itch.io

THEME💡
🟥 What theme?
🔲 Sure, I guess
🔲 I see what you did there
🔲 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🟥 “Game” is a stretch
🔲 Confusing but works
🔲 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🔲 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🟥 Blink and you’ll miss it
🔲 Bite-sized
🔲 Balanced and just right
🔲 Aimed high, respect
🔲 Elden Ring?

ENJOYMENT🎉
🔲 Make it stop
🟨 Meh
🔲 Gaming!
🔲 I’d buy it
🔲 This is my life now

GRAPHICS🎨
🟥 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🔲 Clean
🔲 Impressive
🔲 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🟥 None
🔲 Earrape
🔲 Basic
🔲 Groovin’
🔲 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🔲 Disruptive
🔲 Infrequent
🔲 A little glitchy
🟦 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

Despite being named Built to Scale that is seemingly the only relation it has to the theme. I liked the fog, and the trees were a nice addition.

THEME💡
🟥 What theme?
🔲 Sure, I guess
🔲 I see what you did there
🔲 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🔲 “Game” is a stretch
🔲 Confusing but works
🟩 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🔲 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🔲 Blink and you’ll miss it
🟨 Bite-sized
🔲 Balanced and just right
🔲 Aimed high, respect
🔲 Elden Ring?

ENJOYMENT🎉
🔲 Make it stop
🔲 Meh
🟩 Gaming!
🔲 I’d buy it
🔲 This is my life now

GRAPHICS🎨
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🔲 Clean
🟩 Impressive
🔲 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🔲 None
🔲 Earrape
🔲 Basic
🟩 Groovin’
🔲 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🔲 Disruptive
🔲 Infrequent
🔲 A little glitchy
🟦 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

Very cute game, very tight, very polished. Loved the incremental tutorial, but unfortunately there wasn’t really a climax, just ended with introductions. As much as I loved the animated title screen, I would have preferred some more puzzles. Only real critique besides the length is the lack of relevance to the theme. Looking at it, I have no way of knowing that it was made specifically for this competition.

Would love to see it developed further!

THEME💡
🔲 What theme?
🔲 Sure, I guess
🟩 I see what you did there
🔲 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🔲 “Game” is a stretch
🟨 Confusing but works
🔲 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🔲 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🔲 Blink and you’ll miss it
🔲 Bite-sized
🟩 Balanced and just right
🔲 Aimed high, respect
🔲 Elden Ring?

ENJOYMENT🎉
🟥 Make it stop
🔲 Meh
🔲 Gaming!
🔲 I’d buy it
🔲 This is my life now

GRAPHICS🎨
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🔲 Clean
🔲 Impressive
🟦 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🔲 None
🔲 Earrape
🔲 Basic
🟩 Groovin’
🔲 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🔲 Disruptive
🟩 Infrequent
🔲 A little glitchy
🔲 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

What a beautiful game for 96 hours. Loved the art style, loved the intro cutscene. So glad I didn’t miss it. The gameplay itself felt very smooth and polished. I even really like how they implemented the theme. The idea of a doctor shrinking down and repairing patient limbs from the inside with a shrink ray is super creative and fits really well. The sound effects and audio were on point and never distracting. That all being said, the game is not fun.

The game was very difficult to control. Controlling the hammer while catching all the orbs, especially as they speed up later in the game was rough. Missing orbs didn’t feel like a skill issue, but rather luck of the draw like when the game would spawn an orb opposite the side of the screen. None of this was aided by the UI design, which seemed to purposely make the game harder. The red orbs are extremely difficult to make out from the red background, and the Progress UI monitor, pretty as it was, obstructed my vision and felt cheap when an orb would appear behind it. It felt like someone who had never played the game designed the UI.

Overall, a gorgeous game, with some key flaws in the main gameplay loop. I think there is a lot of potential if they can be addressed.

THEME💡
🔲 What theme?
🟨 Sure, I guess
🔲 I see what you did there
🔲 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🔲 “Game” is a stretch
🟨 Confusing but works
🔲 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🔲 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🔲 Blink and you’ll miss it
🔲 Bite-sized
🔲 Balanced and just right
🔲 Aimed high, respect
🟦 Elden Ring?

