itch.io

Hi, this is my result. It hit close to the top 5%. My role was programmer and lead game developer in the sense that I directed the gameplay, visuals, and music style (the artist, sound designer, and music composer did a really good job on this). I also contributed a lot of squash-and-stretch animation work, including cutscenes, and wrote the documentation for the game’s development process.

What really hurt the score was the relation to the theme, which a lot of feedback mentioned, and I completely agree with them. They were right that the theme was not obvious enough, which is very unfortunate. The truth is, I did have a plan for that, but I had some terrible luck with timing because there was a sudden unavoidable event on the last day before the deadline that tied my hands (not literally). This left the theme polish incomplete. It stings because I knew the issue was there, but I couldn’t do much about it at that point.

(TL;DR: The game was completed, but polish for the theme was left unfinished because a situation happened on the last day and forced me to be absent.)

After submission, I also made a rating post offering to rate other people’s games. If they wanted to rate my game as well, I clarified in the post that I was mainly looking for serious and constructive feedback. I rated back everyone who left feedback on my game, since those were the people I could actually identify (and if someone only left a rating without a comment, I couldn’t really tell who it came from, so I couldn’t return the favor for that). 

For people who dropped their games in the post, I tried to review as many as I could, though obviously I couldn’t guarantee every single one. Of course, not everyone returned the favor. In the end, I got 107 ratings and rated 127 games myself (I gave as much detailed feedback as I could, and I didn’t blind rate.)

Simple but pretty addictive game. I like the idea of spinning for money, then using drinks to mess with your odds or guarantee certain outcomes. The bar system makes the gameplay more interesting than just clicking spin over and over.

I also beat the game by stacking a whole bunch of money, to the point where the money and payout numbers went off the screen with 3000+ luck. I was also one of those players who took advantage of the drinks that double your money, increase payout, and reset drink prices, then kept rerolling until I got the drink that guaranteed a spin win.

The low-poly 3D visuals are nice too, especially the casino character animations. Nice work!

Cool western roguelike shooter. I like the idea of building your revolver chamber with different bullet types, and the map progression is interesting. Really like the art style and character design too.

I can see some comment said it feels difficult, considering a lot of enemy attacks initiate very quickly, making them hard to react to (Especially the skeletons. They jump almost instantly when the player is in the air). At the same time, I can also get why some players might say it's easy, since once you have stronger bullets and enough health, you can brute force a lot of things.

I beat it a couple of times, but not without taking some unavoidable damage. Though I understand there was a jam time limit and not enough time for playtesting or fully polishing everything (Similar to my case). Still, I think this has a lot of potential. Nice work!

Rated

Fun and silly story game. The dialogue options have a lot of personality, and I like that there are different results based on your choices. The random “do a little spin” option was a funny way to work the theme into the story. The item unlocks are cool too. Nice work!

Rated

Fun little minigame collection. The wheel setup fits the theme well, and the different challenges give the game a bit chaos. It’s a fun entry. Nice work!

When this whole mess started with a kid asking for a spin.

I thought it would be funny if I tried spinning no one and just got taken out by a bunch of kids instead, just to see how the interrogator would react. But then the cutscene already made me spin through one wave, giving me 150 free points from the start. I guess you already thought about that case.

Being able to spin almost anything is great: kids, adults, bullets, and all. But oof, the game crashed when I tried to spin a tank (that's the only unfortunate part).

Nice game, very funny.

Really impressive ballet game. The art, animations, music, and stage presentation all work together really well, and the curtain menu transition is a really charming touch. This is the first theme game I’ve seen that purely focuses on ballet. Great work!

Clever spin addition to Connect 4. Rotating the board is a simple idea, but it changes the strategy a lot and makes the game feel fresh. The space visuals are nice too. I could see this concept being expanded with a solo mode or puzzle challenges. Nice job!

Rated

Pretty original idea. I like the concept of assembling a product description and trying to please the investors. Testing things out to get all the grades was fun too. Nice potential!

Thank you very much for playing and for the detailed evaluation.

