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Dude! Where's my Couch?

Tic TacTic

Forest Farming

Dave the Duck

Link to VOD:

Visually, this game is amazing. I really love the graphic design for it, and I think it's solid. Soundtrack feels good as well, not overwhelming. This game however could use some work to really make it shine. I had a lot of laughs while playing, but it's very clearly in the earlier stages of development (and that's fine, that just means feedback is easier to incorporate).

First and foremost, I'd like a button tutorial. It took me just pushing buttons at random to realize that the right joystick would let me control the camera angle, and that's HUGE for some of these puzzles. Knowing ahead of time which buttons do what would be nice--even if it's just a little pop-up that maps them out for you.

Speaking of that camera angle, the fact that the camera spins when you get on top of certain moving objects is funny for about 0.5 seconds, and then it's nauseating. Plus, since you have to keep moving usually once you get off said moving object, you don't have the ability to readjust your camera angle and that's a struggle, too. Please make it so the camera itself doesn't spin with the character when the character goes for a ride on said moving objects, the fate of all of us gamers with even an iota of motion sickness relies on this. 💜

The levels, while fun, do not seem to go in a linear pattern for how much skill it takes to complete them. I definitely think this deserves a rework overall. Some of the earlier levels felt particularly difficult, and then the level after could be completed with two jumps and easily avoiding an object. So instead of getting progressively more difficult, it felt more like a wave of ups-and-downs on difficulty.

In order to help the player know where Dave is going to land, having a shadow under our fine feathered friend at all times would really help. That way I could see where I'm aiming as I make jumps to tiny little platforms. 

Similarly, some of the platforms that explode need to be a bit more forgiving with timing to get to the next spot, or give you more of a boost. At least one person in my chat watching me struggle with a level said they would have flat out given up on trying to get the timing, and I think that is important to note. You want it to be difficult, but you don't want it to feel unforgiving.

Thankfully though, since the levels are not super long and you can see them start-to-finish, it's not too painful to be sent back to the beginning over and over again. If the levels were any longer, this wouldn't be the case. So if you do decide to add in longer levels as the player progresses, adding in readily spaced checkpoints will also be a good idea so that the player doesn't always go back to square one upon a misstep.

I know this game is early in development, but I would highly suggest adding in a color blind mode for it. I'm pretty sure anyone who is blue and/or yellow color blind would not be able to play this game. I know my father struggles with these colors (yellows are all beige/white for him, and blues are all gray/white), which would mean he would not be able to see this game well enough to play it. Anyone similar to him would also struggle. So adding in that accessibility component would be really helpful to appealing to a wider audience overall.

This one is nit-picky, but I also think adding a space between "level" and the level number would visually be good--especially since the lowercase "L" and the "1" look so similar. Or use a dash (ie level-1) to make a visual distinction.

Despite it being rough around the edges as far as gameplay goes though, it's an enjoyable game thus far. I could see myself playing a lot of this game, especially if you were able to get it into Steam with leaderboards shared among your friends? Oh boy, the competitiveness between my friends and I that we could have in this game would be AMAZING. We already get super competitive with the leaderboards for Super Hexagon, so this would be a fun one to add to our mix.

Link to VOD:

This game is so cute! I adore the graphics, the color choices, and the soundtrack so much! It really gives a sense of peacefulness to match perfectly with the calmness of the game itself. I really want to know too, what font did you pick? I have need to add it into my font library if at all possible, it's so nice! I really appreciate the simplicity of this game, with the puzzles slowly getting more difficult as time goes on. Some seem a bit impossible, but I'm sure it's more me not being able to plan moves ahead very well, versus the level actually not being able to be completed in the moves suggested. I am, after all, a bit of a potato. LOL

Before I get into actual gameplay feedback, a couple notes for grammar and spelling:
- "Nice to" would feel much better as "Nice to do", especially in the explanation.
- When we are first introduced to the hedgehogs, it is misspelled in the title.
- "Qwell" is not technically a word, and I think the "q" is actually a typo (since it's next to the "w" on the keyboard). It's on the Bean Beavers card. I think it's supposed to be well-known, not qwell-known.

