| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Fun | #6 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Gameplay/Design | #11 | 3.875 | 3.875 |
| Overall | #17 | 3.609 | 3.609 |
| Audio | #24 | 3.312 | 3.312 |
| Graphics | #27 | 3.250 | 3.250 |
Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What would you like feedback on?
Feedback on Castle 2 regarding its overall enjoyability with a focus on the difficulty of the puzzles. Much Appreciated 🙏
What did you update?
NEW Castle 2 is made of 12 completely new levels with a couple of new puzzle mechanics and bigger levels
Really cool game!
Had a bit of trouble getting into the gameplay at the start, but when I made it to Castle 2, that’s where I really got into it! I feel like castle 2 has better puzzles than Castle 1. Castle 1 felt like a tutorial castle, but it felt a bit too long for a tutorial and was waiting for the more difficult puzzles.
I wish there were some more levels to play, I especially liked the gravity reverse mechanic and the cannons.
Cool game!
Thank you so much for playing! And for leaving feedback! Really appreciate it!!
Great news that castle 2 hits the mark way better than castle 1. I think it's a bit too long as a tutorial castle also. I've been tempted to wave the wand and say... "yes it is a tutorial level so its ok"... but its 12 levels so I think that's too long even with the 2x speed before getting to the "good stuff". I'll likely cut the chaff on the first castle, keep the best and then redo the second half to be more difficult, longer, and more interesting while still being easy.
Thanks for the feedback that it left you wanting more I'm stoked about this one and will likely keep working on it. Rework castle 1, new player character options, and castle 3 and onwards! Cheers!
Amazing gameplay for this game, i had so much fun.
I love the little gameboy-like style a lot. It gives a lot of creativity and kinda nostalgia i'd say.
I enjoy the cute animation done when you complete the castle. Its amazing. The introduction of different mechanics is so fun and cool. There isn't much storyline but it doesn't need one. Itself is awesome.
Much enjoyable, Magnificent game!
Thank you so much!! Appreciate you playing and taking the time to leave feedback! Very glad you liked the gameboy style and it doubles as a mobile ready wrapper :) Also very glad that the animation at the end of the castle is good payoff!
I was considering more storyline possibly if/when I swap out the main character for a unique one like charging knight or something. Then there could be a quick back and forth at the beginning of each level to develop a bit of story. Would that be interesting do you think?
Thank you again really appreciate it!
Wow, this game is so fun. Thoroughly enjoyed every level in both castles. And the music is amazing too, simple but really enjoyable. Good job making it yourself. Also love the double theme take.
Regarding difficulty, I think you got the difficulty curve right, at no point I felt frustrated. There were a couple levels were the solution was really simple, but I guess that's not an issue.
Castle 2 specifically was a cool twist on everything before, though I feel like canons kinda trivialize many puzzles, and that action counter stops mattering as much once they are in a level. (Btw thanks for allowing to press space to fast-forward a canon)
A nice addition to the game would be to allow to scroll through the level as you're playing. This would be especially useful if you're currently in a canon and want to look around before deciding on the next move.
Lastly I did have technical issues, specifically the game seems to not work at all on Firefox. The game just shows a blue screen and I can't play. Had to switch to chrome to play
Thank you so much! Appreciate you playing, leaving feedback, and sharing kind words! Really glad you enjoyed it!
Yeah the cannons totally do change the feeling of the limited input system. I'm hoping using jump into the cannon as the entry method does at least force an input use up front to keep with the theme. But I could possibly bring back "use input to fire" again in the future or maybe have red cannons or something that "use input to fire" for more counting down.
Ahhh gotcha yeah good point on the scrolling. I have scroll pre level but scroll during level (or at least while in cannon) would be a good addition!
Thanks for sharing the firefox issues! I'm actually really happy to see how many people in this comment section use firefox I kind of miss firefox and this is the perfect excuse to download it again! It's important for testing web stuff anyhow and I'll see if I can't fix that issue.
I should say first off that I needed to switch to my phone in order to play this; I don't know if it's because I'm on Linux or using Firefox, but it held me off from playing this for a few days.
That barrier aside, this was good! It is a little on the easy side, though that makes sense if there are going to be even more castles later, and I appreciate how simple to understand it is. The only significant critique I have is that visually, I feel like there should be more background elements.
The mechanics of the second castle were pretty fun, though I'd encourage more puzzles taking advantage of the fact you can only enter the cannons by manually jumping into them (i.e. have to jump in and launch one time and then needing to use it as a solid surface the other time to turn around). That quirk seemed a bit unnecessary to me at first, but I feel like there are interesting things you could do with it.
Thank you so much for playing and leaving feedback!! Appreciate you :)
I believe it's firefox is the issue as someone else in the comments alerted me it gets a blue screen on firefox too. And I've seen my friend play it on Linux on Brave I believe. So thank you and I will absolutely look into that. Glad you were able to try it out on mobile!
I've totally thought about background elements as well! Little chains that move and swing as you pass through them or gentle background elements like spears or equipment etc. Great should I'll strongly consider that!
Thanks for more ideas for puzzles! I agree when one element is used multiple times in slightly differing ways that's one of the most compelling types of puzzles so I'll lean into that more. Thanks!
