itch.io

I'll definitely check out the update! I think something like audio could make the hold-release jump feel as good for the player as well; its not a bad feel, its just different and takes a little getting used to lol I enjoyed it once I got into the groove of it

I'm a sucker for marble/ball physic games, really liked the ideas here. The jump was a little hard to get used to, being on the release of the button rather than the initial input, but gives a nice weighty feeling. I think more reactionary sounds like grabbing items or hitting the ground or even when traveling at max velocity could give this game that extra juice that'll knock it outta the park!

The menus had some really bumping music! I struggled a bit with the controls, had to check the itch page for the buttons for each shape, but the main mechanics like changing shapes was explained well in game. I struggled with the platforming since your shape rotates as you jump, either helping or hindering your landing. I liked the shape change stations, but it felt mostly like a "you need to be this shape now" rather than getting to explore the same areas in a different way as a different shape. They were also EVERYWHERE so it never was really a problem to change. I did have the pause glitch happen a few times on me, but I persevered and found Polly!!

Neat little game, good controls that may have had me stretching what side of the keyboard I was pressing with the SHIFT buttons lol I had a big issue with the damage from enemies and spikes: most of the time I just got my health instantly melted by the first contact with the enemy/spikes and had to respawn. The distance of checkpoints was fine in some parts, but others had me going through a gauntlet before getting to the area I died before. I was actually very reluctant on using the dash because of this, one wrong move into something unknown and I'd be instantly dead.

It seems the secret cat easter eggs were a big hit! That was all thanks to a last second addition by Appleheadd lol We'll definitely be adding something like that to any Jams we participate in after this one

Some areas can feel a little claustrophobic with a low ceiling and narrow platform, we wanted to keep the rooms to single screen cells so we compacted a lot into each one, perhaps a little too much lol

Glad the movement and wall jumping felt good! It took 2 of us and 15 different variables to fine tune it just right lol We knew how important it was for the overall game feel.

We have been getting a lot of feedback about the tiles appearing as foreground/solid elements, its something we will be conscious of in our sequential projects (or even continuation of this one!) For the optional challenge areas, we wanted to push the mechanics as far as we could and threw whatever at the wall. We tried to cover a range of players, from keen-eyed explorers to expert platformers. Even if something is optional, we found players getting frustrated by having to give up and move along because they couldn't get past it; there's a sweet spot to challenges that we could hit closer on the mark for.

Thank you! We did put the more difficult challenges we came up with for the optional content just so casual players didn't feel punished and not able to complete the game. Glad you were able to overcome them all, I still have difficulty with them lol The ending rooms are just a standard platforming obstacle course, but perhaps involving the colored blocks more could have been a better thematic end with the mechanic

This was a REALLY good one! The music was banging! I'd love to get a link to download/support it! Loved the combat combo system, simple enough for casual players to figure out something that might be better for a situation but also experts to use whats best to optimize their time in a run of a full version. I did get irked a couple times in combat when my player was committed to a direction in a combo and then the enemy jumped away, so I felt like a jerkoff swinging in the air until it was done, but thats the whole learning curve with attacks and enemies lol It felt very slow at the beginning with the long hallways, the dash was a big intention of the movement so once I got that it felt great. The wall jump was an awesome feeling, but sometimes I noticed I would just not go up and would plummet back down, not sure if I wasn't getting the timing right or a cap on how far you can ascend with it, it seemed to randomly not send me upwards though so idk Also, I think the Super FX art style was hit-or-miss in some spots, I couldn't tell if it was just shadow or a hole in the ground, and some things like those ruined cars did not match the FX style and stuck out a little bit. I think it can work with a little bit of tweaking

Shoutouts to Jerry's Prairie and Dairy (Formally Ricks)

Loved the jumping animation, good choice on that one! Also loved how well integrated the pogo was, I was constantly switching back and forth to jump the perfect height. The resolution/text was awfully blurry, though it wasn't too much of the game. The wall jumping had an odd rhythm to it that I managed to figure out and could kinda climb the walls. Not sure what the issue was with the spikes in the cavern area, but it did softlock me into resetting my whole playthrough a couple times, thought I could do it a lot faster on sequential tries!

Interesting risk-reward style game with the weight for deliveries, lets the player choose their own difficulty! It was incredibly difficult though, I think there was an issue with the checkpoints not being reactivated since I would travel back a far distance and it would set me back to the furthest point I unlocked. There were a lot of thread-the-needle type dash segments that had me raging, I gave them all a hearty amount of tries before getting through. Combat also had a slightly weird feel to it, like a cooldown that would happen sometimes and not others, I would just not be able to swing and then wait to hear the audio cue to know it was back, so maybe something more readable in the middle of combat could help.

