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Thanks! I am glad you liked it <3

Nice one, simple but very addictive! It took me a while to understand exactly how it works but once I did I couldn't put it down, spread the word was necessary xD

It is nice looking, it feels great, audio is simple but it works well. Some music would have been nice.

I would have love some variation and new mechanics or maybe something that enforce a bit more strategy like being able to purchase some new powers that gives new way to propagate trough believers given some different threadoff.

I notices some UI issue with the text rendering outside panels, but this is a minor issue.

Overall very nice execution. Good job :) 

Simple but very fun. I like the art style which I found effective for the scope of the game.

The music is nice but I think it stops after one iteration instead of looping, which means you do most of the game without soundtrack.

The UI could be polished a bit with custom font and theme and with some animation. You could have improved the fun by having some additional particule effect when picking a trash bag, having a score that increase with bolder animation as it gets higher, or some score multipliers. I could see some variation from level to level (and I love how you transition seamlessly from one level to another), but the game lake the juiciness that would make me want to continue further to see what is coming next.

Overall I think it does the trick quite well and it is a fun little game to play.

I like how you considered the theme, it is quite unique (from what I could test so far), good job on that :)

Very nice pixel art, I love the art!

The concept seems very interesting, however I did not manage to understand how to play, despite several restarts and having read carefully the description. As already mentioned by others, some onboarding in game is probably necessary.

Maybe you can explain to me how to attack ? In the description it is written that it is automatic, however I have the feeling that my character never attacked anything or anyone and each run ended-up with me running around in a desperate attempts to trigger something and being kill after a while.

The "camp" level where you can press on the blacksmith and the portal could be improved a bit UX wise, at start I didn't understand what I was supposed to do and by clicking randomly I managed to open the blacksmith ui and press on the portail but other elements seemed to do nothing. Maybe those should be redesigned with better affordance in mind to make it clear what can be interacted with and what can't.

Audio is simple but effective, good job on that.

Overall I think the concept is interesting and I would have love to understand better in order to test it correctly. If you add some additional explanation (here or in description) I will probably come back to test again :)

I can see the connection with the theme as waves of enemies, but I am not sure to understand the others layers of interpretation. This is the same interpretation than many other entries and for me it is quite weak, but still it is related (I have seen much more irrelevant entries aha)

Also I looked a bit at your codebase (did not consider it for my rating, just out of curiosity), ++ for Godot <3 ! I like how you organized your files, never thought of adding a "root/" directory for the game code, I may stole the idea from you. Also I was curious about your autoloads script, it looks like you have scenes to which they are attached and that you autoload those scenes, is there a particular reason for that ? I tend to directly autoload the script so I was wandering if there are any advantages of doing it like you do :)

Good job!

You're welcome! I did not measure the time spent on this and it is probably better to not know ahaha

Don't hesitate to reach out if you need, I'll be happy to help :)

Thanks a lot for your comment and your feedback.

Indeed we know that the whole onboarding is in desperate need of improvement. We need to work on that. Thank you for the suggestion ! :)

Thanks a lot for your comment ! <3

I am glad you liked the game and it is super cool that you managed to figure out the mechanic. Onboarding is something we know we need to work on, we tried to make it as smooth as possible but the concept being quite complex there is a tone of room for improvement.

Thanks for taking the time to consider my comments :)

There is a clear improvement on UX with this new version, it is crazy how some tiny tweaks can make a huge difference. The cost of building is now obvious and hiding the "ask to surrender" button was a great idea.

