itch.io

This is a fun twist on the theme. I like the pixel art for the characters, and the sounds and visual effect that plays when you take out an employee is very satisfying. The gameplay isn't to complicated, but I think the levels start off a bit overwhelming the first time seeing them. Maybe starting with smaller levels and then building up to bigger rooms with loads of employees would help ease the player into things. Overall great job!

Making that pie was an emotional rollercoaster

This is a fun take on the theme with great execution and polish. I think the little town you built with all the npc cars driving around to be very believable and cute, and all the UI elements are very clean. The car feels good to drive, and all the minigames are intuitive. However the difficulty feels very random based on where I have to go and what minigames happen to appear. I also rarely ever got to see the top side of the map since I always started in the bottom. Overall great job!

Quick edit: I noticed there's only physics when you crash on the downloaded version. Just curious, is that intentional for performance reasons?

This is a very fun idea with good visuals and polish. The bridge maintenance is satisfying and the physics of the bridge being destroyed are fun to watch. A few suggestions would be to allow me to rotate the camera for better piece placement. And to ramp the difficulty up a bit quicker, since there is a lot of waiting towards the beginning. Overall great job!

To start I want to say that this was a very polished and unique game. The art, music, sound effects, and design all give this game a very complete feeling. Its an interesting way to twist the theme that provides a very unique style of gameplay. 

First I want to talk about the art. There's a good variety of sprites throughout the game and they all maintain a high level of quality. Additionally you did a good job of building a sizable and believable town that makes for a simple but effective background for a mostly UI focused game (Not that it's bad, but were there any initial plans to either explore or have the fights more physically take place in the town? Seems like a lot of art for just the background).

Speaking of the UI, I really like the eldritch runes style that is maintained for all the different elements. From the title, to the intro, and the gameplay it really ties everything together. I also found the stat runes to be very clear and understandable, while also fitting into the aesthetic of everything else (I noticed that the "i" was using the Amplify rune, which is a fun detail).

Additionally, I really like the way you maintain the purple and orange aesthetic throughout the game. The colors fit the eldritch theme (At least I think they do), and 

One minor detail I wasn't totally sold on was the font. It stood out to me among all the pixel art. And while I do feel that the non-pixel art fonts are often more readable, It does take a little bit away from how consistent everything else was in my opinion

As for the audio, I found the music to be very fitting. It loops well and was quite dramatic, without feeling to fast/intense for a puzzle game. The music on the title was a little abstract, but a good fit for the "spooky" eldritch theme.

Also the sound effects were really satisfying and impactful, which really helped make building out the board and watching the fights feel much better.

Next I want to talk about the gameplay. While the concept of building runes to create a monster is really cool, I  have a few suggestions. To start I felt like I never had a clear goal when building my monster. Since I never knew what was coming all I could do was hope I got the pieces I thought were good combinations. If there was a little info on what stats my opponent would have each fight, I could have tried to play around what was coming.

Additionally, since I couldn't tell how much each rune actually buffed my monster by, I felt like I was guessing that certain combos would be good, rather than being able to actually "math out" a good strategy. It was also hard to tell what base stats my monster had leaving me with questions like do I have base crit/dodge, what's the base crit multiplier, how good is defense, and so on. I feel that showing me my own monsters stats as I build my board would have been helpful and made the game feel more strategic.

And lastly I felt that the actual rune building was a bit shallow. I feel as though I may be missing something, but since you always get 2 amplify runes the only consideration when building a board is which runes to pick and which should be amplified. Other than that, I didn't get a feel that positioning mattered at all, which made the gameplay feel a bit basic. I feel like introducing a 1 or 2 additional mechanics each round that leaned into the puzzle aspect could have helped give the player more to think about, and kept the game from getting repetitive. Things like "a diagonal line of runes gives this effect", "you can't place 2 of the same rune next to each other", or "this tile is now cursed, adjacent runes are 0.5 times as effective".

Overall, this was a very impressive game with great direction and style. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This is an interesting way to use the theme, and seems like a fun idea. However, like you already mentioned its clearly not a finished game. That being said there's still some feedback I would like to give based on what is here, but please take this all with a grain of salt since you probably would have resolved many of these issues with more time.

First I want to talk about the art. I really like the design of the character and his animations. Although I do notice that the animations don't seem to loop very well, leading to the players character "snapping" when most animations restart. Additionally, I like the way the objects in the world look. Cyber plants is an abstract idea but I think you convey it well enough here. However there are some issues with the player overlapping in front in behind objects when he shouldn't. 

Moving on to the environment/tilemap, I like the general vibe it has but there are some adjustments I would suggest. When making "detail" tiles, like the ones with weeds/flowers that are dotted around the map, I would suggest not filling almost the entire square with detail. This way when the more detailed tiles are placed its less clear where that tile starts/ends, and gives it less of a square shape, allowing it to blend with the tiles that have no additional details.

Additionally, the water tiles look ok, but clash quite harshly when against the grass. If you had more time, I would suggest having some blending tiles that more smoothly combine the water and grass with some kind of ridge. The same could be said for when dirt is tilled, although I feel that this one doesn't clash nearly as bad.

As for the audio, The music on startup is a bit jarring at first and had kind of a scratchy sound that was a bit hard on my ears (Although this is very subjective). That being said, I really liked the music used in gameplay. Its just techno enough to fit the cyber theme, but also slow and relaxing enough to fit the farming aspects of the game. Overall a pretty good track that could loop for awhile without getting annoying. As a side note, neither the main menu or game music loops, but I assume you knew that already.

Next I want to talk about the gameplay. This ones a little tricky to talk about with so many features missing but I do have a couple suggestions. First off, the controls felt a little unintuitive since they would be used in the direction of the mouse, but the player wouldn't turn and face that direction. This often lead to me swinging one way, but tilling land or chopping a tree the other way. I would say to either have the player rotate to face where the mouse is on click, or ignore mouse position and only use player position to determine where I act.

