itch.io

Strange, I’ve already collected 80 Echoes, but I still can’t upgrade the E-rank monsters. Do I need to unlock them somehow?

Thank you very much for the feedback!

Regarding the lag — some players have complained about something similar in the past, but it turned out that they had some incorrect settings in their browser. Personally, I don't experience any lag at all. I'm playing in Chrome.

So I'm not really sure how to solve this problem. I've already optimized the game as much as I can. For the most part, I think the cause is still on the user's side.

Regarding the camera orientation, I'm honestly not quite sure what exactly you mean.

Are you referring to the fact that the player can see farther upward than downward, and therefore it's harder to spot a monster below you than one in a room above you?

If so, yes, that's a problem I'll fix. I think I'll simply add the ability to rotate around your own axis.

Regarding the different footsteps — yes, I completely forgot about that somehow. I'll add them.

Regarding the inventory — the fact that you can switch the item you're holding is actually pretty important. The thing is, in order to pick up a box, you have to temporarily put down your tablet.

If you're in a hurry and trying to grab everything, you can leave your tablet behind and then end up running around the house in a panic without being able to see anything. (If you pick up an item while already holding something, you'll drop the current item and pick up the new one.)

So I'm not sure about this one. I wouldn't simplify the game to the point where the player just has a box counter and the entire inventory is removed.

And making it so that pressing F automatically activates the flashlight — no. The whole point is that you need to actually hold the flashlight in your hands to use it.

Plus, there are some other items in the game, such as the alarm clock. There is also a regular floor lamp that you can pick up and turn on and off. It's completely pointless, but it's a small detail I wanted to have in the game.

 Sneak Toggle - yes, I think that's a good idea. I'll add that.

Regarding the alarm clock — I think I'll leave it as it is. Adding a separate alarm-clock settings menu seems unnecessary to me. The game is meant to be casual, and everything is designed in this simple way — you just press F and add +1 second to the timer.

I understand that your game takes a fundamentally different approach, but this is how I want mine to work.

Anyway, thanks again for the feedback!

Hi everyone! Does anyone know of any other jams where developers can exchange feedback on each other’s games? Or is Playtest & Feedback Exchange Jam  the only one like this on itch.io?

Why does the game cost $3? Does that mean people have to pay to test the game themselves? But you need feedback, don't you? Of course, it's your choice, but it seems a bit strange.

Hi, I played your game. I'll say right away that I didn't get very far — I barely managed to kill the first few heroes, and that was it. But I noticed several obvious problems with the game, and I decided to point them out and also suggest how I would approach fixing them.

The icon shows an interesting 3D dungeon viewed from above, and as soon as I saw it, I immediately thought of Dungeon Keeper.

When you enter the game, it doesn't really start right away. Instead, there is some kind of preparation phase, and it's quite long — you have to go through the tutorial, name your dungeon, and then build some things as well.

Only after all of that does the actual game apparently begin, with some adventurers entering my dungeon.

And this is where I see a huge problem: there is a very strong mismatch between the player's expectations and the actual game, as well as a very long setup before the game itself starts.

From the outside, it really looks like a Dungeon Keeper-inspired game, even if the art is AI-generated. And only after about five minutes do you realize: no, this is actually some kind of schematic dungeon-management game.

That's a huge problem, and I think it could be addressed in the following ways:

1. Add screenshots or GIFs to the game page.
2. Use a preview image with slightly different content — don't focus on the 3d top down dungeon and rooms, but on something else. Since your art is AI-generated, you could, for example, use an image of one of the monsters. Of course, the final thumbnail might be less eye-catching, but it also wouldn't create any particular expectations about the game.

And incorrect expectations are a huge source of negativity and bad reviews. Players should immediately be able to see what the game is actually about. That's very important.

Now, let's go through the game itself:

Visually, the game is generally consistent in style — typical AI-generated art — but there are still some places where this consistency is broken. For example, the UI for the heroes, where their health and mana are displayed, is just a single flat color.

There is also this effect with red squares around the sides of the screen, which looks very bad, And also the buttons looks strange when you hover over them.

