itch.io

I love the way your game sounds! When most of the game is based on audio, I think it's essential to have good sound effects and voice recordings, and the clips used here sound exactly like they're supposed to, which I think is really difficult to achieve in a non-professional setting. These voice lines are the cleanest I've heard in all the games I've played with voices so far, which nets you a solid 5/5 on audio. 

That being said, you didn't skimp out on the visual elements either; it's simple, but not barren or unfinished. Great job on the models - when you're stuck looking at just one thing for the entirety of the game, you tend to notice even the smallest visual issues. And I'll be honest - I couldn't really find any, despite staring at that desk for so long. 

Your gameplay is solid as well. An easy 5/5 on innovation, which really helps you stand out among all the others. 

Honestly, I'd like to give constructive criticism, but I really can't find  any negative things to say here. Things other comments have said, such as fine-tuning the decoded section placement and adding accessibility features, just require more time, so I think it's completely fine that they're not present in a game made within 1 week. Fantastic job! 

Here's ours! I'll rate and give feedback right now. 

https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-4/rate/717733

I loved your game; it looked and played amazingly. I can't believe you nailed the NES-era graphics so well. 

https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-4/rate/717733

Wow, I can't believe you made all this in one week. The art is super reminiscent of Shovel Knight and old school NES-era games, and you nailed the aesthetic. The controls feel good, and the mechanics are simple but effective. I really like how you subtly made the rewinding more visible via making the background move really fast - that way, it's very clear that time is rewinding when it's in reverse. The only thing I'd like to see here is some ambient music, but whether you ran out of time or decided not to include it intentionally, the silence fits the environment pretty well. Fantastic job! 

Your twist on dying is pretty good - I certainly haven't seen it too often, which is a good plus for you in Theme. However, I think the hitboxes are a little large, which might lead to "unfair" feeling deaths. Some background music or more ambient sounds could also help with the environment.

Also, I think you could either make the player move faster or shrink the area size - currently, you have all this space, but since it takes so long to move, it feels slow and clunky. Fixing either the player speed or the area size would make players feel more like they're in control of their positioning on the map. 

Despite the issues, I enjoyed playing the game, and the first time I saw the error screen I legit thought the game crashed, which is good for immersion. Good job!

Sure, I like ducks and chocobo. Also, in restrospect, you're right, I guess the starting portion of the Stage 2 theme does sound like Tifa's theme! Thanks for the kind words!

Ah, that's a good point. In that case, maybe P would be a decent choice. No problem!

You did everything here yourself? Very impressive; the art's great, the music's good, the gameplay is simple but effective, and you didn't skimp on UI either. Nice work! If I would adjust anything, perhaps make the pause menu activate via ESC instad of Tab - I think it would be a lot more intuitive for many players. 

Rated. 

https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-4/rate/717733

The game looks really well put together - the gameplay is simple, but your graphics and UI all fit together; nothing seems out of place. Good job!

The atmosphere you created here really fits what you're going for, and I like how you blended multiple game aesthetics into the games themselves. However, I ran into a small bug that made the interact text (ex: "Play Game (E)") remain even after pressing it, which covered up some of the computer game visuals. Pressing E when the prompt is still visible also restarts the transition into the computer game. That being said, the bug can be ignored and it times out after a while so that's good. Great job!

If you've got time, check our game out. I'll drop by your page and rate/comment too! 

https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-4/rate/717733

I like the wackiness of the presentation, but I think there should be more explicit tutorials for the different minigames, as it's currently a little hard to understand what to do immediately. A browser version would really help with the aesthetic of your game (since it already has an X on the corner to exit); try building for WebGL. Good job on the game!

I liked the dungeon exploration feel, so good work on that. If I could adjust something, it would be that some UI images (like the gold image) is really blurry compared to the other images. Also, I suggest making the instructions show button keys corresponding to the player input device; right now it assumes the player is using a Gamepad. 

I like the graphics of the game; the sprites look really good! However, I think either the background or the text should be a little darker, as they tend to blend into each other, making it hard to read. The particles off the saws really helped make them seem threatening - good work on those! 

