complaints from me :)

Developer

Thanks for playing! We are glad you liked it!

Submitted(+1)

Your game is too clean and too polished ! Concept too cool, art too cool, music too cool !

If I had one complaint it would be to make the control more "easy" for the player (for example, make a small window after the player dropped from a platform where the player can jump even if it's too late, make the game cheat for the player), but it's really minor don't take it too seriously, your game is already perfect !

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much for the kind words! We are huge proponents of designing to the players and coyote time here so you’re preaching to the choir! We have it implemented for the main character, but definitely need to add it to the spirit and other mechanics. 

Thank you for playing! 

Submitted(+1)

Great art style and puzzles! Amazed that you were able to put that much in in 48 hours!

One thing is that inertia after joining together seems to be a little too much.

Developer

Thank you! It was a hectic weekend for us lol! I 100% agree the inertia is overly difficult. Definitely something we’ll adjust post jam. Thanks for playing!

Submitted

Great platformer! I love the way you use space to create puzzles. Good work!

 You can also take a look at our little platformer, if you have time :)


Developer

Thanks! I'll take a look at your game too!

Submitted

I love the art! I love how polished this game feels! I died so many times haha!

Developer

Thank you! We are glad you liked it!

Submitted(+1)

Absolutely fantastic.  so much polish and attention to detail for how little time you had.  And you took a simple idea and expanded it into so much variety.  Controls are good, presentation is great, game feel is wonderful.  5/5, I'm very impressed!

Still can't get over how all the machinery and the statues in the background light up when you split.  Such a cool visual detail for such a quickly-made game!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thank you so much for the kind words! We have a really tight-knit team and I'm just ecstatic at how well this all came together in such a small window of time. You can thank our super talented artists for the glowing statues effect. They really brought this game to life. 

Thanks for playing!

Viewing comments 73 to 54 of 73 · Next page · Last page