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A jam submission

Kube a la NeonView game page

Puzzle platformer with neon cubes
Submitted by skallywags — 27 minutes before the deadline
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Kube a la Neon's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Fun#2103.8643.864
Overall#5043.7123.712
Presentation#7053.7733.773
Originality#11453.5003.500

Ranked from 44 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?
2 characters connected by rope

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?

No

We used pre-existing audio

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Comments

Viewing comments 33 to 14 of 33 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

I had a lot more fun with this than I was expecting. The levels were really easy, but they had a sort of flow to them that was just fun to watch, and the music choice (although not made for the jam) was pretty on point, too.

I liked the visuals and the game feel, I just wish there were more levels and that they got a bit harder. Although if you made them harder the design might need to change a bit. Currently the player has to take these “leaps of faith”, assuming that the obvious move is the correct one, and only after landing several seconds later will they know if they made the right move or not. If the levels were made harder there would probably also need to be some way to predict what result an action would have rather than taking these leaps of faith.

So overall, it kind of feels like it’s “on rails” currently, which may be exactly what you’re going for and frankly I find that to be a pleasant experience as well.

Developer

Thank you for playing and thank you for your feedback!

Our goal was to make a puzzle game but with fun physics and intuitive controls, and we didn't necessarily expect an on rails experience but that's what we ended up. It could have been a lot worse, so I'm happy with it and I'm glad we were able to make something you enjoyed!

For sure we did not want it to be too hard, just hard enough to make you think and experiment, but only take 5-10 minutes to play overall, so I'm glad that was your experience too.

I agree for a full length game version of this, we should consider more complexity and more deliberate decision making. Thank you for suggesting that.

Submitted(+1)

Congrats on your game, it's a simple idea that you exploited very well. 

I liked the fact that the first levels are mini-puzzles based on the core mechanic and that you only start to introduce "level mechanics" later on. Also, the game is easy to read but the neon-portal art direction keeps it interesting.

If you wanted to push it further, after the jam, I'd primarily polish the controls:

I couldn't play without changing my keyboard layout (I have an AZERTY keyboard). Unity handles it now so it's a pretty simple change. 

The jump could feel better. I died doing simple jumps because of how heavy the cube is and because there's a lack of feedback on the jump. The cube could squeeze a bit before jumping, ... 

The physics starts to break a bit when you hit the level with the "force arrow" pushing you up. I didn't understand at first what was happening.


Anyway, it's a great submission, congrats! 

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing and thank you for the detailed feedback!

Submitted
Deleted 181 days ago
Developer (8 edits)

Thank you for playing the game and for your detailed feedback!

I acknowledge and respect your thought process on the colored platforms. During the development, my fellow developer and I debated on this internally of whether to have the the opposite color platforms hurt your or not collide with you. Our decision was to make them hurt you because otherwise there would be unexpected behavior in the level design - a player could slip through half the level without us intending it, let's say, and that would make level design much more time consuming without adding much for the player.

I agree with you that color itself is not unique to our game; many games have color to distinguish characters including platformers and non-platformers. However, I don't think sharing one mechanic holds us back from trying to be unique in other ways. We were proud of the combination of the various mechanics we came up with for 48 hours: color cubes, color switching, swinging, magnets, gravity wells, etc, and the various level designs we used those mechanics in. I think our game concept is unique, despite the fact that we may share one mechanic that other games have. Is our issue necessarily uniqueness for a game jam, or just is this enough complexity for a full game?

And on that note I think you are spot on, this is definitely not enough complexity for a full game! So we plan to add many more level interactions, mechanics, types of level design, and maybe even simple enemies as we further develop the game. Thank you for the feedback, we take it seriously.

Submitted
Deleted 181 days ago
Developer

Thank you for writing this out, I'll keep it in mind!

Submitted(+1)

I'm definitely not a fan of the jump it's way to low and the camera shake feels kind of weird as well. Also It would be really nice addition if you could actually die from falling down instead of having to restart.

What I must say tough is that the rope swinging mechanic feels amazing it's really cool how it easily switches between the orange or blue cube being the anchor. Also the amount of things in the game are incredible the arrows that boost your speed the moving platforms the green 0 to switch your colour. The levels are amazingly well done an really aid the overall experience. Overall really well done game especially for a 48 hour time limit.