For overall UI improvement I can suggest you to define some hover/pressed states to your buttons and to change the cursor shape when the mouse hover a clickable element. This helps a lot users to understand what is clickable and what is not. You can also have a "disabled" state that clearly indicate that this is a button which is not clickable yet. For this there is an easy path which is just to have a few different colors for the different states, for example lighter when the mouse hover it, darker when you the mouse button is down, and grayer when the button is disabled. It adds some interactivity so when you hover buttons as a player you can quickly see what changes color and what does not and thus intuitively feel what you can interact with or not. A more advance technic that I like to use in my own creations is to blend between the different button states using a simple lerp animation, like scaling the button to be bigger when you hover it and shrinking when you click it and blending between colors, or even having some animation on the shape, icon, etc. A hard color swap is a must have but those more advanced animation technics, if done with subtilty, makes everything feel more polished and intentional. There are also a lot of design technic regarding affordance of interacting elements, which means "make the think that should be interactive looks like you would be able to interact with it in real life", a classic is to make button with a subtile 3d effect with shadows and lighting that change depending on the button state. You can find a tone of resource about that on the web if you look for interface design in web programming, they looove those kind of stuff ^^ 

Another UX improvement that could be an easy fix is to make the panels closable on click also if you press outside the panel. And you could add some darkening overlay behind the panel to clearly show to the player that this is an overlay and that what is happening in background can be discarded while the panel is open. Being able to click outside to close is a good way to give some flexibility to the user, he/she can be sloppy and it still close things properly. I think a good advice for those UI/UX improvement is to try to think about the intent of the user, to predict what he/she would want to do, and allow some flexibility in the response by doing it even if the user did not input properly.

A quick note on the battle result, the state change before the animation title screen appears which allows the player to see the result of the battle for a few frame before the full screen goes to black. I don't know how you deal with it in code so I can't give you an exact fix but in general it is something in the direction of "wait for after or in the middle of the transition animation to update the game state", or "add some timer to delay the ui change of half the battle screen animation duration" (the later being more a hack than a fix but players don't see your code so do not feel bad about cheating like that, after-all, a game is just a huge magic trick xD)

I am not that good with audio effects either and fortunately I found someone to help me with that. But for the few games I made without having a dedicated person for that what I usually did was a mix of finding free assets onlines and creating some of my own (even if it is crappy) by kitbashing and making weird noises in a microphone. If you have zero experience with audio creation I would suggest you to just find some stuff online. There are a lot of free resources available and you can go far with just this technic. Then the next step is to put your hand on Audacity (or similar) to be able to quickly edit those if needed (e.g. cutting bits, shortening things, etc), I don't believe that I know more than 1% of the software capabilities, but it is plenty for doing some basic stuff. And if you want to try to do some assets yourself then I suggest to use Audacity too, records a bunch of noises together with a microphone (your phone is enough), and just slap them together in Audacity until you have something you like.

Don't tell my audio engineer that I told you that, but from my experience, even crappy sfx when put together and tweaked a bit can sounds great in game. You don't need to have impressive sfx, even very simple ones will make a huge difference compared to no sfx. Then if you can find/make/afford some nice sfx it obviously adds to the quality. But the step from "none" to "crappy sfx" is way higher than from "crappy" to "polished"  (in my opinion ^^, but I am more a visual guy than an audio guy, so it may be irrelevant). 

You can also find plenty of resource online about audio engineer that shows how to make sfx. They have some crazy technical vocabulary so finding a "tuto" may not be ideal, but I found it very useful to see how peoples layer things together to make sfx and then try to do the same with my basic audacity skills. As always, you don't need to master it to be able to make things :)

Regarding the usages of sfx in your game, obvious ones are on clickable element, but you already have a bunch which is great. You could also have something on mouse hover to emphasis even more the clickable state of buttons. You can have some noise when panels show, screen change. Some battle sound when a battle start. Battle win/lose sfx. Some army walking sound when your army is moving. Etc... 

I hope this will help, good job on the update :)

Concept is fun, but quite repetitive and could gain from some variation from run to run. Controls are a bit unintuitive, I spent the first run wandering why I couldn't control my alien before understanding that you don't have to hold the arrow but to repeatedly press in a direction to be able to move.

It looks nice and feels polish.

I think the link with the theme is a bit weak. I understand the idea of pandemic waves from your narrative but it doesn't reflect in gameplay. Maybe with way more kittens, densely packed, with shorter infection time, such that actual waves propagate from kitten to kitten would have been cool.

