I tried using mono but got an error about a missing CIL image. Wine didn't work either, it asked me to install .NET runtimes but it wouldn't recognize them.
Edit: We got it working! And man, this submission is super underrated. The bullet hell concept is very creatively done, with trying to balance aiming and dodging the dynamic bullet patterns resulting in a tug-of-war that splits your attention in a very "frantic" way.
The sound design and visuals are great too, though perhaps I'm biased as a fellow shape-fighting-other-shapes-in-the-void game submitter.
Bullet hell is a great choice for this jam. I like how insanely fast you can get the square to go even if the speed is hard to control. The parry ability is a nice touch too, but didn't seem completely reliable and I think it needed a bit more work to fit well into the game design.
Also, glad to see another solo-dev-whose-game-is-about-a-shape-surviving-in-the-void-while-trying-not-to-be-killed-by-other-shapes-in-the-void!
The writing does good work here. The potentially tragic fate of the urban explorer character is compelling. I assumed that they had walked into a False Door on my first run and accidentally consigned them to their fate. Sorry bout that man
You nailed the visuals, I especially love the images you created for the entities. Even if there's no time limit pressuring me to figure out the cases, you do a great job selling that something horrible might happen to these people if I can't put together the clues in time. So yes. Frantic. Good.
and... yes, I would def chill with the False Tree.
I really like the premise, since it's a super creative way to reward precision in a shooter, but I think the execution kinda holds it back. The water isn't that threatening, and I think it would work better if you could drown or weren't able to shoot underwater to make the scramble to patch up all the holes more "frantic".
The only thing holding this submission back is the theme; I feel like the enemy encounters are a bit too infrequent and the eggs take too long to destroy. It ends up feeling more like a methodical extermination than something "frantic" in my opinion
I got my combo to Incredible x3 and then it crashed lol
The art and comedy of this game is top notch. The combat is cool too, I love the wacky enemies and combat animations. It does tend to descend into a ridiculous cartoon brawl with how many enemies there are, but that's not necessarily a bad thing
Pretty fun, but probably just needs more time in the oven. I noticed that the enemy and technology trees were unlockable from the start, but they didn't do anything. There's also no indication of what the upgrades do or how much they cost, but for the implemented upgrades it's not hard to figure out.
The balance is also a bit off - it's pretty hard at first but once you have the triple spears and low gravity you can just click over and over again to create an impenetrable wall of spears that stops everything in its path. I think the late game needs a higher density of enemies and perhaps some new varieties of weapons.
The graphics are astonishingly good, especially for a game jam game. I like the concept - it's very innovative (even if it took me a bit to figure out what the walls were), but I think the gameplay is a bit unfair since it's hard to track yourself when you're getting pushed around and I think the dash is a bit too short.
Excellent submission! It's a simple idea executed very well. The tasks you have to complete before you sleep are a really great idea in terms of game design. The art and sound are also great.
The graphics and audio are absolutely wonderful, but I think the gameplay has some issues. The notes sometimes end up behind the character you're fighting, which makes them hard to see. The red notes are also particularly hard to see in the more visually intense levels, and there's no way to tell how much health you have left.
I felt like it was impossible before I figured out what I was supposed to do, but then too easy after. I think the game's balance could use some work. Other than that, I think the concept is innovative enough.
Also, the UI was awkwardly squashed because the resolution of my monitor isn't the highest. That may have slipped by testing.
√-1, as a math enjoyer, quite appreciate this game. It's simple but pretty fun and I can tell care was put into it.
However, I share some of the complaints of other reviewers: the lack of a crosshair makes aiming difficult, the controls are a bit wonky, and the UI not consuming clicks results in accidental shots.
Another great action/puzzle platformer to come out of this jam. It's a very tricky game for sure, but it's definitely the good kind of hard that makes you feel accomplished after you overcome it. The simple visual style works well and the music is great.
Very interesting idea, but I think it needed better execution. I found a lot of the puzzles quite interesting, especially when the mechanic of the ball rolling was introduced. However, I don't quite like how most of the round shapes (cone and cylinder) are functionally identical to their sharp-cornered counterparts. I assume they're there so it's possible to create a ball, but some unique behavior, whatever that might be, would make them more interesting.
Also, it's possible to fall through the floor, which happens somewhat unpredictably.
Really great puzzle platformer! The puzzles are fun and well-designed, the visuals are beautiful, and the sound design and music are great. I'm probably gonna put this game on my list of favorites from this jam.
Only one small complaint: the player's movement is a bit too jerky and it's pretty easy to accidentally fall off a small platform. If the acceleration took a little bit longer, I think it would feel nicer to play.
Very fun game! The art style is nice, the sound design and music are really good, and the narrative is quite interesting. Combat is also quite fun and well-balanced, even if it is a bit tricky. The basic enemies stacking on top of each other is a very good feature and more games should do that.
