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I’m super happy you were able to make it to the river. That requires skill.

I was hoping the secret path in the river...

Spoiler

... was going to be a sweet aha moment. It is hard to deliver those where it is both not frustrating and satisfying. I'm grateful you playtested and that I can pay attention to what you say and make better gaming experiences. I feel this kind of game would benefit for some in-game hints, for instance, the character could say something to grab your attention after x seconds or indicate that you are indeed on the right track.

If you use the mirror, you can see the path in the river

spoiler

I hoped players will spam the mirror and see the path revealed.

Thanks for the constructive criticism. Agreed, without hints and indication of progress, it’s hard to discover what do next, especially at a jam where you have 10 games to playtest.

That is very kind. Yep, the boss is in the north, and if you can beat it, you win the game. <3

I think I need to learn, through experience, how to communicate expectations and reward players when they figure things out. I want players to know when they’re making progress toward an intended goal. :) When players discover something interesting that I didn’t plan for, I’d like that to feel fun and natural, and that can be a bit more difficult.

My favorite things in games are unexpected, fun experiences to discover, like bunny hopping in Quake. It’s fun when people end up knowing your game better than you do! To get there, you need to communicate your game world and intentions clearly, in a natural, intuitive way.

Having such a great community makes the journey even more fulfilling.

Wow, you got to the river area! That is amazing, you made my day. Were you able to cross it? <3 Thanks a lot for playtesting my game and providing meaningful feedback.

I initially intended for players to get lost and wander around a bit, I’m starting to think it was a bad choice! I considered adding a guiding arrow. Perhaps that would have been a good direction.

Thanks and have a great jam.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, I’ll definitely make it simpler.

Originally, I did strongly consider having an arrow guide the player (like in an arcade brawler game). When I was making it under pressure, I had hope people would want to explore the world and figure out they are trapped in a nightmarish world that repeats itself. When they head west, south and east, the return to the exact same spot. This would leave north as the only direction that leads anywhere. As if the game is forcing the player down a path, the hero should be reluctant to go. That was pretentious perhaps. I was hoping to express the feeling of cold, hopelessness, dread and such. My intention was that the combat mechanic itself will be fun (like in Silent Hill), cause the game itself mostly conveys despair. I took the theme and experimented with it as a game mechanic and as a concept.

The ghost is not where it is positioned in the mirror world. It is positioned in the real world, relatively to you, at the same position the mirror ghost is positioned relative to the mirrored player.

So if this is what you see

   MIRROR   
     
         G
     P
------------
     P
        (G`)
     
    REAL

 M     |     
 I   G |(G`) R
 R     |     E
 R   P | P   A
 O     |     L
 R     |    

You’ll need to hit the invisible ghost in the real world. Where P is the player and G is the Ghost. Of course, you can’t actually see (G`). You can estimate it’s position based on G.

It is an amazing game. One of the top game jam games I’ve seen and that surprises me because I don’t consider myself a person who’s a big fan of memorize the layout platformers like Montezuma’s Revenge. I realize it had a 40th year anniversary now. Time flies.

Did you use the mirror (hold space) to detect ghosts and destroy them? They drop spirit flames that give warmth.

They will quickly drain your warmth if they aren’t defeated.

When you see a ghost in the cursed mirror, that's a reflection! Meaning, the ghost is being reflected. It's position in the real world is relative to the real you, the same way the reflected ghost is positioned relative to your reflection. Hope that made sense (you can't attack the reflection).

Hint

I love your game. It is very juicy. I finished both areas. Is there another secret? I didn’t notice anything light up after finishing the second area. Really good work! Very juicy and surprisingly not frustrating. I wanted to do something similar and felt it would be unfair to the player and you made it good! I deeply enjoyed this.

You definitely have my vote for #1 5/5

So cute and well made. The voice acting is grand!

Very cool concept.

Such a genius puzzle game. So hard!

It was fun. You added the warmth bar mechanic and a destination so my immediate assumption was that it would be difficult to keep it up at some point. The game was really good for a game jam game! The warmth bar communicated to me that I have a goal and meeting that goal might introduce challenge.

One of the best games I’ve seen. Hard to stop fighting fat cats.

Great concept and well made juicy game!

Very cool! Good implementation. I wish the jumping was a bit higher to give more feeling of freedom and power. Brilliant work.

The goal is to complete the level and defeat the boss. :) There are more enemies.

spoiler

Head north and make sure to check the mirror.

Would you mind checking it again?

Great platformer. Cute snowballs. ≽^•⩊•^≼

This was great! The art and audio are really good. I wish it was more difficult. I love what you did.

It is cool and interesting. I feel the level design needs work or I am missing something. Sometimes it is extremely easy and sometimes it feels frustratingly hard and I have no clue what I’m doing wrong. The mechanics and presentation are well made.

