itch.io

• Did the resource-gathering system feel intuitive and enjoyable?
  • It was hard to tell which were my gatherers and which were my warriors at first.
  • Once i figured it out, then it was difficult keeping track of my gatherers
  • On my first playthrough i was not sure of how to gather any resource other than wood. It would have been nice to have a bit more feedback with the gatherers. When they returned wood they would stand there for a few seconds not doing anything. I was not sure if they were gathering or broken. 
  • Chopping down trees ended up leaving brown cubes behind. At first i thought i had to collect that.
• Did the dynamic wave system feel intuitive and enjoyable?
  • If this was just the enemies showing up. I really enjoyed the music change.
  • I think the silhouette of the hero and enemy characters are all too similar. It was difficult to tell  who was my npc and who was the enemy
• Was the combat smooth and engaging?
  • Enemies seemed to just fight. It wasnt bad, but i couldnt figure out any strategy other than keep my group together and win fights that way. (Note: i only did 2 waves)
• How long did you play? What was your final point score?
  • I only did 2 waves, i forgot to check my score at the end.
  • It would be neat if i could see how the score is tallied
• Did it feel challenging? Was it too hard? 
  • I only played 2 waves.
  • The hardest part was just trying to get resources. It seemed very slow going to gather wood.
• What do you think about the music, sounds, and visual effects?
  • Music was good.
  • Ambient sounds were good
  • I would have loved some audio on selection of npcs and issuing orders.
  • Visual effects seemed good. But i was still confused by the brown cubes.
• Do you have any suggestions on the overall game feel and play?
  • Most things are listed above…. But i would try to have a larger buffer zone of trees around the base. Several building spaces were obstructed by trees.
  • It would be nice to have some sort of confirmation that you want to build a structure. Because stuff was blocked by trees, i accidentally built structures when i was just trying to figure out what the structure even was.
• Did you run into any notable bugs or issues?
  • Enemies ran behind my base to attack and it was hard to tell my guys to attack them.
• Any other feedback is welcome!
• Overall
  • A good start!  Focus on creating unique silhouettes for your characters, dont just rely on color. What is the gameplay loop between waves of enemy attacks? (Is my army supposed to be sitting around? Is there any benefit of having them explore) I think the foundation is solid, I think the gameplay loops (what am i doing moment to moment) need to be fleshed out more.
  • Minor quibble, but a 2 gig file seems excessively large.

• What bugs or quirks did you experience that during your experience? What were the circumstances surrounding the bug?
  • Am i supposed to have a “grappling” hook ability? It was fun to use, but seems very bizarre.
  • I suspect i was supposed to see patient health depleting, but i didnt notice it. Calling more attention to it would be good.
• How did you feel about the minigames? What would make them more fun for you?
  • Spelling - i wish i didnt have to hit “enter” afterwards. (i didnt realize it at first)
  • DDR - i wast sure if the red arrow is “where i was” or what i needed to do next. It also didntseem like there was any punishment for getting an incorrect input (not a bad thing, the time wasted is a fine punishment, but perhaps some audio feedback would be good)
  • Pills - it took me forever to find where the pills were at. This was probably my least favorite thing as it is mostly just memorization. If I had a reminder of what the patient needed, that would be nice. It also seemed strange that i had to run through the NPC to give them the pill. I tried to hit E when next to them.
    • I think having a “prompt” when you are next to a pill (“pick up pill”) would be good
• What did you think of the movement?
  • I liked that i could just fall off the edge of the floors to get to other floors.
• What score did you end up getting after 5 minutes of play time?
  • 80 on my second playthrough
• Did you feel like you were challenged or engaged? If not, what do you think contributed to that?
  • I was challenged trying to navigate the spaces (but in a good way).
• Is there anything you think would make the game more fun?
  • I think the biggest issue is a lack of clarity on where patients are in this hospital. Renaming the rooms to match the floor would go a long way (for example, patients on floor 3 are in rooms 32 and 35, patients on floor 4 are in room 41 and 44).
  • Audio feedback would be good
• What general thoughts or feelings do you have about the state of the game?
  • I think there are possibly too many npcs wandering around. It’s a bit cluttered.
    • There are also a lot of “wasted spaces”. There is a sewer area and an out doors area that while neat to explore, dont add anything to the core gameplay.
• Overall
  • I think it was a fun experience. Again, i am not sure if the grapple tendril is intended, but the mechanics of running around trying to do the mini-games was enjoyable.

