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A jam submission

COMBOLITEView game page

Build the perfect COMBO in this roguelike deckbuilder!
Submitted by Kristoff Red (@NitroGenStudios) — 1 hour, 29 minutes before the deadline
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COMBOLITE's itch.io page

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous.

  • Hey! You did an amazing job with this game! The art, sound effects, and background sounds work really well together to bring a really cool 3D experience. Every model looks well crafted and complete, and It's a pretty cool take on the rougelike deck builder genre, especially with the unique environment design and 3D perspective. The game was pretty good playability-wise. The gameplay is immersive, and I can easily see myself playing this for hours like many others. Controls were pretty intuitive, and the game flow was easy to pick up, but I think the reordering items mechanic could use something like clickable arrows or something to show that it's not just click and drag. You also might want to do something like hiding weapons when on the store screen because sometimes they can get in the way. Your GDD is well laid out and clearly shows the work you've put into your game. The amount of work you've been able to get done in two weeks is insane. It's a really strong demo, and I applaud your dedication to this project. Great job!

Link to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vwvbtLOQHdC2P3uS_XY8f1t-wjeu0qwt/view?usp=sharing

Have you checked that your GDD is publicly accessible ?
Yes

Is your game set to public on itch.io so we can see it?
Yes

Summarise your game!
COMBOLITE is a highscore-based roguelike where the goal is to deal as much damage as possible by creating the perfect army of weapons through strategy and a decent amount of good luck.

Please explain how your game fits the theme:
You build your own army of weapons, trying to find the perfect combo.

Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
Anything related to gameplay and balancing, maybe weapon ideas for the future if you guys have any!

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Comments

Viewing comments 30 to 11 of 30 · Next page · Last page

Dude this game is so well done that i find it rly hard to put down lol.
An impressive amount of polish for a two-week project.
Im unsure of how much improvement there could be for a steam release aside from maybe:
*Inventory culling while in shop view so weapons like the Sledge hammer cant obscure the shop selection.
*Main menu UI gets a little close to the left on steam deck (16:10) but is still usable.
*Perhaps some funny shop music.
*Biome-specific themes/sfx for a sense of progression.
*Perhaps enemies with varying resistance/weakness to damage types (projectile damage, club damage, stab damage. Enemy stats are accessible before the fight begins. Testing might be needed to make sure one type isnt too busted.)
*Perhaps more than one enemy, with some weapons capable of damaging more than one at a time (Ex: Molotov: low base damage, burns 3 enemies for 5 hits), or a buff that distributes a weapon's damage, or affects a weapons damage based on number of enemies present. (Testing might be needed to ensure that this meaningfully affects the players choices or doesn't take away too much control over the game's outcome.)
But the game is already solid; with some suggestions potentially requiring a bit of balancing.
A very fun entry, Red.

Developer(+1)

thank you nash, very cool

Multiple enemies sounds cool but I feel like setting the target enemy for each weapon might be a bit too complicated compared to the rest of the game. If I do it automatically tho, then it's just gonna feel weird so idk about this.

The other stuff you said will probably be in the full version!

Submitted

Super fun game! Played for a lot longer than I thought I did. I loved the way the knives worked, I enjoyed stacking them up and doing a ton of DoT.

Submitted

Hmm, beautiful but I think too much white in some areas. I couldn't see my mouse when the game had the white background (incl. when selecting the remaining objects to bring to the next stage). Visibility could be improved there, one of your screenshots shows a good example of this. Honestly, addicting and relaxing gameplay. I failed a few times at the beginning, had to find the right combos to progress. Auto-battling, and team-building mechanics were really well done - but I will say, what made me stop playing was "losing" after I put in a lot of effort - doesn't make me want to play again (in case you want to solve that problem somehow, to keep players engaged even after they lose.). I did play for a good amount of time though 🤣🤣I think the environments were well done, and I especially liked environment particles like those snowflakes. The animations for number values changing, and constantly seeing multiplier numbers  made the game more interesting and fun. I do think hitting the same enemy was kind of repetitive though, but seeing the shell of the sphere break into pieces and falling off was a nice touch. Overall, I think you did a fantastic job in just two weeks - a game that is close to complete / very polished is a great achievement. I hope to see you make more incredible games in the future. Well done!!

