A Small Mistake by Ericbomb
Weird letters game.
I don't really have any strong positive or negative things to say about this one. There was practically no art, and the platforming was quite buggy. It was an interesting idea with the letters, and I did appreciate how the goals of each stage were slightly different.
A Tentacle With A Knife! by Breakfeast Boy
Funny and kind of fun.
+ The rope physics felt good, great when you get into a good rhythm.
+ Different point amounts for accuracy is a great idea. Made me try harder to hit with the knife end.
- I feel like this kind of game would have benefitted from a more squared shaped room. Enemies coming in from the bottom have such a large advantage compared to those who come in from the side.
Big Miss Steak by Pixel-Team
Getting multi-ball is always satisfying. Sadly for my keyboard, my pinball reflexes kicked in and I may have hit my CTRL keys a little too hard...
+ The retro pinball aesthetic, you nailed it.
+ The pinball physics felt great.
+ Great sound effects and music, fit right in with the rest of the game.
+ All those extra graphics to the side really sell the pinball aesthetic.
- The two tables felt small and empty, I actually preferred the first one since it looked and felt more interesting to play. The second one had the ramp which if you aren't careful, just zeros your ball haha.
- No way to quit mid-game. I had to alt-f4 when I was just messing around.
- I have a fever, and the only cure is more cowbell. Or any cowbell. Talk about A Big Mistake... No cowbell...
6,268,542 baby!
Boom! by Alice
In a shocking turn of events, Alice creates a charming puzzle game!
+ BOOM!
+ It's a really weird but cool concept.
+ Giving each letter a unique ability was a great extra mechanic.
+ I loved the little personality you gave the letters like the bows and stuff. Even the Os animated differently. I really liked the smooth rotation of the pupils when changing direction. It's a tiny detail but those are the kinds I really appreciate.
+ Great length for a jam, and a good progression of levels.
- The backgrounds and interface could have been a bit more visually interesting, but that's really just me nitpicking.
I only really had trouble with one puzzle, the rest felt like the perfect amount of challenge for me. Great job.
CATCH THE DAMN CLOWN by Nocturne
COLD by Toque
Moody adventure game. I dig it.
+ Love the art, some terrifying creatures.
+ Good minimal introduction and tutorial.
+ Controlled quite well.
+ Great presentation, especially the newspaper segments.
+ Great transitions into buildings and staircases.
- Perhaps a bit short.
This was such a departure from your recent jam games. I really enjoyed it.
E.T. 2021 by Firehammer Games
Ahh, damn, This throws an error straight away!
Evanski's Raccoon Adventure by EvanSki
Evanski's overscoped raccoon adventure. Heh.
+ It was neat seeing myself in the game, using language completely accurate to how I talk.
+ The Animal Crossing styled dialogue system worked great.
+ The point and click stuff worked quite well.
+ Very funny, great dialogue.
- A bit disappointing that the minigames were either unfinished or a joke.
- Way too short and meandering. Really needed a more well thought out story.
These kinds of GMC games are fun, it's always nice to see other members represented in a jam game.
Fish Food by Ezra
Minigames in a funny wrapper.
+ The overall presentation was pretty great. Love the cutscene stuff and the voiced dialogue.
+ Great length for a jam.
+ The difficulty/complexity of the mini-games increasing with each stage is great, feels like a good progression.
+ Theme usage is bleeding outof the story set up, getting a loan from a literal shark is clearly a big mistake if I've ever seen one.
- MATHS
- MEMORY GAMES
Man... I'm in my 30s, I don't want to do maths or remember stuff, my memory is terrible.
Fjootjah Skate by Bart, Xor, TheSnidr
I think the set up led me to believe this was going to be a skating game so there is a wee bit of disappointment felt when I started. Always impressive to see 3D stuff though.
+ Great music, especially the end music.
+ Great 3D models and effects.
+ Really nailing that skate game collectable aesthetic(especially with that pop up text upon finding the jam)
- Firstly, it felt like there was no reason to not hold shift. So why wasn't that just the default movement speed?
- I tried to get some half-pipe air but I'd just jump out of the pipe, so that was a bit lame.
