Oh yeah I forgot a thing. On your itch-page it says “ASDQZE to move and turn around” and I’m guessing it is S rather than Z you wanted to have there and perhaps write as “WASD to move and QE to turn” because when I read that instruction I was like what is this how am I going to be able to navigate and what button does what.

Really cool art style and interesting game mechanics. Great entry!

I got quite far I think, based on the number of characters left in my party before I was killed.

I opted to keep the mapping the longest because the instant movement with the effects and the grid cells being so identical it was hard to even see that you were moving when walking in corridors and such. If that had been a bit easier I would probably let that one go before some of the others.

It took me a little while to realize I could swap weapons. I kind of expected I needed to get them first, that might have helped me survive longer since I did have quite a few bullets left when I died.

I very much liked loosing party members, well no, it was a horrible choice each time. But great mechanic. A natural way of making the game harder and harder. And I love giving awkward choices to the player. (Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to implement the “best” idea in my game)

I didn’t dare step into any traps as it felt health was my major challenge so I’m not sure how they worked but the level design was great in allowing me different ways to progress depending on the skills left to the player.

The final level that I got to felt a bit bugged. There were several prompts for going up a level where it seemed to be just a hallway and there was one invisible wall too. I also wasn’t sure what killed me in the end. I’m guessing some enemy I hadn’t noticed. Which is a bit of a pity. Both that it was so abrupt and that I didn’t notice what it was. Felt a bit unfair.

Speaking of stairs. They really need to be visible or if there was some indication, they need to be much clearer. I got lost on one level backtracking and wandering about because the stairs were invisible.

The battle mechanics was nice. But since it took a while to discover weapon changes (perhaps they should start with a variation of weapons equipped) I mainly opted for attack first enemy until it died. It would have been neat if there was a bit more info on them (similar to on the attacks) so I could be a bit more strategic about it all. When I discovered guns, I went for spray when multiple and one of the two single target attacks otherwise.

I really enjoyed the game. Very good and interesting!

Playthrough: https://youtu.be/qOCqDuZSZj4

Such an impressive party system, both in the various interactions within the system itself as well as then losing those interactions through a run.

The art is great, shaky for sure, but it works really well and is consistent throughout. The sound is really well chosen and I would say that this is just a really cohesive experience. 

I think the challenge of losing party members makes for really interesting choices to be made as one becomes more experienced. Losing automapping in the first run is extremely punishing, but becomes less so with familiarity.

I don't know what you're intentions are going forward; but I would be interested perhaps in a kiss / curse system alongside this mechanic. Something where it doesn't feel like you're always only losing power, and might gain an alternative power or system to combine with other party members, and end up with interesting run diversity. 

This is a really great submission, tough for sure, but very well made and was really enjoyable. Thank you.

This had a really fun art style and the music rocked!

Sacrificing party members was not what I expected, and making those decisions several times during the run was really interesting. It was like looking at a machine slowly breaking down over time with nothing you could do about it.

I had a bit of trouble with the combat since my keyboard doesn’t have function keys (I have to press another button to enable them), so I found myself spamming ‘1’ a lot, and seemed to work pretty well ;)

Good job!

This is a very art-first game, I think. The art style, the lose-features-with-characters mechanic, the guaranteed character losses, etc. I have to commend you on that. The music is also pretty good.

On the other hand, though, a game that becomes actively worse to play over time is, uhh...not super fun over time? It's not just challenging, but promises only a worse experience for pushing through the challenge. Just really not my cup of tea.

Nonetheless, here is my gameplay video:

It was a very unique game and fun. 

It was an interesting system of sacrificing party members to progress. The art style is unique and cool, but it can be difficult to play for long periods of time.

I really liked the black & white wobbly aesthetic, and I enjoyed the combat mechanics and thought they were implemented well. Would recommend toning down the wobbliness on the UI elements for readability, and the 1st person dungeon crawling is frustrating at times due to the lack of compass indicators or apparent motion when advancing down a long corridor, especially if the automap ability is lost. Overall thought this entry was very unique and visually striking.

This is a very creative entry with a cool mechanic, where you decide, what to loose, when the party gets into much danger. It is always super interesting to make difficult choices in a game, so Kudos for that. I did not like the wobbeling of the graphics too much, maybe tone it down a notch. But the black&white aesthetic itself was very well done. Hm, maybe the battle system is a bit too much work, selecting the characters with the F keys and then choosing from multiple options with the number keys gets a bit old after a while. Oh, the music was very nice. Very unique and fun entry :)

Really love the artstyle, even tho the wobblyness made me a bit sick at first (like I was on a boat?). Sacrificing a team member and you lose an important exploration ability, is really smart and I hope I will keep that idea in my head. That's a tough choice. 

