itch.io

Very cute and relaxing game! The beavers were adorable, and the mechanics were cool and very well programmed. I expected to see at least some bugs with the helper beavers when getting in their way but didn't encounter any—good job on that! The progression and gameplay loop were great, although a bit repetitive. However, this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the game, and I had much fun playing it.

I noticed you've asked for suggestions for future updates. Here are some of my thoughts, which are very open to interpretation, and I think will work well after you’ve addressed the main issues others have mentioned:

• Adding randomized encounters and/or a storyline (possibly with NPCs)
• Expanding the forest and adding more reasons for the player to go there
• Increasing the size of the river and making the dam customizable
• Adding flavor to the river, such as dangers or flowing resources
• Introducing an exploration aspect to the game, like discovering NPCs, enemies, resources, items, etc., in the river and forest
• And just expanding on the original idea, I believe, will make it more fun

I don’t know how helpful these suggestions are, but I hope they provide at least some inspiration. This game is already amazing, and I’m sure it will become even better if you stick with it!

Rated and commented!

Wow, you really nailed the dreamscape vibes; the ambiance was so wonderfully weird, I loved it.

In my opinion, the lore was the strongest aspect of this game, and I hope you expand on it after the jam. It has the potential to develop into a beautiful story you’d find in a book. Every animation and the background movement really brought the game to life and added to the weirdcore vibes. I also really loved the big eye-fish-creature-thingy, which added flavour to the beautiful world design.

As for the gameplay, my main points of feedback align with what other comments have mentioned (water vision, mermaid playability, etc.), so I won't delve too deeply into those. Playing the character felt nice, but I do think some kind of light combat system could work well with this game. As it stands, the gameplay is a bit lacking, but I hope you don't get discouraged and continue expanding the game—it's a game you should be proud of. If you plan on expanding it, let me know, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for it even after the jam.

Oh? What about them made you feel uncomfortable?

Thanks for trying it out, though!

Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!

I've received feedback about the font before, and changing it is the first thing on my to-do list after the jam.

The progression is definitely a bit off. I know that if I had playtested the game more thoroughly before committing to it, it could've been much better. In my experience, stone is the resource you get way too much of compared to others, so there's definitely an imbalance with the resources. I'll fix this after the jam, of course.

Thanks for playing and for the detailed feedback!

The mastering of the music was a bit off. I tried to get it to loop perfectly, but I guess the end of it still had some effects that weren't at the start of the track. As for the fighting, I agree. The fighting wasn't really planned thoroughly, and I've added it to the project's issues. Feel free to provide any suggestions!

The time spent on this game was probably around 110 hours, averaging about 11 hours a day. The jam actually lined up perfectly for me; I was just about to graduate and didn't have any more schoolwork left, so I could focus on the jam 100%. It did cost me my sleeping schedule, though...

Rated and commented!

This was a really fun and diverse experience!

The design of this game was very well made, and the story felt complete. Introducing the game's main objective of having to reach the pink axolotl at the end of the first level made it clear that the game had a defined ending. The transition between the first and second levels was very smooth, with the shark eating you and then becoming the new enemy in the second level. The goals of each level were always obvious without needing any tutorials or hints. Each level followed a familiar pattern with spikes and bubble currents, but as the game progressed, new and unique challenges were added, which kept the game interesting.

The variety of different enemies and their unique properties was impressive. The small warning from the electric eels was subtle but noticeable enough that they never surprised with their attack. The third level was the coolest, in my opinion. The camera zooming out, the music changing, and finally revealing the big whale were all very dramatic. The final boss was fun and well-made; it wasn't too easy but not too difficult, which was good.

I did run into some bugs, but they didn't ruin the experience. The first one was that the small squids sometimes got stuck in the spikes and other enemies. The second was that a shark could push the player through the wall. Restarting the level fixed this, but it was possible to finish the level inside the walls by finding the end.

Overall, the game felt polished and it was really fun to play!

Rated and commented!

What a unique entry! It's like having your own peaceful aquarium that you can modify and observe. You clearly spent some time on the mechanics—they're so cool. The fact that the background color and music change according to the colors you choose is very impressive! I also liked that, when zooming in, you could see all the life in the water cube more clearly. The browser version had some issues with audio and graphics, but as you mentioned on the project page, the downloadable version worked much better. Great execution for this relaxing game, good job!