• How do you feel about the game's difficulty? 
  • There were times where i would load into a level and instantly start taking damage
• If it is too hard/ too easy, what do you think should be done to make it more balanced?
  • There were times where it was too easy. Enemies just stood there with their back to me, so i got a bunch of free shots in.
  • I wasnt able to parry in my first game (didnt know about it)
  • Is there any reason i wouldnt always move while blocking?
  • The controls felt floaty. (but it may have also been the camera and a slight lag with it)
• Does the parry work fine?
  • I tried to parry, i wasnt sure on the timing. I dont think i ever got it to work. Whatever it is, make sure the reward is worth the risk. Blocking seems to absorb 100% of the damage. So why would i risk damage?
• How are the visuals?
  • I like the art style. But the thing i was escorting had no personality. Just a circle.
  • The gold was very unusual, it didnt look like gold coins, so i think i avoided it at first.
    • The coins also bounced and werent always responsive to getting picked up
  • It would be great if when you start a level your character and camera were facing the direction of the exit (or a path to the exit). 
    • I have had several instances where at the start of a level i am facing away from the exit.
• Any bugs?
  • Once i loaded into a level with no enemies
  • On level 5 i think my orb thing fell off the edge.
    • I eventually jumped off the edge after it (after clearing the level) i fell for a very long time and had to quit the game.
  • I never heard any music. (also the music and sounds effects were defaulting to off)
• Do the UI elements look fine?
  • They seemed ok.
  • In the shop it would be nice to see my health and the orbs health so i can tell if it is worth buying HP or not.
• Would you like to see anything else added to the shop?
  • Maybe you could do something with pary…. I never got it to work, but maybe you can make it more forgiving. 
  • Maybe your attack range can increase
  • Maybe the orb can pulse some sort of aoe damage every few seconds
• What do you like/dislike about escort missions in other games? 
  • Older “escort” missions were always frustrating because you were following the escort and they acted “dumb”.
  • More “modern” escort missions are like this, where they follow you around. I think the better ones have the escorts talk or comment on things that are going on.
• How do the controls feel? 
  • floaty
• What would you like to see implemented in the game?
  • Enemy attack animations could be tweaked. If they had a “wind up” animation so i knew an attack was about to happen and could respond. As it stands, i think they just do the attack anim.
  • I’m not sure if there was any visual or auditory feedback when the orb was getting hit. (i know the UI element would change)
  • More feedback on when you can interact with the exit would be good.
  • Enemies should always drop something.
  • Is there a reason to explore the levels?
• Overall
  • Nice work! It was a fun little jaunt. There is a lot of potential for quick fun with some feedback and tightening up the controls. 

• The idea is really neat.  There is some pretty fertile ground here for a fun game.
• It was difficult to tell when i was hitting the enemy flies. If they were 1 hit kills, i guess i was missing them a lot. If they had more than 1 hp, it would be nice to see their health.
  • Is there a reason to use different attacks on the bugs? (why would i ever use fire if it can damage my plant) But the different attacks does mean you can make bugs that are resistant to certain attacks.
• Having more plants that you had to tend would help aid in the frantic feeling.
  • It would also be good to see your progress on growing the plant. I was never sure if i should just be dousing these plants with the element i saw or if just one shot is enough and time handles the rest.
  • Lastly, I’m not sure why you have to “ironsight” to attack.

• Is the goal of the game obvious? How descriptive of a tutorial is needed?
  • The goal was not clear. I had to make sure i was reviewing the itch.io page to see what did what.
  • So if my goal is to collect as much Phytomass as possible (according to the description on the website), what obstacles am i trying to overcome? At one point i was no longer able to collect items, so i swapped worlds and i could collect items from there. 
    • So what is the reason to swap worlds? (also swapping refreshed the plant interaction, so i could keep swapping, but i dont think that is the most efficient use of time).
• How's the minigame? Is it rewarding/punishing enough?
  • It took me a while to figure out how the mini-game works (and even then i am not 100% sure i understand exactly). I wasnt aware the goal was to move the slider to the threshold, THEN release the button.
  • i did enjoy the challenge of trying to get as many samples within the timelimit. I also liked the visual feedback that i was in the right range.
• Glaring issues with the village?
  • I was not sure what the purpose of the village was.
• Does the music fit the world? Any suggestions for music? (it plays a song from a playlist at random every 5 minutes)
  • I never heard music
• Anything Else?
  • I think there are some fun mechanics at play. I liked trying to get as many samples as i could. I do think the interaction boxes on the plants could be more forgiving though. I like the idea of swapping between the worlds, i am just not seeing what your ultimate intentions with it were.

