I like the style, and the game feels really balanced (like there is just the right amount of health flasks), However I think that needing to kill all the goblins or simple luck? in order to progress really undermines the experience(It would be way better without the invisible walls and pickups needed to progress like the dash should be pickable in the map and not from the 5 beads). Other than that the game is really atari-like, i also love that the goblins aren't just mindless and can jump. Good work!
Ardkil
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I have found out that simply not stretching is the strategy, I was able to get past round 2 with that. The game definitely needs polish. The hits should feel impactful visually. Gameplay vise, the concept of platformer protector is interesting but as the others said, the game is difficult. The ending screens are fabulous and game art is cute, good job!
Very creative level design, However the game lacks a lot of polish and game feel. The slime feels so sluggish, When I play a platformer, i want to move fast. The pixel size of almost everything is different, which you really do not want to do. Maybe if this was a two week jam, you might have evolved this into a great game. I see the potential since the actual design of the second level is pretty fun and the mechanics are also expandable, good job!
I can see the effort you put to this game, however there are some serious problems, and i will be writing them below. I see that you are a beginner so the problems are completely understandable and you will get better as you join more jams.
Lets start with doouble jump, I see you have just used addforce() or whatever it is equivalent in your engine. This is not too much of a problem but before you add the force, you have to set the player y velocity to zero. This way, lets say you are moving -1000 velocity, when you add the force the most that will happen is that the velocity will decelerate and become -800 for example. You see the problem, you double jumped, but are still moving downwards. If you first set the velocity to zero then you will move 200 upwards. Your implementation of double jump basically ruins the game and makes it almost unplayable(I did finish it and get to the Thanks for playing page tho)
What distinguishes a incomplete begginner project from a solid jam game is polish and gamefeel. I highly reccommend you to look at this video Can We Make This Button Fun To Press? (youtube.com). Add particles, effects, overexaggerate the power. Change the death animation to be more juicy, make getting hit juicy, picking power ups juicy, everything must become juiceeeeee.
Lastly the pixel allegation really changes the games feeling of professionality. The pixel sizes of the boxes, obstacles, player and enemies are all different. Again I reccomend this video A Programmer's Guide to Pixel Art (youtube.com)
I did not write all these in other beginner games, since I have not seen as much effort putten in their games as yours.
I like the interpretation of the theme, the selection of powerups are nice and overall , had fun and was able to finish the game in about 15 minutes most which were wasted due to the double jump(I think I could have finished this in 6 minutes if the double jump worked correctly) Good job!
Level design is pretty good, the polish is brilliant, the visuals are simple but beatiful and the game feels great. However, I don't think it fits this jam at all. I don't think the game is too fit for speedrunning since it is more of a puzzle game or timing game without the requirement of much skill. Moreover, I believe that you could have implemented the overheat theme better, it works just as a timer in this one. The way I would have implemented it is that in the first place you overheat from your rage(overheat meter is full) and as time goes on you cooldown. While overheating your ability to smash walls as well as your speed is greater. If you cooldown you lose(instead of overheating). This would add speedrunability and actually use the theme as something other than a timer.
Overall Everything other than the implementation of the theme is perfect, but the lack of theme and speedrunability bring the game down a little, Solid game, solid entry, Amazing job!
Nice background, and smooth controls, I like that the level overheats as you progress(same level but with more fire) I think this was a great interpretation, You probably know the criticism i would give, since there is an obvious square as the player in a world of lava. I am guessing you ran out of time, Great job anyways!
Rate Revenge of The Cannon by Ardkil for PolyMars x ScoreSpace - itch.io Would love to see you play it!
Quite simple game, here is my criticism.
I liked how your overheat max meter decreases as you collide, this makes it speedrun viable, I don't think it is procedural which is good since rng is not good for a speedrun and the theme is implemented well.
I think you have forgotten to make the music loop. I also do not like the lack of juice(Spaceship looks great but I want something other than audio cue when you hit an asteroid, and I want a small amount of i-frames later). Lastly, the background is too eye-taking, this could be prevented just by simply adding less starts. I don't think you had a lack of time since the game is very simple, but of course you might have had to do something irl and wasn't able to spend much time on the game. Overall, I think the game is quite simple but fun, good job!
