itch.io

Did you enjoy playing the game? Why or why not?

I enjoy the premise greatly, but think some more is needed to hit that mark. Some aren't necessarily the fault of the developers either, its just a very difficult genre to fill out (Death Stranding is a game that I think of, which was a ridiculously expensive and time consuming endeavor. Even then the game wasn't for a lot of people)

Did you find any parts of the game confusing or unclear?

Areas felt very different, but didn't seem to be connected in a reasonable, thematic way in my eyes. Also some UI and control of the character didn't feel very deeply explained. Punching didn't feel very natural.

Were you able to find the two fragments? Was it hard or easy?

Yes I was. It wasn't very difficult

How long did it take you to complete the game? (How long did it take you to get the two fragments possible?)

I didn't really keep a timer but around 15 minutes maybe?

Did you interact with the baby multiple times? How did that go?

Baby? :(

Did you explore the hub? Was it interesting to do so?

I didn't explore the hub much, but I'll say that I do think the hub idea is a big improvement!

How was the gameplay? Exciting? Fun? Boring?

The gameplay felt good, the flow of the gameplay certainly felt smooth and I didn't often find myself asking where I needed to go

What did you think of the map size?

The map felt appropriately sized in terms of distance to travel, but it did feel quite large with the amount of picture pieces required. I found myself checking some of the same areas because I wasn't exactly sure of where to look

How did you feel about visibility while playing?

Corridors and rooms provided an adequate amount of visibility, but I found it really hard to decipher much when looking to larger expanses in rooms. This led to some of that confused with direction feeling. I think a tiny little more visibility from the flashlight would help keep focus on the game instead of fighting against it too see rooms.

Tell us about your favorite part of the game.

I think the puzzles are a great addition and are well designed. I also very much enjoyed the ambience, it hit a perfect note

Tell us about your least favorite part of the game.

Getting to 5 fragments felt pretty good, but with only 5/9 fragments the shade felt quite oppressive. It made it hard to make progress and slowed things down greatly, which if you're not doing a recharge style game plan is a death sentence.

Thoughts on difficulty? How does it feel on the first run, vs after having more experience with additional runs?

Knowing more about the game provided some much needed information that definitely helped. As stated above though, the relative weakness of the flashlight did make it feel pretty difficult. Not in an unnecessary way, but it just felt like if I made one mistake mid run with light spacing that it was always over since the shade is much faster and doesn't get stunned for long

Feedback on any specific mechanics, rooms, etc?

Puzzles room are a great addition but feel like they pose a great risk without a very specific playstyle. If these rooms maybe had a light you could spend your batteries on to have some general safety, it would go a long way

What do you think about the Luumba?

I love him and think he works perfectly, keep that up!

1. The monster felt less like a monster and more like large wildlife. This may be what you were going for, but in the view of Iron Lung I think that the monster needs to feel a little more unsettling. Show the player remnants of the last guy who came down here, or low res pictures of an alien figure. Sound design would also do wonders here.

2. Moving the ship was relatively clear, but other parts of the ship felt slightly disorienting. I wanted to use the paper map but the radar is so zoomed in it's difficult to make out any features. Repairs weren't frustrating but just felt a like it didn't have much impact (even if it let me move again)

3. I think repairs could invoke more of your goal if you had to hold down on each element for a certain amount of time, maybe adding a quick time event if you'd like the gameplay to be a little slower. The repair panel could also feel a little more connected if it was underneath the center console since that's where the buttons went out.

4. I wouldn't say it was too hard or too easy, but not balanced either. I just felt a little at the mercy of randomness, meaning sometimes I would hardly see the monster and others it would be right on top of me. Maybe a one shot kill from the monster is too punishing since the player can't know where they are, what if it shook the hull violently and gave the player a scare, then reset itself on the map. That could increase tension a lot!

5. Ship speed is about how I would've expected it to be. It fits well with the tightness of the local walls, but turning around from a dead end that I spent awhile going through took a little longer than comfortable.

6. I'm not really sure if I made it to all the areas, my position felt like more of a suggestion than a location.

7. Oxygen never killed me since I never really had a need to open the window. The monster one shot me way before I was below 60%.

8. I think the sound design and other polish features mentioned would go a very long way. Iron Lung is a super simple game and doesn't ask the player to do much of anything, but it gives such a thick atmosphere and some tantalizing lore to the player which hooks them, so I don't think anything has to be added, just refined.

Great job on the game guys! Really love the art direction and mechanics y'all have implemented!

1. The puzzle was good, but I feel like a few more of similar complexity with different mechanics would be a really good sweet spot. I did feel a little bit limited by the level layout, it felt like I subtly had no choice but to solve the puzzle a certain way so it felt a little less like I solved it on my own. I'm an avid puzzle game player though so please take into account that my bias here is probably intense!

