itch.io

Absolutely incredible game in such a short time frame, insane work from the team, you should all be very proud of yourselves! It's gotta be my favorite in the whole jam. Everything is super polished; the vignette, the snow particles blowing in the wind, the unique sfx for each interaction, etc. So many little details that add up to an amazing scene. Easily 5/5 on presentation. The music is also a bop and doesn't get old after the last 20 minutes of playing (I'm going back to finish the game after this comment, its so fun xD). The gameplay loop is great. Clicker + TD + solo combat vs the penguins, there is always something do to and the management of everything is quite engaging. And the automating stuff to upgrade other stuff is always fun as hell. Idk I don't really have any criticisms. Incredible entry, has the quality off a game made in 2 weeks not 2 days, great job team!!

edit: I thought of a criticism, keyboard shortcuts for the build and upgrade buttons would be better than having to click them with mouse. Very minor thing

yeah the cookie spawning could be improved a lot, thanks for playing!!

Pretty cool game, smooth movement and well-polished experience, nice job! The psuedo 3d perspective is really neat and an impressive feat in a 2d engine like GameMaker. It gives the game a really unique feel (especially when combined with the slightly trippy background) but can have make for some frustrating gaming moments as it is really difficult to tell when you can still shoot the enemy and when you will lose a life. The boss fight was a super cool addition and a very welcome surprise. The sfx and music fit the overall vibe well. I think having some sort of mechanic to prevent the player from just holding down the shoot button would have been a good design choice. For example, an overheating mechanic that requires the player to stop shooting for a bit to cool down or else they get locked out of shooting completely for a few seconds. That being said, your game has a very unique aesthetic paired with smooth movement and a cool boss fight. I dig it. Good entry, and keep up the good work!

Because I worked out if on it for basically a day and I'm not that good at gamedev lol. There is a 2 second grace period where the cookies wont hurt you after spawning to try and mitigate it, but definitely not an ideal fix. Noted about the collision detection. Score board would be nice too, I'll have to figure out how to do so one of these days. Thanks for playing!

Pretty cool game, snow ball fight puzzler is a great take on the theme, nice entry! The level where you had to get the right angle for the snow ball to build up enough momentum and jump over the trees was really clever design, and the way the ball grows in size as it goes was the cherry on top. Very cool moment. The levels overall had a satisfying difficulty curve, but some of the ending ones felt too hard. It could be a skill issue but they felt more frustrating then clever to solve (as opposed to that early jump level which felt great to solve even if it took multiple attempts to get it). I also found it odd that the ground pound skill didn't drop the snowball straight down but instead at like a 15 degree angle to the right, felt a little weird to control. The voice acting is a nice touch and the background music adds to the vibe.  Overall, I had a fun time with my play through. The concept and theming is on point, and the core puzzle gameplay is engaging. Snowball upgrades after each level was a nice touch and the halfpipe level was stellar. Keep up the good work!

appreciate the kind words :) thanks for playing!

Really cool concept, and the drawing mechanic works well. Having left and right mouse button act separately, almost as if the player is controlling unique left and right hands was a good choice. It's pretty satisfying to scribble around the screen, and has a pretty neat etch-a-sketch vibe going on. The intro letter was a great way to set up the lore but there definitely needs to be some kind of gameplay intro/tutorial and some more player visual feedback. Am I supposed to use both left/right ribbon in a symmetrical manner? Can I draw the ribbon however I want as long as I hit the specified vertices? Do I get a higher score by using the least amount of ribbon as possible? Some clarification on these game mechanics would go a long way in the overall experience. It could also use some sfx, background music, and some Christmas-y visual flair. That being said, I think you have a truly wonderful prototype here and there is some real potential in the drawing mechanic. As a GameMaker noob (a little over 1 year experience), I'm super impressed at the unique mechanic you were able to develop in just one day. Kudos! I had fun messing around with your game, and if you do continue developing it, I would be curious to see where it ends up. Keep up the good work!!

