itch.io

i think i started the game!! ...but i'm not sure i trust it :p

thanks so much for playing! there’s definitely a lot of randomness involved in this game. i was aiming to give the player an overwhelmed, anxious feeling during play more than a potential to actually avoid all the pictures. buuuuut even then, i agree that it’s super random. chalk it up to a product of the short development time, hehe.

right now i’m going through an online course to build up some more fundamental programming skills, but i may revisit this and try to make it a little more deterministic! i have some ideas, but nothing concrete at the moment. thanks again for playing and commenting :)

5/4 endings!! my best time is 50, and this is the furthest i managed to get without infinite time. fun, cute little game! :)

excellent! i’ll be back on the eleventh :D

the rng definitely plays a huge role in this! that’s something i’d like to work on minimizing in the future, but for a jam it helped actually finish something, hehe. my best so far is 7!

agh, i can’t remember if i tried to fix that or just also found it. if i do revisit this i’ll probably code the platforming collisions a little differently (there’s a demo cartridge that i’m hoping to analyze more when i have a better grasp of coding in general, lol). thanks for playing and letting me know tho! :)

😡⭐️🐟

hehe, thank you! currently trying to decide whether to expand on this more, or work on a few more prototype ideas first

ahh, gotcha. for future reference, this is one of those jams that wait to announce the theme until the jam starts

the theme is “the matrix”. apparently the host had some airport issues—the theme is on the discord, not sure why it’s not up here

EDIT: screenshot for proof

agh, wanted to give this one a try but i'm facing the dreaded spacebar bug :( i tried it on firefox then also tried downloading, but neither worked. i unplugged my usb mouse in case that was doing something weird, and still nothing. if there are any more details or specs of mine that would help you to know, i'm happy to poke around

oh hey! nice to see someone else who did a reverse pokemon snap :)

i thought that taunting the camera was cute, and the music fit the theme well. as someone else mentioned, the controls are a little awkward. i think something like 'L' instead of 'ctrl' would have had it all on the same row of keys and also feel intuitive (hiding buttons on either side, taunt in the middle). i also wish there had been more of an indication of when the camera was about to fire--a gradual brightening around the edges, or a windup sound effect, or something. then there would be more room to try and taunt as long as you can before hiding, instead of (what i usually did) just taunting once while you're running to the next thing.

i liked that there was a crouching pose for the smaller-object-hide, but i think it could have been even lower than it was (exaggeration is good for conveying info to the player)! and maybe there could've been a different pose for the bigger-object-hide too (but i'm not sure how that would look). also it would be good to have the player sprite in front of all the objects until they're hiding--then it's more intuitive to see why you have to actively hide instead of just standing behind things.

overall, i just want more stuff in here! but that's how game jams go, and especially since it's most of your first one(!!! congrats). i'm obviously biased towards the "role reversal" here, but i do really like this take on it and i hope to see it further developed!

wow, great job! i really love the spritework here, and the theme is integrated very cleverly (even though i spoiled it by reading the questionnaire first... oops).

my big complaint is the keyboard controls--not sure if this is a standard set of keys i'm just not used to, but my hands had a hard time finding a comfortable spot (especially since i was using arrow keys for movement at first). i would have loved to use 'up' or 'w' instead of space for jump, and maybe a different key for the dash as well. i missed out on the slash move completely my first time through, but that's my fault for not reading the controls :p

the boss's invincibility frames lasted a little too long for my liking, but i still beat it (though i cut it real close!) so i guess i can't complain too much. i loved how the health got higher depending on how much you died in the beginning-- really neat stuff!!

if you keep expanding on this, i'd love more powerups (obvi) but maybe optional powerups, too? i feel like there'd be a lot of interesting risk reward with which powerups to grab and which to leave behind, so the final boss isn't *too* overpowered with everything, but you can also still get to that point without dying too much. but this is already real fun for a jam project! well done :)

i'm very not good at this, but it's fun! i love a little anxiety with my games, hehe.

