Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• I enjoyed the dark, urban aesthetics and the enemies were well thought out. Unfortunately I encountered a few problems in getting past a certain stage in the first level (I managed it a few times but having then 'died' in level 2 I was back at the start and this particular spot was impossible to get past!). I really like the way that the player can leap from one world to the next but thought more audio effects could have added to this experience. Overall an innovative game design with a cool look and feel. More work is needed on the mechanics and audio, with further opportunity to develop the story line too.
• There's a nice concept behind this game, and I'd love to see it developer further in the future. The time jumping mechanic is interesting, but I would have liked to have seen it used in more interesting ways. If it's only used to clear obstacles, then it's functionally not that different from a normal jump. I also often ended up clipping through the floor, falling out the level and getting a game over. I never made it to the end of the game because I lost in this way several times! The art style is minimal and dreary, and I do like this! It would be interesting to know more about the story of why this characters is stuck between years, and to what the creepy tentacle monsters are that pursue the player. Work on fixing the game-ending collision issues, and use the time jump mechanic in more creative ways, and this game will be a solid little indie game. Good luck!
• I love the black and white art style the game has, it reminds me of the Limbo art style. The environments could have had more objects in the background / foreground to add more depth to the world. The switching between two realms is a great idea and adds a level of challenge to the gameplay by trying to avoid obstacles and enemies. I had a few issues with the switching between relearns where I would end up in the environment but this didn't stop me from progressing. The audio I found was a bit quiet but really added to the feel of the game. A great idea and well made game, well done!
• This game had a good connection to the theme using 'leap' to refer to the core mechanic of switching between timelines but also used leaping in order to progress through the game. The commercial potential, I think, is quite high as this has unique gameplay elements and is very stylised. I have witnessed similar titles to this with regards to style and general gameplay obtain success in the market so the demand for these experiences is there. I had fun playing through this game and testing travelling between timelines at different times in order to see what the 2 experiences were. I incurred a little frustration at times when using some trial and error to avoid taking damage from enemies and occasionally getting stuck in some geometry however for the timescale this game was made in the getting stuck part would presumably be less of an issue given more time. I also experienced a little frustration with functionality of dragging boxes around when trying to get to the other side of it. The ability to switch the side the box is on while holding it would have been quite useful in alleviating this. I thought this game was very innovative doing a great job in presenting 2 different timelines and requiring the player to switch between at different times. It was very engaging starting from the start of a side scroller and still getting very different experiences from simply switching timelines at different times. The visuals were very nice, the light and dark differences in timezones was very intuitive and the overall style of sprites was very consistent. The sound was also good. The general game audio was quite atmospheric and I feel it also contributed to the resulting consistent feel of the game. Overall I was very impressed with this title. The innovativeness and the strong visual style left a lasting impression and I can see the core mechanic of switching timelines being levaraged in many different ways to add a lot of gameplay going forward. Great job!
• Leap Year visually was very nice, the use of black and white with highlight colours is very appealing to the eye. The audio added to the mystery of the game, so this was well implemented. The idea of “leaping” through time is a nice use of the theme. Spamming the “leap” button can get you in trouble in some areas as I found myself stuck inside the map or falling into the abyss, although I know that is not what I was supposed to do I wanted to see if I was able to do this. Consider putting the “leap” on a cooldown timer to stop problems like this. Overall, I had fun with the game, visuals and audio was well done and enhanced the game, Overall well done.