DIFFICULTY🏔️
🟥 Playing asleep
🔲 Some brain usage
🔲 Easy to learn / Hard to master
🔲 Difficult
🔲 Prepare to die… again

GRAPHICS🎨
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🟩 Clean
🔲 Impressive
🔲 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🟥 None
🔲 Earrape
🔲 Basic
🔲 Groovin’
🔲 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🟨 Disruptive
🔲 Infrequent
🔲 A little glitchy
🔲 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

So, the first thing to point out here is that the author openly admits that this was the first-ever game jam and a 1 person team. With that in mind, it’s super impressive. It’s playable, I love the art, and I like the king riding the bee. That being said, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I’m unsure what pretty much everything in the game actually did. I kept unlocking these cute abilities, but they didn’t seem to actually do anything. My player leveled up, but I didn’t seem to notice any difference. Even the combat and gold bars had no functional purpose. Really the only part of the game that felt like a game was reading all of the little event prompts, and even those were pretty incomprehensible. Also, the music abruptly stopped looping.

All that being said, the game still probably would’ve been pretty fun if it wasn’t for the camera movement. The fact that you can click on yourself as a movement destination is pretty rough. This was an extremely ambitious game, but ambition in a game is only a good thing if you can pull it off. The biggest advice I would give to this developer is to finish 1 system before implementing another. I’d rather have one system that works than 5 half-baked ones.

THEME💡
🔲 What theme?
🔲 Sure, I guess
🟩 I see what you did there
🔲 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🔲 “Game” is a stretch
🔲 Confusing but works
🟩 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🔲 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🔲 Blink and you’ll miss it
🟨 Bite-sized
🔲 Balanced and just right
🔲 Aimed high, respect
🔲 Elden Ring?

DIFFICULTY🏔️
🔲 Playing asleep
🟨 Some brain usage
🔲 Easy to learn / Hard to master
🔲 Difficult
🔲 Prepare to die… again

GRAPHICS🎨
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🟩 Clean
🔲 Impressive
🔲 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🔲 None
🔲 Earrape
🔲 Basic
🟩 Groovin’
🔲 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🔲 Disruptive
🔲 Infrequent
🟩 A little glitchy
🔲 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

This is a very cute game that really nailed the theme by scaling up as the gameplay progressed. The sound design was pleasant, and the art was charming, creating a cohesive and enjoyable experience. While there weren’t any mind-blowing concepts introduced, this game is a very solid bite-sized submission that fits perfectly within the scope of a game jam. The mechanics were straightforward but effective, making it a fun, quick play.

One small detail I would have loved is if the bark sound had been pitched lower as the dog got bigger. Overall, it’s a delightful little game with a nice balance of theme, art, and sound. Bark Button/10.

THEME💡
🔲 What theme?
🟨 Sure, I guess
🔲 I see what you did there
🔲 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🔲 “Game” is a stretch
🟨 Confusing but works
🔲 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🔲 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🟥 Blink and you’ll miss it
🔲 Bite-sized
🔲 Balanced and just right
🔲 Aimed high, respect
🔲 Elden Ring?

DIFFICULTY🏔️
🟥 Playing asleep
🔲 Some brain usage
🔲 Easy to learn / Hard to master
🔲 Difficult
🔲 Prepare to die… again

GRAPHICS🎨
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🟩 Clean
🔲 Impressive
🔲 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🔲 None
🔲 Earrape
🟩 Basic
🔲 Groovin’
🔲 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🔲 Disruptive
🟩 Infrequent
🔲 A little glitchy
🔲 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

I have to start by saying that I really enjoyed the art style of this game. The cute isometric display was a nice touch, and visually, it was a pleasure to look at. However, beyond the visuals, I found the rest of the experience lacking. UI was confusing, tower selection was unintuitive and buggy with the one tower in the back being almost unselectable, and the gameplay was incredibly simple. It also doesn’t help that I’m pretty sure the game is actually impossible. I think the thing that was really missing was upgrade features. Maybe the towers get bigger and do more damage. It also would have been someplace to spend all of the excess money.

As for the theme, I really don’t see the connection to the theme here beyond building more towers. Nothing really unique here to fit the “Built to Scale” idea. Overall, there is a lot of room for improvement here. That all being said, nothing but respect for submitting a completed playable game for this game jam in such a short amount of time.

THEME💡
🔲 What theme?
🟨 Sure, I guess
🔲 I see what you did there
🔲 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🔲 “Game” is a stretch
🔲 Confusing but works
🟩 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🔲 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🔲 Blink and you’ll miss it
🔲 Bite-sized
🔲 Balanced and just right
🟩 Aimed high, respect
🔲 Elden Ring?

