itch.io

Third time does indeed seem to be the charm, and everything seemed to work this time! I'd gladly help you improve your game even further, so I'll be giving some more thoughts for points of improvement below.

The game has a lot of charm, mostly helped through the hand drawn art. Even though idea of combining objects into presents isn't per se unique to this game, I'd say this game has the most unique approach to it. The little crafting minigames are a great addition, along with some other little things like upgrades between rounds, multiple types of dispensers and starred orders, which all help to make the game feel very complete.

That being said, I guess I would still consider this 'a game with a lot of potential' rather than a finished product. Some of my main thoughts were:

- The spacing between orders coming in seems a bit off. At times, the queue is so cluttered that it is literally impossible to finish every order, while there were a handful of moments where I found myself idly waiting for something to happen. The former is the largest issue for me, as it kept me from progressing past stage 2 (where the toy houses are introduced), I'm pretty sure there was just no way for me to finish all orders on time and not suffer gigantic losses.

- It took me quite some time to realize that the anvil is for wrapping instead of crafting (I guess my heuristics got the best of me). Not only did this make the game somewhat more difficult at first, it also initially kept me from completing any toy houses, as the doll would already be sealed away into a present by the time my brick was done. I guess this could be explained a bit more clearly in the tutorial section.

- Speaking of crafting: I found it a bit bothersome that the toy houses can only be crafted by adding a brick to a doll, in that specific order. If you change this order and try to add a brick to a heart (something which seems quite a logical possibility to me), it turns into trash instead.

- As with any long-running minigame, the gameplay runs at risk of becoming the stale. The lack of music doesn't really help in this regard (although I saw that you were still planning on adding that later).

- It would be nice for there to be an option to quit the crafting minigames once you've started.

That's quite the list of complaints, but don't take it as something negative! The fact that my thoughts are so specific means that I found the main game to be fun and satisfying enough to want to see it further improved :)
I hope all of this will be helpful to you!

I love the presentation and concept of this game! The combination of character design, particle effects and music all worked very well together. The inclusion of things like a leaderboard, tutorial and settings make the game feel pretty complete as well.

I must admit that the rules of this game weren't  very clear to me, though. Even after getting second place on the leaderboard, I still don't know what actually causes the Game Over screen. There were also some slight peculiarities such as the bullet being blocked even though the path was clear, presents that were supposed to be fired getting stuck under the sleigh / other presents, etc. But nonetheless, playing this game was actually really fun! So kudos for making a game that's fun enough to not frustrate when it doesn't work quite as it should.

Oh and I accidentally messed up the leaderboard by entering a name that was too long, oops I guess.

Thank you for playing the game!

I agree that the timing of days and events is tricky to nail down, as I wanted to strike the right balance between enough time to prevent stress, but not so much time that boredom would ensue.

My plan is to tweak the game once the jam's over (I'm not sure if I'm supposed to change anything before the rating is done). Among other things, I want to make it so that the total time starts a bit higher, but decreases for each successfully crafted item. Hopefully that will appease both the slower and faster players.

Of course!

When it comes to sound effects, the easiest way is to use royalty free samples (found for instance on Pixabay). If possible, I recommend using an audio program to edit the sounds as well, so that you can trim the sound down, add reverb/delay, edit the EQ using an equalizer (also great for editing out unwanted noise in the sample), etc.

Making music is a bit dicier, as there many factors coming together here. I recommend picking a program (be that a more simplistic/accessible one such as Garageband or Audacity, or a more expensive/professional one such as FL Studio or Ableton Live), and just start making stuff. Watching a handful of tutorials for both production and music theory can definitely help (one of my favourite YT channels for theory is 8-bit Music Theory, definitely check out "Music Theory Minute" if you're a beginner), but I'm personally of the opinion that nothing will teach you the ropes quite as well as just messing around until you're proud of something. It definitely helps to then compare your product to something you look up to, focussing on one or two aspects you want to improve upon at a time (e.g. song structure, compositional density, mixing, melody development etc.)

Anyway, hopefully that might give you some places to start!

This game immediately hit me with some intense motion sickness, so I unfortunately wasn't really able to continue. Perhaps a more zoomed out view and more gradual camera tilt could improve this?

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I can't seem to get very far into the game? There's a big semi-transparent boundary blocking the entire path, with no means of getting past it. Is this wall supposed to be present (as it seems to me that this is in fact a non-disappearing tutorial wall)?

The world of this game looks great; it's just a shame that the main gameplay loop is more frustrating than fun. The physics are quite  a bit too whacky to be fully functional, and the information drop upon startup is both a bit unapproachable and not very visually pleasing, especially in contrast to the rest of the game.

I'm sure that if the numerous rough edges of this game are worked upon, it would much improve the experience!

