itch.io

I got to Colorado on my first try :-) – I’m not sure where you’re from, but that fridge would be gargantuan in my locale.

Simple, but in a way that implies there’s quite a lot of thinking on the concept and how to best make it into a game. Feels quite sick as well.

It looks and sounds amazing. It feels like there’s a quite good game just a few hours of debugging and small changes away.

I got stuck in the ground a few times, even when it tried to respawn me at one time, for example. Climbing seems random whether or not it ‘connects’. Not being able to climb would be fine, but only if you have a swing mechanic or something. Which maybe wouldn’t work very well with the mouse controls as they’re set up now. While on the one hand the wheel gives this sort-of satisfying ratcheting feel, it does also feel a bit clunky (well at fist at least, I think it might be something you can get used to). It does feel more accessible to make that a button.

Lastly, that I’m able to dive this deep in criticism actually speaks for the game, as I find it hard to go deep on things that are just too simple – where there isn’t anything to fix. (Not that simplicity in an of itself is a bad thing, it can be done well and then just polished – but I think you get what I mean.)

The art is cute, and the arc of the controls is satisfying.

There’s a few things I’d like to point out though:

• you make the player die a few times (well, at least this player), since it’s not clear from the start it’s a flappy-like, not a platformer (if I didn’t know about the existence of that game I might’ve thought it was broken)
• the rocky pits stand out as hazards – the trees, not so much, especially since you can fly past the trunks, but not the tops!
• neither food, nor boinking into objects give much feedback – you turn slightly redder (which … well, the dragon is already red mostly) or you grow by a slight amount if you feed, but that seems noticeable in aggregate – this could be fixed easily with just a few audio cues
• the dragon scaling up is a decent idea, since that makes it harder at the end than at the start, but growing happens quickly (so you get very little time just chilling with the decent controls) – that combies with the hitboxes, which don’t always seem clear to me from just looking at the art

Music is a jam.

I think the control points getting stuck is mostly the legs (though I think it happened with an arm one time), when they’re fully on the ground (but I could be wrong).

Really creative idea, plays decently too – My only real gripe is that it feels like you spend a lot of time getting back into a good position if you fail for any reason.

Really cute. It feels like you focused on the core of what you wanted to do quite well, and therefore it feels more complete (if that makes sense).

While I’d seen the idea before (Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime for example – recommended game if you didn’t get the idea from there b.t.w.), the addition of hazards within the ‘smaller’ space is new, and a welcome twist – though it does make it right difficult at times.

(The description wasn’t quite clear if the art was made for and during the jam, or just by this artist, but I’m going to assume good faith here and handle it as if it is.)

Hi! First off, I really enjoyed playing around with this – there’s just the right mix of semi-intentional jank, action, thinking and just throwing spaghetti at the window (trying things out).

Props on building the 3D stuff yourself! It looked good enough that I’d assumed it was just a really good asset pack at first (given the bare-bones visual presentation of the rest of the game).

I ran into the following things (or not ran into them in some cases I suppose…):

• I found that I could get a bit off-course in level 0 (because I thought that you could click the example models, so I moved back and forth), which made me need to restart the game to get into the actual levels. – I had missed the reset/edit button at that point (since it says climb if you’re ready).
• In order to edit (or delete!) an (earlier) object, you have to first press escape to stop placing objects, then select it.
• In level 1, I could grapple some level edges.
• I can make objects float in the edit mode by deleting the box that holds them up. Of course they fall to the ground in the physics mode, so that may be expected behavior, but I could still control them.
• There’s a little ‘edge’ (at the very least in level 2) at the start that made one of my (badly placed) wheels get stuck on it.

I might’ve more comments later, since it is just fun to noodle around with (and I want to see later levels) – but I’ve to start rating other games too.

Thanks for the info! Unfortunately, we can’t change the uploads until the jam is over, so we’ll have to keep that in mind for next time.

Thanks! I think I see what you mean.

Please note though that the Box2D port I used here is of ‘Box2D Lite’, which is, as far as I can figure out, the renamed version of a really old version of Box2D (close to when the original author first presented it to the world) – this was likely done to be easier to port of systems like the Playdate, but it does make a lot of the tutorials out there not quite applicable to this version. For example, there aren’t different joint-types, it’s all done through the same joint-class. – It’s simple enough that you can just pick it up if you’re familiar with the Playdate C-API though!