Totally not your fault, goes to show you should prioritize only giving 1 option and let players remap to whats more comfortable for them on their own! A lesson to be learned

Glad you liked the atmosphere and the simplicity! I will say, we did map the visor switching to the face buttons as well as the bumpers and triggers, we wanted to let the players use the controls most comfortable for them but we didn't have a tutorial for it so we understand the confusion.

Loved the minimal style, pairs very well on the web-page in minimized mode. The environments were very well done and I could feel an area transition very well.  Also really liked the Pick-1 rougelike upgrade system after bosses, very interesting way to do upgrades in a Metroidvania. The beginning had a LOT of dialog and I accidentally skipped most of it since its triggered by location, but most of it was things that could be pieced together on just game experience (like enemies harming you on contact, acidic water, health items) It kinda took away from the atmosphere a little bit. Also found the save areas were spaced very far from each other, made dying way more punishing. I will also say I did NOT appreciate accidentally pressing R and resetting all my progress and overwriting my save :( Had to redo a large amount because of that, but just assuming that may have been an oversight in debugging tools or a safety button for Jam players.

The icons on the character were a good touch, it helped let me know what maneuvers I had available and a cheeky way of showing your upgrades as a visual change. The music was good but some of the effects (specifically the balls bouncing) were ear piercing (I was on the executable version) The characters controls were a little stiff for me, some moments that required high precision had me getting repeated Game Overs (my hardest hurdles was the emergency lever ascend and the needle thread between the spikes) Luckily the checkpoints are given very generously so repetition wasn't too bad. The upgrades also made backtracking a whole lot easier and is very Metroidvania, when I got to the end and needed to go to the opposite corner of the map to get the missing piece, it was pretty seemless and a good test to see how fast/maneuverable I could be with my full toolset, so good job at the functionality of upgrades! Also bless your soul for an infinite healing mechanic; in a Game Jam, that is a BLESSING!

Teaching the player the mechanics they secretly had access to the entire time sure was a teaser for me to replay it and see how I could break/speed through! I did have a little trouble with the bouncing, I think I just need to git gud though lol

Entirely not your fault! It' justs a little too well hidden for something mandatory lol

Tried again with the attack and dodge (should have read the start page, it was right there lol) and it was SIGNIFICANTLY better and made it way further, but didn't know where to bring the gold key. Maybe I'm not as big of a math nerd as I though, but it still seemed like some enemies couldn't be killed without taking damage so you could get the right orientation or tile pattern to be adjacent to them.

Really liked the turn-based world, could think about everything before committing to the movement. I feel like there was a lot of unavoidable damage you had to tank and rooms you get sucker-punched by entering and not being able to go back. There were some rooms that had enough to orient where you were while others had me guessing where they went like the first room with its 3 entrances and nothing else.

I loved the gunplay of this; the gun feels more like a tool with complexity since you have to manually cock it and load one bullet at a time with manual inputs. Felt like a big time cowboy rolling up on a crew and gunning them down as fast as I can press the sequence. I was able to get in some rooms earlier than intended without the dynamite, seemed like you could just walk up to the rubble and phase through it.

I REALLY like the idea of the combat, makes me think more about my swings more than just hacking and slashing. I think some clearer feedback on when an enemy is staggered would help prepare the player for drawing the rune attacks.

That would be a crazy issue but I don't doubt it could be an issue with computers these days lol

You are indeed missing the Red Lens upgrade. If you want a hint, check the room where you got the Climbing Gloves carefully, there may be an alternative route :)

Loved the idea of being a vampire bat and sucking enemies to recover or even net-gain some HP; makes wanting to engage in combat more of an interest. There was a LOT of enemies, often piling up into a mob of 20 that would melt me instantly whenever I got nearby lol It was easy to get glitched into the air and not be able to come back down, but thankfully you added a respawn button. The map was VERY large, and the minimalist aesthetic did make it very easy to get lost in, I sorta used the large trees as a landmarks to know my positioning so smart choice with them.

It seems like it was really ambitious, I hope to see it fleshed out. I think if you removed the restrictions of the Jam's theme and kept evolving the ideas, it'd be a fun little vampire combat game! I also loved the art, the 2D characters have a charm to them and I liked the wide range of animals used.

Really good job at guiding the player the right way, after I got the pull power-up, I thought I just swapped it out, but the next room explaining it was smart. Also in the flashing room when it tells you to pause and it zooms out, I was like OMG!! What a reveal! It was some Grade-A showmanship! It was a little cumbersome to walk around the room with the point-and-click style and I did sequence break a little with being able to grab the mirror and pages sooner than expected, but including the diary and trying to understand why Delilah made the puzzles more personal than just "go up, down, than left" which a whole new layer of enjoyment from the game.

