An excellent game all around and very well put together! There are a lot of things done right with this game, from the opening hub, to the magical girl towers all the way to the ending. Graphics, sounds, all of them amazing. The info panel on the top-right when anything is hovered is very helpful and it’s all these little things that add up to form a pleasant game experience. I thought the levels are varied enough and presented different types of challenges, enough to spice up the gameplay and offset the card effects and mechanics which I thought were too simplistic (I was expecting more strategy). I don’t think the gameplay mashup is all that unique, but it is very polished and feels good to play. The amount of care that went into the game deserves a lot of praise.
A minor issue is that the placement of towers can be improved, have some leeway so the player doesn’t need to be super precise. Other than that, there is only one critique that I have, which is the deckbuilding. It’s not a deck builder… it’s a hand builder! Is this a bad thing? No, not at all! However, what it does is simplify things and weaken the strategies and intricacies that often come with card game mechanics; e.g. dealing with probabilities, taking risks, resource management in deck and hand size, etc. In essence, Alice’s Awakening does not encourage players to plan ahead for a deck that handles dynamic situations, it encourages the player to look at the level, then change their hand to suit that level, making the pre-planning more linear (related to illusion of choice) and less rewarding. There is no spoon, there is no deck, there is no “card game”, but there are cards.
Yet, I did had good fun, and this is all thanks to the high level of polish, the story, the characters and everything. The sense of achievement in getting more backstory and pictures on my wall after completing every mission. So what if it’s just get glamor and spam towers? I still wanna spam them towers, kill everything, it feels good. The levels change and things are different. I like it, and I think it’s one of the top submissions of the jam. If anything, Alice’s Awakening solidifies the idea that progression, rewards and ensuring a pleasant experience through charm and polish is much more important than I originally thought. They might even be key. Anyways, very well done!