Additionally some of the hitboxes feel a bit unnatural when running into rocks or trees. It looks like these are each a full tile large, but the art is much smaller/larger for some sprites. Not a bit deal in a game like this, and I'm not sure how easy this would be to fix in your engine, but it's something to consider.

Overall, even though the game isn't finished its certainly something to be proud of as even getting a project to this point isn't easy. If nothing else I hope you were able to learn from this experience, and I wish you luck in any future jams you participate in. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This was a super charming little experience with cute art and fun characters. All the assets come together nicely to create a very playful and relaxed environment which ties in nicely with the gameplay.

First I want to talk about the art. While overall I think the sprites on the title screen are fine, I get the feeling that it was all a bit rushed. There's a big variety of pixel densities going on with a mix of pixel art coral, the sorta pixel art machine, and not pixel art UI. I've also made my fair share of rushed titles, but when you can spare some extra time to make something special it can really help make your game feel cleaner since it directly impacts the players first impression.

 Additionally it feels very static, especially since I know you animated the machine in game. Some easy changes I would suggest to really bring the title to life would be to use the animated machine, have the lights sway side to side, and maybe have the coral move just a bit.

Moving on, I really like the different designs for each of the sea critters. It seems like a lot of the focus was used here for the art and its well worth it since they are the stars of the game. Additionally the unique designs and color schemes they each have makes them easier to tell apart which helps during gameplay when I had to go back looking for somebody.

One small thing was that the player's feet would raise up during the idle, unlike with other characters who's feet stayed firmly on the ground. Most likely a quick fix by moving his art up a pixel or two in the sprite (unless this was intentional and I'm just interpreting it wrong). 

Also, the environment felt pretty basic but since the gameplay was all located in a pretty small space this doesn't feel like an issue. However when the tile pallet bends in certain places there are some hard lines that border the black void. This doesn't look great and probably could have been avoided with some additional tiles. I would also suggest looking into Unity "Rule Tile", which will automatically place the correct tiles for you once set up, so you don't have to do so much manual work when designing these kinds of.

And the little pickups all over the map look good, and there's a great variety. The bobbing effect also helps sell the kind of cartoony vibe of the game, although one minor suggestion I have is to desync the bobbing since it stands out when you have so many next to each other. This could be done with a script on start that run the following: 
myAnimator.Play("My Animation Name",  0, Random.Range(0f, 1f));

As for the audio, I really like the gameplay and victory music as it fits the cozy underwater environment that the game has. However I'm not as fond of the water sounds that were used on the title. I get that you wanted to show off the "Dark/Scary" machine, which the music does sorta help with, but its very jarring on startup and doesn't really fit the vibe of the rest of the game.

However I do like all the "watery" sound effects that were used throughout the game. They really bring it to life and add great player feedback. I wasn't quite as fond of the abstract "ding" sound effects, like when picking stuff up or talking to people, since they were less fitting/satisfying in my opinion, but they still get the job done. (Were those made with sfxr by chance?). On their own these generated sounds are usually ok, but in combination with more realistic sounds they can sometimes stand out.

Next I want to talk about the gameplay. The player movement was a bit stiff and he can get stuck on walls (This is caused by the many boxes a tilemap creates for the collider. Adding a composite collider will avoid this). Additionally he also moves quite a bit faster when moving diagonally. This can be avoided by taking your movement vector and normalizing it. Overall this is barely an issue since the gameplay is mostly unrelated to the movement.

As for the map design I think you did a good job of making something that feels natural while still including space for everything you need. Its easy to go way to big with these kinds of maps but I think you spaced everything out nicely. 

One complaint I do have is putting the "Strange Machine" behind the player on start. I (and possibly other players) walked directly right on spawn without paying any attention to what was behind me, and didn't realize that was the machine they were talking about until I walked back that way while exploring later.  I think it would have been better to have that first npc on my right when I wake up to explain what's going on, then have me see the machine as I walk to the main hub. That way I understand what I'm seeing and the player won't miss it.

And lastly for the writing, I think you did a great job of giving each character a unique and fun personality. I especially liked the quests that involved bringing characters together since it forced me to remember each of them. Additionally when they reference each other it adds some worldbuilding and makes it a more believable community, rather than one off joke characters.

However the ending did feel very sudden. It gets the job done, but maybe something like having the player walk back to the machine after collecting enough allies, and then giving a couple lines of dialog about how they would have had some better pacing.

Overall, this was a great entry with lots of personality. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

As always you have found a way to take a perfectly good game jam theme, and create an experience that is experiencing.

First I want to talk about the art. The floating letters and different speeds along with the slow floating motion of the RefrigerAItor create a very soothing atmosphere that really helps sell the vibe of the game. And the RefrigerAItor itself is quite simple but has really fluid motion that is just satisfying to watch.

Additionally, the "lip syncing" on the fridge is pretty accurate, which really helps sell the effect that I am talking to a slightly "unhinged" (Get it?) AI giving me all kinds of advice.

As for the audio, I think the music is a perfect fit for this calming experience. It really brings the player into this otherworld where they feel like a RefrigerAItor can interrogate them in peace.

Next I want to talk about the gameplay. At first I didn't know what to expect, but then it all clicked for me.

As for the story, I really appreciated all the little nods to other games you have worked on over the years. Even since I left I have kept up with the club projects and the game jams so I was able to recognize most of the references.

Overall, my comment template has never worked well with the games you make for these jams. And I want you to know that I make it a goal to fully play through every game in these jams at least 3 or more times to make sure I don't miss anything, and your games have never been an exception. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This was neat take on a very simple idea, with lots of little details that give the game some charm. I think the combination of goofy art with the simple music and cartoon sound effects all come together to give the game a unique but fun atmosphere.

First I want to talk about the art. Making a 3D environment for a jam can be quite a challenge and very time consuming. This game did a good job of limiting the environment to only what was necessary for the gameplay, but still filling the world with little details that give the game its charm.