1. How was the gameplay? Exciting? Fun? Boring? 
   1. Tense at times. The constant footsteps in the background and the low visibility were good
2. What did you think of the map size? 
   1. Probably a bit too big
3. How did you feel about visibility while playing? 
   1. Maybe a smidge too dark. More landmarks for the spaces would have been good
4. Tell us about your favorite part of the game. 
   1. The audio was really well done. The game had a tense atmosphere
5. Tell us about your least favorite part of the game. 
   1. I wasnt sure what i was supposed to do. I also couldnt always load batteries into slots, so that felt very frustrating. I felt that i was fighting controls more than anything gameplay related
6. Thoughts on difficulty? How does it feel on the first run, vs after having more experience with additional runs? 
   1. The biggest issue is lack of clarity of what I should be doing. I didnt read anything beyond the control setup, so i wasnt sure what was going on or my goals. The first time i saw the slenderman i walked up to him to see what was going on then i died (i figured something like that would happen). The next time I died my back was to the enemy as i tried to get a battery into a slot. So it just kind of ended anti-climatically. This could have been a great jumpscare moment (Spin the camera around and with a quick zoom in on the slenderman’s face and some sound effect)
7. Feedback on any specific mechanics, rooms, etc?
8. What do you think about the Luumba? 
   1. If that is slender man, it was creepy looking. But i am not sure how he relates to putting me into a painting. I’d almost say have a paint canvas follow you around instead, but that is pretty goofy, but thematic.

1. Does camera feel good? 
   1. The camera felt fine, responsive
2. How does the map feel to navigate?  Does it feel too big? Too open? 
   1. A bit too big. I was unable to avoid the monster and mostly gave up trying to get away from it. I just hoped it was in a different location
3. What are your thoughts on the panel layout?  Does it feel easy to move through? Should things be grouped differently? 
   1. The Panel Layout was good. It was a bit frustrating that i could not control my robot’s movement separately from what panel i was looking at. This actually has potential to be a fun multiplayer game where some players are piloting blindly, others are giving navigational directions, others are adjusting power/repairing the pod, others are lighting things/defending the ship. (not sure what the moment to moment gameplay would be for that, but the Star Trek Bridge Crew game and Captain Sonar board game kinda do this)
4. Does the monster feel balanced? Did it feel like a threat? Did you feel like you could escape? 
   1. The monster felt overpowered. It was definitely threatening. It felt very unfair to start and have the monster sometimes start very close to you. I honestly wouldnt introduce the monster until a later stage in the game. Let players get acclimated to the other features before introducing a threat.
5. This question is missing :) 
6. Thoughts on the hide button? Does it feel useful? 
   1. I didnt realize it was a thing until reading this. (then reading/skimming the directions). As a rule, you should not expect players to read. ;)
7. Did you use the window? Did the oxygen feel balanced? 
   1. I didnt use the window, just the map.
8. How is the movement? Do you feel like you're able to move through the environment properly? Fast? Slow? 
   1. Movement speed felt ok. Maybe a bit on the slow side, but since I had to switch between views it was probably fine.
9. How was the map? Did it have to many landmarks? Not enough? Was it useful? 
   1. Map probably could have used a few more landmarks. It felt like a lot to juggle, movement, avoiding, trying to constantly orient yourself to the map
10. What does the big red button do? 
    1. Blow up the ship

1. What do you think of the puzzles? Too difficult or too easy? 
   1. Too hard. There is also hard gating that feels unintuitive (i can float over the fire to get to the terminal door, but i cannot open it unless i put the fires out). 
2. How did you feel about the oxygen meter? (Balanced? Too slow? Dynamic with player movement and fire?) 
   1. seemed to deplete pretty fast
3. How did you feel about the fire/extinguisher? Were the fires a good enough distraction to keep you on your toes? 
   1. I could just fly over the fires. It was hard to tell when a fire was really out, the despawn animation seemed to take a long time and not provide immediate feedback that i doused the fire.
4. What did you think of the pace/length of the game? 
   1. I didnt get past the first terminal room. It was very hard to figure out the codes. Those code puzzles need more positive feedback. Did i get a single number correct? Also, the puzzles for that should build in complexity. Make one puzzle a “gimmie” just so players know they are on the right track.
5. What did you think of the level design? Was it easy to keep track of the rooms given the constraint on the door charges? 
   1. I could not tell why doors wouldnt open. There needs to be some sort of feedback to the player if a door cannot be opened.
6. What did you like about the game? 
   1. The movement was cool and the sound was good. The first terminal room seemed like it could be a fun puzzle, but it was pretty difficult. I had no idea if i was on the right path or not. 
7. What did you dislike about the game? 
   1. It was hard
8. What could be improved or added to enhance the overall gameplay? 
   1. Make it easier, especially at the start, ease players into the puzzles. Give the player a couple easy wins at the start. (the fire extinguisher to put out fires is a good one)
9. What did you think of the overall feel/ambience of the game? Did the sounds and art mesh well? 
   1. I think the sounds and look meshed well. I’d have done more to highlight doors that can be used.

