Hi OhEightFour!
This game was a lot of fun! It's simplicity was addicting, it gave me a feeling like "why the heck aren't i better at this?" Deceptively simple. I love that dynamic.
Theme: It checks all the boxes for the theme of the jam and does so with a bit of style. It's definitely very quick to lose the game with that demanding timer at the bottom of the screen. Excellent work there!
Creativity: As simple as the main mechanic is, its something that I and a lot of other people would have never thought of. Maybe I don't play a lot of games of this genre, but I've surely played nothing like it. Nice job!
Engagement: Although the gameplay gets repetitive pretty quickly, its that nagging "High Score" at the top that kept me interested longer than I would have otherwise been. My high score was seriously low, and with how simple the game is, I wanted to crush it. I stopped playing when I finally got the rhythm of the game and felt like I could go on forever without distractions.
Design: One major issue is that the arrow keys are the only way to control the boxes, and they are on the same side of the keyboard as my mouse. When i pressed Start, I would sometimes lose before i could even get situated on the arrow keys. One way to allievate that issue would be to simply allow for WASD controls, so my hand doesn't have to travel anywhere before playing!
Audio: This game needs music. Audio is a great way to communicate feel of the game, it should definitely have been considered more in a game about speed.
Visuals: Although the bloom likes nice, its overused here and gives the game quite a blurry feel. That coupled with a somewhat grainy main menu makes it hard for me to give this game a great score on visuals.
Polish: The lack of audio, overuse of bloom, and that mouse-to-arrow key issue I experienced point to a game that lacks some polish. I know its a quick turnaround time, but these things are important!
Overall a great start to an interesting arcade-style game mechanic. There is a lot of potential here and I thoroughly enjoyed your game. I hope you find this feedback useful!
Best Regards,
Brandon from TheIndieDream