Interesting game overall. The progression and puzzles with the pickaxe and minecart were nicely done, and the atmosphere was good as well.
However, the platforming during the rising lava felt extremely punishing. Despite being experienced with platformers, I had a lot of difficulty and only managed to reach the second button. I understand this was made under jam time constraints, but I wanted to share a few specific things that contributed to the frustration:
1. Airborne wall sticking
When moving right while airborne near a wall, the character can sometimes stick to it. This interrupts momentum and makes jumps feel inconsistent, especially in tight sections.
2. Capsule collider causing platform slips
Because the character uses a capsule-shaped collider, it’s possible to visually land on a platform but still slip off due to the rounded bottom. This makes platforms effectively thinner than they appear. Even a slight tap of the movement key can cause a fall, which feels frustrating rather than skill-based.
3. Edge landing without jump
There were situations where I landed on the very edge of a platform but couldn’t jump because the ground check failed. From a player perspective, I was clearly standing on the platform, so not being able to jump feels unfair.
4. Lava pacing + multitasking overload
The lava rises very quickly, and combining precise platforming with a button puzzle under strict time pressure felt overwhelming. After completing certain jumps, there wasn’t enough time to look around and understand the layout of the next puzzle before getting cornered by the lava.
As a result, the difficulty sometimes felt more tied to collision behavior and strict timing windows than intended challenge. Small adjustments, like adding coyote time, using more forgiving ground checks, slightly slowing the hazard pacing, or applying a low-friction physics material so the player can slide along walls instead of sticking, which could make it feel challenging while still fair.
To better illustrate what I experienced, I attached a quick outline diagram of the cases of that level below.
The core idea of the game is good; it just feels like it needs a bit more polish. Still a solid job tho, hope this helps!
