GMC Jam Voting The Classic GMC Jam 32 - Voting Topic

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GameDevDan

Former Jam Host
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GMC Elder


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Voting Deadline
March 12th, 12:00 UTC



  • As soon as the Jam ends on February 25th at 12:00 UTC, a zip folder of the games will be created and posted in the voting topic so that players can download all the entries at once if they wish.
  • Voters will then have around 2 weeks to play and rank the games and voting will close on March 12th at 12:00 UTC.
  • Any member of the GMC can vote, even if they didn't enter the jam. You cannot vote for your own entry.
  • Votes shall be posted in a single post in the voting topic. You may create a post and continue to edit it as you review more games, do not create more than one post for your votes.
  • Voters are encouraged to rank as many games as possible, and their final votes must include at least their top 3 games.
  • The top 3 votes must also be accompanied by a short review of why you liked the game and voted for it (any beyond the top 3 do not need a review, but it is nice to have).
  • Voters can also vote for the best game in each of the following (optional) categories: Best use of theme, best concept, best presentation (gfx/sound) and best devlog (as written in the games topic).
Voting Template
(optional but helpful)

XYZ'S REVIEWS AND VOTES

1st Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...

2nd Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...


3rd Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...


Best Ofs
Best use of theme: game name by author name
Best concept: game name by author name
Best presentation: game name by author name
Best devlog: author name

Full Ranking
1. game name by author name
2. game name by author name
3. game name by author name
4. game name by author name
5. game name by author name
6.... etc.

That's all you need to know!

Get playing and voting and enjoy those jam games :)

Boring technical info about how the votes are counted: Entries receive points based on where each voter ranked them, following the formula 1/(rank+1). So if a voter puts a game 1st, it gets 0.5 points. If a voter puts a game 6th, it gets ~0.143 points. These are all added up by the Jam Host to find the overall rank for each game.
 
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Voting Post

Update #1: Still going through the games, got just over half left. Some of these may change as I go back through them all after finishing.

Update #2: Played almost every game, a few I haven't ranked or left feedback for just yet until I try them again, a few I changed ranks and feedback. Almost done!

Update #3: Done!

Top 3:

King of the Ant Hill by Relic
This was something more like what I was hoping to play this jam.
Use of theme is expected but great using ants.
The gameplay itself is very simple yet I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I expected.
I got wiped out on easy but still had fun.
I didn't fully understand what I was doing, If I sent ants out without the line returning to a hill, they just wander around until they die? Shouldn't they be able to follow their trail back?
It would have been nice to see previous upgrades, I lost track of how much I increased attack, etc.
Music was amusingly appropriate.
Art was mostly good.
Can you make this into a full game? That would be cool.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
At first I was prepared to be a little bit bored given the setup, but the battle system was quite enjoyable.
I lost the first time because I had briefly forgotten how to play Risk, but smashed them the second time.
The little soldier sprites were cute, but their squareness was a bit offputting.
Played this on my laptop which has a resolution of 1366x768. Meaning that the window didn't quite fit on screen, I went into full screen but unfortunately you used Draw GUI without accounting for scaling so UI elements anf buttons were not where they were supposed to be. So I had to play in windowed mode with part of the screen cut off.
AI not getting a full turn meant that they were perhaps a bit too easy, but generally worked well.
Despite being mostly just Risk, this was a good entry with good literal use of the theme.
Reeeeally would have been nice to have some end conditions, even just a "You Win/Lose!" screen goes a long way.

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
I had a bad first impression of this, but in the end I really liked what you were trying to do.
Firstly, no sound or music really hurt this.
The main idea at first seemed silly, but made sense as I played further and upgraded. The more you upgraded, the bigger the city, and the less of the tree you can see, and thus less apples. Very cool.
That said, dragging apples to the icon was a bit naff, I'm sure given time you could come up with a better mechanic for picking apples/food.
The mining was a fun mini-game, I liked the idea of micromanaging by carefully trying to choose my route whilst also keeping an eye on apples to pick.
The upgrades eventually made that too easy but it was still nice.
Oh, and the art. It looked great, I loved the sketched look of the home/city. Not sure if that was placeholder or intentional but I really dug it.
I maxed out the upgrades and the game froze, so I guess I win!
To me, I feel like the game was about how society impacts nature and how it's not all that sustainable. And I feel like that's an aspect of conquest that is unique to this entry.
I feel like you could spend some time polishing and fixing this up and it would turn into a neat little game.

Best ofs:

Best use of THEME: King of the Ant Hill by Relic
Best Concept: Bow before the Queen by The M
Best Presentation: ALPS by GameDevDan
Best Story: Spirit Walker by Bingdom
Best Devlog: ...

Full ranking:

  1. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  2. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  3. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  4. ALPS by GameDevDan
  5. Britskrieg by Allison James
  6. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  7. Bow before the Queen by The M
  8. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  9. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  10. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  11. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  12. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  13. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  14. Banana Toss by Toque
  15. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  16. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  17. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  18. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  19. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  20. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  21. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  22. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  23. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  24. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  25. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  26. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  27. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  28. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  29. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  30. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  31. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  32. Tank-You by EvanSki
  33. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  34. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  35. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio
  36. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

Comments:

ALPS by GameDevDan

This was the kind of thing I was expecting from the theme.
Starts off with a fun little intro, good dialogue.
During the tutorial, some text was cutoff, going offscreen. I think there may have been a scaling issue(I'm on my laptop, 1366x768), so I missed some information, including whether or not I was supposed to shoot stuff like trees? That made the first few stages a bit confusing at first.
Loving the art style, a nice refreshing pace from so many pixel games. The cartoony hand-drawn aesthetic is very appealing and you do it well.
The little explosion effect looked great, loved all the sprites.
The 3D effect(actual 3D or sprite stacking?) was done really well especially with the camera turning, everything looked great(The San Francisco bridge in particular was a nice landmark).
The controls were ok but I would have liked the option to use WASD(left hand movement preference) but this still played good cross-handed.
The shooting and punching were fun and satisfying, a good balance between range and power. Though the turn speed sometimes felt a bit slow but any faster may have made it too easy.
For such an advanced species, seems odd that the space vehicle was so limited in it's mobility, no strafing? :p
The range of the tank's shell explosion was a bit misleading(at least to me), I was getting hit well outside of the sprite.
Good variety of enemies, though they could shoot through buildings and that felt unfair.
Boss fight was great, a bit easy since you can punch the bullets, but still fun.

Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

The art was a bit rough, but I sort of dig the psuedo 3D angle of the backgrounds and tiles.
Combat was a bit poor, you just mash the ctrl keys until they die, enemy AI ranging from walks at you and stops to attack, to completely ignores you as it walks side to side attacking the air.
Beating the levels by literally beating the flag made me laugh.
Sound effects were odd, but fit with the graphical style. Needed some music though.
Platforming was basic but fine, jumping felt good.
Not really feeling the theme, it's a bit of a stretch in my opinion.
Overworld map screen was very nice, sort of pointless but cool.

Banana Toss by Toque

Overall style was cool, going all in on that Game and Watch aesthetic but a little nicer looking.
All the art was nice, good sprites. Sounds were ok but some music would have been great(I know old G&W games didn't really have any though)
The gameplay was simple, and once you figure it out, maybe too simple. It could have used more elements to mix it up, though the addition of moving enemies and mole people were good.
Eventually, I just kept getting the same fight over and over.
Looks like you were fending off pesky explorers, good simple use of theme.

Bow before the Queen by The M

One of the more unique takes on Conquest, very refreshing.
The idea itself was great, and didn't take too long for me to pick up how to play.
The management and dialogue were good, it was a fun idea juggling everything.
The music, sprites, and backgrounds were good and consistent, sound effects were nice too.
Your font choice was pretty, but I don't think it agreed with your choice of resolution and as a result was blurry and faded, making it annoying to read.
Really needed an option to kill that poet when he keeps interrupting every day :p
Was the only way to get more money to raise the taxes? I got to 0 money and the Queen kept saying to keep the taxes as they were :/
I'm not sure if there is a win or lose condition since it crashed on me twice, but I *did* get the option to choose the Bendran guy who said they surrendered so I'm just going to assume that was a win(Crashed there on my second go).
Overall it was neat, maybe the core was too simple, I think it would have been nicer to give us options on how to respond sometimes, but I also understand that increases the complexity a tonne, so it's understandable you went this way.

I got a similar error both times I played.
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object obj_visitor:

Variable obj_dialogue.diplomat_statusC(100036, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Script_create_dialogue_diplomatC
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_create_dialogue_diplomatC (line -1)
gml_Object_obj_visitor_Step_0


Britskrieg by Allison James

Wow this is a big game.
The presentation is great, though I'm not a fan of this cutout filter style.
Controls were great, the wheel thing was a good idea.
Game seemed straightforward enough, but it took way too long to do things.
I realised this whilst sitting watching my armies grow for like a whole minute or two without doing anything myself that whole time.
Seemed like an interesting idea, but maybe a bit big for a jam game. Impressed that you mapped out the whole world to conquer!

CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames

Simple gameplay, the idea was interesting and fitting for Conquest.
I think it needed better balance and something else to keep you more engaged. I found my best strategy was to save up my mana and spam villagers.
It seems like there is all this wasted space on screen with the bulk of the action taking place around the bottom. The background art was nice and all but I feel like there should have been something else there, or the scale of the game should have been adjusted. Everything was pretty small.
The game also gets off to a slow and boring start with only one unit type available until you level up.
The variety in units however was nice, it was very obvious that their stats were widely varied.

Chroma Crown by JacobV

I can't tell if this is supposed to be another sequel, or if it's just your art style. The guy looks a bit like a boss from one of your other games.
The sprites are animated well, which isn't a surprise, and the effects are nice.
The platforming is basic, as is the combat. The colour switching mechanic initially seems like it might be interesting but I found it to be a bit annoying, especially the delay, which was probably just a wee bit too long and jarring.
The enemy variety was good.
I feel like it is strange that the enemies aren't stunned at all by your attacks, but I guess you maybe wanted to force people to use the colour switching.
No sound effects was odd, and no music until suddenly yes music, that was very jarring... The boss music did not fit the game at all, too upbeat and jazzy.
First boss fight was ok, I quit on the two giant blob enemies though. It was hard to know how well I was doing, and those guys only did the one thing.
Also, why not just have autosave in each room instead of manually having to activate the save points? If it's about the health refill then you could have automated that too, unless for some reason you wanted healing to be optional? I can't see a good reason for that unless it is some sort of self-imposed challenge.
As for the theme, I see less Conquest and more Contrast...

Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

Almost like one of those idle clicker games but not as bad.
I'm not especially fond of mashing my mouse buttons, but having to dodge those projectiles was an interesting twist. I would have preferred just holding the mouse over a region instead of clicking it constantly.
Art was uhh... there.
Sound and music did their jobs.
I played like 3 rounds of this but there didn't seem to be an end, just an increase in difficulty.
Not sure it's really Conquesty, but I guess it sort of works.

Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games

This was a great little game with good polish. The sprites and backgrounds were very well done.
The extra effects like the jump dust, the grass and tree sway were all very nice.
Sound effects were good but the music felt a little out of place and maybe too ambient.
The AI was amusing, sometimes they'd kill themselves and other times they'd just run to a corner and hide.
The level variety was nice, a good sense of progression with added obstacles and multiple loot, though some levels were just plain annoying instead of challenging(that last one was both! Haha)
The platforming felt good, had a nice sense of weight to it, especially the landing lag.
The controls had some odd choices though. Why would you have separate buttons for picking up and throwing the treasure? Surely that would have made more sense to map to the one key since their function is linked. And R to restart makes sense to a certain degree, but I am already using three other buttons, perhaps using jump or grab for restart if you fail, and keep R for a secondary restart(like if you wanted to restart without failing first).
Not quite sure I see any use of theme, stealing loot hardly feels like any kind of conquest.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar

Default foooooooooont!
Ahhh! All my guys! They are idiots! Is this the point of the game? Having to carefully guide my guys around the map? No thanks.
It took a really long time to get anything done.
No sound or music either unfortunately.
I will say that it was at least fun spawning endless guys and watching them push each other off the level.

Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio

Wonderful presentation, those larger graphics on the side were very nice, and gave a good impression of the story.
The music and sound effects were ok, they fit the game very well.
The controls were good, felt good. The attacking and jumping worked great.
The AI was a bit easy after the first one, though I didn't realise straight away that I could charge up my shot(or jump), but it seemed easier to just spam attacks quickly to defeat the birds.
Sadly where this falls short is the variety and length. The game just kind of... ends, when you get to the top and there's nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. All it really needed was a cool boss fight, and maybe at least one other enemy to fight.

Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

So actually this was a complete and utter mess. Assets from all over the place, no clear style or cohesiveness anywhere.
I thought it was broken at first with the ugly map and the weird shi[ flying about, it made absolutely no sense.
Then you fly down and wander around some ugly giant map until you eventually see enemies.
The sword attack looked completely ridiculous and out of place, and the hitbox for it seemed much larger than it needed to be.
The enemies would just spam that when you were in a certain range.
The gun aimed in weird ways away from the cursor sometimes.
The treasure or whatever was always in the west, the notes all basically just said that.
The mountain dew vuvuzela parts were just... what the hell...
Typical Misty game, a bloody mess straight out of the mind of a madman.
Better put conquest in the title because that's the only time the theme is present in this game.

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

Cool idea, and amusing story parts.
Game was so slow though, having to wait for the boulder to roll to a stop before retrying...
I had a lot of trouble aiming, the snap felt too quick sometimes so I was always over or under aiming.
Art was hard to look at but at least it was consistent.
The buildings often felt *too* strong. Like I'd expect a direct hit to a beam to do more than make it slowly fall over.
That said the first level with the cat was amusing and a good introduction to the mechanic.
After that though, despite the amusing set ups, the levels were the same kind of boring thing one after the other, with the exception being the final level in the police station. More levels like that would have been excellent.
Music was great, I thought at first that you had stolen some Toejam and Earl music, it was just so Sega funky. But I checked out your credits! Man, sounded so good.

Goating Up by iBlackpen

Loving the art, it was very well done.
The gameplay itself was a bit uninteresting, just dodge the things.
Lack of sound really hurt too.
Not sure why goats, or why I was dodging things, but at least it looked great. All the sprites and art were great, I know I already said that but they really were.
Conquest? I don't really think so.

