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(+1)

At this point I don't know what to do. As one of the judges, I want to say this was the best games submitted. BUT, I also want to write a very thick book on game design AND THEN BEAT YOU ABOUT THE NECK AND SHOULDERS WITH IT!

You have a lot of exploration elements in your level design which you increase nicely as you go further in, BUT you have not just one timer, but TWO!  You have a timer on lighting and then you stack another timer for air. I HATE timers in any game. I even hate timers that just tell me how long it took me to finish,  even if it means nothing, because just the fact that it is there puts pressure on. YOU put two timers into a game where I'm expected to take my time exploring and even finding hidden secrets. Time I spend exploring takes away from time I have left to finish the game. 

IF and I do mean IF, buddy! Grrr. If I put you down as one of my top five, expect a nice bit where I talk about things I liked AND THEN A SCATHING RANT ON YOUR F'ING TIMERS. ...And maybe a lesson on how to remove them, but still have a nice mechanic, but only if I'm in a good mood.

Also, can you actually win? I gave up trying to out smart the boulder.

(+1)

Thank you so much for even considering to play our game. Your comments are gold dust to us, and it's one reason we were so excited for this year's jam. Your feedback is the real prize for us.

We're glad you enjoyed the exploration parts about our level design. We wanted a game that was more than just combat focused, although we're very aware our combat mechanics need work too.

We wrestled a lot with the flare and oxygen mechanics during the jam, going backwards and forwards on the length of time a flare should last, how long an oxygen tank should last, or whether we should even have them at all. We took the jam as an opportunity to test this out, and get some feedback, and boy did we get feedback on it! We're leaning towards removing the flares altogether and swapping them out for a lantern which never goes out. We're also thinking that the oxygen tank (or a similar device) is something that doesn't run out, but is something that you have to equip in order to go under water for longer than you can hold your breath for.

We would love to hear any more feedback you have, and please rant away at us, we are listening. This is only our second game jam, and our third game ever (we've not yet commercially released anything), and we're still developing our game design skills. We're entirely open to any and all advice and critique.

The game is winnable, and the boulder can be avoided, but only if you knew about the hidden wall mechanic, which we never introduced the player to at any point. We realize is another game design flaw. With it being a Dungeon Crawler Jam, we were expecting our audience to know about hidden walls, but we shouldn't have assumed that. Just before the pit you can side step to the left through a hidden wall into a corridor which brings you out the other side of the pit (click on the image to see the full map on Sketchfab):

Dungeon Diver on Sketchfab

Boulder Escape Passage
Thanks again for taking the time to play our game and for your valuable feedback.

Arlorean (Adam) and Carodan (Dan) from Rebello Games.