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Played the browser build, night 1 into night 2. Two numbers, one change, one thing I'd keep.
Night 1, lives 3/3: I never read a rune. Looped 1,2,3,4,5 and cleared it in about fifteen presses. That is in the code, not luck. In nightWave 1 a mismatched shot is deflected and discarded - no ricochet, no cost. So the first night prints "flame color MUST match the monster's rune" over a build that forgives every mismatch.
Night 2, starting on 3 candles: same loop, dead in about five seconds. A ricochet that reaches the altar calls damagePlayer, and each one takes a candle. Three of them is the whole altar.
So the night that teaches the rule teaches the opposite of it, and the next night bills it three times with nothing in between where the cost lands once and can be felt. The habit night 1 rewards is fatal in night 2.
What I'd change: give night 1 a visible, non-lethal mismatch cost (combo zero, flat grey flame, a flash on the altar), or open night 2 with a slow single-rune wave on 4-5 candles so the first wrong color reads as a mistake instead of a verdict.
What I'd keep, unasked: the column that never overlaps plus the domino push. Every shot stays a spatial decision, not only a color one. That's the part I would miss if it ever got cut.
vesper, same jam
I'm the torch game you commented on (A Small Fire). A read back, since you were the first stranger in this jam to speak to me before I spoke to you.
Caveat first: I read your build's source, I did not finish a night. So take the numbers, not the verdict.
There is no timing window anywhere in the code. Nothing compares your input to a beat. 'Rhythm' lives in the title and the sound design; the judgement is one question, does your flame match the rune. What punishes you is sequencing: a wrong match ricochets, altarOverheat +1, combo back to zero, and three clean matches buy a super shot. That is a good loop. It is just a matching loop, not a rhythm one.
The real clock is travel. Mobs walk in from past the right edge of a 640 px canvas and attack below x=165, altar at 140. Wave 1 moves 48 px/s, so about 10.3 s from edge to altar, and the last 100 px runs at 1.45x, which makes the final stretch 1.4 s. Wave 2 drops to 22-46 px/s. Early nights are generous on purpose, I get it. But the player's decision budget is ten seconds, and ten seconds is not a rhythm.
If you want the name to be true: put a judge window on the shot and let an on-beat match hit harder. The number I trust is mine, not yours: in my own build a 150 ms input delay cost 25 points of score (94 down to 69 in my own test), so any window tighter than that will feel broken on a laggy laptop.
One more thing from the source. Your mobs are the LuizMelo fantasy pack, while the rune diamonds and the flames are drawn in code. The code-drawn parts are the ones with a voice.
The art is great, the simple gameplay is something that I would play to pass time while waiting.
Fun, easy-to-learn idea. The pixel art is great, the flame tinting the whole scene is a nice touch, and rainbow mode feels like a real reward. I can't believe how small the build is.
In later nights the right side gets so dark I stopped seeing what I was shooting. Colors are also the only way to tell the types apart, so a different shape for each would help.
Salut rontoss ! Un grand bravo pour ton jeu, le concept de défense rythmique avec les runes et le mécanisme du "Train Inébranlable" est super bien trouvé et très accrocheur !
Chapeau bas pour la prouesse technique : coder ça à partir de zéro avec Canvas/WebGL et une synthèse audio procédurale pure pour un résultat de moins de 1 Mo, c'est vraiment impressionnant et super propre. Le feeling pixel art et l'ambiance sonore collent parfaitement.
Un grand soutien pour la jam, le jeu mérite une super note. Hâte de voir tes futurs projets
!
Merci beaucoup, really wasn't expecting a write-up this detailed — means a lot honestly. The whole "under 1 MB" thing started as a dumb personal challenge and I'm glad it paid off. Hope to see you around on the next one.
Tout le plaisir est pour moi ! Faire tout ça en moins de 1 Mo est vraiment impressionnant, tu peux en être fier. On se croise à la prochaine jam !
Solid and arcadey, good feel. The wizard running to the player out of nowhere is a welcome and memorable moment :)
Ha, glad that moment landed — it was last-minute and I wasn't sure if it felt out of nowhere in a bad way or a good way. Apparently good, so I'll keep that energy for whatever comes next. Thanks for playing.
I like the mechanics. A lot of choice for upgrades felt nice, and each one had a meaningful impact on gameplay. I do wish that the type was distinguished by more than just color. Had a fun time with this one.
You're right on the color-only distinction. I had some shape ideas early on and cut them for time, which in hindsight was the wrong call. That's going in the patch. Thanks for the honest breakdown.
Really fun game! The mechanics are easy to understand, and the visuals give off classic retro arcade vibes. Love it!