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

"I'd Move Vountains" Maybe use a font that shows up cleanly.
It's like one of those ice/slide puzzles but needlessly frustrating.
The controls are terrible, specifically the delay before you can press a button whilst the golem transforms.
If you're going to have such a large delay for that, maybe you could have implemented some sort of input buffer, or just checked for key held instead of key pressed. It was very frustrating mistiming that input press, often destroying your progress through the levels.
The falling speed was too static, it looked and felt wrong, and made timing some of those specific movements annoying.
The art seemed a bit inconsistent. The main tiles(which looked great), the background, and the player sprite all looked like they were from different games. This could be because the pixel sizes seemed to vary between them or because the golem itself didn't seem as detailed as the tiles. The background was just giant pixels.
You say to take your time, but then make the time the golem can cling very short... This made a few moments very anxious. I'm not sure I see the point in making the cling ability so short.
The idea of the movement mechanic was really interesting but ruined by the implementation. I'm surprised I had the willpower to finish it, that said, I don't understand the ending but it was nice that you had one. So many games don't bother with any kind of ending(I am sometimes guilty of that)
Music was pretty good!
The difficulty progression in regards to the puzzle solving for each stage was done really well, got steadily more difficult seeing the path needed to win. Towards the end I had a few head scratching moments. Sometimes it was a bit punishing how far back I would fall(sometimes to my death, right near the end of the stage!).
Another game with a more unique take on conquest, so that was neat.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

At first I was prepared to be a little bit bored given the setup, but the battle system was quite enjoyable.
I lost the first time because I had briefly forgotten how to play Risk, but smashed them the second time.
The little soldier sprites were cute, but their squareness was a bit offputting.
Played this on my laptop which has a resolution of 1366x768. Meaning that the window didn't quite fit on screen, I went into full screen but unfortunately you used Draw GUI without accounting for scaling so UI elements anf buttons were not where they were supposed to be. So I had to play in windowed mode with part of the screen cut off.
AI not getting a full turn meant that they were perhaps a bit too easy, but generally worked well.
Despite being mostly just Risk, this was a good entry with good literal use of the theme.
Reeeeally would have been nice to have some end conditions, even just a "You Win/Lose!" screen goes a long way.

King of the Ant Hill by Relic

This was something more like what I was hoping to play this jam.
Use of theme is expected but great using ants.
The gameplay itself is very simple yet I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I expected.
I got wiped out on easy but still had fun.
I didn't fully understand what I was doing, If I sent ants out without the line returning to a hill, they just wander around until they die? Shouldn't they be able to follow their trail back?
It would have been nice to see previous upgrades, I lost track of how much I increased attack, etc.
Music was amusingly appropriate.
Art was mostly good.
Can you make this into a full game? That would be cool.

Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

I didn't understand this at first, there was no read me or in-game instructions so I had to go into the games topic just to find any information of the game.
There seems to be no real challenge or point, as I was easily able to just eliminate enemies by capturing any of their coloured squares. So the game ended quite quickly. Building buildings seemed pointless when you could just destroy everyone at the start so easily.
The art was nice, good consistent voxel style, and the music/sound effects matched up nicely.

Mini Civilizations by Lukan

Looked super unfinished so I had to look it up to be sure I wasn't missing something.
Could have been interesting if there was something to do.

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam

I had a bad first impression of this, but in the end I really liked what you were trying to do.
Firstly, no sound or music really hurt this.
The main idea at first seemed silly, but made sense as I played further and upgraded. The more you upgraded, the bigger the city, and the less of the tree you can see, and thus less apples. Very cool.
That said, dragging apples to the icon was a bit naff, I'm sure given time you could come up with a better mechanic for picking apples/food.
The mining was a fun mini-game, I liked the idea of micromanaging by carefully trying to choose my route whilst also keeping an eye on apples to pick.
The upgrades eventually made that too easy but it was still nice.
Oh, and the art. It looked great, I loved the sketched look of the home/city. Not sure if that was placeholder or intentional but I really dug it.
I maxed out the upgrades and the game froze, so I guess I win!
To me, I feel like the game was about how society impacts nature and how it's not all that sustainable. And I feel like that's an aspect of conquest that is unique to this entry.
I feel like you could spend some time polishing and fixing this up and it would turn into a neat little game.

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

I tried this 3 separate times and could not progress.
Nothing happened on the empty ocean screen, I went up and down and all around looking for anything.
Sprites were ok, but the ship backgrounds clashed with the sprites.
Music was appropriate, but got annoying very quickly.

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

The intro music made me concerned that I was about to stumble into some sort of situation where my client couldn't pay me with money and suggests another form of payment...
Idea was neat in theory, but oh boy was it boring.
The actual brush thingy seemed to be a bit fiddly, having very stubborn pixels requiring me to move about on the spot aiming randomly until they disappear.
The shooting thing would have been more usefull if it's trail was wider.
The bugs just sort of do their own thing until you kill them, I would suggest something like making them move faster and in non-predictable paths.
Art was ok, as was the music and sounds. The effect of cleaning up worked pretty well though.
Wouldn't really say this is much of a conquest either.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

*Heavy sigh*
I thought you were making a proper game this time.

Professor Heinous by HayManMarc

Oh man, that menu background was beautiful.
I really enjoyed your character design, he looked great, it'd be even better if he was fully animated.
I feel like this could have been a really great idea if you finished it, and as silly as it was it was still very fitting for the theme.

Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

Firstly, why Enter to start if the rest of the game is mouse only?
Sprites and backgrounds looked good, as did the menu.
The concept seemed simple but interesting enough to play.
The pathfinding for the minions was incredibly frustrating, constantly getting themselves stuck and going off where they shouldn't. In a game like this, I think it's reasonable to expect at least a little bit of AI pathfinding and not have to guide them step by step around obstacles.
I really wanted to like this and keep playing but it was just too frustrating to play.
Music was chill and very sci-fi, fit great with the art.

Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker

Controlled quite well but I think the mace was OP, especially since it could go through walls. Made the levels easy.
Sprites and art were ok, got the job done.
Music looped too short very annoying and repetitive.
Sound effects were good.
The main game was fun, kiting enemies and smashing a big group with the mace was very satisfying.
Boss fight was a nice addition and parts were done well. The hands being a good idea, but a bit more of a visual indicator that they were on the ground would be better. The boss itself was too easy once the hands were down, I just smashed it over and over with the hammer.
Nice complete little package here.

Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

I dug your overall theme, protecting the tree with more trees, and I don't mind a good tower defense game every now and then.
At first, I thought it was unfinished or broken because I was unable to place mushrooms, making the assumption they have to be placed on the path same as trees. So my first playthrough was purely tree-based.
The issue here is I eventually realised I could just fill up the path with strong trees and that got the job done. The I just sat my cursor over the first path square and kept clicking so it would repeatedly place a new spike tree when it dies. Felt like I could do that forever if I wanted to but I eventually quit.
My second playthrough, I finally realised I could place mushrooms outside the path and that made the gameplay make more sense.
Anyway,
The variety in trees/shrooms was nice, but I think there needed to be more information on what each type did. Mostly I had a pretty good idea, but I still wasn't sure what each tree was doing exactly, like, did the tough tree do any damage like the spike tree?
The art was simple but nice, consistent and got the job done.
Menu was good, nice to have brief goals and controls on there.
Would have really been great to have some sound and music, it can really make a large impact on your game.
Overall not a bad idea, seems fitting with Conquest, but on the receiving end which is neat. Some balance issues but good effort for a jam game.

Spirit Walker by Bingdom

Halfway through the games and my first readme file! Finally!
Oh you totally stole this idea from my pirate game a few jams ago :p
Ugh, too many spikes, man. I really wanted to see this through, but that was just not fun at all.
Spikes and limited vision is a bad combo, it's no fun getting caught by spikes I hadn't had the chance to see yet, and then thrown back to the start of the level.
The platforming was nice, but maybe a bit too fast, could just be preferences but I would have liked more hang time and maybe slower descent.
The art was cute, the hair was a nice effect.
The music was way too repetitive, the loop was way too short with no variation.
Sound effects were ok, got a bit of a Banjo-Kazooie vibe off the text noise.
I feel like given the amount of dialogue you were using per encounter, those textboxes were way too small.
Not really feeling the theme, the gameplay was typical platformer.

Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf

Almost lost me straight away since I could read the menu buttons on my 1366x768 laptop monitor. If you had let me enable fullscreen with alt+enter then there would have been no issue, but I had to right click the application and use the move option with the arrow keys to temporarily move it up enough to see which button may help me(because it snaps back to make sure the top of the application window is in view). So I found the options menu and guessed which button was the confirm button, which was lucky because I would have given up right there if I guessed wrong. Anyway...
Music was well chosen, and that starfield looks great.
Sprites was a bit basic, but that works.
I clicked manual and had forgotten you like to make pdf manuals, which, if this wasn't a jam game I would totally love it, but it annoyed me that it took me out of the game and that I would have to read all of that just to understand the game. Mostly because little of that information is in-game itself. Even the controls were absent, which, luckily it's a mouse game so it was easy to figure out.
The little tooltips over the buttons for shortcuts were nice though.
Once I actually got playing, I got bored very quickly. I enjoy a good turn based game but this was just too slow and fiddly. I seemed to have trouble clicking on my ships to select them(Though that could just be my mouse, so I didn't think anything of it) and then that little info window pops up every time for the unit and I have to manaully close it even though I just wanted to click the guy to move him.
In the end it was just too slow and boring, it was very well made, and I appreciate that but it wasn't fun at all.

Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa

Very nice art, can't get over how nice those trees are, though it would have been nice to have more than the one tree tiling around.
The ground tiles are nice and varied with the grass and little flowers, looks very nice.
Sprites are good too, the animations are sparse but nice.
Music is ok, sound effects are basic, but they all get the job done.
The thing that gets me, is the art is great, but the font use for the stats is so bad and boring haha.
The main mechanic is interesting, and the way it bounces leads to some fun gameplay. I think it could really benefit from some sort of combo system for hitting multiple enemies with one attack, some sort of bonus.
It wasn't immediately obvious what the upgrades were doing just yet, though I did seem to unlock a multi-ball attack at some point so that was cool.
Doesn't feel like any interpretation of the theme is present unfortunately.

Tank-You by EvanSki

Took me a while to figure out how to get out of the corner. You really needed a readme or some in game hints.
The tank controlled ok except that the turning was way too slow.
The enemy tanks always turn to face you no matter where you are as they sit still so they have the advantage. Except that they go down in one hit so no real problem there.
That was it really, killed them all and nothing left to do.

The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde

Nice menus, and how to play screen. Transitions, music, and all. So I appreciate that.
Gameplay was a bit basic and boring. There didn't seem to be a point to charging up your bow. I would have considered having a charged shot hit multiple enemies. if they were lined up, or give some enemies more health so that a charged shot could potentially take them down quicker.
In the end it was just a survival game, there wasn't anything overly interesting about the gameplay.
With games with movement like this, you have to be careful with your movement code, you can move faster diagonally and that's not always ideal.
The little variation in enemies was nice, the sword guys looked cute walking around pointing their swords.
I feel like the enemy arrows were too slow, it looked strange.
This was a bit tricky to play with my trackpad, but I won't hold that against you.

The Empire by TinyGamesLab

I like the concept, but it was maybe too basic and the pace was perhaps a bit too slow.
The clean art was a nice refreshing pace from all the pixel games we have gotten as per usual.
Music was very spacey and chill, very fitting.
The board size was too small, and there wasn't enough variety in planets and actions.
Interfaces were very clean, but I feel like it was too fiddly. There is surely ways to reduce this. I mean, you have to click on a planet, then click the arrows up or down, then click move, and finally click a destination. Some click and drag may have helped, but that was too much unnecessary clicking around.

___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Alarm Event for alarm 1
for object o_controler:

Variable <unknown_object>.<unknown variable>(100014, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Script_ai_move
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_ai_move (line -1)
gml_Object_o_controler_Alarm_1



___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object o_planet:

Variable o_rock.orign(100033, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_o_planet_Step_0
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Object_o_planet_Step_0 (line -1)


The Imperialist by Azure Knight

I guess I was conquering the battle zones? It's a very basic implementation of the theme, but that's ok since the rest of the game feels so complete.
The background was cool but weird, not sure what it was supposed to be.
Sprites were nice, music was ok but could have been better though it fit well. Sound effects were good.
Controls felt good, steering and acceleration. The option for tighter turns was a nice touch.
Enemy AI(or lack thereof) was disappointing. Battlezones became areas where enemy ships zip in one direction all over the place. Not all that challenging or fun by itself, some variety in enemy types(both visually and behaviourly would have been great).
Shooting felt really good, nice bullet speed and feedback from the sound effects.
The hitboxes were too big and unforgiving, I was constantly getting hit when I feel like I was just far enough away to miss.
Missiles seemed a bit pointless despite their power.
It appeared this was endless survival from battle zone to battle zone. Which is fine I guess, but would have been good to have some over-arching goal or win condition.

These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

Cute graphics, but needed sound badly.
Not sure it really felt like any kind of conquest, just a bunch of boring fetch quests.
The stars background was cool, and the controls were good. The gravity effect near planets was a nice touch, good safety net for bad aim.
Some more variation would have helped, I mean, it makes sense that the desert planet would only want ice-cream, but maybe shake it up a little bit.

Victory by CardinalCoder64

This game controlled well with movement, not sure why you chose to have shift ready the guns when I could have just shot with Right click without that step.
Having to click right mouse button constantly is not fun, especially towards the end when the enemies are just damage sponges.
Art was good, loved the subtle water effect and the boat trails.
This was a good game that was really let down by the annoying shooting.
 
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GameDevDan

Former Jam Host
Moderator
GMC Elder
GameDevDan's Votes and Reviews

Reviews

Top 3:

1st. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
Finished everything with 93 stones thrown! :p I really liked this game. I don't know how well it fits the theme, but the humour is great and the gameplay is really fun. Exactly what I look for in a jam game.

2nd. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
I really like this game. It doesn't have the best graphics in the world but it does have a unique charm. I like this take on a tower defence game. The trees being allowed on the path and being mostly defensive, the shrooms being offensive and using their own health to attack the enemies is pretty neat. I played it for a long while. Top score is 239,030 and I could have gone *a lot* farther. I only stopped because I have a limited time to play the rest of the entries, so I removed all my trees and let the enemies win. Good game though, would love to see it expanded with more shrooms & trees & other items.

3rd. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
I really like this concept. Definitely unique among the games of this particular jam. The movement mechanic is very interesting to me, although it seems to have some kind of built in latency between button presses which makes it feel a bit awkward. The graphics and the music are very nice. I'm afraid I didn't complete it. I got stuck on a level where there's a gap more than 8 wide and like, a ceiling that I guess you're supposed to use to get across to the other side but I couldn't quite figure it out. I really liked this entry though.

