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Fools to the Slaughter's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Enjoyment | #473 | 3.756 | 3.756 |
| Overall | #1009 | 3.626 | 3.626 |
| Presentation | #1132 | 3.732 | 3.732 |
| Creativity | #2062 | 3.390 | 3.390 |
Ranked from 41 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?
Instead of fighting a boss, you ARE the boss. Play the role of killing those goody-two-shoed adventurers trying to stop your evil reign.
Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?
No
We used pre-existing art
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
Like the choice of spells and the small pixel style.
Out of all the "you are the big bad evil guy" games I've played, this was the most enjoyable (I fell in love with the music, it fits perfecty). It was well paced and each ability unique. The only criticism is the lack of something that would show if an abilities cost exceeds your stored mana (maybe make that state yellow, and gray while recharging?), it sucked exhausting mana because you used an ability before looking at your mana number
That was super fun, and I haven't seen anything like it gameplay wise, while fitting the theme nicely playing as the boss.
You introduced the mechanics fast enough to keep me focused, but it never felt overwhelming and each ability felt unique. Art, music also both fab of course. I really liked the tactical aspects of managing your resources, and the cast times of spells, mixed with the real-time movement of the enemies. Especially once you could teleport.
The game was nicely polished, and I have no complaints especially within the game jam regarding the rating, but in case you continue development and want feedback:
- I found I used the ice blast very little (couldn't say if that's just me or whether it needs a buff though as I still liked the ability).
- The endgame could use some balance tweaking - I think it was the perfect difficulty and tested the player's skills in a fair way, but I felt the levels were too long. Especially level 11, which, by the time I beat it, I knew the music inside out aha.
Thanks for the kind comment and compliments!
About the ice blast, we actually buffed it twice because my co-developer/designer is too good at playing games, and I couldn't beat his tutorial levels. Probably still needs another buff haha, though I think the permanent slow it gives adventurers is underrated.
I agree about the level length, but there's a trick to level 11 that lets you beat it within about 30 seconds. It's really more of a gimmick level based on a bug we thought was too funny to fix for the jam. As a hint, pay attention to the sound effects and focus on targeting the archer that feels different from the rest.
Thanks again for taking the time to play our game and leave feedback!
I love that image of one of you being especially skilled aha
Ahhh that has me curious. I'm definitely gonna return to test that out
Fun game, nice variety with the attacks too. Levels were fun and had a good sense of progression. Nice work!
Excellent game, fun and challenging. I didn't like that the spells activate at the mouse position after the delay, not where you pressed the button. Level 10 was also very hard, but I did get it eventually. Nice choice of art and music. Great work!
Thank you for the comment! I went back and forth a bit on where the spells should target and decided on after the delay just so players could play the game using only the mouse (just clicking the Magic Missile button will automatically shoot it at the nearest enemy, and clicking the Lump of Lava will spawn it at the cursor after giving you time to aim). If we end up updating the game after the voting period, we'll probably add a specific mouse-only mode and change up some of the controls. Thanks again for the kind feedback!
Nice idea and execution, I really enjoyed your game!
I think that some information could probably be made clearer though. For instance, in the last level, I did not understand why I was hit by many arrows but it was only 1/5 of them that did damage, and sometimes I just got killed instantly out of nowhere.
Thanks for the comment! I noticed that about the arrows in the last level as well, and I think it's actually a bug throughout the entire game that just isn't noticeable until you have like 50 archers shooting at you. I set the arrows to despawn after they've travelled a certain distance, and it seems the archers sometimes stop walking forward just a smidge out of range. As for the instantly killed out of nowhere, yeah, definitely should've included a damage taken cooldown. That last level actually has several archers stacked up to appear as one until they collide with a wall, and they shoot simultaneously so that all their arrows hit you in the exact same frame. Not great design 😅 Thanks again for the great feedback!
I loved the game!! Really fun to play. Well done!!
I love the game ! I had a lot of fun playing it ! Probably one of the best games of the jam, very polished.
Well done !
Really fun game, love design and possibilities to harm yourself if you don't have enough mana
Really polished and fun game! Would be nice to see the radius of your AOE attacks like lava beforehand, although it was very fun to see that I missed myself by a couple of pixels with Death box xD
A solid game interesting mechanics and stylized art
Great fun and a challenge! As a minor suggestion, perhaps a different sound effect when using your health for your mana. Good job!
Very enjoyable to play. The latter levels were pretty challenging, but satisfying to complete. Props for really clean UI and how self-explanatory the game was to play. I think the connection to the jam theme is slightly loose, but otherwise good job :)
Thanks for the comment! We went back and forth on the connection to the theme a bit. I felt it was strong when we first started, but as the game evolved it became more just shooter where you couldn't move. Our hope was that being mostly unable to move and having to charge your attacks (telegraph them to the adventurers!) would be enough to really hit that "I'm a dungeon boss" feeling. I wonder if adding a "second stage" mechanic or something would hit that better.
the game started very hard for me
I'm sorry to hear that. I know I struggled with the third level a lot when we first designed it, but we buffed the ice spell to try and counteract that. If that's the level you're having trouble with, I recommend taking it slow. Cast the ice spell right at the beginning, then send as many magic missiles as you can without eating into your health. Whenever the adventurers start to get too close, just cast the ice spell again to push them back.
Really good! Sometimes things like the spawning of the lava lagged a bit for me but otherwise it was really enjoyable
Thanks! And oh, hmm, I'll have to profile that and see. There is a charge-up to cast the spell and then also a warm-up after it spawns before it starts applying damage (with the intent that you have to lead your placement), so you might just be feeling the combination of those as lag. If that's the case and it's just feeling like lag, some of the UX probably needs to change.
Excellent submission! The execution is top-notch.
Really wished I had auto-fire when holding a button for spamming homing missile
Thank you for the kind comment! And doh, that was a missed opportunity. If we end up releasing a post-jam update, holding the button to auto-fire will definitely be a feature. Thanks for the suggestion!
A good strategic + reflexion game as we like them :)!
Fun game! I liked how you had to strategize in the later levels depending on your kit, it was very enjoyable.
Very nice game with great presentation. The parts where you summoned enemies was very interesting, and It could have been fleshed out more with more time. But overall was an enjoyable game!
Thanks for the comment! The summoned minions are one of my favorite parts, esp. due to how versatile they become when attacking, blocking, diverting, or luring the adventurers. Super simple to implement as well!
Great presentation, and a very satisfying game. Impressed by how many levels/abilities you managed to pack in - well done!