edit: You should check out this jam game called SEW-Tastic https://mech-mind-games.itch.io/sew-tastic with a somewhat similar sort of core mechanic to maybe get some inspiration for your own game, if you want

thank you for the kind words, glad to hear you enjoyed it

Really fun clicker game, I enjoyed my playthrough a lot. The power progression feels really smooth and there is a good balance between having to click in the early game to buying enough elves for your passive income to take over in the late game. At one point I was getting 9.4 Trillion/second and started having integer overflow errors and getting into the negatives for total money lol. The core clicker gameplay is pretty addicting but the presentation of the game leaves a lot to be desired. Variation in the click sfx, some background music, and cleaner/prettier UI would help take it to the next level. The snow particles falling in the background were a good touch of juice and more things like that would be great. That being said, I found the core game loop super engaging. Cool entry and keep up the good work!!

thank you for playing and the kind words!!

ahah, what was the tactic? thanks for playing!

Super charming entry, lots of little details that work really well, nice entry! The Act 1 text and camera zoom out was a really cool way to introduce the world, and reminded me a little of Paper Mario: TTYD when you enter a new region. Santa's note was a fun bit of environmental storytelling, and was a great way of explaining the world without feeling forced. The snail animation is super cute, but the movement is wayyy to slow (ik its a snail so it should move slow lol, but still). The slow movement, combined with large stretches of either just walking forward or doing some super simple platforming makes the game feel kind of boring after a little bit. Which is a shame because you created a really interesting world feel and environment that is worth exploring, but the slow movement doesn't make me want to explore too much. The different candy cane NPCs were an awesome touch and made the world feel very immersive. I loved the way the their text scrolled onto the screen as you stood near them, it was very pleasing to the eye for some reason. Also, I appreciated that the platforming was fairly forgiving and that as long as part of the snail made the jump it didn't cause the player to fall.  Overall, I enjoyed my time with your game and think you have a really cool world built up through some well-done environmental storytelling. Tweaking the movement to feel a bit faster and more satisfying would take it to the next level. Cool entry, and keep up the good work!!

lol thanks for playing :)

Adorable artstyle, everything has a consistent aesthetic and overall cohesiveness that is really pleasing. The color palatte fits the cozy vibes perfectly. The click and fill gameplay was pretty engaging and I enjoyed trying to get a perfect 3 stars. I think it could be an awesome starting point for a North Pole coffee shop manager mobile game kind of thing with the touch and hold control scheme. My only critiques are the lack of content to do time (needs sfx/music, variety in drinks/customers, win/lose condition, etc) but I totally understand running out of time in a tight jam window (happens to me too almost every single time lol). The stuff that did make it into the game is high quality and super charming. I think the game has potential if you choose to pursue it. Cool entry!!

Pretty fun arcade experience, nice entry! The thumping bass hits you right away and fits the frentic nature of the game perfectly. Add in a countdown timer, generous screenshake, crunchy sfx, particle tail, etc and you have a successful recipe for a high score chaser style arcade game. The online leaderboard is a very nice touch, and the mechanic of speed multiplying your score is a great design choice to keep the player engaged throughout. The presentation was well-down but I do think your entry is lacking a bit in the Christmas theme, it feels more like a traditional high score arcade game with some sprites of Xmas trees thrown in the background, than something with a real Christmas-inspired spirit. That being said, I had a fun time with the gameplay loop and you achieved an impressive amount of polish that makes everything feel nice and juicy. Cool game, and keep up the good work!!

edit: As others in the comments have said, it would make an awesome mobile game!

Combining an idle clicker with a TD is a brilliant design choice, can't believe I haven't seen that before. Spamming click to generate income works so well with the natural down time of a TD where you are waiting for waves to finish. I really love the concept and had a fun time beating your game. The layout of the map is solid and the background decorations bring everything together well. Game feels well optimized and my not-so-great laptop ran it smoothly, even in the end game with lots of bullets, towers, and enemies. Kudos for that. Background music and sfx would help the overall atmosphere a ton. More visual feedback for the player would help a lot too, as it is tough to decipher what is going on (e.g. tool tips on hover for tower abilities/cost, text pop-up on screen every time you click to show how much joy you generated, etc). I think the headquarters building increased the range/damage/fire rate of my bullet towers, but there was no real way to know. That being said, I think you have a very fun proof of concept with some real potential if you decide to pursue it further. Great entry, keep it up!!

