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"Vykolejen" is one of the few 3D entries of the jam, and one of the two PvP projects featured. It leaves the "wrong-going" on the wrong-doing of one of the players, and it offers a lot of things which could go wrong. :) 

The game is built for players, starting with the first menu screen, followed by a (loading?) screen with the control hints and simple summary of objectives for both players. Everything is clear throughout the game, and the variety of actions is serviced by the contextual hints in a textbook example of player guidance.

What strikes immediately is the degree of polish of the 3D art with distinct and well applied low-poly art direction. Accompanied with the sounds and consistent GUI, the overall presentation is the one of a polished indie game at launch. During my tests at the jam, some effects were temporary, but the final version shows the informative character effects.

The environment is well thought out, allowing parallel passages, with even distribution of devices to break and mend (see balancing note below). Also, I have noticed the camera covering both avatars well regardless of the distance, good job!

Resulting experience is very impressive, the game plays well and feels balanced (under normal circumstances, further balancing would probably occur based on huge volume of tests). It is easy to grasp and get the objectives, find the interaction points and even in the turmoil of the brawl, I mostly felt informed and in control.

• Sometimes I got stuck when trying to pass from one carriage to another  - character is less visible there, and it takes some effort to center it towards the passage. Minor issue, resulting rather in increased tension rather than frustration. :)
• While characters are mostly well visible beyond the central obstacles, sometimes I found it hard to figure out if I could reach a particular object (highlights mostly do the trick though).
• Balance-wise, it is possible for e.g. Saboteur to block an inter-carriage passage as the characters collide. It seems that in order to stop a train, Saboteur needs to break 3 devices, and it might be possible to block Conductor and prevent them from fixing stuff. Is this accounted for?

Thank you for your amazing contribution and congratulations to the silver position and the RB prize, both are well deserved.

Hex Happens is literally fantastic take on the jam's theme. It delivers a mix as pretty, funny and crazy as the drinks the game features. Well presented narrative and polished presentation certainly won players' (and jury's) hearts and minds (also, the form and structure of the game presentation in front of audience was commendable). 

I particularly like the narrative of the exam, providing the over-arching structure and promoted through various means (e.g. player performance measured by grades).

Let's start with the art, which is probably the most significant part of the game's strong identity: completely hand-drawn, it facilitates the consistent look of the game. The minimalist palette contributes to recognizable and well defined "face". All the graphic elements are clear, serve the purpose and I did not have issues "reading" the opportunities the game has shown.

Rest of the presentation aspects are well covered; the game comes with GUI, hints and sounds which all do their respective jobs and fit the theme.

The experience is probably well known to many of us: a university exam, preceded by few drinks "for courage"; in magical world, it translates to exploring traits (buffs and debuffs) generated by random amount of randomized drinks (un)preparing the student-protagonist for the magical duel. Although I only bear several Fs, I will dare to point several items worth the authors' attention:

• I like the concept of high replayability. The game does this really well, players want to repeat and experiment.
• There seem to be several parts of the game which go against the replayability goal, probably added for storytelling purposes but feeling repetitive, e.g. the "dream" sequence of a successful exam (perhaps meant as tutorial?). There is no easy cure, but maybe recognizing repeated playthroughs and skipping some of these bits could make the repeated experience smoother?
• In the first part, player has to walk through the world. While it teaches the basics (which is good), it does not feel that appealing after few playthroughs - "Yeah, let's quickly run through this..." was the common approach. Did you think of adding something more, possibly utilize e.g. the platforms to get player used to those and make things more interesting? Indeed, there would have to be a reward for the less straightforward  progression (I can imagine some buffs and debuffs found along the way).
• The type and amount of drinks is heavily randomized. As it may not always be fair, repeating the session should be made as smooth and quick as possible.
• Speaking of the drinks, I do get feedback after drinking, and I can assume what a drink does. As discussed in person, it would be great to think of making this more memorable and obvious for the player, allowing them to remember the combinations and make the effects guesswork a bit easier.

The final boss fight works with variety of buff combinations, which alone is good achievement. From my subjective POV, it feels rather too fast, translating to me feeling less control over the situation - it's no wonder as I'm almost fifty. :) The frantic speed and the associated challenge may indeed be your goal (well fulfilled), however, slower pace could allow you to make the buffs more prominent. I am leaving this note only for your consideration.