Such a great idea and implementation! Great work! It has a steep learning curve. I wish there was an easier level first. :)

Very well made game! Interesting and good choices.

Hi bro, it is always good to see you. This is an experiment, to make an incremental rhythm clicker with high stakes. I haven’t figured everything out yet. I am practicing and experimenting. I want to add upgrades. I wanna get to know what makes these clicker games fun and satisfying. I am also working on getting game juice right.

Why is that the case? I don’t understand any of this deeper level game behavior.

It will do pretty well relative to most games. It reminds me of a very popular game, TIS 100 by Zachtronics. I loved playing it, and this is even better!

Of course, nobody can guarantee success. Failure is healthy. This is definitely a great product. After I played that pesky block welding game and enjoyed it, I looked at your other work recently and found it all top notch. This one seems to be the most commercially viable, in my opinion. I would also pay if that slime puzzle became a full fledged product.

Your work ethic and planning skills astound me, brother.

It is so good that I think someone might steal it if you do not turn it into something more. I would have added a graphical Scratch like option for kids, though. I will definitely let my son play this game. You really did great! I mean professionally great, not hobby great, which is also amazing.

I find it so hard to believe this wasn’t #1. :) No offense to the winners. I haven’t checked them out yet. One of the best games I’ve seen.

This is extremely well made as a gaming experience. It feels that it should be part of a game on Steam that I paid for.

This is the best dating sim I ever played! Even though I know it is intended to be a puzzle. 95% of the time I had no idea what I was doing. When I figured something that seemed to work, it never worked again. It was both extremely frustrating and satisfying. It feel like I’m wasting precious time and that it is the most precious worthwhile thing in the world! Whenever it felt like this is the one, and I’m finally done, it was one of many and did not even stick out in the big picture.

The game is brilliant! Your mind is fascinating. You are a great person.

You somehow captured exactly what wanting a deep romantic relationship in 2025 feels like in a puzzle about A going into B.

Wow, truly innovate ways to get people to think a few steps ahead. You’re a great person for coming up with such insights.

This is brilliant! Highly impressive for this amount of time and it is almost exactly the game I wanted to make in my first Jam and did know how. Great work!

It is a pretty great game. I would want to play again, especially on mobile.

Great idea for a game that mixes clicker and TD and some RTS mechanics! Has a lot of potential. I wonder where this can go next. It feels like it can become something fun and strategic.

I managed to deliver all the presents! It was good. The music is fun! The graphics are great. Something is missing in the gameplay for me. It is great for a game jam project. I kinda wish I had to aim the presents and not only mash that red button. I guess I can drive better. This has potential. A great game jam entry. It certainly delivers on the drunken driver feeling.

This is a great rhythm game! The avoidance part enhances it. I really don’t enjoy the “save coin” aspect. Why stop the pacing of the game abruptly only to tell me that I don’t have enough coins to get something. It is disrupting to the gameplay.

Other than that, it plays really well. Good gameplay mechanic. Simple, and effective!

I managed to get some house. It was enjoyable.

It is a good shooter, very stylish, reminded me of Duke Nukem 3D. It is a bit repetitive. Good music, good ambiance and level feel. It didn’t match the perquisite much. Good work! I enjoyed it. I wish I could hear more gunshots and alien agony. The music is great though.

OK, I figured out there is a cluster upgrade and I got 140~ I wish there was a score board.

Such a good concept. It is kind of like if Worms was less TNG based.

I like this game. I wish there was a scoreboard. The art, the composition of the scene, the gameplay, the angrybirdiness of it, the sound effects, it works well! 5/5

BTW, I got 82 and I didn’t notice upgrades? What do they do and how do I use them in-game?

The gameplay mechanics are there and I wish they’d be more accessible. The first level is very easy, not sure why. The guy is exposed. The second guy hits hard and fast. It is really hard. Feels almost impossible to dodge and return the favor. So I see a lot of potential. Maybe it needs more playtesting and balancing or an easy mode or a tutorial section.

The gameplay is balanced. It is a good shooter. It felt that it was kind of like those old Shooter Gallery games where targets pop up and you need to shoot them. You stripped down enemies firing back, and needing to hit most of the enemies, and the time limit, so it is a slow paced high stakes Shooter Gallery where you can take your time and aim and you must hit! One time I hit two at once! That felt good, I got an extra shot thanks to that.

I played for a bit and enjoyed and the game is well made, and unique in how they don’t shoot back and you lose by simply by missing shots. It did feel repetitive after awhile and it does seem that it is getting harder as you progress.

Having furniture to buy is a great addon. I wonder if there is a cool ending. It is addictive!

So on one hand it oozes with style and game feel and on the other hand it is too easy and predictable shortly into the game. So I guess it needs to escalate?

For a game jam, it really is good.

I wanna say click for pick-up, right click for drop down, would have been fine! Did not need E & Q personaly.