Okay, so while the game is not difficult to learn, pointing out some key features would be handy. The two big ones for me are indicating that clicking on the home to "go home" ends the day, and that each character gets a certain amount of steps each turn. It took me a moment to realize the little footsteps at the bottom of the screen, so if something actually indicated it to me in the tutorial round, that would be helpful. Then also, as you add in new things (like the sneak with the eyeball symbol), being able to hover over the icon and having it tell you what it means would be a nice feature. It would help to clear up some initial confusion and make the game flow better.

I also found that the chatter was a bit small on the bigger maps, until I accidentally realized I could zoom-in with my scroll wheel on my mouse. Having that indicated in the controls somewhere would be nice; both for reading the chatter (because it is very cute), and possibly for those who need a little bit of a bigger set of game tiles for visual struggles.

Other than that though, the game felt really good to me. I found it easy to get into and to play, and I think it shows a lot of promise and enjoyment. Definitely hope that the full release is a download and not a browser play though, because I can see the need to save and come back later. After all, sometimes with a tricky puzzle the best strategy is to save and walk away, to return later with a fresh mind. 🙂

Link to VOD:

This is fun! I like the art and the music a lot. I feel like the style of art really suits the game itself, from what I'm able to tell. I was enjoying myself while playing the demo, and I would definitely consider purchasing this game upon a full release. I was definitely getting invested in the story and yelling at the bad landlord! Hahaha

That said, some feedback for you.

First and foremost, please include an "exit game" selection in the menu. It was really awkward trying to exit for a moment because I didn't realize I needed to go back into settings and return to a windowed game, instead of fullscreen, to get the little "x" in the top-right corner. If you're going to offer the fullscreen option (which I think is wise), having the ability to exit the game through the main menu is also needed.

As enjoyable as the game was, I did feel like the "intro" was a bit long. You definitely earn a good bit of money, which you'll likely need for the mall, and get some experience and items--but it took me an hour to get to that part. It might not be able to be reconciled based on game needs, but it did feel a little excessive. Might feel less excessive if it's more obvious how to get money for the inn (I think you might have needed the library, but I was so busy talking to villagers that I didn't make it there in time), and the urgency is noted in getting there. Perhaps something the landlord could inform you of also.

Finally, for QOL it would be helpful if the HP bar was always shown over enemy heads. Sometimes it was there, sometimes it wasn't. Without the enemy HP bar it makes it very difficult to gauge if I should use specific items or attacks, or save them for a different time. 

Game mechanics aside now, a couple of items to note on possible bugs:
- On the roof of the apartment building I snagged the $10, but it did not go into my wallet.
- Some of the areas on the map cause the game to lag significantly.

Overall though the game is solid and I look forward to where it goes! Definitely a unique premise for a story line, and I have to say, I really like the character classes. Much better than the typical fighter/mage/rogue/healer type stuff. Plus, Bob became an agent of Chaos, who doesn't love that? LOL

RE: The Note
If the disjointedness is intentional, and you're looking to make it seem like the rants and raves of someone who isn't in their right mind, then might I suggest the use of excessive ellipses, and almost a more inner-monologue style of writing. That way it comes across as more unhinged-stream-of-consciousness and less of a planned nature. 🙂

RE: The Knife
Totally an interesting idea about the double-edged sword. Just think if that's the mechanic you want to go with, you'll definitely want a quick pop-up explaining that light comes at a price. And again, that HP items might need to be a bit more plentiful.

RE: Possession
Since it is separate, an additional bar would be good. As far as I could tell my HP was going down as I was looking at The Rot, but not touching it, so this is perhaps a bug? But yes, maybe next to or above the heart icon for HP you could do a brain one for Possession level.

I really do think it's a solid game though, and with enough time and effort you could release it to the horror world--even if just on itch.io. Steam would be awesome too, but I know plenty of horror content creators who scour itch.io as well for good horror games.

