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Dicey Island's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #2173 | 3.078 | 3.078 |
| Presentation | #2506 | 2.922 | 2.922 |
| Overall | #2615 | 2.817 | 2.817 |
| Enjoyment | #3078 | 2.451 | 2.451 |
Ranked from 51 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?
You are a die that rolls around the stage
Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?
No
We used pre-existing art
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
As others have said already, it's hard to plan ahead because it is just hard to mentally visualize 3D rotations of a cube especially when you combine rotations on different axes. The visualizations you added post-jam help a bit but ideally the player should be able to plan several moves ahead, or you just can't expect players to have any sense of self-direction or volition as they're solving any given puzzle.
Many commenters also asked for a grid; to clarify, I think the underlying problem is that the tile art is visually confusing.
My first read of this is that it was 6 tiles wide, so I was surprised to find that it's actually 4. The 3/4 perspective is not helping with legibility either, because at least in my head I start to expect that the squares should be wider than they are tall, due to the perspective skew, which further messes with my ability to accurately measure grid squares. For a puzzle game like this readability is way more important than nice art. For example this is way more readable:
I'm curious if you explored the simpler premise of navigating the dice from point A to point B with the same rules but just in an open area, without the added limitations of bottomless pits? Was that too easy? Too open-ended?
I'm also curious if you explored using smaller numbers? 6 is a little too many squares to reasonably expect anyone to be able to eyeball, but 1 or 2 is fine. Can you still make interesting puzzles with say, just 1, 2 and 3? Have you explored using different rules for how the values change as you move? Maybe the value just increase by 1 every move, wrapping around after it reaches the maximum.
These are some great ideas! I am going to add a visual grid to make it a bit easier to orient yourself, and an indicator like https://nakst.itch.io/dices-odyssey uses. As for having a more open area, it ends up making so many possible solutions that it would fit better with a game that requires you to end on a specific face to win, which while I think is a good mechanic also isn't really what I had in mind. Same thing goes with having a smaller number of sides, it's a good mechanic for a game but not really what I wanted to do. I also think the difficulty in trying to see how far a specific number would move would be mitigated by the indicators and grid. I have thought about making the die "roll" as many times as they move instead of just once, but you always ended up stuck on 4 and it felt a lot more unpredictable that even it is now.
The pixel style is good, but animation when moving would be good.
Honestly a pleasant, engaging and well made puzzle game. Just makes me feel good, you know? Love the artwork especially.
I realise the 48hr limit meant there were some parts to improve but that you've already made such changes, so nothing really to add! I definitely think it's worth continuing after the Jam
A pretty interesting puzzle mechanic! I feel like the game needs some sound effects though.
I love this idea so much! Really creative take on the theme and could defs see this being a cool puzzle game on the app store in the future! Also it was very polite how you stopped me from falling off if the number was too big hahaha, although that would be funny if it did too! nice work :)))
Really good art! Like other commenters mentioned, a "next move" image would be a nice addition, but it looks like you did that already. Great work!
Loved the idea! I think that animations to show the die rolling could be very helpful- I also think that a grid would be nice, and most importantly, I don't have a reference die with me, so I think that some image or some way to view the sides of a d6 could be helpful.
Really only small gripes, I loved the idea and think this was a very cool puzzle game!
Thanks! As I've said to most other people that have played my game, I have a version that includes most of that stuff already.
Here's what it looks like:
Nice puzzle and executed well, though I think some like "next dice" would be great for planning moves ahead. Also, as others mentioned - a visual grid would be nice.
This is currently my updated version of the game, and I would have uploaded it by now but I have to wait until the jam ends to submit it. It doesn't have a grid but I think it works better because you can make predictions further ahead and I personally think it looks better.
That is precisely what I was thinking about!
Really cool idea and it works quite well. It's really confusing visually and there should maybe have been a grid of some sort. I had no idea how far I would actually go most of the time
I have mentioned in other comments that I have an indicator system implemented, I just can't upload it as a part of the jam
I love the tileset on this one, took me sometime to finish some of these levels , but i got to finish your game untill the end! congratulations on your entry, good job on submitting it on time!
There are improvements to be made. However the idea of the game is very decent. A bit too difficult for me - I feel like an AI doing depth search to be honest xD
Cool concept! Wasn't really sure what was going on for a while but I like it! :)
Maybe some better indication on where the dice will fall and which side will be up would be nice. And a grid to help the visual clarity. I found a solution the dev didn't consider ;)
yeah as soon as the game jam ends I'm going to update it with an indicator, there's a photo of it in one of the other comments. And yeah there are so many unintended solutions I've found.
Like the pixel art all my criticisms were already addressed by earlier commentors and looking forward to seeing an updated version.
missing that juice :D
the idea was pretty cool.
more feedback for the dice's rotation would help. maybe move indicators (esp since it's hard to see the tile boundaries). this game as a pretty cool rotation indicator: https://nakst.itch.io/dices-odyssey
That game has a really useful movement indicator! I did say in another comment that I was planning to add those indicators, I just didn't have enough time. I have actually added them to the game, but I can't submit an update during the jam.
Cool Idea, animations would be great
Cool concept, and was fun trying to figure the levels out. As mentioned below, a small indicator of where you will land would make this game from good to fantastic. Great job!
I've actually now made a build with those indicators! Unfortunately I can't update the game for a week but hopefully that will improve the game.
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Very interesting concept! Now go and rate mine!
First of all; amazing job on your game! It fits the theme and is overall nice and polished.
I played through the entire game but I must admit that I struggled a lot with predicting what the actions of my consequences would be. I think a visual indication on the tile where you will land with a ghost will go a long way. I also would've really liked an undo button.
On the whole you made a solid, playable and good looking game though. You managed to keep my attention until the end, and I do not particularly enjoy puzzle games.
Thanks! I was planning on adding a ghost like you mentioned but I didn't have time. I do admit it should have been higher on my list of priorities. An undo button probably would've taken longer, and I sort of wanted to give a bit more weight to each decision, but that really would only work if I had added indicators. Thanks for the feedback! I'll try and implement it as soon as the jam ends!