itch.io

There are a lot of games with this exact game loop pouring out right now, so I'm not sure how well it'll stand on its own without more unique mechanics (assuming the goal is a full release)-- but I have to say, this is one of the more polished ones I've seen! The UI is really smooth and reactive / enjoyable to interact with, & I really like the pixel art, especially upgrade screen guy and his animations. Once again very smooth and looks good. + The sound design, too.

Only thing I have to say about the UI, is that I would love for at least an option to disable to the controls tutorial on the upgrades screen, it it doesn't go away on it's own. It's not really necessary after you buy the first upgrade or two, and imo it makes the screen feel crowded. I feel as if removing that huge bar and positioning the Money count and Continue button elsewhere; such as a corner where it doesn't obscure prime line of sight for the upgrades you're intended to interact with, would be much less obtrusive.

(while I agree that it would be good to have an option to disable the CRT filter, it's not *that* bad, and people shouldn't be so aggressive about it. The way it's implemented here looks good imo, and I would keep it on, even if I understand why it may be a hard pass for some people. Just as an aside.)

I did not play very long, because I unfortunately feel this gameplay loop of hover-plusing to kill is heavily saturated, but this game does have some nice polish, visuals, and potential. I just wish it had gameplay equally as polished and a bit more unique / interesting, to go with the good visuals / UX / UI designs / plot (parody?) potential!

Also, I listened to the music while writing this review, and it's very fun. Again, I have to say, the overall artistic design is really good! I will definitely keep an eye on this game and see where it goes! 

Just a +1 on having issues-- reloading fixed the frozen loading, but when I try to click anything after watching the intro, it hard crashes (firefox on linux) to

"uncaught exception: abort(). Build with -s ASSERTIONS=1 for more info."

(Also getting the same IndexDB access messages, fyi)

The music does keep running after the visuals die.

I will say though, from the brief look I got before it crashed, I like the art and the music! The feeling of depth when it panned down was neat. Looking forward to giving it a shot once it's working!

I like this game a lot! A very cute little incremental. It has simple, but good graphics that work well with the gameplay/theme, and I especially like the maps for each area. I like the little assistants that you unlock, too! That really helped the slow grind of the high-HP reagents of the last few zones. The pacing is a bit all over the place, but the game is so short that it doesn't really matter imo. Very good regardless.

The mastery concept of upgrading the spells was fun, too! I like that there was a way to upgrade them aside from buying them, even if they were all various flavors of playing and waiting. It was always a pleasant surprise when they popped up.

Thanks for sharing! 

This was fun! Really enjoyed the art, the gameplay was indeed satisfying, and I felt the potential for a sense of discovery in the future with the uncovering mechanic. Looking forward to the full release! Thanks for sharing! (And thank you for the linux build!)

My biggest gripe about this game is that there isn't a full release yet! The art is great-- definitely one of my favorite games stylistically that I've played in a long time. I love the lighting, the fireflies, the enemy designs, everything!

The gameplay loop is good, and you unlock new things nearly every run (or optionally save up, which never took more than 2-3 runs ime), so it never feels like a slog, which can be difficult to achieve for games in this genre. And I feel like it does a good job of the "meaningful upgrades" mentioned in the description, because almost all of them made a noticeable impact on the next run!

A few things I noticed:

- Balance-- do the crystals scale / the math on crystal upgrades work like they should? I bought those upgrades in line with when I bought the gold, generally, and for 80% of the game I always had way more than enough crystals. Then the last sword upgrade, it was a slog to get them. So very minor note on that. Definitely might just be me.

- +1 on the weak points issue, which already seems to be in the works to fix

- The fullscreen worked very well for me just fyi (Firefox on Linux).

- The corridor coin finding mechanic is very, very cool when paired with how the 2.5D scenes work! However, it does make movement through the corridors feel a bit repetitive and frustrating, having to stop every few feet to look around and click each one. It does make them feel more like 'special treasure', but it does get old after a while. My first thought was, it would be more enjoyable if you could hover over them to collect them like regular coins (or at least hold down click instead of having to click each time). This way, the player still has something to keep them entertained while walking through the corridors; looking around to hunt for the coins, while reducing the annoyances. Since this could be a little too easy, arguably, perhaps it could be locked behind a midgame upgrade? I feel like this would make playing the game feel better, and make the speed upgrade in particular feel better as well!

- This is more of a selfish hope on my part, but in the full release, I would love to see some visually distinct other areas / biomes of this magic forest! Just to have more of this very pretty 2.5D style to explore.

Overall, this prototype has some excellent bones, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where this goes! Thank you for sharing your game!

Really liked this little game. Good pacing, and I liked the chunky UI / Art. Thanks for sharing!

Enjoyable experience! The art direction was lovely, and the character design was cute; matched the vibe, but didn't overdo it. The color scheme was on-point, and I did like the inclusion of the one orange little critter. 

The gameplay, while simple, felt good. Aside from a couple things here and there regarding inconsistent walking vs running & jumping, the movement / camera felt smooth and never frustrating.  The water spray mechanic was intuitive and worked without issue.

I unfortunately had to look up a video for the end cutscene, as the middle section wouldn't proc for me despite scouring and spraying everything multiple times (and I didn't have time to replay the whole thing). I'm sure this is something that's already being taken into account for the full project, however, so I'll just throw in my +1 for that issue.

In all, it was a game that was nice to look at and felt good to move around in. A lot of small projects have good art, but clunky, awkward movement that gets frustrating after a while-- but this is not one of them. It was a pleasure to play. Thank you for sharing this little demo, and I look forward to any projects that your team makes in the future!

A nice little concept game, and the menu art is good!

I was unable to move left, but I will say, I like the character design!

It was indeed. A game containing a chicken.

Fun little game! The differing animations for each fail state were enjoyable. Thanks for sharing!

I had no idea what was happening, but I had a good time. I particularly enjoyed the ice skating animations.

I really enjoyed this game. A short and sweet little piece of a genre I adore-- the color palette works well for it, and the gameplay / movement is smooth and satisfying. Good balance as well for the (perfect) length. Thank you for sharing!

Fantastic game! Cheesy in a good way, and far more comprehensive than I thought it'd be with some decent little puzzles. It was the perfect length, and I enjoyed the main ending! Going to get the secret when I have a chance (now that I've looked at the guide and know I can play it in fullscreen). The characters grew on me fast, too! Very wholesome all around. Low-stress. Interesting worldbuilding. Thank you for creating and sharing this!

That was... oddly touching??  I loved it to death! The premise was cute and silly, and the point-and-click element was refreshing and fun. Loved the art, especially the Dr. and Igg's character design! And the backgrounds... and all the humor was neat. Everything was neat tbh. Amazing game! Thank you!

Each guard had such a distinct, lovable personality and I love them all. The backgrounds and character art were lovely, and the only real gripe is Koroviȼ's dialogue color! Such unique and fun character designs, too. Amazing game!

Wonderful art, and super cute premise. Your games are always a pleasure! The guy from the bar totally missed out, tbh.

Such a cute, fun, clever little game! And I absolutely adore the art style. Incredibly enjoyable, 10/10 would play again.

This is so cute! The characters are both very interesting, and there was a neat feeling of 'scale' almost, with a lot left unexplained. Which was good! The polish and art was amazing as well. Loved it!

Amazing little story! The character designs were so cute, and though the ending was bittersweet af, it was a wonderful read. Thank you!

That was so cute!! Short and sweet and perfect. Thank you! <3