Yeah, the "your mommy" would work for sure if the relationship was already established. And the speech impediment did occur to me, but I never want to assume a disability. Somehow mentioning both ahead, or making note of it somewhere, would help.

As far as the horror genre, I trust you. It just doesn't come across in the demo. 🙂

Purple Rot

Frey Nel

YesterSol

Super Puzzled Cat

Link to VOD:

The game is adorable. I visibly squee'd when I realized the cat we're playing meows on jump--too cute! I really like the color pallet, and I enjoy the artwork. That much is down solid.

However, I almost feel like this game is a version of BattleBlock Theater without the story or the enemies. Both games are puzzle platformers where you're trying to get yarn balls and currency. As soon as I started playing I was immediately struck by how uncannily similar they are. Not to say that's a bad thing, but you'll want to make sure to add plenty of elements to keep it feeling unique as a stand-alone game.

Puzzle wise, I don't like the random element to whether or not an item is going to work--such as with the gum. I got stuck a lot because I had [seemingly] mistimed when to use an item and I bounced the wrong way, or didn't make it quite high enough, etc. I finally called it quits when I had to somehow use the cat to get to the ghost because I just did not have it in me to try and figure out how to use that item. I think it's really cool that the items let us morph the character to do different things, but we need more control over what's happening, at least to some degree. With the gum if we could set the direction of left and right that would help, and with the cat I don't mind clinging to the walls so long as I can pick when I am or am not moving; and in which direction. I get the challenge is that I cannot control it, but it got very frustrating, very fast. So some sort of balance is probably needed.

Music was a bop at first, but as someone in my chat noted, it could become a bit much after a while. Possible room for improvement there.

Link to VOD:

Honestly, I straight-up love this game. Immediately wishlisted it on Steam once I hit a stopping point, and I will be buying it when you're done. If this didn't say it was a pre-alpha build, I would have guessed it was at least beta, if not early access.

Everything is beautifully done; I love the art, the music is fitting and enjoyable, gameplay is really fun, and it's challenging without being frustrating.

I couldn't really get a solid feel on the story from what I played thus far, so perhaps introducing a bit more of the story to us early on would be helpful. Get an idea on Sol versus Luna, and the like. 

Would also be nice to have a healing station of some sort right before big boss fights. While I was able to manage it (eventually), there was a certain sense of frustration brewing at having to go so far back, and make it through a lot of hazards to reach the boss, with only six mishaps available to me. 

Regarding the boss fight I did do, the area where you can stand and try to strike the boss is very narrow. It was difficult to maneuver my character to be facing the boss, while simultaneously avoiding the whirling danger around it. A little bit more space to be able to maneuver would be appreciated just for ease of navigation.

Overall though the game is solid, and I really look forward to the full release!

Link to VOD:

As it stands now, I feel very neutral on this game. Some of that, I think, comes from not really feeling sure if this is a horror game... or just a story game? I found it in the horror genre, but what little I could experience in the demo didn't lead me to feel like this was a scary game. Perhaps that comes later as the story develops, but that genre didn't come across much in the demo.

I like the pixel art style for it, but I will say the buildings feel rather flat compared to the trees and such. Some of the objects too, like the soccer ball, feel a bit out-of-place design wise. It's oddly more detailed, somehow? If I were you, I might also change where I place the bottoms of walls as far as the walking grid system goes, so that the character doesn't appear to climb them.

The music is beautiful, I love where you're going with that.

Story could use a few clarifications and consistency to it. I think it's a really nice touch that our main character has two moms, but I was confused for a bit because of the way it was brought up in the story by saying "your mommy" instead of just "mommy". I'm also confused on the age of the character we're playing, because sometimes the character seems to be speaking with muddled consonants like a toddler, and sometimes not. And me personally, I'm not entirely sure how comfortable I feel about playing a horror game as a possibly toddler character, that feels a little morally weird.

