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CAVESPIN's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Visuals | #25 | 4.682 | 4.682 |
| Audio | #243 | 3.773 | 3.773 |
| Overall | #282 | 3.873 | 3.873 |
| Enjoyment | #579 | 3.591 | 3.591 |
| Creativity & Theme | #712 | 3.773 | 3.773 |
| Seriousness | #896 | 3.545 | 3.545 |
Ranked from 22 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Game Engine
Unity
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Comments
Super impressive gameplay mechanics and a lovely art style! I'm not the best at platformers so I felt that some parts felt a bit hard, but it was still enjoyable. Congrats to y'all on the release though! Awesome stuff!
Thanks!
Creative little platformer! We found the controls really difficult (though that could just be because we're used to playing platformers on controller) maybe if you moved the grapple to mouse click it would feel more balanced. Also, being able to change spin direction would be really helpful in some parts. Really impressive stuff for a jam game though!
Thank you for playing! Yeah I shaped the controls after what I enjoy using, which is shift, because I have hundreds of hours in Celeste (where I use shift for Dash), and I don't actually work with a mouse while developing haha. But you're right, if I were to expand on this game I'd probably add remap options.
Rgarding the spin direction, we actually found it best to not allow the user to switch directions, because then you could design levels around that limitation. Like in the 6th room, where you have to fling yourself upwards and fall down again, in order to change your direction so you can get past some spikes. And once you learn how the grapple mechanic works, you will most of the time be able to initialize the spin in the direction you want, as long as you know how to position yourself and when to grapple.
I love the spinning mechanic its so fun! But the jumps are also so hard and precise I couldn't finish the game and gave up even though I felt like I was near the end ;( The art and atmosphere is very pretty. Keep on making games!
Thanks :>
And perhaps we should've had an even slower learning/progression curve, but we didn't have time...
This game is peak, it's super hard maybe some jumps could have less precise jumps but still beat it after dying a ton in the last level. Great work you did a lot with a single mechanic and the progression of the difficulty felt appropiate
Yeah it can be quite tough haha, but thank you!
Genuinely so peak. The art is amazing, and the gameplay was great. I could see myself playing this outside of just the jam. Great work!
Thanks!
Really love the art and character design!
Ah thank you so much I’m delighted to hear you enjoyed it :D
Pixel art looks amazing, music fits well, not really a fan of how floaty the movement is but that's purely an opinion, it worked well once I got used to it. Great game, good work! :D
Thanks! :>
Super well made game with very pretty visuals. I'm surprised this was made in a week. The floating enemies are adorable :D
I'm not a pro gamer, so maybe I just need to get better (I somehow managed to beat the game) but I felt like I couldn't consistently predict where the character would end up when I released the spinning. This was a bit frustrating when the game got a lot more precise. I also wasn't sure how the spinning direction was decided? I assume it's based on something, but sometimes it felt like it changed even after doing the same actions.
I don't want to sound negative, you've all done an amazing job with the game :) I just got a bit frustrated at the end lmao
The direction is calculated (mostly) based on your current velocity, and whether the X or Y axis is stronger. This is then compared relative to your position to the grapple point, so whether you're on the left or right side, or top or bottom side. So if you have strong velocity to the right, and you're standing on the bottom left side, you will spin counterclockwise. But if you instead on the upper left side and grappled, you would now spin clockwise. And say you're in the upper left of the grapple, but you're also falling (so your Y velocity is stronger), then you would instead spin counterclockwise, because that's the path of least momentum canceling (which you want to pick, to make the physics feel plausible). So if you do come at a grapple at a weird diagonal with an evenly split velocity, the results might be unpredictable...
Sorry for this lengthy explanation lmao. Thank you for the kind comment!
I love it, i haven't seen too many classic platformers and none with this concept
Very impressive polish, art is amazing and looks incredible! Love all the extra juice and lighting too! I couldent beat the final level but im sure it was amazing lol, the spinning did feel quite annoying at times but i got used to it lol.