It doesn't look very good. I think you should have some kind of more dimensional 3D health bars and buttons, like in something such as Diablo.

Another thing I noticed is that the text is very difficult to read, especially the smaller and colored text.

You don't necessarily need to change the font, but at the very least, adding a black outline around the text would already improve things significantly. Right now, some of it is simply hard to see and understand.

From a gameplay perspective, I actually really like the idea.

It's genuinely quite cool. (Although I was initially disappointed because I was expecting something more like Dungeon Keeper.)

But to be honest, considering how unpolished the game currently is, it's difficult to play, and I didn't get very far at all. There are no portraits for the heroes, no sounds during combat, and, again, the text is difficult to read.

So I would say this: if you're focusing on the depth of the gameplay, I would put that on the back burner for now. First, I think you need to add more polish and improve the overall usability of the game — make the buttons look and work properly, make the text readable, and add portraits for the heroes.

Since you're already using AI-generated art, adding 20 portraits of different heroes shouldn't be particularly difficult, and I think players would appreciate it.

I would also say that having huge amounts of text isn't necessarily the best solution for a game.

I understand that the game is intentionally quite schematic, but still. For example, in the menu where you choose which party of heroes will enter your dungeon, there is immediately so much text thrown at you. Reading all of it is not just tiring — the moment I saw it, I didn't even want to read it anymore. I basically just randomly picked a party without looking.

So, that's about it. My rating would be 2 / 5.

I think graphics, sound, and overall clarity are very important.

If the game were more polished, with sound and character portraits, so that there was really nothing to complain about visually, I’m sure it could easily be a 4/5. The core idea is actually pretty good, even if it’s not for everyone.

I’ll also add that the fact that the game doesn’t need to be downloaded and runs directly in the browser is actually great. That’s definitely a plus.

I understand that this feedback might have been a bit harsh, but I believe a developer should know what players don't like about their game.

By the way, I also published my own game, DreamCore House, and I would really appreciate it if you could take a look at it and give me similar feedback, pointing out the things you didn't like.

Jam's not quite dead yet. I've released a big update to my game; you can check it out if you're interested.

Great game! After 90 points, so many pellets accumulate that everything lags.

Great game! Good music and nice graphics.

The levels towards the end are very complex and convoluted; I wonder how long it takes to create them.

Yes, I think we'll work together again. The music turned out great!

Thanks so much for the feedback! There's an alarm clock item in the game—it can be charged and used as a distraction for monsters, which might help.

Thanks for the feedback!

Is the mouse wheel inverted? I honestly didn't even notice. I'll fix that.

As for the tablet, you can drop it. It's there in case the player needs an extra inventory slot for something.

I feel like restrictions where certain items simply can't be dropped hurt the immersion a bit.

It's kind of like when you can open a door but can't close it. It's a small thing, but odd nonetheless.

Glad you liked it! If you have any suggestions or criticism, let me know!

YAYYYYY!!!

I GOT MY FIRST POSITIVE COMMENT!!!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE FEEDBACK!!!

THIS IS MY FIRST POSITIVE COMMENT EVER!!! YAAAAAY!!!

Despite the goofy graphics and music, I think it's actually a pretty good game. The jump animation is pretty fun, too.

You can even play it with friends, and it's browser-based. What more could you ask for?

Visually, it looks good.

Isn't this a horror game? Is it just a puzzle?

It's just that the whole dark atmosphere and the flashlight make it seem like a horror game.

Is this Monsters Inc.?

This is a very polished visual novel, and the graphics are very cleverly done. A combination of 3D scenes and 2D stylized characters. It looks great.

As for the story and the novel itself, I can't comment on anything; visual novels aren't my thing.

By the way, did you work as a team? Or was it all done by one person?

Very liminal and surreal. And the graphics and music are great

Hey! I'm putting together a small team. If you'd like to join, message me on Discord: @ahhvasa

Hi, I'm looking for teammates. I'm a programmer myself.
If you'd like to join, message me on Discord: @ahhvasa