Hello, Mark. Thank you for your YouTube series. As a fellow game developer, it's great to watch. I have some thoughts, but they are subjective, so please take this with a grain of salt:
While the gameplay is good, the character controller is well done (acceleration, deceleration, jump, etc), the mechanics are easy to comprehend, the level design is so-so (easy wins should be peppered throughout to give a sense of achievement and flow, i.e. introduce mechanic, next level is easy, then medium, then hard), the game itself is... not fun.
I think to myself, "why am I playing this?". When I play Untitled Magnet Game, I feel like I'm playing a game that's just created for the sake of making a game. The title could just be "Video Game". I don't see the joy in the creativity here. There is loads of creativity, just no joy in it. Perhaps this is done intentionally to just make an MVP, but I feel that joy still make it into an MVP. Joy can be communicated through:
- Story (which can give players a reason to finish)
- Environment art
- Player artwork
- Gameplay elements (is there humor to be found in your mechanics?)
Are you having fun making this game? Does it make you smile or chuckle to yourself when you make it? I ask this because it seems like a game someone was obligated to make. Some games are dark, brooding, and serious... but your game here feels like it should have whimsy. There is a whimsical aspect to the character and idea, but there's no whimsy or joy in the gameplay.
Even so, it's still pretty solid as a "video game", it's just not fun to play.
Keep up the good work and find that joy!