Hammer Keep

This rules, I love the concept of the health and attacking being linked. I kept my meter right between red and yellow to survive most hits but be able to send stalactites crashing down on enemies. The hammering sound effect is punchy. Controls are tight and responsive. Nice job!

Very cash moni, classic bad piggies game, i really like the idea, only issue i kinda have that the hitboxes on enemies are a bit too big, i sometimes got hit when i thought i shouldn't

loved this game! the rules were simple enough and i liked the music and sound effects alot. i realized i suck heavily at this game though and ended up dying alot LOL. i think once i get into the rhythm of it the enemies wont murder me as bad. i liked the overall concept of attacks and health being connected too, overall great job! i have a feeling ill be playing this game alot

I had fun with this. There's an interesting risk-reward tradeoff available, although the existence of enemies who can only be hurt by stalactites sometimes takes that choice away. It's maybe not conceptually clear why health and stability are the same thing (why would getting hurt by an enemy mean that stalactites are more likely to drop?) but that's beside the point. I like the art style & think that it communicates information pretty effectively; attacks are clearly telegraphed, it's clear who can only be injured by stalactites, etc. A good game overall.

Nice work! Looks like completed arcade game.

Loved this game, the retro graphics, music, and gameplay were all really nice. I'm not sure how far the progression goes, but I think a nice simple way to keep the player interested at time goes on is to color shift the level background.

What I really like about this game is that you have to pay attention to your meter at ALL times. Not just during engagement with the enemy, but also between engagements, because you're quickly assessing how you might approach the fight.

I love that you added hp to the mix. It adds 1 more strategy to the mix which is to heal all your health and then wail on whatever's in front of you. The game is really intense at all times because you're usually only a couple attacks away from death. Though I did find that the game gets much easier the 2nd time around, because you're not quite as afraid of the AI after learning their patterns. It mostly gets tough when there are multiple enemy types thrown into the mix.

I thought this was a really cool entry. I had only played your FPS games so it's need to see you branch out and show off your other design chops :)

I love how simple it was to master the mechanics, the menu thing where you have to hit the skulls to interact is so perfect great job :)

Interesting stalactite mechanic which promotes the player to keep moving or dodge and heal up. The gameplay itself was decent, solid effort overall.

This was a lot of fun! It's a very solid and satisfying core loop. Even though there's only a couple enemy types, the groupings kept things feeling fresh. The boss was great and was definitely intimidating when he first showed up.

I do think the health regen felt a bit overpowered, as I could sit there with enemies wailing on me and heal through that. I think maybe making the enemies interrupt your healing would force you to get some distance to heal at least.

Animations were great though, loved the telegraphs for the charge attacks. Music was a good bop too. Excellent entry!

The healing mechanic really makes the game. Really adds an extra layer of strategy that keeps the game fun because you are always making choices.

I found the core gameplay loop really satisfying after getting the hang of it. The indicator on the ground for healing was kind of annoying, as it made me think "thing is falling" a lot. There's already differentiation, but maybe a little more would help. I really liked the boss fight, and I think it could be made harder with adds during it! Overall good job!

Fun game! The combat design is well done and it was cool that you had time to even get in a boss fight. That made it feel like a really fleshed out experience. Nice work!

Really cool and solid game! When I saw the tutorial I was worried about regen would not be really fun, but it's actually pretty hard to dodge all those enemy attacks once it gets hectic. It's a simple yet fun risk/reward mechanic that adds tension! Also animations are really good and telegraph well.
Perfectly sized game, only complaint is that the music gets repetitive fast

Fresh and the comments above says it all. Congrats!

Love the way you combined health and damage system. Also impressed by 2d pixel arts in 3d belt-scroll action game. How about making more playable character with different ability on high unstability level? Like magician using dragon breath or samurai using slash dash.

A very fun small game, you did (as always) a great job in terms of combat design. It's fun and dynamic, well done.

