Yo this is an amazing game! And THE TWIST IS INCREDIBLE!
SPOILERS The twist is that you’ll eventually have to use the gray palette and drastically changes the way you plan your strategy!
THE GOOD PARTS
The ambiance was superb! I still have the game running just because of the BGM. It’s mesmerizing and I think achieving that in a jam entry is no easy feat!
The idea of the game was well put together. I think that this idea was fun to play, some interactions felt a little bit unpredictable at first (like the android turning in some corners when it should have gone forward a little bit and then returned) but at least the game kept it cohesive and it was just a matter of getting used to it. The same thing goes for swimming because you can’t cheat it; I enjoyed the consistency a lot because it helped me see THE solution and not just my attempt at forcing a solution that wasn’t really the correct one.
The duration is perfect for a jam. I enjoyed the duration of the game; 9 levels is enough to enjoy the gameplay and all the features that were presented here without it becoming tedious. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
THE BAD PARTS
[My section of BAD PARTS for this game is going to be filled with subjective opinions; objectively, I don’t see anything wrong with the game save for the small detail I mentioned about some corners looking like you were going to go forward and then turn around].
CONCLUSION
This game owns the ambiance department! You should seriously play this if you want to feel like you’re in outer space: the music, the ambiance, and the gameplay all tie together in a well-put light puzzle game that will keep you entertained for 10-20 minutes if you go for all the collectibles (which you should).
It’s an excellent jam entry and I think it’s going to do quite well in the ratings! I loved it!
THE GOOD PARTS
The art style is great! I greatly enjoyed my time with this game, particularly around the art style. It looks REALLY good and it’s satisfying to explore the game area for the most part.
It’s a straightforward experience. Start the game, ring the bells, go back home. It’s that simple, and just like that you’re enjoying a neat jam entry.
I really enjoyed the humor of the game. Some jokes actually made the smile, which is great.
THE BAD PARTS
Interaction is discouraged. The game’s objectives collide when you’re playing and the timer is going down, but you want to talk to the other habitants of the world; it was a bummer to find out that the timer doesn’t stop when you’re talking to the other animals because it kinda discourages spending time with them and instead encourages scouting the area to find the bells.
It’s not exactly easy to find the bells at first. On my first playthrough I had a hard time finding the bells; it led to a faint feeling of frustration because I kept wandering around into the walls of the area. Later on I learned that the grass path serves as a guide to the bells and if you stick to it, you’ll get to them… I think commenting on this would make for a less bumpy ride when attempting to get all the bells.
CONCLUSION
This is a good jam entry. Play around with the other characters and don’t worry too much about the daily loops because you have as many tries as you need and you’ll enjoy this a lot more; go, explore, and experiment. And if you want to capture the bells, stay near the grass!
Great work!
THE GOOD PARTS
The color palette is nice. I really enjoyed the colors you picked for the game; they feel easy on the eyes and it gives a nice touch to the game.
The music is OK. It conveys the intended emotions of the game well enough so that it complements what you’re going through when you’re playing.
The controls respond well too. I have no complaints when it comes down to the controls and that’s something to be thankful for in a jam entry.
THE BAD PARTS
The boss is unfair. It took me a good couple of tries to finally defeat the boss and it was mainly because (unless it works with patterns and I couldn’t be bothered to try to learn them), there was no way of knowing where would the boss attack from, which resulted in deaths that feel somewhat cheap. The boss itself is fine for a jam entry, but its attack patterns make it more a fight based on luck than anything else.
Huge map with nothing in it. The enemies you have to kill to get the topite [an in-game collectible] that allows you to progress in the story are right in front of you when you start the game; this is great since it allows you to quickly retry the unfair boss fight so the friction is highly mitigated there. With that being said, what would the purpose of a big map be if you’re not encouraging the player to explore it? It could be just a few squares in size and it would have had the same amount of impact as it does now. This issue is heightened by the fact that the boss traps you in the spot and doesn’t allow you to move freely when it spawns so the size of the map becomes irrelevant once again.
There’s no loop here. It seems that the interpretation of “loop” for this game was in the map layout, which is a bummer because the map becomes so irrelevant that is practically impossible to notice that if you walk in a straight line the map “loops” you to the other side of it. Although this is a valid interpretation, it’s so disconnected from the game itself that it could easily not be there and just a few people would notice (myself included, because I love to try to break games).
CONCLUSION
Give this one a go. It’s a decent jam entry with controls that won’t frustrate you and a boss that, in the words of the developer, is “easy”. To me, it turned out to be highly unpredictable, and I ended up dying more than I should have because of that. It’s OK, though, it’s easily attributable to the time we have to develop these games so it’s not such a huge deal.
