Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• Bit Slayer does not adhere to the theme well at all. There is nothing I can see that involves "explosions making it go" other than the sword explosions "going" through the menu selection. The game is very fun to play. I rather enjoy the chaotic nature of flaying my sword around to slash at the monsters. Adding a leaderboard adds to the satisfaction as well. The volume of the game at start-up coupled with the UI navigation and selection makes this a very jarring experience for someone opening it for the first time. Its very easy to accidentally select the same option multiple times without meaning to. A short activation delay would have been great here. Adding the ability to toggle the static, moving background and aberration where fantastic adds. "Fruit ninja" style games are not very common and you put a unique twist on it with the different "buffs" and boss type enemies. I would love to see how you could expand on this concept and perhaps release something as a mobile app. The polish is there. Music fits well, and the animations were satisfying to look at.
• I don't think it really did anything with the theme of the jam, and I physically have a hard time keeping precise mouse movements without having really discomforting feeling in that arm so I had a hard time playing this for a length of time. It was clear you put a lot of polish/juice into the game Theme: I don't think it really did anything with the theme of the jam which is a shame for the fact that you did so much with this concept in only 2 days time. You have an incredible amount of skill, I would have loved to see what you could do with this with 2 entire weeks in your hands. Fun to Play: I physically have a hard time keeping precise mouse movements without having really discomforting feeling in that arm so I had a hard time playing this for a length of time. I know that's personal to me, but that was a barrier for entry having a game like this that is only played with one hand. Accessibility: While the Settings UI being played essentially the same way that the game is played (cutting across is with the sword), it led me to essentially "double tap" on a setting on accident while trying to adjust it. I'm fascinated at the idea of having a UI that you engage with in a way that mirrors gameplay, but this still felt weird to me. I appreciated that you added settings to stop the background movement and the static as those were both distracting and made it hard to look at the game while playing. Originality: It's like fruit ninja, but nothing like fruit ninja. Incredibly original idea. Again, I can't imagine what you could do with this concept in 2 weeks seeing what you did in only 2 days. Audio and Visual: The audio started off pretty loud and required you to wait through the title screen animations before you were able to get to the settings and turn it down. Even the lowest audio setting was pretty loud (the downside of not having a granular slider). Visually the game was polished to perfection. Everything was juicy, and I love a good killing slowmo. Fantastic job!
• This one goes HARD. Easy and super addictive gameplay that, though simple, is executed really well and delivers. This was an energy drink in a bite sized game. The audio feedback was really good and the background track was great (but the music was really loud at the default settings - had to immediately turn that down.) Incredibly simple premise, but well executed and a lot of fun to play (though it did seem like a stretch for the jam's theme.) I loved the different effects that occurred and the randomized weapon with every new game. The slow down for larger enemies that invites the player to multi-attack was *very* satisfying. From an accessibility standout, I really appreciated the ability to turn off the visual effects, including chromatic aberration. The effects were all stylish and fit the game well, but having the option to disable them is always nice.
• I loved the aesthetic of the old TV / CRT-style display, and the ability to disable some of those effects was appreciated. A simple gameplay mechanic made it easy to pick up, but with enough variations in enemy mechanics that prevented it from feeling too same-y without overwhelming you. Not sure how well it fit the theme, even with your comments on it, nor how original the idea is, but it's done well.