itch.io

Great game ! Congrats to making an ambitious narrative game like this one for a jam, it really stands out. My only criticism (and please be proud of your work and don't take it badly) is that you chose a heavy subject hard to tackle in a 10 min or so playthrough. But that said you kept it simple and avoided some caveats so kudos for that ! If you want to keep working on it I suggest you take your hero into the mind of the father next. It takes courage to stand up against your beloved relatives but it takes even more to help them get through addiction with empaty. Anyways good job and thank you for this gem !

Your answer made me think maybe I didn't understand your game fully. And indeed I mixed up accuracy and lives, but that's on me. In fact it is made very clear on the UI, I don't know why my brain didn't catch that. So naturally my accuracy score is very low I if avoid red and also blue, but since time and accuracy are shown as equally important on the end screen, as a player I don't know which number is actually my score.  Maybe show a third number (which is simply accuracy * time) to make it very clear those are both related to your score ? In a regular game I get around 60% and 100s now that I understand the game, so could it be 600 points ? I hope that makes it more clear to you !

Thanks for this complete feedback. This is all valid criticism.

I always hesitate to put music because I like games where all assets are made "from scratch" but my music skills are way too low, and the game was already repetitive enough ! As for the tone of the game: from the start I didn't know if I wanted it dramatic or comedic. I just let the fate decide, if you had a good laugh then that's fine, let's call it a comedy game !

I'll think about optimization if I continue iterating on this project, for know I don't know Godot enough. But it is a good case study.

I'm glad you liked the premise since that was my main focus. Thank you again !

Are you telling me the stone transformation sfx is made of mouth sounds ?? It works really well ! Overall I think the sound polish is as high level as the graphical polish. Sorry I didn't mention it from the start, I'm a 3D artist who loves pixel art first ! I went back and listened to the main theme again, it is spot on the vibe of the game. And it must have been a hard choice to cut the music when entering the game, but I think it is a good call it accentuate the loneliness of the character. Good job !

I love this character design ! Maybe try to show the edible objects in a more subtle way, but anyways I had a good laugh seeing the dinosaur's animations. Great job !

What a wild ride ! It could have been fun to really see Sisyphus chase you as you roll down the path, but I guess it is a whole new scope with an animated character. But that's something to keep in mind for the next iteration, well done !

Nice concept ! I think your levels lacks clarity tho, it is not obvious that rocks do hurt the girl. Anyways well done !

Thank you for this I had a great time ! So much polish for a jam game. I love the revival animation with the bones and the flesh, I also love that the artefact moves to the sides or backwards to avoid clipping in the walls. This shows that a lot of effort has been put in this game. Your core gameplay is also solid, I hope you can push this game further. Well done !

A lot of fun ! And a lot of characters on screen to blow up, it is quite rewarding to time your attacks just right, well done !

Nice animation work ! It is pretty satisfying to hit the theoclast, but I'm not gonna lie it didn"t happen very often. Your game is hard ! Well done

It was fun to play on mobile! I think it is a pretty good concept, but in the end I just played avoiding red and blue balls that made the game harder. Also I think the game could have been a little bit more tied to the theme because the white ball is not much. However I had a good time, and it is nice to see android games on this jam, good job !

Thank you so much for trying my game ! You are entirely correct this needs a lot of work in the core gameplay part. I had this concept of failure being avoided by sacrifying friends and then the portrait gets affected. But I needed a gameplay to support that, and I never made a beat them up, I had to figure out how to make it work somehow... Anyways I'm glad you liked the concept !

Simple and effective use of the theme ! Did you try to make the giant deal friendly damage to the children (like whoops !) handled the right way it may be quite funny ! However I enjoyed it a lot, good job !

Thank you for trying it out ! Well you're not a failure I want to reassure you, you can't win or pass the level. You are supposed to die, then you are presented the waves you passed and the friends you have left. I wanted this to be your final score and then show the player 3 distincts endings, but you know. jams are hard on schedule !

Thank you so much ! Yeah I guess if everyone is pointing out the bad camera that's because it is bad ! But you are right I wanted to keep the portrait in sight at all costs. I even planned to have all of my UI (healthbar and maybe upgrades) on the portrait, but since I had no time for this I should have abandoned the picture-pointing camera. But I'm glad you enjoyed it, I'll do better next time ! Also I had a lot of fun with Void Reaper !

It is the hardest part in jams, because you struggle to make your gameplay loop to work, and then you have to think about how the player is gonna perceive it. I am no professionnal in user experience design, but you could firstmake a linear loop: the player only has one gem, he must replicate a pattern you give them, then you point out the scanner and testing features. And finally when they got throught it all you let them experiment freely to find this mysterious symbol ? You can check how mobile games explains their mechanics: it is usually a derivative of this pattern. But like I said, I don't know much, it is just how I would do it !

5 out of 5 on all for me too, I had a pure blast ! Everything is tailored for the best jam experience, the sound design and effects are rewarding, the game is not too difficult so you keep playing to discover the new weapons and animations... It is a great entry. Bravo !