Try to explore the map, kill a couple of enemies and THEN go for the boss, you’ll experience the whole game since it’s a bite-sized experience that leaves you with a good enough impression.
A nice game overall! Good job!
THE GOOD PARTS
A fun fast-paced top-down shooter. It’s a fun game to play, it reminded me of another game I played called “Kill the Beach”; this is more or less biased because I’m a sucker for top-down shooters but I had a fun time with this. Some enemies were kind of unfair but once you get the upgrades going on the game becomes much easier.
It has more content than you’d expect. I was surprised to see extra content after the first boss. It was nice to know that you took the time to add some other enemies and BGM.
The progression feels nice. Yeah, some of the enemies are unfair at the beginning but once you have some upgrades on you, you can make your way through the hordes of enemies with ease; particularly with the bow with maxed weapon damage… Nothing will stop you.
THE BAD PARTS
Lack of actual variety of enemy types. This can be attributable to the time the jam gives us to develop stuff but I noticed that all the enemies did the same thing: chase you and occasionally shoot you, with some minor differences in the bullet speed, bullet chase, enemy movements, etc. These are fine for a jam entry but if you’re thinking of maybe exploring this concept further then you might want to brainstorm some more enemy types for the game.
No loops?. I missed the jam theme in this game completely. I’m guessing you meant that you have to loop from the beginning if you complete all the levels?
CONCLUSION
This game was fun for me, but don’t take my word for granted because I love top-down shooters. Be careful with some enemy types that feel unfair; don’t feel bad about losing because the upgrades really make the enemies become easier and easier. Get the bow as quick as you can and increase the fire to the MAX; you’ll see what I mean!
A good jam entry overall! Good work!
THE GOOD PARTS
The game feels good to play. It’s a great jam experience that leaves you with a great impression. The art, the tunes, and the mechanics are good; the story of the robots adds a some context as to why you’re solving the puzzles and this is always welcome and makes for a wholesome experience once you complete all the main levels.
It’s a great interpretation of the theme. I really liked the concept behind the gameplay; it was entertaining to play and figure out the proper solution by thinking a couple of steps ahead. A 5-stars interpretation here!
A lot of levels with good enough quality. The 12 main levels are good enough and don’t make the difficulty curve too steep, which is great because you want the players to reach the end of your entry; the bonus levels are kinda hit-and-miss: sometimes they’re hard to figure out and sometimes they are easy, but for the most part they are a challenge so be ready to think 3 thousand steps ahead with these ones!
THE BAD PARTS
“The more”, doesn’t necessarily mean “the merrier”. It was fun to play with one robot, it was fun to play with two, and it was (mostly?) fun to play with three robots. The issue here is that the designer increased the difficulty of the puzzles by just making them bigger and not necessarily more complex. Maybe some more tile types would have done more for the game than adding a third robot because the difficulty increase felt a bit artificial (maybe a conveyor belt tile that forced the robot to move in a certain direction, or one that teleported the bots to another place in the map).
Some extra puzzle complexity would have been nice. Tied to the previous point was the fact that after the first few levels you’ve already seen everything in the game and the puzzles are just a remix of what you’ve already played, which is OK, but after 15+ levels where your only drive is to know the story of the robots it can get a little bit tiring.
CONCLUSION
This is a great game, and a great jam entry. I think this is going to be one of the top ones. There’s not a lot of room to comment on the downsides of this game aside from the occasional bug with the loops or the fact that you can’t individually “debug” the robots to see which part of the algorithm is making them collide with the magnets but hey! This is easily forgivable because this is a jam entry and the time is heavily limited.
I see potential here! Be on the lookout for new tiles/mechanics if you’re going to continue working on this project. This feels great to play! Good work!
THE GOOD PARTS
A straightforward, easy-to-understand game. Tap the screen, shoot the rocket, and hit the targets. It doesn’t get any simpler than that and the minimalistic controls make it perfect for a mobile experience (which is obviously what the designer had in mind when creating this game).
It’s actually fun to play. I see myself playing this while riding the bus, the metro, or while waiting for Unity to recompile the scripts!
THE BAD PARTS
I want to clarify that the “BAD PARTS” section of this review is going to be filled mostly with suggestions on what I, personally, think would improve this game’s objective (which seems to be to become a hyper-casual game that you can play during a commute or while waiting for something else to happen).
