Hi, evindor! Thanks for being patient with me! If you are still interested I made an exportable file for Mac OS users to try the game (it was immensely frustrating for to do as I have not used Mac OS in over 10 years [Windows/Linux programmer so I needed to set up a VM, but it is done nonetheless])! As I know you mentioned you wanted to try it I figured I'd get back to you! I hope you try it out and like it!
I really enjoyed this game! Everything seems on point and I really appreciate the effort you put into making all the art assets by yourselves (it is very well polished and plays very nicely)! This kept my attention for longer than most of the other games I have tried from the Jam!
To be completely honest I am in shock that this does not have more ratings because it was very enjoyable to play! (I do really hope more people check it out and try it!)
Fantastic Job and Game On!
Edit: I do also want to note that even though I made a bullet-hell/shmup style game too that I am not very good at them so I couldn't make it as far in this game as I probably should have haha! Either way fantastic creation!
Thanks for the comment! I am very glad you enjoyed the idea! A lot of planning and design went into making it so I'm very happy you found it satisfying!
One possible way would be to have the player enter one of two states (grapple or shoot) using a button or something and then everything else can bind to touch controls! Just a suggestion though. That's how I'd probably do it.
I am really glad you enjoyed it! As I said in some of the other comments I wanted to carefully design the game so that it would fit in an actual custom arcade cabinet so I tried to keep the controls effective and easy to grasp and something that can easily be mapped to an arcade console. The game was designed to be played with a Joystick (WASD), 4-6 gameplay buttons (Q,E,LMB,RMB (Or) 1,2,3,4, LMB, RMB depending on user preferences) and then a 'Start Game' and 'Pause Game' button, just like an actual arcade game!
Once again thanks for your kind words! I really appreciate it!
Cool project! As others said, some sounds would be cool! I also agree that having the theme being a little more thematical ('cheating death') versus altering the player is nice!
Pretty cool game! I like how you incorporated the cheat code as a core mechanic (over something to enter in a console)! The movement is ever so slightly (not by a lot) too rigid. But otherwise, I had a good time playing it and think your sprites are really cute ;)
I also agree with what Emma said, it reminds me a lot like VVVVVV (a great game if you haven't tried it!)
I also noticed while looking at some of the other comments that you mentioned you like bullet-hell games! You should totally check mine out, it's bullet hell genre - arcade style! Would appreciate any feedback on it! :)
I really enjoyed this submission and the concept yall came up with! I hope you continue to dev and expand on the ideas in the future. The art style is really cool and the name made me smile and laugh a bit. What do vacuums dream? - an eternal mystery I guess!
Good concept and take on a micromanaging (I believe this is what it'd classify as) game!
I like the art style being hand-drawn quite a bit! A bit of sound and music and that would go a long way if you continue development on the project! Mechanically the game was very pleasing and smooth to play!
I am absolutely flattered by your comment! I'm glad it kept your attention for so long!
I updated the thumbnail and will probably update it again tomorrow when I have more time ;(.
The problem with something like what I have is that it is a lot less convenient for people to deal with the zip and executable file over something like an in-browser (which I believe wouldn't handle my game due to the music taking up a large amount of storage space even when bitrate was lowered [which I tested]).
I also feel bad doing something like spamming discord and trying to advertise my game over other peoples games ;-; but I hope naturally as time goes on more people will try it either bc it shows up more often or maybe via word of mouth haha!
It can definitely be expanded upon but it is pretty polished and I happen to really like the tower defense genre so it was nice to play one! The music is cool and there is plenty of content for a prototype!
I also felt like elaborating after reading this again. The game doesn't go on a level system but instead is designed so that the character tries to survive as long as possible with your one life (similar idea to a roguelite).
I really appreciate the feedback and kind words! It is hard to get the word out to people as like you said many are naturally less inclined to try a downloadable executable over an in-browser game!
I appreciate the info on YoYos giveaway and I do own a liscence from them and plan on continuing development of the project so I will keep this in mind.
I'm not sure about the limitations of in-browser games when it comes to assets but music alone makes the game file huge (I couldn't even send it through discord bc it is larger than 50mb) so I am not sure if I'd be able to make it an in browser game or the limitations off of that. (Personally I enjoy the executable games and overall think most of them are of better quality and more polished but maybe I am biased).
Either way I really appreciate the feedback and your willingness to try my downloadable game hahaha!
I think the graphic style is pretty cool and adds a great aesthetic feel to the game!
The game is pretty polished and I like the idea of the cameras detecting you, what might be good is to show their line of sight more clearly for the player though! The only other thing is that I felt the player was just a tad too heavy, although this may be intended design because you can change the jump scaling!
