itch.io

Honestly, it isn't as hard as it seems... Except for the inventory menu, that one is like bare minimum 200 lines of code, and still needs more. But yeah I kinda tunneled into tutorials for too long doing this that it kinda only really came together in the last 3-4 so I do wish I had at least 1-2 extra days to properly get it together, but I think the feedback on the game has convinced me to see what all I can do this coming week for it. Definitely not a full game, that'll have to come much further down the line with my plans for games I've been meaning to release. But I'm glad that you liked what I made thus far... Even if it doesn't really work or come together that well and thanks as well for giving it a shot and leaving feedback!

I'm unfamiliar with that program. I'm far from being an expert at coding but if that program is a bit too much of a pain to work with then maybe GameMaker could be better off, at least for me who was awful at coding I think it's neat, but that may also be due to my bias of also using it for all of my games currently

If you've got the spare time for an incompletable game still, here's mine: https://itch.io/jam/shovel-jam-2025/rate/3738766

But no worries if not since we're already quite late into the jam

Solid first game submission. I did notice though that whenever you double jump in the air while horizontally touching a wall you fail to jump. I do also wish that the colors were more apparent on each of the devices, especially since some are hard to discern at times. Also, the booting-up sound can be a bit jarring. Beyond that, I'd like to see more variety in the game if you continue to develop it. Very decent game all around, good stuff

Very solid game, especially for a first-time game jam. I like how the crowd grows as you successfully hit the notes properly, and you've got chances to get back into the rhythm of the game if you mess up. I do think it could be a bit of quality of life if the notes where changed to be bigger or maybe had an additional outline color to them, perhaps, but that may just be my own perspective on it. Beyond that, all I can really say is maybe the visuals could be fine-tuned a bit more, but after that, all I'd hope to see is just more of this game if you choose to do so. I wish you well in your game dev journey going forward

If you've got the time to cover a broken game like mine, then here it is: https://itch.io/jam/shovel-jam-2025/rate/3738766 But I don't mind if you don't since we're basically right at the end of the jam. I will be looking in to yours right now

Just rated your game and if you have the time to check mine out, even if it's in a incompletable state, here's my own: https://itch.io/jam/shovel-jam-2025/rate/3738766 

But since we're near the end of ratings, it isn't necessary

This is a solid first game jam submission. I did seem to reach the end of the map when I began to warp around erratically when I got to a certain Y value, I think it'd be better to just put some walls there instead of warping. I also feel like the enemy spawns kinda stop after a certain point, and you have to walk around to really find some more enemies. I also noticed that some of the environments seem to move around while you move, not sure if that's intentional, but I'll make note of it. I also wish there was some more variety in attacks available, and maybe the attack can be changed to being done while the mouse button is held rather than clicked, since you have to click a lot in this game.  Likewise also wish there could be some more enemy variety and feel like maybe you can alter it so the easier enemies (the green enemies) are the only ones that spawn at first then trickle the others in as you progress, like the hopping enemies. I also do wish there was some audio adjusting options as the game as a whole was rather loud for me

But that all said, pretty solid foundation you've got here that I do wish you well on in expanding as I've seen you do have plans to do just that, so well wishes for the continued development of this project

Also, yeahhhhh I really rushed the final parts of this to meet that deadline xd and unfortunately it didn't quite pan out to make a fully functioning game either :S

Well, technically not my first, just that the others I've been working on, I haven't yet quite completed in my journey to learning all that I can to truly be able to publish a first solid, quality game. But this one serves as both a challenge and a first step into the game dev world, of which I was purposefully ambitious of in order to try to learn more in such a short time which was more or less successful, but I should've done the learning part before the jam, that way the code could've been done in more than 3 days. I do wish I could've had another day or two in order to really solidify it as that deadline and some last minute issues kinda made me rework the game to still end up in an unfortunately broken state. Regardless, it was good fun, good learning and has a good foundation that I'll try to see if I can manage to build it to be what I was hoping to submit this coming week, but I'll have to come back around to this game once I finish my other games I've been needing to release for a while now, but thanks for giving it a shot and for the feedback!

Alright then I think it may have spawned you into the stone area and with how the sprite overlapping works in my game, the player sprite ended up getting fully covered up by the stone walls. Thanks again for further clarifying it!

That is a strange one, was it an area with a lot of stone walls or a cloud? If so then I think I can discern what happened but otherwise that kinda stumps me

Yeah I definitely took a risk for my first game jam, I wanted to challenge myself to learn all these new mechanics and apply them to my game in a short time and honestly it didn't go as bad as it could have, I just ended up spending too much time learning how to make the game rather than actually just making it that most the coding was done in the last 3 days. It kinda suffered a bit as a result like taking too much from Minecraft's crafting system, which I did want to diverge from but with how the game doesn't really tell you much and considering how much time people probably could only put towards these games, I figured it may be best to try to match their crafting recipies since it already was familiar in order to not have players get stuck on unfamiliar crafting recipies. And then I also put the book in as well but ehhhh...

