loooove the pixel art and the feedback when you slash and when you push a demon thru the portal... that little gold particle bounce is great. Agree with others that id want to see more variety/ramp up over time the longer you survive (maybe demons become more likely to pop up every minute, but you also get a buff every minute that helps herd them or put them through the portal?) Stuff like that can be tough to pull off though in gamejam time so more an idea and less a critique. I really like this!
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The Banisher's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Presentation | #8 | 4.143 | 4.143 |
| Overall | #16 | 3.612 | 3.612 |
| Concept | #19 | 3.735 | 3.735 |
| Enjoyment | #25 | 3.429 | 3.429 |
| Use of the Limitation | #44 | 3.143 | 3.143 |
Ranked from 49 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Software used
Game maker: Studio
Use of the limitation
You must make 1 sacrifice every 60 seconds, and you get 1 life every 60 seconds.
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Comments
Hi thanks for playing! I’m really glad to hear you loved the pixel art!
I agree that a ramp up would have been ideal, although not sure what the best way to implement that would have been as enemies only spawn when you hit the trees. Perhaps at the 60 second mark, any demons left all come out the trees at once so you’re supposed to manage them as best you can up to that point to make the transition as least stressful as possible? What do you think?
And what sort of buff would help get them through?
Very rough thought for 'ramp up' was maybe more trees have demons in them, or more than 1 emerges when you hit a tree... but I think the idea you mention of demons all coming out at once is a cool! Can see that really ramping up the excitement/intensity when you hit that mark and the aspect of 'rewarded for managing the early game well' is cool too.
For buffs i thought of making the portal magnetic for a few seconds to suck demon in, or maybe the scythe pushing demons back further or stunning them for a short period to make it easier to move around and hit them into the portal?
Honestly all of that's on such a 'brainstorming' level, haha, dunno how any of it would play out or if it would fit well-- but that's where my mind went at least while playing!
Imagine if a whole bunch of demons fell out in like a 1 in 30 chance or something. That would keep players on edge!
And 'managing the early game well' is a very elegant way of saying it, I like that.
Magnetic portal is a great idea too, and in combination with the stun that could be a very useful set of buffs!
Do you have any other suggestions?
I originally didn't know what to do, but once I understood, it became a lot of fun! The art is very well done as well. The only issue I have is that there's no option to fullscreen, so I was constantly clicking outside of the window accidentally.
Submitted
Quick Heist HarryHi thanks for playing! I’m glad you had a lot of fun once you’d figured it out. What was the moment when it made sense?
I agree that full screen would have made more sense! The annoying part is, it fully supports full screen as that’s what I was using to test it. But I never tested it in browser in full screen so it doesn’t respond to window scale changes. I’ll know next time!
Other than that, did you have any suggestions?
This was a really cool game, If I could suggest anything, maybe make the timer count down to 0 and sacrifices buy you X amount of time, kinda like banishing them fast enough and preventing the demons from overtaking the forest or something, wasnt sure what to do with my time since I only needed 1 every 60 seconds and could just let 5 follow me around. Also, instead of running to the left or right and just running out of trees, have the player wrap around to the other side of the map? (with that add an arrow or something pointing to the portal to prevent getting lost) But nitpicking aside, you did a fantastic job, artwork was crisp and everything felt like it fit.
Submitted
A u, Thief!Thanks for playing! I’m glad felt everything fit together nicely!
Actually yeah that does make more sense, perhaps each sacrifice would give +20 seconds rather than just resetting it.
I also like the idea that if left unattended, they could take over the forest and that it’s your intervention that stops them.
I agree that having the forest loop round would have made much more sense! I did actually try to do that but I wasn’t having much success and I was watching the time run away so I gave up. But now that there’s no time constraint, it would make a lot more sense!
This feedback is really helpful! Thank you for taking the time to write it. Is there anything else?
Really like the concept, lots of fun trying to figure out which trees the demons are hiding as! Would be cool if there was different kinds of demons that make different noises and the player has to deal with them in different ways. Fun game!
Submitted
Rent Is Due!Thanks for playing! I'm glad you had fun figuring out which trees had the demons in, how long did it take?
That's a good idea, I agree there should be more variety in the monsters. What sort of other ways did you imagine the player could deal with the other monsters?
And did you have any other suggestions?
- I scored 63, but I forgot about the timer and I got the "game over" (frozen) screen. I feel like I could have kept going for a while longer, though.
- I got into a cycle of "go out and chop down trees, then go home and deposit demons".
- Pushing the demons felt too hard, somehow. I kind of wish the character pushed their scythe out in front of them like a broom and literally shoved the demons so it was more clear where they were going.
- The reflections and leafy-particle effects are top notch, and give the game a great ambiance.
- The art assets are also top notch, with tons of little details in the animations. I'm tempted to call them "delightful", even.
- I guess the game used gold and a 60s timer, but they didn't feel integral to the experience :(.
The game loop was fun for 5 minutes, but I don't know that I feel a need to play for a lot longer. I think that's ok, though. It amused me for the amount of time I wanted to spend with it. Really nice work, all told!
Submitted
Au BanqueHi! Thank you for playing, I'm so glad you found the assets delightful! That means a lot. I'll just go through each of your notes!
- I'm sad to hear that the freeze brought an end to your session, but 63 works out to 9 demons banished, so the world thanks you for your service!
- I ended up getting into this cycle too while testing, although it's quite easy to suddenly die if you get stuck on a tree when there's 8 or 9 enemies following you!
- Enemies are indeed tough to push, but that was a design choice in an attempt to imply that it wasn't the way you were supposed to deal with them (and instead to investigate other methods, such as using the portal). But I know once you've actually got them to the portal, it can be hard to get them in, especially if there's a lot of them.
- I'm glad you like the special effects! You aren't the only one to mention reflections, it's interesting because they're meant to be shadows but I guess it looks more like ice. I will need to add some kind of texture to fix that. I'd lean into the ice aesthetic but it doesn't really make sense that there would be trees growing out of the ice. Or does it? Could make for some cool lore.
- I agree that the 60 second timer seemed a bit of a stretch and not very integral at all, but I was really struggling to find a creative way to implement it that didn't drastically increase the scope of the project. My first thought was to make an alter that you prayed at to get another life but you could only do it every minute, but I ended up not having the time. The gold was intended to be used for purchasing more powerful weapons but I really did not have the time to make a shop!
Thank you for the 5 minutes you played, I can see that after that amount of time it would get repetitive, as it definitely needs fleshing out. Other than the very detailed points that you've mentioned above (thank you so much for taking the time to write it all!), did you have any other feedback?
Thank you so much for playing and recording a video, it has been so helpful! I'm glad you like my username also! I'll just go through everything brought up in the video
- Initially when you were having the freezing and input issues, I was wondering if you'd notice in the game's description on screen it has a section about how to fix them. I have noted that I rely too much on the information I put in there. Good to know!
- Regarding fullscreen, I assumed that there would be an option below the game window but sadly it seems that's a feature of unity web players only. The game does actually support full screen, as that's what I used while testing it. If I had provided a downloadable version, you'd have been able to enable fullscreen in that.
- The ground is not meant to be reflective, they are meant to be shadows, perhaps I could have added some kind of texture to make that clearer. I agree it does look kind of shiny!
- Now looking back, I perhaps could have worded the "make a kill every 60 seconds" differently, as you're not really killing them, you're sending them to the portal. Maybe I could have made the portal arrows next to each monster flash a different colour.
- When you mentioned that you thought the black hearts were heart cases, what do you mean? That sounds interesting.
- Currently there is nothing that you can spend gold on, but the idea was to be able to purchase better scythes that were more powerful or could attack different trees to unlock the monsters in those ones.
- I'm really glad to hear that the hit feedback is satisfying, I will have to add some enemies that take damage!
I have given you a follow on twitch! Beyond everything you mentioned in the video, did you have any other feedback? But this has already been so useful to me to see a different perspective.
Would you be interested in testing future versions / projects? Thanks again!
Thank you for such a through breakdown/ reply to the points brought up in the video and thank you for the follow.
In regard to the heart "containers", it was just because the heart colour was black, without even realising it, I automatically assumed that it wasn't my actual health, but more of a "container" for my health, kind of like my max health. I expected them to fill up with red as I gained health. I think this is because I am just used to hearts being red when indicating health, but once I saw that taking damage removed the black hearts, I realised that those were actual heath indicators.
I think other than things mentioned in the stream, the only other thing is that a few times that I got killed by enemies felt like it happened really quickly, I think this is because if you run into an enemy you can get stuck and just take a bunch of damage really quickly with little to no chance of escaping.
I would also like to repeat how good the hit feedback felt :D
I would 100% be interested in checking out future version or projects. I game you a follow on itch, so I should see updates when they pop up, but if not feel free to reach out on twitch or here, if you need someone to play your games, I would be more than happy to do that.
So I assume with all the health cases being empty, you'd be one hit away from death? I did consider making the hearts red but I wanted the enemies to stand out against everything else and if the hearts were also red, they would be competing. I also assume that health could then be purchased?