The combination of 2d sprites and a 3d world works ok in this case, although I didn't feel that the sprite work blended particularly well with the textures/style of the world. They just have a lot of details, while the other textures used have very minimalistic patterns. Additionally with the sprites being so detailed, and deciphering them being the focus of the game, I feel that they could have been made larger. This would allow the player see the details on these complex sprites a bit better and make their decisions easier.

The main art issue that stood out to me was the UI. Even if all you have time for is quickly doodling something simple, it can really help give your game some extra style to make your own buttons. The default Unity buttons stand out compared to all the custom more fun looking art all throughout the game, and take away from everything else you built just a bit. This is especially important when its the first thing the players will see when launching the game.

Another UI change I would suggest is to take a moment to pick out a more fitting font. With everything else having a more silly appearance, it felt strange not having a font to go along with it. For jam games I would suggest picking something from dafont (https://www.dafont.com/) that fits your games style. It only takes a moment to implement into your game and can really help with creating an aesthetic.

As for the audio, I think most of the sound effects fit the "cartoon" style your game falls into. They also give good player feedback and made sure I always knew when I did something right or wrong. However I think the volume is a bit all over the place, making some effects very jarring while others are barely audible. 

I felt that the music was fitting enough and wasn't annoying as it looped. Although, one thing I would suggest is to have songs fade in/out, as having music hard cut in/out is often jarring to the player.

Next I want to talk about the gameplay. This simplistic endless style of game can be quite addicting, although this one was a bit hard to understand at first. There's a large variety of bugs to sort out, and the cans on the right don't do a great job of explaining what I am sorting by. This leads to the gameplay feeling more like I am guessing and remembering where everything goes, rather than sorting them out. This wouldn't be an issue on its own, but the 3 strike rule makes the "Guess and check" approach not very effective. Also the speed the bugs came at was so slow that I never felt overwhelmed by them. I would always lose by eventually misclicking one of them into the wrong bin, or not knowing where one went at all.

One solution to this may have been to provide the player with a map for which bugs went where. Then you could have sped up the spawn rate of the bugs to make things more frantic.

Additionally I had some issues with the bins not aligning with where I had to place the bugs. The cans opening was usually enough feedback, but it still made the game quite a bit harder. I assume this has to do with the aspect ratio. I suggest always testing your games on a variety of ratios before building. Just putting the game window in free aspect and trying a bunch of random scales usually is enough (Although I'm on a standard 16:9 ratio, which I believe is the most common so maybe the issue is unrelated?)

Overall, this was a fun little experience with great detail. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

While the controls did feel quite rough, I thought the level design did a good job of ramping up in the first half. I appreciated the frequent checkpoints, they made me feel like I never had to redo tedious sections. I did get to a point near the end where I had to go side to side and after respawning at the checkpoint, but I'm not sure it would have been possible to complete with how close the storm is after the respawn. Other than that, this was a simple, yet enjoyable little project!

For such a simple game I think you did a great job with the level design and pacing. I thought the idea was interesting, and the simple style with the uplifting text in the background gave the game a unique atmosphere. Overall great job!

This game was fun after I understood how to play. The wall of text at the start was a bit overwhelming, and there was so much to read I had a hard time remembering everything for a bit. I think a proper step by step tutorial could have helped a lot of people out. Once I did finally grasp all the rules I enjoyed it. The randomness made some losses feel unavoidable, but I think it was pretty balanced overall, and the difficulty option was a nice touch. The sound effects were fitting, but I think some music would have worked better than the ambient rain. Overall great job!

No game is visible on the itch page

I'm not a Godot developer so maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any way to run the game. I think this is just the game files, and not a build of the game.

I managed to get the game to launch by changing the .pkg to Prayers to mother, but then after launching I was stuck on a thumbnail screen with some music and no way to progress.

I didn't know what to expect with this, but I certainly got something.

First I want to talk about the art. The old school retro graphics look great and really make me believe this could have been a game from the past. There's tons of particles and animation polish that really make everything feel clean.

As for the audio, I think the music is fun and uplifting which works well here. The sound effects give great player feedback and bring the world to life.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. The controls felt a bit slippery which doesn't matter at all, and the intro upset me.

Overall this was an experience.

This was a very well designed and polished experience. You took a very simple concept of brewing poisons, and used it as a catalyst (get it?) for fun storytelling and worldbuilding.

First I want to talk about the art. While I'm not exactly sure how much you made yourself compared to how much was external assets, the end result is a very well put together environments with lots of details. The undead castle vibes fit the game very well, and all the interactable objects pretty much explain themselves.

In addition I really like the layout of the room. Its a fairly small area that makes good use of all the space. Nothing feels to far away, and the simple design means its easy for a new player to memorize.

As for the audio, I think the music here fits decently, giving the game a bit of a magical and fantasy feel. Personally I might have opted for something a bit less upbeat to match the dark environment, but that's more my opinion and not a critique of the game.

On top of that, there was a nice variety of sound effects that really bring the game to life and add some good player feedback when completing certain actions.

Next I want to go into the actual gameplay. The concept of crafting potions is nothing new but I really like how you kept it simple. When making a game like this its easy to increase the scope/complexity and make the brewing process much more complicated. The simplicity here allows the player to focus more on the games fun writing and atmosphere, which is where I think it really shines.

The brewing itself worked well and there were only a few times I had to make some leaps in logic I wasn't totally sure about (Although there was one instance where it wanted me to melt something that could "melt" and the chili and sunflower didn't work. The writing made it seem like those were the right options so I'm not sure if I was missing something).

One minor complaint is that early on it was a bit overwhelming, since I felt like I needed to read through the whole ingredient list each time I made a poison. I think this could have been alleviated a bit if only half the ingredients were available at the start, and then you unlocked the rest later once you already understood the first half.

As for the writing, I really liked how you would build little stories across multiple potions. It made it feel like I was in a connected world and not just filling out random orders. Knowing there's more stories to see made for good motivation to keep playing and creating poisons.

Unfortunately there were a couple issues I ran into. These don't necessarily impact the experience much, but they are noticeable. First I realized that movement was based on the exact direction I was looking. Meaning when looking up/down I would go slower (and not move at all when looking straight up/down). This was very unusual, and made me keep thinking about my camera placement to move as fast as possible.