Overall I'd say it was still worth it in the end, just wish I could've had an extra day or two to get it all right. But now I have the knowledge and the foundation and with this experience, even the motivation despite the 36 hours I spent without sleep trying to get it in on time, because it did come out to be close to my vision despite all the hardships and now I'll try to continue to make it so. At least for this next upcoming week because I've got some other games to finally release in the meantime. But yeah, scope creep is definitely something I've got to put up with but with my major project attempting to create a universe that pushes creativity to it's limits, well, I try to do all I can to my own detriment. But with this I actually did have a limit on the total scope at first, but could never quite reach it totally in the first place as that deadline definitely hit me... As many can see that now, oops.

But thanks for giving the game a shot and for the feedback as well

Thanks for giving the game a shot, and yeah I'll expand upon it post jam to at least get it to the idea I had initially. It did kinda come out to not be too bad despite the time constraints, and it's a good foundation to build upon further. But I also do have two other games I need to finish first to releasing at long last but I'll try to get this game to the state I had hoped for in this upcoming week. Thanks again for the feedback and giving the game a try

I'll be looking to expand upon this maybe this next week to see what all I could get done and to learn a bit more about some stuff that I'd like to add to my other games. But after that I'll have to put this game on the ice for a bit since I've had 2 others forthe past year that I need to finally release. Thereafter I could certainly come back around to this game, though I'll probably end up splitting it into two different games since I did kinda combine two ideas of mine into one to create this game the way it was for the jam, since I think one or the other was a bit too much to learn for just one jam. Ramble aside though, are you suggesting my game is only gold amidst diamond??? I'm kidding, but thanks for giving the game a shot and believing in it's potential! I'll see if I can get that update out for it sometime this coming week

Could you further clarify what you mean by stuck in a random spot so I can try to iron it out? But otherwise, thank you for the feedback, though it isn't quite my first game, just my first submission, though it is my first go at a game like this which wasn't actually too bad. Thanks again for giving it a try!

This is a really solid game that you could fool me into thinking it's a full one. The visual style is really nice, the sound effects are very fitting, the mechanics all work quite well, it comes together really well all in all. I do wonder if you'll eventually combine all the mechanics to be viable at a time if you continue to expand upon this game. But beyond that I'd certianly be down to see your game be expanded upon to be a full game if that's what you choose to do. Excellent work

Very solid game all around from the theming to the mechanics to the sound effects and music all coming together here quite well. It's a fun little game that after you get used to the mechanics, comes out to be quite fun. I will say though that it's pretty easy to miss dialogue amidst swinging around though. Also, unless I'm missing something, that first lever is rather rough to get to swing to. But aside from that if you do end up continuing to develop this I'd certainly like to see it become a full game. Excellent game you've got here, wish you well in your developments either on this or another project moving forward

For a first game and making it in 5 days, this is very impressive and comes together quite well. I overall had an enjoyable experience, all in all. The main thing I'd say is the music doesn't loop at times, and I do desire for there to be more audio/visual feedback present in the game. But beyond that, pretty incredible first project, and this is a fantastic foundation that you can build upon if you choose to do so. Great stuff, and I hope to see more of your projects to come

I'll make sure to cover yours, but if you've got the time to spare for an incomplete game and want to rate a game, then here's mine:https://itch.io/jam/shovel-jam-2025/rate/3738766

Very solid premise of a game and a very good visual style to boot. I do wish the out-of-combat speed could be increased substantially, and kinda wish there would be a bit more visual feedback to the game, but beyond that, there's not much more I can say than to desire to see more to the game itself if you do choose to continue development on it. Very good game

I got you

And if you care for it, despite it's state of not being completed, here's mine: https://itch.io/jam/shovel-jam-2025/rate/3738766

Covered everyone in this post thus far, send more my way

Great first submission, the game works quite well, though I was certainly determined to never let the AI finish their dialogue at the start of each stage xd. But yeah, graphics, voice, ost, it all comes together really well. I kinda feel like the sliding when moving can be a bit rough, mostly in that triple jump between lava blocks level, but aside from that, very solid game, hope to see more of it or something else from you in the future

Very underrated game here and doesn't have as many reviews as I'd expect it to, would recommend this one to others passing by this thread

