This game seems very difficult, but I really like the theme and idea of it. The idea of killing dinosaurs in the past for something now is just funny.
Play dino game
Black D. Gold's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Secondary Theme Interpretation | #33 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
| Gameboy Soul | #46 | 4.171 | 4.171 |
| Overall | #67 | 3.814 | 3.814 |
| Quirkiness | #74 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
| Gameplay | #96 | 3.686 | 3.686 |
| Soundtrack/SFX | #150 | 3.486 | 3.486 |
| Graphics | #171 | 3.829 | 3.829 |
Ranked from 35 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game meet GBJam's theme
In our game you travel back in time to slay dinosaurs to harvest their oil in the future when they have decomposed. Oil is also called black gold, and what is older than dinosaurs? Together that gives "old gold"
Comments
I liked the variety of bosses, and the art is quite nice as well! I agree with the other comments on there needing to be more i-frames or knockback after getting hit, though. Other than that, I had a good time with it!
I played this on stream today (recording here) in case you’re interested in watching a playthrough. Good job!
Submitted
Olden RetrieverReally appreciate the amount of bosses in this game and how they all have different kill methods. I feel like they could have lasted a lot longer in general because except for the first two (three if you count gathering the materials for the ankylosaurus, I think), most of them die real fast.
Neat little entry! One small nitpick I have with the art is how the knight's blade trail is outlined (feels like a solid object because of it. Like a bug net) Other than that, great work!
Cool interpretation of the theme and we have a funky little lore to slain dinos in the past. The bossrush was fun and each of them was unique which is a nice touch!
Graphically the game looks neat, we have palette swaps, tiles, smear animation frames, overall cool job (I do feel like the starting green could be turned down an notch though, just a bit).
MSX and SFX were great, the ost was a bop!
Overall cool game, well done!
Submitted
Go Go Kobold!Yoooo I think this is my favorite game of the jam! It's a brilliant interpretation of the theme, and of all the Zelda-likes that I played this jam, this one felt the best, with the smoothest combat. The bosses were great, with a wonderful variety, and I loved the environment. There were so many nice touches, from the bobbing trees to the bridge that bowed beneath your weight. Really great job! 5 stars across the board from me.
Submitted
Four Crowns, One ThroneThank you so much for this very generous comment :).
One inspiration was as you mentioned zelda: links awakening. We really aimed for that vibe. The second big inspiration was monster hunter and maybe dark souls because of their movement.
We would have lovef to polish it a bit more but creating the sprites took a lot longer than anticipated. We are looking forward to the next gbjam next year. Working around the limitations was really fun.
A very good game! Bosses are unique, fun interpretation of the theme, and changing color palettes on different parts of the island is such an awesome idea!
Submitted
The Lucky CoinTons of personality and a really nice, strong setup both from a theme and story perspective!
Really enjoyed all the variety the bosses had to offer, though I was a bit dissapointed in the brachiosaurus being so easy to kill since you can just wail at it while its doing its flamethrower thing (fantastic paleontologically accurate addition, btw).
I do have a couple of actual criticisms regarding the combat mechanics. First, adding some i-frames after being hit would make the game feel way fairer. I got double, triple, and even quadruple hit by a bumbling velociraptor more than a couple times, and it felt annoying every time. Second, the sword slash cooldown has a deceptively long cooldown, and I found myself facepunching velociraptors super often because I'd think my sword was back up. Maybe a flash or visual cue to tell you it's ready? There might be a thing where after you get hit you also can't swing for a bit, but I can't be entirely sure.
Overall, fun stuff. Hoping to see more out of this team, it feels like they have good instincts for what makes fun games.
Wow thank you so much for the amazing feedback!
The i-frame thing we heard a lot and i agree, thats definitely something well look out for in the future! The visual indicator for when the sword is ready is also a great idea, ill definitely remember that as well. We kinda focused all our time on trying (and quite frankly more often than not crashing out over) trying to do pixel art that looks passable, since this was pretty much our first time doing that and we dont have a talent for normal art either. So whenever we got something done we just implemented it and left it as is without really revisiting it. For the future actually going over mechanics and with the feedback in mind i think those annoying things can be ironed out as well. (Also of course we had to be as paleontologically accurate as possible, whenever we weren't drawing we were researching our dinos. That's also how you got the bubble shooting Spinosaur)
Thank you again for the kind words and feedback its much appreciated!
Great theme, gameplay and really enjoyed the music. Love love love the concept of going back in time to kill the dinosaur so they can harvest the oil.
I died on every boss attempt (likely skill issue on my part lol) but still had fun. Great stuff!
Submitted
Grab That Bootywhat a charming game! the theme is really unique and i love dinos. fun music too. good job!
Submitted
Aurum Lake: annual fishing festivalHell yeah, I need me some of that sweet dino oil!
This was a unique take on the Old Gold theme, so kudos on that.
I like how the game uses the same map but on each level/objective there’s different things to do. The Zelda-esque movement and map transitions helped give off a good amount of Gameboy feel.
My the best part about this entry is probably the bosses – great work on making a good amount of variety and behavior for each one, that can sometimes be difficult to pull off with limited time. My favorite boss was the one underwater near the bridge.
My constructive feedback would be that I easily get stun locked a lot. Some more invulnerability duration would have been better. Although it could just be a skill issue on my end.
Keep it up!
Submitted
GOLD RUSH 1898Thank you so much for the long feedback! Quite a few people had the stun lock issue, its just something that slipped under the radar since we always play tested it ourself and played the game for long enough that it didn't happen to us. That's definitely something to keep in mind for the next project!
Hell yeah! slayin some Dinos for that sweet oil, what is there not to love!
This was really good, ye had a whole map to explore, multiple hunts, narrative! A package filled with goods!
I also manage to leave boss arenas by having the dinos pushing me out, happened when I fought the velociraptors!
Submitted
Black Gold - GBJAM 14 - 2026Now that’s a cool interpretation of the secondary theme!
I liked that each mission had you going to different parts of the map.
I do wish there were a bit more “invincibility frames” after getting hit, or maybe a stronger knockback, so that the player is pushed out of reach of the enemies.
Other than that, the art is very nice and the story and music are fun, this is a nice entry overall!
Submitted
Temple of the Golden NoseI love how alive it looks, everything is moving in the background. Art is amazing. Good game
Submitted
Gold StepsThat’s a really cool interpretation of “old gold”! I loved the variety of the map and the boss encounters. Well done!
Submitted
Dugongs & DoubloonsLoved dashing my way across the map and fighting dinos. The bosses were a lot of fun, only complaint I have is that there aren't any more to fight :)
Submitted
Mountain Madmanahahaha, that 'you made the dinoes extinct' was great. I loved the joke.
Submitted
Secrets of the Tomb
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