rate this "experience" you haven't voted on this "experience" yet, is so funny though.
loppio
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feels pretty well made as a simple click through story game, sound and visuals feel right to the sort of style you were going for. i particularly like how the filter on that bike cover image looks with the dithering on the shadows. not very good at horror games myself so decided to leave it at one run where i accidentally kept going left even though i meant to change directions at one point.
might be good to have a flashing little [z] on that start screen to prompt the player to press that key, you have some worded instructions that show up after that but like, they needed that key in order to get there so. that's another thing, kind of a lot of reading in this game. and this might just be a gba thing but the uneven wide kernings between the letters don't make it easier to read. some sound effects could've made this a more engaging experience maybe? but this might just not be my thing.
i can see that you've taken the jam theme and divorced it from anything connor to make your own unique thing, which is respectable. just a bit of a hard sell to make something broadly appealing from the bike up. didn't really get a sense for cycling in this one, i think a crunchy bike wheel sound could've emphasised the cycling through routine feel. idk it might've just relied too much on the reading to sell the premise. but cool to see something pretty different out here.
everyone seems to think it's pretty ambitious for you to have done online multiplayer for the jam, and i feel the same. can't tell how responsive it is but i did manage to try a few brief games with some people and got to see them move around a bit so something seems to be working. pretty cool, no single player option is rough though when there probably aren't an abundance of people to try this with at any given time. not even just the exact same thing but hiding the other player that isn't playing?
well anyways besides that, you have different names you can play under and the first time i played i thought that meant they all had unique sprites which would have been pretty neat. turns out that's not the case, which is understandable but that would've been pretty cool, being able to see the different sprites you match up with would add extra character and charm to the thing.
the gameplay is uh, pretty simple. no sound, and moves pretty slow. i think keyboard inputs would've worked better than mouse for this but if you can bind them all why not. it's a cute idea! time wasn't on your side but i can say that i was charmed.
i actually find your monkey sprite to be a charming and readable shape, honestly it's quite good for your first time drawing. you even drew alternating frames for both pedal inputs which is nice, not everyone has made their sprites move like that. you even have some motions on the start screen lol.
the little checkbox for motivate bgm was a fun idea but the switch between the two songs sounds very jarring and bad (i also couldn't hear tits out for the boys correctly at first) maybe playing it when you grab a banana would've upped the shitpost of it instead. and wow you even drew the banana up his ass, i didn't understand what that even did though. by the way they should stand out against the road lines more, maybe those can be white instead of yellow. i think you should've gone ahead and drawn the road yourself too, draw everything from the cinnamoroll to the buttons and it'll look more organic and shitposty (in a fun way) with your rough lines.
the cinnamoroll losing money is also a fun idea but i think he should be a lot bigger visually, like the merch connor buys isn't even that small. and also any sort of feedback to show the negative hit you take from that because i'm barely looking at the number and the sound that plays doesn't make it sound bad.
the controls were hard to understand even after reading them, i thought since it was pedalling that you were meant to alternate tapping back and forth between them and i just kept swerving left for some reason. eventually i figured it out but it wasn't easy lol. the speed on the road also feels painfully slow while also being painfully wide, and then when i get enough banana speed it's too fast to stay on the road. maybe if everything was bigger on the road and it panned up a little faster it'd feel better.
so yeah the gameplay could be stronger, but props on making an android build (how i played it) if it felt better to play i could see it being a nice little shitpost style mobile game for the jam. you also put some nice effort into displaying your controls on the page (still need to show them ingame though) and crediting your sound. it doesn't seem like you created "a vast majority of the music during the 4 days" though so maybe answer no to that? anyways, not as bad as you might think, some fun ideas that you could've locked in on harder and gameplay that could've felt less bad.
very unique concept!! it's pretty ugly but you've got some pretty thought out sounds and transitions to go along with it. the map of japan was a simple but effective frame of reference to ground the player and allow them to track their progress through the game. it definitely feels like you've got experience with game jams that show in details like that. the option to play with friends too was pretty neat!
