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A jam submission

MazaicView game page

Unscramble a mosaic dungeon in this puzzle platformer
Submitted by Zac E (@ZacEmer) — 50 minutes, 59 seconds before the deadline
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Mazaic's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Creativity#2054.0384.038
Overall#3273.8363.836
Presentation#4414.0384.038
Enjoyment#7343.4343.434

Ranked from 53 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?
The player has to mitigate the random swapping of the dungeon room tiles they explore by locking down tiles to prevent them from changing.

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 42 to 23 of 42 · Next page · Last page
Submitted

It looks and sounds nice.  It wasn't clear at first what to do (my first playthrough I thought I was supposed to just push in all the keys, so I ended up restarting after that), and *maybe* seems too reliant on backtracking?  (I'm not sure.)

Also is it always possible to win?

Developer

Thank you!  Yeah, I'm definitely going to need to onboard the player better in a post-jam version.  That backtracking point is also a good one to keep in mind.  I don't think it's always possible, but those instances are very rare, though definitely worth looking at.

Submitted

The art is wonderful and the controls feel really good I really liked jumping around and navigating the level. I was a bit confused about what am I supposed to do and some jumps were a bit hard to make but when I figured things out this fun game turned into a wonderful experience!

Great work!

Developer

Thanks so much!  Yeah, it's a little rough around the edges, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Submitted

I liked the art and general feel of the game! The camera transitions made movement a bit difficult when switching between room segments - I wonder if a standard follow camera might’ve been better for this kind of game?

Nice work overall! :)

Developer

Thanks!  I hadn't even thought about having a standard follow camera; that's a great thing for me to consider.

Submitted

Was nice to see a rouge-like game on this Jam. Pixel-art is clean and neat. Needed some time to understand the goal, but overall loved the concept.

Developer

Thanks!  I guess roguelikes seemed to obvious with the theme that people didn't got for them.  Glad you enjoyed it.

Submitted(+1)

Thanks for submitting your game to the stream, here's the interview;

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1540854238
Submitted

the pixel art and music are cute, the idea is unique. I didn't understand what I should do at first, but when I did it was fun. it's also cool that levels are random. the only thing is, it was a bit difficult because I didn't know what is in the other part of the room and I was falling. good game overall.

Developer

Thanks!  Yeah, the random levels keep you on your toes.

Submitted

I almost gave this a bad rating because I didn't understand what I was supposed to do.  Then I read Itooh's comment and tried again.  Way more fun the second time when I knew my objective :). Nice job!  

Developer

Thank you so much for giving it a second chance!  I'm glad it was better once you knew what was going on.

Submitted

great art
i really liked the presence of sound effects in your game
and the music wasn't missing either, though it wasn't that great.
not something i'd listen to in my free time
very cool movement mechanics and creative game concept
it took me quite a bit of time to understand it though,  a tutorial would've been nice
good job!

Developer

Thanks!  Yeah, a tutorial is the #1 most requested thing, you aren't wrong.

Submitted

Really nice pixel art and controls, it just felt fun to move around (something that's not always the case with game jam platformers). Like others said, it's a bit confusing as to what exactly I'm trying to accomplish or what the slot machines do, but once you get it it's an interesting little puzzle and a cool idea that could definitely be expanded on. Good job!

Developer

Thanks!  I glad moving around was fun.

Submitted

It was a very fun experience, the only thing is I didn't understand wether I was locking down rooms or unlocking them, so maybe making it a little bit clearer (using text instead of an icon) might make the game a bit more intuitive. But aside from that, great game, I loved it :D

Developer(+1)

Thanks!  Yeah, I didn't anticipate how confusing that would be to people.  I'll have to rethink that.

Submitted

Took me a bit to understand what to do but once I did I was hooked. Awesome work!

Developer

Thanks so much!

Submitted

Intriguing concept. I did find it a bit to understand how each room was changing, but I love the principal idea and think maybe adding some unique visual markers in each room (maybe with color or patterns) could help clarify how you need the player to adjust each room. Regardless, the controls felt smooth and it has a very appealing presentation. Definitely a concept worth fleshing out more. Congrats!

Developer

Thanks!  Yeah, I would have liked to make the rooms a little more memorable, but time constrains (as you would imagine).

