Apapon

Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.90
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.85
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.90
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.62
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.15
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.75

Apapon is a Downwell / Gurren Lagann-inspired game.

Dive down the pits of future-hell, slaying robo monsters and drilling through the earth.

Get it here: https://occasoftware.itch.io/apapon

Comments21

JedeMac
JedeMac26 Apr 2021, 14:04
The Windows url links to this page. Can't download the game.
chris-mondok26 Apr 2021, 14:55
I want to play this game but I don't know how to get it. The windows link goes to this page, and I don't have Visual Studio installed to compile it.
phealsout26 Apr 2021, 21:39
Pretty nice game
For me it would be nice if there was some incentive to kill enemies, u can just avoid them very easily now
Dante200126 Apr 2021, 21:44
Game seems cool! I think you'd need to increase the size of the platform to the full width of the screen so sometimes you're forced to drill, else you can just dodge and avoid everything and still win. Loved the graphics and particle effects!
Occasoftwareauthor26 Apr 2021, 21:55
Agreed! Unfortunately it's quite a bit too easy at the moment. I think the levels are all much too short as well, but I only got to implementing the levels system in the final minutes :) perhaps I should have cut that scope to keep a single long level and spent the time playtesting the difficulty.
verysoftwares
verysoftwares27 Apr 2021, 06:28
you can go outside the edge of the screen to win easily :) are the levels procedurally generated?
JoeDev
JoeDev27 Apr 2021, 11:17
Fun game - I got to about level 15 before dying, and by the I had got very good at timing the 'jumps' to take out enemies. It is very satisfying when you line up a lot of attacks nicely and time your drilling just right. Good graphics and the attack VFX was nice! Good job :)
Glaikunt
Glaikunt27 Apr 2021, 12:44
Awesome game! Really enjoy the drilling down, because of that I didn't use the jump really. Though I wasn't going for kills I just wanted to see what level I could get at before dying.
tetrapteryx
tetrapteryx27 Apr 2021, 15:23
I like the visuals! It was hard to hit the enemies, but easy to avoid them, so I mostly ended up dodging around everything. A bit more incentive to engage with the platforms and enemies would help.
Foursay
Foursay27 Apr 2021, 16:20
Tiny but nice game! a small bug is that I could just move to one side of screen and prevent all the enemy. But appeaantly enemies are not required to kill. Nice Game!
Occasoftwareauthor27 Apr 2021, 18:50
Thanks for all the feedback! I really appreciate it :) :) I've updated the itch page with a summary of feedback and planned future changes to address it.

1. The levels are procedurally generated, each one gets longer than the previous one. I think it would be good to make the levels start longer initially and get longer more quickly.

2. I agree that the enemies are a bit too difficult to hit! :) I want to make them a bit bigger and also increase the size of the hitbox of the jump and drill attacks.

3. I also ended up mostly just drilling down in the final playtests! I initially wanted a balance between the jumping and the drilling, but I find the drilling to feel better and to be a little less punishing / risky. Not sure if I will lean into the drilling, or if I will incentivize jumping and perhaps remove the damage to enemies with the drill.

4. Moving to the side of the screen was an issue I found in later playtests! I want to make the enemies a bit more aggressive and introduce blocks that will damage you if you hit it. Maybe also blocks that cannot be drilled through. I think these changes would require players to interact more with the level itself.
wooliii
wooliii28 Apr 2021, 03:30
Great idea for a game ! Reminds me of downwell or vvvvv. I think you hit all my points with your comment above. I could see you developing this into a much longer game with more mechanics. Very addicting ! Good job :)
CorbenG
CorbenG28 Apr 2021, 03:41
Nice little game! Felt like it moved too fast at times as to make it feel more luck based around the generation and if something might hit me. Also some more visual feedback on what my actions are doing would be nice, but overall nice work. The visuals also fit nicely. :)
Occasoftwareauthor28 Apr 2021, 21:51
Thanks for the reviews! Really inspiring comment @wooliii :)

@corbeng, would love to hear more details about the movement to confirm some suspicions. Were you facing issues mostly with the vertical movement or the horizontal movement? Totally agree on the visuals, really wanted to add more in that area and plan to as well. I think sound design would go a long way to help there as well.
KepperSnapper
KepperSnapper30 Apr 2021, 02:39
Great visuals! Simple and unique concept! Thank you for this entry :) Loved it.
dhim
dhim30 Apr 2021, 06:50
NIce and simple entry.

At first I thought I was dying constantly and not getting around anything. Then I understood that I was winning the level!

* Definitively starts with longer level, it really seems like just dying after a couple of seconds
* Maybe just have the text Level X flash in between levels

I most often fall through platform and enemies. And winning a level was a matter of not touching the controls. I like the kill enemies through jet pack fire! But as you said the hit box where probably to small.
Cemre30 Apr 2021, 16:33
Nice game, reminds me of icy tower. The movements might be a bit too harsh, I mean when we jump, it could be a little bit more slow motion and soft, also I would like it if levels were a bit longer, the level ends a bit early I think. Other than these, nice job, I like the idea of falling down on these platforms, it feels nice :)
cheesepencil
cheesepencil4 May 2021, 19:12
Good job, we all know 48 hours just isn't enough time for everything you want! Controls were pretty good, enemies were cool looking too
LeviDSmith
LeviDSmith4 May 2021, 21:42
Fun game to play! I wish there were more entries like this, that don't require reading a book to start playing. 😉 I think drilling into the enemies was my favorite part. I did manage to go "out of bounds" at times which let me skip the obstacles and enemies in the level. Nice use of particle effects!
Found a bug?
Tell us on Discord