Finally, we definitely need more guidance on what controls handle which action when, at least to start. I did a lot of guessing to get certain prompts. And with items that have a specific use, like the keys, having part of the description be something like "seems to go to a small lock, perhaps on a drawer?" would be helpful. If you aren't controlling how or when folks make certain discoveries (I certainly discovered the well before I discovered the lighter and thus the bedroom), then you'll want to give them an idea of what the item might be used for so they don't make an assumption and possibly get stuck/frustrated thinking the game broke.

Oh, and one nit-picky thing. The fourth-wall breakage where we seem to "speak" to the character we're controlling, not sure how I feel about that. Is that supposed to be us? Some sort of guiding voice? It just felt really odd, and almost out of place to me, but that might be an entirely me thing.

Wishing you all the best with this game, depending on where you take it I would consider trying it again in a completed state.

Link to VOD:

I think Purple Rot has a solid foundation going. It feels like you have something of a story that you want to tell, and you're emulating the walking simulator for it nicely. I really like the music and the color pallet for this, too. Great selections. This game has a lot of potential, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

As someone who has played a lot of walking simulators (Emika, anyone?), I do think you need a little bit more information in the game. So far it seems fine as far as the discovery of items and notes; but to make sure people find everything they'll need you'll want to make it so they cannot leave the memory, for example, until they've read the note with the passcode. Similarly, if the only light source is going to also injure you, you should be made aware of that more than just the heart icon ticking down; and I'd also say the game cannot be so extreme on brights (and maybe tone these down anyways because I almost didn't see the body in them due to the neon blindingness) and darks, and you'll need a lot better health items (or keep them plentiful) laying around. Otherwise you'll want to introduce a flashlight, or similar. Possibly the power boxes were supposed to be said light, I'm not sure. Regarding that heart icon though, it remains unclear to me if that's just HP, or also possession rate? If it is both, then there was a glitch when I was at the power boxes I believe. If it is not, then adding in a bar indicating how possessed you are would be helpful.

Now a few nit-picky items, take these as you will. First and foremost, definitely go back and re-read your notes and such. If you do choose to watch the section of the VOD where I play your game, you'll notice me mention it as I spot it, but there are a few typos and some areas that could be better grammatically. In addition, one note feels like it should be two, or have a better segway--the one in the outside drawer bank. I think you have the story in your head, which means you know where it's going and such, but as a player I don't have that insider knowledge so it feels a bit disjointed to me. If you didn't plan for it already, I'd also add in a head-bob option and a motion-blur option, because there is a decent portion of gamers (like myself) who get motion sick if one or both of these are on. Having the ability to turn them off can be the difference between us playing your game, and us having to put it down.

Finally, a word of advice. If you ever plan to put this on Steam, please try to make sure the playtime for it will be greater than 2hrs. I say this so you don't run into the same struggle that Emika has; where people buy the game, do a full playthrough, and then refund it because the total game time is less than 2hrs, and they played it within the first two weeks that they bought it. It's a really garbage move on the part of the gamers, but Steam continues to allow it to happen.

Overall though I look forward to where you take this game, and I think once complete I will see it among the games played by the horror community on Twitch. I've offered my ratings for where the game stands at present, as there is plenty of room for growth and improvement on a solid base like this.

Hi everyone! I'm Saknika, though sometimes you might hear me called Sam, and I'm a variety streamer on Twitch. I play a lot of horror games, but I also enjoy the cozier side of life, and sometimes we paint our nails or bake together! My channel is 18+ because I have a potty mouth and sometimes adult themes come up, but despite that I incorporate my knowledge as a licensed massage therapist into my stream for a self care vibe to help create a chill space for everyone. Stream is very lurk-friendly (I love my lurkers), and I'm just here on the internet to have a good time. I try to stream consistently on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays--but sometimes chronic illness, mental illnesses, and/or life gets in the way. Times vary based on my work schedule, but I try to post them weekly in Discord and on Twitter and Instagram. This is my very first Feedback Quest, and I'm looking forward to it!

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