This was very close to the perfect jam game for me. I had a lot of fun with it, the aiming felt smooth on mouse and keyboard, and the amount of variety and polish was impressive for 96 hours.
The biggest issue I ran into was the controller layout. It detected my 8BitDo controller (Xinput), and the inputs seemed to respond correctly, but aiming was on the right stick while shooting was on X. That asks my right thumb to do both jobs at once, so I couldnāt comfortably aim and fire with a normal grip. I also couldnāt find a remapping option and ended up playing the whole game with mouse and keyboard. Putting shooting on a trigger or bumper would make that layout much more usable.
I really liked how the different upgrade systems worked together. Enemies dropping attack or speed boosts gave me rewards during the fights, then choosing between three upgrade cards at the end of a night gave me bigger decisions about things like shot patterns and maximum health. On top of that, Jackās mood changed what I would be dealing with the following night.
The connection between weapon upgrades and damage to the house was particularly good. Getting a shotgun spread or multiple shots felt powerful, but it also made it easier to accidentally destroy the sofa, TV, or his favorite painting. I was thinking about where my shots were going while trying to dodge enemies. Having Jack wake up fuming and make the next night harder gave that collateral damage a real consequence.
I also liked how the house stayed familiar while different doors opened and closed between nights. That helped vary the route, and the enemy and boss variety kept the encounters interesting. The rogue Roomba, dog, and police encounters all gave the house some personality.
Visually, everything read well, and I liked the lighting around the character. The detail Iād revisit is the red rectangular warning before a charge attack. Its plain appearance stood out against the rest of the art and felt a little like a placeholder. Giving that indicator a more finished pixel-art treatment while keeping the attack area clear would help it fit the presentation.
The audio felt complete as well, and the final kitchen encounter was a fun payoff to the whole snack premise.