And just to touch on the movement a little more, I think the speed was ok, but in instances where I had to go across the room I did find myself checking if there was a "sprint" button. Something like holding shift to move quicker could have been a nice quality of life option.

One other issue I ran into was the camera movement changing based on framerate (at least I think that's what was happening). I could tell my sensitivity would change if I was standing in certain spots. Whenever I went by the portal or the bones  in the wall, the game would run really slowly and my camera would zip around. I'm not on a slow computer so I would have larger concerns on other machines. Even still this caused me to try and avoid walls when walking around the room so that the game wouldn't freak out (Let me know if this is a known issue, or if it was exclusive to me).

Overall, this was a fun time and an impressive entry for a one week jam. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This was a very simple but polished experience with some great atmosphere. The concept takes the theme in it's most literal form and makes something interesting out of it. 

First I want to talk about the art. While there isn't a huge variety of sprites, the ones that are here are executed well and do a great job of building a coherent aesthetic. The black background and purple line art make a very relaxed abstract environment which works well within the context of the game. Everything is very clear and there are no assets that don't match, which is a nice bonus.

As for the audio, the song that plays fits really well and continues to build on the already great vibes. In addition I really like how you shift the pitch/speed when you take damage. It makes it clear I made a mistake, and the speed up adds good tension. Although, I do think some basic sound effects could have helped make the game feel a bit more complete. Something like when you add poison, drink, and so on could have helped with clarity.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. I think the little story elements do a great job of easing the player into the game, and giving a reason for the player to want to move forward. In addition, was glad to see this game had a very intuitive tutorial (something many jam games are missing). Otherwise I think a game like this would feel a bit unclear to a new player. 

With all that being said while I do find the actual gameplay interesting, it did feel very luck based (Which isn't always a bad thing). Fortunately the checkpoint system makes death a lot less punishing when you do lose. I did notice the AI wouldn't pick ones they poisoned (at least in my playthroughs), which gave the game a bit more strategy. And the addition of purify and swap certainly added more depth to later stages.

In addition, I liked that you added the notes page so that I didn't have to memorize everything that happened. Having the notes allowed me to look back and make strategic decisions, rather than hoping I remembered something from earlier.

One complaint I had about the gameplay was how slow all the actions were, especially since many had no animation or sounds. I get that it's simulating time for the AI to think and things to happen, but it made the game feel a bit more clunky since I couldn't take my action even though nothing was happening.

Another issue I had was that I couldn't always tell what the AI did without checking notes once the purify and swap were added. At first I didn't even realize I could check, so I was just assuming they could only poison. (This may have been something I missed, and if that's the case then my bad)

Overall this was a charming entry and a fun experience. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

A faithful sequel to the original. It does a good job of fitting all the traditional J-rpg battle mechanics into a nice battle gauntlet.

First I want to talk about the art. Its a little rough around the edges and some UI pieces don't quite fit the art style. That being said the focus of the game is on the characters and they all fit very nicely together and have that old school flash look to them which works well here. And even when some characters were partly reused, they would have some sort of change to keep them unique, so I have no issue with it.

As for the audio, I think the music fit very well and didn't feel to repetitive. Due to the "retro" gameplay the lack of sound effects isn't as noticeable, but I do think some sound effects could have helped make the game feel a bit more alive. Just some simple attack and hurt effects that would play when you do certain actions. 

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. While it took me a few attempts to really get some progress, once I understood the game and had a strategy it was fun for awhile. I like how every button served a purpose and felt actually useful (except the "Win" button. I assume it did nothing the whole game, but if I missed some secret oh well). 

At first I was skeptical if the "-1" in a stat really had much impact on gameplay, but eventually I realized how big of a difference the one point made over time. It made finding the right stat to nerf a fun puzzle, but once I figured it out it was pretty straightforward.

The games balance was a bit on the hard side, but it had a good pace and didn't ever feel impossible. You also showed a good amount of information to the player, which helped us make decisions rather than guessing at random each fight. And while it's not a huge issue, I do wish I could see the strength stat of an enemy to estimate how hard they would hit. Some fights would end with me getting 2 shot from full health the first time I saw an enemy because I didn't realize they would hit much harder than others at similar stages.

My only major complaint with the gameplay is that it drags on a for to long. The gameplay is fun, but not deep enough for the number of fights. Enemy's don't have unique mechanics or attacks that keep each battle fresh. And the lack of any checkpoints makes death very punishing once I get far in. I was hoping to see if there was something at the end, but after losing to the computer virus enemy I just couldn't bring myself to grind up to that point again.

Overall I think this is a solid entry and fairly complete J-rpg battle simulator. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

A top down horde shooter feels like a game every developer makes at some point, but I like how you incorporated the jams theme to add a bit more complexity to what is usually a very classic arcade style game.

First I want to talk about the art. Its all very functional and does a pretty good job explaining itself. That being said I would recommend keeping your UI in the same style as the games art. Mixing pixel art and standard art is usually a bad practice. I'm not as familiar with game maker but most engines have an easy way to swap a font out for something from https://www.dafont.com/ (Just make sure any fonts you grab are a free to use license).

As for the actual characters themselves I like how they look and move. And the little splash effect from bullets hitting things makes it feel a lot better when shooting. I also really like the little guys you used in the Itch thumbnail, but I wish they were in the game somewhere (Maybe the character select screen above each of the players options?).

Unfortunately the lack of audio does hinder the experience. Just adding some looping background music to give the game a bit more excitement could go a long way. If you're not somebody who likes to make music I recommend looking at Kevin MacLeod's library (https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html). There is free to use music for just about any game you will ever make.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. I didn't run into any issues or bugs, and everything worked how I would expect. The player did feel a little fast for the small environment and would sometimes get stuck on walls, but once I knew to look out for that it wasn't a concern.

