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Lodestone's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Presentation | #449 | 3.958 | 3.958 |
| Originality | #711 | 3.708 | 3.708 |
| Overall | #849 | 3.514 | 3.514 |
| Fun | #1951 | 2.875 | 2.875 |
Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
The player of the game is joined together with a massive spiky ball via a chain.
Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?
Yes
We created the vast majority of the art during the game jam
Did your team create the vast majority of the music during the 48 hours?
Yes
We created the vast majority of the music during the game jam
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Comments
An interesting concept and fits the theme well, but the controls are very wonky, so I beat the last few levels by space-mashing, before giving up on the one with three shadows. Also, I see what you were doing with the narrative theme of emotional baggage and personal shadows, but I am not sure a platformer is the best genre to tell that story in...
Thank you for your very honest comment! Definitely need to do a rework of the jumping, I will definitely be doing that. As for being the right genre, I don't know if there's really anything inherent to the platformer genre that makes it so I can't tell this story in it. I think the spiky ball works pretty well as a metaphor for that emotional baggage, so if the shoe fits, I say wear it. If you have anything in particular that makes you think the story doesn't fit the genre, I'd love to hear why you think that! Thanks again for your comment!
No, there isn't anything inherently wrong with platformers, I just think that the genre is overused as the "default template", so to speak, whenever a game developer wants to tell a story. It's like Mario has made everyone believe that every aspect of human condition can be expressed with timed jumps. :-) ...which is not a criticism of you or your game, just a general video game culture observation and a pet peeve of mine.
Ah, yeah, that's fair enough! It IS quite an overused genre to make very story-heavy art games. It would indeed be cool to do more innovative modes of play to tell new stories, so I might think about that as I do more projects. Thanks for your feedback!
Movement feels frustrating which helps sell the theme but hurts the gameplay. I didn't feel like I was mastering the game. It felt like I was brute forcing my way though.
I agree, the frustration helps sell the theme, which is very nice for the story, but I don't know if it was necessarily the best option for a game jam where I am being rated on fun... Still, the relation to the theme is something I'll keep in mind as I rework the jumping controls.
Really original but really frustrating :P
Thank you for your honest feedback! I'll definitely see if I can make it a little less frustrating post-jam!
Art style is Different and suits the mood. Jump mechanics works a little weird - may need a little more tweaking. Otherwise good work ....!!!
I'm glad you like my art! Jump mechanics are definitely the big thing I'd like to see if I can make better post-jam, so thank you for that feedback!
I love this CRT screen effect. Your designs do a good job of catching the player's eye. The enemy, player, and spike ball all stick out against your environments.
I did get stuck on the level with 2 ghosts and couldn't figure out how to restart easily on keyboard/mouse.
Thanks! I'm really proud of where the game is aesthetically! I don't know if it was necessarily clear, but you can use 'R' to restart pretty easily at any time. But thanks for playing!
Really nails the aesthetic. The first time an enemy attacked, it completely jump-scared me. The controls were a bit difficult to use - the jumping felt kinda inconsistent. Kudos for having controller support! (though I couldn't find how to restart on controller).
I'm really proud of the sound effects the enemies make, it's very scary! I agree though that the controls are very wonky. Funny thing about the controller support, I didn't actually think about it beforehand having that (which is why all the tutorial instructions are keyboard) but I used Unity's in-built system that made things work for both keyboard and controller so it accidentally had controller support for most buttons. Reset was made using a hard-coded key, though, so I can probably fix that post-jam. Thank you very much for your comment!
I couldn't play the game by the link =[ any tips on how to make it work? here was a black screen
You should be able to play in browser, but if that isn't working for some people, I can definitely make a downloadable version post-jam.
Great idea. Strange jumps, but this is for me.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it, even if it does have some wonky jumps!
cool idea and story integration. It was just a bit loud, especially when i kept jumping into the ball
cool idea and story integration. It was just a bit loud, especially when i kept jumping into the ball
Yeah, I would've added something to control the volume a bit, especially for the shadows, but I ran out of time to do so. Thanks for your feedback though!
Nice game with great mechanics. I really like the original idea. Art is great too.
Thank you!