@skigfx yeah, all solo -- used some graphical assets that I then modified in Aseprite, as well as using a combination of audio from freesound and my own sounds. That's why I opted out of Graphics+Audio and didn't do the compo.
I'm not much of a puzzle player, but the game does have an interesting concept. I just think it could give the mechanics little by little instead of dumping information right at the beggining, but i don't see how it would be possible given the time frame of the jam and the quantity of concepts you introduced.
COngrats on developing such complex game in a short time!
This game has lots of variation and potential. It can be easily extended upon and made to a full release. Great job in so short amount of time! Gameplay is fun, visuals appealing, music is cool. Good job! If you would like to shred some zombies in slowmo, I would love to hear your feedbacks: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/shred-a-bunch
Nice game! I appreciate the game mechanics, graphic and music. Perhaps the O2 in card can be less remarquable than the value, as I often read "502" instead of "5 O2" :)
With some extra balancing (I will NEVER expect perfect balancing in game jam games, though, let's be real, none of us can be that wizardly), this is just like... a game that I would pick up and feel like playing now and again because it's so much fun. The graphics, the gameplay, everything just feels so perfect and neat yet simple. It also felt really unique, mechanic wise- like a strange card matching game but where it's based on effectively matching different cards together in a way that works best.
Very unique, though the first attempt of many levels feels pretty luck based given the limited undos. I like the reveal effect, that helped me plan ahead. Replaying a level for a second time is also a good memory challenge.
Great soundscape! Very fun game. Wish the new types of cards were introduced more quickly (obviously in game jams nothing will be perfect, but this game seems like it could be released fully with a bit more work). I also wish the text on the cards could be larger/more distinct to make it easier to read, though I appreciate it was styled to fit the theme. I also really liked the concept of the game, which feels super unique!
I didn't quite understand most of the tiles, but I only had to restart one level a couple of times to reach the max O2. Seems like there's a lot of potential. You managed to make tons features and the art is pretty nice as well. Good job!
It's good! I really didn't get it initially even with the tutorial tho; I'm glad I read some comments and tried again, because once I did catch on it was a lot of fun 😅
My biggest problem initially was that I didn't understand whether I was even advancing through the levels. There seemed to be no number ticking up between them and because all of them after the tutorial had the same grid shape and I assumed tiles were randomised infinitely, it seemed like "continue" didn't do anything differently from "try again" for a while. At some point I couldn't try anymore. I realise in retrospect that perhaps the bar at the top is your health (i.e. oxygen) and that's what did it, but all the way up until now I actually thought it was the target score for each level (which also confused me since I sometimes won a level without fully filling the bar).
It all makes sense in retrospect but I definitely didn't get it the first time 👀
But let's move on to positives! Game looks and sounds nice but of course this is the kind of game where mechanics and design are foremost, and it really did shine in that department. Since levels are not in fact randomised I think this might even work as a physical board game! It's a really neat take on the basic memory game. I really enjoyed using the grants and getting to choose one out of three was neat. Those choices were *actually* randomised tho, right? All the effect cards were another good addition and the tooltips were definitely needed.
I thought the text was a bit small. There seemed to be room to make it a bit bigger. I also kept missing the colon in "transform: dead plant" due to weird kerning so I thought it was actually going to transform a dead plant into a living one, which confused me for a while.
I see you opted out of audio so I guess you didn't make the music but it was a nice pick and the sound effects were good too. Unfortunately after the music finished it didn't loop so I played most of the game in silence ☹️
TL;DR: Really good, solid and fun game design that I could definitely play more of! 💜 Just some confusing parts about the UI that need work, really.
@ava-skoog Thank you so much for playing and for the detailed feedback! The O2 bar is the target score, but the reason you were completing levels without filling the bar is sometimes there are "Grants" available on each level (the upgrades/rewards) - you only get those if you fill the bar all the way. I'll admit it's a little confusing at first. You are right, though, the grid doesn't get randomised until you move to the next level.
I'm really glad you enjoyed the game, the grants are randomised choices, yes!
I'll make a note of the small text, I think a few people found the text/UI a little hard to read.
I opted out of audio because I used a lot of sounds from freesound.org, but I did make the music! Although I also used some samples in the music, which again is why I opted out -- but I'm glad you enjoyed it. I did forget to set the music to loop, sorry about that!
@spargit: Ahh, I just thought you only got grants after certain levels!
I hope I haven't been doing things wrong, but I think that sort of stuff is fine in the jam (preferably made clear) while it's the compo that's strict on everything from scratch, and if you did use assets you're basically getting rated on your use of them? Like even if you used foley you might have edited and transformed it, and there's also sound design itself? 👀
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COngrats on developing such complex game in a short time!
_Was too lazy to get some grants, though, I'm not a huge fan of puzzles..._
Here's my game if you have some time to spare :) https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/the-day-before-the-harvest
I also really liked the concept of the game, which feels super unique!
My biggest problem initially was that I didn't understand whether I was even advancing through the levels. There seemed to be no number ticking up between them and because all of them after the tutorial had the same grid shape and I assumed tiles were randomised infinitely, it seemed like "continue" didn't do anything differently from "try again" for a while. At some point I couldn't try anymore. I realise in retrospect that perhaps the bar at the top is your health (i.e. oxygen) and that's what did it, but all the way up until now I actually thought it was the target score for each level (which also confused me since I sometimes won a level without fully filling the bar).
It all makes sense in retrospect but I definitely didn't get it the first time 👀
But let's move on to positives! Game looks and sounds nice but of course this is the kind of game where mechanics and design are foremost, and it really did shine in that department. Since levels are not in fact randomised I think this might even work as a physical board game! It's a really neat take on the basic memory game. I really enjoyed using the grants and getting to choose one out of three was neat. Those choices were *actually* randomised tho, right? All the effect cards were another good addition and the tooltips were definitely needed.
I thought the text was a bit small. There seemed to be room to make it a bit bigger. I also kept missing the colon in "transform: dead plant" due to weird kerning so I thought it was actually going to transform a dead plant into a living one, which confused me for a while.
I see you opted out of audio so I guess you didn't make the music but it was a nice pick and the sound effects were good too. Unfortunately after the music finished it didn't loop so I played most of the game in silence ☹️
TL;DR: Really good, solid and fun game design that I could definitely play more of! 💜 Just some confusing parts about the UI that need work, really.
I'm really glad you enjoyed the game, the grants are randomised choices, yes!
I'll make a note of the small text, I think a few people found the text/UI a little hard to read.
I opted out of audio because I used a lot of sounds from freesound.org, but I did make the music! Although I also used some samples in the music, which again is why I opted out -- but I'm glad you enjoyed it. I did forget to set the music to loop, sorry about that!
Thanks again for playing :)
I hope I haven't been doing things wrong, but I think that sort of stuff is fine in the jam (preferably made clear) while it's the compo that's strict on everything from scratch, and if you did use assets you're basically getting rated on your use of them? Like even if you used foley you might have edited and transformed it, and there's also sound design itself? 👀