It's an interesting gimmick that you put in the end! I didn't feel like the gameplay fit the count down theme very well and it felt like I just played a normal puzzle game with a clever twist at the end. The plot / premise did fit, I just feel like there were some missed opportunities to make the gameplay fit better with the count down mechanic of the "bomb" at the end.
One issue I have with this game is the puzzle design. There are zero indication for when there's another room on the sides, so I went into the room after the 3rd wall was introduced and I was stuck for about 4-5 minutes because I was under the impression that there aren't any more rooms on the sides. Until I randomly stumbled on it and then solved really quickly, which felt unfair since there should be some sort of indication that there are valid rooms, either by the level design (like how previous levels did, a gap in a wall). Additionally when I went into the first room I didn't know what I was doing since I could push the chair around but I didn't know where to, until I saw the sprite on the top right and realised it was a button, then the levels afterwards became quite simple. Still, the puzzles were fun to solve!
I liked the narrative quite a bit. The fourth wall break (& also literally breaking the random fourth wall in the game) is quite interesting and deleting the wall in the Editor is an interesting gimmick. And then speedrunning through the game after deleting the wall is a nice touch as well.
The custom game engine is quite ambitious! I really liked the premise and the final gimmick. I feel like some more polishing and a gameplay gimmick that fits the count down theme better would make the game shine. Of course the narrative and theme of the game fits, but I don't feel the pressure during the gameplay. Still, it's a fun experience with a clever gimmick at the end!
Viewing post in The 4th Wall jam comments
Thanks a lot for such detailed feedback!
The theme was definitely approached more through the story than through the gameplay. Mark Brown mentioned that the jam theme could be interpreted in a very open and flexible way, so I decided to follow that direction. Also, my engine does not have any built-in countdown system, and I really wanted to use it to make the game, so I focused on the narrative interpretation instead.
I completely agree with your criticism of the puzzle level design. It was not clear enough where passages or doors were located, and I also should have visually differentiated doors opened by keys from doors activated by pressure plates. Those clues should have been communicated much better through the pixel art itself.
As for speedrunning the game after removing the wall, that is one way to finish it again—but theoretically, you could even reposition the player in the editor so the game starts right next to the bomb, hahaha.
Thank you again for the thoughtful feedback and for the kind words about the narrative, the engine, and the final gimmick. I really appreciate it!
Also, I’d be super thrilled if you came back to Tiny RPG Studio. Our community would love to see some new people and new games!