| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Presentation | #1798 | 3.129 | 3.129 |
| Fun | #1806 | 2.890 | 2.890 |
| Overall | #1947 | 2.955 | 2.955 |
| Originality | #2407 | 2.948 | 2.948 |
Ranked from 155 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
We feel it fits the theme of Out of control because it literally randomly changes the usual control keys that player often use to move and jump in game. They cannot control the time the key changes nor to what key changes there are. In addition to that, they are not in control of the gravity shifts as they try to escape the lava. Basically put, it fits the theme of Out of Control as we interpreted the theme as Out of Control being not in control, and in this case, the controls for movements.
Did your team create the art for this game during the 48 hour time slot?
We created all art during the game jam
Did your team create the audio for this game during the 48 hour time slot?
We used pre-existing audio
Nice, the controls getting randomized on each run sounds like an interesting idea, it leads to fun gameplay shenanigans. And I can see this idea having some potentials to improve too.
Also, like the others said, the GUI showing the changed controls is a bit too small.. perhaps scaling them up can help it's visibility?
Overally, the idea was interesting and I can see some potentials in it.
Kinda like keyboard twister. At one point it was F9 and Tab to move with , to jump. Crazy times :)
Cool idea! However, I think you should use only the alphabetic keys, because half the times the chosen keys did not work, also a notification when the keys changed would be appreciated. Still, nice job!
Nice the idea, the character felt really good to control once you position your hand on the right keys. I'd suggest to make the current keys more visibile (for example, you could put the key for jumping directly ahead of the slime, and same for left and right) and to change them only one at the time
The text that tells you what keys to press are:
1) Small
2) Not in the easiest to read font
3) In a color that doesn't stand out from the background
There are also some keys that show up as empty, and they're not space, as that has the term "space", so I couldn't figure out what key it was.
The points where the controls switched felt random, the first set of keys lasted me like 30 seconds, then I had fairly rapidly switching controls. every 5-10 seconds.
Game felt pretty good when I have figured out which keys to use, for that moment the gameplay, the platforming feels fine, but I agree with many of the other commentors here that some form of warning/notification needs to occur before/when the keys switch.
so this is a common thing that i've seen throughout the jam, and thats taking "out of control" to meaning "difficult to control". this is a prime candidate. one of the key issues i have with this game is that i am a low dexterity player and the hand positions required to play the game one randomisation kicks in and decides im going to have a bad time is quite severe.
firstly: this could be helped but only chosing keys randomly within a region so as to allow the hands to rest comfortably on the keyboard, secondly the core game is simple platforming, there's no fun in it tbh it's just the challenge of having to do keyboard fu just to make the pllayer move.
this isnt necessarily a bad thing though, you have games like QWOP that are fun, its about making the random mesh well with a comfortable user experience.
there could be something in here with some tight changes, good luck!
The major thing this game has potential with is controlling the player with wacky controls. At first it felt a little awkward, but then I got used to it and controlling the character in such a weird fashion was interestingly... enjoyable. The main gripes I have with the game are that the moments where your controls switch just feel frustrating and the visual, audio, and presentation aspects could be better.
a little game with potential, but that is rather disappointing.
The art and sound effects were pretty good.
here are my problems with it:
1. the key UI text that you need to play the game at all is really really tiny and hard to read. It needs to be big and prominent (but still not in the way). A good place to put includes right underneath the character or right above, or in a corner somewhere. Also, the text is formatted in a hard to read way. It would be better if it was shown visually. A good example is the common visualization of the keys WASD. Just replace W, A, and D in the graphic with the key it currently is, and you already have a much better, much more readable, UI element.
2. Certain keys should not be in the pool. It's fine to switch up the controls and assign them to Z, 5, or [ for example, but NOT F4, Esc, or PrtScn (for example). You should limit your possible keys to assign buttons to to only those that print characters in a text editor. Some keys I just couldn't use, like F4 or F6, which were either unresponsive or used by an external program.
3. When to switch key assignments. Obviously switching after dying is ok. I didnt really see a problem with this, but Im going to mention it just in case. You shouldnt switch controls while the player is mid-jump, because it could cost them the run due to something thats completely random. Youd have to playtest this more, but Id say that when the player is on the ground or has not moved for awhile, its safe to switch controls. Or even better, give the player a warning before controls switch so they know not the make a perilous jump right before.
4. When controls switch, there needs to be more indication than just "oh, my buttons stopped working." The text suddenly changing is not noticable at all. There should be an animation or a sound effect (preferably both) that clearly indicates to the player that the controls have changed or are about to change.
I really liked that the platform sides were also platforms, making the jumps a little more forgiving. The jumps in this game are relatively easy, putting the focus squarely on the difficultly of finger gymnastics, which is where it should be for a concept like this. I didn't think it could be done. I didnt think someone could make a platformer game where the controls are random, but you did. And I actually liked it. I think you guys actually made it work.
I think you got the core concept of the game down, but a lot of the implementation details were subpar and rather disappointing. But you have the makings of a solid game. If you fix these issues, Id be willing to give this game a second shot.
I love the pixel art slime, but the randomized controls are not fun to manage. I find myself stressed because I know that at a pivotal moment I could get my controls changed, and then frustrated when I realize that the controls that worked previously no longer work. I'd really like to see a 'lonely slime' full on game though, it could make for a simple plot for a nice retro style platformer!
Nice asthetic, randomized controls is not very fun though. It doesn't really add anything to the game, since you have plenty of time to adjust to the new controls without penalty. Also, I don't know if this was a glitch or on purpose but I kept teleporting randomly? That was very jarring.
The art is well done ( nobody pays attention to the detailed ground, they just care about the slime ):< ), and the "remapped controls" mechanic isn't as annoying here as it is in other games. Sometimes I ended up playing Keyboard Twister, which I think you should capitalize on if you develop this further.
However, sometimes the controls are mapped to...troublesome keys, like the function keys or Enter. I didn't have too much of a problem with a function keys, but sometimes I just outright couldn't see what key was chosen! And, at least for me, sometimes I get randomly teleported somewhere. In one particular instance that I ran into both times I got there, I teleported into a wall and got stuck.
This is another one of many games made during this jam that deserve further development. Keep it up!
Hey, nice take on the theme. I like the art style, and sound.
A few suggestions:
More feedback when the controls are changing,
As mentioned, some of the keys are not showing up properly some times (like tilde)
Keep it up!
Cool game, I think it really fits the theme since the controls are changing. I think maybe try to keep the f1-f12 buttons out of the rotation since a lot of times they are used for other things, but overall great game!
Really like the art style on this one.
Some of the keys used (Like the F keys) could be problematic if they came up. Maybe limit it to letters, numbers, symbols and space? Also the lack of sound feedback on changing keys took me by surprise. If it was made a bit more obvious when keys changed it would be far more satisfying.
Thanks for submitting!
Had fun with this. Art was cool, gameplay was pretty cool too.
Fun only stopped with combinations of keys that I couldn't use on my keyboard. Or really silly combinations which also triggered system functions (be wary of using ctrl plus certain keys)
A bit buggy, and I would have liked some more feedback (visuals/audio) as to when the keys change. I can see this with a lot more polish.
The game honestly has potential since the mechanic in itsef was not a hard one to grasp or super annoyng to use but a sound queue would be really good :P
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