And originally I did have the cannon suck you up no matter where you touched it and then the exit was what took input to use but I flipped it after a bit of playtesting and seeing that almost everyone tries to jump into the cannon at first and also springs kinda already have that hit to flip direction and jump to use so I went with that for now.
Thanks again!!
Nice graphics. Simple yet very fun puzzles.
My feedback:
1.) I found the background music too low in volume. Maybe tune it up a bit?
Everything else is perfect for me. It gradually introduces the new mechanics which are great and then the puzzles become challenging too which felt good.
Thanks for the game!
Cool game! I loved the variety and gradual introduction of new mechanics. It kept me engaged and wanting for more.
I found castle 1 fun. Maybe a bit too easy (level 1-12 was more challenging), but it was quite short so it's perfect as a tutorial. Castle 2 was a lot more fun and I had to try a few levels several times. I think you could go even further with the challenges and make things even harder.
Otherwise, the SFX are maybe a bit too loud compared to the background music. I'd recommend tuning it down a bit or adding a setting menu where players can adjust it themselves.
Had fun with this one. Looking forward to a real though Castle 3 maybe. Cheers!
Yay! Thank you for playing my game and leaving detailed feedback I really appreciate it!!
I agree Castle 1 was a bit too easy but I like to hand people a few free "wins" out of the gate and was hoping that the introduction of the 2x speed option would give folks looking for a bit more challenge an option to do so and also speed through the "tutorial"
I agree I think I'll retune the audio leveling and also include a setting menu (probably a gear on the top right of the gameboy or a menu from main screen) to adjust the sfx vs music volumes.
Thank you so much for the kind words and valuable feedback!! I'll likely keep this game going and I'll let you know when there's a castle 3 once I address the feedback from this jam!
Really fun game! The puzzles in castle 2 are a lot better than castle 1 - with that said, I feel like there were a few puzzles where the solution was easy to find, but I failed the timing to jump onto the spring multiple attempts in a row, and in puzzle design you don't want the time between discovering the solution & successfully accomplishing it to be too long (especially since this game bills itself as being playable with the on-screen buttons in theory). Maybe if there was a little pause when pressing left/right so you don't have to react to your own movement/turnaround immediately?
When you replace the Kenney spaceman, maybe the original character should be some sort of charging knight/cavalier, which would explain why they constantly travel in the same direction when you press an arrow key.
Thanks so much for playing and leaving detailed feedback! I have heard that before where frustration occurs when you know *what* to do but take a couple attempts to actually do it. That can turn from flow state to frustration real fast. Thanks for sharing that it's specifically the jump onto the spring that's taking multiple attempts. I've seen it for in person playtests as well.
Perhaps I could have the spring have a guide kinda built into the visual showing where to jump if you intend to land on it?
I like the idea of pausing to give time to update your strategy once an input is pressed but I'd fear that it would break up the action too much? Maybe as an accessibility setting instead?
I love love love the idea of a charging knight or cavalier! Straight up genius concept since it would make the whole keep traveling once input has been made make way more sense. Thank you so much for that one I'll likely go for that!
Awesome puzzle design in this game, I had a lot of fun. I think castle 1 dragged a bit for me, but I understand it's necessary to get used to the mechanics. Maybe one of level 3 or 4 could be cut, they felt a bit repetitive. The ramp up of difficulty on castle 2 is perfect to me! I felt in the flow solving the puzzles.
Highlight levels for me:
- Castle 2:6 is incredibly satisfying.
- Castle 2:7 is also great, honestly probably because of the swooping finish. If you redesign the main character you should consider adding a swooping animation if they're about to fly onto the count.
I like the 2x speed button's design, but when it's active it's a little tooo distracting lol.
Oh also, the game didn't seem to work on firefox for me (the gameboy renders but the screen is blue). It worked fine on chrome.
Thank you so much for your feedback I really really appreciate it this is the kind of feedback I was hoping to get!
Totally castle 1 is a bit slow in my opinion too, it's kinda the tutorial castle now but if it drags I could see people dropping before they get to the good levels. I was hoping that the 2x speed option would also make castle 1 a bit more challenging, faster, and more fun.
But feedback like this was what led to the improvements in castle 2 so I'm really glad that the difficulty felt much better! That flow feeling is what I'm always after creating for players.
I love your idea for a swooping finish that's an awesome idea I will totally do that if/when I make an original main character.
I had a bit tooo much fun with that 2x button haha lolz I'll consider chilling that out a bit.
Thank you for the heads up on firefox! I always forget to check other browsers than chrome. I'll check into that!
Again really appreciate the detailed feedback <3 Thanks a ton!
The game is enjoyable. Puzzles are well mad. I would love to see some original character for the player. Game is really polished but lacks settings menu and accessibility.
Thanks for playing and for sharing feedback! I have been considering an original character for player but have gotten a bit too attached to the spaceman haha. I'll absolutely take your impressions into account! I was thinking for the settings menu that I wouldn't have much more than sfx / music volume so I kinda settled for the ability to mute instead of a settings menu. Makes sense that it comes off as simply missing though!
Very curious what other settings you might like to see and what accessibility options would improve the game?
the constant addition of new mechanics really help keep the game fresh and challenging. Castle 2 is major step up, the longer levels and new mechanics are great, the levels are more challenging and thats a good thing. defenitely one the better entries in this jam so far. 5/5!
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