Hey John! You asked for a review and so I spent some time with hide in the light. What a fun concept to have a random wheel of mini-game all 20 seconds. Game design is a personal thing and these are just my opinions based on my tastes. I liked the disarm, generator one, I would have just made that the best you could with a story to it.
- It's hard to ask a player to learn the controls of a single game, even when you think they are obvious, let alone 8. - if you are going to run 8 games, a good constraint would be to have all the controls be the same, it's always just the space bar, or always the two arrow keys. constraint (doing more with less) is the key to creativity, not doing more with more. -40% of your time goes to "making the game" the other 60% is making it a consistently great experience. aka menus,polish and juice. To have more time to polish, make the "game" part smaller.
Wow! Thank you for spending so much time to think about and give me feedback on my game! I agree, most of my games end up being too much game and not enough(or any) story, polish, or significance. Also, your the second person to ask for tutorials, so that's what I'm doing next. I think I might actually cap it at the 5 minigames I have so far and just spend the rest of my time on polish. I'm so glad you liked the generator one because that's the one I spent the most time on and my personal favorite as well! I need to learn how to make small but polished games, like yours. Anyway, I really appreciate the feedback and I love your game! Thank you!
right now, protect the light was the only one i sorted out (and enjoyed) and it seems some of the colors/minigames are not yet implemented but i appreciate the "many minigames" notion. looking forward to an update :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to play and give me feedback! Which minigames did you have trouble with, and why? Also, sorry if you didn't enjoy the others, this is my second game jam ever and I'm still learning how to make games! Anyway, give me feedback! Thanks!
i had trouble in general because there are no instructions nor consistency in how to play. Protect the Light was ok because my hand was already on the mouse. as soon as i clicked White and moved the mouse, it became obvious. and, now i understand Hide in the Light is arrowkeys (but more difficult than Protect). how could i know and especially since i just came from Protect where Mouse led me to believe Mouse (again)? the Electrical minigame has some control issues in general or maybe things like unscrewing the panel just requires higher accuracy than i expect.
so, in general, as a color is chosen, take a minute to remind us how to play it or a ? we can click to reveal?
otherwise, i'm floundering to guess from an array of potential controls which is taking away from potential fun.
sometimes you need to give the player a nudge on how to enjoy your game, IMO. you made it and know full well, but if it isn't obvious, you should shed a little light? :)
First, thank you so much for the detailed feedback. I will make sure to add tutorials to each level so the player isn't expected to figure out how to do everything within the 20 second window. I have this same problem with all my games pretty much. Anyway, I'll get to fixing that now!
Comments
Hey John! You asked for a review and so I spent some time with hide in the light. What a fun concept to have a random wheel of mini-game all 20 seconds. Game design is a personal thing and these are just my opinions based on my tastes. I liked the disarm, generator one, I would have just made that the best you could with a story to it.
- It's hard to ask a player to learn the controls of a single game, even when you think they are obvious, let alone 8.
- if you are going to run 8 games, a good constraint would be to have all the controls be the same, it's always just the space bar, or always the two arrow keys. constraint (doing more with less) is the key to creativity, not doing more with more.
-40% of your time goes to "making the game" the other 60% is making it a consistently great experience. aka menus,polish and juice. To have more time to polish, make the "game" part smaller.
Great job. Keep making games.
Wow! Thank you for spending so much time to think about and give me feedback on my game! I agree, most of my games end up being too much game and not enough(or any) story, polish, or significance. Also, your the second person to ask for tutorials, so that's what I'm doing next. I think I might actually cap it at the 5 minigames I have so far and just spend the rest of my time on polish. I'm so glad you liked the generator one because that's the one I spent the most time on and my personal favorite as well! I need to learn how to make small but polished games, like yours. Anyway, I really appreciate the feedback and I love your game! Thank you!
i like that advice, too. and, with it, i see no reason for any of the games to not be mouse-controlled, too, for consistency's sake?
right now, protect the light was the only one i sorted out (and enjoyed) and it seems some of the colors/minigames are not yet implemented but i appreciate the "many minigames" notion. looking forward to an update :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to play and give me feedback! Which minigames did you have trouble with, and why? Also, sorry if you didn't enjoy the others, this is my second game jam ever and I'm still learning how to make games! Anyway, give me feedback! Thanks!
i had trouble in general because there are no instructions nor consistency in how to play. Protect the Light was ok because my hand was already on the mouse. as soon as i clicked White and moved the mouse, it became obvious. and, now i understand Hide in the Light is arrowkeys (but more difficult than Protect). how could i know and especially since i just came from Protect where Mouse led me to believe Mouse (again)? the Electrical minigame has some control issues in general or maybe things like unscrewing the panel just requires higher accuracy than i expect.
so, in general, as a color is chosen, take a minute to remind us how to play it or a ? we can click to reveal?
otherwise, i'm floundering to guess from an array of potential controls which is taking away from potential fun.
sometimes you need to give the player a nudge on how to enjoy your game, IMO. you made it and know full well, but if it isn't obvious, you should shed a little light? :)
First, thank you so much for the detailed feedback. I will make sure to add tutorials to each level so the player isn't expected to figure out how to do everything within the 20 second window. I have this same problem with all my games pretty much. Anyway, I'll get to fixing that now!
you're welcome. and, you ARE creating FUN. i think it's now a matter of how you present it and make it a bit more approachable.
This means so much to me, thank you!