the cutout bobble heads were fun but it'd look even better with more cutout style assets and rougher lines around the flat shapes. still, i was impressed with the use of sound with the ringing at the start of a level (it ringringrings when you spam the retry button) and the noise when you lose health having a nice oomph to it. i'd suggest pitch shifting that one ringing sound so it's less gratingly repetitive and to add some extra character to the monkeys. the transitions were cool but an option to skip the ones at the start of each level would be good.
i could be wrong but i felt the bikes had way more power than they needed. i overlaunched myself so often which might've been part of the challenge, but idk this game doesn't feel like i should be holding back as much as i have to. i think more space for the bikes to launch over between the ramps and platforms would feel more epic and right, at least for variety in one of the levels.
i think i was able to cheese the game a bit by landing my bike near the edge so that the other monkey had to slide off. which felt smart and cool of me but i didn't get to experience as much of the bike stacking as was probably intended. i can see how that can get pretty tight though, and it's an interesting use of the bike's shape. it could be more interesting if the bikes weren't completely immovable after being placed though, so maybe you could have like a tumbling tower moment.
with the freedom to move around the end screen i particularly felt untapped potential with the physics of that bike. like you could go soooo fast and do crazy maneuvers in the air that look fun to mess around with for actual gameplay. there's definitely more that could be expanded on with these foundations, like i imagine being able to push each other around would be fun, or more shape formations not just the one platform that could help structure or disrupt the stacks.
so i looove the pixel overworld sprites they're soooo cute i love the chunky little monkey dragging and swinging around a bike visual and seeing the different friends was a delight. the hades style character art and ui boxes also looked impressive and i like that you accompanied them with voice clips (although a fade out on connor's laugh in mouse's would make it sound smoother) the visual cohesion between certain elements like the text and overly saturated green of the forest could've been stronger but within the time constraint you managed to create some great looking assets.
that concept of trying to finish the cyclethon with a broken bike is pretty cool, you managed to make your gameplay stand out while also doing a great job of designing the buffs and enemies around the theme. i wish it was more fun to play though. the furthest i managed to get was 428 km which makes the 1000 km look so far away.... i wouldn't mind the challenge as much if it didn't feel so sluggish to work through. and the slow walking speed does emphasise the bike dragging visual and potential speed upgrades but i still feel that a little more balance would go a long way. i think the main culprit for me is the wait between inputs but play around with everything to see what feels best, maybe i've just been skill checked but i feel like an average player should be able to reach about halfway at least.
also the hitboxes feel larger than they should be particularly when cinnamoroll hurts the player or a cyclist goes by and clips me when i wasn't directly in its way. and when i play this it's slow paced enough that my mouse just stays in one spot, but sometimes i want to swing or hit to the right and i'm not prepared to move my mouse all the way over for it. oh and those bells are definitely too loud, and feel like they should play closer to when the cyclists actually appear on screen. idk just things that could make the gameplay feel snappier and more polished.
so at least for the cycling theme it would've been good to have an on screen bike for that throw attack at least, otherwise it's hardly there at all. and yeah that curry was too powerful but i could see how the idea could be expanded into an interesting little game where you fight meals. i think you should've at least given connor a percent crit chance for double damage so that this becomes a challenge of perseverance (having to try over and over again to finally conquer the curry) and luck (connor big gamba man) makes the potential outcome just a little more exciting.
i suggest if you try something like this again that you should also lean into the style of these png cutouts as assets because it adds a very scuffed charm to all. adapt the ui to match, find voice clips for each action and cut out more frames of movement from the stream to create a fun choppy style of animation. also for a basic point and click like this you don't need a tutorial. anyways good luck on making more games!