Thanks! Yeah, this is definitely a candidate to play around with when it comes to expanding to a full game :-)

Thanks!

I had a lot of thoughts on how to expand this, but I only had about 10 hours to work on it in the end. – One of the things I had to decide between was going vertical or horizontal, because I knew I couldn’t do both.

By ‘less open-ended’, do you mean something like the space having an end, you could build towards?

U!

Good use of the theme in the title-screen and the, uh, ‘name’.

I managed to stumble on the laptop quite soon by accident, so I wanted to see what the rest of the game was like, but it seems it’s saved my progress, so no I’m stuck in a loop with a link that seems to be expired. – I should’ve explored more I guess.

Very slick and crisp visuals! – Though I had quite some trouble getting to the next question I’ve to admit.

It’s quite interesting how many people took the ‘remember this, then reproduce’ interpretation of the theme, and still end up with such different games!

Other than that … well, there’s some humor in the randomness of the text and graphs, and I quite like the sound design (except maybe the intro-music – that reminded me of some tracks I generated with that wolfram music generator thing).

edit Oh, and I also appreciate that you can set the difficulty in the side-menu.

That’s quite the demanding frog!

Anyway, while the time you have with jam-games usually is short, it nevertheless felt like an entire journey from being frustrated that nothing you do seems to work (that is to the point you even have to learn the controls) to feeling that you understand at least the basics, to being comfortable with the game-loop. – So while I may have been frustrated in the beginning, once it became clear that the fun of the game is finding out the controls & the ‘rhythm’ of the game, well, let’s just say I’m quite glad I only found out there was a detailed guide here later on.

In a field of games where the polish is on average very high (seriously, I don’t think I’ve played any game this time around that didn’t have some sort of polish – besides my own bare-bones effort that it), this one still manages to stand out.

The music is repetitive, but quite well done, and doesn’t really become grating.

I wonder if there’s some way to keep the ‘find out’ gameplay without the frustration in the beginning – it seemed to take forever to finish the 1st cocktail.

Also, you seem to have given every feature of the Playdate its fair shake (sometimes literally…), most notably the two most underused features, the accelerometer and the mike – and used them in a way that doesn’t really feel tacked on. (While for most of them the action could just have been a button, given the thematics, the feeling would not have been the same.)

Thanks! Yes, power-ups are an idea that didn’t make it in, sadly. – But I don’t think I’d thought of trampolines and launch-pads yet! I’ll definitely play around with those as well if I ever get a post-jam version out :-)

P.S. Good score! Launching can be very effective :-D

Thanks! Yes, it’s quite expansible! I actually really wanted different types of blocks in (you’d have gotten them with a power-up), but ran out of my (partly self-imposed) time-box. Pickups that could increase the time you have, etc.

Oh gosh I’m so bad at multitasking! Fortunately this game gets a bit easier if you’re bad at it whenever any city is destroyed. If I just focus on putting the A-rocket on a path and then switch to B and do the same thing I – well I could get a 6:30+ time on my second playthrough.

I really like how smooth the controls feel here as well. A lot of it is in the scale as well.

The twist with ‘normal’ missile command is enough to make this a proper Playdate feeling game.

(I really shouldn’t point out the lack of sound effects or music … people in glass houses and all that.)

Wait, that’s not how lighthou… .. ahem, anyway!

Glad I read the other comments, as I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this gem!

Excellent use of the console, and using the theme as(/in) the final joke is inspired.

The beam is smaller when it’s closer of course, this creates an interesting effect where it’s harder to catch up on ships you’re late with. – I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, or just ‘a thing’.

The story is very charming, even without that last stinger that made me really love it.

And indeed, some sound or music would’ve helped a bit (but I can’t complain as I didn’t add any to my own this time around either…)

Thanks for the big reply! I definitely recognize those struggles. – And yes, I’d definitely would be pleased to have made something like your game if I did it in that timespan as well.