First of all, it's great to say that you made the game playable!

I definitely see potential here, as the graphics are quite unique and the gameplay shows promise, but the execution just isn't quite there yet. In addition to not feeling all that polished, the mailing box didn't work at all for me, making progress impossible. Additionally, the main gameplay loop feels a bit clunky, despite the game clearly being heavily reliant on this loop.

That being said, this game clearly shows ambition (I mean, it even has a tutorial section), but it does need some work as of now. I'd be curious to see where you can take this game in the future, so keep up the work!

Simple concept, yet one of the most effective 'minigame' submissions to this jam. The curved screen and general VHS-like presentation really add a lot to the feel of this game, and the increased difficulty when you get further keeps the game from getting stale.

I do suppose that the sound design could use a bit of improvement, though. While atmospheric, the music is of course rather repetitive, and the anvil sound feels a bit dull, giving the fall less impact. Oh and one time my santa spawned underneath the platform, causing the game to softlock (although this did allow me to effortlessly reach a score of 100, so that's something).

It really means a lot to me to hear that, as I'd say that the dialogue and character presentation is the aspect of the game I put the most effort and passion into. Thanks a lot for playing!

Thank you for playing! And that's a very good point, by the way. If I ever give this game an upgrade, I'll change that for sure.

Very glad to hear you enjoyed it! I must have totally missed the fact that the wind sound doesn't loop perfectly, good catch.

An pretty original take on anvil crafting, with a fun physics system. That being said, the game feels like it's missing something, as simply building towards a high score doesn't feel very satisfying as of now. perhaps something like a more targeted demand of toys (e.g. one specific toy at a time) could help.

Nonetheless, well done!

Maybe it's just me, but this game doesn't seem to work? As soon as the game boots up, my mouse disappears, making it impossible to click any in-game buttons. Not a single keyboard button activated anything either.
Which is a shame, because, the thumbnail and title sound rather promising.

Quite an impressive for a seven-day game. The responsive controls, nice visuals and organic level design make exploring the cave feel quite rewarding.

My main suggestion is a different choice of music. Exploring the cave could feel like something mysterious, while the music sounds like I'm playing skip-a-rope in kindergarten. The jump noise might be a bit too overly cartoony as well. Minor complaints aside, great work!

Simple, yet super slick and well executed. The gameplay concept, controls and colour palette all work great together; it's basically just the perfect minigame.

I was already a good boy; now I'm a better boy.

Man, this was the very last I was expecting this jam, but I loved every second of it. Among the sea of uninspired flash games ('dodge the anvil but you're santa'; 'throw the anvil but you're santa'), suddenly there's a game that's not only genuinely unique and creative within the jam, it also turns out to be the game with the most unique art style I've ever seen in general. I'd even go so far as to call this game - dareIsayit - artistic.

Not only am I perplexed by every single creative step this game takes, it also makes me severely worried for what goes on in your brain - and that should be taken as a big compliment.

Props to you for actually making something so viciously unique.

Oh, and not to forget, you deserve to end up in the top 5 if only for the line "the seat cushion is an abstract art piece of my fat ass's curvature".

Perhaps not terribly creative (since it's basically just Suika Game Christmas edition), but hey, everything works well and the gameplay's as addicting as can be expected. The inclusion of a shop is also a nice touch, further adding to the 'just one more try' mentality this game seems to invoke.

Fun concept and good execution. The presentation is a bit lacking though, as the assets and not-quite-perfectly-looping music make the game feel a bit 'cheap'.

Gotta love how squishy santa is.

The game feels pretty nice to play, although you're bit too lightweight, causing to kind of buzz all over the screen with a bit too little feeling of control on the player's side. The level design could also use just a bit more variety, rather than simply 'jump from platform A to higher platform B'.

A simple, yet original concept. The controls were a bit unintuitive and underexplained, but overall the game feels polished.

The radio was definitely a highlight of the game for me.

Good atmosphere and pacing for a two minute game. Strikes the right balance between creepy and somewhat silly. The movement is a bit janky, but fortunately that doesn't detract from the experience too much.

There's potential for a very fun game here. The concept of rapid fire, almost WarioWare-esque minigames before a timer runs out is great. It's a shame the number is far too limited as of yet (plus, as has been said before, the oven dial detection isn't generous enough), but I'm sure that this concept can be worked out into a very fun game given more time.

Lol, I loved this. It's got it all: a delightfully weird concept, great execution, creative visuals, etc.. Probably the best game of this jam I've played so far. It's not just good for a jam, but a good flash-like game in general.

I'm very glad to hear that!

