great idea and game, i was gonna comment something more... depth but.. i saw that one abstract below and got intimidated---

Great idea, but it's kinda confusing and very hard to control.

Rated yours, here's mine: /jam/brackeys-14/rate/3851574

ABSTRACT & HYPOTHESIS

You must balance what is convenient and what is inconvenient.

So, I really like a lot of the ideas here.  This submission is very unique.  I like the idea of gambling your health to deal damage.  I like the funky control scheme.  I like the weird CRT fisheye filter.   However, I want to emphasize an important interplay, that which is between frustration and convenience.  

There is nothing wrong with creating a frustrating game.  Many of the most beloved games of all time are very frustrating, but they make it convenient to keep playing.

CASE STUDIES

My first example is Super Meat Boy.  It's a brutal precision-platformer.  The game expects a lot from you, and you die in only one hit.  But retrying the level is blisteringly fast!  It makes you want to keep trying.  It's hard to win, yes, but it's also easy to keep trying.  In this game, the levels and enemies are inconvenient, but everything else is smooth.

Another, more recent example is Getting Over It.  This game takes it a step further.  Even when you fall from super high up, you never stop playing.  Not even for a second.  Losing all that progress is discouraging, but the game doesn't even offer you A CHOICE to give up, since you never actually lost.    If every time the player lost significant progress, a little menu popped up asking them whether they'd like to quit, I bet you the completion rate of Getting Over It would be much, much lower.  In this game, the controls and level design are inconvenient, but everything else is smooth.

Even From Software, the kings of frustrating games, have reduced the length and frequency of their infamously inconvenient boss runbacks over the years.  And I'm certainly not complaining about that!  In these games, the enemies, level design, and combat are inconvenient, but everything else is smooth.

DECONSTRUCTION

All this is to say: I like a lot of the ideas presented here, but if your intent is for players to stick through the grind in spite of their mounting frustration, I think this game isn't convenient enough.  

We can break down how the game is inconvenient, whether it's intentional, and what we might want to change to address the imbalance:

• Movement controls are inconvenient
  • WE LIKE THIS!  This is one of our pillars.  This cannot, and should not, change.
• Aiming & Attacking controls are inconvenient
  • See above.  This is another intentional design choice and it is balanced with the power allocation mechanic to create interesting decisions.
• Replaying the game is inconvenient
  • This is frankly what prompted this whole essay.  Please add a Restart button.  Asking the player to refresh the page or close the application is diabolical.  Contrast to case studies in the above section.
• Visual identification is inconvenient
  • Potential room for improvement.  Game objects are represented by abstract shapes and lack identifiable features.  This is understandable as a solo project made in one week, but moving forward we can look here.
    • Which shape is me?
      • Strange controls somewhat invalidate the "mash buttons and see what moves" strategy
    • Which way am I aiming?  Which way will I shoot?
      • Player just has to shoot and find out, potentially losing some health just to answer this basic question.
    • I read about the enemies in the description, but which one is which?
• Learning is inconvenient
  • Tutorials are tough, especially for a weird game like this one, but if you can find some way in-game to teach the player your mechanics, the unique playstyle could be a great hook!  The extra polish would improve first impressions of your game.  How much time you want to spend is really up to you.
    • Consider a game structure that gives players time to digest mechanics (MORE DEV TIME)
      • Consider creating levels where the goal is simply to get to the end using the tricky movement
      • Consider creating still targets to aim at, like breakable walls or practice dummies
    • Consider adding a "how to play" button (LESS DEV TIME)
      • Consider displaying all the controls somewhere in the game for the player to reference

CONCLUSION

Overall, this showed a lot of potential.  

Not everyone is honest in these competitions.  Other developers want you to rate their games highly, so they smile at you and say. "cute game! I really loved it.  :) :) :)" 

It could be bad for me.  You could retaliate.  You could go back to my project and give me one star for all categories.  But today I saw a cool concept shining through your game, and I wanted to share my honest thoughts about how you might be able to improve it and why.   I wish you great success with current and future projects.

If you disagree with any of what I had to say, that's totally okay.  What's important is that you read it!

Cheers!

~QCDev

Cute game, liked the bulge shader. It takes a while to figure out but once you do it's pretty enjoyable. Good job

I like the concept of the game. It's a bit hard in the beginning even after reading the description. Maybe adding tutorial in the beginning might be a good idea because it's easier to do it than read about it. But overall great work :)

I hope you stick with this after the jam because I'd love to see where this goes. The game is confusing at first sure, I never actually figured out which way I was facing. But it very quickly became akin to the classic Atari games that you just can't put down. I think I got to about 60 health before missing a very critical shot and losing it all but the big risks and big payoffs are what make it so fun and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

As you said in your description, it is pretty confusing, but after reading through the instructions a few times, I felt like I started to get the gist of it. It is certainly unique, and I like the overall visual style! Nice job, and good luck if you plan on working on it more after the jam!

Very unique and cool. Love the styling and gameplay, even tho I did not fully understand it. Keep on going!

Very original concept! I really like it.

It is interesting for sure - you yourself pointed out that is a bit complicated, so it takes time to get it working and actually have some fun, but we all learn on mistakes and such. I read your notes too that you plan on working on it after the jam as well, so wishing you good luck on that!

Very unique game! It's a bit hard to control, but I understand that's kind of the point!

Such an interesting game! Kinda trippy with how the planes kind of swerve around but I had fun! Keep up the good work!

It's a very unique and fun game. I see the frustration part but don't mind it. I think seeing how hard it is to understand how to play at the beginning, instead of having a description, an actual FTUE would have been great but hey it's game jam and time is limited so I won't complain about it too much, more like if you ever decide to continue it do keep this in mind xD The visuals were also nice, overall I quite enjoyed it so well done!

It is hard at the beggining to understad but once you get the hang of it it gets preatty fun (:

A very interesting game, with a very nice atmosphere. Once i got a hang on the movement the game felt fun and unique. But you really needed a tutorial (descriptions don’t count) and the controls needed to be significantly more easier. While i think the gameplay eventually was fun, starting up felt difficult and demotivating,

With some improvements, i would love to see this expanded!

Interesting game! Controls are difficult but you can get the hang of it after a couple of tries, a tutorial for the movement like an obstacle course would made it easier to adapt, another suggestion I have is to give feedback to the player when it hits an enemy, sometimes I felt I hit an enemy but I wasn't sure I dealt damage.

Also the art is unique, I felt I was playing as a bacteria killing other bacterias, I know is an airplane but the art could be transformed into a microscopic battle between bacteria IMO.

Really interesting mechanic, took me a REAL while to figure out everything even after reading the description, loved everything else.

As a suggestion I would love to see an interactive tutorial step by step, and playable, because everyone here have so little time to play all games that want to rush right in. Like do this and this to kill an enemy, and let the player do it to advance the next, then the next mechanic and so on, I get it that maybe for just a week of jam its hard to accomplish, since I had the same struggle, even for a game like mine, explaining the concept is hard for anxious people like me haha.

Thank you!

The first GDevelop game I saw this jam.

Firefox was completely bugged and unplayable for me, Safari was better but might have been clipped a bit.

I got the game but could not figure out the movement at all even after reading the description, so how I played was basically somehow letting the auto movement get me into the position.

I cant always tell whether my attack landed unless I look at the score, so improving that feedback would be the first suggestion.

The second would be an interactive tutorial, that would convey the movement mechanics maybe, because that I could not get at all.

But the reverse fisheye effect and the game in general is pretty cool and innovative.

Congrats on releasing a cool game!