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Countdown to Eclipse [GMTK2026] Jam Version's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Narrative | #1362 | 3.292 | 3.292 |
| Creativity | #3033 | 3.583 | 3.583 |
| Audio | #4899 | 2.708 | 2.708 |
| Enjoyment | #5663 | 2.708 | 2.708 |
| Artwork | #7688 | 2.333 | 2.333 |
Ranked from 24 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?
Countdown to Eclipse
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
Font: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Share+Tech+Mono
SFX and BGM by: reliic: https://reliic.me/
Everything else by: Zardward Thebard
(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Zardward & reliic
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Comments
the UI look nice but cant really tell what to do and i just spamming the buttons haha
I quite like system, and engine games where your actions multiply. The UI took some time getting into, but it was quite fascinating once I did. Also, very cool and eerie sound design, kudos!
Good job! As others commented, I found it a bit tough to get into. Some onscreen tutorials or tips-and-tricks would go a long way. I really liked the 'inside view' animations you added.
I like the concept.
The UI is really clean but is too packed and makes it hard to understand at first with everything there all at once. Also wish it would expand to the full screen size.
I also feel like manual cps shouldve been capped somewhere around 10 and mana made easier to earn, since it's slightly above the fastest regular clicking can get (unless you're a Minecraft PVP god), and 30cps is at the level of an autoclicker.
The music was a vibe. I love the followers being a square head + rectangle shirt lol.
Pretty cool
Lol the 30cps thing is kind of a joke but auto clickers are welcome. It quickly becomes irrelevant once you have the haste spell + a mana harvester or 2. Am working on an improved guide too, for now I added a guide for the jam version in the comments section.
Also, I do agree that the game would look better if stretched out a bit. Was planning on adding a new panel where the debug panel is after first prestige.
Where is the debug panel? Just type the text "debug" anywhere into the roadside sign and this will add the debug panel and will also allow you to skip the dawn waiting phase. (though will still need to wait for visitors)
Also, if the game is feeling too slow, to get some bonus gains can add the text "free pizza!" to your roadside sign.
Thanks for the feeback. ദ്ദി(•ᴗ• ) Planning to continue working on this after the jam. Bunch of things on the todo list thanks to all the feedback.
Like a lot of other people, I feel a bit lost about what exactly to do. I think the game is interesting enough and I usually enjoy games in similar genres but without really knowing what I’m dong or really working towards it feels like I don’t really have any motivation to move on much further. I’ll try again in a couple of hours though since there’s a save button. It’s very handy, thanks for that!
Thanks for playing the game and the feedback. <3
Am also glad the save feature working well. ദ്ദി(•ᴗ• )
A better guide is on the todolist but for now I've posted in the comments this guide for the Jam version:
Can unlock a mana harvestor and then click/wait until you can get the haste spell next gives a significant boost to mana gains and removes the need to click or wait for long. All 3 spells spells cost 1111 mana and $111 to unlock, they are all worth unlocking early.
While waiting around for visitors to arive outside, can click to bless them for bonuses in the next phase. Unlock bless all spell to bless all.
Can clean all the trash doesn't currently cost an action but maybe it should. Hiring a janitor automates trash cleanup. No need to hire more than 1 until after upgrading church size, which is the first major goal and unlikely to be unlocked on the first cycle unless you get both a well optimized and lucky run.
Need a tiny bit of mana to build pews.
Faith is more of an endgame / prestige mechanic. It carries over between prestige cycles and every 10k faith gives +$1 from offering plate, and you get +1 faith per follower and +1 faith per cultist every 10 seconds. Other current prestige mechanics are that each eclipse the total number of days increases by +1 up to a max of 42 days, starting debt decreases by $2000 per cycle to a max lowest of $42k, and Dawn timer reduces by 3 seconds per eclipse down to a max lowest of 42 seconds.
Don't worry about suspicion right now because it's a cut scope feature that currently only makes you paranoid. Meaning after you unlock all pews for your church size, no reason not to stage a miracle each day. Also, never do eclipse drill and quiet vigil in the current version are endgame prestige features cut in the jam version for scope. Don't overthink the dusk phase, just click each of the 3 buttons in order from top down. Conduct service, Perform Concert, then PassOffering Plate, in that order.
BGM should kick in each day during the concert if not muted. Sometimes there is a glitch i wasn't able to patch in time not sure what is causing it that makes the audio permamuted but can fix by saving your game, refreshing the page, and then loading the game.
Like previous comments said, a tutorial would be really useful 😁
Also, adding more iconography with detailed hover descriptions could help - it would make the experience feel more gamified compared to reading plain text descriptions.
Thanks for the feedback. <3 Have added a tutorial to the comments and working on a better guide and better tooltips is on the todo list for the post jam version. Could you elaborate a bit on what you mean by adding more iconography with detailed hover descriptions? Not sure exactly what you mean.
You could add simple icons to break up the wall of text and make everything more readable.
For example, 💧 instead of mana, or 🌖🌘 instead of phases.
They can appear next to the text or instead of the text in some places, and the full explanations can stay in the tooltips (e.g., ‘Mana’, ‘Advance to Midnight’).
