itch.io

That’s a great idea! Will give it a try later :)

Really enjoyed this - like everyone else I was a bit skeptical about how you could add to tic-tac-toe but you smashed it :)

Looking forward to keeping up with development <3

Aegis 🛡

Thanks so much and glad you enjoyed playing :)

We actually have plans for the next release which will make it REALLY important which order you use your spells!

If you're interested in updates we have an email list at https://shadowboltstudios.com

Feel free to sign up and we'll add you to the Discord :)

Hopefully see you there <3

Aegis 🛡

I really had fun with this :)

The music and sounds really suit the game.

The difficulty curve is just right. It's satisfying as you know you are getting closer and closer to a solution.

My only bit of feedback is I didn't find looking at the map that rewarding, so I wonder if it's worth zooming right out at the start of the level, to show the player the direction they need to go, instead of making them use the map.

It seems a few people have commented on the trial and error so I think it would reduce greatly if you show the player the whole map as the level loads in :)

I really think that will take the game to the next level, as it's already so well polished and a fun gameplay loop.

Let me know what you think and if you'd like me to explain better I'm happy to :)

Good luck with the development <3

Aegis 🛡

I enjoyed playing this.

Here is my setup though:

I hope you take this the right way as I think this is a cool concept! It's just I didn't really feel threatened as I was playing. None of the monsters made it past the first 2 or 3 towers so I think it could have been more difficult.

I can think of a few things that would help:

• Elements might have effects, e.g. water slows, fire makes them move faster but does damage over time once they're on fire, etc.
• Some enemies might be immune to some things - I didn't feel there was any strategy to which gems I used or where I placed my towers. Maybe some synergy with which types of towers are near each other.
• Maybe something visual to show what I was protecting? A castle or a tower or something rather than just "HP Left 25"

Overall I think this is a really cool concept. I think there is a lot of potential here I'd be happy to play again in future if you continue to make updates :)

Good luck <3

Aegis 🛡

Hey, sorry you’re having trouble. This is a good example of our UX that we need to improve.

 You might need to try clicking your spells once you have confirmed your grid.

Trees do 0 damage because they’re trees ;) it’s supposed to allow the player to learn how to use their spells without taking damage.

Thanks for your feedback though and please let us know if this helps!

Aegis 🛡️

I think I pressed Enter 2x or 3x very fast when choosing language. I would start there!

Good luck! <3

Kristoff I have some great news for you!

We have a line bonus planned as a combat upgrade!

In fact, we actually have a WHOLE GRID BUFF bonus planned, if you manage to fill every single square!

We designed this as an MVP for the GMTK game jam so I hope you can excuse some of the features are missing.

Now that we have everything working (mostly), we can start implementing all the features that will make using spells more fun.

Grid bonuses, buffs & debuffs, piece synergy (2 fire spells next to each other = buff), the list is endless. We're really excited by the possibilities.

Good suggestion about the things between fights, I enjoyed Umblight a lot!

Thanks for the feedback <3

Hope you will come and try v4 when it's out!

Aegis 🛡

Loved this. Really reminded me of Inscryption.

The tutorial is good. My only feedback is you probably need to hold the player's hand even more. It took me a while to right click the card to use the light token, even though you had told me to a few texts earlier. I think Inscryption would have said explicitly "Right click the card" when I had to.

A few minor nitpicks: 

• The rightclick tooltip text is off the screen when combining cards.
• The light token thing stole all of my light tokens before I realised what was happening. I would suggest taking players to a separate screen and ask them to add the tokens and see the hearts popping up, then they can see what they are doing.
• I would have liked to see the cards I was winning when choosing a reward. I was sad that I had to go and open my inventory.

All in all this is a great game and I can really see the potential.

p.s. BTW I had no difficulty beating any of the encounters. You might be able to make them a little harder. I hardly took any damage.

I found it was safe to presume that uncovered cards that the opponent had would only ever do 1 damage - perhaps increase the chance of those being 2 power or even a small chance they are 3 power.