Developer (1 edit)

Thank you so much for playing and for your feedback!

I agree with you on all three counts: jump, camera shake, and and auto-restart.

We did want the cubes to feel weighty, which is why the camera shake can be heavy if you drop from a larger distance. The exception is the large camera shake on starting a level, which is a bug that will be fixed once the jam is over. Can you elaborate on what changes you would like to see in the camera shake - is it too long, too strong, too frequent? Any specific cases where the camera shake messes up for you? I agree with you, I just want to be able to have more details about it.

Thank you for the response!

Submitted(+1)

I'd personally say it's to strong even if you just jump a small amount the camera shake feels like there is an earthquake happening perhaps the effect could be shortened, because it feels really weird to normally jump and then when landing getting this camera shake.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Really good and intuitive mechanic. There's many rope-connecting games in this jam, often where you have to control both characters at once. I really like that in your game you control just one of the characters at a time.

The levels are really well thought out. I like how it ramps up in difficulty.

The game is very satisfying to play, good job on that!

Congrats on submitting!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing our game and wow thank you for the kind words. This is our first game jam but we take games seriously so it means a lot to us to hear this feedback! Congrats to you too!

Submitted(+1)

You're welcome!

Would love if you could take a look at my game too :)

Submitted(+2)

Interesting ideas! The level design is pretty good and clever, a little challenging but not too hard. Well done! The artwork is simple but the visual effects look so good. Also, the background music is very pleasant. Overall, this is really a fantastic work for 48 hours!

Developer

Thank you for playing and these are very kind words, thank you!

(1 edit) (+1)

This is the most polished take on the theme I've seen in the game jam so far, when taken literally (i.e. as two items actually joined together). The platforming and rope physics were very well done. That said, where this game shines is in its level design, and ability to teach the player each new mechanic smoothly and organically. The game felt great to play, and fun throughout. Great job!

One criticism is that it was a little unclear at times whether you would need to reach the blue goal, the orange goal, or both in a level, and potentially a way to see more of the level (e.g. increased FOV on button press?) might go a long way in enabling the player to plan out their approach more effectively.

Developer (3 edits) (+1)

Wow, this is very high praise! This is our first game jam, but we take games seriously, so this means a lot to us. 

I agree with you that there could be more clarity as to where the player should be headed starting out in a level. What do you think about a zoom in / out button, maybe Z, that could show the entire map, but then once you start moving it zooms back in automatically?

Also, how about a UI in the top right corner which shows the goals: blue goal, orange goal, or both. Not the location of those goals, just that those are the goals in the given level.

Thanks for playing and for the detailed feedback!

(+1)

Impressive job for your first game jam! 

Yes, I think both of those additions would definitely improve the game and make for a more intuitive experience. The UI indicator for the goals would be less necessary if you could see the whole map (and therefore all available goals in the level) with a zoom out key, but still wouldn't be a bad addition in my opinion.

Submitted(+1)

beautifully done game and it is fun to play! The lighting effects are awesome!

maybe as suggestion, you can reset automatically when it is endless fall - for example after some vertical position. also, i think esc button doesn't work?

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing and thank you for your kind and helpful feedback!

Agree with you on the auto reset, and yes ESC button is an oversight from us.

Submitted(+1)

Awesome game! The basic shapes look really good thanks to the effects. the music and sound effects are pleasing. and it's a creative concept. Good job!

Developer

Thank you very much for playing! Anything you would want changed?

Submitted(+1)

Hmmm, well the loss of control while jumping made some jumps a little difficult but it didn't bother me too much.

Submitted(+1)

Loving the lighting and effects. There's some good puzzles here. For me personally, I think the camera shake was a bit too much

Developer

Thank you very much for playing and for the feedback!

On the camera shake - was it the camera shake at the start of each level that was too much? Or was it too much shake in general?

Was the shake too often, too long, or too strong?

Submitted(+1)

I think there are two parts to it. Firstly, the duration is way too long. It would probably work better if it was about 5-10x quicker. It doesn't take many frames to communicate a shake. Right now it feels more like an earthquake, rather than a thump, which is what I think you want.

