itch.io

Thanks! I think the setting/story is probably the strongest part of the project. Appreciate the review.

Thanks for playing and for the well thought-out critique. Unfortunately can't take credit for the art, though I am working on modifying some of the sprites and adding my own as I go. You should check out the artists in the credits if you liked it though-- I agree that they did really great work!

For battles, I'm thinking the ability to target parts (it is a mech game after all) and adding a power management / overheat system.

Thanks again!

Thank you!

The combat definitely needs a lot of work and tuning. I have to admit that I just kitbashed together different sprites from different artists, so I can't take credit for the art. I am working on modifying some of the sprites now more in-depth for a followup.

Thank you for taking the time to play and comment!

Thanks! I'm taking a lot of inspiration from a game called Siralim, which is a monster-catching rpg, so that makes sense.

 I can see the mystery dungeon roots for sure. My artistic direction was mostly informed buy the mashup of prompts and the available art I could find / modify for the jam. I definitely think the battle art needs to be reworked.

Thank you for the review!

Thank you!

I died in a dead forest, a dilapidated city, and of course a worm desert. Which made my eventual extraction with a single rock all the sweeter. 

I like that the controls and even view fight you a little. Enemy density seems a little overtuned, but could just be a skill issue on my part.

Bleak in the best possible way!

I'm thinking crystals will be used to buy parts and upgrades for different mechs. I'm looking to expand some of the art and getting a mech garage system in place now. Thanks for taking a look!

Impressive for a first project in Godot AND implementing behavior trees in this amount of time. I like autobattler design. There's lots of room to go in different directions from here. Different kinds of mechanical bugs? Base building? It was cool seeing the devlog and your work process. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! I hope to at least get in some  more level, enemy, and upgrade variety after the jam is over.

The thumbnail art is The World card from the Tarot de Marseille. The in-game character art is from https://finalbossblues.itch.io/,  https://arex-v.itch.io/ , and  https://marinesosa.itch.io/mech-assets. They do good work.

Cool boss design that telegraphed well what it was going to do next. The controls feel snappy and responsive too. Very polished work!

Not at all too long, thanks for explaining!

I really liked the concept of puzzles within puzzles introduced by the indigo blocks. I might make those indigo blocks different colors/designs when the puzzle types changed. For example, solving the indigo puzzle makes it totally disappear in one level, but in the next level rearranging the blocks in the indigo level makes them appear that way in the meta-level.  Since these indigo blocks function in two different ways, it might be helpful for them to have a different visual design and/or different names.

As other reviewers have said, I really like how you keep building on the basic premise and steadily add new mechanics. Fun game!

Fun art and a clever concept. I had a little trouble understanding the knight's pathing at first, but it became pretty apparent after experimenting a couple times. Great entry!

Cool! I'll add your vote for a tutorial in post-jam features :) 

Fun concept-- I could especially see you expanding it to put the water splashes(?) and walls in different places each time, making it a new challenge!

It's final then-- I'll put away the shaders for a minute (they weren't cooperating anyway) and add the Clear button now for the post-jam release :) . 

As for being more intentionally vague about the mechanics:

I, personally, am 100% in accord with you. I love games that encourage experimentation and emergence! Unfortunately, in the past I've had quite a few comments from frustrated players who really wanted to like the game but just couldn't grok what they were supposed to be doing. So it's a real balancing act, making things that people can enjoy puzzling together and (/or???) making things that people can enjoy picking up and playing. This would be a great topic for a blog post (I'll start after the button maybe). 

The idea of some kind of a journal or diary would dovetail in really nicely with a more staggered tutorial where you get introduced to the different pieces gradually level by level It would also be a lot more keeping with the alchemy vibe.

Sorry about the novel of a reply. I truly appreciate comments from thoughtful players (and fellow designers) like yourself! 

TaftPunk,

Yes I definitely overshot the scope of this one (it seems to be a theme for me). 

All of these suggestions are right on! I'd have to mess around with the orbs a little bit to make it work, but it's definitely doable. And I probably should have just included a "Clear All" button from the get go. The idea of being able to align rotas is intriguing-- I thought about having some kind of "snap" system, but ended up scrapping it as it seemed not free-form enough. After your suggestion I could see how it might be useful, though.

Thanks for the follow and the constructive feedback!

Glad you liked the art! Out of curiosity, do you think that it would help players more if I:

1) Improved the Help menu or

2) Made a tutorial?

Thanks for playing!

Thank you! I definitely think I missed the mark on scope with this one-- way too many components to introduce (and bug test : / ) in a week. Thanks for playing and for taking the time to write!