Really fun game , nice job!! Core mechanic is great and the unlockable upgrades are a good touch, the present cluster bomb was very fun to use. Slingshot mechanic feels intuitive and responsive, with great bits of juice like the way the present tumbles through the air and the slight screenshake when hitting something. UI could be improved but its only a couple day jam so totally understandable (I didn't dock you points for it). Great entry, fun core gameloop, keep up the good work!!

edit: high score of 61. Also, like another comment said having to wait for the "no score" text was a bit annoying as you want to get right back into throwing a new package with the slightly different angle that is "definitely going to work this time". Maybe skipping this transition part when the player clicks and drags to initiate a new throw would work?

     Pretty fun little escape game that does a great job meeting the theme, nice entry!! The auto shooting mechanic was a cool design choice and I enjoyed being able to focus on moving around the room and searching for the exit while my potions took care of the baddies. Being able to quickly restart a run was nice too and helped me stay motivated to keep searching for the exit. The background music fits the intensity of the game play and the art assets work well in the environment you set up.

     I think adding more levels or puzzle mechanics would help improve this game even more, but the foundation that you have already is a pretty fun idea. Another minor thing is that the secret door had a visual glitch that made it stand out from the rest of the room. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not but it made finding the exit fairly easy. Also, the UI doesn't really fit the aesthetic of the rest of the game and could use some improvement. Your interpretation of the theme was good, the limited size of the room is key to the gameplay and finding the exit out of this one room was fitting. Overall, I had an enjoyable experience with your game. Keep up the good work!!

edit: I also had the resolution issues that others in the comments did, the game window size is huuuuge.

Glad you liked the puzzle mechanic. Adding background music would help the overall vibe, I agree. Thanks for playing!

thanks for playing!

Yeah shoot me a reply when you put an updated build up, I'd be curious to check it out!

     Very interesting game, unique and engaging Tetris-adjacent puzzler, cool entry!! The path-finding of the ball is super satisfying to watch and I found myself rooting for the lil guy, even thought it was just a simple red circle. Kind of neat how much emotional investment was created in a game made of only simple shape sprites. The presentation works well overall, the limited color palatte and shapes puts an emphasis on the gameplay and has a nice arcade feel to it. The animation/effect when deleting one of your blocks was a good addition of juice. I think some more moments of particle/animation stuff in this vein would help polish things up even more.

     The core game loop is satisfying, and is a spot-on take on the theme. Top-down Tetris with an escort mission fits the theme perfectly and I thought your interpretation was super cool. Something like different challenge levels (use only t-shapes, pass a level using 10 shapes at once, etc) or wacky upgrades (merging shapes together, blocks that allow the circle to pass one way but not the other, etc) would help at some more depth and replay ability to the whole thing imo. The background song was super solid and all the sfx feel like they fit the world well. I think the readability of the UI/text could be improved. Overall, I think you have a very solid core game mechanic and one of the best theme interpretations in the jam. The art works but there is room for more polish. More levels or upgrade variety could help flesh out the game to a longer experience. I very much enjoyed my time with your game and think you have a very well-done entry. Keep up the great work!!

     Really cool entry team, there's a lot of awesome stuff going on here, nice work everybody!! Right away the visuals are striking and are a great first impression for the player. The dark background has a great contrast with the brighter player and boss models that rally makes them pop. The boss animations and tentacle movements look amazing and feel very realistic (or at least as realistic as a giant purple tentacle monster can be lol). The destruction to the terrain when the boss spawns in is a cool touch. I really like the player mushroom model too, his mushroom cap reminds me of one of those samurai hats and I can totally see him being the hero of some universe.

     The boss attacks are pretty fun and varied. They feel well-choreographed and well-telegraphed, and for the most part getting hit felt like my fault. Some knockback and particles when getting hit by the tentacle would be nice additions of juice too. The fight as a whole feels a bit too difficult but I think the boss is fine as is, imo the fix would be to increase the player speed just a bit. There were a bunch of times were it felt like I reacted to the boss attack quickly enough but then would just barely get clipped in an unsatisfying way. I think a touch more speed would fix this issue completely, while still preserving the boss rush challenge and the fun of grinding it out until you win. This would also make the kiting melee style combat even more fun imo. Another improvement would be some kind of boss health bar or other indicator. I wasn't able to beat the boss, but knowing how close I was getting to victory would have motivated me to keep trying. edit: I also think the theme application was fairly weak, the one room thing doesn't really effect the gameplay much and is kind of just the way any traditional boss fight is already setup.

