Fun to play, sometimes frustrating -> You managed to get the feeling of pinball games right! Below some comments:
- The scores popping up when gaining points is good addition. Especially inside the magnetic field, numbers constantly popping up was rewarding. Sound effects when ball hit obstacles also supported this. If you would continue the project I would suggest putting even more emphasis on these effect to make the game feel even more rewarding to the player. For example activating the Magnet boost did not have any sound effect even thought it is an important part of the game and at least for me as a player was something I was always looking forward to happen. Having cool sound effect when the magnet field is activated would definitely make the activation even more rewarding. Same goes for extra balls and getting a multiplier (These already had some sound effect but they could be even more distinct as they are pretty big moments)
- The game already felt like having interesting stuff to do with the 4 main obstacles (new ball, multiplier, magnets and magnet boost). For the scope of a game jam game that was enough and focusing on the other areas after finishing these was probably a good idea. Although, I had a feeling that (especially the middle of) the board seemed a bit empty. The game was enjoyable to play as it is, but again adding even one more obstacle type could make the game even better!
- The use of the magnet theme was interesting and pin ball is something that would not have come to my mind. I think introducing magnetism to pinball is really cool concept but I cannot help feeling that the theme was not experimented to its fullest in this game. For now this felt mostly a pinball game (that has magnet field as one obstacle type). How adding magnetism in a pinball game could have been explored even more to have the theme clearly in play and to make the game more unique when compared to all the other pinball games. For example the game could have multiple magnetic fields that the player might be able to activate/inactivate by shooting the ball in specific places or that would activate/inactivate in some pattern. This would also have the effect of adding variance to how the ball moves trough the board and would add challenge in keeping up with the ball bouncing which is core part of pinball games. The Magnet Boost was a good addition to the game as it adds a way for the player to interact with the magnetism. What other ways there could be for the player to interact with magnet fields in a pinball game?
Overall playing this game was a nice experience. The game was enjoyable to play had good difficulty level and definitely is good fit as score competition game.
If you have time to test my submission for the jam, I would really appreciate any feedback that you might have for my game. I think one of you already left a comment (and rating?) but I would like to welcome also any other member of your team to give it a try.