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The Expanse's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Fun/Engagement | #17 | 3.529 | 3.529 |
| Audio/Music | #17 | 3.412 | 3.412 |
| Overall | #24 | 3.279 | 3.279 |
| Art/Graphics | #28 | 3.471 | 3.471 |
| Theme | #45 | 2.706 | 2.706 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- I was pleasantly surprised by the game ! Very cool mix of traveling and chosing wich planet to go a bit a la FLT. Managing between finding and selling cargo and finding fuel to not die out was great. Plus a boos fight at the end ? bravo !
Did you work alone, or as part of a group? (If in a group, list their names)
Alone
Disclose if you used any public domain assets or not.
I used 3 musics tracks from OpenGameArt, a few sound effects from my collection, and all the graphics are from GDevelop's asset store (except for the final boss)
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Comments
This is interesting! I was expecting a bit more variety in events. I couldnt shoot, maybe just me, but i feel like that would have been a very fun thing to be able to do. It felt kinda too easy (not only at the start), i never even hit any asteroids, until late game. I think the game is great though, even though I couldnt reach the final boss (there were too many planets and i felt overwhelmed)
Thanks! More variety would have been too much for the scope of this jam if I wanted to keep the game as bug free as possible, reasonably short, and not too hard/complex for a jam game. Speaking of length you don't have to explore every solar system. If you mostly jump as far left as possible, the game can be completed in under ten minutes.
I totally understand seeing all the solar systems can feel overwhelming. To show players that they are actually making progress (towards the left of the screen), I added big semi transparent circles that make the background darker and darker the closer your are to the end.
You only shoot during the final fight, it's a last minute gameplay twist, as I wanted to focus more on exploration and choices than on fights. For the travel sequences, I felt that shooting asteroids in space at a short range is not a very safe thing to do, as is shooting the other friendly ships that just happen to be moving in the opposite direction. But more seriously I wanted to keep them short and simple. The next versions of the game will feature an entirely different fighting system, random events, relics, and incentives for replayability.
Thanks for playing and for your valuable input, I'm glad you still enjoyed it!
Nice
For joining 5 days before the deadline, this is pretty good!
This is great! Love the randomness of events and planets. I was hoping for a liiitle more variety in events and in the flying intermissions but I can imagine creating all of this in 10 days was already a challenge enough. Also LOVE the music.
Thank you! I actually decided to join 5 days before the deadline, and also that I would respect my sleep schedule this time 😅 so I had to compromise on the variety of content. I have tons of ideas for after the jam though!
Really fun and satisfying game loop.
The freedom in upgrades is a really smart design. Sure, it is way too easy if you really get the good upgrades in the right order but that combined with the randomness incentivizes challenges from players. “I wonder if I could do it without getting this upgrade ever”.
If this state of the game was stage 1 of 4 or 5, each with their own bosses and some more unique events, this game could actually become a hit in my opinion.
Wow!! Thank you, your comment means a lot! I do plan on making it longer with more randomness, planet types, unique events and relics, and several chapters like you described 😁
To keep the scope under control, first I wrote down everything that I wanted and then cut as much stuff as I could without sacrificing the game essence too much. I also tried to keep an average playthrough at around 10 minutes for a jam game, and not make it too hard because the replayability is currently limited. But I’ll be expanding this!
That was really cool,
I enjoyed the aspect of going planet to planet and eventually the surprise game play switch up!
nice work!
Thank you very much! I wanted to spice things up a bit for the last level, this was a last minute addition, glad you liked it 😁
Nice job with this! The gameplay was very polished and addicting, and it's pretty neat that there's a randomization element to it as well. I do wish there was a little more of a difficulty progression as you get further into the game, but I thought the final boss was cool at least.
Thank you for your kind words! The travel segments actually get harder (there are 3 « difficulty zones »), but not by much, just a little more obstacles and some wandering ships. I had to refrain myself on the scope, but l intend to add more random elements, like unique events and relics, plus ramp up the difficulty once the jam is over.
YOOOO super cool idea, also good to see another bullethell here!, my feedbaack is that its kinda boring, the bullethell sections, now thats prob cuz i love more chaotic fast paced games, this was good, good job!
Thanks! I voluntarily kept the travel sections very short and on the easy side because I want to make it more about the choices, route planning and growth management of your ship, so it's not meant as a chaotic & fast paced bullet hell 😅
I love games like Freelancer or Rebel Galaxy, so cruising through the universe minding my fuel and cargo was right up my alley. Would love to see your game grow, the loop is super solid.
I love games like Freelancer or Rebel Galaxy, so cruising through the universe minding my fuel and cargo was right up my alley. Would love to see your game grow, the loop is super solid.
Holy! This game is great!
I died to the boss 4 times :d
Tip: SPAM UPGRADE fuel, it's very important in final boss
Wow, thanks a lot for the kind words! I'm glad you had a great time 😁 There are regular fuel drops during the boss fight, but it's best to visit a gas giant before heading to the last fight.