2. I'd like to see puzzles where one item must be brought to another area, think the portal gun holding a cube. Maybe a small easter egg for a more obscure puzzle would be interesting with this.

3. The oxygen felt subtle. I didn't feel pressed for time because the tank was large enough to not be very scared of fire for a bit. I was forced to take care of the fire though so I'd say ititss balanced.

4. It felt a little off target, or if it was on target I didn't feel much feedback to know that it was. Otherwise its speed felt appropriate.

5. It definitely felt short. Multiple endings is a really cool concept that I think can work really well here though, it's just that currently the game plays entirely the same on each iteration. Maybe the area you put into the terminal opens a different, unique part of the level at the pod when you get there?

6. I love the art! I also like the current mechanics and would like to see them given more depth.

7. Putting in different codes into the terminal didn't feel very rewarding since it only changed the text at the end. I'd like to see more mechanics in a less linear fashion if we're meant to play through the same area.

8. This point is covered in my previous points. My only other thought is to make puzzles less clinical. For example, if the 4 posters were spread out randomly in the first 2 rooms, it would have a very different and more interactive feel. There's a lot of unused space in the rooms that are fertile for more character (rubble, stains, trash, etc...) 

Paper Route is visually gorgeous and I love the feeling of the paper throwing mechanic. Below are a few of my answers to the focus questions.

The game had an interesting challenge. There were some times where it felt like a hit was inevitable, but it was smoothed out by the health pickups! I do feel like a gradual speed up as you progress through the level might make it a bit more difficult, both to get papers on the porch and to survive which could be fun.

I love the style of the interface! The money and health indicator were a little hard to see but major ups otherwise. The controls feel goods as well, the fact you cant go all the way backwards definitely makes it feel like your on a bike and that's great.

I like the art a whole bunch and the paper throwing mechanic is great. I'd love to see some sort of progressive difficulty if it's supposed to be an endless runner, that way we could have a place to spend out money and then get back into another run of the game.

It might be fun if you guys had palettes for your color template! That way if you do multiple runs each is slightly different, though of course there's limits to this with the art work. I'd also like to see a bit of house variation, maybe a bigger one or a smaller one with some slightly different mechanics, just to spice things up.

Great job guys and congrats to the team for putting this together for the playtest!

Hi Stakes is gorgeous and plays great! Congrats to the team for all of your hard work for the playtest! Below are a few of the notes I had while playing:

The level size feels good! I like that the size randomly changes as well, makes it feel more fresh in each room. I think that the readability could be a little better on the obstacles though as I found myself running into them often.

I found the space button to be a little overpowered, at least early on. You can really hold space for awhile without much repercussion. I think it might be interesting if early on in your playthrough you have to spend it wisely to get out of tough spots, then get more and more powerful as you continue.

I'd love to see a powerup that slows down the horde, perhaps paired with more collectibles you can get in the level? This way the player could explore the level more for upgrades.

The movement of the horde is really cool and fits the theme. Perhaps an arrow indicator for when they're off screen for those larger levels?

The score definitely helps the replayability, though maybe there could be some local leaderboard for each session so the player can see their progression. An interesting mode would be "no space bar mode" which gives the player an extra badge on that leaderboard.

One special note, I really LOVE LOVE LOVE the addition of the extra track of music when you're in space bar mode. It layers perfectly and makes the whole experience that much more immersive. Great job guys!

Thank you so much for playing and the compliments! But yeah the difficulty is definitely something I wish I had gotten to tune a little bit more, the time sneaks up on you fast!

Hey there, I went and checked out your game and it's gorgeously put together. Sprites and music and dialogue are as you said, great! I especially love how the tutorial section is built as it teaches the player how to move about your game without being too hands on. I didn't finish it, but after spending some time with it I definitely came across some stronger strategies and that felt great. As you mentioned though, the game is quite punishing, which is particularly difficult early on. I died in the tutorial level quite a few times before I figured out the way to beat the enemies. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing though, I got almost puzzle like vibes from the parts I played, and I think that's the part I enjoyed the most actually. Strategy in a way yes, but finding the correct, or one of the correct, ways to handle a room was the real payoff for me personally. I'm not sure what gameplay I missed but I think you could lean into that really successfully in a further iteration, almost like a 2D Zelda game with your own spin on it. The one negative I'd have to say is that movement sometimes felt awkward because of how the blades(kind of looked like scissors) are displayed. The player looks like a 2x1 entity but moves like a 1x1 so personally I messed up my movement quite a bit early on. Not a killer, just maybe something that a visual iteration could better express. I love what you've done with the game and hope you'll take it farther either with this project or another one!

It looks great! I'd probably suggest adding a few different obstacles to keep it fresh as you progress, but keep it up!