Thanks for your comments on our game.

Good luck with Umblight <3

Aegis 🛡

I really enjoyed playing this.

Although I didn't realise you could make multiple connections.

I only realised when I saw the screenshot!

So I sat there getting a really high score with minimal connections.

If I had started losing score I would have realised you needed to make more connections, so maybe make sure the player can't get maximum score with minimum connections.

When I played a second time and the map zoomed out, I couldn't zoom in fast enough so my score went to 0.

I think you should let the player have a bit of grace while they zoom in and get ready to go again.

Oh and a tiny visual thing but I would suggest you let the player zoom in, as I found clicking the network lines difficult, they are very thin.

Overall I enjoyed it and hope you keep developing! :)

Aegis 🛡

Ah I think it was these 2 that look a little off, the one at the bottom of the card looks fine but the contrast is a little low - so I noticed the bronze and the silver first and didn't know what it was.

Very very minor and now that I look at it again I can see it's a key but first time it wasn't so obvious

Good luck with the development <3

Aegis 🛡

I really enjoyed playing my character "beaverino".

He had 50 IQ.

He was a thief.

He loved being a thief so much.

He lived at his Aunt's house.

in 2 days, he quickly made $18 and ended up with $78 in total.

He loved being a thief so much... he forgot eat.

He died on day 2. Happy and fulfilled, but seriously malnourished.

On my second play through I think I found a bug:

On my 3rd playthrough, Beaverino 2 was robbed on day 6 and lost his motivation to play :(

Feedback: it's maybe a little too random. It's fun to have things happen randomly but if you've been careful to eat, make money and made smart choices, losing all your money feels very harsh.

I really liked the music and text sound. The pauses between sentences

.

.

.

Really added to the tension before you found out what happened :)

Great concept, I really enjoyed the theme.

Aegis 🛡

I really had a lot fun with this!

And I'm really proud of my score!!

I have quite a bit of feedback and I hope you take this the right way, I really think this could be a cool, fast-paced FPS shooter with a bit of polish.

Feedback wise, the red colour on the gun, because it's so shiny it looks orange... and is VERY similar to the yellow, I found that frustrating. 

I also don't think the colours need to be random, I would have rather scrolled to the correct colour.

Or put the upcoming colours on the gun so I can see what is coming, rather than having to look at the bottom of the screen.

Or if you made the spawns more frequent or put more enemies on the screen at once you would be able to use the other colours more.

I also don't think the bullet drop is necessary, I didn't find it rewarding to guess the bullet drop I would rather my bullets just go straight.

Finally, I think you could make the player dodge something, either bullets/projectiles or things on the floor. I didn't feel much need to move otherwise.

Hope this all makes sense, feel free to reply if you want me to explain anything better.

I hope you keep developing this :)

Aegis 🛡

I really like the premise. I felt like a cute little cotton ball. The rolling movement is cool too.

I thought the spikes were very harsh, especially when you come up against them the first time.

Then starting all the way at the beginning is very harsh.

In games like this, making the player start again because of their mistake is fine. Making the player start again because the way the ants jump is buggy or the spikes move inconsistently is too harsh imo.

Great game and I hope you keep developing :)

Aegis 🛡

Happy to play again if you want more feedback once you've made changes :)

I like the card design, the animals are great but maybe your starting cards are too weak to start - too many beavers!

Especially since I didn't find a way to remove them?

The only card that might need the art improving on is the key, I couldn't tell it was a key.

The animation is a little too slow when mousing over, and it should probably be a bit bigger, I found them hard to read.

The amalgam design is cool, maybe you could get more cards that do more things to him, like cards that buff him specifically.

I would also have liked to find a priest so I could use them, they seem fun!

I really can't find much wrong with this game apart from some small things. It's a really cool concept and I like how simple it is to understand. I imagine with enough balance this could be a full game!