There was a large variety of buffs/nerfs that meant even with 6 options each round I would still get new options often. Balance felt fairly good for each of them and difficulty ramped up at a good pace.

Overall it's a fun little endless shooter with an interesting twist. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow

This game has a clear goal, great atmosphere, and a great amount of polish.

First I want to talk about the art. I think the art is really well done and everything fits together well. The sprites are well animated and everything feels pretty alive. Also, URP is also a great addition to any 2d game. I did notice that some of the walls didn't stand out well against the floor which was a bit annoying, but once I knew to look out for it I was fine. Overall I like the variety, and it builds a great settings.

Next I want to go over the audio. The music's a great fit and creates a spooky but exciting feeling. The sound effects were simple but clearly convey what's going on. The silence on the title and during the intro are a bit off putting, but not a huge deal.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. I think the intro is nice touch (but be aware that wall of text will usually be skipped over). The calm beginning the introduce the player to your game is nice, and the variety of tools I got access to was cool to see. Although, I wasn't a big fan of the controls, and found myself just holding shift most of the time (It was also annoying to try and open a chest, but accidently use an item as well.). There's a lot of keys on the keyboard, don't be afraid to use them.

Additionally, while I like the concept of the traps, they run out fast and are tedious to use correctly. This often leads to me just punching things slowly to death.

One last thing to note was with the movement. It felt a bit slippery overall, and the player "jumps" when changing directions or going from stopped to moving, which caused me to get stuck on walls or bump into enemies on accident.

Overall, this game was very charming and one of the most polished entries. Cant wait to see what you all make next. (As usual) I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This is a cute game with a lot of charm and has a seemingly endless list of mechanics, but I can't help but feel like the scope creep may have gotten in the way of polish.

First I'd like to talk about the art... there are certainly some boxes on screen... and that default unity blue background... really? But hey, I could tell what the point of everything is. The claw is a claw, the circles look like I can grab them, and I know an angry birds pig tower when I see one. And also, the visual of changing screens is pretty clean.

Next I would like to go over the audio...

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. I think the concept of this game sounds a bit rough to implement, but you actually got it (mostly) working as intended. I do feel that the overall speed of things could have gone quicker (grabbing especially), and that it is hard to actually pull off a grab and throw successfully. But, when you do pull it off, it is satisfying to see the building fall apart.

Overall, While I think its clear this was constrained by time, its a fun little proof of concept. (As usual) I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This is a cute game with a lot of charm and has a seemingly endless list of mechanics, but I can't help but feel like the scope creep may have gotten in the way of polish.

First I want to talk about the art. I've always liked the "hand drawn" look and I think it works well here with the simple animations and little movements everything has. I like the bright colors, and the day night cycle has a noticeable but not obnoxious effect on the look of the game. I also really like the style of the upgrade screen, with the scrolling effect and general charm of it.

That being said, I think there's a few to many visual bugs that get in the way of the art and make it hard to appreciate. For example the upgrade screen looks great, but it doesnt fill the whole menu, and it took awhile to realize I could scroll. Also the tiling of the floor (and being able to see off the map at edges), makes the game feel a bit unfinished.

Next I want to go over the audio. The music's nothing crazy but fits the overall vibe of your game pretty well. I think a bit of variety could help, but in a jam you only have so much time. The sound effects are also quite basic, but they do enough to inform the player of what is happening.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. I really like the intro and end scenes. They make the game feel more alive and give a reason to play. The controls are simple and are explained well, but I did notice that the players movement feels clunky (The circle keeps moving after I let go of the key).

In addition, I'm really impressed by the enemy variety and number of options in the upgrade menu. It makes the game much more repayable, and makes my actions feel more meaningful. Although, I did feel like even though there was a variety of enemies to fight, they all felt very similar to fight. Using 1 or 2 of those enemies as bigger mandatory bosses throughout the game could have helped give some variety to the combat.

Overall, I think this was a great entry with a lot of fun little details. Cant wait to see what you all make next. (As usual) I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

As always, you've made a very charming and goofy game with a unique look and feel.

First I want to talk about the art. I like the mix of 3d and 2d elements to create a very unique look, while somehow managing to keep the games visuals cohesive through the use of bright colors and random patterns. In addition, the cutscenes and little details add a lot to the the visual appeal of the game (like the cups face while fishing changing).

Next I want to go over the audio. The music is quite strange and the sound effects are abstract, but all of it is fitting with your visuals and still enjoyable to listen to. There's nothing that stands out as "wrong" or unpleasant.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. To start, I'm glad you had some visuals to indicate the controls, and they are fairly simple, but it did take me a moment to realize I could hit space to flip them (this wasn't really much of an inconvenience, but if somebody were to completely miss that it would impact them quite a bit. So just make sure controls are always clear).

In addition, I think the block dropping game style somehow fits with the wacky style your game has, and is a well proven fun game style. I like your use of it, and its carried out fairly well here. My only complain is that by making it so I only have to clear some vertical lines, it leads to me kinda just waiting for the right piece to clear the line I want, and dumping everything else in slots I don't care about (not game ruining by any means, but it took away from some of the depth block droppers usually have).

Overall, another great entry from you, and I always look forward to seeing what you will submit next!ogize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This was a fairly simple but polished arcade style game.

First I want to talk about the art. I think the art style for this game is actual quite a clean look. Even though its just black and white with simple pixel art, the particles and cohesive look make the game feel aesthetically pleasing to look at.

Next I want to go over the audio. I think the song is an ok fit for the game (maybe it could have felt more "wintery", but that's just me being nitpicky), but the incredibly short length of the song causes it to loop a lot. This gets annoying pretty fast, especially considering the already simplistic and endless gameplay. As for the sound effects there aren't many needed for this game. I only notice the abstract "hurt" sound when you take damage, which works well enough considering the art style of the game.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. I want to start by thanking you for putting your controls in your games somewhere. While the controls are incredibly basic, its very important to tell the player, and that's something a lot of people missed in this jam so good job.

