Hey! Thank you for submitting this game! I had good fun with its unusual controls and style! The fact that you did this with Rust is really cool! Very well done!
Theme
I think it fits the endless theme and the cosmic horror pretty well. Good job there.
What I liked
- The concept of only having 2 directions horizontally was interesting to wrap the head around, but then it was really fun. I imagined being a 2D creature living only in 2D space ^^. It helped to transport the odd place and scenario.
- Climbing and having to watch your back while climbing was a very cool part of the game mechanics. It caused a good tension and also makes the game a bit of a player skill based game. Nicely done!
- The visuals transmit a feeling of being in a very strange place and underline the cosmic horror for me. Same goes for the enemies. You really hit this alien vibe very well.
- The overall challenge rate of this game. It was not super easy to learn and then even harder to master ^^, that puts up a good challenge and this again kept me playing and trying until I got the hang of it.
What I would wish for
- Some nice sound effects and a dangerous or brooding music loop or just some ambiance in the background would help to further transport the overall feeling of the game.
- I would love to have the different mana types on 1 and 2, or configurable, because this was the most challenging part for me. Climbing with Q and E was new for me and then having also to use the arrow keys to change the "ammo" and shoot with space, basically broke my weak mind a few times ^^. So a more intuitive way of shooting, or at least a key closer to WASD for changing the mana, would be nice (TAB for example). Alternatively two keys for firing each type, like H and K as they are close to WASD.
- Actually I can imagine this game to be even more complex, by having to find the different abilities (mana types ...) first, or by having sort of stamina so one can only climb a certain height until one finds more stamina to "level up" :) - I know in the jam time such things are hard to get into the game, but maybe you plan a post jam version? Then I would love to have some more mechanics like this in the game.
- Ah and one more thing. I don't know how hard this would be in rust, but a red flashing and short screen shake or a similar thing to indicate a hit on yourself would be nice. Same for the enemies. Sometimes I did not knew if I had hit the enemy. A bit more hit feedback would be great!
Thanks again for having submitted this game! I'd love to see an updated version.
Keep up the good work!