Play Chain Burst
Chain Burst's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #20 | 3.958 | 3.958 |
| Gameplay | #21 | 3.583 | 3.583 |
| Polish | #24 | 3.625 | 3.625 |
| Overall | #24 | 3.611 | 3.611 |
| Audio | #26 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
| Theme Interpretation | #29 | 3.750 | 3.750 |
| Art | #41 | 3.417 | 3.417 |
Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Sick menu transition.
I don't understand the language unfortunately, so I thought it was bugged at the start. I didn't know I have to press Enter to continue the tutorial xD
Very creative gameplay mechanic. It definitely has potential.
I am glad there's no contact damage with the enemy. Though I wish you can just do the chain reaction without hitting all enemies.
One thing to nitpick is the design of the boss attacks. At first, I wasn't sure where the boss were, but I realized it's hidden beneath all of those projectiles xD. Maybe make the boss larger, or use a different sprite, or something else entirely to make it stand out more.
I really like the visual effects of the attacks, both the player and the enemies. Especially the player. All of them felt satisfying.
Theme wise, it really fits. I mean, you are forced to do chain attacks xD, but you can strategize by choosing which enemy to attack first, and which to attack last.
I like the art style. Reminds me of Brotato.
The audio is also pretty good. The SFX felt satisfying, and the music fits with the gameplay.
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback! .
About the language, I'm actually a native French speaker. My original plan was to let players choose between French and English at the start, but I ran out of time before the deadline. I translated everything at the last minute and, as you noticed, I accidentally left a few texts in French.
As for the boss... you're absolutely right! It doesn't really look like a boss because I literally made it about 10 minutes before the jam ended. I wanted to have at least one boss fight, even if it wasn't as polished as the rest of the game.
I'm really happy you liked the core mechanic and the visual effects.
I figured it was something similar to French, but I don't want to mislabel a language xD
That situation with the boss is so relatable. I think you did good enough though. It still looks like a special type of enemy since it has different attacks than the rest.
Fun game. I hope you keep working on it. it has a good promise.
Thanks a lot! That really means a lot. I definitely want to keep working on it after the jam.
You made a good base for interesting rogue like game. add some rng, diverse rooms, enemies, and skills, And you'll get a cool game!
Thanks! You definitely have a point.I'd love to expand the game with more enemies , RNG, and skills after the jam.
This was really fun! This specific kind of attack isn't something I've ever seen in a bullet hell, and I quite liked it. I died a few times, but ended up beating the boss in 1:20.190 (though I think maybe the powerups carry over between runs even if the timer doesn't, so it does feel a bit like I cheated...but I'll take it anyway :P
There's quite a bit of subtle stuff that's going on here that I really like, too. Not only the juice on the laser attack (which feels really nice, btw), but also the fact that, if I'm not mistaken, the enemy bullets freeze for a small amount of time after the attack goes off; that's a really nice touch that can make it feel like I'm just barely getting away, rather than being blindsided by an attack when the camera shifts back to the player. Also the hitboxes on the bullets are quite forgiving, which is also really nice. And that there was a little bit of strategy since the first person you tag gets the least damage. Again, lots of subtle, good decisions that go beyond the juice and visual flair and make the game feel really nice.
One thing that surprised me is that the enemies don't seem to do contact damage, only bullet damage. Nothing wrong with that, but I was genuinely surprised the first time I ran into one, thinking my run was going to end. I might also consider not making the player go through the tutorial after their first run; it wasn't long, so not too much of a pain to click through, but I generally do think that mimimizing the friction associated with starting a new run is always a good idea.
All-in-all, this was a really fun time. A short, simple game, but really well done.
Thank you so much for such detailed feedback! I'm honestly surprised you noticed all those little details, like the forgiving hitboxes and the brief freeze on enemy bullets after the chain attack. I actually spent a lot of time tweaking those small things because I wanted the game to feel as fair and satisfying as possible.
Ironically, I probably spent too much time polishing those details instead of adding more levels before the deadline!
I'm also glad you enjoyed the strategy behind the damage scaling and took the time to point out things like the tutorial and contact damage. Thanks again for taking the time to write such thoughtful feedback!
Ha! Fun little game! Well done. I was happily surprised to find roguelike mechanics after the first wave. :) Pretty hard, but some games just need to be. Git gud, eh. :D
It was fire 🔥, the game mechanic was perfect, the art was top notch, and overall it was really well done. The chain reactions were super satisfying. I died a few times, but eventually completed the boss level too. It showed that I finished in 1 minute 18 seconds or so, but I’m pretty sure it took longer than that. Maybe the timer resets each time you die?
Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it, and congratulations on beating the boss! I'm honestly surprised you managed to beat it the boss room wasn't very well balanced or optimized before the deadline!
You're also right about the timer. It currently resets when you die, so that's something I'll definitely fix in a future update.
If you have any ideas on how I could improve the game or expand the chain mechanic, I'd love to hear them. Thanks again for playing and for the awesome feedback!
Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything I’d say needs improvement, especially considering it’s a jam entry. The chain mechanic is just perfect, and the screen shake effects are super cool, it all feels really polished. If you plan to improve it post jam, the most probable areas could be refining the UI and maybe making the green fire from enemies shoot a bit faster. Other than that, it’s just perfect!
You totally nailed the effects when you chain the enemies. The hitstop and sounds are so satisfying; I'd personally add more visual effects, like screen flashes or blood particles from the enemy.
Also, I think it'd be better if you didn't have to necessarily chain every enemy. That way, the player not only can only attack specific enemies, but also be encouraged to actually chain every enemy, since the damage multipliers rise. High damage, but lots of time.
Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed the game and the feedback effects! I also like your idea about letting the player attack before locking every enemy. That would make it more of a risk-versus-reward decision instead of a requirement. I didn't have enough time to fully explore the mechanic during the jam, but it's definitely something I want to experiment with
polished! control feels a little finicky but once you get it it feels satisfying to see enemy getting slashed in chains. wondering why the attack path do not take the shortest one and proportionate to the damage? i think it could make positioning more strategic for the play.
Thanks a lot! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! That's a great point. I didn't have enough time to fully explore the mechanic during the jam, but adding more strategy to the chain system is definitely something I want to work on in future updates.
Nice juice on this one!! I could totally see some ways to push this mechanic further having it interact with different enemies in different ways, etc. In 3 days, this is great!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! You're absolutely right
I definitely didn't get to explore the mechanic as much as I wanted because of the time limit. I have a lot of ideas to expand it with new enemy types and interactions, so I'll definitely keep working on it after the jam!
Had fun with it! Really wanted more strategy or, like, puzzles.
Once I realized I just need to chain them forward and then do it backward, it felt like I'd optimized the flow.
Loved the juice and feel around stuff. Good job!
Thank you so much for the feedback! I'm really glad you enjoyed the game and liked the overall feel. I completely understand your point about the strategy becoming too straightforward once you figure it out. I'm planning to keep working on the game after the jam, and adding more mechanics, enemy types, and strategic depth is definitely on my list. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!
Very polished entry! I really enjoyed playing it.
Thank you so much! I think I spent way too much time polishing the game... maybe a little too much, since I barely had any time left to optimize it!
Excellent concept ! The game is very juicy and feels nice to play . Good job !
Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Making the gameplay feel satisfying was one of my main goals!
The movement in this game is really nice and smooth
Thank you so much! That means a lot. I spent a lot of time fine-tuning the movement, so I'm really happy it feels good to play.