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Reluctant Pac-Man's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #1 | 4.750 | 4.750 |
| Mechanics | #1 | 4.250 | 4.250 |
| Overall | #2 | 3.892 | 3.892 |
| Fun | #2 | 4.083 | 4.083 |
| Sound | #10 | 3.208 | 3.208 |
| Art | #20 | 3.167 | 3.167 |
Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Thank you so much everyone for enjoying my game! I know it's full of flaws and far from flawless, but you all find such a fun-filled way to point them out and give constructive feedback! Thank you all! BTW, I just posted the video on how I made this game on my youtube channel, so you can check it out and maybe my other videos here:
Hey, what's your discord handle, and are you in the Interstellar Garden Discord server? I wanna give you your special role for coming in second place!!
Hi! Yes, I joined the server and my username is Datapotato#7623. Thank you!
Congratulations! I hate it! :D
But, like, in a Dark Souls or Flappy Bird kind of way. I guess what I'm trying to say is I actually love how much I hate it! It triggers me JUUUUUST right! This game is awesome but it also makes me want to go to the nearest wall to punch it.
It had a lot of fun with this one. Good job!
Thank you! I'm glad you lie it! Or hate it? But if you're comparing it to a game as iconic as flappy bird, I suppose I'm satisfied!
Clearly you are either a genius or utterly insane.
I loved it haha.
This is the most fun game I've played from this jam so far!
Thank you! This is the most fun comment I've read from this jam so far!
a hillarious concept, executed brilliantly. the game is very fun and enjoyable, one small thing i dislike is that the character can get stuck on edges when youre trying to move it sometimes. Great job, simple but fun :) (Also i got a time of 1:26.59 if anyone can beat that)
Thank you very much! This might be a sign that I've play-tested too much, but my record is 42 seconds :)
edit: I just got 35 seconds
Very fun take on pacman! LOVED the mechanics and you hit the theme perfectly! I found the movement was a bit too unforgiving for my personal taste (however, I might simply not be the right target audience for this specific gameplay so I won't let it count in my judgment haha).
I've played for approx 20~ minutes and haven't been able to clear the screen - I hope I didn't miss out on any extras/easter eggs!
OH, and the effect that makes the graphics... I don't know how to explain it haha, you probs know what I mean- I LOVE it.
Thank you for your feedback!
As for missing out on extras and not being able to clear the screen - one strategy is to lure the ghosts to one side of the maze and then go through the edge to appear on the other side. If you've already tried that, my only other advice is to avoid the ghosts, and wait for them at the expense of time.
As for easter eggs...
nnuɯǝɥʇɟoɹouɹǝɔʇǝɟlɯoʇoʇqǝɥʇʞlᴉɔɔLove the parody! It's suprisingly difficult due to pacman being so reluctant + gravity, but it's fun nonetheless
Thank you, I think I find a disproportionate amount of joy in wild physics based games, but I'm glad that you enjoyed it also!
Absolutely love this. Good goofy fun, and perfect for a jam.
If I have a complaint, it's that I would love for the game to feel a bit more authentically Pac-Man-ish, if that makes sense. I want a wakka wakka sound, ghosts with a bit more personality (sometimes the ghosts seemed to act a little strange, like Clyde just standing there staring at me for a while), a death animation where Pac-Man folds back onto himself, and all that good stuff! I feel like the more the game felt like genuine Pac-Man, the more the wacky physics-based controls would stand out and be hilarious.
But all of this is besides the point: this game is just ridiculous and amazing.
(Oh, also, the winning screen is just great! Really good sense of humor all around, which I'm always a big fan of.)
Thank you for your feedback! I originally wanted to add some of the things you mentioned, but I ended up not having time! Thanks for playing though!
Hahah this was a great small experience! I liked the touch of chaos that the tether brings (and actually stopping the player if pac-man gets stuck)
Yes :)
I mean this as a complement and not an insult, but this game was a stupid kind of fun. Great use of physics, I love the premise. Really original idea. If you won the game Jam, I would be totally cool with that.