For the actual game loop, I think you do a good job of initially ramping the speed of the snow (At least I'm pretty sure they speed up?), which makes the difficulty feel pretty good. That being said I think you cap the speed a bit early, making it pretty easy to carry on the game forever, which turns the "highscore" into a game of patience instead of skill. 

Also, I noticed its easy to camp the top left corner, making it so no snow will hit you (there than when you are big enough to survive a hit). This could easily be fixed by allowing snow to go a bit higher (Or if it is actually possible to get hit there while small and I'm just lucky, ramping up the snows speed and spawn rate more would have also worked).

Overall, this was a charming little game that excels in its simple but appealing visuals. Cant wait to see what you do next! I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

Microwave.

Starting with the art. Microwave.

Next I want to go over the audio. Microwave.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. Microwave.

Overall, Microwave. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This game was a very complete and polished. with a handful of little details that make it an enjoyable experience (But that won't stop me from telling you everything I don't like).

First I want to talk about the art. I think your style for this game is very simplistic and cute which works well. You also do a good job of keeping your pixel density consistent which is a pretty big deal when trying to make a consistent look with pixel art (Other than the bullets which are scaled down ruining their pixel density relative to other stuff, but they are moving and nobody would ever notice that detail so I'll let it slide).

One thing I will say regarding the consistency/cohesion of the art in this game is that the characters stick out just a bit to much compared to the background. The characters have shading (which seams to swap between gradient (like on the slime) and linear (like on the square robot)) and a bold outline while the environment has none of that, causes them to conflict a bit with each other. This could be made better if the grass and trees had an outline (probably just a colored outline), and if the trees had shading similar to the characters.

I also noticed a few visual bugs, but they are very minor. Some of the water seems to not be animated, I noticed this in the first level but I'm not sure if it happens elsewhere. Also, the player seems to jitter while moving, making them feel less smooth. This is most likely caused by the players rigidbody2D not having interpolate mode set to "interpolate".

On a positive note, I like the small details you added to your game such as the flower on the player, the way the title changes after winning, and the smooth transition between scenes. Things like this do a lot to make the game feel more polished and complete.

Also, this isn't necessarily an issue, but I think giving your characters an animation (even if its just a second frame they loop between) could go a long way in making them all feel more alive. They are ok as they are now, there's just some missed potential when using the static art style.

Lastly regarding art, I notice that once the game starts there is text above some of the slimes head. Because your game is in a pixel art style, the non-pixel art font stands out quite a bit from the rest of the game. There are lots of pixel fonts that are still easily readable, so I would suggest you use one of those instead to keep a more cohesive look to your game.

Next I want to go over the audio. While there isn't a huge variety, what is in the game fits well. I think the music is a great fit for this game. Not to slow or fast, and fits the cheery vibe you have going. In addition, the shooting sounds from both the player and enemies fit pretty good, although they are a bit quiet compared to the music. I do think that having sound effects for killing enemies, dying, winning a level, etc. would make the game feel more alive, but overall the audio works well enough.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. I think you chose a pretty straight forward genre and carried it out quite well. In addition all of the levels are designed very well, with enemies being introduced at good intervals. Overall the levels feel natural and fun to go through.

Unfortunately there's a couple major issues with the gameplay that hurt the overall experience quite a bit for me. The first one being how you used the theme for this jam. I think the idea of using health as the ammo for your attacks works well on paper, but in reality it leads to a lot of downtime where all you can do is wait for your health to regen so you can keep shooting. This, combined with the fact that most enemies aren't a threat when you have cover, means that almost all encounters are won by simply waiting until you have enough health to one-shot your enemy, causing most gameplay to involve just sitting still (or dodging very basic enemy patterns). I know you were trying to force me to balance health and damage, but I felt like I was balancing damage and patience.
    ^This section comes off as really harsh, but the feature doesn't ruin the game or anything. I just think its a feature that doesn't make the game more fun, meaning it is probably unnecessary. 

The other issue I have with the gameplay is that you drag the game out for longer than necessary. While having a long game isn't bad in its own right, currently, you don't add many new features to keep the player engaged (the new enemies are good, but not enough to keep the game feeling fresh). 

Overall, this is the best game I've seen from you and you have certainly improved a lot. I hope you enjoyed working on this game, and I can't wait to see what you do next. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

I like how you interpreted the theme in a creative way and made a simple but fun arcade style game.

First I want to talk about the art. I really like the little sprites that make up the scene. While it isn't the most detailed pixel art, they all fit the same goofy style that make them cohesive. That being said, I notice that the "pixel density" is all over the place, making the sprites not fit together as well as they could have (If your not sure what I mean by that, I'm referring to how the actual pixels in each sprite vary in size. To avoid this, make sure each sprite uses the same "Pixels per unit", and you are not scaling any sprites).

One other thing I noticed about the pixel art is that you are not consistent with your outlining. Some things like the knife, parts of the blender, and the mat the blender is on each have colored outlines. While the fruits, player, and bottles don't have colored outlines. In the future I recommend picking an outline style (black, colored, none, etc.) early on, and using it for all sprites. I think doing this plus fixing the pixel density issue would make the game look much more polished. 

Next I want to go over the audio. I think the music is a good fit for this game, and all of the sound effects were good choices. They aren't very realistic, but with the goofy art style and arcade style game that's not a bad thing.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. I'm really happy to see a tutorial for your game. Even if the controls aren't super complicated, having a tutorial makes the game feel more polished, and makes it much less likely a player won't understand what to do.

In regards to the actual gameplay loop, I think you made a lot out of a really simple idea. The fruits spawn at a good pace, and the knife + player movement speed feel just right (I assume there was a good amount of playtesting). In addition, the powerup bottles do a good job of giving the player something to do while they wait for the fruit they need. Without them I imagine it would be much more frustrating when you are waiting.

That being said I do have a couple smaller issues with the gameplay. To start, there are times where the game will not give you the fruit you need. I had a few attempts end due to the fruit I need not appearing for the entire timers duration. This creates a lack of control for the player, which isn't ideal (especially in an arcade style game). This could maybe be fixed by making the fruit spawn in a set order rather than at random (I'm sure there's many solutions to this tho).