But yeah, I must admit it is indeed a bit light on the Christmas aspect

Thank you for the feedback, it's very much appreciated :)

The UI and general visuals are nice, but the pacing seems a bit off. Early game the points just come flooding in causing you to mindlessly spam upgrades, while late game you're just playing the waiting game with nothing much to do at all.

A bit of an uneven game. While the visuals are great (props to the endlessly satisfying bobbing of the hammer when it follows the mouse), the music gets annoying rather quickly and the gameplay runs out of steam about a minute in already. Waiting for that one specific final piece you still need to finish your creation can be especially tedious.

It's a pretty unique game, but it does leave a few things to be desired.

Short, but great! The graphics and animations are some of the best of this entire jam, and the controls are very responsive and satisfying. The main anvil-carrying mechanic is very promising as well, and I'd be very interested in seeing what more could be achieved with this premise given more time. The way the mechanics are taught through a mixture of gameplay and background art is great as well.

My only tiny point of improvement is that the choice of music feels a bit too happy-go-lucky and even slightly annoying. Perhaps a more atmospheric piece could fit the general ambiance better.

A fun idea, but it feels a bit rushed in  few aspects. For instance, the hitboxes are a bit wacky, the music is ear-shatteringly loud, and the top half of the screen is basically too dangerous to be because of the lack of a warning for when the anvils appear.

Very nice visuals, especially during the opening cutscene. However, the game feels a bit underexplained and too chaotic, as things just start happening and you kind of just have to figure things out. For instance, I had no clue what the anvil upgrades did, so some indication on the upgrade screen could have helped.

Also, the DnB Christmas remix is a great addition, lol

Definitely a good set-up for a Clicker game, but right now it leaves a bit to be desired. In case you're planning on continuing work on this game / a similar one, here are some points to consider: 

1. The lack of upgrade options makes the score increase feel redundant quite quickly. 
2. The Christmas theme feels a bit shoehorned in. Outside of this jam, it might as well be removed entirely.
3. Purchasing multiple upgrades in a row (as one is wont to do late in a Clicker game) causes a rather ugly overlap in sound effects. 
4. The UI is not all that visually appealing.

I'm sure that with some work, this could grow into a more fully-realized game, so keep up the work!

To me, this seems like a game with a lot potential that just slightly misses the mark. The main gameplay loop and crafting/upgrading system is very promising, but in practice the game just doesn't feel all that fun. 

I'd  say this mainly has to do with the lack of threat and motivation. A 12 minute marker at the beginning of the game is just a bit too much, especially for a rather repetitive gameplay loop. That together with the fact that the levels increase only very slowly make it so that after a few minutes, the game starts to feel stale. 

That being said, I think that some small tweaks could improve the experience a lot. Some suggestions are:

- reduce total time / time between levels. You could try breaking the total time up into sub-counters, where e.g. you have multiple rounds of two minutes to gain as many points as possible.

- Add more elements to the game, such as obstacles or enemies that gradually appear, making walking around more of a challenge.

- The addition of power-ups, a boost meter that slowly builds up, etc.

But then again, this is of course just one opinion, so feel free to do with it whatever you want!

Lol, not what I was expecting from the thumbnail at all (which is probably exactly what was intended). A very creative take on the gift-delivery idea.

The game does become a bit same-y after a while, so it could have used one or two more types of enemies, but otherwise this is a fun submission.

Very charming little game, with just the right length of gameplay. Nice visuals as well, giving it a very 'cozy' Christmas feeling.

A fun little minigame. The anvils serving as upgrades is both a creative interpretation of the special object and a great addition to the game, helping to keep it from becoming stale. With some refinement of the controls and some additional content (more maps, more power-ups, etc.), I could see this being turned into a full game.

I would only suggest adding a skip / restart option once you die, since it's not all that fun watching three NPCs play the game for me.

The visuals and animations of this game were very appealing. Story-wise, this must be among the most unique and unexpected games of this jam. Even though the climax feels a bit sudden (especially since things escalate rather quickly for such a short game), I simply have to appreciate the boldness of the ideas here. Although not quite perfect, this might well be the game from this jam I'll remember most a year from now on.

The presentation of this game simply oozes charm. Despite being 'just' a slight modification of Go Fish / Quartets, it still manages to feel fresh through its bouncy and colourful graphics and animations.

The only point of improvement I could think of is that the waiting times between turns/actions can feel a bit too long, especially in the late game. Having a skip or fast-forward button might help here.

Otherwise, great submission! I can imagine this being turned into a bigger game with e.g. multiple types of card games in a larger competition.

The drawings for this game (including thumbnail and header) are great! I especially like the walking animation of the Grinch :)
The gameplay works fine, yet the game does feel a bit static, since an increase in score doesn't lead to a higher speed/difficulty etc.. If you do plan to remake the game in the future (like you said on the page), you might take that into consideration.