Submitted

Super polished and professional. Just a gorgeous game. It's simple, but in that really addicting way. The sound effects and animations are super juicy and add to the satisfaction perfectly. I didn't manage to get past the snowy area, which is a shame because I see there's a beautiful desert zone I missed out on. I'll have to come back and try again. Great job on this!

Developer

❤️

Submitted

It's so simple, but I love it so much!!! I was just testing a bunch of pirate jam games, but I've been on this one for like an hour..... You've got another Steam Wishlist from me!

Submitted

Update: I finally lost my first game at round 44, test cubes for the win!!! I will be playing this a lot in the future

Developer

Thank you so much! ❤️

Submitted

I really like this. I managed to reach level 23 before I finally failed. I love how the rng upgrades after a set of levels can convert a weapon into an OP juggernaut (I had a boomerang that did 1100 dmg in a single turn) and the animations are satisfying, especially when you watch the orb crumble away after each hit. Enjoyed each moment playing

Submitted

I love these types of games! Making a system so satisfying to play is such a huge factor in drawing my interest and keeping me coming back to it. The polish is extremely commendable, and the game was really fun to play.

Submitted

Really well made and polished. The art, sound, and animation are very well made and really contribute to churning through your items. The UI is fun, non-obtrusive, and very informative which is ideal for a game like this. The core gameplay loop is very good and the concept is solid with a lot of room for expansion post jam. Also making the player remove a portion of their kit part way through is an interesting concept that I like. Since it's already pretty well polished I'll mention a bit more of the nitty gritty on what I thought from the two runs I played.

The difficulty scaling could be bumped up quite a bit, definitely seemed like there were whole rounds where I was just clicking through to the end. You seem to be able to make a pretty strong build pretty early on so having some higher numbers required near the end of the round would be nice. Both of my runs ended with me, having to leave to do something else rather than actually ending the challenge. In a somewhat contradictory point, the number you need for the start of the round could stand to be a bit lower. There were times where I was barely making the cutoff after losing my board between rounds. While I think that's important decision making towards what you carry over, it did feel a little bad to think that I didn't have a chance to grow configure my strategy afterwards. Maybe even displaying the next required Target at the end of the previous round would help with that.

The buffs seem to lend themselves to only specific strategies. It really seems like if you're going for one kind of strategy you've locked yourself into just playing that one for the whole run. Some weapons offer a decent  (e.g. the Katana) but I found I never really felt the need or temptation to switch up my strategy for something that looked good in the shop or include anything that wasn't directly part of the tools that I had buffed. It kind of made the shop phase between rounds feel a little lackluster. Maybe offering randomized buffs based on the area you're in that could target different weapon groups so that when you're back to a base set of weapons you feel more inclined to pick something else up in the shop.

Some items could also use a visual feedback, such as the Dice. Would be nice to know what their multiplier is after they roll versus having to scan the damage numbers on the weapon attack. Particularly if you have multiple dice affecting one weapon. As well in the space between rounds the visual design is a bit more cluttered so it's a little more difficult to figure out which of your weapons are which to choose what to take to the next round.

Outside of that, I was playing on the Web Version and there was some performance hitching at the start but it resolved itself in the second area. I imagine that wouldn't be an issue with the Desktop version. As well I encountered one bug where the Start Next round wasn't working, it happened after I had swapped some weapons around. I was able to get it working again by pausing, clicking out of the window, and clicking back in.

Besides that an incredibly well made game with a lot of inherent strategy and replayability. I'm excited to see where y'all take this!

Developer

I generally agree with the strategy being very linear and I'm working on a few different ways to fix this and one of them is the "randomized buffs based on the area" which you mentioned. The other one is adding a few "objectives" to the player at the start of each area which gives you tasks like "deal X damage using Y weapon" and rewards the player with global buffs and coins.