This is a very well-designed and underrated game! I like the unique concept of being able to build your own platforms where you want, and combined with this control scheme, it works very well. The movement options feel great, though the wall jumping can feel a bit off with how you can attach yourself to a wall a bit too easily when you don't intend to, but aside from that, it's pretty smooth. Beyond that, I can't say much more that others haven't already or that you already probably know, so I won't. Instead, I'll say that I'd like to see more, this is a very solid game you've got developed here, and I hope you can flesh it out more in the future. I'm looking forward to it if you do plan to continue developing this game, and wish you the best in doing so

Got you covered already

Sounds good, I wish you well in the continued development of this game and once it's fully complete, let me know

Solid little game you've made and a very nice message to tie it all together, well done. Most the other comments have covered the points I would've, so I won't repeat those, but there was a point in my first run with a bug where the mirror had already triggered it's dialogue as if I had already used the hairdryer on it but hadnt yet. After I did though, I couldn't pick up the plunger and got stuck. Beyond that it does seem like the dog has a different collision box than most of the other objects where you can kinda warp around it. Aside from that, solid game all in all and I very much like the messaging it comes with, great job!

Very nice and simple game you've got here where all of the elements of it come together quite nicely. The main feedback I can give is maybe add some better indicators for the shop building/crafting like maybe an outline of whatever object your attempting to place down on your cursor? Or something akin to that. Other than that the main thing I think that'd be best for the game is to see it expanded upon and fleshed out from here. Great job on the game and I wish your team well on it if you continue to develop it from here or if you choose to do something else, either way, good stuff!

No problem there, from what I've seen on the other comments it looks like you're covering most of these things anyways. I'll trust that you've already improved the game a lot and have a lot of these aspects covered, so good on you and if you do post an improved version of this game, let me know

Looking back at this I was very tired when I wrote that comment, I meant to say I'd like to see the explosions have some animation* to them not color, they already have good colors. But again, very good game otherwise, I just need to correct the record there and not make me look like a fool xd

No problem, and don't worry about it too much especially considering the state of my game

Very interesting first game from the both of you from the conception to the realization of it. I wasn't able to get the best grasp of the game but it definitely has a lot of potential to it. From the art to the gameplay, it's a very well crafted game for a first game jam/game in general, so kudos to the both of you and here's to a good game dev future to come

Not too bad for a first game jam and for a newbie game dev. The visual style is nice, things come together well and good, the UI is solid for the game, it all comes together well. I did encounter a slight issue where if you hit E on a character repeatedly, it'll restart their dialogue instead of continuing to the next piece of dialogue, which I think should be fixed to make it so either E or Spacebar can continue the dialogue forward. Beyond that though, it's a nice, simple little game that's a solid start to your game dev journey. I wish you the best of luck on your game dev journey going forward!

Cool idea for the game, though I think the Game's... Game (the arrow keys one) could use some more feedback or visuals that can better respresent what you're doing. That or maybe something a little bit more like moving up and down to shoot or what have you. But not too bad of a game concept at all, just needs some fleshing out, which if you get around to, I wish you the best of luck on that front and going forward

What a neat and charming game for a first game jam. This a solid and unique little concept you've got here all wrapped together in a very well put together game where all the parts, visuals, narrative and sound effects mesh very well together. But that said... Is it bad that I said "You" for the crush part in my first go-. Anyways looks like it was all illusion of choice no matter what, haha. But yeah, very nice little game you've crafted here, good stuff and I hope you'll continue to make some good stuff to come

Unfortunately, since I'm kinda bad at puzzle games and want to be rating all of what games I possibly can, I wasn't able to cover the full game. That said, from what I saw, this is a very competently made puzzle game. The only real feedback that I can really think of is that I'd like to see the explosions have some color to them. Otherwise, this is a very well-made puzzle game, fantastic job

I'll get back around to this one and leave this note here to do so if I've got the time

Once you get your hands dirty with game dev and get a good lot of experience from it, it isn't too bad, though the menu stuff definitely is a bit rough to grasp. Some tutorials out there as well I've come to realize just don't work out, so sometimes you've got to navigate through the code yourself. I think it is good to challenge yourself to make miniature versions of a wide variety of game genres akin to a game jam like this so you can really grasp at all the different means of crafting games there are, because then you'll really become knowledgeable on a lot. And eventually it won't get so bad. I thought this game may have been impossible to make once before but now for what it is, it wasn't too bad, I just got too stuck up on watching tutorials during the game jam rather than before xd. But now I have a foundation that I can build upon in the future and in due time I will, though I've got some other games to tackle first.

I wish you well on your own game dev journey after I've gone ahead and tried your own game. I believe you've got a lot of potential of your own and you know maybe if you wind yourself over to the GameMaker sphere I can help out with some things (since I'm unfamiliar with Godot and heard it's a bit hard to get into :S). But here's to making some good games to come