Best ofs:

Best use of THEME: Britskrieg by Allison James
Best Concept: These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
Best Presentation: Chroma Crown by JacobV
Best Story: Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
Best Devlog: N/A

Full ranking:

  1. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  2. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  3. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  4. Britskrieg by Allison James
  5. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  6. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  7. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  8. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  9. Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
  10. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  11. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  12. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  13. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  14. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  15. Bow before the Queen by The M
  16. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  17. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  18. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  19. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  20. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  21. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  22. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  23. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  24. Banana Toss by Toque
  25. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  26. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  27. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  28. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  29. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  30. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  31. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  32. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  33. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  34. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  35. Tank-You by EvanSki
  36. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Comments:

ALPS by GameDevDan

My game.

Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal

I like the concept. Is this... the ONLY side scrolling shooter we got in this Jam? :O I think it is! refreshing break from so many point and click strategy games. The story is nice and the art is cute. It's quite hard though. The only mode in which I could get past about 2 waves was Sweetheart mode, and even then I only reach the boss with about 2 HP (and subsequently die quite quickly to the sword enemy). It's a well made entry, and a good bullet hell, I'm just bad at video games. Nice work.

Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

A good start. I'm not sure if it's finished as getting to the flag at the end of the first level didn't seem to do anything.

Banana Toss by Toque

I like what you've gone for here with the old "game n watch" style entry. It's a cute little mini game. It would be nice to have some indication where the banana is going to land, I often wasted the first one of each round figuring out the distance. Nice work though.

Bow before the Queen by The M

I like that the concept of the game is very different to the others in this jam, it made a nice change. The graphics are cute, but everything is too small. Even if you blow the game up to fullscreen the text becomes fuzzy and hard to read. I like the music and sound effects. I played through what I guess is around 10-12 days and not much seemed to happen. I don't know if there is any real end point it would be good to have some idea of progress.

Britskrieg by Allison James

Very nice presentation and concept. A lot of work went into this game, it's a fantastic use of data. The idle aspect of it is cool, although a lot slower than most idle games. The progression should be quicker and the game should steer you towards set goals to make it a bit more fun. Good game though.

CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames

I can't even beat the first level. I went to the shop and it would only let me buy the little naked looking dude ($25, Level 0) then I went to "equip" and it would only let me equip the same thing, so I equipped it in all 5 slots. Then I went to take over a fortress and picked the lowest one (level 0 - 2) and got absolutely trounced because they had archers and stuff. Not sure if there's something I'm missing?

Chroma Crown by JacobV

The graphics for this game are utterly gorgeous, the engine is extremely well made, and the concept is pretty fabulous. I like the story too and the fluid movements on various things like text boxes. It's a little bit difficult, so generally I just switched colors and ignored any enemy that wasn't mandatory rather than defeating them. I'm a *teeny* bit suspicious that this entry was clearly built with the theme Contrast in mind, and seems like it would have taken many, many hours of work. I think missing the mark on the theme will definitely dock this a couple of points in my eyes, but other than that it's definitely one of the best games in the jam.

Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

A lot of click-spamming needs to happen to complete the levels in this one and each one is largely the same. I like the idea, would be better if you could hold the mouse to conquer each island slowly and just put more islands in each level. That way you would still have to conquer & dodge the bullets but you don't get a strain injury from clicking so much :p

Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games

I really like the style of this. I'm a sucker for those games that take nice pixelated graphics and deform them in a distinctly high-res manner (with sprite_pos or whatever). The humour in it is good too. I like the concept although I question whether the treasure is really being "conquered" ;) nice game overall.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar

Very nice concept, decent graphics and smooth animations / aesthetics. It all gels together really nicely. I know the story is that the soldiers are "a bit stupid" but I think they could maybe have been a *little* bit smarter. Easy tasks take quite a long time because they always fall off the edge.

Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio

I reaaaally like the way this game looks and feels. The crouching to gain power & shoot or jump higher is really well done. It just feels classy. Unfortunately for me I'm just not skilled enough to get past the first bunch of birds. They shoot far too often, and the 2nd one up on the left can't be destroyed from underneath without first getting to the platform just beneath him - which I can't do. I get killed every time. It's a shame because I feel like the game has so much more to offer but it's too hard to quickly.

Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

Brave choice to go for the 3D in GameMaker (and it does look like genuine 3D rather than a 2D trick). I landed near the bottom of the map and headed straight upwards eventually bumping into the key and the hint to go west, and found the booty shortly thereafter. I played a couple of times just to see what the combat was like. It was alright, managed to kill a couple of people and got killed once myself. Improvements could include a smaller map or more things on the map to interact with so there's not so much walking. Also real booty at the end not the *Spoiler redacted*.

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

Finished everything with 93 stones thrown! :p I really liked this game. I don't know how well it fits the theme, but the humour is great and the gameplay is really fun. Exactly what I look for in a jam game.

Goating Up by iBlackpen

The graphics are excellent and I always like a good continuous boss battle type game (like my game Gyro Boss) and it's got a nifty style with wacky weapons (a bit like undertale) but brings something unique to the field. The main issue for me is it gets too hard too fast!

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

I really like this concept. Definitely unique among the games of this particular jam. The movement mechanic is very interesting to me, although it seems to have some kind of built in latency between button presses which makes it feel a bit awkward. The graphics and the music are very nice. I'm afraid I didn't complete it. I got stuck on a level where there's a gap more than 8 wide and like, a ceiling that I guess you're supposed to use to get across to the other side but I couldn't quite figure it out. I really liked this entry though.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

Decent gameplay implementation, like so many other games in the jam though it starts off too hard for me. It may not help that I've never played risk, but I'm not exactly sure what the best strategy is and I end up getting repeatedly trounced by the AI.

King of the Ant Hill by Relic

I really like this idea it's quite a neat thing to just sit back and watch your ants get to work collecting food and battling the other ants. I do feel like the upgrades get too expensive too quickly though. Even on easy mode I seem to hit a brick wall eventually where I don't have a high enough population and/or attack power to both defend my own nest and take over the last remaining nests of the enemies.

Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

Very nice presentation in terms of both the graphics and the music. The gameplay is decent, if a little slow. I figured out pretty quickly that just cutting off a single square connecting the rival kings to their empires knocks them out of the game completely, so I won pretty easily (although there is no confirmation of this). Would love to see this expanded upon.

Mini Civilizations by Lukan

Like a few other games this jam, this one suffers from being too slow to lift off. I can create quite a lot of units and move them 1 or 2 squares at a time but it takes ages to make any real progress. Also I'm not sure what the goal of the game actually is. In terms of programming, what's in the game so far is well made. I'm just not sure what comes next!

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam

I like the art and the concept. The game is a bit slow to get off the ground and I feel like the upgrades could be explained better in game with tooltips or something.

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

A nice atmosphere, although there's not much to the game. It was funny that my cursor was taken over by an octopus at one point! I thought it was friendly til I realised I could hurt my own ship with it. In any case I must have cleared around 5-6 screens before I got permanently stuck on an invisible object... not really sure what happened but I think some of the walls were place a bit weirdly?

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

A good excuse to use that surface effect for the dirty floor, beyond that there isn't too much to do here. I cleaned up about half the number in the top right corner and didn't really want to continue, so I did as the readme says and turned it to "slug only" mode and got to see the ending screen.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Cute singing Dadio, I never knew you had such a high pitched voice. A top quality entry as usual, but coulda used more pontatot.

Professor Heinous by HayManMarc

Nice work on the Pontatot Zombies! There's not much game to be had here, I conquered the entire city and then nothing else happens, but I do appreciate a good zombie potato when I see one. Well Played.

Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

First time I played I got an error (no instance of an object for something to do with the player). I played again and got past that point. The graphics are very nice and the concept is solid in terms of a strategy game. The AI is a bit dodgy, the enemy minions and the player characters don't try to dodge solid walls so they often get a bit stuck. I defeated all the enemy minions and then didn't really know what to do next. The readme says to capture points but I didn't seem to be able to interact with anything in the room other than the enemy minions and the gold piles.

Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker

The start of something good. I like the weapons (the hammer in particular reminds me of the hammer in LoZ: Spirit Tracks, as looks quite neat for something quite basic!) It's a little bit rough around the edges and quite difficult (I get hit a lot even when spamming space) but a solid entry.

Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

I really like this game. It doesn't have the best graphics in the world but it does have a unique charm. I like this take on a tower defence game. The trees being allowed on the path and being mostly defensive, the shrooms being offensive and using their own health to attack the enemies is pretty neat. I played it for a long while. Top score is 239,030 and I could have gone *a lot* farther. I only stopped because I have a limited time to play the rest of the entries, so I removed all my trees and let the enemies win. Good game though, would love to see it expanded with more shrooms & trees & other items.

Spirit Walker by Bingdom

I really like the style of this game. Cute pixelated graphics but with smooth animation thrown in (e.g. the characters' hair) which gives the game a really neat quality. The engine is well made, but the levels get hard quite quickly. I'm not a fan of wall jumping in any video game ever so it was always going to be hard for me to get into this game especially with the fast-twitch spike puzzles there. Even though I couldn't play to the end, I think it's a great game.

Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf

I think one of the skills you have to bring to a jam is knowing how to make your game concise and easily playable within the voting timeframe. This game looks gorgeous, well thought out and well made... but it's a lot to take in and concentrate on all at once. On the minimum difficulty level I keep dying within 2 or 3 minutes. I think if I had a good hour or so to get to grips with it I could do a bit better, but I want to get around to playing all the jam games and my time is really limited. In terms of my votes at least, I'm sorry to say your game will be a victim of my lack of free time :/

Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa

This game is really pretty, the graphics are absolutely top notch. I also really like the concept however the game is too difficult too quickly (like many of the games this jam!). Because your weapon effectively runs away from you after use, I spend too much time chasing it around trying to get it back. As soon as there are more than 5 or so enemies on the screen, this just means taking lots of damage while I fetch the ball.

Tank-You by EvanSki

Can't figure out what to do in the very first level and there's no readme or instructions. I shot the tank on the menu screen just grand with space. Then I get put in a room surrounded by sandbags. I can move with WASD and shoot with space, but the sandbags block me in and block my attacks. When I drive up to the sandbags a "W" appears over my tank. If I hold W, spam W or do anything with W the tank just stops at the bags. Not sure what I'm missing.

The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde

Not bad. A standard top down shooter endless survival type-game. I like the storyline. It's interesting to be the person being conquered rather than the other way around (the only jam game so far to interpret the theme in that way). I would have liked more weapons.

The Empire by TinyGamesLab

Neat concept and nice graphics. It was quite fun to play. I got to the "end" i.e. I owned all the planets, but the game doesn't finish. It just allows you to keep passing turns indefinitely. It's an idea I'd love to see expanded after the jam as I did enjoy playing it.

The Imperialist by Azure Knight

A nice game, really interesting choice with the aesthetics. The background doesn't look like it's supposed to be anything in particular and yet it works somehow? The controls are good, nice and fluid. There isn't much replayability here though, could do with a few targets to meet or a base to defend, or just something to give the feel that there is a need to carry on playing.

These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

I like this game. The graphics are cute beyond words and I very much enjoyed the concept - certainly unique within this jam. The underlying engine could be improved. The gravity's a bit weird I'd prefer it if it latched on to the nearest planet wherever you are (like Frozzd or They Need to Be Fed). I made an engine that does this myself but never used it, you're welcome to it if I can find it. This would stop the situation where you have to restart the game because you accidentally press up to launch to the next planet but miss slightly (and get lost in the abyss). Despite those suggestions this is one of the best games I've played this jam. Good work.

Victory by CardinalCoder64

Well presented, I like the graphics and the sound. Very smooth animations, I like the trickery to make the water look more watery (works when the game is moving but when you let it rest you can see the trick in action ;) ). The control scheme is a bit strange, I don't think I've ever seen a game rely primarily on the two mouse buttons and nothing else. I'd love to see this with twin-stick gamepad controls or something. Also I'm not sure why the 5 islands had to be so far apart, it means a lot of empty time travelling between them. A good solid entry though.
 
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Ralucipe

Member
Ralucipe's Reviews
CLICK HERE TO SEE CURRENT REVIEWS

I cast votes for games by assigning each of them a set of scores for different categories, each of which have been carefully weighted. I also write feedback explaining the scores for each of those categories. This system has seen multiple iterations over the last few jams, and I am confident that it's an effective method of assessing a game's overall level of quality, while also providing clear criticism for the developer on what to improve.

For more information on how I rate and review games, check out the spoiler below.

First and foremost: the scores that I assign to each game are used exclusively for comparison purposes. There are no pre-defined "grade ranges", or anything of the sort. A score of 10/30 does not necessarily indicate a game that I thought was "bad", nor does a score of 20/30 necessarily indicate a game that I thought was "good".

There are three main categories I score each game on: Overall Gameplay, Theme Inclusion, and Overall Presentation. Each of them (except Theme Inclusion) break down further into subscores. I will explain each one.

Overall Gameplay (15 total points)
This category rates the mechanical content of each game. It is deliberately weighted such that it makes up half of the total score (15 out of 30 points), as I believe that the underlying gameplay and mechanics are the most important component of a game.

Player Experience (10 possible points)
This is basically my assessment of how 'fun' the game is. Setting all other factors aside (menus, graphics, theme, etc.), I am looking for sheer entertainment value. Some questions I ask when scoring this:
  • Did I enjoy the time I spent playing this game?
  • Would I want to play this again later?
Player Engagement (5 possible points)
Essentially, this category amounts to "how long did I spend playing your game?" A game that I had fun playing but had little replay value can earn a high Experience score but a low Engagement score, and vice-versa for a game that kept me playing for a long time but that I did not enjoy playing.

Theme Inclusion (7 possible points)
This is how I factor in the theme to my scores. Games that do not connect to the theme will be severely handicapped in their final score, but they can still earn a decent ranking. Some questions that I ask:
  • Was it clear to me how the theme appeared in your game?
  • Did you feel the need to explicitly explain to me your theme usage?
  • Did you go above and beyond to show a thorough and creative theme connection?
Overall Presentation (8 total points)
This category is about the game's presentation. It is weighted less than Overall Gameplay because, while the best games need to have good graphics and sound, having poor assets won't totally kill your score.

General Presentation (3 possible points)
This subscore is intended to fill in the blanks left by the other presentation subscores. Interfaces, menus, instructional screens, introductions, and cutscenes all contribute to this score.

Quality of Graphics (3 possible points)
This one is pretty self-explanatory. You don't need commercial-quality art to get a perfect score, but graphics do need to be visually appealing, and to feel like they belong there.

Quality of Audio (2 possible points)
Also self-explanatory. Usually I dedicate 1 point to the sound effects, and another point to the background music. If you're missing either one when it would've been appropriate to include them, it's a 1 point deduction each.