As for the win-build, one of your team has been trying it out, but can’t get it to work, even after I thought I knew what was wrong and posted a second (and then third) version. – So maybe it’ll work for you, but don’t expect too much!

How do you manage these levels of polish in a game-jam?

Needless to say with that previous line, everything is very smooth, and there’s a lot of attention to detail. (Just things like, bowing seems to be a bespoke animation for each character, so when the king does it, you can still see the circle of the crown now pointing towards the audience…)

I actually like the easy mode a bit better (and not just because it’s easier and I can still play when I’m more tired), because it keeps building onto itself. (I may need to retry hard-mode though, as it could just be different ‘threads’ of plays that build onto themselves, not just a single one.)

You complimented me on my use of saved-data, but it seems I (or even just you) are not the only ones doing that this jam! (Which goes to show that the Playdate API is quite well designed I think.)

The only thing that was unclear at first is if the misses where per try or for the entire playthrough.

(I’d also have liked the use of the crank, if only as an extra ‘button’ to remember.)

Showtime!

Most of the fun here is in the inherent humor that comes from going to your wedding without any legwear. – Not that that’s a bad thing!

It doesn’t seem to get much harder over time? I played this on the train (busy mid-week, also the reason I’m only doing the writeups now…), and at some point I just had to cut it off, so I missed on purpose to see what would happen.

Anyway, this does fit the theme well indeed.

Here you go, this should work on Win64: https://spelbaar.nl/_nexiv/temp/win64_ForgetLevels.pdx.zip

Nicely done! Good interpretation of the theme.

The playfield is just about big enough that you can memorize it properly, even for slightly more complicated shapes.

The use of the joker is a nice touch, game-design-wise.

For polish there are things like invert, erase, etc. – It still feels a little bit clunky (what else is new for game-jame games…) as I feel those could have been elements in the interface next to the playfield, but everything you’d want is there already, which is nice.

(Also the background slowly going more black/white to indicate how close you are to the timer is a good subtle hint.)

A quite competent (and quite standard) memory game (please let met know if I missed the twist).

This of course fits the theme perfectly. I do like the way the tiles turn and that the items on them are at least decently visible given the size you’ve drawn them at.

I’m also pleased that my own memory is just about good enough that I can actually get the score multiplier off of the base level a few times before the end of the game :-p

(Difficulty-level selection is also appreciated.)

Great art & animation! A cute little distraction that fits both the theme and makes good use of the crank.

I also wonder if there’s something I’m missing. I’ve got nothing against interactive experiences – but this does present itself as something that you can play, as opposed to just experience with some interactivity (what with the timer and all)

I like this puzzle format, it feels very extendable. If you wanted to, you could even have levels where the buttons mean different things eventually.

The level select is appreciated… I’ve had a busy mid-week, so I had to play these in the train to/from work, and today I could just continue where I left off.

The only things bothering me a bit about this are:

• when climbing up the stairs, you fall back a bit at the end, making it annoying sometimes to actually get off of the ladder
• restarting when you’re just a pixel too much to the left/right feels like an unearned failure mode (the best would be to have a ‘rewind’ feature … but that can be a tall order for a jam!)
• on a more conceptual level; I feel the crank is now just used as another button – although the ‘dropping the button’ animation makes up for that ;-)

Otherwise, this is something that feels polished (like most of the things I played this time around are … maybe just a fluke, since I’ve played about 1/3rd of the games now, but otherwise surprised by the quality of all games), and while I’ve seen similar things, I’d not encountered this exact design before.

Music is also good, which is always a plus.

Hm, and the interpretation of the theme is also on point. (Also like a lot of the other entries, very good jam so far!)

P.S. I made a build with windows, so you should be able to play it in the sim. I’ll post a link to the 2 of you that where asking as soon as I’m done with at least a few more of these review writeups.

I was planning to try to compile something on Win when I’ve got a little bit more time, either this evening or tomorrow.

Thanks for persevering 😅 – and letting others know!

Glad that at least one person could play and thought it was fun ☺️

Please Note! You would need to play this either on Linux/x64 or on the Playdate for now, as I did use C for the physics. – Sorry about that.