I can imagine a multiplayer of this game. I love the idea

Really fun game! The aspect risk-reward is nice
Also I love the playable title screen, a really nice touch! And the pixel art is great!
I'm quite bad at this though, I'm too greedy and I never managed to beat 200 ahah
Congrats!

Hey piggy, thanks for submitting the game to the stream, it was a good time! Here's the vod if you'd like to rewatch; https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1167974254

Nice game! Great that you could practice before starting, I died on the starting screen but then I knew how to play! Now add some particles and some knockback for impact and you are done! :)

Great game, love the gameplay and artwork

Excellent game! I love it, i don't see anything bad on it really.

It's fun, it's challenging! Clever mechanics, overall a great experience! Good job!

Really cool idea! I liked the overall feel and look of it

Very solid mechanics. Like how himmar works and player have balance at the edge of death! Good entry!

great game, it's very tempting to go on a smashing spree ! overall pretty good concept a good execution, I added you on itch.io

This game was very fun. You're able to stand and heal indefinitely while the armored guy attacks you though, so he wasn't that much of a threat. I played multiple times!

I loved your game! Graphics and gameplay mechanics are so good and engaging. I see a lot of potential. Very very good.

Really creative combat system and it works extremely well. Visual style is coherent and appealing. Sound effects and music sound good and appropriate. I'd love to see this expanded on more but as a core gameplay loop it's pretty cool!

Great game! Recognized the creator from the thumbnail style.

Loved the take on the theme and the interesting gameplay loop ! The aesthetics and audio had it's charm also, though the rough transitions in the music made it kind of jarring at times.
I've had some issues with the controls where i kept restarting because in my mind R is wired to "reload" action games haha.

Thanks for making this game !

Awesome gameplay! I really liked having the menu also act as a playground for players to learn the mechanics in before starting - a really nice touch for a jam game.

The control scheme didn't feel right to me, I personally prefer having a dodge on shift (when using a WASD move type), and then attack on the mouse - but this is a personal problem more than anything. Would have loved to be able to rebind keys a bit, but in a jam that's a really low priority QOL feature haha

Awesome job, wouldn't mind playing more of this!

С таким молотом очень легко прибить себя. Хорошо, что рыцарь в доспехах. Правда, другие тоже в доспехах... Но им, кажется, это не помогает. Может, у нашего рыцаря хорошие подштанники?

Nice game, it's really fun! The controls and graphics are well polished. With more enemy types this would make for hours of enjoyment. Once you understand how the controls and enemies work you can just go on forever without dying.

Though it would be nice if the chargeup and dash used the same button, since the dash button doesn't do anything if you aren't moving in a direction.

A solid entry, with fresh badpiggy aesthetics and gameplay!

I like this game, I found it veryy fun and engaging lmao, hitting enemies and the ground with the hammer was very satisfying.
I found that on earlier stages I could just constantly regen without consqueqences

Nice and tight action and the mechanics are pretty novel yet everything was easy to understand and telegraphed well so that it didn't feel too unfair. The boss felt a bit too HP-heavy but otherwise the various enemies were fun to tackle.

Nice Game! I had a score of 1800 and had much fun with your game :) I got real dark souls vibe here

Nice game.
I like the perspective. The graphics are simple yet cohesive. Music doesn't get annoying.

It says a lot when you're terrible at a game but you still enjoy playing it. This was a really neat concept and it was done very well. It can get quite hectic to balance your health, but that is part of the fun. It's a "one more run" type of game.

The controls felt very tight and the hammer attack is crunchy. That, along with the sfx, made it incredibly satisfying when you kill the enemies.

The music could have used some variation, but it never quite got to the point of being annoying.

The graphics conveyed the game almost perfectly (I had the assumption that the ghost enemy turning grey meant they were invulnerable, but it just meant you had to use the rock attack, I think this was because the regular enemy you need to kill with the rock has a yellow head, so yellow = vulnerable). The sprites were distinct enough that you always know where your character was even though they share the same colour as the enemies.

Your combat design continues to be top notch

Liked it a lot. The art style really worked for it, the controls were great and responsive, and the combat was fun

Nice game! I liked how you need to become vulnerable to reduce the bar.

