Contains bright and flashing images. Player discretion is advised. Windows version is recommended for the best experience.
A new version that includes minor tweaks and bug fixes has been released for download and in browser. For authentic jam experience and for rating, please play the original jam version.
I've always wanted to make a space-based rhythm game, so needless to say I've thoroughly enjoyed this one. Very well done. The visual is superb.
I very rarely attempt to promote my own game in other people's comment section, but I think our game shares quite a bit of odd similarity - so please feel free to check out mine as well.
Well this was absolutely hypnotising. Is this part of an ARG or something with that morse code at the end? its all very mysterious. I was absolutely sucked in all game, it was visually and audibly great!
And the blog posts + game page did an excellent job setting the tone for the game before even clicking play. After seeing the visuals and arcane sigils, I had to try it out!
Cool idea, pretty visuals, and great job making an experience out of the "summoning" theme!
=== Food for thought ===
Interestingly, geometric symmetry doesn't necessarily correspond to musical synergy.
If you ever expand this into a full game, consider keeping the same geometry (and symmetry / patterns) of the nodes on the circles, but change the radius of each circle as needed, so that pressing space bar aligns to some sort of music or rhythm. That way it becomes more of a rhythm game and you feel like each progressive ring is harmonizing as part of a greater whole to complete the ritual for the "summoning".
=== Gameplay Suggestions ===
If you wanted to, you could increase the size of the hit box on the nodes to make it a little easier to successfully press space bar. But overall it was relatively manageable and didn't feel unfair.
The mood and atmosphere for this were really great, but after a while I wasn't sure if it was randomly generated or if there was going to be a win condition.
=== Closing Remarks ===
Overall really cool + memorable experience, glad I played :)
I really loved it, congrats!! I liked the athmosphere and graphics, and it got really challenging at one point But please, i don't know morse code, PLEASE tell us what it says at the end 😄
To start with I really enjoyed it, as each ring, overlapping with the last, was making some really lovely music (who doesn't love a good polyrhythm)! But in the later levels the sounds weren't matching as well. I'm sure this was done on purpose to make the game harder, but it also made it slightly less enjoyable for me too. That being said, I still had a great time, very moody and always fun to see a rhythm game in LD! Great entry!
I 100% prefer games that are quick but polished to games that are too long and don't push you to finish them. I expected this to be much shorter when I started it but it was just long enough. The only two critiques I would make are: 1: it's a bit of a stretch from the jam's theme (imo) 2: computer inputs/audio sync are often unreliable for rythm games, which makes you base yourself on the visuals way more (but that's not really a "you" problem)
I liked the fact that it was very minimalistic and threw you right directly right into it with no text and menu. Also, I didn't expect to see a bunch of cool esotheric rythms, so that was really cool to hear (and that 5/4 really was devilish)
Oh. My. Llama! How did you guys pull off this effect? It's mind-blowingly awesome! Did you seriously nail this within 72 hours??? If so, you all must have been mainlining coffee and punching the creative clock like there's no tomorrow!
Very creative way to handle the theme - it's simple and immersive, and an interesting take on a rhythm game! I loved the atmosphere, beautiful sounds + visuals.
Fun game! There was definitely a bit toward the end where it stopped sounding like music to me, and it was also when the game got noticeably harder. I had to really rely on visual input as opposed to 'feeling' the music, which I think is less fun in a music-based game. Sometimes it felt like I wasn't really following the beat, just following arbitrary timing. Over all though really polished and the vibes were great.
It was an interesting experience. As a rhythm games player I would really love different shape of "notes" to indicate the intervals between them and maybe a more melodic music, but it's fitting to the theme and I feel that it's more of a "visual experience" kind of a game rather than a rhythm game. So great job!
I loved that the only "music" in this game is the layered bells from each layer. It kind of reminded me of Time by Pink Floyd. I think the rhythm game aspect of it got lost towards the end when so many of the circles stopped being a majority of one time signature.
As a Steve Reich pilled John Cage enjoyer I really liked this game and how insane it got towards the end. I have no idea what the morse code said so i hope someone else translates it heheh. Nice work, very creative
I really liked the visuals with the shapes slowly coming together and the individual sounds! However, the game felt repetitive quickly and near the end, I feel there was just too much sounds playing, they didn't mix that well together.
I was really hyped by your post with the weird letters and thought it would be a deciphering game or something like that! Ended up playing a rythm game but it still was a pleasant surprise ! Had fun and as other said it was quite hypnotizing. Really liked the VFX. Maybe is just me though but I found 1) the activation window was too short, I think rhythm games should be just a little bit more permissive. 2) Was really bugged me was that the rhythm needed for some puzzle was not on the same rhythm than the sound already playing it was really confusing ! Overall the idea is interesting and fun !
(Also I wanted to try to decipher the morse code at the end but it was way too fast for my sloth of a brain, too bad :/)
I was instantly drown to this game by the screenshots and the enigmatic title when my teammate showed it to me.