The collision was a little frustrating, some blocks looked like they could be pushed/pulled but wouldn't fit some times when I loaded into a room, and other times I got stuck along a smooth wall and had to redo the Naga room a lot. The game was super bright and hard to make some stuff out, but the minimal Atari graphics made it manageable, so great job tying the theme into functionality! Also the room getting changed via the game was a little paranormal element I wasn't expecting, maybe the player having to puzzle together that the room  was the same as the one you're in and having to manually move the bed in real life could have bridged that for me, but perhaps there's an element to the story I missed with that.

I'd love to see an expansion on the parallels to understanding the developer character to solve their puzzles in-game if a continuation of the project happens or a sequel!

This was an awesome game!! I love a non-traditional movement idea to metroidvania and a driving combat game is exactly that! Its controls were buttery smooth on controller and the music was well made for each situation. A little issue I had was some doors seemed just like walls so I got lost a couple times, it was perfectly solved with the first one with the arc being drawn on the ground (and thank god I have some drafting knowledge lol) also the keycard solution was a nice nod to Metal Gear Solid, but I can see how a player who didn't play that might get confused without a little Otacon telling them. I also had some trouble with the combat; I would hit enemies and sometimes it would count as a hit and other times, I'd get damaged. Also a lot of bouncing off walls and getting all my HP blended by a spinny razor thingie happened a few times (especially in the ice area) but it's very forgiving with checkpoints. There was a fun amount of secret upgrades with enough of a subtle nod to them and I'm sure there's more I missed! Also very cheeky to have the ending sequence get you close enough to them to realize you missed them, it teased me enough for a replay and I found 1

I had a weird enjoyment out of mastering the heavy momentum of the Sisyphus bolder. It did feel sticky in some spots like corners where I had to move a little away from the wall in order to be able to jump. I also couldn’t fully understand the wall climb momentum, it seemed like sometimes I’d ascend further than other times. I liked the added challenge of trying to beat the game without any upgrades; it took a few tries but once I mastered the movement system, it became a speedrun challenge for me lol I actually found it way harder to beat the game with the upgrades and couldn't beat it when trying to get the mushroom upgrade, maybe I don’t know how to fully use it or didn’t see a path to take

We have had some REALLY bizarre issues that seem to happen on computers other than the ones we tested on. Perhaps an issue with the HTML export or some oversights in how certain hardware would handle the game ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But the downloadable version has been pretty consistent with performance and minimal game breaking bugs if you would like to experience it in the intended way!

The movement was very slippery and platforms were claustrophobic. Jumping on some enemies was a very tight space and resulted in a lot of repeated hits and resets. Very punishing for the precision of it. The music was catchy and was stuck in my head even after finishing. Did make it to the end, so it is possible gamers!

Glad to hear you enjoyed! The theme was a bit loosely interpreted but happy that it was enjoyable beyond it! Also awesome to hear it gives 2010s vibes, we'll see if we can get a port for DS out by next year lol

Love that guy

I'm stuck trying to figure out how to get my new critters that I just breed onto the field to work and stop being freeloaders who eat my pepperonis. I enjoy the idea of autonomous creatures and mixing the breeds to create some unique bug to fit some task I might need it to prioritize. On-screen guides or tutorials could help with this in a post-jam update and feedback on each creature's efficiency like how much they gathered for the day can help the player in knowing whats working well in the ecosystem and what isn't. Fun game!

All very good feedback, glad you enjoyed many different parts of the game! The jump was just intended for when you have low calories to get a little oomph going down without having to spend calories, not as an extra boost on exit. We hadn't encountered anyone who had done that but we can see how you came to the conclusion. I'll also have to check out Dolphin Olympics 2, never heard of it but does remind me of the game we made lol

Fun game! Loved having to grab the best items on the go, but found it a little hard at the max speed with finicky grab areas and overlapping items. Also rage inducing to get full stopped by the mirrors but that's a skill issue lol I'd love for an arcadey expansion on this!

It's ok, we called him a taxi and had them stop for some McNuggets on the way home 🚕 He said thanks for playing

Glad you stuck with it! And thanks for playing!

Great at setting a tone! It felt unsettling and had me gasping at some twists. It's a little wordy at the beginning, somewhat cryptic, and brutally punishing, but sticking with it had great payoff. Great work!

Everyone in life has a different metabolism rate, sometimes its a blessing and sometimes it a curse. We will see what we can do to our little specimen to fine-tune the fishy eating experience 🐟

I LOVED this one! The mechanics took a round to understand but after that it was awesome! Played to the very end! I'd love for more enemy types and going more in-depth with the whole system! Bold choice with the thumbnail and name lol

Got a little confused at first on how to progress, but thankfully has a pretty short and sweet How To Play tab. Very satisfying weapons and floor flow! Was sneaking around corners trying to get the jump on those worms (they look worm-shaped idk if they really are worms)