Love the art style. great way of using the time limit to your benefit - the wobbly lines feel quick and expressive like the doodles you do when you aren't paying attention is school. Some have said they don't like the wobble or shakiness but I think it makes it really stand out. Also huge props for the narrative focus. I know how hard it can be to tell a story and get a solid game in there in a short space of time

Whew, really interesting! The art direction was unique, and I like the vibe a lot, but it was hard to look at for an extended period of time. If you have any friends that get motion sick, this would be a good way to torture them, lol.

I thought the narrative was interesting, and the combat was straightforward enough as well. Overall, good job and solid submission!

Neat little jam game. I liked the handrawn aesthetic, although the wobbly part could have been toned down a little bit. I liked that each party member was unique and contributed to the game with their own abilities. It got extremely difficult once you got down to a couple of party members and choosing which "debuff" you get was daunting. 

I think if the floor had a texture that changed as you walked, it might help give the player more feedback when moving.

I only made it to floor 4.
Like others have said, the background was a bit much, but it did get forward the idea of madness.  (Chose some good music too.)

The amount of situational awareness you need in this is staggering.  I died so many times because I didn't realize I was being pursued by a stay monster.
And I didn't really understand how I got new weapons.  They just kinda show up.

I really like how each floor is kind of a puzzle with it's own wrinkle.  The bit on Floor 4 where you can go back upstairs, and it disorients you was cool, though I didn't see a utility in using the drop.  Unless that was a trap, and it was just an alternate way down.

Unfortunately, something about this game didn't like my recording software, so I lost a lot of footage between deaths.  It's basically my first go, a middle go after getting to floor 3 where I've gotten to grips with it a bit more, then a few shorter ones of me eating dirt on floor 4.  I'll post it when it's up.

Hey,

cool consistent art style. But it was way to shaky for me. Still got to the wasps, but there everyone dies. :D Combat is nice too. With a less shaky style I would probably tried a few times. It was well polished and bug free. Good job and cool entry.

Nice consistency around all aspects. A bit too wobbly for me though. I liked the combat system: quick and efficient.

Love the wobbly hand drawn art style and the goofy sound effects.  The tone is consistent throughout and this works really well. 

There's a lot of depth to this which is very impressive for such a short development time!  I've not seen anyone else implement such a complex party management system so far.  I like that you can switch characters on the fly and each of them have different attacks/abilities.  

The map is a nice addition too, but I agree with others that being able to tell which direction you're facing would make navigation much smoother. 

Awesome stuff! 

I couldn't finish the handcrafted mode, it got pretty brutal on the 4th or 5th floor after the big open room full of wasps and the invisible walls. I lost all my party members one by one except for one, no one died in combat except for the last one (the mapper) shot in their back, so I suspect I was close to the end!

I love the throbbing art style with blank walls, it complements the theme of madness really well. The atmosphere is oppressive and I liked the sound effects very much. I jumped more than one time when I stepped into traps. Having to part with party members one by one is suitably stressful, too 😁 The movement is really snappy, and I love the control scheme that I found very intuitive and allows for some tactical planning.

 I would have liked to have an indicator of the direction I'm facing to facilitate orientation, because exploring was already made harder by the fact that are the walls are blank and the rooms are bare, but it's not a bad thing that you are never too comfortable in this dungeon.

All in all I had a great time, and I happily retried several times, congrats for a great game!

Good idea! having 7 people to manage and having them slowly leave making you alone is nice! The wobbly effect on the sprite were a bit much and it gave me a bit of a headache, but good thing there is a minimap so you don't have to focus on the environement all the time.

Very cool game overall! great job

It's a fun experience and it's easy to see how you're learning and improving with each game.

My only gripe comes to the dungeon visuals -- the animation gave me motion sickness after a while.

Such a brutal and fun game!

It's very hard to decide on which characters you want to lose and how you want to approach each run. Did a couple of runs, always held on to my soldier and mapper for dear life, though I know the run is almost over when I'm down to 3 characters. 

Loved the aesthetic, although, if I'm to critique something, I'll say the walls wobbled a little too much for my taste.

Very solid entry!