Really frightening ! And impressive for a first jam ! I enjoyed it a lot. At first the zombies disn't make sense to me, why somestay dead and some others cahse you ? Are the zombies the previous character that dies ? I guess it is this last option but it is a bit unclear. Anyway you should continue this game past the jam it is promising ! Great job !

One of the most unique entries of this jam, I really enjoyed it. It is hard to understand at first, but once you get it it is really rewarding, great job !

Cool game ! I guess I'm not good enough to see it all but I enjoyed the juiciness of the controls and effects, good job !

Your game is so funny ! And it was a good call to let the player advance through levels without a mimal amount of creatures to save, that way we enjoy the chaos, have a laugh, and see what's next. And the pixel art is spot on gameboy nostalgia, I love it. Great job !

There's some great 2D animation here, good job ! The game is a bit repetitive, but seeing mulitple new well-animated enemies is refreshing and kept me going for a good amount of time. Your invicibility state could have use some more effects, or different animations, but I guess that's a jam and you had no time. Anyways well done and good luck !

Hi, I had fun with this game. I think this concept could make for a good complete game. But let's be honest there's no invincibility theme here, and this game is very similar to the one you submitted 2 weeks ago in another jam. I can't rate much higher. However I genuinely encourage you to go further with this concept and make graphical assets to elevate it.

Always a pleasure to play Ikaruga-inspired games, that's my type of gameplay ! Its fits the theme very well, and you put a lot of enemy variety and environments. Well done !

Blasting through space and crushing planets, the theme is taken litterally and it is a great idea. I would have loved to see more variety: sparse big planets like those you put, but also very numerous small asteroids could be fun too ! And chain reactions that makes exploding planets explode other ones too, that kind of stuff. Anyways it is a cool concept you should push it further, I see myself playing this in the subway before going to work to release some steam !

It took me some time to see that the number on the upper left was light sensitive but once I got it it was a fun game! Is there a maximum to reach ? Right now it feels like you can farm the light to go through all the levels, maybe that was your intent, but I think you can push this mechanic further if you keep working on it. Anyways it is a great game, well done ! (Also it is a great use of the theme, the first game I see that exploits fear over invincibility !)

Your game is so fun ! I really like your art style and sound design that fits so well together and serve a great dynamic and responsive gameplay. Well done !

You got a whole story and universe to exploit further here, I really hope you push ! I really enjoyed the experience, gameplay is tight, even tho I didn't beat the three enemies. Nice one and good luck for the jam !

Nice idea ! It must have been a lot of work to write all those profiles. Does the rounds really have ends ? I got through all of my 44 souls but nothing happened, it just kept going. Anyways great job ! And the aesthetics are peak of course

I have profound respect for teams that did go for a proper narration because it is so hard in jams ! Your game has great atmosphere, and I think the idea of dividing the game in two parts is a good use of the theme. Also the minigames and the hidden jokes are fun, great job and good luck !

I had a lot of fun with your game ! The gameplay is tight, the visuals are very stylish. I also think it is worth mentioning your game page is by far the most polished in the whole jam, and it helps a lot setting up the ambiance. Great job !

Nice job ! Parrying is quite satisfying once you got it right, and kudos for animating multiple characters, I just wish we could see them a bit better (even tho they are on the itch page). The light mechanic is interesting but frankly light moves so fast I never use it to its full potential, maybe make it more static but tied to a timer ? Anyways good job !

Nice game with great sound design and simple polished graphics as well.  At first I jumped in without reading the description and didn't understand anything, but I finally saw the meta-upgrades and then you got me hooked for a good amount of games, good job !

You game is fun ! I think you deepened your mechanic as far as you possibly could in a jam. At a first glance it looks like a simple gimmick with the first boss but by the end you go full Ikaruga-style gameplay (which I love) but with three states, and one of which is cleverly used for healing. Great job !

Really good use of the theme ! It takes a few games to really understand how to play, and it is rough in some edges but the core gameplay and message works very well altogether. You should keep working on this one, this gameplay idea is worth taking more time and maybe even be pushed into a full game, well done !

Huge Ikaruga fan here. I really enjoyed this, it feels great feeling that I have to re-learn to play Ikaruga in another perspective ! My only critique is this one: you never know where your crosshair is because it is independant of the camera, and the boss isn't always centered either, so it makes aiming very difficult (at least for me). In ikaruga your aim is your position so that's not an issue, but for your game maybe consider amore classic third person perspective ? So the player always knows they'll shoot in front of them ? Anyways it is great, and kudos for the intro cinematic and overall polished art !

I love it. The art, the gameplay loop, the sound design, this is some great work here, well done ! I wish too that you could sprint, and maybe encounter more enmy variety, but overall it is a wonderfull jam game.

Nice one, I love the cosy vibes but challenging puzzles. I think the theme is pretty well-exploited I would play a longer version of this one for sure, well done !

Thank you so much ! I would have loved it to get a better ending (even multiple ones) but right now you only have the satisfaction to see your score and it is up to you if you value more the waves count or the friends count (very philosophical, I know). And you also have the evolutive painting that changes everytime you launch a new game.

Nice refreshing entry with great art, thanks and well done !