Thank you! But how did you know it was the final level if you couldn't finish it...? lol
I really hope it was the final level cuz if not then I might just be horrible 😭
The final level is the one where you're blocked from spinning a whole rotation, and need to let go before spinning into spikes
veryyyy impressive art for a game jam game!! Just impressive art in general, I found myself wondering why I had to get out of such a cozy and a pretty cave but thankfully a mouse stopped me.
Last level was quite difficult to time right and every time I thought it was over there was 1 more thing left but it works well for a final level.
Sound design was great too!
Awesome work!
Yeah Kalypso did a great job with the environment assets (and Nyxiie with the character art) :D
And you don't understand, he has to get out of this cave, he said so himself! The Lost Cave Rat might be even more powerful than Edward though...
First of all, the art for a 1 week game jam is INSANE. Everything looks so good and the tileset with the character looks nice.
The gameplay is quite nice, I like the spinning idea though I am quite bad at platformers like this (Silksong hunter's march those who know) So I only got to the jump pad thingies.
The one gripe I have with the spinning mechanic is that the direction seems incosisten? one time im spinning in one direction and another I am spinning in other direction. I think it would make sense to only spin in one direction( counter clockwise), since the level seems to go always to the right side? idk that's my thoughts.
Overall a realy nice game I enjoyed it :)
Thanksss. Having several rotation directions is definitely necessary, both for level design and for the general feel. And btw I have a very long logic tree for picking a direction based on velocity, relative position, and your sprite facing, so it isn't random :>
The level design in this was really cool! I loved the room where you had to fall back on the grapple area to regrab at a different angle. I would've loved to see more of that explored. I completed the game, but I found it very difficult! The last room took me forever. I think it would've benefited greatly from input buffering, some of the timings to catch the grapples were very tight. Really good job! Had cute vibes too, the little green guys were great.
Thanks ^^
The grapple already has a 0.1 second input buffer, and a 0.75 unit long "margin" for when you're outside the radius. I really don't know what more I can do haha, I guess I can increase the buffer a smidge..
And if we ever do more levels, I definitely want to explore more of that too!
Character moved great. I think some of the levels were maybe too difficult or there just aiming off the spin could be better. Also i wish i respawned faster. Overall - very polished.
Thanks for the feedback :>
I'll try and lower the respawn time!
Beautiful game! Impressive ambience, sound effects, and I think the core spinning mechanic is fun and I wish I could get further to experience more of it and explore the cave. Things that could help: a visual indicator of when you can start swinging on a torch and/or input buffering (maybe buffering takes away the timing challenge though). And a way for me to see the path I took from where I let go while spinning. Great work everybody!
Thank you!! We would've done more rooms if we had the time!
So first off, hhhhhhhhhh I forgot I wanted to add a trail behind the player like you're describing, totally forgot lol. And when you say "a visual indicator of when you can start swinging", do you mean an indicator of when you're within the grapple radius?
The jump and grapple already have input buffering btw, although not a long one
Yes, exactly visual indicator of when you can start swinging (and audio cue wouldn't hurt either) and I must be too slow for the input buffering then 🐢! Your game is fun and the most polish chaining-together-swings-like I've seen so far 😀
banger! for a one week game the platforming was really responsive and felt great to play! the art/environment was perfect, pretty but never in the way of gameplay. the music was also pretty chill, it just was a nice little experience :3
We're glad you enjoyed it!
very cute game! the mechanic gets used in creative ways in the later rooms! It feels nice and responsive to play and the art and little juice bits such as the light sources and the particles on landing are gorgeous.
Thank you thank you! :>
For a one-week game jam, this is an impressively complete and polished game. The pixel art visuals and illustrations are both beautiful, and together with the music they create something really cohesive and genuinely relaxing. The gameplay is a joy, the difficulty curve feels just right and the level design shows a lot of thought and care. This is one I'll definitely be coming back to after the jam. Fantastic work!
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omg i swearrr i pressed 3 before sending, ty haha
Love the visuals, the idea is nice and the main mechanic is fun, the timing on the spin release was a bit confusing at first. Great work!
thank you!