Oh my god. I can't even express how good this game was—but I'm going to try. Prepare yourself...

Let's ignore the emotional story for now and start with the gameplay and mechanics. This game gave me the same addictive dopamine rush I got from Witcher 3's Gwent. And I really loved Gwent; at least 90% of my hours in Witcher 3 were spent on it. For me, this game has the same vibes, and if it ever came out as a finalized product, I'd be hooked for life.

The animations, the animated text, every little detail, and the fact that nothing on the screen was ever really still made this game look so complete it feels like it took months to develop. I'm so impressed with the amount of work you put into this and I can't come up with a single negative thing to say about the game.

As for the story, I'm not sure if it was personal, but it sure felt like it. Personal or not, the message was important, and I hope anyone struggling with the topics represented in this game, or any mental health issues, finds peace and happiness in their life. The dialogue, or rather monologue, reminded me of Celeste, with all of the emotion expressed just through the sound effects and the speed of the text—they drastically added to the overall feeling of this game. The story was well-crafted from start to finish, and the "reboot" was a cool transition to the endgame.

The ending of this game was amazing. I obviously wish it was longer, but I do think it needed to end where it did. I liked the small detail where you had to deal 6 damage to the ???. I also especially loved the fact that the game closes when you finish it. It really felt like you told me a story, ended it with "That's it, there's nothing else left to say," closed the book on my face, and left me wanting for more. I don't know how this game only has 16 ratings as I'm writing this; it's truly a hidden gem.

TLDR: The game was good. Play it.

Rated and commented!

Thanks for the feedback! I've added changing the tutorial and boat movement to my to-do list.

This was definitely one of my favorite submissions in the jam so far! The design of this game is astonishing. The transition between the three stages of the sea, with the music change and harder enemies, was very well done. I loved the card system. Although I did spam all the cards without looking at them, I designed my deck to fit my playstyle, which I think was a perfect game design choice. The graphics fit well together and the ambiance really complemented the game.

However, a few things eventually made me quit. The endgame was too hard—not because of the difficult enemies, but because of the card positioning and camera following, which added to the difficulty. After playing for a while, when moving directly down, the player would hide behind the cards and could even go off screen. It got frustrating when enemy fish started attacking from the bottom of the screen, and I couldn't see or target them properly. I'm not sure where this bug came from, since it didn't happen at the start of the game. I played the downloadable version, if that makes any difference.

Overall, this game was very impressive and I recommend everyone to try it out!

Rated and commented!

This was such a cool, small, and relaxing game! I tried it on mobile, and it worked perfectly. The fish were on the screen just the right amount of time, and the (I'm assuming) random spawn rate and positioning added fun unpredictability. Sometimes, 3-5 fish would spawn in a short amount of time, and I even missed a couple of them. Avoiding the red clocks and collecting the blue ones added a nice challenge, though their random spawning did make the high score a bit luck-dependent; in some runs, blue clocks appeared more often than in others. Overall, it was a great game and a very well-made beginner entry!

Rated and commented!

What a fun take on the theme! The story/lore was cool and well crafted considering this was a rather short game. I wish there were more of the alien dialogue, I liked the 'not knowing what you're answering' aspect of it. I could see there being a "next level" to this game where managing water and the people expands even more and becomes utter chaos, but in a fun way. The ending was also cool, with the little plot twist there. I hope you expand on this idea—it was really good!

I agree, the boat starts off a bit slow, but upgrading the speed to level 2 makes a noticeable difference—it gets much faster! But yes, I plan on changing it and finding a nice balance for it.

Thanks for playing and for the feedback! :D

I agree, the game can feel a bit repetitive, especially at the beginning before getting a speed upgrade. I'll work on finding a good balance between resources and upgrades after the jam. Also, to address the repetitiveness, I'm planning on adding more content to the water, such as different enemies, randomized events, and possibly even a whole fishing system.

Thank you for playing and for the feedback!

Yeah, I agree that the speed is a bit too slow at the start, or rather, the distance between islands is a tad too big, or both. I'll figure out a balance for it after the jam. Thank you for noticing that this was done solo, I'm quite proud of the outcome! I found working alone a bit difficult, since there are no other team members' opinions to consider, and it led to some questionable game design choices.