Penalties
There are additional expectations that I have for games which do not fall into categories. Usually, any penalties will be one of the following:
  • No instructions or controls provided. This is a big one, and with it comes big point deductions. I really, really don't like having to mash buttons in order to figure out what to do.
  • No way to restart game without closing and/or re-opening. If your game is designed to be replayed, then please just automatically restart it.
  • Game froze or crashed. Self-explanatory.
Tiebreakers
Ties will be broken in the following order:
  1. Higher 'Theme Inclusion' score
  2. Higher 'Overall Gameplay' score
  3. Higher 'Player Experience' score
  4. Higher 'Quality of Graphics' score
  5. Arbitrary choice
 
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ghandpivot

Member


Games in order of appearance:
- Pontatot Conquest of da moon
- Simple village conquest
- Click to conquer
- Spirit of the forest
- CardQuest
- Conquer the treasure
- Kingdom Conquest
- Pixle Cleaner's pixel conquest
- Island of Risk
- Victory
- Professor Heinous
- Conquest of the Olympus


Games in order of appearance:
- Britskrieg
- Stellar Destiny
- The Conquest of Castlecrest
- Spirit Walker
- Conquest of Lem
- The Empire
- Bow before the Queen

Games in order of appearance:
- Tank-You
- Chroma Crown
- I'd Move mountains
- Apocalypse Chronicles ~The Horsemen Clash over Hearts
- Super Mana Force Ultra
- Oh Canada
- Sci Dominion
- Conquest Royale
- ALPS
- King of the Ant Hill
- Axem Conquest
- Mini Civilizations
- Banana Toss
- The Imperialist
- Goating Up
- These Planets Are Mine
- My Righteous Conquest

Best use of theme: King of the Ant Hill by Relic
Best Concept: Bow before the Queen by TheM
Best Presentation: ALPS by GameDevDan

Favorite, most interesting games:
1. The Empire
2. King of the Ant Hill
3. Bow before the Queen

4. Conquer the treasure
5. Britskrieg
6. ALPS
7. These Planets are Mine
8. Spirit Walker
9. I'd move mountains
10. Chroma Crown​
 
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T

TinyGamesLab

Guest
Unfortunately life got a hold of me and I was never able to finish playing all the games. Since I feel that not ranking and comment all games is not fair, I'm removing my votes for this jam.
Hopefully I'll be able to do it in the next weeks as a feedback for the gamemakers and I'll post it to the general topic.
Sorry about that!
 
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Alexx

Member
Alexx's REVIEWS AND VOTES

1st Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...

2nd Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...

3rd Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...

Best Ofs
Best use of theme: game name by author name
Best concept: game name by author name
Best presentation: game name by author name
Best devlog: author name


Looking forward to playing these.
 

HayManMarc

Member
All done so here we go!

My method:
I rate games by:
1. All around goodness - the game as a whole (incl. theme, completeness, gameplay, intuitiveness/instructions, graphics, sound fx, music, presentation/interface, and my personal bias).
Then I settle ties by:
2. Theme
3. Gameplay

TOP 3:

#1 = "I'd Move Mountains" by @Lt. Farfetch'd
If it weren't for my 12 year old daughter I wouldn't have made it thru this game. She had the patience to keep playing the same thing over and over to finally beat the level (second-to-last level, mainly), with a little of my help to figure out some of the puzzley places. She wanted you to know she liked the snowman cloud at the end. :) Great game, but pretty brutal sometimes.

#2 = "Conquer The Treasure" by @Apapappa
Great game, but the goblin/troll was too hard to figure out. If the level was easier (no spikes or hole), then it would be easier to figure out the goblin. Great graphics, effects, music, and sounds! Fun game. Conquering the treasure?? Meh... lol

#3 = "Spirit Walker" by @Bingdom
I got quite a ways, I think, but couldn't get past the overhanging ledge. Very cool art and graphics effects. The music got repetitive after a while. Nice take on the theme - I was able to pick up on the "conquering fears, bad habits, poor choices", etc. Well done.


FULL RANKING:
  1. I'd Move Mountains by @Lt. Farfetch'd
  2. Conquer The Treasure by @Apapappa
  3. Spirit Walker by @Bingdom
  4. ALPS by @GameDevDan
  5. King Of The Ant Hill by @Relic
  6. Victory by @CardinalCoder64
  7. Conquest Of The Olympus by @Arabong
  8. Island Of Risk by @O.Stogden and @matharoo
  9. The Empire by @TinyGamesLab
  10. Britzkrieg by @NAL
  11. The Imperialist by @Azure Knight
  12. Banana Toss by @Toque
  13. Bow Before The Queen by @The M
  14. Apocalypse Chronicles by @Alice and @Siolfor the Jackal
  15. Kingdom Conquest by @BraydeeJohnson
  16. Super Mana Force Ultra by @Jordan Robinson and Anokolisa
  17. Everything Is Better With A Trebuchet by @ghandpivot
  18. Click To Conquer by @2Dspessman
  19. Stellar Destiny by @Dr. Wolf
  20. Simple Village Conquest by @MikeeyBikeey and Nacky Slocker
  21. Sci Dominion by @Nizitowns and @Purul3nt
  22. These Planets Are Mine by @Baukereg
  23. Chroma Crown by @JacobV
  24. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by @Bart
  25. Conquest Of Lem by @Dengar
  26. My Righteous Conquest by @SamSam
  27. CardQuest by @VagrantWhaleGames
  28. The Conquest Of Castlecrest by @Caoin Forde
  29. Mini Civilizations by @Lukan
  30. Oh Canada by @Silas the Dev
  31. Spirit Of The Forest by @elijahmmin
  32. Goating Up by @iBlackpen
  33. Conquest Royale - Booty Of Treasure Island by @Misty
  34. Tank-You by @EvanSki
  35. Axem Conquest by @TheMiningBoyAlpha
  36. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by @dadio

REVIEWS:
ALPS by @GameDevDan
(Wow – AVG hated this game. I had to shut it off to play it.) This looks like a neat game, but I have to say I hate the control scheme, tho I started to get used to it after a while – sorta. After multiple tries, Moscow proved to be too difficult for me. Earth is doomed. Love the art, and good sounds. Music seemed a little unfitting, but it was okay. Made me laugh because it slightly sounds like it's saying “space force” when you're not paying too close attention to it. Theme use wasn't the strongest, but presentation was excellent as always. Fun game! (but needs custom controls. :) )

Apocalypse Chronicles by @Alice , @Siolfor the Jackal
I couldn't understand the sentence given for “story” on the options screen. I suck at most games, so I chose the easiest difficulty. I still died once, but figured out some basic strategy. The movement seemed strange, but understood it (slowed down while shooting). Graphics were ok, music was great, sounds seem lacking. Theme use seems kind of weak – it's in the story/setup but not so much in the game. Great presentation and nice set of options. All in all, not bad for a jam game.

Axem Conquest by @TheMiningBoyAlpha
Sorry, but I'm completely lost. This game drops you in without any info. How do I play the game? Here come the bad guys! How do I move? Ok, now how do I jump? I'm being attacked, how do I fight? I don't even know how to jump. Somehow, the baddies get stuck and I manage to leave them behind. I find a wall and some blue things. I pick up the blue things (I think) then jump over the wall to the flag. Nothing happens with the flag and now I'm trapped. Can't do anything. I'm done with this game.

Banana Toss by @Toque
Cute game. Too bad there's not a way to get more bananas. I kept running out on the levels where you have to be perfect. Maybe you could implement a star system like angry birds with bonus points for how well you did on the level rather than gameover/youlose. Nice, simple graphics and mechanics.

Bow Before The Queen by @The M
Well, I got quite a few days into it, but then this happened... FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object obj_visitor:

Variable controller.<unknown variable>(100034, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Script_create_dialogue_diplomatA
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_create_dialogue_diplomatA (line -1)
gml_Object_obj_visitor_Step_0
Anyhow, the game was interesting, but not very well explained. What was the %money and %work for? After a while, I figured out what the health bars at the top were (tiredness and happiness). I was able to play long enough to see a 'story' of sorts brewing. The game succeeded in irritating me with the pompous nature of leadership. Almost makes me want to lose on purpose out of rebellion! Lol! Good graphics, fitting music but only the one light-hearted track, text was hard to read and could use an editor, hardly any sounds, presentation was great. And what was the deal with the guy with a cane that appeared at night? Couldn't figure that one out either.

Britzkrieg by @NAL
Looks like a huge game that took a lot of work – impressive! At first, I was completely lost, but on a second try I kinda got the hang of it. I was able to take a few smaller countries in Europe, but I had spent probably an hour doing so. This game would take days upon days to win. There doesn't seem to be any opposition, so it would just be a numbers game. Got kinda boring, tho the voiceovers were amusing. I wished I could zoom out on the main playing field to see more land. Graphics are awesome, sounds are great.

CardQuest by @VagrantWhaleGames
This game tosses you right in with very little info. I grumpily stumbled through and got to the combat phase. The combat phase took forrrrrevvvvveerrrrr. Made it to level two and found that archers aren't much help. Seeing as this was going to be just as long and probably end up losing, I stopped playing here. Fullscreen option would have been nice. Graphics weren't fantastic, but got the job done. Music was pretty good, but could have been different for each setting. Sounds were sparse. As a whole, the game seems to be a nice idea, but it needs more work to make it enjoyable.

Chroma Crown by @JacobV
Made it quite a ways (past the first 'boss' I guess, with the out-of-place music), but it got too hard for me and I rage quit. Looks like 'contrast' was your theme. Graphics are fantastic, but the control scheme had me screwing myself up a lot. I prefer the up arrow for jump (or W if using WASD for movement). Please consider multiple control schemes. (Kept dying trying to jump, change colors, and fight baddies all at the same time. Too much.) Needed sounds badly, and the music choice at the first boss fight seemed very wrong. The game seems great, but it was made for a different theme, and somehow it seemed familiar. Perhaps you've made something like this in a previous jam?

Click To Conquer by @2Dspessman
I didn't get it at first. I think if you made a ship sprite to be the cursor, it would have been more apparent. Or coming right out and explaining that the cursor is your ship and don't let the big white circles touch your ship (cursor). Same with the gas cloud. Once I figured it out, it was kinda fun. Graphics and presentation seemed amateurish, to be honest. Music was good, sounds were lacking. Not a horrible jam game – actually pretty decent in its own way.

Conquer The Treasure by @Apapappa
2nd Place! (see review above)

Conquest Of Lem by @Dengar
Nice idea, pretty funny, but sorta long and drawn out. You will inevitably beat the level, it's just a matter of navigating. Nice graphics, but no sounds.

Conquest Of The Olympus by @Arabong
Nice graphics, sounds, and music. Very hard to defeat the third enemy – I couldn't do it so I quit. Starting the game completely over after dying was brutal. Also didn't like jumping with the z button - prefer up arrow (or W using WASD scheme). Cute game, but too hard for me to play and enjoy.

Conquest Royale – Booty Of Treasure Island by @Misty
This game was impossible for me to play. Looks like too much attention was placed in trying to make 3D effects and not enough in making the game user friendly and understandable. Nice music selection. Didn't see conquest, just pirates and treasure hunting.

Everything Is Better With A Trebuchet by @ghandpivot
A nice relief from over-complicated games, but again, there was no opposition to this, so it was more like a toy or interactive fiction than a game. I suppose that's okay, tho. It was humorous, but the use of profanity is childish and unnecessary. Art wasn't great, but got the job done. Music was fitting.

Goating Up by @iBlackpen
Couldn't get past the daggers. I was usually killed by the second or third dagger. Not really sure what kind of game this is. I didn't really like it. Graphics look good. No sounds or music wasn't good. Not seeing the conquer theme.

I'd Move Mountains by @Lt. Farfetch'd
1st Place! (see review above)

Island Of Risk by @O.Stogden and @matharoo
I used the lessons learned from playing Risk and was able to beat this game. Pretty standard strategy. The AI didn't seem particularly smart or brave. Once I had it outnumbered, it quit trying to attack. I messed up and hit “next phase” a couple of times when I didn't mean to – like I confused it with an 'ok' button when selecting my units. All in all, not a bad job for a jam game. The battle screen was a nice addition to the classic Risk.

King Of The Ant Hill by @Relic
After a long time playing, I was victorious. However, right after I got that message, I lost a hill. (huh?) Some numbers on the icons to see their strengths would be nice. Game was fun to play, but you could tell needed more work. Great music and good sounds. The alert messages faded away before I could read them sometimes, plus they were hard to read blending in with the background. It was hard to distinguish the line color – many times I just erased all the lines and started over. It would be nicer to just click the line to delete it, or something.

Kingdom Conquest by @BraydeeJohnson
Well, this looks like the start to something buildy and neat, but it's not quite there. As for a jam game, all I had to do was hover over the enemies starting base to conquer it. Never understood why sometimes I could build but other times I couldn't. So, not really getting the game, but was able to move around and build three different things.

Mini Civilizations by @Lukan
Kept giving fatal error when you happen across the tank option with the mouse cursor. Unplayable. But the idea is okay.

My Righteous Conquest by @SamSam
An okay game I suppose, kinda like a clicker game, but not really my cup of tea. I didn't like dragging the apples – would have been nicer just to click them. I was able to get all the upgrades up to the 10000 point upgrades, but then starved to death since I forgot to check my meter. A flash-warning or something would have been nice, since I had apples piled up. Also, any background music would have been better than none. But everything seemed to work the way it was supposed to, except the autonomy, as you know.

Oh Canada by @Silas the Dev
Reminded me of “Voyage Vikings”! :) (see GMCJam 18) I roamed around the first level wondering what I was supposed to do for quite some time. Luckily, I accidentally wandered into the unmarked and hidden “go-to-next-level” area because I was just about to stop playing. Some sort of indicator telling the player where to go or what to do would be good here. I then played thru about 4 or 5 levels and died. The octopus-cursor level was hella tedious and I just didn't want to go through all those levels again, sorry. Music seemed fitting, but got pretty repetitive and grating after a while. No sounds. I liked the art, tho it was mismatched in places.

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by @Bart
Interesting concept, but pixel cleaning didn't work consistently, and it got frustrating. I didn't like the way the character always faced the target – I had to keep the target aligned with the direction I wanted to go and it made cleaning unnecessarily difficult. Also didn't like using the arrow keys with mouse. WASD works better since I use the mouse with my right hand. Music was fine and the artwork was okay.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by @dadio
I don't even know what to say, but it sure was cute. Maybe someday you can make a game. I'm rootin' for ya, man. In the meantime, keep lookin' after your little potatoes. :)

Professor Heinous by @HayManMarc
Needs more music, needs bad guys or opposition of some kind, needs limits on power, needs more cohesion in artwork, needs sound effects, needs more story, needs more levels. Zombie Pontatots are okay, but what happened to the Henchmen?

