itch.io

Hey there, just realized I never actually responded to this.  Thanks for playing and for making the video!  The team all loves it.

The game is constructed in such a way that the level *could* be procedurally generated, but it isn't.  And yes it does have an end.

These look really nice @KitKatarine.  Have you tried making isometric tiles for other biomes as well?

Hey Scruffy, thank you for your detailed review.  Those are some good QoL suggestions; I would like to point out one thing that's not well communicated in-game that might clarify the unit inspect issue.  The units do not have weapons per se.  The 4 stats that appear on the attacker and defender's cards - STR vs. DEF, DEX vs. EVA - determine the size & number of dice that get rolled.

The inability to see the enemy unit's RCH (reach) is a fair criticism and perhaps a future version of the UI addresses this flaw.

Very cool idea!  I don't believe I've played anything exactly like this before and it couldn't be a better fit for the theme of the jam.  The number of controls shown at the beginning is a bit intimidating (I never experimented with LMB/RMB while hooked) but once I got the hang of it, moving around and interacting with enemies was fun.  A promising prototype.  Could really benefit from some thoughtful sound design especially since your core mechanic has escalating tension built into it!

There's a lot of fun action going on here, vibe reminds me of Smash TV on SNES.  Controller support is nice, it's addictive to run around, weapons are varied and many of them are fun to use.  Good variety of enemies, appropriate music.  I would focus on UI & QoL polish.  I'm not a fan of not being able to see the room yet, while I'm walking around getting hit - maybe freeze the action until a significant portion of the room is on-screen.  Sometimes in empty rooms my health (the green meter is health, right?) is going up and down for seemingly no reason - maybe there's a lore explanation I'm not getting.  The indication that there's an adjoining door to the left / right is too subtle and the UI elements on the left and right sides of the screen are sometimes covering it up.

Have we ever seen an *official* response as to why this is legally impossible or philosophically undesired?

I just had a situation where I had a game jam submission with two other Admin/Contributors.  One of the other Contributors made changes to the game page while I was asleep - they changed the name of the game, the URL, the cover page... all while the game was still under judgement.  I do not trust this person to be able to make Admin changes anymore, but I do not want to remove them as a Contributor because they deserve to be credited for the aspect of the work that they did.  I'd have to take credit away from them and that could escalate matters in a way that I can't justify.

We need non-Admin Contributors.  I should not be forced to make this choice between security and integrity.

I like this game.  It's very simple and the gameplay is satisfying.  I was able to get quite far, but it has replay value because I did die and I believe if I had invested in farms earlier I would have done better.  My experience was that, after I placed 2 basic guns on the 2nd and 3rd strips of grass, nothing even came close to my castle and I was able to build what I wanted.  Then Round 15 arrived and everything just came off the chains.  I would flatten the difficulty spike so that it gets harder a bit more gradually (as others have said,) and adding some variety & randomness to the SFX would also be nice.

You're not the only person to say that and I agree.  Game balance is something seldom foundin the jam version of a game, I've found

This game is a blast!  The concept is immediately obvious, the sprites are beautiful, music is appropriate, powerups are fun and powerful.  The only thing wrong with this game is that - once I figured out that the sparks that the enemies emit when killed aren't projectiles - it becomes quite easy.  Like the guy below said, could use a score or some kind of goal.  HUD shows a lot of info I didn't need.  Not sure what the 3 icons on the left are for.

I like the sprites.  Nice pathfinding.  Controlling multiple party members always fun.  Not too hard to figure out how to play.  It looked busted at first because if you don't put it in full screen you will not see the important UI elements, i.e. it does not behave well at the canvas size your webpage is putting it.  Message log should be larger and in a better location.

I got 20 and then 30... a pretty cute game!  I thought I had picked up on their cues but it is hard to do better!  I would suggest the buttons on the UI could be easier to click.  It is reasonable and on brand that they are in a random order but they seem unnecessarily tiny.

Ah yes.  Game balance - a problem that, I've learned, is best kicked down the road for a post-jam version to solve 😉

I do hear you on the game speed, that is clearly the #1 complaint.  Should be pretty easy to address - thanks & stay tuned

Yo, thanks for your positive review.  We've put out a post-jam version that gives the protagonist a different color palette as you suggested and sure enough it looks better.

Nice work with the elegant interface - I find it evokes early Phantasy Star - and the pixel art for the monsters is great!  The lack of animation makes it a bit hard to immediately pick up and understand what is happening on a turn, but I think I figured it out after 4 or 5 tries.  The music also fits nicely.

Thanks, now it is not hanging over the canvas anymore.

I appreciate it!

Now that the Jam is over, is it possible for you to shorten the name?

It is very long and (on itch.io) sticks into the page and over the game.  TIA.

Thanks for your review!  I appreciate that you recognized the source of inspiration 🎩 *hat tip* 

This jam really came down to the wire for our team so there's a lot that didn't get in there.  I'm working on a version 2.0 to release after the judging is complete; the levels will be completely redesigned and there will be more of them & more enemy types.

Thanks for your review.  Yeah, like I mentioned above, the level design was rushed at the end and being forced to take damage from an enemy below you isn't fair.  If we put out a v2.0 after the Jam the levels will be completely redesigned.

Thanks.  The dive was actually an accident but I left it in because it's fun.

Thanks for your comment.  The level design was rushed at the end and I agree you should not be put in a position where you need to take damage because you can't damage an enemy below you.  The walking + umbrella is also a problem.  Combo animation would fix.

It's kinda hidden.  Edit Game > More > Admins

You have to add others as Admins and check the Contributor box.