itch.io

ASSESSMENT FILED BY SDS SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AUDIT DIVISION.

Inspected July 27, 2026 17:00 local time. Lineage traces cleanly to Vampire Survivors, executed as its own software. Movement and core mechanics are rated EXCELLENT, the auditor stopped thinking about the controls inside a minute, the highest mark this office issues. The randomized run events earn special commendation: variance that helps a run kept every deployment feeling like new work, and the achievement and challenge ladder held the auditor's attention the whole way up the difficulty ramp. 

One finding, filed as OPPORTUNITY rather than deficiency: the palette runs narrow, and hostiles occasionally achieve unauthorized camouflage against the field. A touch more visual pop on enemies would let the player's eyes clock out on time.

Overall determination: Great game. Plays very well, kept the auditor coming back, and what's on screen wants to shine as bright as it plays.

Really appreciate your thoughts as this is a genuinely exceptional review. Thank you especially for the bug report, which is exactly right and correctly diagnosed . The denial is your browser, but the endless "MOUSE COOLING DOWN" is my bug: that message was written for Chrome's one-second re-lock cooldown, and it fires, lying, when a browser blocks pointer lock permanently. 

I will patch the post-jam build to detect repeated denial and say so plainly. I'm looking at a no-lock aiming fallback per your suggestion. If you remember which browser/setup you were on if you have a moment. I really appreciate you rating it fairly despite the issue.

ASSESSMENT FILED BY SDS SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AUDIT DIVISION.

Inspected July 26, 2026 17:30 local time. Visuals and mechanics are both rated EXCELLENT, with special commendation entered for the mouse-controlled size change. It feels great, and this office does not enter "feels great" into the record casually. For a concept build, execution is very clean

One finding, filed as an opportunity rather than deficiency: this mechanic is ripe for a combo multiplier. Robbatata has already raised this motion; this office formally seconds it. Size-shifting under a multiplier has an obvious rhythmic pull  leaned into fully, this could become a genuinely fine entry in the rhythm genre, and the auditor would like to play that version.

Overall determination: Great game. Plays very well, executed well for what's there and what's there is ripe for growth.

ASSESSMENT  FILED BY SDS SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AUDIT DIVISION.

Inspected July 26, 2026 17:00 local time. This office opens with the finding that matters most: the core mechanic, playing a minigame while hiding from a threat, is a genuinely strong idea. Split attention is where fear lives; a player who must take their eyes off the door to do the task is a player whose imagination starts working for the antagonist, free of charge. The inspection finds the software unfinished , a time-budget shortfall this office is all too familiar with, and notes with approval your stated plans to continue, and that the software will remain downloadable and archived. 

(Dropping the corporate bit for the design talk, because your plans deserve the real version:)

Before adding levels and story, I'd work backward from your mechanic. The question to design against is "what makes doing a task WHILE managing a threat fun?" The games that nail this (FNAF, Among Us) all do three things. 

1. The task and the threat compete for the same resource, eyes, power, a locked screen, so attention isn't split by decree, it physically can't cover both. 
2. Threat information is always available but always costs something, checking costs power, peeking costs progress, so the player is never blind and never safe, they're buying knowledge. 
3. Continuing the task is always the greedy choice. You could stop and just hide, but you want to finish, so the danger is self-inflicted, which is why it's thrilling instead of unfair. Concretely for your game: if the minigame needs your eyes and the father is tracked by ears, both run at once, imperfectly and if completing a minigame makes noise that draws him, finishing itself becomes the risk. Get that loop tight and the levels and deep story will have an mechanical to hang on.

One more thing worth mentioning is the restraint. Implication and a bloodied axe, nothing more is the right register for this material.

ASSESSMENT FILED BY SDS SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AUDIT DIVISION.

Inspected 16:12 local time. The software is rated GOOD. Art direction and asset quality are certified LOVELY, and the introduction of a new mechanic per level kept this office's attention on presentation throughout playthrough.

Two findings for your next quarterly review. First: the shield expires without notice a small timer near the character or an audio cue as it dissipates would let the player operator plan instead of discover as the blue shade of the character object changing was desynchronized from the countdown. Second: the graveyard background and the bombs share a palette closely enough that they blend. A brighter outline or a shifted hue on the bombs for this level would keep hazards legible against the scenery unless that was the intention. If so, good work!

Overall determination: Good, with clear room to shine. The art truly shines. 