Can admins just check on the jam sometimes, there are people who review like 30 games in an hour, you think these players actually played the games?
You are not supposed to jam in order to get more reviews from insincere people, you jam to see your shortcomings and to share the crativity and efforts of what you and other people created. It is not ethic to just try to be on the receiving side. Please admins do something about these people
I love the health system of the boss! Also I got stuck after killing the boss, or maybe the end isn't implemented. As I started playing the game, I was shocked you were able to do this in 3 days. However, I think it is a little overscoped and it shows. There are no sound effects for clicking the windows, Though the level design of the stack is pretty great, the lack of player optimization for playability such as simply tedious jumps at the end of the level that make you run through all of it again and the lack of ending for my playthrough of 20 minutes lower the plusses from amazing effort and polish you added to the game.
Even if you overscoped, I still think this is the second best game I played in this jam. I simply loved the window part and wished there were more of it. Impressive work!
I was having a really difficult time until I realized i could shoot...
Great game, the polish is perfect, the music is fitting and sound effects are great, I didn't like that the theme was used just as a timer, maybe with more heat you should have become weaker in order to both better use the theme and encourage speedrunning. I died at the last boss about 6 times, but not because i am bad, but because i didn't realize it was a boss and tried to just leave the area. maybe you should have added a boss health bar. However, this is a 3-day jam and with that amount of polish, i doubt you had any time for anything else xD. Solid entry, amazing game! (also here is a quick tip for your next platformers, set a material to the player and set its friction to zero, it will prevent the getting stuck in a wall while pressing AD problem)
I agree with what Marquis said. But let me add some more criticism. As you know, this is a jam, people won't be able to play your game for an hour or so. I played it for about 15 minutes where i died 2 times at orbs, and finally managed to get to winter. When i fell off to the start at the winter level, i just quit the game since i wanted to play more games. I wouldn't have quit if there were checkpoints. This isn't a rage game jam, this is a speedrun jam, extremely punishing gameplay won't make it easy to take risks and try skips and stuff.
Now lets get to the good parts of the game. The simple controls actually proved to be quite fun. I usually do not like floaty controls but in this one it gives a very nice flow to the game. Level design is also pretty good. Seeing how this is your first game, i think you are on a good track, as an advice, learn from this jam and add user friendly properties such as checkpoints for these games or hints for puzzle games in your next games.
I think this is better than jump king :). Honestly, the best level design i have seen in any of the jams I participated.
But here is a few things you must do to make the game not feel unfair(hard doesn't mean unfair). AD button should have a buffer timing(if you don't know what it is look it up), also there should be a coyote jump or the boxcast for the ground should be a little wider. You should definitely remove that timer, it is impossible for a normal player to finish it in that time frame. I have tried for 3 times(30 minutes) and I was able to reach the level after the moving spikewalls and the level with a lot of platforms on the air.
I don't think anyone would be able to finish this since it is a jam, but if it was on steam, this would be a great addition to the rage games(as i said i think it is better than jump king).
I would like to see polymars suffer, so I am definitely giving full ratings for this. Amazing work!
I find the art to be a little lacking, like you were able to stylize the lava really well but the checkpoints, the character and the rest of the level doesn't really look great. I find your mechanic quite unique and actually brilliant. Only if it was executed better, the AD movement feels floaty, maybe you should add acceleration and make it a lot faster(I feel like this would actually make the game way more fun). I know the mechanic itself is a little complex and it is understandable how you didn't have any time left. Finally unfortunately the leaderboard didn't work for me. Still a solid entry, good job!
I found the art to be charming(though not technically great it somehow fits the game and dialogues, like old-school), however i wasn't able to even get close to finishing the game within 15 minutes so i didn't finish it. This is mostly because there is no minimap, after picking up somebody, i have to find the submarine manually, and after quest sequences like the child one, it is not easy finding the submarine. Another thing you should think about updating is the donut pickup, you should be able to just pick the donuts up without interacting. Overall, if you had just gotten a little feedback devtime, I think this game would be pretty great and fun to beat. please update these after the end of the jam, i will rate it with the potential in mind since i can see the love you put in this game