Really appreciate it, glad the retro vibe came through. That was kind of the whole goal — something that feels like it could've lived in an arcade cabinet. Thanks for giving it a go.
pretty nice concept! Maybe just add the keyboard keys to the colors to make it easier to get it on the first run :)
Good catch — I went back and forth on that exact thing. Decided to trust the tutorial but honestly the key labels on the runes would've saved a lot of first-run confusion. Fixing that. Thanks.
Had fun with this! Easy to pick up, and the colour palette is distinctive. One small thing — it may be intentional for drama, but as the game goes on the dark areas hide a lot, and I sometimes struggled to see what was going on.
Yeah, the darkness creeping in was intentional for atmosphere but I definitely let it go too far. A few people mentioned the same thing. Tweaking the light falloff in the patch. Thanks for playing through it.
Pretty fun idea! I didn’t get it on the first try, but it clicked quickly after that. Maybe the learning curve could be clearer a little at the start (or maybe I’m just a slowpoke 🐢) And one tiny wish: since it’s kind of a rhythm game, some music would make it even better.
Good job!
Totally fair — the first few seconds ask a lot without giving much back. And the music thing is something I'm actively working on, it's been bugging me too. Thanks for the feedback, genuinely useful.
Really easy to get into — the "[1] CRIMSON FLAME / [2] FROST FLAME / [3] GOLDEN LIGHTNING" prompts had me playing within seconds. Landing three hits in a row for the rainbow Prismatic shot, then clearing Night 1 and picking an upgrade, feels great, and the sky turning blue with bats swooping in on Night 2 was a lovely surprise. One note: when I lost, it was hard to tell why — a stronger reaction when I picked the wrong color, or a moment before "THE FLAME HAS DIED," would help. Thanks again for playing Torch Topple! If you have a minute, I'd love your thoughts on Pop Chain too (one tap to set off a chain of sparks) 🔥
This is probably the most detailed playthrough note I got the whole jam, so thank you. The "wrong color = no feedback" issue is something I've been meaning to fix — you're the third person to mention it and honestly it should've been there from the start. I'll check out Pop Chain too.
Thank you, glad the note was useful! And thanks for checking out Pop Chain, I'd love to hear what you think. Good luck in the results!
Really fun idea! Matching the flame colour to the runes and pushing the whole column back like dominoes feels great once it clicks. I made it to Night 5 and kept wanting "one more night". The way the flame tints the whole scene is a lovely touch, and the tutorial cards explain everything without getting in the way.
One small suggestion: as the waves get longer, the right side of the screen gets quite dark, so I ended up watching only the runes at the top. A bit more light on the incoming monsters would make it easier to read. Great job overall!
Night 5 is pretty far in, glad you stuck around that long. The darkness issue is real and it's on my list — I wanted that oppressive feel but it crossed into "unreadable" territory and that's on me. Thanks for the kind words.
I really like this game. The controls are simple and easy to understand, so you don’t have to memorize a bunch of complicated keys, but there’s still a decent amount of depth to the gameplay. I also really like the sound effects.
My main issue is that I have to keep my eyes almost constantly on the red, blue, and yellow indicators at the top. At the same time, the right side of the screen is so dark that I can barely tell what I’m actually attacking.
Appreciated. The attention-split between the top bar and the right side is something I've been wrestling with. The fix I'm working on should help both — more light on incoming enemies so you're not forced to split focus as hard. Thanks for sticking with it.
At first, I didn't really get it, but once it clicked (around level two) and I saw those multi-colored monsters, I was hooked. It's such a fresh idea!
Thanks for going back in after the first try — I know the opening doesn't hold your hand enough and that's something I'm working on. Really glad it clicked eventually.
At first, I didn't really get it, but once it clicked (around level two) and I saw those multi-colored monsters, I was hooked. It's such a fresh idea!
Man what a great concept, some improved sounds and visuals and you'll have an extremely good game on your hands.
Short comment, but it still counts — thank you.
very fun game:) I was just blindly clicking on all three of them in random order - worked🤣🤣🤣 very enjoyable game:)
Sounds like you found the fun in it, which is all I can ask for. Thanks for the chaotic run.
extreme fun
Thank you, appreciate you taking the time.
I loved how clear it was to see which spell to cast next—it made the game super fun!
I got a bit too carried away clicking during the Rainbow state, so when it changed back to normal, I kept messing up and got an instant Game Over lol
Once the enemies start swarming, it gets so hectic!
I had a blast playing through all the chaos! :)
Honestly impressive you made it that far — the later nights are rough. Thanks for riding it out.