DIFFICULTY🏔️
🔲 Playing asleep
🟨 Some brain usage
🔲 Easy to learn / Hard to master
🔲 Difficult
🔲 Prepare to die… again

GRAPHICS🎨
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🔲 Clean
🟩 Impressive
🔲 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🔲 None
🔲 Earrape
🔲 Basic
🔲 Groovin’
🟦 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🔲 Disruptive
🔲 Infrequent
🟩 A little glitchy
🔲 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

Starting off with my favorite parts: the art and sound were brilliant. The game created a creepy atmosphere with its low-poly graphics that I absolutely loved. The attention to detail in the sound design was fantastic—especially how the walking sound would change depending on the type of floor you were on, and how the ambient sound shifted as you moved from one section to another. Great work. However, I’m not entirely convinced by the theme implementation. I understand what they were going for, but I’m not sure it fully connects. I really liked the camera mechanic, but I’m struggling to see how it ties into the “Built to Scale” theme, especially since it was the major mechanic. That said, it’s impressive to see such ambition in a game developed in just 96 hours. I loved the style, and it’s a very solid game overall. I noticed they’re expanding on these ideas in their upcoming game "Carnival Massacre" on Steam—definitely worth wishlisting if this game caught your interest.

That said, it’s impressive to see such ambition in a game developed in just 96 hours. I loved the style, and it’s a very solid game overall. I noticed they’re expanding on these ideas in their upcoming game "Carnival Massacre" on Steam—definitely worth wishlisting if this game caught your interest.

THEME💡
🔲 What theme?
🔲 Sure, I guess
🔲 I see what you did there
🟩 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🔲 “Game” is a stretch
🔲 Confusing but works
🔲 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🟦 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🔲 Blink and you’ll miss it
🔲 Bite-sized
🟩 Balanced and just right
🔲 Aimed high, respect
🔲 Elden Ring?

DIFFICULTY🏔️
🔲 Playing asleep
🔲 Some brain usage
🟩 Easy to learn / Hard to master
🔲 Difficult
🔲 Prepare to die… again

GRAPHICS🎨
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🟩 Clean
🔲 Impressive
🔲 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🔲 None
🔲 Earrape
🟩 Basic
🔲 Groovin’
🔲 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🟨 Disruptive
🔲 Infrequent
🔲 A little glitchy
🔲 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

The theme implementation in this game was executed very well, though it did come off a bit on the nose. However, this led to some extremely creative gameplay that I personally haven’t seen before. With a bit more polish, I think this could be an exceptionally fun game. The biggest area where the game fell short was in its level of polish. Issues like screen tearing, the ability to glitch out of the terrain, and buttons that could softlock you—forcing you to glitch out to reset—definitely impacted my overall enjoyment. That being said, considering how ambitious and creative the mechanics were, some of these issues are understandable.

The music provided a nice ambient sound without being grating, and the art was similarly pleasant. I particularly liked the occasional use of lighting and wish there had been more of it. Overall, this is a very creative game that nails the theme. With some refinement of the controls and environment, it has the potential to be a really great game.

THEME💡
🔲 What theme?
🟨 Sure, I guess
🔲 I see what you did there
🔲 Nailed it
🔲 10/10 Philosophers crying

GAMEPLAY⚙️
🔲 “Game” is a stretch
🔲 Confusing but works
🟩 Basic and well done
🔲 Very creative
🔲 Never seen before

SCOPE🌎
🔲 Blink and you’ll miss it
🟨 Bite-sized
🔲 Balanced and just right
🔲 Aimed high, respect
🔲 Elden Ring?

DIFFICULTY🏔️
🔲 Playing asleep
🟨 Some brain usage
🔲 Easy to learn / Hard to master
🔲 Difficult
🔲 Prepare to die… again

GRAPHICS🎨
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Not bad
🟩 Clean
🔲 Impressive
🔲 Reality 2.0

AUDIO🎵
🔲 None
🔲 Earrape
🔲 Basic
🟩 Groovin’
🔲 Eargasm

BUGS🪲
🔲 Bugpocalypse
🔲 Disruptive
🔲 Infrequent
🔲 A little glitchy
🟦 Perfectly smooth

VERDICT📝

This game had a lot of creativity that I truly appreciated. The art and opening video, though simple, really sold the concept. The last line, “a filthy smile crossed your lips,” genuinely made me laugh—loved it. The music was another highlight, perfectly fitting the circus theme. Even after hours of grinding agility, it never got old. I was impressed by the attention to detail throughout the game. For example, the inclusion of the scene where you pick fleas off the dog really expanded the world, making the game feel larger than it actually was. The fact that the fleas were named Barney and Felicity added a charming touch.

The core gameplay loop shows a lot of promise, reminiscent of the Duck Life games I used to enjoy on Kongregate. If the game included more stats that influenced the shows you put on, it would elevate the experience even further. However, I felt that the theme “Built to Scale” was a bit of a stretch. Just because something is small doesn’t necessarily mean it’s built to scale. Despite that, I think this game has a lot of potential, and I would love to see the concept further developed and polished.

Hey! Mind letting me know what went wrong