itch.io

I will start by saying right off the bat that Klaviering is gorgeous. The minimalist aesthetic feels very intentional, and the clean crisp environment matches the crisp motions, and how staccato each note of the music feels.  Adding animations for each new track of music makes it feel much more lively a space, bringing life to the environment as there is added depth to the music. It also feels like an abstraction of a piano, with the alternating black and white blocks, and having them in motion only when the music is active for that zone gives the impression that someone is 'playing' the piano as the player explores. 

Starting off with this view emphasizes that, and is such a good way to teach the player what to do without the need for any sort of tutorial. Their objective is framed on screen, and it's encouragement to go up and explore it immediately. Then the player knows from then on that they can interact with these pyramid shapes, and to keep an eye out for them through the level.

I do wish there was a way to turn off the different tracks as well, since some of them sound less harmonious than others when blended together. Either by re-entering the same area, or by giving the player a toggle choice. Maybe a more curated walking path could also help with this, giving the player some freedom to explore, but not allowing them to activate too many dissonant clips at once. 

I do also feel it might be too easy to fall off parts of the environment. While it isn't very punishing in that the player will re-spawn at the starting areas, sometimes I did want to look at the animation from a certain vantage point, only to easily miss a platform edge that started to move after a new music segment was activated! I do wonder if there could be a few more 'safer' areas to stand along the perimeter of the level to make it easier to look back and admire everything in motion with the music!

I want to start off by saying I really enjoy Heart Attack. I think the concept is super novel, and the character art is especially charming. I like how the characters seem to mirror each other in some ways, and having four units for you and four enemy units feels intentional. The motions feel quite snappy, especially for the character that runs back and forth. And I think with your goal to have this be a prototyping kit for rhythm and music games, there is room for expansion for additional units on both sides. It's also a very nice touch to have the tiles light up with the heartbeat. 

I like the generative path, but I feel as if you could do more with this. A single path feels very 'easy' and  there might be some additional strategy if you had more than one path leading to the heart! As well, having the play space grow larger could factor into the music if it had 3D spatialization. Then, panning around the space would reveal different soundscapes, and would add an extra layer to the musicality. It might also make it feel more 'imposing' as enemies advance, as the music would grow louder as they approached (though this may be difficult to manage with the number of audio voices, perhaps the number of units plus their distance could contribute to the overall volume.)

I really look forward to seeing if you add any other units, and what their contribution (ability wise, and musically) might be!

Gerridae is exceptionally juicy and fun to play with! Your little water bugs have a lot of personality in each hop, and the chaos is a delight of its own. The bright, vibrant colours suit the mood, both of the small critters, and the light, melodic tones used in this sound toy. I didn't realize what the indicator was on the little green creatures was until you mentioned what they were pointing towards - to me, this seemed to be a tiny tail, like you might find on a tadpole! As a quality of life suggestion, it may help to understand how they're connected by letting the player select (or hover) over a certain creature to see which ones  it is 'linked' to, either via line or some other means (like a highlight!). This way, the player can choose who to remove a little more effectively! 

One other quality of life suggestion might be to include a way for the player to easily 'clear' or 'reset' the scene! The one by one removal works well, but when there is such a compelling reason to add as many creatures as possible to the stage (for a full, and lively scene), removing them one at a time becomes rather tedious!

The tank controls also work well for this little character. Since they're effectively on water, it makes sense they slide around, rather than moving sharply in any one direction. There's a fluidness to the motion and to the particle effect burst that makes the solid background still feel like the surface of water, and the propulsion of the character also feels just right, starting as a sharp burst before lazily gliding along. Being able to speed up to guide the other little creatures through the playspace is a nice addition to add some variation to the energy of this little world. 

Loop Line is an interesting sound toy! The wiggly line is something I'm curious about how you created, since it reacts so smoothly to the weight of the balls! I understood the change in tone had some correlation to the number balls placed on the line, and their position. I wasn't entirely certain what the bottom 'switch' does, where the loop is fully connected. I couldn't hear the difference in either mode when I used the bottom switch, and it would be nice if there was a little more clarity on what it did. I personally enjoyed 'dirty mode' and the crackly noises it made, but the regular mode's more traditional synth sounds still fit this experience quite well. 

Visually, this reminds me a lot of birds sitting on a power line! I'd have loved to have seen a more concrete visual theme for this cool little toy! Right now it feels quite abstract, and I think you should lean into that more if you plan on continuing the abstract route in the future! I'd have liked to have read a bit about your inspiration for this piece as well! 

One other thing to consider for the future might be how other shapes would interact with a line, in an abstract route. Balls roll around, which add a lot of randomness, so it might be interesting to have 'static' or barrier shapes, like squares, as a contrasting point. 

Overall, Stones feels like a very successful and strong sound toy prototype! Stones has a very tangible weightiness to the intractable blocks, and they all feel as if they have their own personalities. The combination of materials, and their different acceleration speeds, makes it feel as though the cursor struggles to pick up some of the stones in relation to others. The synth sounds that accompany the movement evokes the feeling of a UFO, as if these blocks are being abducted into space. The round disc of a cursor also lends to that imagery. It was an excellent design choice and instinct to not make the platform cover the entire base of the screen - seeing the surreal loop the blocks make is both satisfying, and there is a lot of fun in tossing them into the void itself. I wonder how this would feel different to use spacial audio instead, and have the noise quiet as it became more distant, and vice versa (though I do think it is nice that it never is entirely silent while off screen). 

If you were to continue working on this, I think it would work in your favor to play into the physicality of the stones. Small changes, such as having them make a sound on impact/landing, and having them cast shadows to see where they will land/where you can place them down would help immensely in making them feel like they 'belong' in this space, and that you are just manipulating their reality. Aesthetically, the cube blocks work very well, and it would be nice to see a continuation of that in a voxel environment for them to be played with in. Perhaps that environment could also potentially be pulled apart piece by piece. Contrasted against a rounded cursor, it would feel all the more otherworldly as your method of interaction. 

What an awesome puzzle game! :D

I was just big-brained enough to finish it. 

The mechanic is super clever, and the puzzles definitely make you think! I really appreciate how forgiving the undo button is as well. 

Yep! That's the end! :D

Hey PixelFreak! Thanks for the feedback! There is a proper ending, but I won't spoil the solution here! 

Hi BrandoGiuffrida!! Thanks for your comment!

I think I'll definitely add a little note on the itch page for the controls!  

I won't be changing the game itself just yet, since it is for Ludum Dare 46,  and it's only a show of what was accomplished in 48 hours. It wouldn't be in the spirit of the game jam if I made changes now to this particular file, but I appreciate the feedback!  It's definitely something I'll consider more in the future! 

Best of luck with your big update! 

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!