Play game
Sync of Souls's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Art Style / Visuals | #3 | 3.625 | 3.625 |
| Boss Battle | #8 | 2.812 | 2.812 |
| Overall | #14 | 2.812 | 2.812 |
| Audio / Sound Design | #15 | 2.750 | 2.750 |
| Theme | #35 | 2.062 | 2.062 |
Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the Theme & Boss Battle Edition?
Sync of Souls fits the theme “You Are The Boss” by making the player gradually become one with the boss itself through the Synchronization mechanic.
Instead of defeating the boss traditionally, the player must synchronize their soul with the enemy and temporarily transform into its reflection in order to """"survive"""" its attacks. As the game progresses, the line between the protagonist and the boss slowly disappears, culminating in both entities becoming one.
The game also fits the Boss Battle Edition by focusing entirely on a single atmospheric boss encounter built around timing, sacrifice, and synchronization mechanics.
Game Engine?
Game Engine / Tools (Other)?
Paint Tool Sai, Audacity, Aseprite
Self-made & used stuff?
Have you joined a game jam before?
Roughly how much time did you spend developing? (in hours)
45 hours
Anything else you'd like to share about your game or development process?
Developing Sync of Souls was a very challenging but rewarding experience. I am not very used to designing games entirely focused on boss battles, even though I had created some boss fights in previous projects.
During development, I learned a lot about creating more dynamic combat encounters, especially through camera movement techniques and visual feedback to improve the overall feel of the battle.
I also learned more about some limitations and technical considerations within GameMaker, which will definitely influence how I approach future game ideas and mechanics.
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
I like the art style, but the gameplay kinda felt loopy, like doing the same thing over and over again.
Thank you so much for playing, and I'm glad you liked the art—it was the part of the project I spent the most time on.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to add more content to the game, so I completely understand why it felt a bit repetitive. That's definitely something I'll pay more attention to in future projects.
Thanks again for taking the time to play and leave feedback!
your welcome! some feedback is to work on art last, and get the main gameplay done first, a Triple A game can flop if the gameplay sucks but the graphics are amazing ya know? Good job tho!!
Very nice game!
I loved the artstyle and the premise of this game. the sfx are there, though a volume slider would have been amazing. The player maybe feels a bit too slow at times, also i didn't understand why you can also move with Z and Q but that's irrelevant.
Aside this small criticism, I can see some potential in this project, Good job and keep it up! đź‘Ťđź‘Ť
Also, sorry to ask, but i'm a bit short on ratings, if you haven’t already, I’d really appreciate it if you could rate my game too. Thanks in advance!
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed the game.
The Q and Z movement keys were included because, in a previous game I made, I used the standard W, A, S, D controls and later discovered that some keyboard layouts use Z, Q, S, D as the default movement keys. Since then, I've tried to support both layouts so more players can enjoy the game comfortably.
I actually played and rated your game not long ago, and I thought the concept was fantastic. Keep up the great work!
The art is fantastic. I love the pixel art and and sfx. The gameplay feels a bit repetitive. It would have been perfect if the boss had different phases with other attacks!
Thank you so much for playing and for the kind words! I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed the art as well.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to add more content to the game due to the limited development time and because I dedicated a large portion of it to the art. I'll definitely keep that in mind and try to improve on that aspect in future projects.
Thanks again for the feedback!
Hey there! So I just finished playing your game and I thought it was amazing! The pixel art and music is probably some of my favorite aspects of this game, I think the music fit really well and the pixel art overall just felt polished. I appreciate that you added a bit of a tutorial as well (showing the controls in the game) which I think is great :D. The combat feels very nice and I did like how the boss's attacks were telegraphed because if I'm not mistaken there's a certain sound when you hit the boss that plays right before it attacks right? I thought it was great, because it never felt unfair then on the player!
Here are some points of improvements:
- When the boss starts attacking for some reason the SFX gets way too loud and almost sounds like it got bass boosted for some reason. I think without that effect or maybe just toning that down would be great!
Other than that, I thought this was an amazing game jam entry so good job! :D
Thank you so much for playing, for your kind words, and especially for the detailed feedback! It means a lot to me.
I apologize for the inconvenience with the audio. Sound design was one of the last things I worked on, and unfortunately I didn't have enough time to polish it properly. I'll definitely pay closer attention to that in future projects to create a smoother and more enjoyable experience.
Once again, thank you for playing! Your participation and feedback were equally amazing.
I really liked the art, SFX and the combat system feeling. Even the boss fight was really fun and not too hard. I suggest to make different phases, but it's only my personal opinion. But that was nice. Keep it up!
Thank you so much for playing, and I'm really glad you enjoyed the game!
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to add more content because I ended up spending a lot of time on the art, which meant I had to simplify the gameplay mechanics as much as possible.
I'll definitely keep that in mind for future projects. Thanks again for the feedback!
Sorry, if anyone can help me with this game. The bar only fills with enough hits once the boss is destroyed, so I don't have the time to do the space bar synchronization mechanic. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Thanks in advance!
EDIT: Now it works, it could be the browser or something like that, but the problem is solved. The game experience is good and the controls are very dynamic. Thanks for the help and congrats!
Hello! First of all, I’m sorry if the game felt confusing to you. I’ll try to improve that in the future.
The game works like this:
The synchronization bar only fills when the boss is exhausted and becomes vulnerable, meaning when it stops moving.
At that moment, you should get close to the boss and attack as much as possible to fill the soul synchronization bar.