It requires too much attention. For a hyper-casual game, I think the attention requirement should be lowered; this can be achieved relatively easily by just giving the rocket a laser on its tip that allows you to see where it will land if you tap at that moment. I found myself trying to measure and guess where would the rocket would land if I tapped it at that moment and I can’t see myself doing that without having to get the phone somewhat closer to my face or having to ignore my surroundings because I don’t want to break my 30 hit streak.
Maybe some more juice?. I think the game could use some improvements on its game feel because some actions (particularly going off the screen) feel somewhat bland. The same thing can be said of the newly-spawned targets and some other minor game interactions.
CONCLUSION
I think there’s a lot of potential here. Maybe a time rush mode where you have 30 seconds to hit targets and try to break the record? Maybe some static levels where you have to traverse the rocket from point A to point B dodging obstacles?
I’m sure that with some extra brainstorming the game designer would be able to make a full hyper-casual game out of this. Let me know when you do because I’m eager to play some more Cloop!
THE GOOD PARTS
It’s a game that FEELS driven by the narrative. Let me elaborate on this one: many jam games attempt to create a narrative experience but often lack the elements that make for a well-presented one. I’m talking about cutscenes, pauses, time for the player to try to engage with the events of the game, some camera movements that really made the game feel “cinematic”, and the voice-over were the elements that enhanced the narrative-driven design of this game. With that said, I think most of those elements do well, which is not a minor achievement.
A platformer that feels good enough. During my playthrough, the platforming controls felt nice, I managed to get everywhere I wanted without having to battle the controls and that’s something that I’m thankful for. There were some instances where the character felt sluggish and not on par with some of the platforms’ movement speed but that can easily be attributable to the limited time we have to develop these games so it’s all right.
The music is great. I really enjoyed the music up until the end of my playthrough; I did feel like the last soundtrack, when you’re running away, didn’t really match the situation or the feel of the game [but this is just my subjective opinion, though].
THE BAD PARTS
I didn’t get the story. Yeah, I just praised the narrative-driven design of the game which had elements that work well when they’re separated or mildly connected, but as a cohesive/homogeneous entity, I don’t think the premise is communicated well enough to at least grasp what’s going on. Some explosions, then you’re with Fee [which seems to be an important character because the game is named after it, but doesn’t have a lot of screen time which resulted in me having a mixed impression as to what’s going on with that character], then you have to pick an orb, and finally, the orb goes haywire which means you have to escape from something. I feel that the game had an intention but the story didn’t get to me even though I paid attention to each line of dialogue (I swear).
Some on-screen effects were too much. And I’m not joking, the 3D elements have so many effects that try to enhance the experience but they’re so many that they end up competing for your attention and made me dizzy (no joke, I had to look away from the screen for a while, have some water, rest my eyes a bit and then come back to write this review after my playthrough). I’d recommend toning down the number of on-screen effects and using them to highlight important elements of the game like a point of interest, a collectible, power-ups, threats, etc.
The voice-over was not OK. I think this game would have benefited from having just a single jingle for each audio line played in a loop for each character that appears on-screen (like in Undertale/Banjo Kazooie/games alike). Instead, the voice-over was kinda distracting because I was trying to figure out if they were actually recorded by humans or computer-generated because you need to have the talent [or be a computer] to communicate so little emotion when interpreting a line. I saw someone else in the comments making fun of the game’s voice lines which I think it’s not fair because the game doesn’t seem to be presented as something that’s trying to capitalize on being half-assed or badly done on purpose; instead, it’s presented as something that was trying to be great and awe-inspiring but missed the mark by a little bit.
Ummmm… Loop? I missed the jam theme on this one, I didn’t really get where the theme interpretation is other than the character running in a loop when the scenes are loading; I think this can be attributable to lack of time to develop the idea further and present what was supposed to be the theme’s interpretation but I think the theme implementation should have been prioritized further.
CONCLUSION
I think the game is good. It has a little issue with the mouse sensitivity but that can easily be attributed to my computer. The narrative-driven design works well when it works (particularly some cutscenes make the game look like you’re in for a ride) which is something that’s not easy to do and this game managed to do in certain scenarios. Gameplay-wise, it’s a light game so you won’t have any issues getting to the end of it and enjoying the full experience; beware the eye strain, though!
Thank you for taking the time to try out my game! I left a review on yours too!
The buttons were only clickable to support mobile devices; in the web game, the T button toggles the camera angle. I’m glad you were able to complete it, though!
And yeah, I hadn’t thought a lot about the music for the game but I’ll definitely reach out if I need some tunes! Thank you!
THE GOOD PARTS
I like the idea a lot. It really keeps you on your toes, although some levels can be circumvented a bit to have some extra hearts and make it easier for you to reach the flag.
