Hex Happens is literally fantastic take on the jam's theme. It delivers a mix as pretty, funny and crazy as the drinks the game features. Well presented narrative and polished presentation certainly won players' (and jury's) hearts and minds (also, the form and structure of the game presentation in front of audience was commendable).
I particularly like the narrative of the exam, providing the over-arching structure and promoted through various means (e.g. player performance measured by grades).
Let's start with the art, which is probably the most significant part of the game's strong identity: completely hand-drawn, it facilitates the consistent look of the game. The minimalist palette contributes to recognizable and well defined "face". All the graphic elements are clear, serve the purpose and I did not have issues "reading" the opportunities the game has shown.
Rest of the presentation aspects are well covered; the game comes with GUI, hints and sounds which all do their respective jobs and fit the theme.
The experience is probably well known to many of us: a university exam, preceded by few drinks "for courage"; in magical world, it translates to exploring traits (buffs and debuffs) generated by random amount of randomized drinks (un)preparing the student-protagonist for the magical duel. Although I only bear several Fs, I will dare to point several items worth the authors' attention:
- I like the concept of high replayability. The game does this really well, players want to repeat and experiment.
- There seem to be several parts of the game which go against the replayability goal, probably added for storytelling purposes but feeling repetitive, e.g. the "dream" sequence of a successful exam (perhaps meant as tutorial?). There is no easy cure, but maybe recognizing repeated playthroughs and skipping some of these bits could make the repeated experience smoother?
- In the first part, player has to walk through the world. While it teaches the basics (which is good), it does not feel that appealing after few playthroughs - "Yeah, let's quickly run through this..." was the common approach. Did you think of adding something more, possibly utilize e.g. the platforms to get player used to those and make things more interesting? Indeed, there would have to be a reward for the less straightforward progression (I can imagine some buffs and debuffs found along the way).
- The type and amount of drinks is heavily randomized. As it may not always be fair, repeating the session should be made as smooth and quick as possible.
- Speaking of the drinks, I do get feedback after drinking, and I can assume what a drink does. As discussed in person, it would be great to think of making this more memorable and obvious for the player, allowing them to remember the combinations and make the effects guesswork a bit easier.
The final boss fight works with variety of buff combinations, which alone is good achievement. From my subjective POV, it feels rather too fast, translating to me feeling less control over the situation - it's no wonder as I'm almost fifty. :) The frantic speed and the associated challenge may indeed be your goal (well fulfilled), however, slower pace could allow you to make the buffs more prominent. I am leaving this note only for your consideration.
Thank you for being such impactful part of the first Bohemia Game Jam, and my congratulations to the 1st place!