thanks so much! i put more thought than id like to admit on where all the items should go and needed to make updates after the first play test so im glad you thought i found a nice balance!
thank you so much for playing, and for the compliments on the art! i spent a lot of time drawing everything :) and i didnt want to remove the items from the inventory, just disable and make them transparent, but i think this is a good example where signals to the player need to be exaggerated because people notice and interpret things in such different ways. im glad you enjoyed your time! i was pretty worried that i made a game that would be appreciated only for the effort i put in 😅
youre not the only one who got confused by the right end of the map. it was supposed to be a beach with water, some small wave animations or even static white caps drawn in would have gone a long way. its too flat so it just looks like dark ground instead of water.
and how much tutorial to give was a hard decision. i didnt want to give too much, but youre right the basic mechanics should have been spelled out clearly so players can focus on the real puzzles.
ran great in a sandbox environment, and i liked the look, music and art. there was too much text at the start though. i didnt read any of it. if im being made to read a tutorial, i think it should be highlighted and separate from the lore so i can choose to focus on instructions. i also didnt totally get the gameplay. i wasnt sure what gave me more points and the brown gnomes seemed too expensive for not being able to attack. ive never played plants vs zombies though so take this point with a grain of salt. also the game never seemed to end/lose if i let a zombie through.
after the title screen, this game brought me back to elementary school and looking through big picture books especially the i spy books but with Halloween town vibes instead. the only critique is that the last puzzle with the girl confused me and i solved by accident since i started spamming everything with clicks.
everything about the game is really great expect it feels grindy because of the labor intensive move mechanics and large open map. the random tentacles also felt unfair when the ammo is scarce. i completely missed the large stash of ammo at the start and turned around after finding the first bullet so i ended up at the first random tentacle with no ammo. i managed to push past while it was attacking me to the next stage but i think this caused a corner case bug where i died during the transition between levels and was unable to reload in the next level even though the player was still there. i have a screen recording of not being able to reload i can send you. other than that, really cool game and with some refinement i would definitely play again.
everyone already said the nice things that i would also say so ill keep this to only critiques, which are not many. 1. i didnt notice the new character to unlock the first time at the store. i think it could use the same highlight on hover so i know to click it.
2. the pacing of the green zombies was strange to me, they never caught the cart the first level so i completely ignored them the second level after upgrading my horse and then they caught the cart and it was an instant lose state since i let so many build up. i think i was also expecting the cart to keep moving if they ever caught it since they seem so inconsequential the first level.
cool concept and i was really intrigued at the start, but i was one those players that quit before the end. i think because it's truly the same loop i was wondering "is that the game?" and then quit by the third time. i read your responses to other comments and not wanting a feeling of progress makes sense for the story, but i still think there needs to be feedback so the player knows the game isn't bugged or over. or maybe an interaction in the game to resign and end early so that the message is more pronounced. it's a cool environment though and the first loop was perfect, im just dense and dont pick up on subtext well :D
i really liked the art, the vibe, the story, and setting are all really good. super impressed by the writing too. i do think i was one of those players that optimized the fun out the game. i got good with managing the lighthouse and was only losing ships when they would crash into each other away from the beacon so some feedback maybe barks to reassure the player that this is supposed to be happening could help. i also didnt get what i needed to do when everything turned evil so i went to read from the bookshelf and wait for the timer to run out. the bug getting stuck at the corner of the stairs ended the game for me dawn of the 4th night so that was unfortunate. all around cool game though and i enjoyed the experience even though it felt like a bit of a waiting game.
i thought the controls were tight and really similar to old school cell phone snake controls. took me a little getting used to the odd shaped collision boundaries but then that turned into more fun figuring out where the gaps are. all around a creepy and well done take on snake. my one critique is it would be nice if the tutorial was hidden after the first play so that im right back in the action
i tried playing this in a sandbox environment but it was too laggy. i wont download and play itch games on my actual machine so sorry wish i could have played. the environment looked cool through choppy frames. also the jump scare scream is way too loud. i tried to play some and then as i was trying to quit it screamed and im glad i wasnt wearing headphones. i had my computer volume at 50 percent and it sound like 90%+ decibel levels
thank you so much!! and ooooooo the island tasks is a great idea! Also I wanted to have holes and unique shapes for the islands and it’s something I started at the beginning but realized was out of scope for the jam since I went with pcg islands. You are making me think for v2 I should have static islands that are more complex so I can actually practice level design that ties back into the tasks
cool idea and well executed! everything fit well together. i wish the game would keep playing when it loses mouse focus so i could work on my own things while waiting for emails to pop in. and i wish there were more patterns to the emails to give that part more depth cause it's super cool and fun but lost replayability quickly.
great work! i think it's a well executed game just needs some more depth to set it apart from other clicker/idle games. there was nothing keeping me clicking once it going
great game all around i just wish it would continue running when it loses mouse focus. not being able to work on stuff while the game is idling was frustrating. i am a watch number get big kinda person.
i really like how you broke down the idle vs active play styles and the pacing fit really well. everything from the art to the sounds and interactions all matched wonderfully
super interesting game and the art is incredible. i wish the hope collection was faster so i could place my own items sooner but i did like how i could leave it running and unlock many different idols. i idled for idols lol
thanks so much boomtrout! i made the islands too from simple shapes and i dont think they look half bad, especially when i get more unique shaped islands generating than just rectangles. the plan is to add animations and probably make it more humanoid with arms for cheering
thank you so much for playing! It’s definitely lacking, I pivoted in the last 2 days after having given up, but im proud that I got a submission!
And the tile placing uses GridMap with a ray cast from the camera because there is no auto tiling in 3D. It has a hard time detecting the bend direction, being birds eye and zoomed in can help, but I think the bend direction logic is messing up.
I plan on continuing development though with track upgrades and spectator animations
