Awesome game! Keep it up. I had fun playing it.
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Key Defence's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Innovation | #22 | 3.822 | 3.822 |
| Game Design | #34 | 3.792 | 3.792 |
| Overall | #144 | 3.271 | 3.271 |
| Fun | #149 | 3.317 | 3.317 |
| Graphics | #167 | 3.634 | 3.634 |
| Audio | #203 | 3.178 | 3.178 |
| Theme | #764 | 1.881 | 1.881 |
Ranked from 101 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
Awesome idea and amazing execution! Pressing the keys to create the path was a unique experience that I very much enjoyed. Well done!
Submitted
The Earth Is Flatwow, really great game, loved the design! Could also please check out my game? Any feedback would be appreciated :)
Submitted
The sign is a lieVery cool game idea and in general a nice twist to the otherwise exhausted tower defense genre. If I were to change anything I would make the keys belonging to the path more salient, as they can sometimes be difficult to differentiate. Overall very nice work!
Submitted
Castle of LiarsBeautiful graphics, I especially dig the CRT effect (any Superhot fans around here? : ) )
My only gripe was with the colors: it wasn't immediately obvious what I needed to do (e.g. since two keys share the color green).
Good sound effects, and music, too!
Submitted
R U On The Right Track?Cool Game idea and nice Graphic and art! Good Job! My Game is: https://itch.io/jam/cgj/rate/476937, its called You thought! Rated and Played yours btw!
Submitted
You thought!The game itself itself was not very exciting, but the concept is fantastic. The keyboard gimmick was really neat, but I'm glad that you also gave the option to use your mouse since the novelty wore off quickly. Being able to choose the path makes your options very limited as there's only one optimal path, but I understand that's what you were going for, and the challenge is to figure the one or possibly two paths that work.
The key counter at the top of the screen didn't convey the idea of how many keys I could use very well, partially because you don't know the limit until you've exceeded it, and partially because you can place as many keys as you want and the only indication is that the number changes color, which is likely to be missed entirely since nothing about the limit is explained in the help screen and the change from yellow to white is rather subtle.
I thought that I had hit the key limit once the number changed color, but I found it impossible to form a path within the limit in one level. However, I added another key past what I assumed was the limit and the simulation ran, which made me wonder if the color change was indicative of anything or if the only way to know you've hit the limit is to attempt to run the simulation and fail to start.
I feel the number should start at the maximum and count down to 0, and prevent you from placing any more keys then. The number becoming red would have been a better indication of being over the limit, since it stands out more and is generally associated with wrong things.
Submitted
Peeblo QuestYeah I quickly realised that it wasn't ideal if you had to look up and down between the screen and your keyboard, so I added the ability to use your mouse. Which also solves the issue of different keyboard layouts. Indeed most levels only have a limited amount of possibilities. However, this is also to make sure that the player has some guidance. I don't know if you've played level 9, but that level is quite difficult because there are too many options and there is no previous explanation of what to do when there are multiple starting keys. With each level I tried to teach the player a new trick that they could use in the level after it. Like level 5 shows you that towers are more effective if you circle the path around them, you then use that knowledge in level 8 and 9. Level 6 introduces the wall key and the radial tower, then level 7 expands on those lessons.
I agree that the implementation of the trophy system isn't great. It was meant to give players an incentive to replay levels and to create extra difficulty for those that wanted it. It would have been nice if players were told whether or not they got the trophy at the end of each level. Since players are now only made aware of it in the level select screen. Making it count down and turn red might just confuse the player. Perhaps creating a limit for the amount of keys that can be used is a good idea, something like the minimum + 5. Currently you can enable as many keys as you like, then the pathfinding system determines the shortest route using the keys you've enabled and the amount of keys it uses determines whether or not you meet the requirement. If you're interested, I made a devlog showing the solutions for every level and what I intended for the player to realise in each one.
Ohh the shortest route, I see. I was confused by the fact that it removed all the excess keys. Maybe you could keep the enemies taking the shortest route but leave all the keys on screen? Also I'm pretty sure at least one or two times I had a path that definitely connected to the end but it didn't allow me to run it.
The pathfinding system is a bit complex, but in essence it calculate the distance from the edge of one key to the edge of another key to determine if there is a valid connection between two keys. The margin is quite large so it should just work (- Todd Howard).
Do you remember what level it was and with which keys?
I like the concept and the visuals are great, but the connection to the theme is pretty far fetched.
Submitted
A normal DungeonIt's a cool concept turning your keyboard into a game :D
Feels like a board game too
Submitted
All is Chaos in Love and WarThis is very polished! I played through all the levels and then enjoyed trying to find the most effective solution to each one :) Graphics look great and the gameplay explains itself very well! The only thing I don't really get is the connection to the theme, but this theme was pretty difficult to wrap a game around i think. Really well done!
Submitted
the plane is a lie!The connection to the theme was that the game is a puzzle game in disguise of a tower defense. I do admit that the connection isn't as strong as I would have liked. Though, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it. Also, thanks for the suggestion. You can reset all enabled keys to disabled with F2, but a button to speed up the game would be great addition.
Wow the game is very polished. I like the art style and the twist on typical tower defense games. Each level gets more challenging and it's really well made. Nice job! Although, I wish it fit the theme more, or maybe I missed the liar part.
Submitted
Round-o EmporiumYeah I spent a lot of time polishing the game and improving the pathfinding, as I had quite some difficulty coming up with interesting puzzles. Maybe you noticed the towers returning to a perpendicular angle, if there were no targets. Or how they aim ahead of enemies to account for the movement of the enemies. ;-)
The connection to the theme is the twist on typical tower defence games (puzzle game instead of strategy game). I have to admit that the connection isn't as great as I would have liked. I'm glad to hear that the difficulty curve is on point.
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