itch.io

This game is criminally underrated. At the time of writing this, it's only been rated by 2 others. I can't believe it! Once I realized how the counting down works (the preview is very helpful), I had a blast. The idea is so creative. I mean, a Balatro-like with seven segment displays? For a jam game, there's a surprising amount of upgrades to choose from, and it's clear they were designed with lots of interesting synergies in mind. I don't like that I have to buy an upgrade every time; I wish I could just skip and keep my build. Also, having to click 20-30 times to change the countdown is not fun. Let me type the number in, or scroll to change it quickly, or something. The art and audio is great, and very satisfying when you get a big scoring turn. I only made it to round 10, but I'll probably come back and try again for a higher score now that I know what I'm doing. Great work!

The idea of your sense of time being linked to the clocktower is very clever and makes sense for the story. I wish that mechanic was the focus of the game; I think it would lend itself to more puzzly things than minigames. The NPC's and even the main character didn't seem to say much of importance or interest. I was expecting a little more narratively. The art and audio is great, of course. It looks and sounds more like a full-fledged game than a jam entry. I love the clockwork theming and I wish I could see more gears and machinery moving in the background. Altogether, a fantastic entry, clearly with a lot of effort and care put into it.

The concept and atmosphere are great. The how to play and settings are appreciated. It's a very creative take on the theme, though I've never seen the spy kill their target. Maybe the theme would be more obvious if there was simply a visible time limit? I tried many times, but I wasn't able to get a single successful kill. It would be nice if it was more clear why I failed. I know you're not supposed to kill around the guardians, but how close is too close? Do they need a line of sight? Can they see you even when their backs are turned? Also, the colors are sometimes difficult to distinguish because of the lighting. Even though I wasn't able to win, I like the idea and the story aspect of it. Nice work!

The squash-and-stretch on the character is well done and satisfying. The camera often lags behind the player when you move, so you see more of what's behind than ahead; for this reason, a lot of modern platformers move the camera ahead of where the player is moving. Speaking of the camera, I thought the blind jumps were annoying since they basically require you to fail to know how to beat them. That wouldn't be so bad if there was a restart button, but since there isn't, I had to close and reopen the application every time I wanted to try again. Even waiting for the countdown to expire seems to do nothing. The level seems well balanced for the countdown, though. I was at 1 second left when I got to the end, but I never ran out of time right before the end, which is nice. If the time running down to 1 is a scripted event, it's a nice touch.

Probably the most visually appealing submission I've seen yet. And the art IS the level! I like that it stretches what digits can look like while still being recognizable. I stopped at level 4, and as others have been saying, I would appreciate more leniency, especially when it doesn't even look like you can fit through some of these passages.  Still, it's a beautiful game, and the music gives it a great atmosphere.

At first, I wasn't sure what I was doing, but as I played more, I started to understand what this game was all about. The game is most fun once you get the visual aids and the bestiary, so all you have to do is look at the hitboxes and attack timings. (Though I wish the enemy attack timings were more visible, since they're very red on red right now.) Honestly, I think those things should be available by default, or at least way cheaper than they currently are. Without the debug telegraphs, it's really hard to know how to avoid getting hit. I realize that's the point, but I almost bounced off the game until I got those, and it took me a while to get enough of them that I felt like I could dodge consistently. I understand you're supposed to buy all these temporary upgrades and armor and weapons, but I never did that because I would always die and lose them. Unfortunately, that means about half of the game's content felt useless to me. I would like to at least keep armor/weapons on death, especially if you're expected to repurchase their movesets (I'm not sure if you lose your special attacks on death, because I never bought them). I think it would also be nice if there was something explaining the progression; I eventually stopped playing without trying to 100% because I wasn't sure if there was anything to work towards besides buying all the temporary equipment (which seems like it would be a real slog). Instead of multiple bosses per run, as I'm sure was intended, I would take multiple runs per boss, so the "meta upgrades" ended up feeling like normal upgrades to me. I thought the game would end after the last boss, but it repeats, so I didn't know what to do.

