Great entry. There were a few things but for the most part, very polished.
The show stealer for this was the location specific music. Banging job on all the music. The dinner track was probably my favorite.
Over all a real solid entry.
Really well done.
there were a few things I would have loved.
The text typing effect for the story is not skippable which is fine but it types slower than I read. All of that is fine the first time. However, not automatically skipping or having the option on the replay turned me off on taking a second stab at it. I will probably play it later as it was enjoyable.
The music was solid but also a bit repetitive. It did do well to add tension and a sense of urgency. Kudos.
I did spend the first minute trying to understand the gameplay loop clicking on everything until I found the blue button which was the last thing I clicked on. While I don't think a tutorial is required or recommended, I would suggest an arrow? or a small glow to signal "start here".
I would have also loved to have an onscreen counter for where I was at for energy addition. Am I adding 1000/s? 2000/s? In the end, the power curve seems to be out of reach. I don't know that the large amount of upgrades and energy is attainable but then again I did lose a minute or so at the start. I also have wrist issues so after a few minutes, I let the passive energy be the only source.
Rough estimate from memory, but for the available upgrades at 55 upgrades, you'd have 2860 / s. At that rate you'd have to generate energy for 122 seconds or 2 minutes to reach the 350,000 required for the escape pods.
if you don't have 55 upgrades at 12 minutes left and change you can't get the escape pod. Is that realistic without killing my wrist?
TLDR: While there are some quality of life things I would have liked, overall this is an excellent game and one I enjoy seeing in the genre. I do enjoy clicker games. Fantastic job for a 3 person team. I will likely play it in the future.
it's missing something. It's fun for the most part. Frustrating but no sense of progression. I got to whatever level introduces the laser / key. There was some frustration with the skill curve. Raising the skill of the enemies but no apparent upgrade in abilities. That's fine but many of the enemies look the same so it takes a few tries to understand the behavior from level to level.
There is also a clear disconnect with the theme. After playing it, I read the document and the enemies spread a trail which then slowly shrinks. That interpretation feels like a huge stretch.
Also, reading the document, 52 LEVELS!!!!!! Sometimes more is just more. It's very long with no save system. Not a game I feel I could push through in one sitting without losing interest.
Overall, it's very polished, good gameplay, excellent arcade game but it feels like you put a lot of effort into the levels and a lot of them.
Got to agree with bacovel, controls leave a bit to be desired. Would also suggest a bit more response on the stopping. The jump also doesn't seem high enough by itself to reach the next level. The double jump is not apparent unless you experiment.
It was also extremely jarring from a player perspective to be instantly teleported to the bottom of the screen for the next level. If the level design remains persistent, recommend not resetting the player position at all. Alternatively, if you do reset it, add a fade out fade in transition effect (make sure to pause the game elements that aren't the fader so the player doesn't take damage until it fades in.
Overall, good effort for a first release game, lots of potential
I use BFXr - http://www.bfxr.net/
I've heard good things about Musagi for music http://www.drpetter.se/project_musagi.html
I normally use Bosca Ceoil - https://terrycavanagh.itch.io/bosca-ceoil
Good luck! :D
Sound certainly. For the most part though, I didn't really know when I was shaking the battery and I wasn't clear where I could put the battery? Granted normally, that would be done with coloration highlighting the node where it goes but with black and white, that is a challenge. That was the main thing.