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The Trench's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Graphics | #63 | 2.472 | 2.643 |
| Overall Bad | #70 | 2.539 | 2.714 |
| Modifier | #71 | 1.871 | 2.000 |
| Sound | #72 | 2.205 | 2.357 |
| Gameplay | #74 | 1.938 | 2.071 |
| Overall | #74 | 2.138 | 2.286 |
| Overall Good | #77 | 1.804 | 1.929 |
Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
If you have implemented the modifier, how have you done so?
sheep
Any additional information for voters?
This game is backwards
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Comments
Fun little game! I do just quite like how (deliberately?) broken it is, and it does work quite well for this jam! Despite that the art is actually really nice and it looks like there's some good progression as the game goes on!
I managed to get the dash, but after that I couldn't find the remaining worms for the level. Really enjoyed playing it as far as I did though!
Thanks for submitting!
it is supposed to be that broken. we didnt want to make the hitboxes behind the player and the dash go forwards as that would have felt odd. i did portray it as though it was broken haha. the text isnt to be taken literal. thank you, the artist had a lot of fun with this one, and it was his first! was too good to be bad hahah. i did like it though and just went with it. i hid them worms well ;)
I’m honestly struggling to have fun with this game.
re the backwards hitbox issue - assuming you genuinely couldn’t get it in the right position, surely a better solution might have been to commit to the bit and have the fish itself swim around backwards? Also, re the level issue - perhaps you could have marked the starting area as level 1 (instead of leaving it unlabelled) so players would actually know that level 1 is actually level 2?
Aside from that, it’s still not entirely clear what the fish is meant to be doing within the levels. Sure, press spacebar to eat and all that, but, even when accounting for the dodgy hitbox, anything that seems eatable (such as those other fish) just end up outdamaging and killing the player fish, not even giving the player fish a chance in the fight (thereby telling the player ‘you should avoid combat, as you will lose’) - so I have no idea how the player is supposed to be able to win a fight against that lobster (which I’m guessing is meant to be the boss of that level?)
And, regarding those upgrades - how is a player meant to unlock them anyway? I’m guessing they’re needed to get those golden worms in the actual first level, but there’s no clear indication of what needs to be done to get them.
Overall, this game just feels… bad. not in a good way, just in a very uninteresting way.
so the first area is home. All you do there is collect the gold worms. It tells you that after collecting the first golden worm. I really didn't think it would be that difficult. The worms unlock levels. Your ment to play with 2 hands on the keyboards. The lobster kills himself randomly in under a minute. Don't fight. You can walk through 90% of the game. Find hidden worms. And making him swim backward is the same as forwards. Having to hold a button makes it more challenging.
Okay, then add something saying that to the level select screen. Make it obvious to the player that there’s something there. Otherwise, the player is naturally going to try entering level 1 and then realizing ‘wait why can’t I enter level 1?’ and presumably get frustrated and either quit or accidentally enter the ‘home’ area out of boredom.
Or, even better - why not start the game within the ‘home’ area, and only spawn in the ‘return to world map’ hook after the player has obtained the first worm, to make it even more obvious?
Yeah, I know. There’s no need to be so passive-aggressive about that.
*Meant. And seriously, there’s no need to be so passive-aggressive.
Okay, so how is the player meant to work that out? All they see is an obvious opening from the area (blocked by an invisible wall) so, y’know, how is ‘oh I just gotta camp the lobster out for a minute’ the obvious conclusion the player is supposed to reach?
I’d suggest changing the character design from a fish with a big mouth (with big ‘me eat other fish’ vibes) to a more passive-looking fish (with more ‘I do not want to get eaten’ vibes), to communicate that to the player from the get-go.
yeah I did that already
But is it fun? Does it meaningfully contribute to the gameplay experience, or does it just feel like a chore to compensate for some horrible programming?
Honestly, please think about things objectively for a second. When designing a game, consider what the average player, with no prior knowledge about yourself or your expectations, is going to think upon first playing your game.
I was a chill game till a lobster hit me with a gun... Congrats devs!
little confusing on what to do
your hitbox is behind you for your bite. As explained the first time you bite, holding b will lock your facing direction. You play the game backwards.. or is there something else? You didn't give any details as to what is confusing.
so is the point to play it backwards?
it's to collect worms. Get to the worms. I thought the giant sign was enough. Would it have been better to show it as regular text? I'm also not understanding. The player is ment to be played backwards. Idk how else to tell you. His butt is his front. All his skills are built around it. You can't progress anywhere unless you go to the overworld and collect a gold worm. You should have found that exploring the only place you can go as it's right in front of you. Then text explaining what to do to progress. Did none of this show? Did you not read it? Did you not find it? Any info would be lovely.