Yeah it's tricky and it's different for every platform. You should definitely release it post-jam though!

Thanks!

Yeah I tried the download and I think it needs additional files other than just the .exe. For example, when I built the project for windows the target folder contained the unitycrashhandler64.exe, unityplayer.dll, [project name]Data (folder), and MonoBleedingEdge (folder). I then zipped up the target folder and that's what I uploaded to itch. But ugh, I know  it's like to work forever on something only to have it crash on release!

Hey there! I tried checking out the web version of the game and got a blank screen. Unfortunately, the unity launcher also didn't work (the error I got mentioned that it needs the unity.dll to be included with it). I know how frustrating these builds can be on a time crunch, so I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news :( .

Thank you! I tried to explain a bit about the goal on in the help menu, but I totally agree that this game would -greatly- benefit from tutorial levels and/or more clear examples at the beginning. I'll be keeping people in the loop with a blog post here, so if you're inclined feel free to follow or if that's not your thing please do drop on by post-jam for an update. I appreciate the kind words and helpful feedback!

Nice! Those choices are just for flavor now, but depending on how my other projects go I'd like to revisit the whole Greenmother miniverse and maybe expound on those a little more.

Poignant and relatable (that bitter-sweet experience of surveying a mostly-empty room). The theme, setting, and mechanics all resonate beautifully here. Thank you!

Haha yeah the cat one is an oldie but a goodie-- I really wanted to do more with Sparkles / Remmy  but it ended up on the cutting room floor.

(spoilers) :

You've seen most of the endings-- The Ending 1 you described is different from Ending 2 if you choose to become the new Greenmother right away. I think you got all the other ones though. I can see how it might look like they would be the same though. I'll think about if there's a better way to broadcast the difference in outcomes-- it's surprisingly hard to convey some things to the player in IF . 

Thanks as always for playing through and for your feedback. It's very much appreciated!

Awesome! I think you featured my Sitcom Generator in another showcase as well. Thanks for all the work you do putting these together and promoting all these talented devs!

Doesn't ruin it for me! I suspected that might be the case but was wondering how you did it. Thanks for sharing the secret-- I'll have to try stuff with tags on my next bout with Twine!

Thanks for playing! I appreciate you mentioning the voice-- it was a lot of fun to write in, but difficult to know if I was taking it too far sometimes. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

The inventory / item puzzle system was easy to grok, and your prose and atmosphere here are top notch. 

I don't want to get into too many spoilers, but I am curious if there is and underlying simulation element to when the creepy events happen, or if they're just added randomly?

Quite fun! I hope you continue working on it!

Glad it worked for you! 

Mind's Edge is my first game / IF . It's available in browser or  app (the app emulates an old console). It's a bit more linear than I would have liked (though I could say the same for this submission), but that's the nature of Jam games haha.

That's also totally valid (I wish I was actually that clever)!

Glad you enjoyed it! I admit the stories are pretty disparate-- partly because I rushed at the end and partly because this seemed like that kind of person that somehow manages to be both meandering and disjointed at the same time.

[Spoilers Ahead]

There are three endings. One where you admit who you are, one where you wait too long, and another that involves asking about Big Digger at the end and consulting the Sarambulus about the great beyond. Regardless, you didn't miss anything major. I was wondering if that ending actually worked, or if there could have been some way to pack in more resonance by hinting at it earlier.

Thank you for engaging with the story and taking the time to comment!

Not at all a weird comment! I was experimenting (a.k.a. goofing around) and thought it might be another way to disorient readers in regards to what a Sarambulus is. It sounds like it was sort of successful, but I could amp it up a little--I'll put it in my notes for a post-contest update. Thanks again for more helpful feedback!

Doh, sorry about that. I accidentally left in a loose end there. It should be fixed now. Thanks for playing and reporting the problem!

Sounds great! I'll stop on by when I start exploring the framework more thoroughly in the coming days.

Great execution on a stealthy Roguelike. Particularly effective use of status / awareness indicators on NPC's. I also dig the unique setting!

Small bug (though you may have already fixed it): When my inventory was full (all nine slots) I couldn't select the ninth item.

Overall a fun experience that changes the roguelike gameplay dynamic by making you avoid / take a lot of time to deal with hostiles.

Developer Shop Talk Incoming:

I was reading up on the Osnowa framework and then realized you are the creator as I was playing through this entry. I'm working on my own ECS engine in C# and had thought I was super clever coming up with component-states for AI when I came across your (extremely smooth) implementation. I'm still a Unity novice, but I got the Osnowa demo up and running and am considering using it for my next project now that I've seen what it can do in such a short time.

Cheers!