And yes, you are absolutely correct about my intention for the spin. My plan for the last day before the deadline was to wrap everything up and polish the spinning elements more. But, I had also been called in for a civic obligation scheduled for that same day, and it took up the whole day. Really unlucky timing; otherwise, the theme relevance could have been stronger.

Thanks again for your very serious feedback!

Rated

Neat little puzzle game. I like the idea of connecting the path to save the Internet, and the world map/level select gives it a nice presentation.

The core concept is fun. I know others already brought this up, but I could see this working well with more levels and harder puzzles. Nice work!

Rated yours! Here’s mine. Feel free to leave serious feedback, thanks!

https://itch.io/jam/theveryseriousjuniperdevgamejam/rate/4714735

The art style is beautiful, and the cards/UI have a lot of charm. It feels like a very unique plant strategy game with a lot of care put into the presentation.

The information in the game is a lot to take in all at once, but I can tell there’s an interesting system underneath. A clearer tutorial would help a lot. Great work!

Rated!

You clearly put a lot of effort into this. There’s more content here than I expected, with a tutorial, different enemy types, cutscenes, and even a full boss fight. I also like the idea of choosing between attacking, moving, and blocking. The game itself was pretty fun. Nice work!

Rated!

Really cool dungeon game with a strong use of the theme. I like how almost every action is tied to spinning, from attacking and defending to deciding which enemy you face.

The character designs and art style stand out a lot too. Since others have already mentioned some criticism, I’ll skip repeating it here. Solid work!

Interesting little clicker game. I like the idea of spinning a fan to cool down the world, and having the number go down instead of up makes it feel more unique for this type of game. The trivia questions and world updates were a nice touch too, and the pixel art background gives it a cozy feel. Nice work!

Cool arcade style game! The slot machine setting and rotating terrain mechanic are a really interesting use of the theme. I also like the visuals and the fact that you can shoot freely without worrying about ammo. Once I understood how the spinning slots worked, the game became a lot more interesting. Nice work!

This game feels like walking through some strange little dream town at the edge of space. The villagers, dialogue, music, and visuals all give it a really unique mood. Spintacular!

Rated

Fun side-scrolling shooter with smooth controls. I like the revolver hover mechanic and how shooting can also help control your height, which makes the movement feel more interesting. Cool concept!

Fun little game with cool concept. The spinning stick mechanic is simple but clever, and it fits the theme well. The star goals give the levels some replayability too.  Like some of the comments mentioned, adding audio would make it feel even better. Nonetheless, nice work!

Rated

Really nice gambling roguelike. I like the strategy of choosing your path and deciding which action to use based on the slot results. The visuals and atmosphere are nice too. It has a good amount of depth. Very cool!

Rated!

Very cute game with a lovely hand-drawn art style. The cozy space vibe and playing as a cat (based on real story in fact) give it a lot of charm. The power-spinning mechanic is an interesting way to fit the theme, and the puzzle idea is neat. Nice work!

You know, being vulnerable in the dark while getting chased is already horrifying enough, but needing to crank the flashlight to keep it from fading out makes it even scarier. Solid game!

Rated

Ah, I thought I was doing fine at day 6 with 2 vampire bullets in my revolver circle and all kinds of rubber bullets for the rest, until some enemy explosion one-shotted me from full health. Nonetheless, very cool game and mechanic. I also really liked the voice acting and visual style.

Rated!

Okay, I found the secret, but I got softlocked by the giant eye tops as well.

I couldn’t find anyone to play multiplayer with unfortunately, so I only tried it in single player, but this looks like a very ambitious solo project. The concept is really neat, and I like the visual style. It has a lot of potential for further expansion.

Hi! You might get into it if you're fan of Punch Out

https://itch.io/jam/theveryseriousjuniperdevgamejam/rate/4714735

Rated

Really cool concept. Spinning the whole world around for puzzle-solving is a creative use of the theme, and the PS1-style visuals give the game a nice atmosphere. It took a little time to get used to what I was doing, but once it clicked, it was pretty fun. Solid work!