Post by Mates in Mission: Cucumber - Cozy Adventure pet platformer comments

Mission: Cucumber - Cozy Adventure pet platformer » Comments

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Holy moly, this is cute AF :D

Honestly, it’s very impressive that this is your first game project. The level of polish is way above most itch.io titles. I played it twice, collected all the bonus items, and barely encountered any issues. The only small thing I noticed is that the sound icon mutes the music but not the SFX, which is really just a tiny detail.

The controls feel clear and responsive and the art is obviously very professional. A few times I expected some objects to be solid platforms and fell through them, but it never really disturbed my gameplay experience.

So I think the game is technically excellent, but I personally found myself wishing for a bit more emotional or narrative depth — something that would give it a stronger unique identity or surprise factor. The core plot works, but... I don't know.

I’ve been thinking about some quick win that might help. A reference that came to mind was the classic Prince of Persia, where the gameplay was occasionally interrupted by short cutscenes showing the princess waiting by the hourglass or the vizier who had captured her. Those moments regularly reinforced the sense of evil and danger that needed to be overcome and gave the player a sense of purpose and urgency. It also reminded me of the early Super Mario games, where defeating the boss sometimes revealed a fake princess, creating a small twist that reinforced the feeling of chasing something just out of reach.

But as a first project this is seriously outstanding work.

Kseniiartist17 days ago

Thank you so much for such detailed feedback! I really appreciate it, it will help me with future development.

The mute button actually only turns off the melody in the levels. This was the original idea, as I wanted to keep the game's natural sounds, but also have the option to play without the background melody (if it suddenly becomes annoying).

In the future, I might implement the ability to turn off sounds as well.

Actually, I was planning on making cutscenes (similar to the intro), but not after every level, but maybe once in 2-3 levels. I planned to make the first levels more educational and revealing of the mechanics.

Thank you for emphasizing this, it really is important to implement in the future.

Please tell me if you had any difficulties understanding the hints, finding items, or understanding where and how the level ends?

Mates17 days ago

No, I actually had no difficulties at all. I understood all the mechanics right away and really enjoyed discovering new ones - like the button in the kitchen, opening furniture marked with the paw symbol, or realizing that water or a toast can hurt me :)

I would personally even welcome the game being a bit more challenging. That said, I’m an experienced gamer, so if your target audience is, for example, 10-year-old children, the current difficulty might be just right.

Kseniiartist17 days ago

Great, I'm glad there weren't any huge difficulties understanding how to complete the level.

My audience is now divided between experienced gamers and less experienced ones. Experienced gamers support your opinion, while people who don't play games much have difficulty understanding hints or finding their way to the next level.

During development, I wanted to make the game a little more challenging and allow players to explore the world themselves and find something interesting.

I guess it really comes down to how experienced the player is. :-)