Ah! Ok yea that does sound like a good idea.
Thanks. ദ്ദി(•ᴗ• )
I like the concept but I had some problems getting through it. IMO it's just matter of adding a small tutorial.
I really appreciate the work you put into the UI, it's clean.
Congratulations on your submission!
Thanks for the feedback. <3 Planning to continue to work on this project after the jam. Have currently added a guide in the comments of the game page, and working on a better guide for post jam version is on the todo list.
ദ്ദി(•ᴗ• )
I don't know why but I love thos kind of sim !
The only criticism I could really make is regarding the interface, which doesn't allow you to truly take advantage of full-screen mode; there's no option to display either additional windows—such as the manager's PC view—or a zoomed-in view for greater visual comfort. But I liked it !!
Thanks for the feedback. <3 Fullscreen is def on the todolist. ദ്ദി(•ᴗ• )
Interesting concept! A bit hard to get into. But after I understand what's going on, it's interesting :)
Thanks for the feedback. <3 Planning to continue working on it and maybe try to ease people into the game a bit better. Or at the least come up with a better newbie guide.
Really good game
Thanks, am glad you enjoyed it. ദ്ദി(•ᴗ• )
Planning to continue working on it after the jam has ended.
I couldn't get very far in the game. I found the menu too confusing to navigate, which made difficult for me to get into the game and understand its systems. I like the premise though.
Thanks for the feedback. For now I have added a guide to the jam version to the main game page but forgot to add it to this page too:
Can unlock a mana harvestor and then click/wait until you can get the haste spell next gives a significant boost to mana gains and removes the need to click or wait for long. All 3 spells spells cost 1111 mana and $111 to unlock, they are all worth unlocking early.
While waiting around for visitors to arive outside, can click to bless them for bonuses in the next phase. Unlock bless all spell to bless all.
Can clean all the trash doesn't currently cost an action but maybe it should. Hiring a janitor automates trash cleanup. No need to hire more than 1 until after upgrading church size, which is the first major goal and unlikely to be unlocked on the first cycle unless you get both a well optimized and lucky run.
Need a tiny bit of mana to build pews.
Faith is more of an endgame / prestige mechanic. It carries over between prestige cycles and every 10k faith gives +$1 from offering plate, and you get +1 faith per follower and +1 faith per cultist every 10 seconds. Other current prestige mechanics are that each eclipse the total number of days increases by +1 up to a max of 42 days, starting debt decreases by $2000 per cycle to a max lowest of $42k
Don't worry about suspicion right now because it's a cut scope feature that currently only makes you paranoid. Meaning after you unlock all pews for your church size, no reason not to stage a miracle each day. Also, never do eclipse drill and quiet vigil in the current version are endgame prestige features cut in the jam version for scope. Don't overthink the dusk phase, just click each of the 3 buttons in order from top down. Conduct service, Perform Concert, then PassOffering Plate, in that order.
BGM should kick in each day during the concert if not muted. Sometimes there is a glitch i wasn't able to patch in time not sure what is causing it that makes the audio permamuted but can fix by saving your game, refreshing the page, and then loading the game.
Could use a tutorial. i hate reading. not my type of game.
I have added a tutorial for the jam version here in the comments.
Sorry if is not your type of game, I understand is not for everyone. Thanks for playing and giving feedback! <3
I quite enjoyed the gameplay aspects! I found it very fun to explore the effects of each button and figuring out the best strategy forward.
Thanks, am glad you enjoyed it. ദ്ദി(•ᴗ• )
Planning to continue working on it after the jam has ended.
I'm getting some odd screen tearing when the game gets forced into the viewport/forced into fullscreen. I did manage to fiddle around with it and get it to behave in order to play it though. Also a very clever use of that 'infinite' pitch down sound. It causes just the right amount of unsettling anxiety for the game's theme. I'll be coming back to this one sine I've noticed you said you'll be continuing it. I do love my clicker/idlers, and I also love the theme. This one gave me some Trimps vibes, and I could see it going pretty far if development continues! Great job!
Thanks a bunch for the feedback. <3
Thanks to all of the valuable feedback I've received, have added quite a bit to the todolist for working on after the jam rating period has ended. ദ്ദി(•ᴗ• )
Never heard of trimps before until you mentioned it and now I gotta turn it off for now so that I can play other jam games but imma def return to this later.
Well I said I wanted to turn it off but instead it has been living in my 3rd display.. oof
Unfortunately this is not my type of game, but I hope you still can get something from my review!
Thanks a bunch for the in depth and valuable feedback. <3
I loved this deeply, very fun game to play <3
(I am really found of clickers and idlers, this one mixes narrative and gameplay, it is a very good game and if it was a finished game on steam or sth I would buy)
Thanks for the comments. <3
I do plan to continue working on it after the Jam has ended and I get to spend some more time personallly playtesting things. Also the game was loosely inspired by the 1992 Steve Martin film: Leap of Faith. Pretty good movie IMO worth a watch if you into the theme.
liked the idea of a concert at a church, nice game!
Thanks <3