Thank you for being such impactful part of the first Bohemia Game Jam, and my congratulations to the 1st place!

Theme-wise, this game transcends the jam theme a bit, but there are still things suddenly failing (and falling) in it, especially when it's yours truly's turn to play. :) If I would be exposed to the game without the presentation outlining the background, it would probably be impossible to figure out the meaning; however, I would probably end up worrying about how to balance a roll on a tramway positioned on pair of shoes rather than the back story. :)

The game is pretty challenging, with the challenge well disguised as peaceful zen tower building. It feels like a sandbox-y "toy" at first, but there's progress and (intrinsic) measurement of success. The additional mechanic of some items occasionally trembling forces player to remain vigilant, and it's often the player, not a quaking piece, who ruins the construction.

The means to deliver this player-driven experience are concise and functional - there's nothing superfluous, everything has its function, role, meaning. The art resembles collages from the 1960s-1980s children books, matching the theme in surprising but working fashion. Sounds provide additional feedback and music fits the theme, the additional effects of trembling items (paired with sounds) do the good job in notifying player.

I have to commend the physics of the items - it's well set up, collision envelopes are detailed (yes, one can put roll or fork into the cup!), and whenever I destroyed a growing tower when frantically attempting to stop trembling alarm clock and cell phone, it never felt like the game's fault.

The minimalism in GUI is generally very healthy, however, there's probably a bit too much of it in "Nevadí". I would recommend adding basic GUI "wrapper" allowing to pause, restart or exit the game. :)

"Nevadí" nicely demonstrates the merit in Bohemia Interactive's design motto "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". Thank you for this challenging, frustrating and addictive little gem.

"Just A Favour" is well paced and solid game, nicely fulfilling the jam's theme. I like the way it evolves from peaceful stroll to a challenging "bug fest" player has to crawl through. Here, I would like to commend the point of the experience eventually turning out to be a buggy game. :) Very nice connection of gameplay and narrative!

Presentation is nice and clean, with the intro providing a good start to a chain of puzzles of increasing difficulty and weirdness. Most of the art is consistent, the music supports the mood.

Puzzles are full of great ideas, be it the Mines or the "race" against the chess knights - authors have succeeded in lying out a good base for bringing in a lot of variety in such a small package.

Except of the few occasions noted, game's immediate reaction to my input hinted the way to pass through a particular puzzle.

Gameplay notes:

• The "altered gravity" puzzle was a bit obscure to me at first until one of the authors mentioned the gravity. I wonder how a larger sample of focus testers would deal with this one - if majority would fail at first, it might be good to provide some indication this should be handled as a platformer.
• Some of the mines were not provided with the usual "distance" hint, serving only as a nasty surprise. In an environment where player is to face puzzles, this does not feel entirely appropriate especially after killing player after they beat a more challenging part (while I admit it may be a one-time fun moment in right circumstances).
• Chasm passage using a fallen tree may be tricky - I only beat it because I saw one of the authors using the boulder to fell the tree, but I could be lost without the hint.
• What is the final "broken reality" part with mirrored avatar for? Does not seem to be a puzzle.
• Why did the plant eventually died although it was watered? A final "oops" point is surely due here, maybe just setting it up or explaining it better could work nicer here (e.g. watered by some cleaning agent by mistake).

I really appreciate the invention put into the puzzles and I hope you did not commit the last bug. I believe citing more games as creatively as you did with Mines and chess may lead to a very entertaining and interesting project, and I hope you will at least consider expanding on the theme you have discovered at Bohemia Game Jam.

Thanks for a boulder-solid bug-infested experience, I literally had a blast (stepped on a mine for about 5 times) playing your game! 

What could go wrong if you're from Brno and arrive to Prague? :) Player is put into an unusual situation, expected to go through a little public transport adventure. This all fits greatly to the jam's theme.