     The music and sfx are decent enough, but don't feel particularly inspired or unique to the world we are in. Not a huge deal but an area for improvement. Another small nitpick is that the blue orbs/bullets that the boss shoots don't feel like they match the general aesthetic of the rest of the game. That being said, I really enjoyed my time with your game and think you have a lot of potential here. The art is stunning and an easy 5/5 overall. The player model, boss, and environment are a very intriguing combination and make me interested in learning more about the lore of the game. The tentacle animations look great. The combat and attack patterns are fun and challenging and with a little bit of tweaking could be even better. You should all be proud of this entry, and I think you have a solid foundation with some good potential if you chose to keep exploring this game. Great job and keep up the good work!!

     I really enjoyed my play through of your game, the atmosphere is palpable and the horror elements were well-designed. Immediately, the visuals are striking. The varied textures of every model, reflective lighting in the tiles, scuffed/chipped floor tiles, etc. It all comes together in a truly impressive package and sets the eerie vibe right away. I thought you got the lighting absolutely spot on, in particular. There's a lot of good environmental story telling (cots strewn about, pad lock on the door, etc) and a very refreshing lack of unnecessary narration that, in combination, give the player the chance to fill in the Who/What/Why questions themselves. This works especially well in this type of horror game imo.

     The actual gameplay itself is a bit lackluster, and the initial charm of exploring the room wears off somewhat quickly as there is nothing to interact with beyond the locked door. Adding some other interactable props like a radio, notes in a side table, a diary left on one of the cots, etc would help improve this I think. Also, interactions need some kind of mouse cursor sprite. It doesn't have to be a huge icon in the middle of the screen, even a small white dot that changes to a white crosshairs or something when hovering over an interactable would work. In addition the players view kind of snaps around in a jittery way when looking around (instead of smoothing lerping between positions) and in combination with the lack of mouse cursor it can be very frustrating to use. The muffled footsteps are a great touch but the game desperately needs some more sounds to keep building on the awesome atmosphere you already have. A flashlight click, padlock sound, blood dripping down the windows, slenderman spawn, etc would be much welcomed additions.

     I really liked the small detail of having the camera tilt slightly when the player moved sideways, it was an awesome little detail that made everything feel just a little bit off and added very well to the overall unsettling vibe. The ending of the game was really cool too. The "look behind you" blood appearing on the windows, appearance of the massive silent slenderman figure in the back, the cut to a close up of his face with black and white static background when you go near him; it all worked very well to create a fun and genuinely spooky moment. The whole jam game feels like the perfect introduction puzzle/scene to a larger game and I think has potential if you decided to pursue it. Overall, the visuals and lighting are on point, the overall ambiance is very well-executed, and there are some unique and unexpected moments at the end. More sfx and some minor quality of life changes would take this to the next level. Very cool entry, and keep up the good work!!

That's dope that you all had such a good time jamming together. Please do drop a comment with the updated game, I'd be happy to check it out. Good luck with you future gamedev work, and keep on creating stuff!!

Damn thank you so much for the thoughtful comment, it absolutely made my night :) Really glad that the experience clicked for you, its kind of a weird one. I agree with the ambient music suggestion, I think maybe some soft piano keys that play a few notes at a time on and off might have worked well with the overall vibe. Thanks again for playing and the kind words. I'll be sure to check out your game over the weekend.

Yes definitely will do, thank you so much for the suggestion!! really appreciate your perspective

     Fantastic entry, probably my personal favorite in the jam so far. Aesthetic is fantastic: crt effect, lava lamp background, particle effects on death/win, squash of the player sprite on dash, squish of the player sprite on fast fall. I could go on and on. 5/5 on visuals easy. Background song and sfx fit perfectly. Difficulty progression feels very natural and fair, I think the play testing with your friend was a great decision and paid off in bunches. Really liked your interpretation of the theme too. The player controller feels very tight and there is a high ceiling for skill expression. The transition of the new level spawning in looks excellent and well-polished. Not much to say, every thing was well done and highly polished. The only suggestion if you continue to develop this game would be to add some kind of narrator/lore. It doesn't have to be anything too crazy but a sarcastic narrator like in Portal or Will You Snail? or some kind of environmental story telling with props in the background would add a lot and take the game to the next level imo. Really great work and you should be proud of this, keep up the good stuff!!