Sci Dominion by @Nizitowns and @Purul3nt
Kinda neat at first, but things quit working quite quickly. I was collecting coins, but gaining no minions. I did at first, but it stopped working. The minions couldn't pathfind very well, I had to help them along since they would sometimes get stuck in obstacles and outside the playing field. Music was cool and the art was neat, but everything was so tiny. Even the GUI text. At least the GUI text should have been bigger and easier to read. Seems there were other things in the game (crystal monolith?), but I was only able to figure out how to get coins from what looked like a pile of coins. Nice start to a game, but needs refinement and maybe a tutorial.

Simple Village Conquest by @MikeeyBikeey and Nacky Slocker
Kinda conquesty, almost. Strange feel to the game (movement). I used the space bar as directed. No real skill needed, just spam away. Moving around so fast I'd forget that I could aim my direction with the mouse, but it didn't matter that much. Music was too repetitive. Sounds were lacking a bit. Art was okay.

Spirit Of The Forest by @elijahmmin
This is probably the most difficult tower defense I've ever played. Somehow I made it to the third wave once, but had no points to spend, and the bad guys sprinted fast as lightning through the path. Needs balancing severely, and a little more help info for the player. I was pretty lost the first time I tried it. Scrolling to find the plant you want isn't the best, imo. I'd rather just click on an icon. Not really seeing the theme here, just a tower defense game.

Spirit Walker by @Bingdom
3rd Place! (see review above)

Stellar Destiny by @Dr. Wolf
First time I tried it I suffered information overload. I tried it again and managed to do a few things. The game seems overly complicated with the sliders on planets, especially when you can't really see what's happening with them. The Darop came into range and killed a few of my ships – seems that combat happens automatically. I managed to claim about 4 planets, but was hit with a fatal error that stopped the game. Pretty awesome GUI and cool planet graphics. Not a huge fan of the grayscale. And the ship sprites seemed too generic. Music was great. Seems llike this might be a great game, but it lacks the intuitiveness for a jam.

Super Mana Force Ultra by @Jordan Robinson and Anakolisa
The game just starts – no intro or help or anything. (On a second try, I see there is a quick help screen showing movement. I guess being thrust so harshly into the game made me forget it was there. Perhaps let the player advance to the game when they're ready, instead?) No idea what I was supposed to do. I figured out to shoot and move around, but had no idea what I was trying to accomplish. There are 4 icons at the bottom of the screen – what do they mean? No idea. I guess I cleared the first level and the next one started. A lot more enemies PLUS obstacles in the way. It was like a vertical difficulty curve. The second level was too much for me. I really didn't like the 4-directional movement, so the added difficulty ended my desire to keep trying. Really nice graphics. Music seemed unfitting, but it was ok. Sounds were okay.

Tank-You by @EvanSki
Did you even test your own game? :p Seems I am stuck behind some indestructible sandbags. Game over. Graphics are kinda neat, sounds are there but not the greatest, no music isn't good, countdown to gamestart is kinda weird, no instructions isn't good. Players/users need to be led. At least, I do. I find it very frustrating to try to figure out a game through trial and error.

The Conquest Of Castlecrest by @Caoin Forde
I don't see any conquest here. The presentation wasn't very cohesive and the game itself seemed to be just a random zombie shooter. This looks like you had an idea for a game, but ran out of time because the game's scope was too enormous. If so, take it in stride... this happens to me almost every jam. I liked the quivering arrow when you charged your shot. Nice effect.

The Empire by @TinyGamesLab
Pretty neat. It took a while, but I beat the game. However, the game kept playing once I captured all the planets. (Probably due to lack-of-time, I assume.) Great graphics, great music, nice interface. Some audio feedback would have been nice – mouse clicks, selections, etc. Nice game.

The Imperialist by @Azure Knight
Cool space shooter, but I didn't much like the controls. I guess I'm hooked on asteroids controls, maybe. Besides that, pretty good all around. However, I don't see much conquest happening.

These Planets Are Mine by @Baukereg
Loved the art, concept was good, but the game seemed to stagnate. After flying around and capturing a few planets and flying around and flying around some more, I began to wonder what it was I was supposed to be doing, or how I was supposed to win this thing. I also found out the hard way not to just take off randomly as I flew endlessly into the void. Seems like a lot of good potential with this entry. It would be neat to see it progress further.

Victory by @CardinalCoder64
Nice game, but kinda easy. I just had to stay right outside of the enemy's range then shoot freely. Liked the graphics and the music. Sounds were fine. Could have used some roaming enemies to spice up combat, I suppose. The ending was abrupt with no replay option, but that's fine for a jam. Still, kinda fun to play.
 
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Toque

Member

I really like playing and reviewing games but find it difficult ranking. And perpetually change the rankings over and over. Many questions. Should a finished game score more than a better but not finished game? I rank different or risk takers higher even if it didn’t work out. But I guess everyone is in the same boat. It would be easy to rank 10 games. But 36 gets a bit tricky.

Current initial standings.

1st Place - Conquest of the Olypus by Super Pancratio. My favourite game. Well done.
2nd Place - Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot Fun and entertaining.
3rd Place - King of the ant hill. Relic I just enjoyed the game.

Best Ofs

Best use of theme: Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
Best concept: Pixel cleaner. Bart
Best presentation: Chroma Crown Jacob V
Best devlog: tankYou Evan Malinkowski

Rankings:

1 Conquest of the olympus by Super Pancratio

2 Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

3 King of the ant hill. Relic

4 Id Move Mountains

5 Conquer the treasures Apspappa games

6 The planets are mine Baukereg

7 Super Mana force ultra Jordan Robinson Anokolisa

8 ALPS by GameDeveDan

9 Spirit Walker Bingdon

10 The empire TinyGamesLab

11 Conquest of lem Denger

12 Oh Canada Silas the Dev

13 victory Cardinalcoder64

14 The empire TinyGamesLab

15 island of risk Oliver stogben

16 Conquest Royal by misty

17 The imperialist Azure Night

18 chroma crown Jacob V

19 Blitzkrieg Allison James

20 Apocalypse Chronicles Alice Siolfor the Jackel

21 kingdom quest Braydee

22 pixel cleaner by bart

23 Professor Heinous HeyManMarc,

24 simple village mike

25 The conquest of Castlecrest Caion Forde

26 card quest VagarantWhaleGames

27 click to conquer by 2DSpressman

28 Chroma crown by jacob V

29 Goating Up iclackpen

30 Mini civilizations Lukan

31 Spirit of the forest elijahammin

32 Axem conquest TheminingboyAlpha

33 Tank-you Evan Malinkowski

34 Sci Dominion nizitowns Purul3nt

35 My Righteous conquest by SamSam

36 Pontatot Conquest of the Moon dadio

Spirit by the forest by Eligjahammin

Tower defence style game. Graphics are ok. Not my favourite genre of game. Follows theme well.



Simple village Mike

Top down maze slasher I like the character, Sounds are good. Some depth to it. Not bad.



Axem conquest by TheMiningBoyAlp

Platformer. Graphics are ok. Bugs. I got stuck and couldn’t move. Sounds are ok. Follows them a bit.



Alps by GameDevDan

Nice intro, Cool graphics, good tutorial, good shooter, nice, Good story. Interesting attack(different) strong entry.



Pixle Cleaner by Bart

I love the title and idea. I think the potential is bigger than the game. Fun for 30 seconds. Level was too large.

mechanics were ok. Design flaws yes. But I kind of liked it for a couple minutes. Annoying music.



Conquest Royale Misty

Nice controls. good combat, lots of wandering, Some potential in the game. I liked the knife attack. Kind of in the middle of liking it or not. Will play this one again….. So played a few times. First time was shot by another pirate. Played again and the second chest i opened I won. The game looks snazzy so some skills there but didnt really have any fun with it.



Victory by CardinalCoder64

I found it hard, controls are ok, took a while to get it, I like the map, decent, fun, liked it. Theme related. A lot of clicking.



Kingdom quest Braydee Johnson

Nice art, difficult to figure out how to play, Interesting. Nice sounds. Could not figure it out.



Goating UP by iblackpen

Nice black and white art. Makes mine look bad…. thanks for that. Its ok. Little different concept

I guess you could relate to theme. Liked it. But it was kind of hard.



Bow to the Queen by Jacob V

A bit different. Hard to read text. Not sure of the game. Wasn’t sure how to fully play. This is another

one I will have to try again to be fair be fair scoring it. Fits the theme.



Conquest of the olympus by Super Pancratio

Ok. This is my favourite game so far. Good music. Well made. Superb pixel work. Well designed. Fun.

I like simple mechanics. Just my type of game. Fun.



The Imperialist Azure Knight

Decent entry. Its a bit too fast for me. Needs more enemy types etc. Great music. Decent shooter, Nice effects.

It was fun to play. Maybe more of a story. It has potential as a shooter.



Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

Funny game. Entertaining, I like the art. Music is good, Nice mechanic. Theme related????

But I liked it and enjoyed playing it.



Super Mana force ultra Jordan Robinson Anokolisa

I liked it. Fun. The bounce off walls I liked. Added some depth to the play. Good sounds.

very good. I like this one.



Mini Civilizations Lukan

I couldn’t get it to work.



Stellar Destiny Dr Wolf

Fatal error. could not get it to run. I saw on other reviews that other people posted they could get it to work?????



Click to conquer 2DSprssman

Nice, Too much clicking. .

Decent.



Island of Risk Oliver Matharoo

Risk style of game, Well done, attack scene is great, Very good jam game, not entirely original, Good them related.

Pretty good game here. Well made.



Pontato Conquest of the da moon by radio

Huh? it is funny. Not sure whats going on there. Entertaining.



My righteous conquest by sam sam

Looks interesting, not sure I completely figured it all out or that its finished.



King of the ant hill Relic

Nice game, different, I like the mechanic, music is cute, well done, polished.

Theme related, sure. Took a while to figure out I needed to loop the ants to get them home.

I liked this one for sure. I found it fun.



Professor Heinous HeyMan Mark,

Nice music, I like the art, theme is ok. Whats done is good. Good mechanic. I like that its different, took a chance.

I would like to see where the game would look like finished up. I give extra marks for different and taking a risk.



Tank You EvanSki

I like the title. Took a while to get out of the corner. Ok tank game. Follows the theme. Nothing to stand out here.



Sci Dominion Nizitowns, Purulent

Nice music. I got fatal errors so it was hard to get much testing done on it. Looks interesting. Could be a neat game

when finished.



Oh Canada, Silas the Dev,

Amazing theme! (canadian bias), It has a story, decent mechanic, music is a classic, dodging icebergs,

its a bit different. Themeish. Not great but I respect that you tried something different.



Apocalypse Chronicles Alice Siolfor the Jackel

different shooter, interesting art. Tried to do something different so I give credit there. It was good.



The empire Tinygameslab

Well done, kind of risk style game. Polished. Well put together. Art is good. Seems thought out. Not my style of game, sorry. Has potential. Again just not my style of game. Great audio.



I’d move Mountains by Lt. Farletched

Lovely music, nice art, different move mechanics, kind of a platform puzzle. Nice. Fun.



Blitzkrieg Allison James

Good story, nice art, music is fitting, Risk like, Very well made, them related. polished. Not exactly sure I was playing it right. I think its a bit ambitious for a jam game.



Conquer the treasures Apapappa games

nice pixel art. Some skills there, platformer, good game, Nice music/ sounds Fun game.

pretty good. Kind of neat how he throws the treasure. Pretty good.





Spirit Walker Bingdom

Nice effect with leaf, lovely. good, cool character, platformer, Decent entry. Nice audio. Shader would be a bit bigger? Im not sure how you could do all that art and levels in one weekend…….. Like the hugs. Games dont have enough hugs.



The conquest of Castlecrest Caion Forde

I found it hard, decent graphics, lack of variety of enemies. Nice sounds, music. its ok. Texture of sprites was hard to watch.

ok overall.



Conquest of lem Denger

I just liked the game. I had to finish the level. Some shortcoming in variety, levels for sure. Kind of felt half finished. But I had fun. Liked the

mechanic, Something satisfying about it. I can see potential. Good game for the theme.

I liked it and it was fun even with the limitations. Top ten pick??? maybe. This is a dark horse coming

up the side……..



CardQuest. by VagarantWhaleGames

Unfortunately I don’t really like card games. So its hard to give any honest feedback. Great that you had a browser version.

option but I could not get it to play there.



Chroma Crown by Jacob V. Great spites. Good pixel work. Nice mechanics. I got stuck and could not advance….?

So not really a full play or review. Looks great though.
 
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O.Stogden

Member
Reviews
Top 3:

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
Achieves the "chilled" vibe it was going for. I think this game is an incredible achievement and I would absolutely love to see it continue as an actual game, which I think I would probably pay for. Would love to play something like this on a console system, such as the Switch. Felt as though there was a storyline going on even though there was no dialogue.

Chroma Crown by JacobV
Really cool mechanic that changing colour makes you immune to some enemies or them immune to you. Great animation and presentation. Seems like it could have a nice backstory to it as well. Unfortunately I got a little confused with all the colour changing and repeatedly died when I shouldn't have.

Spirit Walker by Bingdom
Very beautiful graphics, could pass for a finished game in that area.
Nice design and the controls were good, had smooth movement and wall kicking which I was impressed with given the time constraints.
Music became annoying after about 30 seconds and was promptly muted via the kindly provided button. :D
Got to a point where I couldn't progress with my limited skill, although I hear it gets even harder later on, so maybe it was best I perished at this point.

Best ofs:
Best use of THEME: Britskrieg by Allison James
Best Concept: I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
Best Presentation: Chroma Crown by JacobV
Best Story: Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
Best Devlog: King of the Ant Hill by Relic (Liked the summary they did at the end of the devlog)

Full ranking:
  1. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  2. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  3. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  4. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  5. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  6. Britskrieg by Allison James
  7. ALPS by GameDevDan
  8. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  9. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  10. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  11. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  12. Bow before the Queen by The M
  13. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  14. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  15. Banana Toss by Toque
  16. Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
  17. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  18. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  19. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  20. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  21. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  22. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  23. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  24. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  25. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  26. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  27. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  28. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  29. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  30. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  31. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  32. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  33. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  34. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  35. Tank-You by EvanSki
  36. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Comments:
Bow before the Queen by The M
Really nice art and a good textbox system, not sure how to avoid going bankrupt though, so it was just a slow demise into death for me! Eventually crashed when a visitor appeared.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar
Sorry, the pathfinding drove me so mad that I just quit after defeating the first house. Looks like it could have been decent, but the pathfinding is such a roadblock to it being playable.

Britskrieg by Allison James
A tad confusing at first, and doesn't seem to feature AI which is a shame, some competition would have really livened the game up, but it's well-presented and is a good concept for a more fully-featured game.

King of the Ant Hill by Relic
Good gameplay, AI is challenging, a really nice concept for a game, would like to see it expanded further, multiplayer, different level designs and a mission system would be nice additions.