There was a lot of invention and originality put into this game, and the art part and general mood are commendable. Small scale allowed me to experiment and figure out most of the interactions, however, if I would not have some experience with ticket machines, I might get lost because the interaction opportunities are very subtle. :)

There is a general UX issue I would like to bring to the authors' attention: there is only little information about the player's progress through the whole riddle. I was not aware of possessions I have, while the items I have determine what to do next - a simple inventory indicator might make things much easier.

Related, the flow is linear, although it may not be necessary; e.g.: I need to approach ticket machine to realize I need money and be allowed to beg, approaching the Green Guy before this is possible but offers no options. I understand all the constrains, please take this as a note for your consideration in future updates or projects. 

I have encountered only two issues which stopped me in my tracks, requiring advice of the authors:

• To get the change, I had to approach a news stand, which interaction point was hard to spot. This is probably result of the shift from the original full 3D approach to the top-down view.
• I did not notice the name of the station I am at, resulting in wrong input in the ticket machine.

The beggar guy was a nice touch, but it also points to a little hurdle UI/UX worth fixing: player needs to use mouse (no Escape key etc.) to hit "Zpět" button, placed in top left corner - having to move cursor over the whole scene is inconvenient, a shortcut and better position of the button could result in smoother and swifter interaction.

Of course, there are many aspects of the game I love:

• The alien language representation, including the careful inclusion of recognizable patterns.
• Details like necessity to scratch the coin before throwing it into the machine.
• The art style, firmly based on the effort put into field research.
• Wading through the crowds, the collisions.
• Multiple endings!

I definitely had fun exploring what to do, failed numerously trying to buy the right ticket, ran out of time because of pesky beggar and enjoyed my little victories against the odds.

Thank you for the great game!

The setting of a spaceshipjunk falling apart is not new among jam games, but this one comes with many interesting traits. The game accords with the jam theme perfectly, answering the question of "What could possibly go wrong?" with blunt "Everything!" :) 

I really like how run-and-fix mechanic has been blended with the need of sustenance (I need to drink coffee and eat to be able to carry on fixing). While some of the minigames are a bit too straighforward, more akin to placeholders than actual gameplay, the variety and abundance make up for it. Still, this is one of the many areas which could be easily expanded.

The tech and art part of things is amazing feat: Unreal-powered 3D 1PV games are not common sight in events like this, and you managed to delivered a functional interactive environment with distinct appearance, functionality and game mechanics and loops. This achievement alone makes your contribution notable!

Of course, there is more to the art: all the posters and easter eggs did not go unnoticed, and contribute to the narrative aspect of the experience. The rest of presentation (sound, interactions) is solid, does the job and allows player to get the game and immerse. There is definitely a lot of room of UI/UX polishing - perhaps it's the burden of a 3D game, instantly turning me to an "AAA Creative Lead" mode, seeking for opportunities to do better, harder, faster, nicer etc. :) We have discussed some of those, e.g. tweaking the flashlight effect, having some better emergency lights when ship goes dark, or better highlights of actions in the scene.

Some notes from playing:

• The navigation through the environment is challenge at first, but with a map on the walls, I was able to figure out where to go rather quickly. Maybe some extra guidance would not hurt (you start here, "engine",  food and coffee icons and similar references).
• I have completely missed the bread dispenser on first playthroughs. This could be handled in several ways, from tutorial tasks (you woke up, now go and replenish resources before the shift) to more prominent art asset.
• Randomly closing doors are nice touch - we have discussed that puzzle ending is slow, costs the precious time.
• Some minigame interactions or coffee making employ mouse, but controls did not feel consistent; revision of controls, hints or allowing players to use several ways to interact can do the trick.

I can imagine a more solid art direction which could ensure players navigate the ship(s) easier, some interactions are better hinted, some better minigames emerge and the whole experience is pushed to the new level. This is beyond the scope of a jam game, but I have to admit I would enjoy expanding this aspect of the game myself. :) Just few ideas:

• distinct style, even borrowing from a movie (Space Odyssey 2001, Alien, Event Horizon, Star Wars);
• effects (with gameplay impact), e.g. smoke from burning wires, light sources (fires, indicators...);
• tutorial ship, more levels with increasing difficulty, covering the spectrum of issues combined with spatial challenges;

I have mentioned a lot of items to possibly expand on, polish or improve. Please take this as a sign of affection for the game you produced - I sincerelly hope you will be both able and willing to return to it, possibly turning it to a gaming gem with game jam origins.

