Very fun and creative game, with a lot of variety in the mechanics and stages. I can see it working on a mobile phone, with people flipping it around to move the ball. I went through 22 levels and will later highlight my favorite ones.
GDD
Clear GDD, well-structured. I appreciate the inspiration being shown and the gifs showcasing the mechanics. I enjoyed seeing the credits on the development timeline; it's nice to know who developed the bits that made the game whole.
Gameplay
As every puzzle game goes, the gameplay varied from "Ha, this is so easy; it's a game for toddlers?" to "Huh, this bit seems a bit challenging; I better focus" and "I DID IT IN ONE TRY BEFORE, WHY CAN'T I DO IT AGAIN???"
The controls are intuitive and well explained on the page. The movements are snappy.
The constant change in gameplay gimmicks keeps the game fresh, and I really appreciate the quick press R to restart. gives a nice flow for my ragequits. I mean, let me perfect my techniques.
Some levels that caught my eye:
lvl 5 - Pinball machine. I loved it; it felt like the casino level in Sonic. So nostalgic. I wish I still had my Dreamcast.
lvl 7 - Multiple boomerangs. This one reminded me of a game I used to play ages ago, where you had several balls on a labyrinth that you needed to simultaneously guide to the goal.
lvl 12 - HEAVY BALL. The speed and impact the ball had in this level was done really well, as was the level design. It was the level I enjoyed the most.
lvl 13 - FLOATY BALL. Give me the heavy ball back, you meanie. In this one, the ball felt like it was underwater. Navigating the spikes got really challenging.
lvl 22 - Race against the block spike with a hidden face. This was the only level I didn't clear. But only because I was getting short on time. I retried it many times and had a lot of fun; most times the spike blocked me in the nick of time. Also, I appreciate the little face it had when you pressed R in quick succession. No, this was not proof of a rage quit.
And the "i wanna be the Boshy—Super Meat Boy" levels: Why do you want to hurt me?
Art
Very charming art, The environment and color patterns are easy on the eyes, and the enemies pop out, even the ones with camouflage. The small flash when you get hit by some enemies or hit the bouncy ball is a great indicator of what happened. It gave me a vibe of a game from the 90s.
Sound design
The sounds of enemy attacks, picking up fuel, defeating an enemy, and bouncing on the pinball thingies are really well done, with no delay, and you can know what happened by the SFX alone. The soundtrack got me jamming the entire time. High energy, and fit really well with the art design.
Feedback
For the gameplay, I felt like some levels were a bit too experimental for what I was getting used to, like the level where the camera follows the enemy and you have to kite it around to find the goal and the one where you control a robot and the screen blacks out. But since the game had an option to skip, the player could avoid those if he wished.
There was a bit of a clash with the colors. The oil gauge, for example, had white numbers with a receding black background, but when the level was low, it became a white number on a white background, impossible to read. In some levels, the enemy with a red laser was on top of a section of the map that was reddish, so I only noticed it way too late.
I felt a lack of feedback when getting hit by the laser and the spinny ball with spike arms. There was no sound, flash, or pushback to indicate I lost oil.
As the GDD mentioned, the theme was stretched a bit but still fits. The player is a boomerang, but it does not behave like a boomerang, e.g., going back and forth when thrown. Also, it looks more like a croissant. It could be changed to a spiky ball, for example, and it could fit the theme just as well. Still, it's a weapon, and it hurts the enemies at the cost of fuel.
The music stops after a bit if you play a lot of stages in a row or die a lot.
Disclaimer: Any allegation of me dying a lot is slander and should not be taken seriously.
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