One bar for attack and defend is a great idea

I think I've played your past 3 entries, and I recognize them immediately when I do, you just have a style that is easily recognized. Another solid entry and again with a neat non-standard health mechanic. I constantly found myself keeping my health into the stalactite dropping levels to have a more powerful attack. Awesome game!

Hey Piggy, nice to play another entry of yours. Well done on this! This game feels really complete in this form. A nice, arcade-y little beat'm-up with a twist.

The controls took a second to get used to, but it felt pretty rhythmic once I got into it. The minimalistic graphics worked well, too. I think healing felt a little too safe, but maybe it gets harder further in. I got past the boss. That could have used a health bar or some damage indicator and felt like it dragged a bit.

Otherwise, super solid entry. Well done!

Very cool visual style as always. My least favorite part is the audio. I like the mechanics of needing to keep your power and health balanced, the stalactites being harmful is also a nice touch to keep things interesting. Controls and game speed are perfect (Although I wonder if animation canceling should exist, at least a roll out?)

Good job overall!

@ismael-rodriguez you can actually cancel dodges with an attack. I ensured you couldn't cancel attacks with dodges cus then it becomes way too easy and it looks a bit weird lol. Thanks for playing none the less

nice game, lots of original game mechanics!

Nice stuff, a solid idea with a good execution. Like it a lot!

I love score attack games, and I love the aesthetic of BadPiggy entries. So needless to say this game is awesome!

Like usual you art style and "2.5d" perspective look and feel really nice. I like the idea of having the instability bar also serve as your health bar, that's a nice take on the theme. The single most important part in a game like this are the controls, that's the difference between something which is fun and something which is just frustrating. The great thing is that you nailed the controls perfectly, they are super tight and give you full control of your character.

There isn't really anything to complain about, it's a small, polished and overall pleasant experience.

Would be cool if you decided to make a post jam version with an online leaderboard. If you do, let me know because then I will hammer my way to the top of it :hammer: :smile:

Really fun!

Took a little while to understand the mechanics, its amazing how instictive it is to ignore any instructions, but once i got over that it was a lot of fun. Interesting mechanic executed well, the 2.5d pixel art visuals worked nicely to add some style and the music fit well too. smahing and dodging felt pretty good too. No complaints, great job.

As always brilliant game and really fun to play!

nice one, love the idea! good risk-reward mechanic that fits the theme quite well, very neat :)

I really like that the stalagtite mechanic is both dangerous for you and your enemies. Makes for some interesting strategy.
Also, very nice/polished start menu so you can play with the mechanics.

Very good entry! Good interpretation of the theme as well!!

I really loved how much depth the mechanics have. In particular I like how healing is balanced: not only it's risky but sometimes it's even undesirable.

Fun game! Really like the gameplay a lot. it just works!

Good job!

Congratulations on the game, I love this kind of graphics, fun battle system, if you can give your feedback on my game I will be very grateful, a big hug.

Pretty nice game, the mechanics are simple but work really well together and once you get acquainted with them it's actually fun. The AI is also surprisingly interesting, creates nice dynamic situations where you have to manage dodging while also charging or uncharging your hammer. The boss is also a good test of your comprehension of the mechanics.

Fun game! The controls are really tight, The enemy variety were good, and the boss battle was really tricky and fun. Definitely took a few tries to get pass.

Great polish game. Interesting thing.

Thanks for submitting your game to stream!

I'm lowkey envious of how wonderfully elegant the design of this game is. Super creative, and absolutely no bloat to be found. Very nicely done!

Awesome game. The controls are super tight and I absolutely loved it, had me hooked for an hour

Hi there! Thanks for submitting your game for me to play live during my Twitch stream!

If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1172268556?t=0h12m34s

Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D

💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady

https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin

Pretty interesting idea, and the game is really polished too. The sound effects hurt my ears though...

It took me a bit to figure out the controls, but once I got the hang of it, it was quite a enjoyable experience!