- This wasn't skating so much as just hovering around awkwardly towards collectibles.
In the end I think this entry was a bit of a misstep. It's cool to see your 3D stuff improve each jam, but it always feels like it's at the expense of the gameplay.
I will win the GMC Jam 41 by cantavanda
You're an oxygen thief.
Lens of the Last Surviving Human by Mercerenies
This was a really cool idea, and I'm annoyed at myself for not realising I could walk offscreen and wrap around until that one level where you needed to...
+ Great main mechanic, once I got more comfortable with it I was moving the lens and the player together and it felt great.
+ The progression in difficulty or complexity was well done, though that last stage I tried for so long at the end of it trying to get the coin in a way more difficult than I ended up realising I needed to.
+ Love the little walking animation
+ The effect of changing sprites and tiles when in the lens was great, it would have been easy to just have it hide or reveal platforms but to have it change the look of the game as well was a nice touch
- The platforming itself could be improved. It mostly felt ok, but there were a few times I wish there was a bit of a jump buffer or maybe more room above the head to give me more leeway to jump in those tighter situations.
- No sound was a bit of a mood killer.
- The text was unreadable on my monitor unless I moved my face right up to the screen. Enabling fullscreen switching would have done wonders here(I ended up using Windows' magnifier to play through it more comfortably).
Just read your afterword. I already assumed I was the monster mentioned, but it was a neat story idea. I think it was a fun use of theme there.
Magic's Final Stand by The M
An interesting concept that would likely work much better on a touch screen.
+ Great intro screens.
+ I liked the dual nature of the shapes depending on whether you cast them on yourself or the enemies.
+ Making the circle shape the default attack is smart.
+ Great simple art .
+ Enemy variety was varied enough that I started to feel the pressure towards the end.
- I rarely felt the need to do anything but circle enemies. I only did the square and lightning spells by accident, there never seemed to be a good reason to weaken an enemy when I could just straight up kill them just as quickly.
I've always enjoyed the idea of using simple shapes to cast magic. I think the concept works, but needs more work to make it more fun.
Mosquitattoos by Yozoraki
Fun idea. With some extra work it could be a great little game. A really unique concept using tattoos as a cover for drinking blood.
+ I still think it's rad that your mum helps you out with the music. She's great.
+ The tattoo placement mechanic works great, the size changing too.
+ Great variety of tattoo choices, with a great variety of shapes.
+ The idea of sectioning up types of tattoos is fun.
- Man... only one level, what a bummer.
- I'm sure this wouldn't be an issue if there were more than one level, but letting me just cover his back with whatever(as long as it was cool) made it easier.
Some stronger constraints(such as amount of tattoos or something) in future levels(if they existed) would have made this such a great entry, as it's a very fun and funny idea.
Pursuit by BluishGreenPro
I don't think I've had Windows Defender eat a jam game before. Got it eventually to accept that you were not a virus.
+ Platformer felt pretty good.
+ Great simple art style, the deformation effects and particles really enhanced it all.
+ The progression of introducing obstacles and mechanics was good.
+ As was the variety of the obstacles and enemies.
+ Great length for a jam.
+ Gamepad support is always nice, makes these games feel more comfortable.
- Not a big deal but ESC didn't pause the game, it restarted from checkpoint.
- Just noticed you said in your readme that the art and the engine was pre-made.
- While I think this kind of story implementation is neat, by the time I get to the next area, I've already forgotten what I read in the last area. So it almost feels like a series of random quotes. So unless the theme was tied up there somewhere, I didn't really see any theme implementation(Which is fine, the theme kind of sucked anyway).
I think this is a bug with GMS1, but when the controller is enabled, the game speed is super sluggish. I didn't realise this until I had beaten the game and tried replaying it with the controller disabled in the options. With that in mind, it *might* be your implementation, since the game runs fine with the controller plugged in, but with the option set to ignore.
Robozoic Park by GameDevDan
Glad I wasn't the only dinosaur entry. Love the Jurassic Park nod.
+ The cursor speed was kind of perfect, at first I was concerned that this would have been better with a mouse but this felt great as is.