Once the bar is full, the boss automatically enters a furious attack state, where you must complete a QTE event and synchronize your soul with its soul, causing it to absorb its own damage and reducing both the player’s and the boss’s maximum health.
Hey buddy,
Congrats on your submission
I liked this style of pixel art, and the game mechanic was totally unexpected.
My only feedback here is the sfx can be improved, but it's just my opinion.
Overall, great game
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback! I’m really happy you enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, I’m not very experienced with audio work haha, so that’s always an area where I end up falling a bit short, even though this time I tried to keep everything as cohesive as possible. I’ll try to improve my skills in that area as well.
I think the animations and vfx are really well done, and feels satisfying to play! I wished there was a little more gameplay though I understand time constraints, great work!
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback, I’m really happy you enjoyed it!
Unfortunately, I didn’t have as much time as I wanted to polish the gameplay or add more variety. I would’ve loved to make the combat more dynamic. I agree that it ended up feeling a bit repetitive, but I still hope it was fun!
Really polished game with a great atmosphere. The art, music, and sound design work very well together, and the gameplay feels challenging in a good way. I especially liked how the tutorial was integrated into the world itself. I think making the dash a bit more forgiving could improve the flow. Great work!
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback, I’m really happy you enjoyed it!
Honestly, I still struggle with making a good dash mechanic. I never know if it’s making the game too easy or if it just ends up not being very useful. I’ll definitely pay more attention to that next time.
The game was fun! Challenging and straightforward but probably just the right difficulty for a game jam. The art stood out to me, was very thematic and really sold the aesthetic of the game. I'm not sure whether I finished the game or not, and I agree with others that it's a little hard to tell about the 'you are the boss' part, but I see your description has a more philosophical take. Overall, great job, and well done on creating such a polished game in the timeframe.
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback! It really was a huge challenge trying to convey the theme through the idea I had haha, and I can see that it may have ended up a bit confusing for many players.
But basically, the theme is present both in the story and in the gameplay. We are in a sort of “afterlife,” and an evil being has invaded our body, trying to steal it after our soul left. To stop this, we have to synchronize the host’s soul with the evil being’s soul, since we can’t deal direct damage to it.
When the synchronization becomes strong enough, the evil being unleashes a massive attack, and at that moment, we become it in order to absorb the damage and destroy both souls. That’s where the “you are the boss” theme comes in, since we literally become the boss.
I’ll try to work on presenting the themes more clearly next time. I really appreciate the feedback!
I really like the art style! I would do the dash a bit longer, enemy often hits you when you dash and you just can't get away from him and lose a lot of hp. I am not sure about the theme though, the enemy feels like a boss, but the player is not. Overall, i liked the general polishment and gameplay, solid entry.
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback! I’ll definitely pay more attention to the points you mentioned.
The theme is present both in the story and in the gameplay. Basically, we are in a sort of “afterlife,” and an evil being has invaded our body, trying to steal it after our soul left. To stop this, we have to synchronize the host’s soul with the evil being’s soul, since we can’t deal direct damage to it.
When the synchronization becomes strong enough, the evil being unleashes a massive attack, and at that moment, we become it in order to absorb the damage and destroy both souls. That’s where the “you are the boss” theme comes in, since we literally become the boss.
I’ll try to work on presenting the themes more clearly next time. I really appreciate it!
I like it a lot ! I mean, even though I have the worst mouse for trying this game (right click on my mouse is like founding an oasis eeeh finding an oasis in this world--), it was really cool ! I love tutorial that are integrated directly in the environment - here on the ground :D. The art is beautiful and the music is reeally badass (sound design is satisfying too!). The gamplay feels right, I'm noot very patient on a loot of things, so I couldn't finish this game, but I've sent it to someone that surely loves challenges (Soul-like players...) it's a good job you made! (Though I don't see how it fits the theme, the game was nice)
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback! I’m genuinely really happy about all the compliments and points you brought up!
The theme is present both in the story and in the gameplay. Basically, we are in a sort of “afterlife,” and an evil being has invaded our body, trying to steal it after our soul left. To stop this, we have to synchronize the host’s soul with the evil being’s soul, since we can’t deal direct damage to it.
When the synchronization becomes strong enough, the evil being unleashes a massive attack, and at that moment, we become it in order to absorb the damage and destroy both souls. That’s where the “you are the boss” theme comes in, since we literally become the boss.
I’ll try to work on presenting the themes more clearly next time. I really appreciate it!
so you have to do a QTE or die? feels a bit unfair.
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback! It was my first time making a QTE, so I probably made quite a few mistakes in that aspect haha.
Everything in the game is perfect, from the sound to the graphics...
However, I don't see the theme at all.
Thank you so much for playing, and I’m really happy you enjoyed it!
The theme is present both in the story and in the gameplay. Basically, we are in a sort of “afterlife,” and an evil being has invaded our body, trying to steal it after our soul left. To stop this, we have to synchronize the host’s soul with the evil being’s soul, since we can’t deal direct damage to it.
When the synchronization becomes strong enough, the evil being unleashes a massive attack, and at that moment, we become it in order to absorb the damage and destroy both souls. That’s where the “you are the boss” theme comes in, since we literally become the boss.
I’ll try to work on presenting the themes more clearly next time. I really appreciate the feedback!
Solid game ! the concept is pretty great but without instruction or tutorial it quite confusing.
Thank you so much for playing!
Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to implement a better tutorial, but since the game’s concept is pretty simple, I thought it would be easy enough to understand through trial and error. I’ll definitely pay more attention to that next time.