My other annoyance with the game is the "Click really fast" when trying to get a powerup. It's a small issue that probably won't bother to many players, but I find it a more annoying than fun mechanic, and it also feels a bit detached from the rest of the game. I think getting the powerups could have been related to the fruits in some way (like a pickup, or something you deliver to the bottles). But again, this is a minor issue, and the current powerup system is much better than nothing.

Overall, while the game may not have the depth to keep people playing for long periods of time, it is charming and fun enough to keep most people entertained for their first few tries. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

This is not the most ambitious game. It's a simple idea, that does exactly what you said it does, avoiding any over-scoping or unnecessary features (Although I don't know what your scope was when you started). And while I don't think it excels in any areas,  it doesn't have any areas that it is particularly lacking in.

First I want to talk about the art. It's not the most impressive pixel art I have ever seen, in fact without the text description on the itch page I would struggle to tell what some things are. That being said all the art in your game is cohesive and matches each other (which is much more important than the actual quality of the art). In addition I think the title screen for your game is clean and leaves a decent first impression (although the lack of transition into your first level takes away from that cleanness a bit). Also, the default unity bars used in a few places look very out of place and take a lot away. Just setting the visual on the bars to "none" and letting it be a solid rectangle would be better.

Next I want to go over the audio. I think the music is an alright fit both for the game and title. It is a bit jarring when the music switches at the start, so having a fade for the music would also help when changing songs (You are definitely not the first to do this). As far as sound effects go, your game doesn't seem to have a lot to put sound effects on so I'd say you got the most important ones, and they fit alright. That being said, when you stop the fire breathing, I think having it fade in/out would have felt much better than cutting it off instantly when you let go of E.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. With a concept this basic, it needs to be executed very well to actually be fun. Unfortunately I feel that the level design was as good as it could have been. For me and the couple of people I have seen try this game it was a bit to difficult, especially the second level. When I would lose it was hard to tell what I was actually doing wrong, which lead to repeating the same mistakes. Overall I think the levels are to long, and making them shorter would help make the game a bit easier and reduce the annoyance when starting over a.

In addition there's a lack of player feedback, particularly relating to visuals, that would have made actions feel more rewarding. I think having an extra animation or particles when getting fire or heating homes would have been nice. And while there is an indicator for when its getting dark and the chicken sound, more specific clarity to how far you are in a day would be nice (My first time playing I wasn't even sure if the first level was endless or completable, which could lead to some players not seeing most of your game).

One thing I will give you props for was the addition of a new feature each level. Although you only use them for surface level ideas, so having more interesting levels where you use the features in new ways or combine them would have been nice.

Overall the game checks every box on what it means to be a "complete game". It's the best game I've seen from you in a game jam, and I'm excited to see what you make next. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow

You certainly chose one ambitious genre for this game jam. And while I think there are improvements that could be made, the fact you got a working RTS game like this working at all is impressive.

First I want to talk about the visuals. I really like the little intro with the text. It's simple, clean, and gives the game some proper set up. As for the game itself, the models don't fit great with the environment, but at I can tell each of them apart so that's good enough. I think it would have been cool if you really leaned into the simulation look with the game and made the environment just colored boxes and stuff, that way the other models would have all fit in the game better, or maybe you could have used some kind of prototype materials with the terrain system.

Next I want to talk about the audio.

Next I want to talk about the gameplay. You have all the necessary things to create the "starcraft" style base building and unit management, but the fight itself feels lacking. Basically, you made a really cool system, but didn't give the proper sandbox for people to enjoy it. I think the thing attacking your base should have ramped up over time, sending stronger units later into the game (if it already does, make it ramp more, eventually sending tanks). Also I think the units attacking your base should come in less frequent but more deadly groups instead of a constant stream. This would give a more realistic "attack" feeling, the way an actual player would attack. In addition, the little outposts should probably increase in difficulty as you get closer to the enemy base. Currently its hard to push through the first few outposts, but then really easy at the back once you have built up an army.

In addition, there were quite a few quality of life changes that would have helped. For example, I think you should always have most of your controls visible in game. I know they are on the itch page and they aren't super complicated, but I strongly suggest you don't rely on that. If you don't have time for a proper tutorial, I would say even throwing them on the bottom of the screen as a static UI element is better than nothing. 

Also, I think there's a lot of ways you could have given the player better feedback as to what is happening. Such as "+xx" coming out of mines when you get resources, circles around selected units, death effects on units, particles, sound effects, and other small things I can't think of at the moment.

Overall, this game is certainly the most impressive project I have seen from you when it comes to programming, although it lacks some of the charm your projects usually have. I'm glad to see you tried something new though, and I can't wait to see what you make next. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

I like the idea and I think the game has a good presentation, but there are some issues that stop the game from being enjoyed the way I think you wanted it to be.

Starting with the art I think everything looks good and fits together well. The particles are a good edition that make things feel more alive (although I think the smoke behind the ships feels a bit too big). The title screen is very clean and gives a great first impression to the player. My only real issue with the art is all the default Unity UI. It doesn't really fit with the rest of your art and gives off "placeholder" vibes (It only takes a second to draw a custom white box with a black outline). As a final note, I think the numbers on the ships were a good idea but they cover up the art a bit to much.

Next I want to go over the audio. I think you picked a very fitting song for both the title and game sections, although the scene swap when hitting start game is quite jarring. I would suggest adding a fade to black and having the audio fade between the songs for a much cleaner feel. In regards to sound effects, I only noticed the ones when ships move and the upgrade is ready. Its a good start to giving the game some life, and I noticed it does get louder or quieter as you move the camera closer/farther which is a nice detail. My only suggestion would be to add more sound effects to things like shooting, terminals opening, buttons being pressed, etc.

