Thank you for the feedback. Initially, I wanted to implement some units linking to allies or multiple enemies/ other enemy fields. However, the 10 days weren't enough to achieve this on my own.
Upgrade strength really depends on the unit right now. During playtesting, I felt that upgrading AOE (esp. Dead Pharaoh) or Ranged (esp. Pharaoh, the best unit in the game) was best, sometimes more important than new units. But I linked the game more with first focusing on building your army and later upgrading it. But that depends on individual taste, I guess. Also, there's for sure room for balancing improvements, as I discovered a bug on the last day that required me to rebalance everything within only a few hours.
My interpretation of the theme is not as obvious as in some other games: the link mechanic, which connects your units with units on the enemy field to (de-)buff them.
I really like the idea. However, the game seems to be bugged for me: I don't get any points, and the described combos don't work. Tried reloading the page and restarting, but nothing changed. Based on the other comments, I seem to be the first to have this problem?
I realized the whole behavior and liked that feature. So no, that wasn't my issue. Maybe I'm just confused today (or it depends on the ball's speed? I thought about it again, and I think my issue only occurred when I hit the ball very hard).
Very impressive submission for a game jam! Also, spells felt quite useless to me (played only with keypad mode), because casting took an age, and aiming while casting was a bit difficult. However, the concept is nice. Good job!
The angle the ball bounces off when colliding with a wall felt wrong to me (it bounces in a different direction than I'd expect). I don't know how to describe it better, sry.
Very fun game. I've read the description and immediately forgot about hands and boxing gloves until I accidentally connected two. SFX are funny, too. Great work!
It's a fun little game, and I really like it. The UI could have gotten some more love (Icons for the resources, upgrade window staying inside the viewport). But that's nothing too important for a game jam. Good job!
Ah, I see. Thank you for the explanations! I'll keep them in mind for future projects.
Just to leave it here for anyone interested:
- Win/Draw/Lose: If one side has no units left, the other side wins. Otherwise, if there are no more possible moves, it's a draw. The number of units left for each side determines the damage dealt in that round (with a multiplier depending on the difficulty). Win grants a bonus shopround to the winner and does not otherwise affect the damage.
- The timer represents the "Turn Delay" (couldn't come up with a better name). It determines when the unit is allowed to act, with smaller being better.
- The purple square is indeed related to the link effect. However, all link effects (positive and negative) always affect the enemy only. On lower difficulties, you have a higher chance to debuff the enemy unit, while on greater difficulties, the buffs for the enemy become stronger.
Just for you to know, my plan for the difficulties was as follows:
- Easy: learn the game. As long as you place your units, you will win.
- Medium: Place your units with some tactical intent, and you will win. So, by placing all your ranged units in the frontline, you'll probably won't win, but it is still a soft and relaxing experience. Further, you have to balance the number of units and upgrades you get from the shop to some extent.
- Hard: You have to consider your units' link effects and placement, and have to adapt to the enemy's strategy to win. Further, you have to think about the units you get from the shop and about which units you upgrade. So, some knowledge of the game is required.
- Impossible: For those who get their fun from suffering. You basically have to read your enemy's board perfectly, and you need some luck with units, upgrades, and link effects to have a chance of winning this.
I managed to solve the lava section, but I seem not to get what to do in the other areas (also, the entry to the north area got blocked by the enemy at some point). I fear I get frustrated too fast, so checkpoints could help (maybe there are, and I just failed to get one). However, I like the art style, and everything seems to work, so great work! Maybe I'll come back later and collect some hints from the other comments.
Regarding upgrades: There are indicators in the shop saying "Unit" and "Upgrade" to distinguish between them. The ratio of new units and upgrades in the shop depends on the difficulty, the number of units you already have, and, of course, some randomness.
