I’m glad that we have another entry to this jam that tried to follow the theme. 😄
Alright, critique and feedback: Onboarding for a new player is a bit abrupt and not entirely clear (does building a trail do anything?), but for the most part, the game is straightforward in terms of understanding what I can do. The graphics are good but lack a bit of polish - the game FEELS prototypish or unfinished (the buttons off to the side, for example). Add to this the lack of an in-game menu (if there is one, it’s not obvious how to bring it up), no music, no sound. When a game ends, there is no way to restart. In short, it feels very unfinished.
On the positive, the gameplay is there. I see that thinking through the expeditions and how one rations supplies and navigates the map comes down to strategic thinking, and the complete loop is there. The graphics are good (just curious, what did you use to make the graphics in game?), and the theme is cohesive.
I see you used GameMaker as your engine - is this your first attempt with GameMaker (I see you have one other game on your profile, I haven’t checked it out yet)? My guess is that familiarity with the engine might have slowed you down a little bit? I’d encourage you to use GameMaker again in a future jam to get the engine down - once you understand the engine better and nail down your process, having more time for polish is a synch. Also a lesson learned with the updates that we had to do - make sure to test your builds before pushing them (or testing them immediately upon pushing them) - ‘It worked in engine’ doesn’t always translate into working for the release, which can be very frustrating.
Thus ends my review and advice - well done completing an entry for this week’s jam! Give yourself a pat on the back - producing something in just one week is a big accomplishment.
