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How Hard Can This Be -- A Countdown RPG's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Narrative | #644 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Creativity | #1823 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
| Artwork | #2123 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Audio | #2150 | 3.278 | 3.278 |
| Enjoyment | #2691 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
Ranked from 18 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?
Our game features multiple countdown mechanics, including combat cooldowns, food decay, and incoming village raids. Players must manage these constant timers and survive under the pressure of the clock..
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Comments
I really like the concept of timing your attacks. Reminds me of like the mario rpg stuff. Good stuff
The game incorporated a countdown wherever it could. I liked the thinking I had to do around time management to do well. The art is consistent and there are enough upgrades to keep me engaged.
I expected the combat to function differently. As the enemy timer is the only that stays on the screen, initially I assumed that was the timer I had to look out for. I was wrong. Later I noticed that I start the battle with my timer on and it disappears after a second or so. I would like the timer to stay on screen up to the moment I get some attacks right, it disappearing before the 3rd attack. That would give me more time to learn it. Once the game detected I was timing my attacks right, it would decrease the time the timer stays on screen at the beggining of the battle.
In the same vein, I would like the enemy timer to be red, to indicate it is the enemy's, or to simple not be shown, since it did not add much for me and created confusion.
I liked the wilderness, but I wonder if there are anything beyond monsters to award you gold there. If there is, I missed it. If there isn't, I would suggest later versions of the game to add treasure and a wa of saving the village and ending the game.
Overall, I liked my experience. I think it fits the theme well, I had fun and was engaged. I think this is a prototype with a lot of potential for a full game and a strong contender for the jam.
If you would like to check the game I make with my friend, here is the link: /jam/gmtk-jam-2026/rate/4815614/jam/gmtk-jam-2026/rate/4815614
There is also some equipment drop from mobs and some boss in wildness.
Thanks for playing!
Very good job for your very first game, really enjoyed it, I think the world exploration could be expanded, by adding some treasure chests later (or I just dumb and did not find them) and enabling the player to increase the raid timer somehow.
Have to say for me this was really stressful due to countdowns. Really like the style and game concept!
Wow this was really awesome! I love the progression and the fighting was really satisfying. I liked the whole raid system. I think that there should be some way to increase the time you can explore the map and that the map should have more than just monsters. This has some nice potential for a full game!
I completely agree with your suggestions. in fact, these are the very features we had originally planned to implement but couldn't complete due to time constraints. Thank you for your feedback, I'm glad you like it!
After some run the second mod dropped a claymore, totally breaking the game economy lol.
It was a fun game, it kept me engaged throughout. There are a few rough edges here and there, but for a first-time game jam entry, this is an outstanding result. Well done!
Thank you for your feedback! The game does has many flaws and unbalanced design due to the lack of time and playtesting but thanks for still giving it a try!
Thanks for playing!
There's two boss in the raid and a few bosses in the wild for you to explore which need Claymore to defeat (or maybe just i suck at my game).
The Claymore is expected incase someone struggling but still want to complete the raids.
Replacing world exploration with text-based choices was a very smart decision. Honestly, this is pretty good for a first attempt! Well done!
Love the narrative, the village life system is interesting to play, but timing the attacks perfectly during combat is too difficult. Overall, the game is fun to play, and adding more variables in combat system will make it addicting in my opinion.
Definitely felt that D&D vibe! Cool game!
Apparently it can be pretty hard! Such a satisfying and difficult combat mechanic, really nice game!
Glad you liked the combat mechanic!
Despite all the major bugsit hasFirst jam here too — yours is way more ambitious than mine! Nice work.
Thanks so much! We definitely got a bit too ambitious and tried to cram in way too much stuff given our time limits and skills, which caused a lot of bugs and design flaws. Your game is definitely much more polished and complete!
Tricky at the beginning, but it has a nice and satisfying loop when you get the mechanics. Going in the wilderness with the small torch made me feel anxious. I also really liked the retro textual rpg vibes, great job!
Thanks for playing!
Incase you didn't find out, there is better torch in the shop!
There is a bunch of stuff we wanted to implement but didn't have enough time to. Glad you enjoyed it still!
How hard can it be? Pretty darned tricky XD
Really enjoyed this. Some neat mechanics and a polished finish! Good work :D
Thanks for playing!
The name was originally thinking of how hard would it be to make a game in 4 days with no preparation.
The random mechanics we came up with made the game much trickier than I expected. Glad you enjoyed!