One thing that could be improved is visual clarity and feedback. Show how many points you get from each marble, the exact score (not immediately abbreviated to 1K), the precise effect of upgrades, etc.
Great to hear that you are committed to learning and improving the game!
I know it's hard to design good puzzles, especially in a short amount of time. Understanding how a player will approach a level, providing enough options in a level so they don't just stumble into the solution, but also not overwhelming them, while knowing the solution yourself, is really difficult. I think playtesting (by other people, not just yourself) is also even more important than with other genres.
By the way, we made something similar but not (intended) as a puzzle game. We would also love some more feedback, so feel free to check it out :)
The rewinding is an interesting mechanic, and I like the twist of a changing environment/gravity within a single level.
The puzzle design didn't really work for me though. I finished most levels by just doing the one thing possible, and rarely hit a moment were I really needed to "solve" a level. I really liked the one where you had to place a clone that's pushed through three doors that you then open one by one, because it wasn't just about placing a clone on the next available button.
I think the game also needs a way of showing how the buttons are connected. Without that, it's even harder to plan/solve a level, and even more a case of randomly trying things. I had to stop on a level where I had 4 clones and 7 buttons and couldn't figure out which ones to press. A related issue is the camera, I think seeing the whole level at once would really help so you can plan your moves.
The controls feel a bit robotic because of the instant movement and the jumps are a little floaty, but overall I think it is fine.
I like the art style and sounds, and the rewinding animation is great.
I also like how you integrated the tutorial into the game.
I think the UI should show the current gravity in addition to the next one just for clarity.
It's an impressive game considering how late you decided on it!
Regarding 2D, there are great assets just like for 3D. Having an artist on your team is great of course, but you can make great stuff with free assets as well. Or you can go with some minimalist style to create something decent yourself. But of course, it's totally fine to just go with whatever you want :)
I think the basic mechanics are solid, but it needs polish. For example, it took me a while to figure out I can upgrade my buildings, and then the upgraded versions and their effects are not clearly visible.
The loop theme didn't really work for me because I got to the end on the first run, but otherwise, I don't think I would remember or really consider too much of the timeline of events. I do like the concept though. I think I would consider some changes to the events: make them more impactful, so it's worth remembering them, and maybe provide some way to gradually save some of the timeline as a kind of reward so the player doesn't have to keep track of every single event.
The graphics don't really match, there's different scales of pixel art and then the hand-drawn parts, although individually I think it's fine.
A fun game and nice interpretation of the theme! I like how the game gets increasingly hectic over the course of a day, but lets you calm down at night. It really makes for good pacing.
So, here's how it went for me: first time, I accidentally hit Ctrl+W and closed the tab while in the town, so I had to restart. I got through the horror part, but managed to walk past the staircase back up and fell off the floor of the world, so I started again. I hit a wall telling me I shouldn't be here and may have to restart, but that was fixed by going back for a bit. Then I stumbled through the wall in the final room without checking out the submit button, so I went through the whole game another time. I literally played in a loop, in a game that's all about being in a loop of developing a game. And then, at the end, the game just loops back to the start.
What can I say, you nailed the theme in the most meta, fourth-wall-breaking way possible.
On a more serious note, a suggestion for next time: try finding an interesting gameplay mechanic first, and then worry about the theming. Also, 2D may be the easier start.
Oh and I read the pause menu of course. And the sign in the first room that said "Attempt: 3" when I got back there at the end.
I have to agree with the other comments, great visuals and sounds :D
As for the gameplay, I like the looping mechanic and I think it works well in the beginning. However, at some point the way back becomes a bit tedious. I think a level layout with more shortcuts or generally shorter paths would help. It can also be a bit frustrating when you don't see far enough, especially the moving platforms leaving the window so you don't really know when to jump/dash.
I couldn't complete the game because the boss (I think?) killed me before I could react, and when teleporting there again, I got killed instantly, probably because I spawned on top of it.
Thanks for playing, I'm glad you still enjoyed it :)
You can get in the way of your clone and throw him of his path. This was intentional because we intended to have situations where you could do this on purpose, but I have to agree it turned out annoying more often than it was interesting. We'll definitely do more playtesting next time.
I think even a simple "x gas/second" note in the UI could help, so at least the player knows what's happening. But hey, we failed to put significant information in the UI as well :D
This is a super clever concept, but it took some time to understand what is going on. I feel like it needs a clearer way of showing the state of the level, for example which exits are currently connected. I would also suggest to give the player more time to get used to a mechanic. The first two levels already introduce multiple ways to twist the level, which to me felt a bit overwhelming and confusing. Though I do know how hard it is to create good levels in such a short time span, especially for a puzzle game.
The character feels nice to control. I also liked the art and sound (even though the tutorial graphics seem a bit out of place). It all looks and feels pretty polished overall!
This is certainly one of my favorites so far! An impressive amount of content, a hilarious story, and just fun to play :D
I also really like how it's pretty well balanced, and the mechanics are forgiving, for example you don't get spotted instantly when entering vision and you don't have to replay the whole level if you do get spotted.
Thanks a lot, these are all great suggestions! We actually wanted some randomization but didn't get to implement it. As for the soundtrack, this is the first one I've ever done for anything, but I really enjoyed creating it so I'm very thankful for any honest feedback :)
And yes, barely hitting a wall with an attack and dying isn't much fun, but we ran out of time.
Cool concept and even optional collectibles, I like it :)
The movement doesn't feel great however, specifically the time it takes to get your character to move, and how the jump height is inconsistent. You can't jump as high while moving towards a wall, and you jump higher if you just landed after hitting the ceiling (and you actually need to do that to get away from the diamond in level 2).
We made a platformer as well, but with a loop in time instead of space, maybe give it a try :)
Great game overall, the sound and graphics are awesome and the build up in each round just feels nice!
I think some patterns with variable beats could be an interesting addition, like Kick->Anything->Snare, so you can combine your patterns in more interesting ways. Or maybe patterns like "Have a Snare at the same time as a Kick" to make a connection between the layers. But it's already great the way it is!
I wish the actions were colored differently, like yellow for "build solar panels", red for "destroy asteroids" etc. so you know immediately what you can do next.
We tried not to make the game too hard, so in most levels, rewinding is helpful but not necessary. But you're right that we could have done a better job designing the levels around it.
Unique and interesting game, and just fun to see what happens to your planets. One thing I would have liked is some better way to see the information about your planets, for example clicking on a planet to see the info without hovering, or a way to show the current life on all planets.
Clever interpretation of the theme and a clever mechanic. Having your decisions affect both the scales and your cards makes it really interesting to play. Great game!