Overall it is fun to play for a few minute but quickly becomes too simple to get you involved and to make you want to come back.

Nice one! Overall it feels nice to play, and good job on the narration and tutorial, it helped a lot to get into it.

It looks great and audio is simple but effective.

It clearly fit the theme in its narrative, which is great! However the gameplay seems to be quite classic as it is "just" a tower defense with a wave skin. I have seen other tower defense entries that proposed more innovating idea.

Despite that, it is a well done game, good job for that :)

I love the concept! And it looks very cool!

Unfortunately it is very hard to understand how it works and how to play. I had to refresh the page and start again 7 times before being able to understand how to pass the first 4 waves. It desperately need some onboarding, explaining how to understand the laser direction (which took me a few restart to get), how to blend colors (did not understand that), etc.

The music sounds nice but audio could be improved with well chosen sfx. The UI can be improved too. Not being able to update the position of emitter you just added makes it very challenging to experiment and to understand what you need to do. I noticed an eraser tool but I won't get back the node I just put in the grid so it feels very punishing :(

It is a very cool concept, highly original. And it fits the theme perfectly. Good job!

Cool strategy game ! And nice looking map !

The gameplay is interesting but the whole UI lake polish. It is hard to understand what is clickable and what isn't. This makes everything feel a bit unresponsive. Also I couldn't figure out how much did building costs in the capital so I did not use this feature, but fortunately I managed to conquer half the map without it.

Music is nice but I would have loved to ear more sfx in response to different actions.

There are a lot of moving part, making this a complex game with a large scope. Good job on that.

Overall I can see the idea is there but for me it lake the juice and the polish that could make this a great game.

I don't see how it is linked to waves though :/ 

This is a fun idea! 

There is a lot of information and not a lot of explanation which makes it difficult to understand what is expected from us. I ended up parking cars by following instruction and did not use 90% of the UI. 

The concept is cool, but the gameplay is quite heavy. I guess I faced a few bugs, like the initial position of a car being perpendicular to the entrance, which is annoying. And the gameplay feels very heavy and slow. In order to increase challenge without overloading with moving parts and all you could tweak the driving mechanic to be faster and more slopy and engaging, making it harder to drive it correctly, break consistently, etc, with some crash noises when you hit another car. I can see this as a very fun party game.

Music is cool!

As others have mentioned, I don't see how it is related to the theme at all (maybe trough the synthwave music but it is not mentioned anywhere ^^)

Hey! I am sorry that you got stuck, I thought we tested it enough but clearly we did not. I added a section in the description to clarify what you have to do in a level. I didn't want to spoil it too much in the page description, so here is a more in-depth explanation if you need it:

Each character can "feel" roughly where the ghost is on the map. This is represented by those colored area you saw on the grid. Each grandma have a rough idea of the grid cell where the ghost may be, and you have to triangulate to get an idea of where the ghost is.

The wave patterns are relative to the trap, so if you align each waves, it may not be properly aligned with the ghost but only with the trap. You need to ensure the trap is on the same grid cell as the ghost before aligning. If the ghost move to another location then you have to position again each character.

This trap device is also able to fix the ghost in place for one turn. This mean that if the ghost was about to move but was on the same grid cell than the trap, then it wouldn't move for this term. This would consume a charge and the trap light would become red. Meaning that at the end of the next turn the ghost will be able to move again.

It is not only about positioning the characters at the correct distance, but also about how to move them around in order to control where the ghost moves and where it get stuck for you to beat him :)

Let me know if anything else is unclear.

It's such a nice little game! I really like the chill aspect and the simple but unique art style. It is quite fun to go back and forth in and out of the different screens. It took me way too long to understand how to get the fishing rod and unfortunately I think the game crashed a bit later when I got the flowers (impossible to do anything more, clicking on things was unresponsive). But overall, I really enjoyed it! :) 

I like the concept; it is quit fun to play and leads to interesting puzzles! Controls are quite rough, which is in part intended if I understand properly. However, I believe it could really gain to be more fluid, even keeping the grid-based gameplay. Also to be fair, I only played it on pc, so it may be better on mobile device as suggested. Nice little game! 