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
I like the concept, finished the game in about 6 or 7 minutes and believe I crashed due to an infinite loop after opening the drill once getting all the upgrades. Bit of a slow start at first, you spend about 20 seconds idle after every mining trip waiting for the drill to cooldown, but it's a bit more interesting once you've upgraded a bit.

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
Liked some of the graphics, had difficulty with the controls (You stop if your cursor is over land) and eventually got wedged on a piece of land. The only enemy I got to see was the octopus, and as I naturally keep the mouse away from the ship, he probably wasn't going to cause a problem for me.

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
Definitely too hard to finish, room is massive and clearing it is a bit too fiddly. Middle mouse button controls make it difficult to use for laptop users.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio
Great storyline, but I felt it didn't match the theme and the execution was a little disappointing.

Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
Pathfinding is difficult and you often end up getting stuck on walls, could have used mp_potential_step for a better result.
AI don't seem to fire back, I just attacked them with my 3 starter minions and killed all 15 and still had 2 left.

Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
Found it a bit difficult to understand the game. The manual takes a bit of reading, and I actually won a game in less time than it took me to the read it. :p
The UI didn't scale correctly on my display, so some buttons were unclickable (It wasn't possible for me to change the ship type I was building), and there were some bugs which meant you needlessly lost ships. However it's an OK game, the best part of which is the GUI.
I basically just built warships and spammed the "Turn" button until I won, although I played on the lowest difficulty and against 1 AI for time's sake, probably gets more complex if you can't just focus down the enemy.
Unfortunately, because the game uses either middle mouse or numpad to control the camera for some strange reason, I actually had to change computer in order to test this, as it's not playable on many laptops. Why no arrow key or WASD control?
 
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L

Lt. Farfetch'd

Guest
I'll be completing all of the game reviews independently before compiling my picks for 'best' categories and the rankings.

For transparency, my reviewing is based on:
  • concept (implementation of the theme, originality and intrigue)
  • sounds (effects and music)
  • graphics (backgrounds, sprites, lighting, etc.)
  • gameplay (level/world design and game mechanics)
  • cohesion (difficulty curve, story-telling and consistency of all categories)


Code:
#1    Allison James - Britskrieg
#2    The M - Bow Before The Queen
#3    Ghandpivot - Everything is better with a Trebuchet
#4    Toque - Banana Toss
#5    O. Stogden + Matharoo - Island of Risk
#6    GameDevDan - ALPS
#7    Mikeey Bikeey + Nacky Slocker - Simple Village Conquest
#8    Apapappa Games - Conquer The Treasure
#9    Bingdom - Spirit Walker
#10   TinyGamesLab - The Empire
#11   elijahmmin - Spirit of the Forest
#12   VagrantWhaleGames - CardQuest
#13   Relic - King of the Ant Hill
#14   Nizitowns + Purul3nt - Sci Dominion
#15   JacobV - Chroma Crown
#16   2Dspessman - Click to Conquer
#17   Jordan Robinson + Anokolisa - Super Mana Force Ultra
#18   SamSam - My Righteous Conquest
#19   Braydee Johnson - Kingdom Conquest
#20   HayManMarc - Professor Heinous
#21   Silas the Dev - Oh Canada
#22   iBlackpen - Goating Up
#23   Baukereg - These Planets are Mine
#24   Alice + Soilfor The Jackal - Apocalypse Chronicles
#25   Caoin Forde - The Conquest of Castlecrest
#26   TheMiningBoyAlpha - Axem Conquest
#27   Bart - Pixel Cleaner's Pixel Conquest
#28   Dengar - Conquest of Lem
#29   EvanSki - Tank-You
#30   Lukan - Mini Civilizations
#31   Azure Knight - The Imperialist
NA    Dadio - PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON
NA    Misty - Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island
NA    Dr. Wolf - Stellar Destiny
NA    Arbong - Conquest of the Olympus
NA    CardinalCoder64 - Victory

Concept: 8.5/10 - At first glance, the game doesn't seem to provide much in the way of 'conquest' theming. However I feel you have proven wrong my doubts - the takeover of the apple tree island felt unmistakably like a conquest, and one for which I was paying a cost. This was cleverly implemented, and the game as a whole struck me as original, and grabbed my attention easily. Personally I think the game serves its purpose well without the pollution mechanic, minimalism in both graphics and gameplay have served you well here.

Sound: 0/10 - If you want to polish off this game, I would recommend some sounds that are relaxing and which take a back seat to the gameplay itself. Perhaps some soft piano or strings. Something a little foreboding might be nice as well, since it seems your conquest is not so righteous after all.

Graphics: 8/10 - the hand-drawn styling is marvellous, and the fonts on the main screen are awesome, as are the cute apple sprites. I feel the drilling graphics could have been more consistent with the overall feel, and the fonts in the factory upgrades screen could be better. Overall an awesome look, and the factory itself was by far the most ingenious and visually appealing aspect.

Gameplay: 7/10 - the game mechanics were easy to pick up and their simplicity lends itself to playability. My only criticisms here are that, first: the apple dragging gets a bit monotonous (I was definitely hoping for an eventual upgrade to auto-pick my apples, though by the end of the game I realised that would have been useless). And second: the world didn't facilitate my feeling like a conqueror too well. If you wanted to achieve that outcome, I think that the story progressing to other tree islands would be an awesome addition. The Lorax comes to mind on this one.

Cohesion: 7/10 - my primary criticism of this game is probably the difficulty curve. The game is fairly easy, and remains so throughout. For me this is the main reason that the game doesn't meet the theme as well as possible - playing the game felt more like a sad destruction than it did a conquest. I encountered a few bugs, such as the repurchasing of the first drill number upgrade an infinite number of times, misalignment of text in the drill screen and some unexpected behaviour with ore selling. But these were all pretty minor, and ultimately I think the game ties together pretty well through its storytelling capacity. The consumerism trap you lay was flawless and interacted really well with the growth of the factory/destruction of the tree. Save for the intricacies, this game has good consistency.

Overall, this is a beautiful game you should be proud of. Some music to tie it together and just a little bit of polish and this is honestly a game I could see myself playing on my phone to destress. Or lapse into existential dread. ;) Nice job!

Score: 61

Concept: 5/10 - the game hits on the conquest definition very clearly, and my first impression was that it provoked a lot of intrigue. The general feel I get is some sort of a cross between Splix.io and Age of Empires. Definitely an interesting concept with a fair degree of originality. However, my interest in the game dwindled very quickly because the game did not pose a challenge. I think that some feature needs to be introduced to grant a greater sense of attachment to your growing empire. In AoE this is generally helped by walling off your kingdom, being able to interact with your villagers one on one, and by the fact that your enemies pose a real threat to the safety of your home. While this game didn't quite provide this experience, I think that it lays foundations which could easily be built upon to reach that goal, if you wished it.

Sound: 5/10 - The sound effect I get when I conquer a tile is a bit jarring. I had my sound reasonably high when I begun and the initial 'DING' gave me a fright. However it is a very clear indicator of a successful operation and I appreciate the lack of ambiguity. Maybe try for a softer tone though. I feel similarly about the game's main theme - it suits the era the game seems to represent and is a pretty good fit, however it is harsh on the ears, and inevitably I ended up disabling it. As an aside - kudos for adding the disable feature! This is a detail very frequently overlooked.

Graphics: 10/10 - This game looks incredible. From both my personal perspective and in terms of how the graphics complement the game as a whole, you have nailed it! The art style brings a fresh perspective to the genre and your tile highlighting is clear and straightforward. The game would definitely benefit from having a larger range of buildings and graphics, but I regard this to be a critique of the concept or gameplay, rather than imagery itself.

Gameplay: 6/10 - The controls in the game are fairly well designed. While the view took a minute to get used to, the mechanics are made obvious pretty quickly. I think the barracks felt a bit pointless, and ultimately building in general didn't achieve much for me. The ideas are very solid, but the game doesn't force you to build up your empire and become stronger. With the right pressures applied to the player, these mechanics could culminate in a great game, but the submission just doesn't reach that level for me.

Cohesion: 4/10 - The game does a really good job of maintaining consistency across the board. Everything feels like it meshes together well and creates an engaging atmosphere. The story-telling here doesn't really exist. While my general preference is for story-driven games, I'm not going to judge harshly based on that, because games of this variety are strategy-drive instead, and I think that's great. Having said that, games of strategy like Civ or AoE rely on carefully designed difficulty curves, which is not something I could find in Kingdom Conquest. I experimented a little and found it impossible to have the enemies defeat me.

For me this is a game that has some astounding specific merits, but fares less well in terms of overall experience.

Score: 60

Concept: 3/10 - Without the map dictating which areas your character has conquered, I'm not sure if I could find a way in which this game fits the theme. So in that regard, I don't think it provides any interesting spin on the theme. Likewise in terms of concept, the game doesn't strike me with originality, and I found that since I no sense of motivation my attention wasn't really captured. I think you could improve this latter point by making the levels longer and more challenging, by expanding the map and by providing some story elements to give at least a rough sense of motivation.

Sound: 2/10 - Other than a brief track at the beginning, the game didn't feature any music. Likewise, the sound effects were fairly minimal, but they did at least provide a clear picture of when I was doing damage and when my opponents were damaging me. Due to the nature of the sprite changes I think that these details could have been confusing, so good job for taking corrective measures against that. Some good music could definitely bring the game together more, and if you want a more serious feel to it, I would advise using some sound effects that are a little more realistic.

Graphics: 5/10 - I quite like the isometric view in this game, and I think that by in large it was executed well. The colourisation lets is down a bit, because the game becomes very jarring for me while moving. The display of the hitboxes strikes me as either a placeholder or another countermeasure against damage uncertainty. In either case, it is probably not something I would expect to see in a final product, and the introduction of some blood splattering or the like would serve you well, in addition to matching with the theme laid down in the title screen. The characters are simple and ultimately their defeat doesn't feel like much of a victory. I would recommend a dying animation and different animations for when the enemies are damaged if you would like to combat that criticism.

Gameplay: 5.5/10 - The world you constructed is a good start, but I can't shake the feeling that it has no character to it. The map sets my expectations high I suppose, so if you introduced mechanics like non-enemy NPCs, wild animals and levels inside buildings or with different platforming challenges then I believe the gameplay would support your storyline much more effectively. The mechanics that you've implemented seem pretty solid and make sense to me. There's no confusion and it's straight to the point - axing 'em to death. In this regard, I reckon you're headed in the right track with the mechanics. More depth is definitely needed, but a solid foothold no doubt. The platforming felt a bit shaky at times, and it felt more like a necessary inconvenience to traverse a level than a fun aspect of the game or the objective. It's up to you to decide what you want out of the platforming, but I think it could improved. One immediate suggestion would be to change the attacking mechanic in some way so that fights are more than just you stationary character swinging his axe as fast as possible.

Cohesion: 4/10 - I think I've mostly covered the consistency of the game already, but in sum I would say it's graphically and mechanically consistent, while losing points on sounds and world-building aspects. Mostly the points loss here is attributed to the difficulty curve. I never found the game difficult, and at least in part I would attribute this to the lack of levels. I experimented a little and found that I could fairly easily complete every level while dodging every enemy. Some more varied enemy types, turrets, traps or wild animals could help here - and would also benefit your world building in constructing the persona of Tsuhou. :)

Overall it's got some good components, but the game doesn't have any factors that draw me in, and could use a critical eye particularly in terms of what the game is trying to convey and how it conveys it.

Score: 39

Concept: 4/10 - I'm going to draw comparisons to World's Hardest Game, because I feel that it poses an example of a pattern and memorisation style game done reasonably well. In terms of originality I don't think that Goating Up provides a whole lot. It definitely harks back to the Flash days and feels like it fits in to a fairly populous genre. The game does grab my attention well though, and provides me with enough drive to give it a really good crack. Would I have bothered to complete the 5 levels outside of the Jam? Probably not, but I sure would've tried. In particular though, the game falls down on theme fit. I couldn't find any clear links to conquest, nor could I make an interpretation that connected it somehow.

Sound: 0/10 - I'm not too sure about what sounds would complement this game, were you to include it. Difficulty-centric games feature a wide range of music, and I think that ultimately matching the music to the game's theatrical components (your gothic goats). Sound effects are an important one here. They can assist the user with obstacle detection if short sounds are used in moderation, and can alert the user when they die. Also goat noises. ;)

Graphics: 8/10 - The graphics are really well implemented, and match with the text, gameplay and theme (of the game) beautifully. The gothic theme is cool, and the black-and-white is eye catching, and assists in making the red flash of new obstacles stand out. One critique here is the speech bubbles - which themselves are fine, but the way that the text within them gets stretched seems inconsistent, and so doesn't mesh well with the text elsewhere. The only other thing is the spiked balls at the end - spiked protrusions from hitboxes produce ambiguous collisions - either because you are forced to be pragmatic and take some regular polygon/circle as the hitbox, or because you perform precise collision detection and that causes a single (or few) pixel point of interaction, leading to a perceived non-collision, especially when both objects are moving. A suggestion that would tie back into gameplay as well is to implement a flash or image change of some sort from the object which killed you. Defeat in this game could probably stand to be a bit clearer, and I think that would help.

Gameplay: 6.5/10 - Generally I think the mechanics are well implemented. The controls are straightforward, the objective is clear and the variance in obstacles makes it engaging while also providing a challenge that isn't the same (in this way, you may have an edge on games like WHG). However, the point of contention for me is the unforgiving restart on every death. This I have never encountered in a game of this variety, and I now understand why. On the one hand, I see the incentive since the game currently has 5 levels, on the other - it breaks down any sense of progression or achievement, and that's a crucial factor that brings people back to games. There are a few ways you could combat this. I would suggest that once you have more levels implemented, allowing players to restart only the current level on defeat would be better. Or more creatively, perhaps your players could go back one level? This would help force memorisation more and would provide an additional layer of difficulty, should you deem it necessary. Additionally, if you want to add greater sense of achievement, giving each level themselves a longer combat sequence and localised difficulty curves might serve you well. Finally, the difficulty curve overall. I don't have much to say here, only that level 4 is very easy. If you memorise the pattern on the first couple of tries I think you're unlikely to die again. I would swap it with level 2 or 3, or make it harder. The latter of these options might be ideal so that you get the first two levels using your goat mentors' weapons for flavour.

Cohesion: 7/10 - I'll keep this one brief. The game fits together really well with the components it has. The story isn't especially fleshed out, but that's OK because it makes sense within this game's context. The big downfall here is that the game doesn't end. It really needs something to wrap it up once you finish, because running around in an empty arena then quitting doesn't give me the closure I wanted.

Overall, this feels like a really polished game, with the exception of music. The player experience could be improved, but as it stands the game seems to achieve what it sets out to!