Hope you make more updates, let me know if you do <3

Aegis 🛡

I really enjoyed playing this. The difficulty and level design was just right - the choice of character and sounds was good too. 

The music could have been a little bit more appropriate, it was quite a cute character so maybe cuter music? idk

I found some small things that would make the game great.

• A small delay before spring bouncing would have been nice after falling down onto a spring. I found myself getting bounced straight back where I came... a lot!
• Coyote time would have also been nice! I had a few times where I fell off. Even just 0.5 seconds or a small number of frames would have helped.
• If you play a game like Mario or Super Meat Boy or any platformer really, you'll find the character has momentum and inertia. It would be worth trying to implement a bit of inertia to make running and movement feel more natural.

Overall, I enjoyed the game and I hope you keep making updates.

You could do all sorts of themes and new abilities which would be really fun!

Good luck and let me know if you ever update, I'd be happy to play again!

Aegis 🛡

The shadows are really cool, it makes the game come alive. The art style in general and music is really cool too.

The concept is genius!

However I didn't really get on with the 3d folding - MMB isn't a great keybind because my screen kept scrolling up and down the page.

I couldn't figure out if it mattered where you created the fold?

I would like to be able to use a keyboard keybind or you might have to carefully explain what world folding is doing with a very simple tutorial level.

In Mario, when you switch to the background areas, you go through a pipe or you bounce off a spring, so I wonder if it would be better to let the player create a portal and have an animation so that they can see that they pop through the portal and end up on the other side?

Doesn't have to be that idea but hope that helps get you thinking.

Let me know if you want me to explain better :)

Aegis 🛡

I really enjoyed this and I'm really sad that I got stuck.

A few things happened:

I found the harmonica and played Alouette randomly just to try out the harmonica... also twinkle twinkle little start but again the spirit did nothing

Then I went and found the paper and saw the notes and couldn't believe it! It was Alouette!!!!

Would the song have worked before I found the paper?

After that I got stuck.. I couldn't go outside, the hob did nothing, the oven did nothing, the fridge did nothing, the cupboard did nothing, the wallet did nothing.

What was I supposed to do then?

It's a shame because I'm really bought in to the story and want to know how it ends

A few inconveniences:

When I was focused on an item (like the mirror or papers) you can click through them... so I would be looking at the dirty mirror and trying to click on it and the fog horn operator would be saying "I can't go out there" because I had clicked on the door behind or "All my stuff is in there" because I had clicked on the bag.

Another thing I would suggest is making the "you can click on this" cursor more different so I know whether I can interact or not.

In point and click games, I think the player will try and click every single thing. So give them plenty of things to click on, even if it's just a quick "nope" or "nuh-uh". 

Please let me know what to do where I got stuck because I really want to finish it. I will also ask our Community Lead, Sunflower, to play because I know she loves games like these.

This is a really great and polished game for the amount of time you had for the jam.

Great job <3

Aegis 🛡

This game is egg-ceptional ;)

I truly loved it and it's one of the very few games I've had a few attempts at.

I had 3 playthroughs and really enjoyed the gameplay loop.

The thing that stopped me playing again and trying new strategies was probably that it got a little bit samey.

The placement mechanic of each veg/meat is very similar, the omelette is the same every time (unless it gets a bit bigger/smaller).

My strategy was to avoid negatives and always go for synergy as much as possible.

Also I didn't understand the coconut "per any on omelette" and because it's a rogue-like I couldn't really afford to take it and test it when I could just pick tomatoes.

I would look at ways to add to that core gameplay loop that will keep it more engaging. That might mean slowing down the conveyor and giving a new player more time.

Happy to talk you through my thought process as I play if you think it would help?

Let me know or you can add me on discord aegis_sbs

Cheers

Aegis 🛡

Funny and unique art style, and the music and the sounds are cool - reminds me of old cool flash games.

And on level 2, if it's intentional that you have to die to complete the level, those kinds of things are very clever... kinda meta.