     Really interesting take on the theme with a banger soundtrack, and some fun visuals, nice entry team!! The 3d models and environment in general had a fairly cohesive look and clear overall style that made the game feel distinct. The background music slaps, great song. Voice acting is always fun and was a cool extra touch in your game. A small improvement to the start menu could be to have the menu buttons change color when hovered over, so that it it clear they can be clicked. Interacting with the stuffed animal and getting the flashing lights effect was a really fun moment. Interactions in general need some work, having the cursor sprite change when hovering on an intractable object and some flavor text "Click E to interact" the first couple times the player interacts with something would help a lot. Picking up the bottle was a fun moment too, but kind of janky in the way it clipped through objects and was held so far away from the player.

     It's super confusing on what to do, which at first I really enjoyed, as being thrown into this random apartment with no backstory made for a very intriguing start to the game. I was able to figure out time travel fairly quickly but after that I am just completely lost. There needs to be some sort of tutorial or introduction to get the player acquainted to the rules/goals of the game world, but you can still do so in a way that keeps the contextual mystery going. The visual effect for the time travel was super cool, and a nice bit of juice. The sfx are solid throughout the game too, and add a good bit of believablity to the world.

     Unfortunately, I had some pretty intense performance issues (my laptop is nowhere near the best, but it is usually capable of playing 3d games) and low fps that made the playing experience very strained. Looking around had a constant strong stutter and the mouse cursor would jitter around making it tough to interact with things. Perhaps there are some potential optimizations that could be made. On a similar note, the intro cut scene was bugged for me, and replayed the same 2 seconds 5-6 times in a row in a very disorientating way before starting the game. That being said, I think you had an excellent take on the theme and the premise of time traveling around the same room has a lot of potential.

     Overall, I enjoyed my time exploring the world you created and think the game has a lot of charm going for it. The music, voice acting, time travel mechanics, stuffed animal interaction, mysterious atmosphere are all positives that work really well in the game. Some optimization, quality of life changes, and player direction would take this one to the next level. Cool entry team, and keep up the good work!!

     Fun little entry with some fast-paced puzzle gameplay and stellar music, nice job!! Pretty creative and silly concept for a game, it gave a nice bit of context for the frantic computer puzzles and countdown timer. I liked the correct envelope order puzzle, it felt like I was brute force hacking into something. Unfortunately, I got stuck on the next puzzle (about deleting the Heavy Metal Collection). I tried interacting with everything and the only clue that seemed like it might work was the winning lottery number, but that was an incorrect password.

     I think the layout of the room is well-done and having the different interactions scattered around the room with potential puzzle hints was a good design choice because it forced the player to explore around the environment. The timer worked very well too, giving an intensity to the puzzles. I thought the lose screen was pretty funny, especially with the trumpet sfxs. Like others have said the menu could be spruced up a bit with a hover effect on the buttons, but I liked the overall layout and color choice. The art is okay but feels lacking in personality/style and could be improved. Another minor thing that could be improved is that after entering the wrong password, there is a brief period of time where you cannot close the wrong password prompt window. I think it would be better to let the player close this window immediately, so that they can race to try again (as the clock is always ticking).

     That being said, I had a fun time playing your game and I think you did an awesome job to get the whole game finished from concept to complete game loop in just 10 days. The core premise is a fun one, the trial and error puzzle solving worked well with the countdown timer, and there's a lot of charm to the game overall. Nice entry, and keep up the good work!!

edit: I think this is the perfect description of game jams: "Aside from all the tiredness it gave us, we did have fun doing it, and we really loved it because whatever ideas we come up with comes to life no matter if it's weird at all XD". Well said :)

Thanks for playing and the kind words!

thanks :)

Thanks for kind words and detailed feedback, I appreciate it :) I'm glad figuring things out without any tutorial felt satisfying, I thought having no instructions fit the vibe I was going for. The poem is sort of supposed to act as an abstract hint but I didn't do a great job of explaining that.
Thanks again for playing and the thoughtful comment.

