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Growth Circles's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Fun | #39 | 4.074 | 4.074 |
| Mechanics | #72 | 3.790 | 3.790 |
| Story | #77 | 3.506 | 3.506 |
| Music | #83 | 3.765 | 3.765 |
| Aesthetics | #136 | 3.926 | 3.926 |
| Theme | #156 | 3.654 | 3.654 |
| Sound | #208 | 3.123 | 3.123 |
Ranked from 81 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How many people worked on this game total?
1
Did you use any existing assets? If so, list them below.
Yes! Music: https://opengameart.org/content/long-away-home-8bit https://opengameart.org/content/boss-battle-3-8-bit-re-upload https://opengameart.org/content/8-bit-battle-theme-famitracker https://opengameart.org/content/victory https://opengameart.org/content/game-over-bad-chest-sfx Sounds: https://freesound.org/people/qubodup/sounds/59992/ EnvironmentArt: https://szadiart.itch.io/rogue-fantasy-catacombs
Link to your source?
https://github.com/LammerD/DeathIsOnlyTheBeginning/tree/main
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Comments
How was this a solo effort?
This feels like a big project in the making– a great game concept, a great use of the mechanics, and a sense of progression capped off by good level design and even a boss encounter. This was excellent.
If I had one criticism, the RNG involved in loot spawns can be a little tricky to balance if they involve permanent upgrades as opposed to consumables. I found my second attempt far easier than the first after getting walk speed upgrades instead of health upgrades. It’s basically a nonissue and something I bring up only in case you try to make something beyond the jam.
I almost want to dock a point on aesthetics for the fonts being Liberation Sans, as a good pixelated font could have kept the style of the rest of the game… but in doing this I thought to myself, “really? Am I that desperate to criticize it?”
This ended up being a perfect 5/5 across the board. This is a master-class entry and I only wish I could actually give some better and more detailed feedback.
Thank you so so much!
Yeah loot balancing will definetly something I will have to look into a little more when I expand the game. Interestingly some people actually felt that the movement speed was more of a nuisance than help.
Hahaha you really should dovkk points for that! It hurts my soul so much that I did not find the time for such an easy improvement... I had to chose between more "basic" stuff like sfx and a better font and finishing up the character switch after beating the boss. I am not 100% sure I made the right choice as not all people get to see that. But oh well :D
Thank you so much for your kind words!!
It wouldn’t be a gamejam entry if the biggest time commitment was for an asset that nobody sees. In our game I spent a good hour or two modeling a massive tower with stone gargoyles that rises out of the ground, and the trigger pops up before the corner of its base is on screen.
I had no idea you snuck in that detail, that’s awesome.
Great game! I really enjoyed mechanics like the growing circle. I would include some sound effects.
Thank you! Yes for sure one of the first post game jam additions to the game!
This was really good! I think the ranged sword is a little overpowered though. I felt the final boss was a cake walk with what sword. Great work here though! Would love to see this expanded on!
Thank you! The boss scaling definetly needs to be even more dinamic I feel as it can either be pretty though or a little to easy.
Excellent game, added to my collection to play more often.
Perhaps allow skipping the intro text.
As soon as I got an atk spd bonus I was hooked.
Thank you! It's a great honor!
Hahaha yes for sure! Intro was a somewhat last minute addition and I did not think about having to sit through it multiple times... :D
Awesome game! I loved everything about it! Could've benefited from a few sound effects for when you hit an enemy and pick up stuff, but otherwise, excellent experience!
Thank you so much! It was great seeing you stream it! Sounds was definitely something I pushed towards the end and then did not have the time for °^^
That is a very fun game! I really like how when I die, the game tells me that maybe my children can do what i couldn't and then loops me right back to the story about my father's death. It's a clever idea AND works really well with the theme!
As someone mentioned below, I do agree that aiming with the sword is pretty tough as for the moment. In addition, it feels like shooting enemies have quite a bit of HP, so on earlier stages it can take a while before I take them out, especially when there are many of them. I also don't think I entirely understand the growth circles, or, at least, why I would want to grow them
But overall, I think it's a pretty good entry and a nice, polished game. Great job!
Thank you so much for playing my game!
Yeah the HP scaling of enemies definitely needs a touch up! And for the sword swinging I am working on a different implementation post jam. I will probably leave the other attack option in for anyone who needs a little more jank in their life! :D
Yeah the circle tutorial needs to be a little clearer. The idea is that the more enemies you kill within a circle the more it grows and then when you beat a room you get different rewards based on how many enemies died in a circle. So 0= heal, 1= movement speed or max hp 2= dmg or attack speed, etc.
Thank you for yout feedback!
This is very fun! The movement is clean, the sprites are good, and the combat is also decent. The absolute highlight of the game is the boss fight. It is very well-made. I'm surprised the boss has that many moves! The boot attack is a bit too easy, but the boss fight itself is incredibly fun.
The position of the sword and therefore the attack feels a little weird. Would love to see more variety in enemy types and level design too.
Overall, great job! You made a very fun game all on your own. You should be proud! :)
Thank you very much! I'm super happy you liked the boss fight! The attacks sure need some tweaking still! The boot attack was even slower in the beginning. It's quite hard to balance such "timing" mechanics when the player movement can vary so wildly depending on how many speed ups they got!