I do agree with some of the other reviewers that a little more level variety would have been nice, but what you have here works pretty well.
Cute little demon cat. 10/10 would pat and feed the souls of the damned.
This is an interesting way to make a game where you do nothing but click to increment a counter by 1 fun to play. I may be inspired to create something with a similar idea.
It plays well! It's quite a tough platformer with an interesting gimmick. The music coming to a stop when you view the real world adds to the effect quite nicely. The visual style is basic (which I assume was intentional) but it's effective enough.
This is a very fun game! I haven't seen any other game interpret the theme quite like this and the gameplay is also quite unique. The sound design is good and the selection of words is very diverse and allows for quite a bit of creativity (as well as "creativity").
Some small nitpicks:
I love the physics on the words - it makes the gameplay just that much more chaotic - but I did lose a word off the side of the screen and I couldn't get it back. You might want to add walls around the edge of the word bank, or if there are already, make them a bit tighter.
I would occasionally be able to add a word to a line without actually using it, which at one point made me accidentally describe Enephtes as an "intelligent intelligent".
Despite the issues of control and the lack of audio, I think there's a certain visceral joy to bouncing around like a madman.
Here are some changes that I think might make the game work better:
Better controls - you move pretty slow and you can't move at all on the ground, which makes navigating levels a bit tedious.
Limited number of bounce pads or ability to remove bounce pads - I've softlocked myself by trapping myself in a box of bounce pads with no way to remove them. Also, limited use might lend itself better to a puzzle game design.
A visual indication of stacked bounce pads - This would help players understand the concept more intuitively and make it obvious where you can do a super bounce.
I'm glad you liked it! A crafting interface and more interactive UI was part of the plan at first, but I had to drop it due to time constraints (which is why all the menus are controlled with keys). I'll probably add that in a later build once the jam is over.
Another game that hits it right out of the park. The puzzle design was fantastic and introduced the puzzle elements at the right pace to allow you to understand them. The artwork is great and the sound design is equally good.
Interesting and neat-looking game. I particularly like the shaders and changes to the music that get applied when you switch modes; I think they really sell the effect. It feels quite good to use the overdrive and I like how the second dungeon has mechanics that interact with it. However, the lack of any feedback (audio or visual) for reloading the gun doesn't feel very good and I think having some sort of cue for when you can or can't fire your gun is necessary for a game like this to feel good to play.
It's a well-designed prototype and I'm confident this could be made into something really unique with enough work. The prototype is a bit basic but that's to be expected of a prototype.
The game has beautiful graphics and audio. It's also quite fun despite how short it was, and I think it was a good idea to focus on making a short game really good. The interpretation of the theme is quite interesting too.
I think there may be something wrong with the sequencing - you can trade a viking helmet for the banana before you actually get a viking helmet from the bear. It doesn't break the game but I don't suppose it's intentional.
One of the best games from this jam that I've played so far. It's straightforward and easy to interact with but the increasing difficulty is tuned very well as to keep it challenging. Fits the theme perfectly (don't believe the propaganda) and the audio/visual design is spot-on.
The concept is pretty funny and creative but I think the actual gameplay is a bit too basic. You don't really need to take off the headset because you don't need to move that much to hit the robots and the furniture has no effect on the robots or the sword.
I particularly like this game because it gave me one of those "Ooohh!" moments that are so lovely in puzzle games. At first, I thought that the right side of the screen would always show the "true" layout and would reveal what the left side actually looked like. In the level where the crawly enemies are first introduced, I fell through the platform on the right side of the level and that made me reconsider. My new hypothesis was that only things that were real were the ones that appeared on both sides, so I jumped into the enemy on the ceiling of the right side and I passed through it. That single moment raised my opinions of this game quite a lot since I realized that there was some clever stuff going on.
I also enjoy the visual style. The enemy designs are unique and the player character is cute and well-animated. The background music has a particular "vibe" that I very much appreciate.
However, I do have some small complaints: I think the enemy hitboxes were a bit too unforgiving (you could die without visibly touching the enemy) and the 5th level feels very incomplete and quite frustrating to play. I understand that was probably due to time restrictions but I think it may have been better if it weren't included in the state it's in.
I don't think this game really works. I think the choice to include a heavily reaction-based combat system in a puzzle platformer is a bit bizarre, but I don't think I would have minded it if there weren't a bunch of other gameplay issues.
First, I'd end up repeatedly fighting the same guy over and over if I stayed on the bottom floor too long, which makes it frustrating to experiment with the puzzle and figure out how to turn off all the lasers. The combat also seemed pretty luck based, with it being incredibly hard to win if the circles were spread out in an inconvenient way. I did manage to turn off all the lasers, but for some reason I still died upon trying to exit, and I couldn't get past the first level.
However, I do appreciate the quick and to-the-point tutorial for the combat system, and besides my complaint about its difficulty, I quite like the idea.