I do have a few suggestions. I found the hammer and heath bars to be very confusing at the start and I could not figure out why I was dying so often. It might be worth just having a single bar and drop the health entirely.

Secondly, I found the dash keys to be awkward. I would suggest using a more commonly used key such as shift.

Overall, though, a really fun experience with great visuals and fun gameplay! Nicely done!

Really cool style! I like how its a very simple environment, sprites and even UI in a 2.5D space. The use of different colors for different enemies is great for this style, where you have to make quick decisions and judgements. That way when an enemy spawns, you can instantly see what kinds of strategy you need to take to defeat them. Your take on the theme, using both sides of being stable or unstable as a mechanic, is very creative in this sense. Really cool entry!

Thats an innovative and creative way to get into the theme perfectly. Gameplay is fun and juicy and simple mechanics make the experience great!

This is such a cool mecanic, I could see it beeing a weapon mecanic in a fully fleshed game. Big up for putting WSAD and ZQSD at the same time : Génies !

Simple but interesting and engaging mechanic. I find that the visuals and the audio works well together. Great game !

Very cool action game. Everything comes together into a nice tight package - the art style is great, the gameplay itself is crunch and feels good, with key details like the telegraphed enemies and the different types of attacks needed. The 8-bit sound and music fit together with the rest, and it all really works. The pacing of the action is also really well done.

Great entry!

Very good! I love the minimalist design with several layers of depth.

Really challenging, the concept of keeping an eye on your health and attacks was interesting and made it very stressful at times (in a good way.) Took me a while to learn the enemy patterns, and those little dashing menaces! Lovely lo-fi graphics, good audio, overall really nice little time waster! :)

@badpiggy Very cool! I also found it quite hard. I would love if I could just fight a few little guys before getting blasted from the heavens xD, good job!

Since the jam's ending, its time for a thank you message lol

@jonah-srg @noeloskar @seaslugstudios @3lstmsinatrenchcoat @darthwaxus @neverwinsthegame @peachtreeoath @bigassopper @beats @ursagames @bernard-bumblebutt @nardandas @matt-fabius @tillerqueen @publicidadeba @nshbae @tricky-fat-cat @nulldreams @togimaro @justcamh @elastic @fear-games @richard08 @shores @pkzinpo @saintheiser @pk-c @bklolo @lumbigui @polymathld @patsui @colinbellino @tom-robson @xpoho @jefvel @driagonv @randomphantom @erikengineengineer @xeke-death @petunia-games @mathemagician @nefylem @jon-nova @wheybags @mmason @harrison-dunn @ismael-rodriguez @verysoftwares @malte-hedenstrom @simon-rahnasto @rayriver @automatonvx @simpathey @mr-developer @kevlanche @wendel-scardua @jonah @etrealjunior @730 @strega @artonix @coleslaughter @j-broccoli @elysiagriffin @rndm @ideaspersecond @sofimei @adriankrawczyk @argon @yorsh @pkenney @franvadillo @sinclairstrange @thejunt

I want to thank all of you for playing Hammer Keep and for providing feedback :). Some of you played it on stream as well and it was a joy to watch. Most of you had trouble with the tutorial being boring and I apologise for that lol. Wasn't sure at the time during the development period how I'd make a good tutorial with this mechanic.

Either way though, I do want to do something with this post-jam but time will tell what becomes of it and if I even do anything with it lol.

If you would like to see anything I come up with, let it be this game or anything else...

Follow me on twitter : https://twitter.com/BadPiggyproduc1

Join our discord : https://discord.gg/RNGVq63

I've fixed a few issues like the enemies not slashing if they're in contact with a wall. I've also made some updates to the game, chief among them being a more dynamic camera. I actually wanted this in the jam version but couldn't get a decent implementation of what I wanted in time. You can still turn it off if you wish and have the camera back to the old static system though.

I've also made a few new enemy types, two of which are more like mini-bosses. Here are some snippets of them...

Like I said, not sure as yet what will become of this game, but it was fun to make. Thank you all again for playing :)