+ The simple art style made it easier to prioritise who to shoot.
+ At first I was worried that the whole game was going to be just that first stage, but the way you changed it up with the sonar and that other level was a nice surprise.
+ Kept the game nice and short so it didn't wear out it's welcome, perfect length for a jam.
+ Loved the dialogue and the map screen
- No sound was a killer. Yeah, that's probably my only real negative, anything else would be needless nitpicking.
Shadow Bouncer by JordanOttesen
Neat concept, I like the combination of mechanics here.
+ Platforming movement felt good.
+ The levels felt well designed, and the progression in challenge was just right.
+ Controller support is always welcome(Though having the option to advance the text, or restart the level with a controller would have been nicer).
- Window was so small, I had to use Windows Magnifier to see what i was doing.
I was juuust getting on the cusp of thinking there were too many levels when it ended. Without any newer mechanics or obstacles, it becomes a bit repetitive. That said, I did have quite a lot of fun with this.
Shroom Boy by Poizen
Cute mushroom platformer.
+ Like the idea of the main mechanic, kind of like a golf platformer.
+ Cute sprite, and nice clean art.
- Most of the platforming/jumps were a slight exercise in frustration. Mostly because if you miscalculate, you have to wait so long for your body to roll(well, slowly slide) back down to a flatter area and try again.
- The level design started off promising but then half the game was samey looking cave colours.
I think the core concept is good, but needs some refinement to make it more fun.
(Obligatory "You maniacs! You blew it all up!)
Super Ordinary Brothers by Yal
I guess we have hover ambulances.
The Secret and the Bread by Josh Chen, bandman28, Micah_DS
Quite an amusing game with some strange combat.
+ Helicopter baguette.
+ Love the clean art style, overall presentation.
+ Rad music.
+ I enjoyed the silly story and the ending.
- As fun as it was swishing around a baguette, it did feel a bit unresponsive at times. The sound effects definitely helped though.
- A bit too easy(But this is great for a jam game)
- As much as I liked the clean simple art, it ended up being a wee bit too dull walking around.
Poor baker just having this thrust upon him.
There Is Going To Be A Bomb by Bearman_18
I love and loathe these kinds of games.
+ Once you get your head around what needs to be done, it's quite fun.
+ I was kept engaged pretty evenly with both characters.
+ Sprites were cute.
- The bomb guy falling asleep was annoying since it seemed based on a timer instead of activity(I would try moving him when there's nothing to do but he would still fall asleep). I think I would have preferred it if it was based on activity instead. That said, I could be completely wrong and that would make it too much easier, hard for me to say.
- A few times the bombs stacked up endlessly it seemed, which despite my(self reported) perfect bomb defusal skills, I still couldn't defuse fast enough to get off the machine and stop the door banging. I think it would be better if you made me reengage the bomb defusal if there are multiple ones, so that I have the option to attend the door.
Van Helsing's Big Missed Stake by Mr Magnus
Ahh, one of these. It's easy to lose a lot of time to these kinds of games.
+ A good variety of enemies.
+ Good variety of upgrades too, including stakes.
+ Love the sound effects.
- Art was a bit rough.
- Seemed a bit silly to have to use the mouse to retry/quit but for nothing else.
I managed to buy all the upgrades and get some good distance. Satisfying.
Wheelchair Joyride by Terminator_Pony
Kind of a weird combination of mechanics. Fun idea though.
+ Simple to understand.
+ Short but sweet.
+ I enjoyed the ending.
- So slow to move.
- Could have maybe used an extra layout or two. Though it was interesting having the skater in a level I knew the solution for already.
- The lose screen was a bit too long and unskippable. Not a big deal for such a short and easy game, but I can imagine how irritated I would get if this game was much longer and having to see that every time.
I think this idea could benefit from using a physics system, gives you more options for puzzle and layout designs. I think levels could get quite interesting with all that and then adding spectators to hide your gun from.
YoYoCoin Market by Mr Magnus
Yeah, not for me, buddy. I spent all my cash an then peaced out.
I do however appreciate the setup effort involved here.