1. Did you enjoy playing the game? Why or why not? 
   1. It was okay. I enjoyed exploring, however finding the fragments felt arbitrary (just run around and punch of AoE things and it will show up)
2. Did you find any parts of the game confusing or unclear? 
   1. I wasnt really sure what i was supposed to do. I understand I was supposed to get a fragment, then return to the hub, and then a doll or something would show up on the wall and maybe something changed elsewhere?  
3. Were you able to find the two fragments? Was it hard or easy? 
   1. It wasnt too hard, but the gameplay was a bit stale, especially in the city. I just had to run around breaking cars. That felt pretty arbitrary. I did like the cars would appear in the hub and i gained an AoE attack
4.  How long did it take you to complete the game? (How long did it take you to get the two fragments possible?) 
   1. Maybe 20 minutes?
5. Did you interact with the baby multiple times? How did that go? 
   1. I did. It was bizarre
6. Did you explore the hub? Was it interesting to do so? 
   1. It got interesting after i got the AoE and figured out I could run up vertical walls. It was unfortunate that i got the AoE attack after doing the level with the cars. It would have felt more impactful to get it then go blow up a bunch of cars.

Overall: This may be the only game i completed (but i wasn't sure if i did.) Since there wasn’t really any danger I could just explore. But with no danger or pressure i didn't really have to “get good” (i am also not sure if improvement is something you can achieve in this game).

I think there is some real cool potential with the narrative of exploring your mind and unlocking fragments of memories and changing your perspective on events (almost like a memory metroidvania type game).

1. Does the hectic aspect seem more balanced than before? And if not, what aspects aren't? For example, enemies being too quick/slow, etc. 
   1. Not sure what it was before, but the gameplay pace felt ok. Levels went on for far too long though. The purple gems seemed to drop at a slower rate. (if it was pure random, then it’s a 25% chance to drop (or 75% chance for it to not drop, so levels felt longer than they really needed to be, especially at the start))
2. Are towers (now with variety) more balanced together, or are certain towers over/underpowered? 
   1. The effects of the towers were oftentimes hard to tell. (there was something i could buy at the start of level 1 for 10 yellow that seemed to do nothing). There needed to be text that explained what they do.
3. Does the elemental aspect of towers to enemies feel smooth/intuitive to understand? 
   1. I did not notice this at all.
4. Does the flow of the game feel moderately smooth(er), and in what ways if not?
   1. Seemed smooth. But at times tedious. I couldn’t collect my gems fast enough. It got tiresome to carry crystals from a lane to the Blackhole.
5. Is the UI intuitive and understandable? Any comments on adding/removing/clarifying anything to it? 
   1. Add a brief description for what the weapons do (and the upgrades)
6. Did you find any interesting strategies during your gameplay? If so, please let us know what you found, and if not, tell us how we can give you more opportunity to strategize. 
   1. My strategy was to make a meat grinder near the gem deposit and just stand in the lane collecting gems and depositing them without moving.
7. What do you think about the multi-tiered currency? Does a currency dedicated to the blackhole give more incentive to complete it than before? 
   1. I think it felt fine. The currency drop rate felt random, i would probably have a more tiered approach (dont drop blue crystals very often until the player can actually use them.
8. Is the wormhole tower (if used) sufficiently helpful with collecting currency? 
   1. Wait? What? What is the wormhole tower?

Overall: This game has a solid foundation. The game does get repetitive after a while, as the levels tend to drag on (though i only played the first 2 levels). But the core gameplay loop is pretty solid.  The weapons and their power-ups could use more explanation. The elemental portion, I didnt notice in my brief playtime.  There is a lot of fun potential here.