Yeah, attacking definitely is very janky and I'm thinking about adding a more conventional way in which the sword can rotate 360 degrees around the player and attack in such a way.
I will definitely add at least one more enemy type. Either a slow moving brute or a slow moving enemy that sucks up growth circles! I will expand the size of the level and maaaaybe add a second level which would be before the king level if that makes sense.
Thank you very much for your kind words!
Wow, this game is absolutely amazing! Is is so complex from one person for a gamejam game, congratulations! Unfortunately, at first I did not realized how the mechanic with the circles work, but on my second play through I finally understood. It is an awesome idea, very well implemented! Also, on my first try I left out all paths other than the boss fight, because I like to explore everything in one path before going to another, so maybe it would be a good idea to place 2 more key, so you need to collect one in each path. But it is only a minor inconvenience :D The boss fight is really fun, too. You blew my mind, nicely done! :)
Thank you so much!! Yeah the "tutorial" I have in game is rather simple and does not 100% convey how it works definitely something I want to work on. Tbh I was just happy that I got around to implement something akin to a tutorial in game with how the time ran away from me °^^
I'm totally there with you, but I thought I would leave it up to the player if he wanted to explore all the paths or enter the locked door. I do still want to make it more obvious that that is where the boss is going to be. Maybe a more dramatic key or something ^^
Again thank you so much for your kind words!
Nice tutorial for controls in world and nice art :)
Thank you :)
Incredible entry. This is one of my favorites so far. I love every aspect of this. I even love the fact that the character's color changes after you've beaten the boss once. I had so much fun playing this, thank you for the excellent submission!
Thank you! I'm super glad you enjoyed it! :D
Great job with this - fun game!
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
What a great game. At first it was a little weird for me with the way the melee attack worked. Then when I got used to it. Wow! it came alive and especially when it started upgrading. Talk about a "Dirty Hairy" moment in a game. My sword was "Freak'n Huge!" Awesome Job, Great Game, lots of fun.
Thank you very much! Yeah the way the attacks work for sure is janky and I'm truly debating if I will just modify it so that the weapon simply moves 360° around the character to wherever the weapon is pointed. Maybe I will simply make it an option :D
This is brilliantly executed! Very well done! Also, I haven't seen anyone mention it, but I love how the story just continues to loop, that was genius. The growth circle mechanic is super clever as well! All around excellent job!
Thank you very much! Yeah I don't really know how many people really get to fight and kill the boss and then even stick around to notice "Oh something is different". So thank you for noticing :D
Nice little game, congrats and good luck!
Thank you for giving it a shot :)
and THAT is what you call a BOSS BATTLE!
Eyoooo thank you! I'm super glad you enjoyed it! I really enjoyed working on this boss! It is a game mechanic I really want to work more on in general as bosses are just so cool :D
It's fun but I haven't gotten very far... So larger circles give you upgrades rather than just a bit of health? Does any of this carry over to the next round?
Yeah it can be quite tricky at times! Yes exactly the more enemies you kill on top of each other, i.e. in one of the circles left behind by an enemy the better reward you get. Just the one enemy that created the circle = health. +1 enemy = minor upgrade. +2 enemies = medium upgrade and so forth! If you manage to get to the room where there are three options where to go next go to the right, there might be some help there :D Thank you very much for trying and I hope it was not too frustrating!
Very unique mechanic! And that is one big circle :D The plottwist at the end! :P Very nice!
If you have time, can you rate mine too?
Haha I'm glad you liked it! :D
Will do!
I love the mechanic with the circles. I felt like such a badass when I got a ton of them to die in one spot and then came through to pick up weapon upgrades and things. That was really well done. Also, it's a small detail but it was so cool how my player blocked the light when I walked near the candles. The boss fight was well done too and the balance was good. I had a lot of fun with this. Great work!
Aww thank you very much for giving my game a go! I'm super glad it felt satisfying grabbing them all and getting all the goodies! The 2d lighting effect was something I thought about in the beginning of the project but I was sure I would not be able to implement... And then by accident I come across a youtube video that was just like yeah unity has that built in now... literally just pop it on any light source and it works even on the pixel art I myself drew I was blown away!
I'm also super happy you found the boss to be balanced that was a thing I was super unsure about and tweaked until the last second :D
Again thank you for playing and your kind feedback!
Wowee, that was really good! The upgrade mechanic was great and I really liked how the best sword is entirely miss-able (and satisfying to use) so it feels like a true reward for optimal play, plus that twist ending/beginning made me laugh out loud. Well done! I'd love to see a full length version of this with more enemies, upgrades, and differing ways to maximise player rewards!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome that you got it I was so unsure of how hard I wanted to be to get the best sword! In the end I opted for the hard coded sword upgrade in the first room as I thought that would give the most visual feedback of how the growth circles are supposed to work (even though it breaks the rules a little bit as sword upgrades are only rewarded after getting 3 or more enemies to die in a circle).
I'm super happy you got to see the ending twist I was afraid that people would just be like a cool boss I'm gonna close it now and miss it :D
I will for sure work on it at least for one major update with some tuning more rooms and at least one more enemy type along with things like more sound effects and a font(that one hurts my soul that I did not get it in time)!
Nice Work there! - its fitting for a Gamejam, and is Very nice! I like it a lot!
Thank you very much for giving it a try! I'm glad you liked it!