lol your oug response is relatable. the music sure stands out, and i know that's a big part of your redemption this year. caught me by surprise since i didn't expect music like that to show up but, it works pretty well with the neon rail grinding vibe. also did a good job of keeping me placated for a while after dying many times. that bonk sound effect you've got for when the monkey donks off the rail is also, horribly infuriating. so good job.
it took me a second to figure out how to rotate the bike right, i ended up playing on mouse because it felt righter to me (even though there's probably more precision with keyboard) and i'll be honest a lot of the instructions besides the very initial jump were pretty difficult to parse. like i didn't understand, that the wasd or mouse instruction was meant to be rotating the bike because just "mouse" again just made it look like another click to jump or something. i figured it out eventually, and maybe this is part of the interest of the learning curve but maybe just a bit more direction with how to use wasd or mouse there would make that feel smoother.
same for the wall with drawings on it, difficult to understand for a while. i know you ran out of time on this one but, if you did wanna fix it up a little i think it'd feel more intuitive if those bike figures would glow or something upon each successful 180 switch. it helps so when someone tries something and is partly on the right track, that they have something to go off of instead of just getting confused.
i do think it's cool how you're keeping with the neon monkey aesthetic you had from last year too, certainly a strong visual identity for your submissions. as you're probably already aware though the visual polish definitely falls behind last year's (haven't played much of it but i got a taste) but it kinda gets by with the abstract neon. just goes to show how polished your game was last year though. those visuals would have been the chance to really lean into the theme so it doesn't just feel like skateboard substituted with bike game.
but what stands out the most to me is the very unique mechanic! definitely a wow. doesn't always feel "right" the way it rotates and lands but i think that's a skill issue on me. created a challenge for sure and makes me want to see how connor would play it. and interesting (frustrating) new obstacles at each turn. i almost made it to the end (i think) but couldn't make that very last jump, probably jumped too early because i just wasn't falling in range of it? i might come back to finish it for real some other time but for now i've gotta keep reviewing more games. best of luck with your ratings this year
okay i really dig the style of this game. i love the pixel artwork so so so so much, the spinning monkey and banana stood out to me immediately (they are SO cheerful and cute!!) but everything looks amazing from the bottom up!! the sprites for the desktop icons, the progress bar, the consistent framing of elements within desktop windows, the colourful scenery, the gorgeous sun over the ocean horizon?? and that crt booms it up even more.
of course the ads could do with some (better) imagery but you make it work anyways and with the time you had (solo dev??) it's so crazy to me how brilliant this looks. and it's a pretty sick concept too, fps pop-up ads already getting in the way before you've even started the game. that establishing of the mechanic is awesome but, definitely made it annoying to read the instructions so that could be balanced a bit more. and the gameplay loop could have felt a bit more fun but the concept helps carry it through.
to potentially expand on the idea i think if you could interact with the windows in more ways, like resizing from the edges or dragging them around from the bar up top, that could make the before gun portion feel a bit less stiff. it might make the start easier but also feels kinda sick and introduces more range for strategies that look really cool in my head. you could even let them run the risk of messing with the non ad windows too....
and it'd be kinda fun if clicking on the ads ever actually did anything, mostly negative but potentially also positive, like the get rich ones taking your money, or with a small percent chance of giving you money. but it's already a difficult and fairly whole game already so everything i just suggested is extra that i just think sounds cool. really leans into the chaos of the pop-up ads while also giving the player a bit more variety in how they play.
i will say that "cycle" through game mechanics is a fun play on words but doesn't exactly come through in the gameplay, since that makes it sound like you go back and forth between them when it feels more like you've gotta be on them at the same time. but that's just semantics, the cycling theme is still there with the monkey on a bike and the styling of the environment around it.
a little more sound design could also really polish this off, just some feedback from picking up the bananas and getting hit by the teslas i think, extra suggestion would be that some ads making obnoxious noises would be funny but that's of course, extra. oh yeah, also enjoyed the extra charm you wrote into the text of the ads and stuff, chokedwg.exe was a highlight.
edit: also just remembered to mention how i tried to buy "art" a few times and didn't understand if it ever did anything? what's up with that?
not sure why but the game didn't seem to work for me? going by these comments it should be working but i couldn't get anything to move at all (besides the blinding light which seemed to suddenly end my game sometimes despite not looking like it'd touched me yet?) i'd mash A and D and other random keys repeatedly and even press held them down in case that was the issue but the spaceship didn't move a pixel. this seems like the issue's on my end but maybe it's somehow a compatibility thing?