But thank you so much for playing and for the feedback! I hope you'll come back to the game once it's updated.

The clock below the minimap does flash one hour before you pass out, but I think it's kind of a poor way to notify the player. It was one of the last-minute additions, so I plan on changing it to be much more noticable. The same goes for the delivery timer; currently there is no way for the player to know how much time is left to deliver a package, I'll add that after the jam, as well.

Thank you for playing and for the feedback!

I actually found myself doing the same and I plan on changing it after the jam. Thank you for playing!

Rated and commented!

This was an addicting experience! The sounds, particles, and effects worked together perfectly to create an underwater feel. The gameplay loop was engaging, and the payment system was a fun addition. My only complaint is about the robots; it took multiple button presses to get them to follow me, and they often went to the wrong open slots. However, this issue was easily avoidable by taking a small trip outside, so it didn't ruin the gaming experience for me. Overall, the game was really good and addictive. Great job!

Rated and commented!

Rated and commented!

Was it all... a dream? I don't know, but I do know this was a really cool game. I was hoping to find a D&D-inspired dungeon crawler in this jam, and here it was. The pixel art was beautiful and very well crafted, the music was amazing, and the cult vibes were spot on. The only thing I would have liked to see was critical hits on a nat20, but I understand that might have made the game too unpredictable/unbalanced. Overall, a great dungeon crawler with well-made Lovecraftian ambiance. Great game, good job!

This was by far the scariest game I’ve played during this jam. I spent almost an hour on it but couldn’t complete it on normal difficulty—that was a total skill issue on my part. I managed to call Grandma but couldn’t survive the 3 minutes after that. I can only imagine the nightmare difficulty...

The atmosphere brought this game to a whole new level, with every element fitting perfectly together. I absolutely loved the cartoonish graphics. It’s impressive how you managed to create a whole house that felt both creepy and peaceful at the same time. It was an intense experience and a cool game, but I wish I were better at it so I could see what happens when you finish it. Maybe I’ll try it again sometime.

Try my game for 5 minutes, give it a rating and send me your game so I can rate it, too! I'll also add a comment with feedback.
Here's my game: https://itch.io/jam/-pixel-game-jam-2024/rate/2717891

What a great game with challenging gameplay! It's impressive how you were able to create so many different enemies. Each one added more flavor to the game, and I especially liked that the crab had a shotgun :D As a lover of bullet hell games, this was definitely worth playing!

This was such a unique and well-made idea. Unfortunately, I also experienced some performance issues, and they started when I got around 10 valves. Issues aside, the gameplay was very cool and destroying the shooting robots actually turned out to be one of my favorite things to do in the game, even though they were annoying at first. I would definitely love to see this game continue development after the jam!

I'll play yours right away! Here's mine: https://itch.io/jam/-pixel-game-jam-2024/rate/2717891

The atmosphere, lighting and sound design really make you feel like you're underwater. The game itself was fun and quite challenging. Really loved the mechanics of having to consentrate on your ability to see things; it added a fun and unexpected challenge and caught me off guard multiple times. Nice game, good job!

I'll check it out! Here's mine: https://itch.io/jam/-pixel-game-jam-2024/rate/2717891

My guess is that if the movement is done via code, it might not be limited by the frame rate. If you've written the code in the _process() method, try switching it to _physics_process(). I don't use Godot as my main engine, so I'm not completely sure... If you have already done that or if the bubble movement is an animation, then the issue might be somewhere else. It is also possible that I'm experiencing this because of my weird setup. I have a decent 144Hz laptop which is connected to a 60Hz monitor, so that might affect the frame rate and the game's performance on my end. I hope you find the issue! I'll finish the game when it's fixed!

Also, wow. I just noticed that this was a beginner submission, very well done.

This was a really good game with a unique idea and a bit of a challenge. I couldn't get past the 7th (I think) level where the bubble went to the right at the start; I got stuck in an endless loop of falling and restarting the level. Or maybe I'm just dumb and didn't figure out the solution. If it was a bug, I took a video of it and can send it to you.

The gameplay was really fun though, and the game itself felt polished. I also really liked the details of the bubble animations and the menu/level selection was very cool. Worthy of a great rating, for sure.

I enjoyed every minute of this game. So simple, yet addicting. If it were available as a dedicated handheld console, I'd take it with me whenever I travel.

My highscore: