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The Shadows Below's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #1330 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Cleverness | #1471 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Playability | #1486 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Artistic Style | #1697 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- The controls were a bit confusing and when trying to mix the colors together to make a new one it wouldn't work. However, once you did have the right color all you have to do is kind of sit in the same spot and let the enemies come at you and they'd die. There were no real stakes in the game and after a while there were so many enemies they blocked their own exit (since it was close to the wall, they bunched up together and couldn't move).
Did you include your Game Design Document as a Google Drive link?
Yes
Seriously... did you include your Game Design Document?
Yes
Is your game set to Public so we can see it?
Yes
Tell us about your game!
The Shadows Below is a top down resource management game where you have to balance your color levels to stave off waves of enemies as you absorb all of their light sources leaving them in darkness.
Use WASD or Left Thumbstick to move
Use Arrow Keys or Controller Face Buttons to control your aura color (See "Options" in game for more details)
Extra Notes
There is some hitching when loading levels, it is worse on some platforms than others (OSX Chrome). The game has been play tested through level 3 so should load at least to that point even if it hangs for a second or two.
Game Design Document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v6XQpERP7oe7uz-OiC0-16rXk1WSh3jg67eQFyRmCj4/edit?usp=sharing
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Comments
I thought this was a broken game it first, luckely the comments said it works. So I went into the GDD and figured it out, but you really need a tutorial, or a description on your Itch.io page at least!
The game itself is cool, matching the colors to the enemies is a nice mechanic, the pulse also, especially when it goes fast enough to match the music (if you could always make it match that would be great).
Picking the colours was hard sometimes, and seeing when an enemy hit you too, there are a lot of visual clarity issues you could fix!
But nice project, it works and it's playable :)
Agreed, we wanted to include a tutorial, but it couldn't make the deadline. Such is life in the jam. Thank you for trying it out and for the feedback!
I'll see if I can add some gameplay instructions to the itch page, thanks for that!
Really nice little game,
it still took me 3-4 attempts before understanding what I needed to do (~^w^)~ and 5-8 more before I managed to go to level 4. As you said in another comment, a small tutorial would be great (for example, first time playing I was wondering if I needed to match a complementary color or their color, and I was wondering what I needed to do to win the level)
Anyways, it was pretty fun ! Well done !
I liked the concept for this game, combining different colors for different enemies is a cool idea. But i think game lacks a bit of variety. For example i would like it if enemies have different behaviours depending on their color, like red ones are more aggresive and orange ones are more defensive etc. But overall this is a good prototype, good job!
Great feedback, thank you! We have been buzzing with ideas of where to go from here now that we are not as restricted by the timeline of the Jam and I think different personalities are definitely going on the list!
It took me a while to realize what to do, I had to read the GDD to understand it. I like the concept, with some complexity and polish, this can be a fun game.
Yeah, we were working on a quick tutorial at the last minute, but weren't able to get it out in time for the Jam, thanks for going to those lengths just to try it out though! We appreciate the feedback!