itch.io

This is probably one of my favorite games I've played so far in this jam. I love how the bomb mechanics are introduced diegetically, and I love how it feels to use the tools. I was always excited to find out what the next mechanic will be.

I do think there are a few quality of life issues, though:

• There are not enough checkpoints. After dying a few times to the type B bomb section, it started to get frustrating having to redo a bunch of bombs to get back to that point.
• It's hard to read the text, since it moves forward automatically. It would be nice if it waited for me to press a button before moving on.
• I don't think there's any reason that the keybind for putting down a tool (left click) has to be different from the keybind for using it (F), since the situations where you can do each action are mutually exclusive. In my opinion, it would feel much more natural if you could use left click for both.

I really like the idea of carefully managing my very limited ammo, especially when I can control how each bullet behaves. I found the gun management aspect of the game to be pretty fun and compelling, but I think it would pair well with slower and more deliberate gameplay with more time to think about how I'm going to use my precious ammo.

At the moment, the shop interface is a bit unintuitive and kind of clunky (for example, it's really slow to change out bullets because I have to individually confirm each one I sell). However, I think I maybe understand what you're going for. Clicking and dragging things around gives it a really tactile feeling, as if I'm loading the gun with my own hands. With a bit more juice, I think it could be very fun to interact with.

I really like the audio in this game. The sparse sound effects and subtle music add a lot of atmosphere.

I don't think I've seen this kind of mechanic before where customers act as physical barriers that you have to intentionally run over. It definitely helps sell the timer a bit more when I'm struggling to wade through a bunch of people as the timer runs out.

I found it a bit difficult to follow the dialogue at times, since there's nothing keeping the text box and the voice lines in sync.

The art is good; I really like how the flames on the city look. I appreciate the very generously large area around planes where you can hit them, since the game would probably be nearly impossible without it.

It might feel a bit more natural if the cannon were aimed with the mouse, though controlling it with the keyboard does give it a "heavier" feel, so maybe that's intentional.

I would have liked if there were a bit more visual or audio feedback for firing, aiming, and changing the fuse time. In particular,  I found it difficult to figure out the fuse time at a glance. Maybe if the number changed color as it got higher?

The movement itself feels good in my opinion. I think the layout of the controls is what I find frustrating. At least on a QWERTY keyboard, the K key is far away from any of the other keys, so it's hard to easily reach without having to move one of my hands, making it not very viable to press during gameplay.

I also think it would be cool if WSAD and space were usable for movement and jumping, since I usually use those for platformers. But I know that most people just play with arrow keys.