Spoliers
"March to the beat, like a good little soldier" is supposed to be the marching chant Left, Left, Left, Right, Left
"Move your damn feet, the food eats better colder" is supposed to be move opposite directions until the food cools all the way and then click it (this one makes no sense typing it out lmao, not sure what I was thinking
"Always deceit, never grow any older" is just press any combination of arrow keys, the deceit is you are expecting a puzzle but anything works :p

     This was a really fun game, you should be proud of yourself, great entry!! It feels very much like one of the flash escape room games I played back in the day on addictinggames or something (that's a good thing). The presentation is great, it has hand-drawn flash game aesthetic that fits perfectly with this type of game. The puzzle mechanics were fun and made sense logically, when something happened it always made sense and felt reasonable. Finding something in the mouse hole at the bottom of the wall was a really cool moment (although I have to question whether a broom would actually fit in there lol). The Dexter easter egg was a great touch too.

     The attention to detail in each scene was impressive, there's lots of little details like the blood splatter on the walls or drool on the snarling dog that make everything feel well put together. Some sfx or background music would go a long way to improving the overall atmosphere, and the clip you posted in the discord with music does a great job of that.  Unfortunately, I got stuck after finding the scissors but until then I had a fun time exploring the world and figuring out the puzzles. I'm also curious about the secrets of the arcade machine.

     Overall, I think you have a great start to an escape room game and adding some sfx/music and finishing out some of the puzzles (scissors, arcade machine) would take the game to the next level. I really liked the hand-drawn art too. Awesome entry, keep up the good work!!

     Very fun bullet hell game, with a funny premise, great entry!! The boss attack patterns feel well choreographed and there's a good amount of variety to keep you on your toes. The artwork is super cute and everything feels cohesive and part of the same world. The main color palatte drives home the melancholy vibes of avoiding a job very well, and having the weapons be colorful bits of trash was a cool touch. Loved the pizza bomb lol. The sfx are nice and crunchy, and the background jingle is a fun listen that fits the fast-paced gameplay well.

     I found using the F key to interact with weapons extremely annoying. It felt unnatural and I kept having to glance down at the keyboard to press it causing me to get hit unnecessarily. I think space bar or right click on the mouse would have been better, and its a bummer because I was having a lot of fun but the difficulties with the controls caused me to stop playing earlier than I would have otherwise. The farthest I made it was about halfway through the boss' second life. edit: like someone else in the comments said: slightly more forgiving hitboxes on the enemies and more visual feedback when the player does get hit would be nice additions too.

     That being said, the game was very fun and impressively polished. The design of the job application boss was super cool and I liked the way the JOB text up top formed into a kind of face. The core mechanic of the boss fight is great and all the wave attacks and player weapons are fun and feel well thought out.  Awesome entry, keep up the good work!!

The camera kind of stops following the player after the first couple of jumps. For the next jump, it is impossible to see the depth of the next platform compared to the one the player is currently standing on. The camera is so far away that I can't see how far I should go in the Z-axis for my next jump. This makes it incredibly difficult to get any farther than I am now. If the camera followed the player closer it would be much more manageable.

     I played for like an hour, having a grand old time waiting for the ending until I checked the comments xD. Too bad the final cutscene didn't make it in, I had a blast with your game and it would have been a great way to wrap things up. The intro piano song was lovely and the stars/planets/constellations scrolling past the ship windows was a nice touch. The robot portraits are dope and each has a distinct look, personality and "voice" which was pretty neat. It took me a while to realize the smushing stuff together mechanic and I think that could have been introduced to the player a bit earlier, before the ship starts to fill up. The combining things to make a better thing to combine it again to make a better thing is a super fun core mechanic and I was eagerly awaiting to see the next new upgrade (each sprite was awesome!). It felt kind of like a claw machine combined with the mobile game 2048 in a sci-fi setting, I dig it.