Either way, great game, treat yourselves to an 11th cookie! Game on!
I think the art style of the game is awesome as others have mentioned!
The concept is cool.
I also greatly appreciate that you wound up adding a tutorial and intro! Simple things like this go a long way and make a project feel way more polished especially if the controls are not following a standardized schema! Music is great too!
As I mentioned in some of the other comments, it is actually a game that is designed to go into an actual arcade cabinet and use the controls of a Joystick (WASD equivalent), 4-6 gameplay buttons (Q, E, LMB, RMB) and a 'Start Game' and 'Pause Game' button so I deliberately designed it to be fun in short bursts of gameplay just like a normal arcade game! (It hopefully also makes you want to come back and improve!)
I'm so happy you were playing for ages; I love to hear that it kept your attention for so long! Thanks so much for trying it out and the positive feedback!
I really really like the sound effect when you hit spin, one might call it an earworm. As mentioned by others you can expand on the concept and maybe doing something like adding a simple spinning animation for the slots would be cool!
Possibly a solution might be to add an option for the player to control their slipperiness. I understand from a design perspective why you did this and I think it is a great stylistic choice! For me I am bad at a lot of these dodging games (even though I made one like that for this Jam) but for more experienced people having slippery controls makes sense (and will be more fun for those people) from a design perspective!
Certainly a cute little Metroidvania-style game (I am actually a massive fan of Metroidvania-style games and love the low res art style that you have!)
Mechanics are smooth and responsive. And the use of the limitation is effective and well implemented. It would be good to add some sounds and music and expand on the project!
Treat yourself to another cookie, you deserve it! Game On!
It certainly has quite a bit of charm and I like both the micromanagement aspects and the space-themed shooter! It is definitely an innovative mashup! Props for creativity!
The music is great and the graphics are cool!
My one caveat is that the motion controls for the spaceship are a bit too 'slippery' for me. Other than that it is a neat little game that seems pretty polished!
This game had to be close to the top of my favorites played so far! It was a unique take on a card-game game (haha grammar). I like how the music is tame and that keeps the experience immersive because everything from graphics to gameplay to music is aligned to create an immersive experience!
When I think of games as an analogy I like to think of a metaphorical present :
The mechanics are the gift itself.
The graphics are the wrapping paper.
And the sounds are the tape and bow on top.
(Without great mechanics you have a shoddy gift, without good art it doesn't make the gift seem special or surprising, without good sounds you've got nothing to hold the wrapping paper together.)
and your game hit all the checkmarks for my metaphorical present analogy.
My only caveat (albeit a minor one) is that ESC is used to pull up the menu. Normally, this is pretty standard, the issue is that when playing it through a web browser it is an awkward choice because if you hit escape when using the game in its fullscreen on the browser it actually shrinks the window down to the non-native resolution.
Besides that fantastic idea and excellent execution. This is a project that has a lot of potential and something that I will probably come back to playing after I am done rating a bunch of other projects!
I agree with a lot of things Tim said! I think some simple adjustments can go a very long way.
The game runs smoothly and the graphics and sounds are cool! And there is a lot you can do mechanically to expand on this project!
Another suggestion that I'd make is to have 'W' also correspond to a jump key. I noticed that I could move right or left with (Left arrow and Right arrow (OR) 'A' and 'D') but I could only jump with Up arrow. Just a suggestion.
The player felt super responsive to use and the mechanic around cheating is very clever! Wish it had more content!
I think adding on some sounds and music would be a great touch and really add to the immersion of the game! (It doesn't have to be anything complex as I know different people have different skillsets!)
I like the rigidity of the character and it runs surprisingly smooth for something made with scratch (most of the scratch projects I have tried don't run nearly as smooth so that is impressive!)
Another idea might be to add a parallax scrolling background (I have never used scratch so I am not sure if this is possible/easy to do with their software but if it is it would be a great touch)!
Nice Work and Game On! (Also go treat yourself to a cookie haha!)
First off let me commend you for adding progression storing/saving (this is a really nice feature to have as I played a little yesterday and came back to finish it up!)
The artwork is clean and effective. And the music is great! I'm also sorry that you didn't have any cookies [ ;( ].
I personally am also a huge fan of the Metroidvania style progression where you navigate the same large world and then backtrack to unlock more areas in the same. Aka the accessible places increase the longer you play the game, nice touch!
I also like how the character feels rigid and smooth to control (which tends to be a good thing for Metroidvania-style games (like Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge you want the player to have tight/rigid controls), and this game gave me that feeling!
