I couldn't finish the final level though. I kept defeating the robots and they kept spawning, and then I died. I agree with others about displaying the player's health and the number of enemies left in the level. That would have motivated me to push through and try to survive longer.
As for suggestions, the delay before being able to move after firing the kiss attack felt a bit long, so shortening it might make the controls feel smoother. The freeze frame after defeating an enemy felt really satisfying when there were only a few enemies, but in level 4, when there are many enemies, it started to interrupt the gameplay rather than enhance it since the game pauses after every kill. Maybe you could pause the enemies and their attacks but still let the player move, that would be really cool.
Since the gameplay is pretty simple and straightforward, I tried to focus on making the player feedback feel as good as possible. I was a bit worried about the sound effects since I struggled to find ones that matched the bubble gum/jelly vibe, so I'm really glad you found them satisfying!
I read that it's important to make the menu feel good since it's the first thing players see and judge, so I spent a bit of extra time learning about the spring effect for the buttons and adding some particles. I'm really glad you liked it!
About the rope direction, it follows the direction the object is moving. For example, if the object is moving top→down or right→left, the rope spins clockwise.
I agree that its not very skill based. To make it skill based, I tried reducing the reel and spin speed but it felt too slow and not fun. Increasing the speed and making it fast and chaotic made it more fun, but a bit random. The web build also messed with the physics and made it more random than I wanted it to be. But I'm glad you still had fun!
The character animations and music were really nice. It might help to add some instructions about what to do and where to go. After going through a few doors, I fell down and the screen turned blue, and didn't let me continue. Fixing these would really help improve the gameplay experience.
Good game! The visuals look good and consistent. I'm more of a console player, so using shift to dash felt a bit difficult for me, mapping it to right mouse button would be nice (but that's just me). Some sound effect for when getting attacked would help and having a death animation would be a good end, since the game seems to end abruptly.
The player feedback was very well done - sound effect, damage multiplier shaking, the animation when a new round starts. I encountered many draws and agree with the other comments that adding variations or rogue-like elements can really spice things up. Good job!
I really like the design of the room, especially the huge teddy bear. I also liked how the words you collect immediately show up on the paper.
Currently, the player seems to turn only 180 degrees when you move the mouse, which gets a little difficult to navigate, making it 360 degree would be better. Adding some sound effects and music would help set the mood.
It was really nice exploring the maze with the cozy music in the background. Adding some recoil while firing the gun and a more intense track for the boss battle would be awesome!
I really enjoyed the game! The art on the ingredients was beautiful, and the music was really catchy. I kept repeating "bake me a cake" in my head while playing.
I did notice that the names of the ingredients were sometimes hidden behind the items on the shelf below. A few other bugs, like the order not updating, made it a bit harder than expected, but it was still fun to play. Great job!
It took me a couple of tries, but I finally beat the boss! The SFX, boss attacks, and player feedback were all really well done. Since the boss used ranged attacks instead of melee like the minions, I thought I could get in close and throw the bombs when he wasn’t attacking… but I was wrong 😄
Since the boss didn’t have a health bar, the battle stayed gripping all the way through!
Since I’m new to pixel art and concepts like shading are both important and easy to get wrong, I decided to go with a 1-bit style with a little colored highlight to make things pop.
I also really like the concept and hope to expand it into a larger game, where players could discover other elements like ice, fire, and earth, and upgrade or replace spells to keep things interesting.
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback!
I appreciate you letting me know about the SFX getting repetitive, I’ll add more variety in a future update. I’m also working on balancing the difficulty. Since I was the only one who playtested, I didn’t have enough information and just increased HP by 20, but I think that wasn’t quite enough.
If you decide to give it another try, a couple of tips: the Overload reaction (Charge → Bomb) can stun enemies, and wave 6 is a good chance to heal using the water combo and farm AP/Void Bombs before the final wave.
The music is a free asset I credited, but I’m glad it worked . It was surprisingly hard to find something that fit the game. It’s my first game, so I really appreciate the encouragement!
I’ve always wanted to make a VN, but didn’t pursue it because it requires a lot of artwork and I’m terrible at drawing characters, so it’s great to see you getting started with VN and game dev. It’s interesting how both choices lead to the same outcome. During my first playthrough, I thought having different outcomes would make the choices feel more meaningful, but it looks like the GF only has one thing in mind. Haha!