The music is surprisingly good. It’s a banger! Seriously!
The controls were tight. I have no complaints, they were on par with the skill demand.
The animation was [mwah chef’s kiss]. I don’t even know how the dev managed to make them look that smooth but it works, and it’s amazing! Keep it up!
THE BAD PARTS
Being honest, there’s almost nothing I can criticize of this game. I’d say there are some bugs lingering around but those are perfectly attributable to this being a jam entry and maybe not having enough time to playtest everything.
For example, if you hit spikes from below, you’ll get sent to oblivion. Also, the UI doesn’t really “adapt” to my full-screen resolution, which is something that needs to be looked at (if the dev intends to make a full game out of this). I see a lot of potential in this idea so if you’re going to keep working on it, keep me posted! I’ll be happy to test your game as long as I can spend time on it!
CONCLUSION
Play it, you’re going to love it. It’s a platformer with some light puzzle elements embedded, I’m sure the developer has already seen a lot of potential on this entry and I’m positive we’ll be getting more “I NEED PAIN” sooner than later!
Since this game was done in such a short amount of time (just 24 hours), its objective was to create a prototype for a mobile game, I’m going to focus my review of the game as if I was reviewing a prototype and not exactly a jam entry, which generally has a little bit more polish.
THE GOOD PARTS
It’s straightforward.. As any mobile game should be, this game doesn’t need any explanation, align the arrows and get the rocket to the target. I think the game nails this and gets straight to the point.
It’s has some neat puzzles. But more importantly, it has a LOT OF POTENTIAL. What about objects that you have to avoid? Arrows that don’t move in the 4 cardinal directions? Timed switches? The ideas are endless for this one.
THE BAD PARTS
The background music didn’t really fit IMO. There’s really not a lot to comment about this, it’s my purely subjective opinion.
The behavior of the switches can be communicated better. The arrows that are moved by switches don’t show where will they be aiming after I activate their switch; in this prototype it’s evident that they’re going to aim to where you need them to aim but do keep in mind that you’re going to want to communicate this if you’re going to a full release.
I didn’t really FEEL the theme on this one. I don’t see how guiding the rocket with the arrows aligns well with the LOOP theme, to be honest.
CONCLUSION
It’s a neat mobile-focused experience. I think there’s a lot of potential here for a mobile release; give it a go, it’s a short 8-level game that will leave you with a great impression.
Great work!
THE GOOD PARTS
It’s a neat short experience. I am actually thankful when a jam game lasts exactly as much as it should, I enjoyed every second of it and went for a second run after I was done with the first one.
The gameplay is straightforward and well-communicated. I had no issues familiarizing myself with the controls and the gameplay, everything “just fits”.
The music is great. It felt magical when the main music began to play; it has some ethereal vibes to it that made me feel good… I can’t really explain it, just play the game with some good speakers/headphones and you’ll see what I mean.
THE BAD PARTS
The game is a little bit buggy. Particularly when some stars spawn just on top of the target or when the game shows “Press R to Retry” but you can keep playing if you press SPACE and the game goes on a difficulty spike that nobody has ever seen; I don’t know what happens if you manage to get the letter through that bullet hell, though.
I didn’t quite get the story. But maybe it’s because I’m not exactly book-savvy (I don’t like recreational reading) which is why some of the language used in the letters didn’t resonate with me; I understood that they were friends that hadn’t contacted each other in a long time and they were trying to reconnect but I didn’t manage to get a proper conclusion or something like that even though I managed to get all the letters to the target.
CONCLUSION
This is a decent jam entry.
It’s straightforward, entertaining to play and the music is GOOOOOOOOOD, with my speakers there was an effect in the background that I can’t really explain but it made every object near my laptop resonate and it was MAGIC. I really enjoyed that.
Great job!
Thank you for taking the time to play and rate my game! I will be reviewing yours soon!
Yeah, the cardinal directions with the keyboard were something that was more of a consequence of this being a game designed primarily for mobile devices (where the controls are far more natural, so to speak). In future games, I might just make mouse-only controls so that the input is more comfortable to use for desktop.
THE GOOD PARTS
I liked the general idea of this game. It kinda reminded me of the dungeon generator in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which is kinda nice and solving the puzzles in your head before attempting a run felt sufficiently rewarding to keep me going.
The ambiance is good enough. I felt that the ambiance would have been better with some improvements to the whole “blackness” that generally governs the skies of this dungeon but the setup does the job correctly; I felt immersed and wasn’t really distracted from what the game had to offer.