Thank you! I am glad you liked it :)

Thank you for your feedback, I am glad you liked it! 

I had (what I believe is) a pretty cool concept for November challenge but unfortunately I did not manage to put enough time in it to show something :( 

I'll surely try again in December!

This is so cool. Very relaxing experience. I would love to see more types of objects, decorations, fishes, and so on. Water physic is a little weird, but it adds to the charm. Maybe you could run it on a per-pixel basis through shaders? 

Thanks! Yeah, the rolling system is a bit janky and not perfect at all. It tends to often fall back on the same number; however this number should vary from one game to the next. 

Hey there! 🌟

First off, I was genuinely blown away by your creation for the Game Jam! The visual design, the captivating retro vibe, and the playful interactivity are absolutely delightful. I could really feel the passion and effort that went into crafting such a polished and well-executed tool. The drag-and-drop feature added an extra layer of fun that made the synthesizer truly stand out.

That being said, while I was super eager to dive in and experiment, I stumbled a bit when it came to setting things up on my own. Although the README provided some insight, I found myself wishing for a more hands-on, didactic tutorial. It would be incredible if users, especially those unfamiliar with this kind of tool, could be quickly guided to produce something in just a few steps. It would instantly boost confidence and make them want to delve deeper and play around more, rather than potentially feeling a bit lost.

In short, your tool has incredible potential and has already provided such a rich experience. With a touch more guidance for newbies, it could become even more accessible and beloved. Keep up the amazing work, and thank you for sharing!

Hey there!

First off, I really enjoyed playing your game. The retro vibe and arcade feel are genuinely delightful, and the cowboy western theme adds a unique touch. The choice of sprites and the overall look of the game are quite appealing.

While I had a blast, there were a couple of areas I felt could be improved. The controls, especially the left-right movements and the jump mechanics, felt a bit off. The hitboxes seemed a tad imprecise, leading to some unintended hits, which felt a bit unfair. Also, the gameplay in the first level felt a bit repetitive with the dominant strategy being to move forward and time attacks.

That being said, your game has a lot of potentials! Maybe refining the jump and attack mechanics and introducing some variety in the challenges could elevate the player experience even more.

Keep up the fantastic work, and thanks for sharing your creation!

Hey there! I had the opportunity to play your game and I must say, I admire your effort, especially venturing into 3D game design as it's quite a challenge. The universe you've created is fun and the animations added a light-hearted touch! However, I did find it a bit challenging not being able to return to the main menu or restart a level without reloading the entire page. Making this process more intuitive would be a great enhancement. Moreover, refining the game controls to have a better 'feel' can make a tremendous difference. Currently, the movement feels a bit sloppy; it's as if the character slides around rather than being grounded. Addressing this can provide players with a more tactile and engaging experience. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to seeing how your skills develop in the future! 😊

Hey there! I genuinely enjoyed navigating through your game's unique world. The atmosphere you've crafted, especially with the retro particle effects and water rendering, really stood out. The solid ceiling adding a claustrophobic feel was a creative touch! Admittedly, I got a bit lost and ended up back at the start, so I didn't complete the game, but I truly relished the experience regardless.

Just a couple of suggestions: refining the weapon animations for better intuitiveness, it feels a bit weird that the animation plays only when the left mous button is pushed down. I did not understand how it should work. And perhaps adjusting the mouse sensitivity could enhance the gameplay.  You could also add some point of interest scattered on the map that could add some lore using only environmental narration. Looking forward to more of your creations!

Good job!

It's a nice little game, quite addictive. I really like the style.

I believe there's room for improvement in the UI, as it plays a crucial role in the overall experience. For instance, incorporating some simple animations when selecting an action could add some dynamism to the interface. Additionally, I think the display of score for each player could be more prominent to emphasize their importance. While there are some minor margin issues, they don't detract significantly from the gameplay.