i've seen a few takes on being the dev instead of the player, but this one is nice because it also feels kind of like a reverse doodle jump kinda thing, where you're moving and placing platforms instead of navigating through them. the art, and *especially* the title screen, is great!

my only complaints are 1) as someone else mentioned, not being able to put small platforms close enough to the edge sometimes, and 2) i was expecting the intro splash screen to fade away on its own, so i sat there for a bit before pressing anything. that's the tiniest of nitpicks though. good work on this!

thank youuu :) and nice! it's definitely not a take i've seen much in this jam--i did find "no photos, please!" through the search bar after your comment. are there others i'm missing?

thank you, and i definitely will be thinking about it :) i think i wanna lean into stealth more than speed-up sort of things, and i have a sort of nebulous narrative taking form in my head. but it's all hypothetical til i actually make it, so i won't say too much

i like this! being the card dealer isn't something i've seen yet in this jam; nice thinking :) i'll try and come back to this after the jam is over for an update, but for now it's really nice trying to just settle into a rhythm with the dealing (even if i'm not great at it, lol). i also really like the sounds you used. they're very satisfying and make me wanna go shuffle some cards

i did run into a minor glitch when i replayed--not sure if some variables need to be reset or what, but after two deals it ended my game and showed me this screen (after some glitchy, duplicating shuffle sounds too). i'm running on firefox, if that helps!

thanks so much for playing! glad to hear you liked it :)

hehehe, i like this >:) obviously it could use some more work in a less time-constrained setting, but this is already really enticing. the art is definitely the highlight--even without dialog, each character really comes through. great spritework and wonderful animations!

i'm excited to see more development on this! more levels for sure, but also more things to do with the possessed items--i think i was expecting a little more "ghost trick"-ness, where each item would have unique things to do, but i couldn't figure out anything other than throwing them. it doesn't seem like the "scare" does anything yet, but i really loved the ghost's transformation.

this is good for the jam, and i'm excited to see where it goes! i've actually been wanting to make a reverse-horror game starring a ghost for a bit, and this has gotten me even more excited. great job!

my one note now that i think about it, is a fullscreen option would be great in browser. i managed to fit the window on my screen, but the itch badge things overlap the side (pic included). not a huge deal, but it would be a nice option :)

this is brilliant! one of the more interesting takes on the theme that i've seen, and the levels only got better and better. by level nine my smile was all the way across my face, even when i died on my first attempt. you really have to flip your platforming mindset for this, and i loved all the little tricks i learned along the way. can't wait to see more of this!

thanks!! i knew it was gonna be difficult to avoid them, so i wanted to make it more of a score thing than a failstate. i think i want to keep it as a score thing, but also make it more possible to avoid them altogether in the hypothetical future version. like, each level is scored and that score is saved? anyway that's probably enough rambling, haha. thanks again for playing and commenting! glad you liked it :)

( pictured: moments just after disaster D: )

the humor is on point here. the art, music, story--everything feels like a legit vn (albeit miniaturized) and it sells the humor well. gender choice for the pipe is brilliant, as is playing flappy bird to unlock the dialog.

my only complaint is i had a few missed clicks during the flappy bird game--thankfully nothing at a crucial time (though once when i was in the 20s pursuing the "ram into my pipe" option). i know that it doesn't count if you click outside of the minigame area, but there were some times where i'm pretty sure i clicked on the screen and the game would just miss it. it also felt weird that mouse-release was the jump button, but i feel like that's how the original might have worked too? i can't remember well since it's been forever, haha.

very strong entry. the jam theme feels a little stretched, but it just all works so well. i laughed out loud at multiple points, and it felt so good when flappy-kun finally rammed into my pipe c:

very fun! i agree with bad piggy about the bait-catching timer, but i won't pile on too much.

every aspect works together really well (i especially like the sound design). it really does feel like a reverse ridiculous fishing, with the two phases of "catching" the fishers. super well-designed, and i'm excited to see more of this post-jam. great job!