I agree that taking damage happens very quickly, and definitely needs slowing down. The reason it's so fast is because it's in sync with the demon chomp animation, so in order to slow down the attack speed, I'd have had to make more animation frames which I didn't have the energy to do! If I were to just slow the animation down, that would have required some frames to be faster than others (e.g. the biting down frame would have to be much faster).
I'm really glad to hear that the hit feedback was good, I have taken note and will ensure to carry it through to the next version, whether that be the next release, or an entirely new game using this as a starting point.
Thank you so much, I will definitely be in contact!
Yeah, I think the health color just confused me and in the description it says "you get 1 life every 60 seconds", so I think in my head I automatically assumed you start with no health and then regenerate it every 60 seconds. I don't know I don't think it's bad, it's more just that the colour confused me, that's all.
For the hits, have you considered adding invincibility frames after you get hit, so you can't take too much damage in a burst? or something like that, no idea if that would actually work or be any good
It's a valid concern though, I'm sure there's something that can be done! A colour tweak could be the answer.
Invincibility frames are a good idea, and the only reason something like that is not already implemented is because I never really tested large groups of enemies after I'd implemented the health /dying system so it just got overlooked.
Simple, but really great graphics ! The idea is cool, but I have to admit I wasn't sure what to do first (But then it was fun :3 )
Submitted
Golden RetrieverI've been going back to it several times - I think that I maybe would like some sort of feeling of progression - but then again, it feels like just a high-score game so it's not removing much value. An initial reaction I had though, was the fact that only one tree resulted in a monster - and you quickly figured out which one that was. It takes away a bit of the excitement of finding - or not finding - monsters. It's like the timer is not really stressing much, because you pretty soon stop hitting random trees. I think that a more of a randomness in that regard would elevate this game even more! :)
That's cool to hear you're a returning player!
I agree completely, progression is very much needed otherwise what's the point of playing.
That's an interesting point about "discovering" the monsters in trees. I wonder how random trees having monsters in would change the experience of the game. Also, trees with monsters in occasionally twitch, so that could become the only giveaway that monsters are in the trees instead of the darker, thornier appearance.
Would you be interested in testing future versions / projects?
I really enjoyed the game! The mechanics, sfx, and art are good, although the game freezes some times
Submitted
sEGGregateHey thanks for playing! I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed playing. The freeze occurs when the timer reaches 0 and you have not put a demon through the portal (which resets the timer). It should go to the game over screen but for whatever reason it's bugged and I didn't test it properly so I apologise about that!
Other than it not freezing, do you have any suggestions?
i liked the minimalist art, thought it looked great. not sure if you hit the mark on the limitation was it in there? i had the game freeze on me twice
sound and art was great
Submitted
Minute HeistHey thanks for playing, I'm glad you liked the art! The freeze unfortunately occurs when you don't put a demon through the portal for 60 seconds (that is the limitation)! Instead of freezing it should go to the game over screen but it's bugged.
Make sure to keep an eye on that timer (it's in the portal's shadow!).
Other than that, do you have any suggestions?
i would start the player by the gate, during the 4 time playing i had started down a different direction and got lost. it will also establish that there is a timer since the gate itself has the time on it.
i am not sure what is happening in the beginning with the heart UI but you are gaining a new heart when you start.
The enemies have an indicator to the gate location but there might need to be a world indicator as well,
It's very true that to a new player it's not obvious at all what you're supposed to be doing. The reason I chose not to have the player spawn at the portal is because I wanted the player to "stumble across it" but that didn't work well with the 60 second limitation and also the freeze. It should have been 1 or the other.
The hearts were added very last minute, but yes, every 60 seconds you gain a new heart and to make it clear that it wasn't from an action ingame and confuse the player if a heart randomly appeared, I made the transition slow. I agree this is not well conveyed!
When you say a world indicator, what do you mean?
Great aesthetic and smooth controls and gamefeel. Kinda difficult to get an enemy to spawn sometimes tho.
Submitted
Sixty Second DungeonI see, that sounds like a frustrating experience! Just so you know, if you bash a tree and nothing comes out, the best thing to do is to move onto the next one! If there's a demon in a tree, it will come out on the first hit. If you're unable to hit the tree, make sure you're right underneath it. Perhaps I should add that to the instructions so it's clearer, I'll have a think on the best way to put it.
Also, the trees that have demons in look different from the others, they're a little spikier in appearance.
I hope this helps!
Love the theme! Controls feels really good and the visual style is amazing.
Submitted
Mugger on the clock!
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