[after going back to judge the visuals specifically] oh my god i just realised you weren't supposed to be moving the giant ship at the bottom of the screen with the monkey we can see inside of it, it's the little galaga looking ship positioned above it. it does actually stop receiving input after restarting though, so that's something to look into.
so, i feel like clarity can be improved here. the big ship we see doesn't look the same shape as the little shape at all, that little ship also looks like a different art style with the pixel shading on it which kinda let it blend into the environment for me. also, maybe try to limit the monkey's peddling animation to when the A and D keys are pressed, gives the player more feedback and it'll look fun.
but the idea of propelling a spaceship forward with a bike is cute, and the input imitating back and forth pedal movement would be a point towards cycling but it doesn't seem too integrated into the rest of the space theme otherwise. i can see that this was just a small game but i see potential in leaning into the bike powered spacecraft thing way harder. designing the ship with stronger bike influence and making it move with weight from each peddle rather than just pixel by pixel along a straight line. make it really feel like you're cycling a spaceship.
anyways before i discovered how to actually play the game i meant to point out that the little ironmouse coloured mouse messing with the wires is a cute little nod.
controlling the monkey's movement was definitely a struggle, and it felt like that was part of the point but i was so bad at it that it was getting in the way of experiencing more of the game. and the game looks brilliant, i love the pixel art and lively sprite animations and how you've got almost everything to look super cohesive together. i just really wanted to play more of the game and i sucked so bad at the controls that i couldn't :(
left and right being mapped to W and S was, too trippy. i don't think direction feels intuitive like that. i saw the controls had happy wheels inspiration but it seems that there W and S are accelerate and decelerate (doesn't turn the bike to face the other direction) and that it would've made more sense if you'd done it like that i think. i did also figure out on accident that the left and right keys were also binded and they also moved left and right, so i tried using those alongside the A and D to tilt. this was easier, but the tilt was still so hard to get a grasp on. i feel that the first few jumps in the jungle interior should have been made possible without the need for tilt, and then easing into the need for tilt a bit later. it was just so easy to quit the game too early when i really wanted to see more of it....
on top of that, even more key inputs with E to interact, shift to break and mouse click to attack? if i'm already double handing with the arrow keys then that extra mouse input is, not convenient. even if i wasn't already compromised though it'd just feel right to also have such an important mechanic available on the keyboard like the rest, since i can't be the only one who gets comfortable not touching the mouse for 2d movement games like this (this also applies to the ui) i also think there should be a little indicator for E to interact to appear over the first few chests when you go near them, that'll help remind the player as they get used to it i think. because i was just terrible at remembering all these keys.
i did play the tutorial and found the progression of mechanics a lot nicer there but maaaaybe the tutorial could stand out a bit more on the start menu by looking like a subtitle or something so i'd actually see it the first time, maybe. i guess that depends on how you'd like the players to experience that though. still never got the hang of break though.
oh yeah i couldn't get very far so this might've changed further in but the cycling theme seemed to start and end with the player character's movement. maybe it would've come through in some of the chest items? but from what i'd seen it did just kinda seem like, monkey jungle adventure but it's on a bike.
would have liked to play more of the game but i wasn't strong enough, it was just too frustrating to move. visual style looks fantastic, rogue-like card gameplay from what i'd seen looked interesting but again, could hardly get very far with the movement.