EDIT: my high score is only 12 so far, but i'll be back! :)

i love this idea! all three brothers are full of character, and their playstyles are all very distinct. it took me a bit of fiddling around to figure out the sleep stuff, but once the other two are sleeping, it works best for zoodle to go to the foot of the bed and sleep instead of standing on top of it. unfortunately, when i finally figured it out i accidentally put zigzag right back to sleep and couldn't figure out how to wake him up, so i lost wave 2 pretty quickly :(

sleeping shenanigans aside, this is a wonderful little arcadey game! three characters feels like the sweet spot: enough that i can't just go on autopilot, but not so many that it's impossible to play. i wonder if switching characters at any distance could work, maybe with buttons for switching back/forward? that way you could spread out more with zigly and zigzag, and you'd need to be more careful with making sure zoodle can get to everyone before the time runs out!

the presentation is wonderful on this. music is well-chosen and suits the theme perfectly, and the art (especially the brothers' designs!) is charming. well done! i'm gonna come back to this later and try to do better, hehe

thank you, thank you! glad you liked it. i've definitely been feeling better about my pixel art, so i appreciate your comment there :) here's to continued improvement!!

ooh, that's an interesting idea... i think it would be frustrating in this version with how many cameras there are, but i'll try that out while i'm working on it in the (hopefully near) future. thanks for playing and commenting! glad you liked it :)

i got it in 8:45 (but i'm getting sleepy, so that may have slowed me down a bit hehe). this is solid. i like the pixel-work, and nothing seems out of place or clashy. the music was well-chosen: nice and soothing to help me sink into the puzzle. there didn't seem to be any filler--every section was asking me to do something new, or putting new pieces together. i felt like every command got a good bit of use, and the combinations were balanced enough that i never really had a go-to combo.

i'll add my voice to those complaining about the player resetting whenever you put down a new block. it wasn't a huge deal, but it did get a little frustrating with some of the longer segments when i had to make adjustments, or when i was altering things later in the course and wished they could just run through the already-working parts while i did that. maybe you could detect the player's proximity to the block being changed, and only reset if they're within a certain number of blocks? not sure how feasible that is, but something along those lines would make it a little smoother in the endgame.

that's my only complaint though. this is a wonderful take on the theme and very well-implemented. those last few parts were super satisfying to solve. great work!

gosh, it's so satisfying to block attacks :D this is fun! wish there were more fights, but that's how jam games go. the art feels paper mario-y while still having its own style. i like the music, but i wonder if something more frantic would fit the game better? a victory fanfare would have been a nice touch too, but that's just me brainstorming. this is already great :)

this is great! the last three levels especially--i wish more of them had been on that level of difficulty, but the rest were still fun and well designed! hope to see more of this one :)

what a wonderful little puzzler! the intro was super endearing, of course. great job with that. this game has a wonderful intertwining of theme, art, music, and gameplay. they all harmonize with each other wonderfully, and the whole project feels really well thought out.

the arrows were nice for the first two levels! i don't see any harm in taking them away for future levels, but i will say that i (for the most part) just started the run to see where they'd go, rather than trying to figure it out in my head. not sure if there's a good way to curb that behavior, or if that's even something you're worried about.

this game is surprisingly intuitive, given that i've not played anything like it before. when the two didn't crash on a parallel line, my immediate reaction was "oh of course, they just ran past each other." it was fun to work out all the puzzles, and the romantic in me is thrilled to have sparked so many meetings :p great game! one of my favorites

my game seemed to get hung up on level 4--it would just loop the same level when i chose "next level," and when i went back to the level select i only had 1-4 unlocked (even though i'd definitely beaten more than four levels).

i like the idea of switching characters! that's something i actually haven't seen much of this jam, so props for that. i wish their abilities were more distinct though. maybe there's more differences in the parts i couldn't get to, but for the most part i was just using BOY to play most of the level and GIRL exclusively when i needed to wall jump. maybe one of them could be better at platforming across the board (jump height, wall jump, etc) while the other can take more hits before they need to respawn, or maybe move faster? something that separates them a little more.

