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Zindan's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Graphics | #3 | 4.286 | 4.286 |
Audio | #4 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
Overall | #4 | 3.821 | 3.821 |
Fun | #8 | 3.714 | 3.714 |
Gameplay/Design | #11 | 3.429 | 3.429 |
Ranked from 7 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What would you like feedback on?
What could be added for a possible future sequel? Any advices on making this game more accessible?
What did you update?
It was a simple graduation project that turned into a full on short game that I ended up uploading here.
Name of updated upload (if downloadable)
Zindan
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Comments
It's an interesting dichotomy. The actual platforming is really easy & fast, with lots of movement options to where I never felt like I was in danger of falling in a pit. But then the level design in a lot of places felt very... non-deliberate, memorization-based
For instance, the falling section where you have to guess which side the spikes will be on, and memorize the pattern through repeated attempts. There were also sections where I was chasing behind a fireball, avoiding the other fireballs above me, but then the fireball turned around suddenly and killed me. Stuff like that where the only way to improve is to memorize the patterns.
To me, there's two options for a sequel. Either pull away from the obstacle course aspect, and make the game more about exploration like a Metroidvania. Or, add more movement options (e.g. a dive, possibly even a limited use invincibility shield), but lean into the unfair level design & obstacles to make it more of a kaizo-like game.
This looks incredibly polished. The look & feel is great as is the music. The controls feel good and natural, respawn on dying feels fair.
However, this could just be me, but something does make this game hard on my eyes. I think it's the speed, it's really quite high. To compare I looked at Hollow Knight, which has a good pacing to me, but looks almost sluggish compared to the speed in this game. I'd probably want to see it lowered a bit. Alternatively, zoom the camera out further.
Wall jumping can be cheesed a little by just spamming jump into the wall; maybe a short cooldown on jumping would prevent that, if that's a problem to you.
The part where you have to drop down and avoid spikes feels a little unfair, because I can't see what's coming. I would either want to be able to move the camera down a bit to look ahead, or have the platform I'm dropping down to be in sight. It made it too trial & error. It bugged me that this made me want to give up, because the game was otherwise fun and feels polished. I admit that because of that I haven't seen enough of the game to give any further advice, but I could see this (or a sequel) be a good Metroidvania-like game too, with a world that isn't linear but can be explored in various directions, and upgradeable powers/items that could take you further down the dungeon.
Some small nitpicks: you should hide the mouse cursor in-game. I also didn't care for the timer, I would add it as a separate option, not something that's standard.
This is pretty neat for a graduation project! The gameplay is quite simple and easy to understand but what really shone through is the controls actually. Some bits:
- Gameplay, as mentioned, is solid. Controls are easy to understand and flow really well. They're pretty solid for a platformer game and I have no qualms about it.
- Camera could use a bit of work. If you would expand on the game, I think panning out the camera so that you can see below you better is preferable. In fact, if you make it so that there is an ability to pan the camera down (Such as when you hold crouch for a period of time) to see below, it'd be nicer.
- Graphics and art is nice but its the pixel scale is not scaled well yet. The UI in the main menu feels inappropriately scaled to the actual in-game and this disjoint causes minor immersion issues. Otherwise, art assets are greatly utilised.
If you were to make a future sequel, consider revisiting your core gameplay mechanics and think on how you can expand on it. The way Celeste did was by adding new world mechanics as opposed to new core player mechanics. New ways to interact with the world creates interesting ways to platform, and by extension, new content.
Nice fun game! Great work for a graduation project! The game was very polished and the art looked nice.
In terms of adding to a possible sequel I believe that is up to you! The game in its current state has a good potential to kind of go anywhere at the moment since there is no specific hook or main mechanic besides being a core platformer. However, what you have is an amazing starting base for a cool platforming project you have though. The only you got to do is find / make a cool mechanic you like and tie to your base game and a demo could come quick from that.
Nice submission and best of luck! :D
Also this made me laugh a bit lol
Well, to be a graduation project this is impressive! You've done a lot of things right that are not easy at all.
The game is a pleasure to play, visuals and sounds are very good and works pretty well together.
I liked the level desing, even if some part are a bit rough (aka the fall with spikes that you have to pass with trial and error), but the chekpoints are close enough to make the difficulty just right for me.
If you ask about what could be added to the game it's totally up to you. Right now you have a good base to start with. You could add more platform mechanics, combat mechanics, quest mechanics... My only advice is to experiment with prototypes and see what's works better for you ^^
Overall a very solid submission! Also, I am a rat.
Not a bad time, eh?
It's about as simple as it gets mechanically, but the mechanics are well-tutorialized and it feels very crisp to play. Unfortunately, the level design gets a bit spotty later on, especially with one section where you're going downwards and have to navigate through spikes that you can't see. Being able to pan the camera downwards (maybe by crouching like the classic Sonic games) would've helped a lot there.
If I had any suggestions for a sequel, it would be to either think of some unique mechanics to help it stand out, or lean into the parkour aspect more (maybe add new moves like dashing or climbing on walls or ceilings or something)
Hmm, when I try to download windows build i've get Itchio message "WARNING: This Page Has Been Quarantined". Is it just me?
It's not just you. Unfortunately there isn't anything I can do till it gets reviewed by itch io and the quarantine is lifted. The file should still be accessible.
congratulations