Thank you for the great game!

Factory Reset is solid game with nice presentation and interesting take on the PvP gameplay. Its narrative resonates well with the theme of the jam, and I really like how the conflict between Admins and Robots is presented and tied to it.

General experience is a very polished affair, pixelated retro art style accords with the setting and invites for exploration. The presentation makes me want to play the game, and when I do, there's always feedback to what I do: an effect, a sound, or both - it's great! Once player gets into the game and understands the possibilities, it gets properly challenging and rewarding. Getting into it has been a bit of a problem to me, although I have to commend the how the presentation filled in the blanks and let me understand the gameplay well.

The asymmetric adversarial gameplay was a bold choice, it supplies the game with good deal of originality but also leads to UX challenges. These, however, should be fairly easy to mitigate, and the game provides nice and polished experience even in its current form.

When I tried the game for the first time and without much assistance, I was not really aware it's made for two players. Before I got the explanation from the authors, many rules and opportunities were unknown, and I did not realize a lot of cool stuff by myself. Tutorial screen is perfect idea, however, I was instantly focused on controlling the robot and did not pay much attention to the hints. There may be some ways to make sure players get the important info:

• Instantly show there are 2 players in different roles, identify their interaction fields - pop-up hints, "stealing" focus, showing controls - be blunt!
• Hints need to steer players' attention - to do it better, they can use bigger fonts. It is natural for us (humans) to read the biggest letters first, and only after we check on the headlines, move to the text bodies.
• Visual distinction of Admin and Robot; can be just an "Admin Panel" title over the hacking interface, some visual separation setting the level and Admin space apart (color, gap).

Playing the game in both roles is a pleasant challenge; I am under impression that Admin's life is generally easier due to the abundance of merciless traps Robot has to face, but it may be just my slower reactions. I appreciate the balancing option.

The Admin minigame is really nice way to put an obstacle between Admin and their superpowers. As discussed, combos of 6+ numbers were practically impossible to deal with for me, but that's what balancing is there for. Here, it would be great to inform players about the exact traits of the setting (e.g. "Admin combos are shorter and Admin has more time to solve them"). As part of future polishing, it might be nice to make the "Hijack the motor" and "Invert visual sensor" icons more tell-tale, and show the hack names in bigger font.

If you would decide to expand the game further, I would recommend focusing on the onboarding, UI/UX polishing  and also on presentation of the back story, which is original and puts the experience into a very different light.

Thank you for your amazing contribution to the jam, and congratulations to the well deserved bronze!

My colleagues have summarized the qualities of the submitted game exceptionally well, and I can only agree with their statement that Elektrownia is a well thought-out concept with solid execution, original artistic style and captivating gameplay. I also appreciate the playful approach to the art and content!

As I have mentioned in the personal conversation after the jam, I see some room for improvements in the area of UI/UX, namely:

• Particular skills of the three workers could be made more obvious. It is hard to catch up with long texts in the intro; possibly a summary (e.g. "engineer", "muscle", "technician") in the dossiers might help. Icons in the game are informative and readable.
• It took me a while to learn that I can "grab" the task icon from the whole employee card - at first, I tried to be very precise and kept running out of time. :)
• While most of the power plant catastrophes are localized to fairly small areas which require player to act quickly and drag swiftly, there are several "full screen" ones. I was wondering whether these items are meant to be easier as player only needs to drop the job icon anywhere on the screen, or whether it's meant to be smaller as the rest of the jobs.
• While learning whom to send is part of the challenge, it would be great if nature of some issues would be slightly more obvious. Along with pretty tell-tale issues like raging bull, there are mysterious smokes and embers - in these cases, I tried to assume the nature of the issue from the background (computer - send geek, machinery - send technician). I understand the balancing might be delicate, as telling players too much may turn certain mystery to a brainless whack-a-mole.

None of these minor items prevents player from getting into this game and bathe in radiation and frustration as they attempt to survive the last 3 minutes of the shift. :)

Thank you for your unwavering effort and for the amazing submission driven by exceptionally strong art direction.