feels like a reference to vampire survivors, tower defense and snake farm which are all games connor has enjoyed before. the difficulty is nice, and i like that the results at the end entice you with a tangible end goal of defeating a non infinite spawn of snakes. it didn't feel super fun to play though but maybe it just wasn't my pace. it definitely left me wanting to try again a few times, just more out of "i can do this" as opposed to "i am having fun" but i think the mechanics are there, it's just the movements that feel a bit sluggish.
it technically doesn't feel like anything super original here, nothing really feels tailored to this game or the cycling theme. you could have styled the summons or enemies more around cycling, maybe something as simple as sound effects could have felt unique enough. like a wheel turn for some countdowns, a bike bell or horn for the monki stun or oil squeaks for monku's heal. also maybe it would've been sick if the bike could run over the snakes through the middle if you managed to pull that off right? idk, something to help it stand out and feel more in line with the theme.
btw the pixel sprites for the snake and summons were cute, and i think all the assets should have followed that style. even lean into it with a pixel typeface.
the isometric visuals and puzzle style definitely stand out but i felt there was a lot holding it back from actually feeling fun for me. i like puzzles and i like the idea of this but the execution on it felt a bit clunky and a little unintuitive. granted, i skipped past most of the instructions at the start but that much text on screen all at once isn't the most appealing to read and i like when mechanics feel right enough that they're easy to pick up on without having to read a bunch of text.
making it faster would've helped a lot, waiting felt tedious and it'd let someone like me trial and error the mechanics much faster too. even if you were a genius you'd have to play the level at least once to preview the other vehicles coming in so, a skip or speed up button? i didn't understand the difference between using the turn signs and just using the green arrows to making connor turn but i did only play two levels. that one truck in the second level i played just stopping by itself was really confusing lol it felt like it wasn't supposed to be doing that, so some sort of visual indication of that being intentional (is it dropping off something? why did it stop?) would help with stuff like that.
also felt like you could lean into the cycling theming more with the objects you could place, design them all after road signage or something and it'd feel a lot more special, like a stop or give way sign instead of a stopwatch, and from there you could get even more creative with mechanics inspire by other signs. sometimes the ui felt a bit awkward, i'd personally make the on screen ui bigger and make the play button even bigger than the others, to give it a sense of hierarchy. also would've been funny to see connor's model kinda fall to the floor or something lol, a bit more visual oomph to losing.
i understand the time constraints of the jam though, what you managed to create feels like a lot! i'm just very particular but the idea for this jam is pretty cool. could come back to this if it feels faster so i could see more of the levels.
this is the first game i've played from the jam so far and my immediate impression was that it just jumps straight into the game without warning, and it took me a second to figure out what i was meant to be doing.
the jump and double jump have a really snappy and polished feel to them, and i really liked the colourful spritework for the cityscape in the back. i couldn't figure out how to use the charge (dash) or switch gravity though until i checked the page, the gravity does feel similarly sharp and cool but i didn't understand why i needed it? and the dash felt less smooth compared to the other movements.
after a few seconds in i was unsure if there was something i was meant to be looking forward to, didn't understand what the point of the lives were (they just went to the negatives?) and didn't get a sense of progression. i only got up to one colour change of the scenery which looked pretty but i didn't get why i got there and if anything else was actually changing at all.
the link to the theme also feels a bit weak, nothing about the mechanics or visuals really lean into cycling very much, was it meant to be ironmouse pink? i'm sure you're already aware of these flaws though, and the movement did feel nice and fun. good luck on the next patch.
yo thanks for taking the time to look into the project and see what seemed to be crashing the game. hopefully we can use this to actually get it running sometime because i'd like to have this as a working game even though it's pretty much a dead submission for the jam.... thanks again for stopping by!
hey, thanks for trying to give the game a shot and expressing your interest in it! unfortunately i think the game is just broke for now so we're gonna have to fix and update it once the voting period is over, game jams are tough.... but it'd be much appreciated if you potentially came back to try it when it's ready to be played!