I'm not sure how the shake is implemented, but the other part is the animation of the shake. You could say that currently, the 'shake frequency' is way too high. There should be more than one frame when the camera moves between the origin to the maximum distance. This could help it feel smoother, and less like a vibration but more like if you physically shook a camera.

Anyway these are super small details, but you asked, so I answered hahaha. Feel free to reach out if you want more clarification

Submitted(+1)

Very fun ideas, and a nice take on the move 2 characters theme I've seen across the jam. It would be nice to be able to adjust movement in the air, and to have the blocks be slippery when against walls/ceilings since they would sometimes get stuck if the rope was too stretched. Also, why are the controls wasd if I can only move left and right?

Developer(+1)

Thank you very much for playing and for the feedback!

I was waiting on someone to catch the WASD mistake - I realized it myself after submitting :). It was just an oversight. However, I have to wonder which one seems more intuitive at first glance WASD or A and D? (even if A and D is more accurate) - When I play some of the jam games that use A and D, and I see "A and D to move" I am a little confused at first whereas "WASD to move" clicks a lot quicker. But that may just be me, let me know!

You are totally right on the walls / ceilings. That's something we did notice during playtesting, but we just ran out of time. Good catch though.

We will be fixing these issues and uploading a new build once the jam is over. Thanks again for your feedback, really.

Submitted(+2)

Very nice game! The visuals and particles look really great and nice music choice too! I also like the idea of adding boosters and how quickly they were introduced without being too overwhelming. The pacing and level design is also very well done! The physics feel really smooth. One tip though, I would probably allow the player to move even while not grounded, cause currently it feels a bit unresponsive. All in all, well done!

Developer

Thank you very much for playing! I think you're right about the movement, and we'll take your feedback and implement what you've suggested after the jam is over.

Submitted(+1)

The post processing on this game looked amazing! The physics felt really nice, especially the level with all the boosts was really fun!

Developer

Thank you very much for playing!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Beautiful game. Nice concept. Good executions. It was a very chill experience ! 

Just one pet peeves, some of the "puzzles" were challenging and others were just display of mechanics (not new mechanics) where you don't have to really think about what you're doing (like the last level). But it has a good potentiel imho

Developer (1 edit)

Thank you very much for playing and we appreciate the feedback as well!

Submitted(+1)

One of my favorites in the jam. Such a cool main mechanic, and the other mechanics are also working together in a well thought manner. Really fun to play.

That being said I have a few issues :

When you jump, you can't switch directions mid air and it feels stiff.

The jump itself is always the same height, which can easily be changed and add a lot of depth.

BUT, I say this only because you showed a lot of care and talent into this game, and I had a lot of fun with it - I just think you can tweek some things easily and it would feel much better to play.

Really well done!~

Developer

Thank you very much for playing and we appreciate the feedback as well!

Submitted(+1)

Great game! Cool level design, and I liked how you introduced the new mechanics. I would maybe have gone for a couple fewer levels and polished it all up a bit more, but it was really good!

Developer (1 edit)

Thank you very much for playing! Did you feel it was a bit long for a game jam game? Any specific levels that ran long?

Submitted(+1)

It wasn't necessarily that the levels were too long, more that I feel like with fewer levels each and every one of them could have been a bit more polished. I would have liked an automatic restart when I fell off, for example. But again: The game was great, this is just nitpicking. :)

Submitted(+1)

I really like the overall feeling of the game. The music in conjuction to how clean everthing looks makes the experience relaxing, even in frustrating situations. Plus, the puzzles themselves are really well done. Excellent work. <3

Developer

Thank you very much for playing!

(+1)

Wow, this game is super satisfying. Make more levels, polish it a bit, and sell it for 5 dollars on steam. I'd buy it.

Developer

Thank you very much for playing!

(+1)

I enjoyed it, really satisfying

Developer

Thank you very much for playing!

Submitted (2 edits) (+1)

@skallywags good level design, I really like the arrow idea which perfectly throughs you in the there direction, the trail effect was fitting with the neon platforms. The only thing I would say you can improve is to add some scene transition/ death transition, it restarts instantly when we die and loads the next level instantly when we win, Overall the game is very nice and smooth. Good Workmate :D

Developer(+1)

Thank you very much for playing!

Viewing comments 33 to 14 of 33 · Next page · Last page