Thank you! Stupid does tend to have a negative connotation, maybe you meant wacky? I just stole that word from someone else's comment. Regardless, since you mean it as a complement, thank you for the complement! I would be totally cool if I won the game jam too!
Really like the idea
Thank you! I enjoyed your game also!
If you have any other feedback I'd be happy to hear it!
Great game and a cool concept on the Pac Man title.
The only issue I had was with the controls where the controller seems to fall down making it tough to get into some areas, especially when being cornered or chased.
Overall, this is a great concept and I'm down for playing more :)
Hey thanks! I personally think it's sort of funny when you get cornered, and you have to use some strategy to avoid it. You can teleport through the left and right sides to get away from the ghosts fast. I found your game fun as well!
Negatives:
- The mouse (cursor) has no functionality so why is it even there?
- No way to pause the game
- No menu where to adjust the game's volume inside the game itself
- As far as I'm concerned (somebody correct me if I'm wrong), the lives of the Man Paccing aren't displayed anywhere, so 'tis very hard to surmise how many times you can die until you get game over:d except of course through trial and error, and unless you have played Pac Man before (knowing in the original games the life count is three)
Positives:
- What a fun as well as an interesting idea with such a basic concept! A physics-based, manual Pac Man
- The music slapped my figurative glasses off of my face! If you composed it yourself, bravo! Tre bien ~
- You being able to make all of this all by yourself (minus the stuff you stated in your credits) is pretty darn impressive
I would like to answer the questions you had in your comment, so here I go. I do think that you made some interesting points though, some things I should probably try to add in future games if I have time:
- The cursor is for clicking the buttons, like the quit button or navigating the menu.
- The game is meant to be fast paced and retro-y so I didn't add a pause functionality.
- I don't usually add volume changers to my game because I figure most people have key-binds for it.
- It does display the lives of pac-man on the right of the screen.
- I am planning to make a video about how I made this game, and I did get the music from somewhere else. I had considered making my own music, but I wanted to spend my time working on other aspects of the game, and I had already found that cool soundtrack.
For the problem of the lives counter -- Did you fullscreen the game? That may have been the reason you couldn't see the lives counter. This could be a big problem for players and me since I spent a long time implementing it :P
Edit - When I play the game, I can see the life counter in the top right
Oh and one more thing: -... --- - - --- -- / .-.. . ..-. - / -.-. --- .-. -. . .-. / -- . -. ..-
Oh, and one more more thing: I want to play your game, but I only have a mac! If you upload a webgl build in the future also more people will get to play it. Although I don't know what game engine your using so I'm not sure if that's an option. Anyway, the description makes it look fun!
1. Fair enough, I totally forgot about the quit-button. My mistake . . .
2. I get that, but stuff like that is a general quality-of-life addition
3. That is true, but I once again appeal the point of general QOL
4. Either I didn't notice or there was a bug. I will replay this game just to make sure (EDIT: Yeah, I can see the lives now. My bad . . .)
5. That is fair enough! Regardless 'tis a great addition ~
6. I did fullscreen the game . . .
7. What do ya mean with bottom-left corner menu? Unless you mean the ability to take the game off fullscreen
8. I've made two games. CattleRun's build is broken, but do check out Dokka! Dokka is embedded to browser, so you don't even need to download it! ^_^
Haha you translated the morse code, it's just an easter egg in the game somewhere...
I'm neurotic as hell, of course I translated that ~
Wow! Such a fun and interesting concept! I love it except that collecting the orbs late game is really tricky and not that fun and the movement can be a bit weird sometimes. Besides that this game made me chuckle at just how absurd it is, great job!
Do you mean that the ghosts seem to just be hanging around the remaining orbs? I'm glad to hear that you are experiencing weird movement! At least for me, that's one of the things that I love about physics-based games. Thank you for the feedback!
By the way, I thought your game was scary. I'm guessing that was the goal? :) so good job
Yeah that’s what I was going for, thanks for playing it 👍