i did have a weird li'l bug with the respawn where i had to press it twice before i could start playing again--not sure what was happening there. i would also die to spikes without actually touching them (image included), so the collisions might need a bit of looking at.

the music... i would recommend finding something *much* longer if you're going to have a loop. one measure of music gets old really quickly, and i ended up turning down my volume to listen to a podcast instead. i see you made it yourself according to the questionnaire, and it's not bad in isolation! but if this is all you can produce in 48 hours (and there's no shame in that when you're making the whole thing on your own), i would recommend finding something royalty free to play instead.

i'm not sure why this game glitched out and just looped the same level over and over again, but i would have liked to get to the end! might give it another try tomorrow. hopefully it was a weird, one-time bug. all criticisms aside, jams are hard and you pulled together some cool, interesting stuff! i'd love to see it more polished after voting ends :)

here's the pic of me dying a little bit before a spike (not the only time, but one of the bigger distances probably)

47:16 is my best! i really like the concept of this--there's a natural push and pull to zooming in close to the asteroids, then turning around to blast them. it can be really tricky to get to them in time, especially as they start coming in more quickly!

i think a screen wrap a la asteroids would be wonderful here. or maybe a little zoomed out on the perspective--smaller sprites and slower speeds, so there's more time to see and react. but this is still a fun score chaser! i had a good time playing :)

i made it home! this was fun and cute :) level one confused me at first because it wouldn't let me place items, but once i got to the second level it made sense!

one thing i might look at some more is the order of levels. some of the levels are a lot more simple than ones before (i think the one where you just have to reverse the green slime would be better before you have to use two slimes and reverse one of them, for example). that way there's more of a steady introduction of mechanics needed, instead of feeling zig-zagged back and forth.

the reverse arrow confused me at first, because i though the blue and purple arrows were just pointing your slime in the direction they were pointing. took me until the last level to realize that the purple arrow reverses your direction both ways. maybe another symbol would be better, like a circle-y arrow? i also didn't use the speed up/slow down arrows (that's what the other ones were, right?) to much, which might be why i didn't realize about the purple arrow til later. i think more incentive to use that would be great--maybe the green slime can turn around if it hits a door that's not open yet? then you'd have to be more careful with getting other slimes onto the buttons quickly while slowing the green slime down.

overall this was a fun little game, though! nothing was broken, which is always a plus haha. i liked the art, and slimes are always adorable. the bouncing animation was really nice :) good work, and congrats on the jam!

that’s completely understandable! and i did still enjoy the ending (depressing stories are my fav, lol)—just felt a little blindsided at first. 

the bar method felt to me like a red herring, which is why i went back to check. wanted to see if it would work, or if i’d get some extra text where the main character was too disturbed by the “god’s tears” incident to watch the pc die again, or something like that. 

thank you! i wasn’t sure if i was gonna jam or not, but when i had this idea i knew i needed to try *something* 

i can't get past the second level--hero slows down too much and starts going in the opposite direction, so even when he's off the mud and goes down the gap he just rolls off the left side of the platform instead of going to the door. i like the idea though!

this is the error i get when i try to run it; not sure if it's the same as op though

i did it! i'm a little blown away, this is really well done! some of the qol stuff you've mentioned in other comments would be good, but WOW this is already really solid.

i do like the ending, but the abruptness of the last sentence caught me off guard. "and then you realized." ...realized what? the mirror, or something else? i wasn't sure if the game crashed before the actual last line, or if that was it. i think maybe omitting that line entirely might help it feel better? or maybe cutting to a glitchy credits screen before closing the game--something that still feels like a crash, but also comes off as more intentional.

i did go back to replay and check if the "exactly one solution" promise held true... and i found a second way to do it? i found two ways to kill the pc in instance #1, and both of them worked for the final solution. not really a bug or anything, but i wasn't sure if this was intentional or not so i thought i'd make a note of it.

i love the look of this game--it feels equal parts trippy and retro. very well done. the music was very pleasant, and i like your interpretation of the theme a lot. i'm also partial to time loop games, so extra points there. this is one of my favorites so far!