Last I want to go into the actual gameplay. Like I said before the concept isn't bad, but due to some issues I don't think the game is the experience you wanted it to be. There are a few bugs but you already mentioned them on the itch page so I won't go over them here. First off, The game has a lot of controls and none of them are listed in the game (unless you count the numbers on the ships). I know they are on the itch page, but I strongly suggest you don't rely on that. If you don't have time for a proper tutorial, I would say even throwing them on the bottom of the screen as a static UI element is better than nothing.  

Next, I think the main concept behind your game is ruined by the fact that it is completely optional. From what I can tell the best way to win is to just attack the enemy ships on game start, ignoring the upgrades. I think a solution to this would have been to make ships respawn, and make winning only happen when you destroy the big red ship. Then maybe give the red ship its own guns to protect itself so that you need to upgrade a bit to actually take it down (this is just one idea to make the main mechanic more necessary, but I'm sure there's many ways you could have done it).

Overall the game is still interesting to mess around with for a bit, and I'm sure with more time many of the critiques mentioned above would have been fixed. I'm glad to see you tried something new, and you've improved a lot since the first games I saw from you. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.

I've seen the concept of switching characters in a few games from this jam, but I really like how you tried to execute it. I think its really cool that you did all the art for this game your self, and I like the environments and animations (especially on the cat). I think the sound effects that are there are good, but I think it could have used some music in addition to the ambient sound. The gameplay itself made since,  and I really like the different abilities the cat had (I'm still not 100% sure what cloak did differently). Although it could have used more in game instructions at the start (I know they were on your itch page, but you can't always be sure if people will see that). I also encountered a lot of small issues with the movement such as being able to leave the map, jumping much higher sometimes, and other small things. Fortunately these issues didn't stop me from being able to complete the game. Overall there's still room for polish, but with the time frame given in the jam this is still a great entry!

I really like the idea for this puzzle game. The art was very simple, but it was still easy to understand my objective and what each thing did. Adding music/sound effects could have helped make this game feel a lot more complete and make actions feel satisfying, but I understand you were in a time crunch. The levels were pretty basic, but did a good job introducing mechanics, and then building on them. There were just a few issues I had with the game. Sometimes buttons got stuck and I had to restart levels, the blue character could get stuck when jumping while touching a wall, and the players jump felt off due to how fast it was. Overall these are minor issues and it was still a enjoyable experience!

I thought this was a really good entry. While the concept is simple, it was still a lot of fun to try and see how many people I could gather before getting overrun. The art was basic but it all fit together and was good enough to understand what everything was. The music wasn't anything special but was still much better than nothing, and the sound effects were fitting and made things feel better. There were only a few things that I think could have been changed, such as enemies spawning right on top of my group causing me to get hit, the robots, making the small robots a bit slower to give the player more of a chance to avoid them. In the end these were small things, and overall this was a great game!

I like the concept of the game, and for the most part it looked like it was all put together well. The sound effects were fitting and the art seemed to all fit together well (aside from the T-pose guy in the shed). The level design was also good, and helped make a spooky environment that built tension and mystery. Unfortunately it suffered a lot from the movement system, which I'm sure you already know.  I always felt like I was trying to fight to go up the small bumps. And even when I was able to move around freely, I was always annoyed by the fact that stamina was drained even when just walking, forcing me to completely stop for awhile while I wait for the stamina to recharge. In the end I did get stuck in a part of the terrain so I wasn't able to see how much was left, but for a first game it was still very impressive! 

Its simple but effective gameplay. The music was a good fit and it was nice to see that it transitioned between scenes smoothly. In addition, the overall art style was simple but still conveyed everything it needed to for the player to understand what was going on, especially the character who has a basic design that works well within the context of the game.  The movement felt alright and the levels were designed really well to compliment the movement (also the line that follows the player was a really nice touch).

That being said there are a few things that I think would have improved this game a lot. To start, I think the jump felt inconsistent around the ramps/hills (probably due to the ground check not always working with slopes). On top of that, I think the player could have had some better player feedback such as turning around when moving left, a jump sound, and possibly a small animation effect when jumping (squash and stretch). Also, I noticed there were some collectables throughout the game (mainly the first level), but it was never clear if they did anything. 

Overall the game was still enjoyable, and I'm exited to see what you do next. And as a side note, good job on the itch page!

This was a neat game to play through. The fights were pretty straight forward and I was able to get through everything no problem. The game has a lot of nice touches that make it feel more complete such as the pause menu, level select, and sandbox mode. That being said there's always more that can be done to polish the game like smoothly changing the music when transitioning scenes, using animations to avoid objects popping in/out, and adding custom pixel buttons and text fonts. The music for the game was fitting and there was a good variety. That being said, I think having some sound effects could really have helped hits feel more impactful, and some other sounds could have helped with clarity. The art work was pretty good and I like the designs of the tops. The background was basic but works well within the context of the game. Overall I think the game was fun but could have used more player feedback for what was happening during the battles.

I was really surprised by this game and its quality! The art is simple but visually appealing and does a good job of conveying what is happening. The music and sound effects are also quite basic but fitting. The gameplay itself is a unique idea that fits the theme very well. The puzzles are also designed very well, doing a good job of slowly ramping up in difficulty. 

I only had a couple issues when playing. One being that the movement felt a little off, sometimes feeling like jumps wouldn't work near ledges. The other being that solving the puzzles could take awhile even after knowing the solutions, meaning that failing a puzzle due to missing a jump or miss-timing a spell cast (which were both fairly easy to do) would waste a lot of time. Maybe this wouldn't have been as noticeable if the levels were broken up into more smaller levels.

Overall this was a very enjoyable game that fits the theme very well!

Its certainly an interesting take on the theme, although I think it lacks a bit of polish. I like the music and think its fitting for the kind of game this is trying to be. The art is very basic, but that's not always a bad thing. One small issue I noticed was that the movement was a little rough, and when moving at high speeds certain elements would vibrate (like the health bar). The biggest issue I noticed when playing the game was the lack of feedback. For example in the first level you're not supposed to get the coins, but if you do collect them it doesn't do enough to inform the player that they have lost, leading to some confusion. Overall its still an interesting game with some cool ideas!