Free Shoot Cats for Science

[Alunite]

Hi all,

This is a small arcade game I made in about 10 days with a friend.

Link: https://all-the-bees.itch.io/shoot-cats-for-science

*Warning: Highscores do not work for html5 version*

Shoot Cats for Science is an arcade style shooter for up to two players local co-op. "Oh no, bouncy cats have escaped from the science lab! "Clear up" all the cats before the time runs out, just be sure not to be hit by them, these are not normal cats..."

Two modes:
- Story mode (Yep, there's a story in this game)
- Endless mode: A never ending horde of bouncy cats

Two difficulties, and when I use the word difficulty I mean near-impossible-lose-all-sanity-and-become-celibate difficulty.

Thanks for taking a look.

Note: Menus can be controlled by mouse, arrow keys + enter or wasd + space. Controls and customisation are in the stuff menu.

 

[chance]

I played the HTML5 version. It seems OK. The gameplay consists of shooting and avoiding the cats. And the few levels I played seemed pretty much the same -- other than maybe different numbers of cats. But everything seems to work without errors or glitches, so it's OK as a casual game.

I like that you have a customization menu. The option for single or two-player is good, along with custom characters. But I wish it included different keyboard choices. For example, offer a single-player option with the arrow keys. Or the option for two-handed play, such as arrows (or A-B) for movement, and SPACE for shooting.

The gameplay mechanics felt a bit odd, with just being able to shoot vertically. I suppose that's part of the challenge, but it felt somewhat monotonous after a few levels. Also, the playing field wasn't visually appealing. It seems rather empty and bare. So that reduced my interest a little. You might consider adding different scenery and environments for each level, just to change things up a bit.

The story was humorous. Although I felt it went on a bit longer than necessary. So it's good you offered the option to skip it.

All said, it's a good start for a casual HTML5 game. I think with a bit more detail and gameplay options, it could be better.

 

[Ianuarius]

Oh my god that was waaaay too much story.

I'm sorry for the short comment but I only had time to play a second of it. The first two levels are easy enough but then with three cats the difficulty ramps up 700%. It was waaay too much. I guess it's supposed to be hard. For real men. >

It has a lot of potential since everything is done well so far. I'd start fiddling with the difficulty a LOT. Try to find testers. I mean this forum is a good start. But some that you can observe, too.

(EDIT: You can even see this effect in your gif. You end up just utilizing 20% of the screen space and turtling down. That could in my opinion be made way more interesting somehow.)

Oh and I'd shorten the story by about 75% at the beginning. I want to read it, but it's way too much when I haven't even touched the game, yet. It's like a 15 min cutscene at the beginning of Max Payne 3.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Scooter]

Once the cats became small it got hard to shoot the smallest cats. Why can I only shoot up? I guess that's the point of the game, though. I liked the cat graphics, but could've been better if they animated somehow. I skipped the story and only played a few levels. The name is the best part. Didn't really notice if the power-ups (beside extra life) actually did anything.

 

[Alunite]

Thanks everyone for the detailed feedback! This has been really really helpful insight into what I could do better, and I gotta say I agree with everything you have to say.

I will say, and I'm not sure if you agree with this, but it seems no-one actually likes the base mechanic of the game which hasn't really helped in combination with my questionable design choices. I'm a fan of bubble trouble, the game I based this off of but quite clearly game design has changed over the 15 years since that game was made (and I definitely shouldn't have made the difficulty for someone like me who has had a lot of practice).

Thanks again, I can't stress how useful these comments have been. I'm gonna leave the game as it is for now as a reminder of the mistakes that were made but I will be sure to take all this feedback on when I eventually get round to my next project.

 

[Liquid]

Funny game but the original arcade game your game is based on was called "pang" or "pomping world" ...
The first day while experimenting with GM i also did a html5 version of this game..not so polished as yours..it was just to get into GM but its still on my webpage *g*

Thanks for the laugh as i seen the bouncy cats