Hi, Hello, Hey,
It was a game jam kind of week and I had a good amount of fun playing these small games. It always amazes me that people can complete games so fast. I feel like it's a fantastic exercise; Finishing a thing and making compromises for a release is a definite talent.
I made an interesting mistake this round; In my disorganized frantic brain I played a dated version of "Black Cat" and THEN the current version. It was interesting to see how the game had changed and improved.
Here is a list of the games I played;
- Black Cat - by Damooni
- Last Bastion - by DJ B Games
- Deep Water Galactic - by Mateus (no socials linked)
Black Cat #
Play in browser | Damooni's Itch
What an interesting exercise! I've yet to spend so much time with a game i'm giving feedback on so this is a bit long. I can really imagine the evolution of this game and imagine the decision making process by Damooni here. I think I will take this opportunity to not only give feedback on the latest build but comment on the evolution of this project.
old build
I spent quite a bit of time on the outdated build, which is interesting because honestly its not "good". However, I did enjoy it none-the-less. It had redeeming qualities but I found myself spending a lot of time playing with the mechanics. The rocket transformation was fun. The controls were honestly horrible and awkward on keyboard, i think it'd probably be fine on controller.
New Build
FANTASTIC aesthetic upgrades... tone down the lights tho. I felt the "glow up" of your game was very well done. It felt more polished and I can tell you put a lot of care into making this.
I feel like the new level design is far superior, but a little confusing. My first couple play throughs you can see me still not really "getting it". The introduction to the player was better, but a little confusing still. The whole "You fall" trap kinda pissed me off, 100% of new players will fall there is my guess. I think you want players to use their bubble ability there? it would be a good place to prompt them to use it... but just make it more obvious and less of a "got ya".
You can see me still struggling with the purpose of it all. I got to "the end" and felt a little confused and let down. It was not until I had reveled in my victory that I noticed there was a little easter egg with the white cat saying, "You Win!!". I think if you spend your next dev cycle focusing on the purpose of this game, and guiding/rewarding players for progressing it will go a long way.
final thoughts
I think this is an interesting little game that has it's charms. I want rocket mode back... I feel like you need to decide what it is. I feel like really playing into the whole, "Find the white cat" thing, with some mystery and puzzles the player has to unlock to progress could be a fun thing to add. I'm not sure the overall direction you are going in or started off in, but it seems like you need to spend some time designing what your final vision will be. Great work!
PS - The only thing I did NOT like was the music. That has gotta go...
Last Bastion #
Bullet hell games hold a special place in my heart. You can see me get into the zone and kill over a thousand of these dumb little space ships. I relly didn't have too much feedback on this one, its very good for the scope of it. Game Jam games are a bit tricky to provide feedback on given the time constraints and nature of how they are built. Depending on exactly what a dev asks for they will get wildly different focus.
This dev had nothing in particular so I try to focus on what they can add and if there is anything I think is a missed opportunity.
Missed Opportunities
I found myself wanting to break up clumps of enemies. This was the only thing that felt bad for me. I would have liked to see;
- A dodge ability
- A charge up animation for enemies shooting
- Hold down click to fire, my finger hurts.
What Next
I think after the dodge/charge up animation and making it so my mouse doesn't wear out... Just... more...
- Enemies
- Guns
- Music
Final Thoughts
I had fun with this one. I think this is a fun little game. I believe DJ B is "done" with this and intends to move on, which I cannot speak towards if he should do that or not. Bullet hell games are pretty saturated... if DJ B is not passionate about this I would recommend moving on... but... if he did want to take this further I see a good start for one of my favorite genres.
Deep Water Galactic #
This game touches on another fantastic mechanic... the whole "vampire survivors" genre. I think this is a unique take on it and as such I had a pretty good time.
The Good
Man do I love slaughtering enemies and collecting experience. I found it a fun challenge to only be able to shoot down. I also enjoyed how the camera slowly zoomed out. The pixel art was appealing.
The Bad
dev - "You won't be able to finish the game, I am geniunely confused how I made it so inefficient". To whi
me - "I have a pretty good computer"
My Computer-
So ya, after the memory leak, or whatever it is that makes me get 1 fps... Here is what else I would have liked to see in this quick turnaround!
- Movement was sluggish. It felt odd
- Camera zooms out too far
- (MAYBE... if you had enough time...) Add more biomes / variability to the background.
- (MAYBE...) make the ship get bigger?
The Ugly
Beyond the playability... I didn't really find anything too abhorent.
What Next?
I think a really nice addition would be to make some rogue-like mechanics. I would make gems give you more exp, and let the player select which upgrades to pick.
I'd appreciate your particpation!
- Please apply if you would like similar feedback for your game.
- Join discord, give others feedback!
- I'm also welcoming feedback on Item Collector Ball
Cheers! Happy gaming y'all.