I couldn't finish the game as it crashed badly on windows and kept crashing on the browser.

If you manage to fix the bugs let me know and I'll happily play more levels and give you feedback.

Keep it up :)

Aegis 🛡

My plants all died :(

Just like real life 😂

I want to be really honest here, because I think you have the idea of a great game.

I wasn't sure what the root number truly represented, or how it spread, or how it contributed to the plant.

I also wasn't sure what the water droplet represented, or how fast it would go up.

Nor the sun symbol, and what that represented or how it was affected.

I didn't really understand the water absorption stats when I clicked a plant either.

So either needs lots of work on a tutorial - like giving the player a single plant and stepping them through how to make it grow REALLY WELL!

Or lots of work on the UX/UI to make sure the player knows what they're doing is having an effect and on what.

The other suggestions below are great - definitely need sounds, some chill music and it will be a great chill game.

Btw, we found it really helped watching people play our game. I wondered if you would like to see how I play so I can give you some live feedback?

Let me know or add me on discord - aegis_sbs :)

Aegis 🛡

Tom502: Hmm, these don't seem to be different... which one should I choose, fireball or fireball?

Devs: Yes.

Will be trying Claw and Awe later, looking forward to reviewing <3

I really wanted to take reset out for you haha... but we didn't manage to get it in for v3 :(

I'll DM you separately on discord about the UI, definitely needs work.

Thanks as ever for your contributions, couldn't do it without you <3

Aegis 🛡

Thanks so much for the suggestions <3

If you're serious about seeing updates we have an email list at https://shadowboltstudios.com, it would be an honour for you to join.

Our plan is to have some grid slots that are better than others and also buffs/debuffs depending on order of spells.

Both of those things will make it matter where you place your spells and in which order :)

Interested to hear what you mean about more health, for the player or the bosses? The trees are just for practice/tutorial really. Currently Sir Timothy (boss 4) has 1500 health and Lil Timmy (boss 5) has 2200!!

Looking forward to trying Callisia later!

Aegis 🛡

Thank you for playing :)

We love the concept and in our next release we’ve doubled down on the grid building mechanic…

If you liked this concept, you’ll love the update!

Let me know if you’re up for play testing and we can get you on the email list <3

Aegis 🛡️

Yep, 2 battles, no portraits. Glad to hear you want more :)

We're going to overhaul the drag and drop and make sure you can move placed blocks ASAP

In alpha-v2 we have enemy portraits and for now we have put the boss's next attack in the combat log 👇

If you're serious about wanting more, we have an email list and a private discord for playtesting. You can sign up at https://shadowboltstudios.com 📩

We'll be releasing alpha-v3 later this week.

Thanks again for the feedback :)

Aegis 🛡️

Ah sorry to hear you lost 2 team members, that must have made things much trickier. All things considered, it's a great game and has loads of potential. Hope you get round to doing the update.

Aegis 🛡

Hey, wanted to give this a proper review since I know you've been contributing to lots of other games today.

Firstly, love the theme and the music. If those assets weren't premade they're really well executed.

Lots of people have mentioned the controls and level size so I won't hammer those home - I would think about what keys games usually use for vault & climb and try stick to those.

I have a few things to say about the level design that might be worth considering in the future.

• Try guide the player visually between goals - I didn't know what to do after climbing this tower for example - turns out it was nothing.
  
  
  
  Colours would have helped, matching the colour of the box / gate / switch to each other means the player knows what to expect when flicking a switch/moving a box.
  
  Alternatively a wire or track that goes from the switch to a gate is often used and would have helped here.

• If there is a choice of direction/branch (like in the middle part), I would suggest you make sure you show the player all 3 routes on one screen so they know only 1 is open. I spent time trying to get through the gate on the right for example. I climbed on the small box, tried to climb on the big box (it was at waste height) and couldn't. This would all come out through play testing I'm sure.
  
