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(1 edit)

This is my review on Flower Trail.

Overall

A nice 3d reinterpreatation of the OG which is not new per se but not common either. The game is very short and unfortunately not very fun. See below for improvements tips.

Graphics/UI

Sprites are nice and appropriate for the theme, handdrawn ghosts are cute but not so distinguishable one another. Lighting is inexistent which adds gloom but makes it hard to navigate. Maze is too large and corridors are too wide. Improvement tips: use either a bright palette for walls or add environment lights. Scale the level down and make the player be the size of the corridors width.

Sounds

Sound effects are there but a bit too repetitive. Music in game is barely audible. Improvement tips: add random pitch to sounds which repeat often in the game. Add a bit of variation in music tracks.

Gameplay

Pace is too slow and difficulty is very easy. Ghosts are stuck in walls and not very dangerous. I’m not sure I understand the goal of having pick up items? I only saw batteries and they’re not helpful when the sprint bar is full. I had the freezing gun at the start of the game but I couldn’t understand how to use it after a few shots. There’s only one level. Improvement tips: make ghosts roam the level and faster. Increase player speed a LOT! Reduce the features (less pickup items) to have a complete game loop. Add more levels or make the game infinite by repeating the same maze but with increasing difficulty

(+1)

What exactly wasn’t fun about it? I felt like the goals were pretty straightforward. You can honestly just focus on gathering the flowers and ignore the items entirely. I actually beat the game without them during playtesting. And just so you know, batteries only work when your sprint is running low, not when it's full.

I’m totally fine with criticism, it helps me improve... but it’s important to make sure you're actually using the mechanics correctly before judging them 😊

(+1)

I was maybe a bit too vague on the fun aspect, which is, above all the rest, very subjective and it really depends on target audience expectation.

This is something I’m still learning myself, who is the target player for our games? For a pacman clone/reinterpretation I expected a faster and challenging game. But, once again, this comes from an avid arcade/action player.

About the battery, most of the times I stumbled upon a battery with full stamina, so unless you can pick them up and use it when out of stamina, I don’t think they add a lot to the gameplay.

About “just (…) gathering the flowers”, I don’t think it makes a complete game loop by itself, without the added challenge of escaping ghosts (which is what made the OG Pac-Man interesting).

About, “using the mechanics correctly”, if it’s not explained to me as a player (which is always dumber than the game developer) I can’t use it correctly ;)

Anyway, keep at it! A 3d game is not a small achievement! Well done!

Thanks again, being a solo dev, it’s honestly tough to nail down solid game loops sometimes. I totally agree that building in the right systems is what actually makes a game fun to play, so I really appreciate you taking the time to play my game and see what works/don' work