Hey! For your first game, this turned out pretty well! I like the basic gameplay loop and you did a great job implementing a functioning upgrade system. However, the volume of the audio is quite loud, so you might want to turn it down. Also, I think the time period for rewinding upgrades should be longer, given how long it can take someone to have enough coins to purchase the more expensive upgrades. Good job!  

I love the way your game looks; the gameplay purpose (high score from repeated tries) fits really well with having a single level and polishing it to the max, which shows good cohesion. Your game definitely looks like it could be on Steam - everything from the UI and graphics to the audio mixing and the voice noise filtering feels polished. Fantastic job! 

I love the way your game looks; the gameplay purpose (high score from repeated tries) fits really well with having a single level and polishing it to the max, which shows good cohesion. Your game definitely looks like it could be on Steam - everything from the UI and graphics to the audio mixing and the voice noise filtering feels polished. Fantastic job! 

Thanks! Between the duck being a "Wind"-up toy, the fan("Wind)s  persisting and "Re"peating through levels, and clocks "Rewind"ing fans to reverse them, we might have been a little heavy-handed on the theme. 

As for 4-3 and 4-2, that's something we found out about late in the dev cycle, but we decided to keep it that way for extra player options. There's a way to beat the levels while using each build object, but kudos to you for figuring out the "secret" way! 

No problem! If you have time, please check out and rate our game as well; I'd love to have feedback! 

No problem! Good focus is better than feature creep for sure. If you've got time, please check out our game and give it a rating as well! 

The gameplay is your fairly standard side-scrolling platformer with a simple rewind element, but your art assets really shine through; great job on those! If I had anything to adjust, it would be the attack animation on your character - try making it come out quicker so players feel like their buttons have more agency. 

https://thisisbonk.itch.io/re-wind

Good job on the art and the audio; for a solo project, this is pretty good looking/sounding given you only had a week. I think there should be more options involving the rewind and the powerups, though. 

Good job on the art and the audio; for a solo project, this is pretty good looking/sounding given you only had a week. I think there should be more options involving the rewind and the powerups, though. 

The game is a little short, but I like trains, and man, you really did a great job with the train model. I think a little more ambient sounds could add a great deal, and a more stylized UI can make the game feel less like a prototype. Good work!

Really like the simplicity of the concept. Though the assets aren't original, you put them together in a way that really made everything look polished. For me, the audio was a little loud, but other users might have a different experience. Good job! 

The character art is really cute, , and the general theme is cohesive. I think the first level's background could be a little dimmer so as not to take away attention from the character. I'd personally prefer the controls to be a little tighter as well, but great job! 

The graphic for the boss looks nice. You might want to adjust the audio a little bit, as the first notes can really catch players off guard if their headphone settings aren't turned all the way down. 

The assets look a little barebones, but good job on the lighting and post-processing! I like the yarn concept, and the execution of the gameplay is solid. However, I would spruce up the UI buttons a little bit and add some audio to brighten up the experience. 

I really like the bounce elements implemented here; they might be a little too precise but it does its job decently. The UI aesthetic is good, but I think the difficulty spike is a little severe. 

The graphics look great and the polish on the aesthetic is solid. However, the controls were a little awkward to use due to the long acceleration time when moving, which can make even basic platforming feel stiff. Great work!

I really like how your game looks. Nothing really seems out of place, which shows the effort you put into it to make everything fit. Fitting levels to look like tapes is a nice touch and the audios great too. If there's one thing I'd try to balance, it would be the fact that the player is both invincible and destroys enemies while rewinding. Having an option that is both defensive (invincibility) and offensive (kills enemies in one shot as opposed to the blaster) means the player is encouraged to just spam rewind instead of dodging. 

First things first, you nailed the presentation of this game; good choice of color palette,  and nice going on keeping it relatively streamlined. The musical choice fits nicely, and the sound effects felt balanced when I played through it. One thing I'd try to adjust is the length of the menu transitions, as I think they might feel too long, especially if going through the instructions and options. It's also a bit jarring to switch from the mouse to the IK keys after the menu, but it's not that bad; maybe try making the kite controllable with the scroll wheel?

Overall, really solid entry. Rated!