Sorry for the long-winded comment. I enjoyed the gameplay, even if it was too difficult for me. I'm glad I played long enough to understand the concept, as I think it's really interesting. This is an excellent submission with a lot of work put into it, and it deserves to get its flowers.

I really like this take on the theme. I forgot how fun darts is, and there's good variety in the spinning and board types. I would've moved the timing meter toward the center of the screen, so you don't have to look back and forth from the dartboard to the meter. The font sometimes makes it difficult to tell the difference between 2's and 5's, and 6's and 9's, because of them being upside-down. Maybe the numbers shouldn't rotate with the board? Also, I think some of the story text should've gone towards a more in depth tutorial, like clarifying that the number in the center is your target score, not a target to hit with your dart. Although, it didn't take me too long to understand the game. Although I wasn't able to beat it in the strict time limit, I enjoyed it for sure. Great work!

I like this interpretation of the theme. I got stuck on walls a lot, but I think it's just my skill issue. Sometimes your upgrade options are three of the same, which is a little annoying. (The illusion of choice...) It took me a second to realize the yellow was sidewalk you can drive on, since it's so bright and stands out from the road. The game was most fun for me when I got a wall bounce upgrade, so I could get momentum without stopping dead. The minimap system is very clear and readable, and I like the art style. Good job!

It's a simple game in theory, but the atmosphere is incredibly compelling. The music really makes the game here, and the use of stock photos is so clever I almost feel like the game would be worse off with custom art. I got the feeling I was playing a horror game, even though nothing in the game is exactly scary on its own. It's more than the sum of its parts.

(I got 12 countdowns with 6 points at x2.89 speed. For some reason, I can't post the screenshot.)

Interesting concept! I like the creative interpretation of the theme. I wish there were more responses or conversation types, like if you had to try to guess the topic or more specific details instead of always listening for "good" or "bad" or somewhere in between. Very polished art and audio.

Very creative, love the story and figuring out all the secrets.  I did notice a bug, not that it's exactly game breaking, but you can cheat on the blurred letters questions by highlighting the text to reveal what it really says. I really enjoyed this, reminds me of flash games like The Impossible Quiz.

Great story! As a fellow cat enthusiast, I can confirm that cats make everything better, even the end of the world XD

This is a really creative mechanic! I never would've thought of a music puzzle game. It is a bit too difficult for me; Level 1 was really complicated for a first level, in my opinion. Also, it would be nice if everything was movable, to avoid wire spaghetti and make things easier to keep track of. I love the art and sound design, it's a really great looking and sounding game. Excellent work!

Wow, we both had the idea of looping music, but we executed it very differently! The visuals and sounds are really polished and juicy here. It's kind of tricky to progress at some points because the number on the left keeps resetting; I think you get more points for following the beat,  although it's sometimes hard to do that with only the visual at the bottom to go on. I love the dreamy, sandboxy atmosphere and aesthetic, and the polish is very impressive for a game made in 4 days. Great work!

Wow, really unique! The mechanic where you can only shoot through the loop is very novel and interesting. I'd be nice to have a preview of what's on the other side of the loop so you don't get hit through it. This is a nitpicky, nerdy thing, but I wanted to point out, since the map loops on all sides of the square, the topology of this game is actually a torus, not a mobius strip ;) Anyway, this is a great entry, nice and simple with a good helping of polish.

Interesting take on the theme, wasn't expecting to see a survival game in this jam. I don't think it was very intuitive that you add to add grass to the boat, especially since everything else you add to add was craftable. The polish is amazing for a game jam, especially for a scratch game. Great job!

Very interesting! I'm not sure how you're meant to know who has paid and who hasn't, aside from guessing. I wish there was a way to fullscreen as well. When I told June she hadn't paid, there was no dialogue and I was frozen in place, softlocking me. I like the concept here, it's a pretty unique take on the theme. Reminds me a bit of Papers, Please.

Interesting take on the theme, I like the narrative aspect of it. I do wish it wouldn't stop you from moving at some points, and it feels a little claustrophobic that your camera is locked facing downwards. I really liked how the snowy fog contributed to the atmosphere, especially once you reach the second location and can't see the full scale of it.

Delightfully chaotic! Love this interpretation of the theme!