itch.io

I think this game is pretty great and is a perfect example of what this theme is all about. Enemies serve as both obstacles and your means of breaking blocks, while your uppercut serves both as a jump and an attack. Uppercut really embraces the elegant simplicity the theme encourages while simultaneously presenting deep and thoughtful gameplay. I particularly like the ability to uppercut a falling gem to get more points, as juggling gems while avoiding enemies adds another layer of depth to the gameplay. If the game were to be expanded upon, more features like this would be interesting. The visuals were also great. The player character as well as the enemies are very expressive, though the background is dull. The game feel is also somewhat lacking. The sound effects and screen shake help the impacts really land, but the way blocks and enemies just disappear isn't particularly satisfying and the lack of background music leaves a somewhat empty feeling, though I realize the time limit is likely to blame here. Also, not emphasizing the score is certainly a missed opportunity. It's hard to see that small, black font in the corner over a dark backdrop. Even though I was making sure to juggle those gems to get more points, I never really took note of my final score.  The score should be more prominently displayed, especially on the game over screen. That would give players a lot more motivation to replay for a high score. That being said, these criticisms aren't necessarily things that make the game bad so much as they are ways the game could improve. All in all, I really enjoyed this game and think that it's one of the best implementations of the theme. Excellent work!