• I found a few places on the map that didn't serve a purpose. After the second gate in the middle I turned immediately left to see a completely blank area - you can be ruthless with how much of your level is walkable. Make sure every part serves a purpose. Especially in the second area - I rushed through that part without having to use multiple boxes. If you want your players to solve a puzzle with a particular solution you have to make sure they can't just rush through/cheese it.
  
• Finally, a small one, but I didn't think the terminals stood out enough visually - I had to look hard to see them.

All in all I think this is a great entry and fits the theme well. If you ever need a play tester to guide feedback feel free to reach out.

Aegis 🛡

p.s I was promised that I could pet a dog... I did not find a dog :(

I couldn't read the instructions because they were off my screen.

I found if you just spammed right click at the bin you would eventually get some in.

When I got one in, I smiled.

My current contender for GOTY 2024 :)

p.s don't forget to smile!

Ah now that sounds cool! How was that going to work?

I like this idea.

It's fun and I can see it getting more and more complex.

I also liked the style.

My only feedback is actually the link to the theme. I didn't feel like I was building anything, or scaling anything. I think the games that will do the best in this jam will have NAILED the theme.

Still a great idea, great game and great style.

Well done :)

Aegis 🛡

Excellent game - I really think the only thing that will stop this getting into the top 20 (if it doesn't) is the lack of tutorial, which is harsh given its a game jam.

I have 2 tiny bits of feedback:

First - I felt like I could cheese the level with 3 flags at the bottom, 1 at the top. Personally, that didn't feel right as a player - I wanted to know I'd chosen the right solution, not cheesed it.

My second bit of feedback is about the scaling tool. It didn't quite feel right scaling from the center. Intuitively I thought it would only extend from the side that you're moving the mouse towards. 

It would be more difficult to scale down in this way - maybe it would need 2 more clickable entities. Anyway you guys are clearly great game designers so I'm sure you could figure it out if you think it's enough of a problem.

Great job, it's really polished and a one of the best "complete" games I've played this jam <3

Thanks for the insight, we definitely need to work on the snapping, it is very strict.

You might also find you can sometimes drag and let go quickly and the pieces will snap all the way to the other grid.

Difficult to get right!

Btw really appreciate you replying. If you would be open minded enough we are trying to build an email list of play testers so we can keep trying new things. We really want to make this into a full game. You can sign up at shadowboltstudios.com and I’ll send you an invite to the discord.

Will try play SUPER GIMBAL as soon as I’m home to exchange feedback <3

Aegis 🛡️

Thanks videozax,

Do you mind elaborating on what you mean by drag and drop could be better?

Guessing you mean a bit “kinder” as in not as harsh and a bit more predictable?

thanks so much for your comment and feedback <3

Aegis 🛡️

We're pretty confident the shield works but I think you may have discovered a slightly different bug.

For anyone reading this there are 2 things that need fixing:

1. Boss description isn't clear enough. The Powerful Attack should always be on Turn 2.
2. The turn counter that counts Timmy Jr's attacks doesn't reset. So if you have to restart a few times it will be out of sync.

Sorry if you found this frustrating.

We'll do better next time <3

Aegis 🛡

Ah cool! Thanks for the kind words <3

Interestingly, when we had the idea we couldn't remember which games had done it - but we knew they were out there..

I mentioned DayZ at the time.

After a bit of research, we found a few more - Stalker, The Forest...

We're going to keep building on this concept :)

Thanks for your comment <3

Aegis 🛡

Thanks MysticsDen, we’re working on v2 as we speak.

If you're serious about wanting to come back and play we have an email list if you want to join our alpha testers? You can join at https://shadowboltstudios.com

Thanks for your kind words!

Aegis 🛡

Really love this idea, such a big fan of a real-world implementation of the theme.

Great style as well, really fit the implementation.

My only feedback is that the movement felt a bit stiff. In a game like this, character movement is really important - totally understandable that you didn't manage to get it done in a jam though.

Seriously, hats off for the idea, the way you implemented it and the execution.