Score: 51

Concept: 4/10 - How well the game fits with the theme I'm not too sure. I get the idea of 'conquering' pixels, but cleaning just doesn't feel that much like conquering. The originality is good, and I was looking forward to a somewhat comedic game about removing dead pixels on a gamer's screen or the like. I think that this game touched on that, but just didn't grab my attention enough. On that note, I didn't enjoy the lack on incentive. I wanted to know what happened when I finished the screen, why I was doing this, what my tools were, what the enemies(?) were, and a lot of other things. Exposition can be frustrating when people go ham on it, but just be aware that the reverse is often true as well.

Sound: 5/10 - The sounds here are OK. The main game loop (though I'm not sure if I'd say its a seamless loop) fits pretty well with the game's idea, and it's not jarring. However it does begin to get annoying because it's not easy to tune out, so it's possible that something less boppy but with a similar feel would serve you better. The sound effects were a little bit of a let down. The vacuuming (I think) didn't feel much like a vacuum nor a spot clean, because the effect was somewhere inbetween a single noise and a continuous one. And I would've liked to hear something from the launcher - something megaman-esque would've been really cool. Finally, the transition from the info screen to the gameplay is pretty jarring because of the hard cutoff on the music. It might be better to implement some sort of falloff, perhaps accompanied by some truck noises with the doppler effect present.

Graphics: 4/10 - The graphics are consistent and have a quirky feel. I like the pixelated art style to match with the game's objective and the contrast between the different components of the pixel field is pretty decent. The font chosen also works similarly. The sprites could have contributed to player understanding of the game far better, by providing side-on images of the tools the pixel cleaner uses (perhaps in the top left or right corner) or by providing animations for the cleaning the tools do, or making explicit the interactions with the enemies (if that's what they are). One final comment here would be that the graphics don't help the game stand out from the crowd too much. Some more uniqueness would contribute some charm to the game.

Gameplay: 3/10 - The game unfortunately provides no clear direction as to what any of its components are or do. As such, the mechanics are confusing. While some things can be inferred from the context, others I am only taking random guesses at. The lack of objective I mentioned earlier ties into the worldbuilding in that I feel no sense of attachment to the pixel field, nor do I understand what it is/represents exactly. Some specific issues or concerns I encountered: the launcher bullets sometimes stick to the end of the gun temporarily, the charge meter is overlaid on top of the information in the top right, the rotation of the character (while kinda cool) is disconcerting, and also contributes to the final and worst issue: the character sometimes inexplicably misses pixels, rows or ranges. This is a massive problem in terms of clearing 100% of a level, in that a single missed pixel among the 409,599 others doesn't sound like any fun to me. Getting these missed pixels generally seems to require the launcher, which might add to the frustration. This issue caused me to not invest the time to 100% clear the first pixel field, so if there are important game details beyond that point then please let me know so I can revisit it.

Cohesion: 2.5/10 - I couldn't really find a difficulty curve to speak of, and the game doesn't appear to pose any real challenge - just a task that is time consuming. Perhaps you could call that challenging, but I personally don't think so. The story you're trying to convey makes sense, though as I stated requires exposition. Ultimately I don't think it's reflected well in the gameplay, and the lack of character motives and objectives in particular cause me to overlook the story. The consistency of application across the board is alright. I think the graphics are pretty well established, though the info screen feels a bit too sparse to match with the pixel field.

I think this game is based on an interesting idea. What you do with it is up to you, but if you're looking to extend this game then my advice would be to make it story-driven, provide clear missions/quests/jobs with details of the job (this is common amongst some mobile games) and make sure to give the character their persona and rationale. I can envision a cool little mobile game that has a gameplay feel akin to food assembly games like Sky Burger or Overcooked, but with short, sharp missions and more story. :)

Score: 37

Concept: 4/10 - I think that the first horseman often gets his fair share of misinterpretation as pestilence, so it's a bit refreshing to see the other interpretation here. :p The use of the horseman was clever and unexpected, so the approach to the theme was good. The game's actual originality is not great though - either it would need to incorporate the biblical overtone into the gameplay more or shake up the bullet hell style more, I think. This also contributes to a lack of intrigue, as I don't have too much reason to expect that this game will provide anything different from a standard dungeon-crawler bullet hell. Also a question: where is Famine in all of this?

Sound: 4.5/10 - The backing track while playing is alright. Matches with the theme reasonably and provides a bit more engagement. As with many games though it begins to get annoying, and since it's not easy to ignore that can be an issue. Since you added a disable feature though, I accept that more readily. The sound effects were minimal, but provided the necessary information about the events they correspond to. I think that they could have been more realistic (represent the event better), but they achieved their purpose. The lack of music on the menu and the missing sound effects (i.e. enemies dying, you dying, enemy gunfire, helicopter rotors) let it down in this category. A bombardment of effects is what I've come to expect from bullet hells - and for me the ancestor of many was Capcom's 1942, which is where I would personally turn for inspiration on sound quantities and how they fit together (and also for a damn good time). Or more recent descendants like Sky Force for iOS.

Graphics: 3.5/10 - The graphics are a mixed bag I think. On the one hand, the menu looks really good and the game as a whole has pretty neat, respectable imagery. However, there are several things which drag down the quality: the use of what seems to be multiple art styles, the title clashing with the rest of the menu, the simplicity of the bullets, the lack of a player death animation, the general lack of animation for enemies/the player, the somewhat silly enemy death animation and the simplicity of the background. The latter is slightly more complex - because I think the parallax looked pretty decent in terms of speed and positioning, but the mountain themselves could've used work.

Gameplay: 5.5/10 - I found that playing the game ultimately didn't provide a lot of fun. Mostly I would put this down to some of the critical aspects of bullet hell games being missing, but some more functional details also cropped up, such as: the confusing hitbox on the player, the reduced move speed on the player while firing, and the seemingly insurmountable difficulty of the Heartless mode (if you want to kill any enemies, at least). However I've overlooked the latter because it looks like it wasn't intended for the jam. The world setup initially didn't feel right, because the transition from the small amount of exposé to the game itself didn't really make sense. However the boss battle with War sorted that out, and I think it does an alright job of maintaining the world you guys were setting up.

Cohesion: 7/10 - The consistency of the game feels pretty good. Asides from some sprite work feeling out of place and the title, the graphics fare well. The storyline helps build the cohesion, and you definitely score points for the comedic tidbits on the menu and the comments from your enemies down the bottom during play. The story-telling is decent, and I think that seeing the full conquest of love would really have made it come together (understandably this is difficult under time constraints). The difficulty curve is pretty solid, and is extended by having four modes of game play.

The game doesn't do a great job of drawing me in, but I think with a bit of a push it could. The storyline is quirky and could be capitalised on to really drive the game home, and with some minor upgrades to the graphics, sounds and mechanics behind the bullet hell itself the game would be more engaging while maintaining difficulty.

Score: 49

Concept: 8.5/10 - This game takes the conquest component from civilisation strategy games and builds it into a small but cleverly conceptualised package. The originality here is very appealing, and even more so since it is a transformation of something very familiar to me. The theme is met very clearly and with the creativity aspect well satisfied. In terms of intrigue, it fares pretty well. I went into the game wanting to see all those red ants crushed under(tiny)foot, and ultimately I enjoyed making it happen. My only criticism in this category is that I found my passion subsided, mostly because the way that the gameplay unfolded didn't quite meet the expectation that it gave me initially.

Sound: 6.5/10 - The main theme of the game was pretty much exactly what I expected. In some ways themes such as it have become the norm, dating back probably to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", all the way back in 1863. The sort of militaria style music keeps getting reinvigorated, and I would liken your theme most closely to that of Hogan's Heroes. The theme is pretty decent, though I found that it really got me into the game at the beginning, but didn't really offer too much beyond your typical military marching feel, so didn't do a great job of maintaining the action. There could definitely have been more sound effects, but those that were present were good fits with the rest of the game.

Graphics: 5.5/10 - The game started off pretty well in terms of graphics, with the display being fairly eye-popping and the ant hill and surrounding covered area catching my interest. Unfortunately, I became disappointing with a number of factors: the ambiguity of the path colours which made deleting the correct one difficult, the lack of depletion shown on food sources, the lack of indication of the path length available (e.g. gradually draw with lower capacity as the length increases), the presence of only one food sprite and the lack of ant damage indication (when attacked). For me these were the things which stood out as decreasing enjoyment, though some general cleanup would be good in the menu. Overall some good craftsmanship here, but some small changes are needed to ensure the graphics do their part to contributing to the playability.

Gameplay: 5.5/10 - I had quite a bit of fun playing this game. There were some mechanics which wore down my patience over time - such as the path deletion, the lack of progression in upgrades (no indication of how much stronger your colony is due to the upgrades, other than populous), the somewhat disconcerting and sometimes buggy zoom/scroll mechanic, and the ants just wandering aimlessly when they leave a path. I don't want to rant too much about ant behavioural science, but ants have exceptional pheromone communication, and if in the presence of another ant from their colony (such as crossing in front of an ant on a different path), could easily deduce that they should follow it back to the colony if lost. The worldbuilding, though minor, was pretty good. It felt like I was really in the land of the ants. If you wanted to extend the world while maintaining plausibility then adding in plants and perhaps other animals could make gameplay just that bit more interesting.

Cohesion: 7/10 - The game feels pretty consistent across the board, with military-style fonts and styling applied throughout, and pretty similar imagery. Though I would say the sidebar sticks out a little too much. It would honestly be nice if it were implemented as a pull menu on a phone (e.g. iOS control centre), or a sliding menu on PC. There's not a whole lot to the storyline, but it's plausible enough. And I think that the gameplay does an OK job of telling it, though a more involved ending sequence might be nice. Lastly, the difficulty curve is pretty well designed. Enemy ants actually pose a threat, and my initial defeat felt brought back memories of AoE II LAN parties - well done!

Score: 66

Concept: 2/10 - This is a game that could have pretty easily been related back to conquest, but unfortunately I didn't see any clear implementation of it in what little of the game I could access. The game piques my interest with the massive Hammer and Sickle on the menu screen, but very quickly loses it unfortunately. And since the communist theme you introduced is never expanded upon, it doesn't contribute very much. For me the biggest factor in this score is probably originality. The game is based on a principal that was visited with great frequency in the Flash days, so any new take on it is going to need to be fresh and exciting. Sadly I just didn't get that from what was presented in the Jam entry.

Sound: 3.5/10 - The lack of a musical score definitely weakened the impact of the game somewhat, but I was pleased to see some sound effects. The tank movement sound was fairly well chosen. Though it feels as though it stops and starts too abruptly. Military tanks can run on a variety of substances like jet fuel, petroleum or diesel, but since they've got an engine, they're going to need to have that distinct rumbling that doesn't allow for an immediate stop. The explosion sound is honestly really good - and I think I prefer it to the sound of an actual explosion in this case. I suppose it doesn't win on realism, but that's cool. The only drawback to it is that it's too long.

Graphics: 4/10 - The look of this game isn't bad. There are a lot of intricacies that need work, such as the ambiguity of the tank's direction, the fairly basic explosion animation and the backgrounds, especially. As a starting point, however, I think it's got the right thing going. I especially liked the little cooldown bar you implemented, which in fullscreen would be really handy.

Gameplay: 1.5/10 - Understandably in a game where you begin and end stuck in a corner, there is only so much gameplay to explore. Even so, this isn't a game with nothing to offer - I didn't mind getting an initial feel for the controls and there is at least a little feedback I can give. I would advise making the rotation a bit more responsive, and if you had enemy AI in the Jam submission then I think that it would be best if you changed the implementation so that the opposing tanks move even if you're not in proximity to them, to give them some character. I really liked the game start countdown and the space-bar start, which gives immediate insight into one of the controls before you even touch combat. Again, though, the introduction of a story element and the lack of it present in the world you constructed is not great.

Cohesion: 3/10 - The game fits together as well as you could expect, considering that it isn't complete. The graphics might lack in some areas, but they're pretty consistent - with the exception of the bordering walls perhaps. A musical score would really tie it together, and once gameplay is implemented you'll have a better idea of how to get the continuity flowing through the UX.

If this is a game you want to pursue in the future, just make sure to get really deep into what will set your game apart from the crowd and help to re-invigorate the genre. Also if you are going for a historical angle (my assumption based on the Hammer and Sickle), then make sure to read up on the real history for inspiration and to assist you in tackling the mechanics. :)

Score: 28

Concept: 10/10 - Wow, this took me back. It doesn't quite have the feel of a Game and Watch, but I'd say it captures the essence of Super Mario Land on the GB pretty well. The originality might not be extraordinary, but if you analyse the game in today's context, it feels like it's a beautiful homage with new flavour. As a result, I wouldn't feel right criticising the game based on originality. I appreciated seeing conquest from the perspective of those affected by it, rather than those enacting it - which was a clever choice. Finally, in terms of intrigue you've definitely got it. It might just be the nostalgia, but one way or another I can't think of anything that makes the game lose my interest until the end.

Sound: 3/10 - The lack of music has both its merits and pitfalls I think. On the one hand, the lack of music while in-game allows the player to hone in on the sound effects and gameplay, and takes the experience back to a 'simpler time', so to speak. On the other hand, the time the player spends waiting indicates to me that there are gaps that a nice retro backing track could fill, and especially on the home screen - I think it would have been a decent addition. The sound effects the game does have is really spot on. I think that having only a handful of sound effects is suited to a game that is simple by design. However, with the lack of music there probably needed to be more actions captured by the effects - namely hitting the enemies and the monkey being hit. In terms of a theme for gameplay, I think something like the main game loop from Dueling Diego (a Flash game by KingsIsle Games) would capture the feel really well, unless you wanted it to be more serious.

Graphics: 9/10 - The graphics here are pretty stellar. The sprites for the hunters and monkey are nice, the things that should be simple (the spears and bananas, are appropriately simple and the small animations for throwing and idle are subtle but add just a smidgen of depth, which I really appreciated. The console border is brilliant, and especially when you're on the title screen it feels like the experience is captured effortlessly. On the whole, nothing demands more attention than it needs and it all looks sharp and simple. The one criticism I have is perhaps the buttons on the console. This is because, firstly, they aren't the most interpretable (the joysticks at the bottom) and because they take up unnecessary space and are misleading once the game has begun (the Credits and Play buttons no longer do anything). The first could be combat by having the joystick respond to player input in order to mock the motions of a real console. The second is only really a problem because we're no longer that used to a console having buttons that aren't used in-game. Back in Game and Watch days, that was of course perfectly reasonable. It's up to you to decide if you care about this, perhaps just a strike-through on the text would suffice? In any case, I'm not deducting any points for that one.