Moreover, consider adding some extra 'juice' to the different effects; a simple particle system, camera shake, or other small polish elements could make the game feel even more enjoyable. Think about those flashy features you find in casino machines that reward players, even during random events.

Overall, I found the game to be a lot of fun, and I genuinely enjoyed it! 😄

It is very interesting since we had the same concept but a very different execution. I like the fact that you can see three faces at a time, which solves the readability problem I had, but it becomes a bit unnatural to move, in my opinion. I really like levels where you have several dices that you have to manage. The graphics are correct, but the user interface could be improved a bit. Well done! 

Very nice entry. It feels very nice! Good job! 

Wow, the art is so good; really nice ambiance. A great game! Not so a fan of the wall of text one has to swallow to understand how to play, but I guess it is part of the genre ^^ Well done!

Simple concept but very addictive. You could improve on the art and make it feel juicier to be even more addictive. Some dice are very fast, which feels a bit weird and buggy, but maybe it was the wanted effect. Also, I wasn't able to see the score correctly (even in full-screen mode), it seems that you tailored it for your screen size, but it doesn't adapt to other screen sizes ^^. Pretty fun, well done!

I love the art! Very fun to play. Well done!

It is a cool idea! It lacks a bit of the ability to prepare a plan properly and execute it, you end up rerolling dices until the rng got you the piece you need and hoping you have enough rerolls. Maybe having different paths that one could choose to take would solve this. Nice submission :)

It is a really nice variation on the theme, great idea! You could improve a bit on graphics and add some sound effects for a little more polish. And some maps are very hard if you don't have good dice with a good number to shoot fast enough. Pretty fun, well done!

Maybe indeed. Or to let the player release the Z key once the dash is fully charged without canceling it, at least for a short period. Just enough for it to not be frustrating if you release too quickly the key before choosing your dashing direction. 

Difficult to understand the rules, and the wall of text doesn't help ^^. But a good and creative idea in the end. It may need some sound and visual effects to add a bit more juice to it and make it feel nicer. Well done!

I love the retro vibe! Good game; feels very nice. I had a bit of a hard time apprehending the controls, and it is hard to use the dash properly since it stops if you release the key before having chosen a direction. Well done :)

Good idea; it is very fun, addictive, and feels good. The pace is maybe a bit fast at the beginning, you can instantly get shot when the game starts, and it is a bit awkward to start in the corner of the map. It is hard to follow what is happening and think of everything simultaneously, but I guess this is part of the concept. Well done! :)

Interessting little game. The jump feels a bit floaty and the controls are a bit unnatural and hard to use. It is hard to attack, especially because you can't attack while jumping and you have to turn back to cast a spell, not knowing which spell will be sent so if the rng doesn't get you the needed spell you are pretty much doomed to be hit and instant death is a bit punishing ^^ A bit more polish would be appreciated. It is a good idea and a nice little game :)

I found the particle effect so satisfying ahaha. I won't be as harsh as the other comments; I see that your relation with the theme is about the random generation. In my opinion, you don't have to have a literal dice in your game to fit the theme. You may have gained by embracing it more and adding random mechanics that are more "obvious" trough the game. Controls are a bit difficult to apprehend, and you often end up in unwanted directions; maybe some hidden assistance could be useful or a way to slow down when you prepare for your jump. Unfortunately, I didn't find any fragments during my playthrough. Nice little game, well done :) 

It is clearly an interesting idea, and it has potential. It would obviously need some artwork, sfx, control polish, and juiciness, but as I understand, you, unfortunately, didn't have time. Nice prototype anyway. Maybe you could investigate what would happen with different shapes of the bawl inside which we throw the dice in order to have different effects (like a rounded bottom) or by adding some obstacles (In the style of the Galton Board) with the objective to add a bit more randomness to the results without getting red of the skill factor needed to throw the dices. Nice job! :)