The difficulty scaling is designed the way it is on purpose although I would definitely agree that it ramps up way too slow later in the game. The early game jumps are rough so that "weak" runs die off early and they act as a knowledge check as well so the player cannot just pick random weapons and get through the game.

Thanks for your feedback! ❤️

Submitted

I spent way too long playing this game. The game feels really good, and I saw you’ve already put it up on Steam.

I found some bugs with the game, mainly with the main menu, after playing it a few times, returning to the menu and changing the settings seems to always have the “Combolite” logo appear everywhere, blocking the screen. I could also start the game while in the settings screen, though at least I could exit the settings while in the game itself.

The balancing seems good, though it’s very luck based, perhaps a way to increase the $15 you get, or permanent minor upgrades after every run would be great. Some runs I get to go very far with just good rolls, while other times I basically can’t do anything. I feel sort of a skill expression for people who have played it more so that their runs don’t just end due to bad luck would be good.

The game seems too big to be a web browser game, and would definitely do better as a standalone app. I had some performance issues running it in Chrome but it seemed to work better in Firefox.

A way to turn down the brightness would be great as well.

Overall a really complete and good game, just needs some finishing touches and it will definitely do well!

Developer(+1)

Most of the main menu/settings bugs are due to buttons being able to be pressed multiple times. These will be fixed pretty soon!

I'm also planning on adding a bunch of features to make each run more "skill based", although the game is supposed to be luck based just like its inspirations: Balatro and Luck be a landlord.

I hate webgl... it always causes issues! The loading times take so long because I need to precompile shaders to avoid stutters later in the game when a new particle is loaded for the first time. My solution isn't perfect because it causes a long freeze at the start, but it's a lot better on the desktop builds.

Thanks for playing!

Submitted

I went boomerangs with the green gems and stacked them to infinity.  Got one really high attack and just had 5 donuts before it; and also had the perk that every boomerang gave other boomerangs 2x damage; basically my first boomerang did millions of damage 10/10

Developer

Good job!

Submitted

Amazing,  I especially liked the shop UI design! Here's some suggestions. First the "move" mechanics, I figured it it even exists after first playthrough, maybe there should be clear indicator it exists and how it works. Also for the moving, it's hard to see what are you moving until you put mouse on it, it's hard to visualize complete picture like that. Since there are some items which boost another depending on the position, that should be shown visually (like lasso shaped indicator).

Developer(+1)

I already added this! For the rest a tutorial should do the trick.


Submitted

This absolute madlad made Balatro with weapons in just 2 weeks. This game is practically oozing with juice

Submitted

Simplistic idea with masterful execution! Really fun to play as a chill idle-like game, well done!

Submitted

Finally made my mind up and started playing your game! As expected feels very good and interesting. Seems like there is much depth to the game and my few playthroughs barely scratch the surface of that. Not sure how everyone seems to do insane combos while I am still in the thousands. Probably skill issue. The graphics and sounds are very good and quite match the whole package too!

Only nitpick I currently have is that the attacking part is quite slow, and multiple playthroughs make me really want to speed up that part and continue on expanding the build, only if there is some sort of x4 speed... And the game lags a little bit during the start of the game, not sure if it is normal.

Anyway, as a surprise to no one, this is a very good game! Great job!

Developer

There is a way to change game speed! 
It's in the settings menu!!!

Submitted

Amazing game! Feels like a fully released game. <3

Submitted

Very satisfying game! Loved the sound effects! 2280 was my best 

Submitted (1 edit)

I only had the chance to play the first area so can't give too much constructive feedback on the game as a whole, but did want to say I really like the art style and the general vibe of the game as a whole.

Like someone mentioned in the other comments this would work really well as a mobile game. Congrats on the game! 

Developer

Maybe not mobile release, but the Steam page is already out! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3499540/COMBOLITE

Make sure to wishlist if you'd like to stay updated 😉

Submitted

Perhaps this game just isn't for me. Music was good!

Graphics and UI could use some work. After third round I changed the order of my weapons and the Fight button stopped working, so I couldn't continue playing. I thought maybe my hammer was in the way of the button, but moving the hammer again didn't fix it.