Thanks for playing, and really appreciate the report. I want to chase that mouse delay down. Three quick questions if you have a second:

1. Did the whole game feel choppy (low framerate), or was everything smooth and just the aim trailing behind the mouse?
2. Were you fullscreen or in the embedded window and did one feel better than the other?
3. Roughly what machine/browser (laptop vs desktop, Chrome/Firefox)?

Asking because my prime suspect is the glow/bloom effect being heavy on some GPUs. If that's it, a graphics quality toggle in the post-jam build solves it. Glad the atmosphere landed!

ASSESSMENT  FILED BY SDS SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AUDIT DIVISION

Inspected 07/26/2026 1:13 local time. This software is rated: Excellent. Enemy composition is correctly balanced, flow is uninterrupted, audio is excellent, and the sprites are well crafted.

Findings: none actionable. This office is required to note that an inspection yielding no deficiencies is unusual and has been flagged as mildly surprising. The polish is at levels normally associated with software that had more time than a jam provides.

Overall determination: Very Well Made. A joy to play.

Thanks for making and submitting this. 

What worked for me: the background music and sound effects are good. The coins look really good and are the visual highlight of the game.

Four specific things I noticed during my playthrough, listed so they're easy to work through one at a time:

1. The timer displays mirrored: the minutes and seconds appear switched. Probably a small display-formatting fix.
2. Performance: the game stuttered during my playthrough. Unreal is a powerful engine, but for a 2D platformer, a 2D-focused engine (Godot or GameMaker, for example) would likely run smoother and give you less overhead to manage.
3. Platform edge contrast: I couldn't reliably tell where a platform ended and the gap began. A brighter edge color or a simple outline along platform tops would solve it. Contrast is your friend in a platformer.
4. Head clearance: some jumps had very little room above the character, so jumps that felt correct still hit the ceiling. A bit more vertical space in those spots would make movement feel fairer.

All four of these are fixable, and the audio and coin art show real care. I hope you keep building on it.

ASSESSMENT FILED BY SDS SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AUDIT DIVISION

Inspected 07/26/2026 00:10 local time. The core loop is certified ADDICTIVE. Satisfying, chaotic in the manner this office endorses, and well served by its audio.

Two findings. First: floor variation is needed (even a palette shift or a poster on the wall would let each floor state its name). Second: difficulty depletes faster than the optimal. The game goes easy too early. Noted that time expired before balancing . A time-budget shortfall, not a design defect. 

Overall determination: The core is there. Fun was had. Build on this one.

ASSESSMENT — FILED BY SDS SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AUDIT DIVISION

Your software was inspected on July 24, 2026, 22:10 local time. Ranked Rush plays tight and fast. Following an initial run and a mandated re-read of the posted instructions, our auditor achieved full operational competency and reports having, in the technical language of the classic era, a blast. The pun was filed intentionally and approved by this office.

One ergonomic finding for your next quarterly review: sprint authorization is currently assigned to the SHIFT key, and sustained operation produced measurable operator fatigue. Workplace Safety recommends relocating sprint to RIGHT MOUSE, where the finger is already on duty. This finding is classified MINOR and does not affect overall satisfaction with the software.

Level design is rated excellent throughout. Additionally, this office notes the facility shows clear expansion potential: multi-operator licensing (multiplayer) could be pursued with minimal restructuring, and SDS Systems would love to audit that software as well.

Overall determination: Very Well Made. Had a great time!

(Dropping the corporate bit for a second) Understood on the collision method. Honestly, I couldn't tell whether hits were visual or lane-based as your lane snapping is so clean that I assumed the logic was lane-locked and read the near-misses as misalignment. Sounds like it's working as intended, so consider the finding withdrawn. Great feel on those controls.

ASSESSMENT  FILED BY SDS SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AUDIT DIVISION.

Your software was inspected on July 24, 2026 21:24 local time. The flow is coherent, the operator feedback loop is tight, and the overall experience successfully recreates the quarter-extraction architecture of the classic era,  a business model SDS Systems continues to admire. Our auditor cleared two terminal levels and certifies this as a COMPLETE DELIVERABLE, a distinction few facilities achieve within a jam-mandated timeline.

Minor findings for your next quarterly review: enemy fire-lane alignment occasionally deviates from stated coordinates. Our legal department notes this defect is endemic to the genre and has been litigating it against beat-em-ups since 1991 without success. Audio inventory is lean but every asset on the books is correctly deployed. Additionally, visual output is rated EXCELLENT at standard resolution and ADEQUATE at fullscreen. We recommend operators enjoy the facility at its native scale.

 Overall determination: Very Well Made. Nice work!