Like Paul says, it’s either on Linux/x64 or on the Playdate itself for now, as I did use C for the physics. – Sorry about that.

Thanks so much for the torough review. I see that you did this for most or perhaps all of the games. I really appreciate people doing that in general, and you don’t even have ‘a horse in this race’ so to speak.

For what you’re meant to do; connect all the gears and belts up (from the driving gear on the left to the ones controlling the height of the hammers on the right) in such a way that the bells strike between 11:30 and 12:00. (Though take note that time only advances as the gears go as well – and even backwards when in reverse.)

As you can probably guess given my answers to the other commenters, I agree with basically all of your points:

It’s badly in need of any kind of tutorial (though the game page does offer some explanation if you do follow that link).

While I could optimize the game – I think, if I where to continue with development, I’d jank out the physics entirely.

Lastly, just as I was revamping the control-scheme to have B toggling between all possible things you can place, rather than ‘physically’ placing the cursor there and selecting with A, my ‘time was up’. (B now only toggles between vertical and horizontal placed rubber-bands.)

I haven’t decided yet wether or not I continue with this jam-prototype, but bespoke levels instead of randomization seems like a good way to go indeed.

Yes, I fully agree that the physics do get in the way (and not just because I choose to ditch C and write this one entirely in Lua…). Fun fact: In order to make it work reliably, most of the actual gameplay is already ‘not-physics’ based, and it’s just used for the animation at this point!

Thanks for playing! When you say ‘fleshed out’ do you have a direction in mind, or does it ‘just’ need a ton more polish?

Sorry about that – My failure mode is over-complicating my jam games and then running out of time before I can (polish, and) make a tutorial or nice progression!

Thanks for trying it out! I don’t think people who don’t get this game are stupid, as it doesn’t do a good job of explaining itself – tutorialization in game-jams is a bit of a weak spot of mine.

When you connect a gear with less teeth to a gear with more teeth, one of them will be rotating more quickly than the other. With belts, you can connect two gears of differing teeth together, but they’ll rotate equally quickly (it does require an extra space though). This can be used to rotate the gears that drive the hammers up at differing speed, which can make sure the bells ring at approximately the same (and correct) time, winning the game.

The thing that happens on deciding to stay is intentional right? It had me laughing so hard. (Also putting an actual bucket on the bucket-list was funny as well.)

As for the rest, ‘does what it says on the tin’ as the Brits say, and it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. (Short and sweet and it knows what it is.)

That was … extremely short (and also the jump felt a bit floaty), but – I think this is a really fun concept!

Despite the lack of SFX the platforms felt very satisfying to raise. (I think this game could benefit a lot from having sound-effects.)

While I’d have appreciated a bit more meat on this skeleton, fun doesn’t always have to be complicated.

I’m not sure what determines which game-mode gets picked. Is there some logic to it, or just random?

The most polished game I’ve played in this jam so far! I really think you could yeet this on the Catalog and no-one would bat an eye.

The visuals are crisp and the sfx are funny without getting in the way or becoming grating.

That said, while the platforming is smooth and polished, and the basic gameplay quite enjoyable, the way the game is set-up, doing (almost) the exact same thing over and over is a built-in part of the game. (I think most people are OK with that though – I just have a low frustration threshold… it’s why on my own I mostly play puzzle games.)

Another very small thing is that while it’s not too hard to figure out what to do, the image of a square next to the image of a B button didn’t really explain it for me. (Neither would ‘harden/freeze’ have been sufficient, if I had opened the game-page before I played the game.) Then again, figuring that out was a short bit of fun as well, so maybe you intended it that way?

At first I didn’t pay attention to the title, and assumed that you had to use your own seconds as ammo to reduce the ones on the other blob. The gameplay my imaginary version of your game resulted in, allowed me to go reasonably far into the actual game. – I like your idea better though.

It’s a bit hard to balance (ha) the accelerometer with the d-pad, and I think the blobs & ‘sec’s would stand out a bit better if the background was ‘grey’/dithered – bit neither is really that much of a problem honestly.

If I could change only one thing, I’d put the leftover time on the blobs.

If anything, this gives me an idea of what it must be like for anyone else to play one of my games.