Submitted

Okay phew, I thought I was the only one who's game freezes/stutters in the beginning :D WebGL sucks, anyways.. Really fun game! The "choose one of three" upgrade screen looks so good, it reminds me of Assassins creed IV's loading screen or Control. Sound design there is also veery satisfying. I'm not really good at this type of games so my score was bad and I failed :D I guess buying upgrades is strongly advised :D (maybe an optional tutorial?)

Ideas for new weapons: nun-chucks, acoustic guitar (that breaks), maybe magic wand/staff and depending in which direction you wanna go with this game, if you choose funny or "meta" (you know what I mean), then you can literally choose anything. An insult, middle finger, snow ball, bowling ball, chopsticks, paper plane,... the options are endless :D

Good luck in the jam and with your Steam release!

Developer

Thanks for the suggestions ❤️
Hope you had fun with the game!

Developer

Hi there! The Steam page is already out! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3499540/COMBOLITE

Make sure to wishlist if you'd like to stay updated 😉

Submitted

Looking at your previous comments, I think you would appreciate a longer feedback😅 so:

I did one run with a full boomerang build and while it was fun at the beginning it quickly turned into "do I see a boomerang (or a boomerang upgrade), +X permanent damage per hit gem, or just obviously good things (dice, donut)". In the end I just quit because I was getting bored (ended with best round 632784).

Now, take all of this with a grain of salt as I don't have that much experience in this genre of games. If the boomerang thing is actually a good strategy, then it should be more deep and complex and if it's actually a bad strategy (I might just be a bad player 😅) the game should have killed the run much quicker, so I'm incentivized to start a new run with new ideas. I think in balatro the target grows pretty slowly between the blinds(?) but when jumping to a new difficulty it really spikes, so maybe something similar would be nice here?

Also, it seemed like the buffs/passives were really focused on just one specific kind of build (e.g. boomerangs)? I didn't really have a hard time choosing an upgrade to take.


The visuals are 10/10, look very professional and I really liked them. One suggestion would be to start breaking the inner layers of the ball after the first one, so there's more visual feedback in later rounds. There are also some accessibility issues:
— While I'm fine with background moving when I move the mouse (which some people might not be, and it should be an option in the settings) I really don't like the buttons in the main menu moving
— Some texts were hard to read with the crazy background, and I often lost my mouse cursor. If you will be changing the background or doing a custom cursor later, please take that into the account.


I also have some random polish feedback, roughly sorted by importance:
— If the weapon tooltips were long they went off the top of the screen, which made it impossible to pick the X  best weapons (at least in my case where the only difference was amount of damage at the top of the tooltip)
—  Maybe in addition to the speed in settings, speed up the animations depending on the expected length of the fight? (e.g., there are a lot of weapons or weapons with long animations → speed up)
— Considering that each weapon can only have one gem, could it be displayed on the pedestal so for example it's easier to locate a weapon without a specific gem?
— Showing a shop with $0 at the beginning of a new area was confusing to me
— I locked a weapon without noticing and was confused what the lock icon meant. Figured it out eventually, but maybe add "Locked (RMB to unlock)" or sth?
— Moving weapons around didn't feel that intuitive, I would have preferred more drag-and-drop behavior (but in the end I figured it out so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
— In the "Choose X that remain" screen there should a piece of UI showing "Selected Y/X" and the proceed button should be visibly disabled until you do it
— When it goes into the select screen, and it shows "It's time" (or something similar) I would add an explicit "press to continue". I'm conditioned by games to wait because maybe they will continue by themselves while I'm clicking, and then I will skip to the next part by mistake.


Good luck with Steam! (I might try to do a steam release with my game too, so hopefully it goes well for both of us 😅)

Developer

Finally! Some actually helpful insight! ❤️

Developer

Hi there! The Steam page is already out! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3499540/COMBOLITE

Make sure to wishlist if you'd like to stay updated 😉

Viewing comments 30 to 11 of 30 · Next page · Last page