Submitted

I aboslutely loved this game! I loved everything about it, it is fantastic! I loved traversing through the rooms. The platforming physics were good enough for this type of game as well. Fantastic!

Developer

Thank you so much!  I'm glad you enjoyed the movement.

Submitted

Loved this entry! Thanks stopping by stream! Played at https://twitch.tv/hedgein <3

Developer

Thanks again for playing and for the stream!

Submitted

Very interesting concept! The pixel-art is lovely, it makes the exploration enjoyable. Solving that puzzle felt a bit like solving a sudoku, locking more and more rooms until  there's only a few left.

I think the game could enhance it's introduction or presentation though. At my first try, I didn't understood what the slot machines or the key were doing, or what was my goal. The start screen (the one presenting the goal) goes really fast. Actually maybe the word "Goal" could stay through the whole game? Globally maybe there could be more explanatory text in the game.

Also while I liked the exploration, none of the room felt recognizable. Thus I wasn't sure if they were changing or not, at the end it was just random room of platforming. I don't know what could be done to add some landmarks to the rooms, to feel like they belong to a larger space and are either shifting or familiar.

But that's a more "long term" issue. I still enjoyed discovering the game, and solving it. Plus, I love its minimalist approach, giving the less directions as possible and letting the player explore for themselves. Sure it's as the risk of letting the player a bit confused, but it's the kind of game-design I crave for. And overall despite some issues, this globally succeeds! :)

Developer

Thanks for the great feedback.  I completely agree with everything you said and they are great things for me to think about.  I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless!

Submitted

Nice job! Once I got the hang of what I was doing I really liked this, but as others have said it's not immediately clear what the objective is or what I'm actually doing by interacting with the keys or the sot machine. Otherwise though the platforming feels good and it's really well put together

Developer

Thanks!  Yeah, it definitely needs to be a bit clearer at the start.

Submitted (1 edit)

Figuring out the mechanics in this one was pretty tough. I was pretty impressed immediately by the style, music, and game feel, but I mostly just wandered around having no idea what I was doing. What do these slot machines do? What doors am I opening with these keys? I went and locked down everything and didn't understand what that was supposed to have done. All the while I'm wondering why there's 2 maps. Eventually I figure out that the slot machines are randomizing the rooms and that the keys are locking them in place so they can't be changed, but I'm still confused what I'm supposed to do -- are there rooms that I can only get to if things are randomized in the right place?

Eventually it dawns on me that the left map could be a goal, but I think to myself -- I don't remember the game telling me that, and that seems pretty important. So I decide to refresh just to make sure, and there, sure enough, is the word goal, flashing for maybe half a second and then disappearing.

Anyway, there's a certain amount of fun in figuring out mechanics, but it's always a balance. But once you understand all that, it's a pretty cool game, and it's really impressive that you were able to make a randomly generated game like this for a game jam.


Developer

Thanks for all the feedback!  I definitely agree it's a little difficult to puzzle out what to do.

Submitted

Really awesome look and feel, I felt like this was one of the most polished games I've seen. I do agree with others that gameplay is a little confusing at first, but I don't think you need a tutorial necessarily, just more visual feedback on what's changing when you interact with different objects. Great effort! Can't wait to see what you do next.

Developer

Thanks!  Yeah, I wasn't able to get as much feedback in as I would have liked.

Submitted (2 edits)

The art is really nice in this.

I did play this in stream yesterday, and yeah, I also didn't immediately understand what you are supposed to do, until I got the hint from you, so definitely add a tutorial! (Though a small 1 - 3 room tutorial level would work best I think.).

I also think you need to rework the mechanic of "only being able to use a slot machine once, and then you have to go to the other".

I don't think it adds to the game, it just makes it take more time. Maybe have the game shuffle unlocked rooms around while you do it, so finding the other slot machine is actually a challenge each time.

Otherwise, the moving is pretty good too. Moving and jumping exactly where you want worked for me most of the time, so good job with that : D

Oh, and yeah, let's hope my slot machine doesn't disappear again x D

Developer

Thanks for the great feedback!  They are definitely all good things for me to think about.

Submitted

The lack of a tutorial does make it a bit confusing but once I figured it out it was really fun! I also really like the art and the player character is cute.

Developer

Thanks!  Yeah, I've got to do something to better onboard the player.

Viewing comments 42 to 23 of 42 · Next page · Last page