I like the graphic design. There's isn't much information on the screen yet the necessary information is here. I particularly like that the error feedback is located where I failed. This helped me recalibrate when I was failing the rhythm.
Which leads me to what I didn't as much enjoy in the game.
I found the rhythm sometimes hard to get and the fact that sometimes I had to do it twice to unlock the next step made it a bit frustrating (also there was some kind of input lag, but that may be the fault of my computer ?).
I found the sound to become quickly annoying. Altough I like bells alright - and found it enjoyable for them to ring when I was right - the fact that every level has a different rhythm quickly turned into kind of a cacophony and made it hard for me to focus on the current level.
All in all it's still an interesting idea and I'm sorry I couldn't get to the end of the game.
The games visuals is really good, and the gameplay idea is fun. I overall had fun playing. I don't really like the sounds, and for me it got very noisy. But overall a good jam game. Well done.
We have just released an update with a slightly bigger timing window and minor tweaks to the level design for improved experience. The morse code clarity is improved as well.
Big thanks to everyone for the kind comments and suggestions! ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⎎⎍⋏☆
The game ends in some kind of summoning circle, but other than that I don't get the connection to the theme. It's kind of beautiful and creative, but not that fun as a game. I get you're waiting for someone to decode the morse code, but most people won't bother.
Very good, only issue I had is I felt that there's some inconsistencies when you progress to the next stage, sometimes it 3 cycles, sometimes 2, sometimes even 5. But otherwise very simple and well executed game
What an awesome game! The whole vibe is so sick and I had some moments where I couldn't help but bop my head along to the tunes hahaha.
I do think some calm moments inbetween the louder, more frequent beats couldve helped sell the more orchestral moments. At a certain point it became a bit like too much random noise for me. I love how you made it a pentagram at the end. And was that morse code at the end? If so, what did it say?
Very cool concept and visual appeal, I love the creativity with this one. My one gripe is how much you end up relying on visual cue alone as opposed to getting a feel for where the beat should land. There's the tiniest delay between pressing the spacebar to the actual placement of the input with the movement of the circling figure. The fact that it just doesn't quite line up almost drove me crazy! But all in all, awesome entry!
Really cool game! It looks amazing and the feedback you get from hitting a note is great. I love the overall aesthetic and it was very fun to play. The sound eventually got a little too noisy for me but the game was great overall. Nice work!
Extremely well polished for a jam game! Had some trouble as it moved away from the original beat and the bells were a bit much but those are minor complaints. Good job!
I kinda wish he music was a little bit more melodic and conventional cuz it would have helped me focus a little better on the timing input lol, but it didn't throw me off too much and I understand the vibe it's going for.
I also think the timing could be a little bit more forgiving but otherwise I enjoyed it!
Maybe its just my brain playing tricks on me but it didnt seem like the tracks were forming any sort of harmonious melody or even making sounds on the same tempo. Dunno! Very cool visuals tho
Really interesting work, guys. Alien language, Morse code in the end. Someone bothered to find out what's being said at the end, but I'm too lazy for that, lol. Thanks for the atmosphere during the game; for a moment, it felt like I was transported back several years when I lived near an Orthodox church, and the sound of bells woke me up in the mornings. Excellent job!
A really beautiful game! But after a few cycles, it gets a little boring as the previous cycle's music fade away and I start to doubt the meaning of keeping hit the beats. Maybe adding more feedbacks or rewards can give players more motivation to play the game.
I'm a huge fan of rhythm games, and this one provides challenges that I'm not used to in this genre. Polyrhythms were tough! I wish there was a hardcore more that would reset every time you make a mistake, I'm willing to spend an hour fighting this thing to perfection.
Presentation, idea, choice of samples, everything is top-notch.
Well I certainly didn't expect to see a rhythm game with this theme! I loved it. This is definitely the type of game I'd love to see end up on steam post-jam, once there's more rituals and content.
This was really cool! Atmosphere fits, quite mysterious. It would be cool if it was a bit more difficult but that also affects the sound/music to the point where the intention is lost. The morse code is a nice touch, though I don't know any. Read the comment above tho :).
Beatiful entry. Minimal and stylish. And I loved the sound/rhythm game aspect of it. Kinda reminded me of Sword & Sworcery by Superbrothers for some reason.
~~Your base belongs to us. Thank you for playing.~~
Man, this is a checklist of everything I enjoy about game design. Procedural audio. Simplistic graphics with particles and post-processing to spice it up. Simple gameplay that builds on challenges, but also is extremely forgiving. Esoteric, cryptic hints at... something... to intrigue the player. Polyrhythms. I loved when things shifted to 3, but when the 5 came in at the end it legit felt like a plot twist (that in hindsight seems obvious and inevitable). Great way to play with expectations.
I've been doing LD for ~10 years, and this game is quite possibly my favorite out of all of the games I've played. It feels like the game I have tried and failed to make SO many times, but you guys have absolutely nailed it.
I very rarely attempt to promote my own game in other people's comment section, but I think our game shares quite a bit of odd similarity - so please feel free to check out mine as well.