Very enjoyable game from a gameplay polish perspective, it controls well, the upgrades are fun, the roguelike mechanics work. My main issue is the use of the theme is a little lacking, it is cool for there to be a countdown timer each level that loses you a life on timeout, but for the most you won't be running into issues with it and you're more likely to just straight out take damage instead (which also loves you a life and ends the level). Perhaps it might've been more enjoyable to turn the timer into a glorified health bar and have the player lose time on damage taken as opposed to ending the level altogether on a loss. I felt I outscaled the game a little bit once I got enough upgrades and there could definitelly be some nice balance pass. Otherwise I did really enjoy how fun the game is to control and is a competent roguelike in a vacuum.
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Strike 'Em's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Enjoyment | #2691 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
| Audio | #3354 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Artwork | #3827 | 3.238 | 3.238 |
| Creativity | #5141 | 3.143 | 3.143 |
| Narrative | #5953 | 2.190 | 2.190 |
Ranked from 21 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?
The player has a limited time to defeat enemies per level
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
Ground Falling smoke effect - https://nyknck.itch.io (@nyk_nck)
Font - https://yukipixels.itch.io (@yukipixels)
Character - https://erisesra.itch.io (@ErisEsra_)
Explosion Effect - https://pixelfrog-assets.itch.io (@PixelFrogStudio)
(some) UI SFX - https://cyrex-studios.itch.io/universal-ui-soundpack (@CyrexStudios)*
They are mentioned in the game's credits aswell
* currently except these, but will add them as soon as we are available to modify the game
Comments
The gameplay feels really nice and smooth; the upgrades felt a little inconsequential at times. The level system was really cool and I enjoyed the difficulty scaling. Nice game!
I enjoyed playing this one, the difficulty ramps up quick! I think the connection to the theme could have been stronger. Good work!
It's extremely well polished, and it has an impressive amount of content! I don't really have anything new to add to the feedback, as it's already been covered. I definitely got into the game after I almost died at the start. I can see the Balatro inspiration, and I also like the change in color in each layer. I stopped when I died, so it's possible I didn't see everything. As the other guy said, the timer could be a bit more impactful, but on the whole, a very impressive entry!
Really good game and super polished i really loved the menu and room transitions they are super polished to be for a jam game, the characters and level design look really good, well done guys.
Fun but I got a little confused on what to do while in the level I would randomly get shot. Ig im just bad at this type of game
Loved the simplicity and liveliness of the menus, and the dynamic music layering was a great touch. Maybe adding some juice like bullet impact effects would make it even better, but considering the jam time you did an impressive job with levels and powerups. Congrats, really solid work! :D
Surprised this doesn't have comments yet. This is a good game!
Cute characters. The first upgrade screen reminded me of Balatro for some reason. Top marks in the art and audio. I also liked how the color schemes changes each layer.
Only complaints are the balancing could be a little better and the easiness. It moves a little slow with all the pauses between rounds and the rounds are very short. The items you can buy- some seem a lot better than others.
Then again it's so brutal when you die in one shot.
The countdown timer for each level seems irrelevant. I never ran out of time.
More enemy variety, faster room travel, etc. This is a very solid foundation of a well designed rougelike twin stick shooter.
Thanks for playing our game! We're really glad you liked it!
Wow! What a nice feedback! Yeah, balancing it has been a challenge in on itself, we tried to nerf some things to balance it but still wasn't enough. The more enemy variety is a sad one, we had plenty more enemies but it bugged and never spawned them lol! Also you can tell that our dev is a huge Balatro fan lmao, thank you once more for the valuable feedback!
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