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Compress(space).expanded()'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall | #1 | 4.469 | 4.469 |
| Graphics | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Gameplay/Design | #1 | 4.625 | 4.625 |
| Fun | #1 | 4.125 | 4.125 |
| Audio | #4 | 4.125 | 4.125 |
Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What would you like feedback on?
How is the difficulty curve?
Are any mechanics hard to understand?
Did you have any trouble understanding the folding limitations?
Is the demo too long/short?
How is the performance of WebGL build?
If you had found this demo while browsing would you want to check out the full game after playing?
What did you update?
New level, new mechanics, visual updates.
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Comments
Honestly, just one word: wow!
I really enjoyed it and will definitely want to try the full game. Although it took me several attempts to get used to the new mechanics, I didn't have any particular problems progressing through the game, but I did have some issues with the folding mechanics in various levels, especially with the buttons.
Although it took me several attempts to get used to the new mechanics, I didn't have any particular problems progressing through the game, but when it came to the folding mechanics, at various levels, especially with the buttons, it took me a few attempts before I understood where to start folding.
It depends on how many levels and how many mechanics there will be in the end. I read that on Steam the demo ended at 16, and personally, around level 15/16, I actually said to myself, "Are there still more levels? Ah, cool! Yay!‘ But then I asked myself, 'Is it really a demo with so many levels?’, because it seemed like more than a demo but less than a final game. Maybe I'd try starting with 20, so that the demo ends on a round number, and then increase it based on feedback.
I noticed some jerkiness when changing levels in WebGL. I tried it in Chrome.
And as I said at the beginning, absolutely yes!
This game feels already quite polished. I especially like the the choice of background music and SFX. In contrast the running animation felt underwhelming, since it did not have a sound which really made it stand out between the good SFX. The artstyle is simple yet compelling and fits the overall theme of the game very well.
The core gameplay mechanic is unique and well executed on. I like the core gameplay loop and levels feel revarding to solve. This game could be really fun to play on a handheld device.
Overall I think you did a good job in terms of difficulty curve of the levels, although there are a few things I feel could be introduced in a more understandable way:
I did not have any performance issues with the WebGL build and only encountered one bug, where you can push the character behind the tiles when collapsing the tiles from above onto the character.
I think it is a very compelling demo that highlights the uniqueness and puzzle style of the game. In my opinion making the demo available on handheld devices like mobile or Steamdeck would improve the conversion rate to a sale of the full game.
Itch.io page is also done professionally and captures the essential parts of the game while providing visual variety.
Great job!
I'm really impressed by how far this has come along since PJJ10. You should be super proud!
How is the difficulty curve?
he difficulty curve feels much better than PJJ10; much less friction because you've introduced the game mechanics more gradually this time.
On Level 2, where to "Click to Unfold" is a bit unclear. I tried clicking anywhere first, then to the left of the UI hint, then tried clicking and dragging, before finally realizing I had to click on a specific side of the fold line. Perhaps highlighting the valid column of clickable space for the tutorial would be helpful. Or perhaps the star effect could be on the side of the line you can unfold; that would make it universally clear each time where the unfolding can and will occur.
I also got stuck on Level 5 for a while because I didn't realize I had to jump to solve the puzzle. I only figured this out by reading a comment that some puzzles require "coordination". I think hinting at this will prevent player frustration. The difficulty curve after Level 5 was quite smooth, after learning I could compress space while jumping. I didn't get stuck again until Level 16.
Did you have any trouble understanding the folding limitations?
Honestly, yes. It's still not clear-cut when I click which row of tiles will remain and which row(s) of tiles will disappear. I learned it through trial and error, but it wasn't clear from the UI alone. The arrow when dragging does help though. One idea would be to highlight the two rows that will remain after the fold while you're clicking and dragging.
Is the demo too long/short?
I feel like the demo could be shorter. You want to give players a taste, but leave them wanting more. I feel like Level 16 is a good stopping point for the demo.
How is the performance of WebGL build?
It was great! Hardly any hiccups. A lag spike here and there when folding, but smooth otherwise.
If you had found this demo while browsing would you want to check out the full game after playing?
Yes, definitely!
Thanks a lot for playing.
A bit unsure about what you mean about clicking on a specific side of the fold. You can click directly on it or left/right of it with some leniency. I'll try to see if I can make the detection range more generous.
The funny thing about lv 16 is that it used to be where the steam demo ended. I've gotten some feedback about people wanting to see a bit more mechanics in the demo so I extended it. Will think about this further.
