Ahoy-hoy!
Fantastic. Two games I didn't have to solicit for. Two developers re-submitted games! Dear gaming gods please let this be a trend... for next week... cuz I'm about to go through my last batch of games from pirate discord...
Three games that I feel like stood out as unique for my playthroughs so far.
This weeks games;
- Big Data Big Problems by Varii
- Space Turret Runner by DarkMajesty
- Chicken with robot legs
Big Data Big Problems #
Play in browser | Varii on itch
This was another game jam game from Varii (featured last week with plato's brewery). This game made me really take a step back in how I approach these reviews. Game Jams are intense. This whole project was built in 4 days. It feels weird judging them from the same framework as a full release or even demo. So for now I am going to categorize feedback into "What stood out", "What needed more attention", "What needed less attention".
For Big Data Big Problems, it felt more complete then the last submission from this team. It's a more approachable concept. I'm sure this is inspired from some kind of game but it is unique to me.
What stood out?
I feel like the overall vision of this project stood out. While it was ultimately a fairly buggy experience that was a bit confusing, I still had fun and can understand exactly what the core gameplay loop could be with some more work.
The main character was animated for this project from a very talented artist. This was so good I assumed it was a asset pack. I enjoyed the overall aesthetic and artistic vision.
The music was a vibe. I am assuming this is a purchased or free asset. If it's not... good job. If it is... great selection.
What needed more attention?
The gun floating in front of the character, while the character already had a gun, was pretty bad. Beyond the visuals, this makes it so players can be trapped by the enemies with no way to kill the enemies. Time being the limiting factor on these game jams; removing the gun model and having bullets spawn closer to the character would be a fantastic compromise (the animator did not have time).
The core gameplay needed a bit more polish and balance;
- Enemies felt weird. The difficulty ramp was too slow at first then felt really steep.
- The economy / ability system was buggy and imbalanced. Probably give the player a bit more money.
- A clear picture of the players income choice. I was just guessing.
What needed less attention
The scope of this project was too large for the game jam. Certain features felt fairly incomplete. There were elements of the game that felt confusing. The hard drive mechanic was a mystery. EVERYTHING that isn't the core gameplay should be left out until the end. This means;
- No floating gun / interaction to "pick the gun up"
- No hard drives mechanic
- probably no economy (let the player just upgrade every level??)
- probably no servers.
This would leave a game where you are in a server closet, running around the map trying to kill enemies and stop them from hacking.
Conclusion
Great concept that needed some more time to espouse the full vision. Game jams are tricky and we must forgive them their imperfections.
Space Turret Runner #
In space turret runner your ship travels on a path while you control it in a 2.5d space. You are given control over acceleration and are constantly shooting. The player is given math puzzles that will add/subtract/divide/multiple your ship count. There are ships to unlock and they have different damage stats and have different maximum ship counts. Someone said in stream, "It's like those mobile ad's but... real". This made me laugh. It's true.
It took me a couple tries to really grasp the mechanics. After a few plays I was able to gain some traction and amass a ton of ships and blow up a buncha stuff. I am not sure which games are popular in the mobile space these days but this seems like it would be a perfect meaningless time sink while you're in line at the pharmacy or whatever.
The Good
I love me some mindless pew-pewing. I really zoned out playing this. Not a lot of commentary on stream is a good sign. I feel like the entire game was very visually stimulating and a dopamine addicts dream. Tons of stuff blowing up. Tons of bullets.
The balance felt good overall, with the assumption that the rest of the ships had an appropriate power creep. I didn't happen to unlock any of the extra ships but it looked like at least the prices and pace which you can unlock the ships were reasonable.
The atmosphere was well defined. I felt like the music, models and animations all played well together. Overall I can really feel the difference between this, a game that has been released and is complete, and the games I play that are in early phase development... which is probably an obvious statement... There are always little details that make a thing feel done.
The Bad
Overall there really wasn't much negative to say about this game. What you see is what you get for the most part. There is one area I would find worth distributing a new build for... the explosion sounds were a big dud. The only thing they have going for them is they aren't annoying... which is something that would prevent me from playing this game. With some really good SFX this game would stand out.
Beyond that the controls felt a little odd. I got used to them and its likely due to it being intended for mobile, didn't really like it on PC.
The Ugly
Nothing really all game breaking or glaring issues that would prevent users from playing. Some of the multipliers seeemd to be improperly color coded... ocassionally I would be forced to pick a negative modifier. This may be by design, but it didn't feel good.
Conclusion
PEW PEW PEW. 10/10 for a game to play while in the doctors office or any other benign activity where you wanna give your brain the illusion of progress. A game that knows what it is and is properly represented.
Chicken With Robot Legs #
Boy howdy I was so excited to click this game based on the title alone. I love an "on the nose" title and with this one... its a bullseye. Platformers... are they played out? maybe. A saturated market? certainly. If you're gonna break into it do it with the style and grace of a chicken with surgically implanted robot legs.
This game is self described as a "runner-vania" game, which feels right? I dunno genre bending and game tags are their own meta. Anyways, you're a chicken that is trying to escape a lab. Where to? What road are they crossing? It is unknown. In this game you traverse obstacles and puzzles to get to the other side. For some reason any perpidicular surface immediately kills this chicken. Dunno why. But it adds a fun level of difficulty to the game.
The Good
DUDE. Great intro scene. Really drew me in. The animations and setting of that scene are very well done. This is the exact type of mysterious backstory that a game like this should have. Why is this chicken in a vat? Why does it have robot legs? WHO CARES HE'S ON THE LOOSE. Fantastic concept that will absolutely draw people in to at least check out your steam page.
The developer has described this game as complete just missing some final bits of content. I tend to agree! This game, much like Space Turret Runner, has a rare feeling of completion amongst the games I've played. This is not a mark against those others, as I tend to solicit devs that are very early in the process. This is a mark for both of these games and my endorsement that the game seems ready for release.
The Bad
Despite my glowing review for the game in general there is a sin that has been comitted mixing pixel resolution without intent. I have been hard on previous submissions for the same thing and I do want to amend my iron clad "do NOT do this" statement. Do not do this, without a REALLY good reason to. You need to learn the rules to break them (properly). This linked post summarizes the subject clearly, concisely and with great technical detail.
This is exclusively in the marketing materials and main menu of the game... so describing it as a "sin" is probably a bit much. However, I do believe it is going to affect sales. The marketing materials need redone in appropriate pixel resolution.
There are also some minor ux improvements that could improve gameplay;
- Menu ux for exiting levels was weird
- Add a mini map
- Fast travel
- Standard options menu
The Ugly
Nothing. Good job.
Conclusion
Overall a very exciting concept that was excecuted well. I have mixed feelings about it being a runner game. For me, it feels like it would be more fun without that mechanic, but it does add a certain feel to the game. Maybe it's just not my thing? Hard to say. It would also be... very... very silly to remove such a thing at this point in the release cycle; just something I would suggest being open to for a version 2 – if its in the cards.
I think this game has... legs... (get it?). I am excited for the dev on this one. It feels complete. It feels fun. It's a funny concept. With another pass at marketing materials I predict this game will have a good launch.
Cheers!
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