     The attention to detail on the art is impressive: from the pipes running along the back wall to the damaged walls to the trash itself, every asset felt like it had care put into it and was cohesive as a whole. I could believe I was actually on the ship. Somehow I never got soft locked, without trying much not too, so I either got very lucky or you did a great job coding the spawns so to help avoid soft locking. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this entry, but it would have been awesome to experience the final cut scene as the lack of an ending made the overall experience feel unfinished. The core mechanic is super solid, the robots and backstory give it a fun context, and the visuals sell the fantasy well. Keep up the good work team!!

     I had a lot of fun in my playthrough, the game mechanics have some real depth to them, nice job!! Having the lantern push the ghosts away was a great design choice for 2 reasons imo: it added to the tension when light was running low, and it gave the player extra motivation to keep looking for more fuel. I think both the player and the enemies had a good speed, it forced you to keep moving but it always felt like I could escape to safety with some clever movement. It felt a little like a 2d cod zombies where I had to manipulate  the ghosts into one pack to lead them around the room safely. I would recommend adding WASD and/or arrow key controls too, as using the mouse worked well enough but felt a bit off from the traditional way of controlling a 2d top down character.

     The individual sprites/assets all look nice enough, but together they do not fit together very well. The background, player, and ghosts all have noticeably different pixel densities and the colors do not complement each other too well. I think trying to make sure that the pixel density is consistent and the color scheme (can be touched up if need be) is complementary across all assets will help the overall aesthetic of your game a ton. The assets were used well in terms of level layout though, I felt like there was a good balance of open space and more risky confined areas. The changing radius of the lantern lighting effect is really cool too.

     I appreciated having a pause button for a game jam, it was a nice bit of quality of life. Sometimes the z-sorting of the ghost sprites goes a little crazy and looks like a visual glitch with all the sprites getting shuffled around. The easter egg was a fun surprise and the lava lamp sprite looks super cool. Overall, I think you have a pretty fun core gameplay loop  and the lantern mechanic is a cool twist. Some more cohesive visuals would take it to the next level. Keep up the good work!!

     Pretty cool entry, nice job!! I like the minimalist vibes with the level art, and the glowing red of the platforms really pops in juxtaposition with it. The character felt smooth to control and the jump had a good weight to it. The bright blue of the buttons was a good choice to make them stick out as the goal for the player. Unfortunately the camera makes it very difficult to control the player, it doesn't seem to lock onto the player and instead kind of floats somewhere vaguely in the middle of the room. I think fixing the camera to be a fixed position on the player would help a lot with the overall experience because I had fun making the first couple of jumps but then the camera issue became a big enough problem that I could not continue. I think you have a fun base of the game with that fix. Great job on your game, and keep up the good work!!

     Wow this is a spectacular effort for only 10 days, the 60 hours you put in paid off, awesome entry!! The presentation is top notch, you made marvelous use of the assets. Everything feels cohesive and each level has tons of detail and its own specific personality. Having to use the clues of the room to solve each puzzle is a very cool take on the theme. Having the each puzzle be part of an overarching detective work with a guess who minigame at the end was great game design and a perfect way to wrap up the experience. The hand drawn frames in between levels was a nice touch too.

     The core puzzle mechanic was a good one, using context clues to solve the puzzles was a great premise and the way the clues appeared to the right of the screen as you found them worked very well. The ghost sound puzzle was my favorite and a fantastic example of how well the concept could work. Unfortunately, I found many of the other puzzles to be confusing and/or unsatisfying. I'm glad you provided a guide on the itch page because otherwise I wouldn't have finished the game. Kicking the soccer balls around was super fun, but I found it a bit odd that it didn't end in a 3 digit code like the rest of the levels. It was a nice change of pace but didn't fit the detective narrative very well. I also have no idea on the logic behind the last 2 puzzles (anguish and corners), and even after looking up the code I felt unsatisfied as I could not see any reasoning as to why they were the correct answers.

     That being said, I had a great time playing your game. The visuals have tons of detail, are full of personality, and are impressively cohesive (I never would have known they were from assets if you didn't specify). The premise is a cool take on the theme and the detective lore and guess who minigame at the end was a fun touch. Sound design is on point and the ticking adds to the tension of the timer. Sick entry, and keep up the good work!!