Once again, thank you for your detailed feedback. I hope you'll continue to try out my games.
I tried to take a video of the "click to unfold" bug, but it didn't show it well because you can't see in the video when I am trying to click.
The bug appears to be erratic: It doesn't happen all the time, it happens about 1/3 times when I try to click a square that is on the non-folded side of the fold line.
Also, one more thought about the demo: If people are saying it's too short, that's potentially a good sign because they're wanting more ;)
Visually it looks great, it also sounds great. Folding space mechanic fairly straightforward in being able to grasp how it works with some uncertainty as to what ends up folded and what doesn't. Resulting in a lot of trial and error. Puzzles are fine -- I don't like puzzle games so I can't really comment; actually don't like 2D platformers either :p.
I think switching between WASD and SPACE for character movement, and then the mouse in order to fold space is awkward. I have no solution for you, it is what it is -- maybe a button to toggle between character movement with WASD to moving the folding space reticle with WASD. I mention this in that 2D puzzle platformers in order to do well on Steam need to be exceptional in all areas; otherwise they will not sell well. Can't have any sticking points or hope that players will overlook weak areas of your game.
So with the controls being a bit awkward as you have one hand -- my right -- moving from space to the mouse in order to fold space, well that to me is awkward. Also, does this have controller support? Any 2D platformer should have controller support and be completely controllable with a controller. So in my opinion, your folding space mechanic would need to be handled with a controller as well.
Thanks for playing.
I don't quite understand what you mean by switching right hands between space and the mouse. Generally with WASD you'd keep the thumb on space. So there is no reason to use another hand for jumping unless you are using a different keyboard layout. Let me know if you meant something different.
Regarding controller support., yes it's planned.
The concept is amazing. The web version had massive audio issues, but that's probably on my end.
I thoroughly enjoyed the levels and challenges. The artstyle, sound design and mechanics work really well. At the beginning I struggled with legal moves/ restrictions, but with some experimenting I got used to it.
The WebGL performance was pretty bad for me, but in windowed mode it went a little smoother. As I said previously, this is probably on my end.
This game has huge potential and I loved playing it. Good job!
Top-Graphics, amazing Gameplay Design, all Perfect and I Like it! Sadly level 14 is unsolveable (was not fun), but the game is still good for unfinished demo. The only mechanic took me long to figure out is how to press a button without crates (by walls). About WebGL performance, maybe some audio glitches at level transitions and on browser tab change are related.
Waiting for expansions and fixes. Please keep up the Great Work!
Here is my walkthrough:
Thanks for playing. Really appreciate you uploading a video. To answer your question, Level 14 is definitely solvable. But maybe there is a difficulty spike there. I'll reconsider the level order to balance the difficulty.
I don't see the way of pressing two buttons while having only one crate. And it is not possible to use the ceiling through limiters and/or the crate self and player character self. Stuck on that for over 10 minutes, tired of trying, and left. Maybe I really missing something. Sorry.
That's understandable. If you're still interested in trying the rest of the game,
You can solve that level by pushing the block down and using the ceiling to activate both levels. It seems that could be a difficulty spike at this point of the game. I will rethink it.
Wow. This was amazing. I just added this game to my Steam wishlist. It is visually beautiful, and the game play was a lot of fun. The level difficulty scaled nicely, and while there were a few puzzles that made me stop and think, nothing was so difficult as to make me want to skip it. I felt it was a good length for a demo, though definitely wanted more.
The folding mechanic was pretty clear and it made sense how and where you could and couldn't fold space. Unfolding took me a little longer to figure out, though once I acknowledged the color change it helped. You might want to have a comment about needing to be close enough to the line in order to unfold.
The music was nice, but it was pretty quiet, particularly compared to the SFX. I needed to turn the SFX slider to be nearly 0 while the BGM was at max to be able to hear the music without the SFX being uncomfortably loud. The SFX worked really well, I just wish they had been balanced a little bit better with the music.
I played the game on the web, and worked mostly just fine. After beating level 28, I got a blank screen. I had to refresh the page in order to do anything. After refreshing, the level selection let me pick levels 1 through 5. Once I beat level 5 again, I was able to select any level on the level select screen, and selecting the ??? gave me the end/full version coming soon page.
I really enjoyed playing this game, and I am looking forward to the full release.
Thank you for the detailed feedback and wishlisting the game. Sorry about the level select bug. I'll push an update to fix it