THE BAD PARTS
The puzzle generator is not too clear at the beginning. I’m not saying there should have been a tutorial for it but I do think that maybe spending some time in the dungeon generator would have worked wonders regarding what the player can expect when the decide to “delve”. Maybe showing a top-down preview of the generated map would have helped a lot with this, but I understand that it’s a jam game and there’s not too much time to implement everything.
The pacing feels too slow. I know repeating the newly generated level is part of the LOOP interpretation of this game but sometimes I felt like it was a drag; I can’t really put my finger on to what’s exactly causing this friction but I’d say it’s a mix of “secret” areas not being thoroughly communicated and not being able to preview the level [remember that this is a jam an people will spend 5-30 minutes in your game TOPS, unless they become REALLY engaged] so knowing that I was expected to look for those areas with a lamp that barely lights anything was a huge deterrent for me [I know this is highly subjective but I’m aiming to comment on the game feel].
CONCLUSION
This is a fine jam entry with some room for improvement. I really like the idea of having a “dungeon creator” so to speak and it’s something I’ve always wanted to build on my own. This idea resonated with me and I felt the potential that this game has.
Beware of its caveats, though, play this game with patience and you’ll enjoy a great jam entry!
Okay, first of all, I want to clarify: I’m going to be reviewing this game as a piece of art and not as a jam entry. Considering the games I’ve reviewed so far this is easily a TOP 5 for me and I consider this game to be beyond a jam entry.
This game is, very likely, the winner of this Black and White Jam. So if you’re reading this, don’t pass on the opportunity to give excellent game a shot!
THE GOOD PARTS
You’re not going to get bored with this game. This game starts slowly and goes full Sonic mode really fast; it indeed represents what a bullet hell should be and the little “rogue-like” element added to it ties it perfectly. There are not enough words to praise the game design of this game, seriously.
A strategic challenge. I wasn’t expecting this game to have such a well-rounded strategic challenge; I’m impressed. The winning strategy for this game is to always shoot for a “perfect bullet”, which is a bullet that’s shot in such a way that it covers most of the map while leaving some corners open for you to move freely and dodge enemy bullets. Sometimes choosing not to fire equates as equipping one power-up or the other in a rogue-like game which why I’m amazed at how much is accomplished in a single game design. Think well before you shoot, but most importantly THINK FAST!
THE BAD PARTS
As with any challenging game, this is not for everybody. This isn’t inherently a bad thing [all games have a target demographic], but I put it in this section because there will be some players that won’t be able to differentiate between their lack of skill and lack of polish from the game, will become frustrated quickly and will very likely make the rating suffer which can be unfair for the game.
Some minor bugs 1. Sometimes, the loops are not played 1:1 as their original counterparts in the same room size which led me to die a couple of times unexpectedly; not a big deal and it only happened literally two times in my 1 hour-ish playthrough and I was REALLY pushing the limits of the loop there so this is the edge case of the edge case.
Some minor bugs 2. In the browser version, the walls on the side go missing after a while (I’m guessing it’s because they go a little bit too far off the screen) but MAN DO I MISS THEM WHEN THEY DO THAT because my brain interprets “white in the border = expect a bounce” and when they go missing I have to subvert that natural expectation which led me to die more times than I’d like to admit.
Thanks for the unlockables, though. The palette unlockables are not really that impressive (although I’m deeply grateful for the one that’s “easy on the eyes”); something more noticeable like a skin change or skins for the bullets would have made it feel more rewarding when it came down to overcoming those dreaded 10+ loop levels.
Maybe one more color would have helped?. I want to clarify, this one is way too subjective and it’s more like a suggestion to experiment because I’m not 100% sure if it would work well; maybe adding a third highlighting color would have helped me see many bullets because the screen gets clogged with elements really quick and since there are no actual patterns (like in most bullet hell games) it becomes a necessity to SEE the bullets coming at you instead of PREDICTING where the bullets will be based on the pattern they’re following. This applies particularly to the enemy bullets.
CONCLUSION
[Please remember that my previous comments to the game were made thinking of this as a piece of ART, because I consider this game to be beyond a jam entry.]
I can only applaud this game. Seriously. It has potential to be sold (with some additional polish), you have a gem here and I hope you keep developing it into a full game! You’re one of the best designers in the jam! Congratulations!
Hey, everybody!
Apologies for not returning the review to everyone so far; I’ve been having a catastrophic weekend and I haven’t been able to play your games and review them all.
I promise that I’ll review them before the voting period ends.
Thank you all for taking the time to play and review my game! I’m deeply grateful!