Gameplay: 8/10 - The game plays really well overall. The first level is a simple introduction, and the instructions screen is only as informative as it needs to be. Together they give the game an easy entry point. The controls are simple, and the fact that they're constantly displayed in the bottom-left is great. On the topic of controls though, it seems there are some actions that could be replaced with the 'B' key, to simplify even further (i.e. continuing, since there is no 'No' option). Other critiques include that the hunters should probably stop hurling spears after the monkey has been hit, and that the final level seems to repeat forever. I think that this last one causes the world-building to break down a little, because the scenario you set up feels a bit less realistic when you can never win.

Cohesion: 9/10 - I won't say too much here. The storyline is conveyed just the right amount and represented well throughout the game, the art and sounds are consistent, and the only break down in continuity is the final level. The difficulty doesn't get too high, but it curves pretty damn well, and the game is forgiving enough that it would be difficult to become frustrated. Great job!

If you started a Game and Watch homage site where GMC developers could upload their reviewed G&W-esque games and the site would emulate a console that could run multiple games, I would sure as hell contribute to it. And I'm sure many others would as well. Alone this game is a bit of fun for 5 minutes, but it could set down the foundations for a project that helped to preserve and rekindle a little piece of gaming history. Just a thought. :)

Score: 78

Concept: 7/10 - This game really hits the theme quite well. It isn't quite what I would call 'military' conquest, but it does have the same undertones while taking a more subtle route. I definitely appreciated this, and so I think the game scores well on theme. The idea isn't too original, but at least in my experience I've never seen planetary conquest done in such a small package. It's a tried and tested idea, but I think your particular implementation felt just new enough and promoted just enough interest that I was drawn into the game. There are a couple of points where the game lags on holding that interest, such as the lack of a satisfying animation/sound/mechanical change whenever a planet was overtaken, but short of that the game maintained my intrigue all the way through.

Sound: 6/10 - The lack of sound effects is definitely felt throughout the gameplay. As I mentioned, a good sound effect when a planet it captured would have rounded the experience out well. In addition, sound effects to mark the transition of turns, and the transfer of inhabitants between planets might also be good additions. The music was well selected. It fit perfectly with the vibe of the game and it might just be in my head, but to me it somehow conveyed a sort of emptiness, which I really loved considering the space setting.

Graphics: 7.5/10 - The graphics were really fantastic - I got a distinct Kurzgesagt (a YouTube channel) feel from them, which could never be a bad thing. I felt that the sort of cute planetary art could be conducive to an ironic, wicked twist at the end, should you have chosen that route. The graphics almost entirely made clear the way that the player was intended to interact with the game, and I really enjoyed that you included visual prompts for the different phases of the game (player turn, enemy turn, enemy calculating). A very minor criticism is that the arrows to increase/decrease the number of inhabitants moving looked sort-of greyed out at all times, which I will admit confused me more times than it should have. The aura around the planets and the specific atmospheric diameter get special mentions for being awesome bits of attention-to-detail, while the totally static space environment is a bit of a drawback. Some twinkling in the stars, a bit of planetary rotation and a reduction in the sameness of the 'rock' type planets would be great inclusions I feel.

Gameplay: 7.5/10 - The world design was really nice. The variation in planet population limits and growth added enough variety to keep things interesting for the short game that I had. However, I think the game would definitely benefit from procedurally generated solar systems, in order to create a bit more replayability and variance. The mechanics were generally unambiguous, though it did take me a little while to figure out exactly how many inhabitants it took to overcome those on an enemy planet. I think I needed to pay a little more attention while doing it, but certainly it couldn't hurt to include it in your instructions. If anything, I think that you could afford to ramp up the mechanics a bit more, and include some more complicated gameplay. But this is definitely a really good start, and if you did want increase the depth of the game it could be done in other ways.

Cohesion: 7.5/10 - The musical score ties the game together very nicely, and the consistency in the graphics, fonts and buttons all help to pull the game together into a cohesive whole. The idea of there being a story isn't something that ever jumped out at me, but the game definitely never suggested it was going to do so. The spot where the game possibly falls down the most is in difficulty curve. The AI isn't especially difficult to best, especially if you immediately take control of the fertile planet, which results in extreme population growth. However I did appreciate that this provides a pretty low learning curve, and if this was part of a bigger whole (i.e. expansion into multiple systems) then I think it could provide the first phase in a decent difficulty curve across a larger game.

A small but brilliant piece of artistic gameplay was demonstrated here, and I'm sure there were a number of small inclusions that you decided on to enhance the experience that I forgot the mention. Great job!

Score: 71

As a short intro, I found it difficult to rate the game. I'm not too sure of the intention, and struggled to discern what the mechanics were or how to interact with them. I've given it my best shot, but I apologise in advance if I've misunderstood the game!

Concept: 4/10 - The game seems to approach the idea of conquest as a sort of cross between chess and Age of Empires. At least this is my assumption based on the concept of generating buildings and troops (though the latter didn't seem to work and I'm not too sure what 'land' would be). As such, I think that it meets the theme reasonably well. In addition, I think that if this is the approach you were headed for, it presents a concept that is quite original, and might well lay the foundations for a good game. However, the game did a pretty poor job of getting me intrigued, since there were few elements with which I could engage, no introduction to the game and nothing to make the experience of fumbling through the mechanics any easier.

Sound: 0/10 - No sounds were present that I could identify.

Graphics: 2.5/10 - The graphics were definitely a sort of minimal implementation. The distinction between enemies and self was very clear, and I think that the grid could have been a very helpful system for laying out the game, however on my resolution the game window was just a bit small to take notice of any details. Some specific concerns would be that I couldn't distinguish visually between the different types of troops, and that the interface is difficult to read due to the font selected, the colours used and the sizing of the different components. Overall the biggest downfall was that the graphics didn't convey anything meaningfully, which I suspect was probably just a product of the time available to dedicate to them.

Gameplay: 2/10 - The mechanics were definitely confusing, especially given the lack of instructions and that two of the options available in the interface didn't seem to do anything. There wasn't much really present to bring the world to life, so I can't comment much on world-building. Though I did note that any civilisation positioned far from yours (or a cluster) would probably fall of the player's radar easily and remain unchecked for many turns. A mini-map would probably assist with this, or otherwise making the map smaller, or introducing more civilisation development options to make non-conflict gameplay more interesting and useful.

Cohesion: 2/10 - In terms of storytelling capacity and difficulty curve, I can't find too much to comment on. Some difficulty might be present as your enemy civilisations expand towards you, but I couldn't really decipher how troops interacted and so the concept of enemies being a threat was too abstract. The consistency of graphics is reasonable, though I think that the action interface is a little out of place in terms of the gradient background and red font.

Score: 21
 
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SILAS THE DEV'S REVIEWS AND VOTES

1st Place - Chroma Crown by JacobV
I voted for this game because of the Unique mechanics, stunning visuals, and a great feel. It felt very polished for a normal game, let alone a game made in 72 hours. The color change mechanic is well made, although I do dislike how some platforming sections have the color change break the momentum. The controls are mostly solid except for the attack controls which could use a bit more mobility. Overall, It is a fun enjoyable game and my biggest criticism is that it didn't last long enough.

2nd Place - ALPS by GameDevDan
I voted for this game because of the fun gameplay and unique artwork. First of all, the top-down 3d artwork makes it stand out from the crowd. The gameplay is enticing and lets you sink your teeth into it for hours. Due to the semi-arcade gameplay it has a great amount of replayability. I have not yet finished the game however after I finish reviewing I am looking foreward to hopping right back into it.

3rd Place - Spirit Walker by Bingdom
I voted for this game largely because of the graphics. The gameplay is just enough to serve the amazing visuals. Every part of it is beautiful from the lighting to the designs. If the gameplay was a bit deeper, this game would without a doubt 1st place.

Best Ofs
Best use of theme: kingdom conquest by Braydee johnson
Best concept: Chroma crown by GameDevDan
Best presentation: Spirit Walker by Bingdom
Best devlog: author name

Full Ranking
1. Chroma Crown by JacobV
I voted for this game because of the Unique mechanics, stunning visuals, and a great feel. It felt very polished for a normal game, let alone a game made in 72 hours. The color change mechanic is well made, although I do dislike how some platforming sections have the color change break the momentum. The controls are mostly solid except for the attack controls which could use a bit more mobility. Overall, It is a fun enjoyable game and my biggest criticism is that it didn't last long enough.
2. ALPS by GameDevDan
I voted for this game because of the fun gameplay and unique artwork. First of all, the top-down 3d artwork makes it stand out from the crowd. The gameplay is enticing and lets you sink your teeth into it for hours. Due to the semi-arcade gameplay it has a great amount of replayability. I have not yet finished the game however after I finish reviewing I am looking foreward to hopping right back into it.
3. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
I voted for this game largely because of the graphics. The gameplay is just enough to serve the amazing visuals. Every part of it is beautiful from the lighting to the designs. If the gameplay was a bit deeper, this game would without a doubt 1st place.
4. Conquer the treasure by Apapappa Games
Conquer the Treasure has a good mix between visuals and gameplay. The idea is fun and the game includes all sorts of details that make it fun. The main thing that holds it back from the top three is the lack of innovation. The gameplay is mostly the same as any other platformer ( not including the weight and slow effect to the treasure. )
5. My righteous conquest by SamSam
6.... etc.

reviews completed (4/36)
 
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M

Misty

Guest
I think I'm gonna be reviewing games just by gut instinct this time. I think I didn't win best reviewer award last jam because my reviews were far too serious and scientific. Gut instinct may simply offer a better review system than before.

Also I no longer review alphabetically, but by number score for easy sorting.
Making font a bit smaller since there has been more reviews.

Britskreig by Allison James Long story short, no idea what I'm doing. The intro and menu looked pretty snazzy though. I was kind of expecting a Risk style board layout but instead got a sea of grid squares, which kind of overwhelmed me to say the least. I'll give this a proper rating later once I hear others opinions about this game. Rating pending


Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf. This game seems overly high effort, gonna wait to get some more energy before I give it a proper playthrough and review. Plus, I'm not in the mood to wipe out every other species in the galaxy, so this game will most likely honestly make me depressed. Review pending.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar. Very low effort game. Your units have no pathfinding so just fall off the edge and die. There is virtually no combat to speak of and the plants aren't even properly depthsorted. The intro menu is full of typos and uses the default font. 5%, bravo.

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam. Very boring, no sounds, no music, just clicking apples over and over. I have no interest in learning strategies or upgrades to prolong my experience of clicking apples over and over. Writing this review hurts me more than it hurts you, I know we are friends and it hurts me to say this, but I can't give biased ratings, and this game is simply awful. This game gets a solid 1/10 from me. 10% The bright side is you made it to the top of the list, so there's that, you made the best worst game which is something at least.


Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart Ugh. It's a game about doing chores. It's a real bore/chore to play. Still, there is something vaguely satisfying about this game. 2/10 20%

The Imperialist by Azure Knight The graphics of this were really repetitive and bizarre and giving me a headache. There was no minimap to show me where to go so I just assume this was an unfinished game with no enemies in it. I give it 22 based on the F22 Raptor. 22%

Tank-You by Evan Manowski Evan discussed over PM how to play the game, turns out I have to tap W a bunch of times to escape the corner. Once I get out of the corner, I can play the game. Some things, the tank sounds sound good, but the shell sounds seem to last a bit too long and crowd the audio system. Overall, the gameplay is what you would expect from a tank game, but needs much polish. The wall collisions are sticky, the wall hitboxes are too wide, tanks explode in an underwhelming matter. The game is further hindered by seemingly only having 1 room, and no way to exit the room or beat the game. 24%


Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin This game was very hollow. No sound or music. The game was utterly broken as a tower defense game. All it was was putting a line of Spike trees and the enemies cannot ever win. No bosses or anything. Low effort game and I got so bored out of my mind by Wave 7 I had to close it. However, the graphics of this were pretty nice to be honest. If it wasn't for the graphics, I'd give this an even lower rating. 25%

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev. The intro was 10/10, 10/10 intro. But the final score I give a mere 26%. This is because, bad collisions and looping music, overall boring gameplay. Bad difficulty curve and boring gameplay, however, the game did have me intrigued and wanting to finish the quest.

Card Quest by Vagrant Whale Games. I was immediately kind of turned off by the sloppy presentation of this game, with the default fonts and some custom fonts guis which looked bad. So I kind of lost interest at the very start and didn't really feel motivated to invest time to learn how to play the game. I'm not giving it a review, I will wait to hear what other's say about the game and kind of form an opinion from that. Rating: Pending


King of the Ant Hill by Relic This wasn't what I was expecting. I was kind of expecting to see a map showing all the ant hills in one room, like a boardgame. Instead I get what seems to be a Starcraft kind of like Fog of war obscuring the whole scene so I can't see anything besides my 1 ant hill base. The camera seemed worse than Blizzard honestly. I'm going to wait to give this a review until I can figure out what I'm doing and what others are saying. Rating: Pending

Kingdom Conquest by Bradee Johnson Seems like a sim city or Age of Empires kind of game. No instructions of how to play or readme of any kind, so I closed out of it. Still seems like a fair bit of work was put into this game so it seems a shame to give it a rating based on that. Rating: Pending

Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancreatio The art seems vaguely remenscient of Steven Universe. The music was so loud it was hurting my ears so I had to turn it down. All in all, the music was pretty annoying. The feel of the game was very retro and had a very nice art style. However, the gameplay seemed too difficult for a beginner level. It seemed like the AI was unfair and I had to shoot them ten times, yet they only killed me in one hit. To me, the unfair AI detracted more points than the irritating music. 35%.

Apocalypse Chronicles - The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice and Silfior the Jackal. Overall the graphics, music, and overall presentation was good. But the game as a whole was underwhelming. No special effects, no sound effects no explosions, the same hollow feeling just like the rest of Jackal's jam games as usual. Enemies just shrink as they die, and for some reason when my character shoots I turn transparent, it just feels like yet another underwhelming Jackal jam game. 37% because it did have good menus and presentation was good.

Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey and Nacky Slocker The sword fights in this game are kind of dull. I did like the intro and it had pretty colors. There does seem to be some slight bit of depth to this game, so I give it a higher rating than Apocalypse Chronicles. Not by much though, it's just kind of unpolished and didn't really pique my interest. 40%.

Chroma Crown by JakobV People will likely be very impressed by the great artistry at work in this game. However, it is balanced in that has no sound or music of any kind, making the game feel boring. It is boring, yet does not feel hollow. The sword combat feels very boring and dull. Eventually, sappy music does play after you rescue one of the villagers. I lost interest by then because the story seemed very tropey (like a TV Tropes.) Something about it just did not convey the story in an interesting way, and I was not captivated to invest into the characters. I give it 50% because it is very balanced, in that it has great graphics, yet a dull prologue and no sound effects.

Conquer the Treasure by Appappa games. Can't decide if I love or hate those pixellated graphics. But I can tell this game has a real art style to it. The controls were pretty awkward, and the first level reminded me of BlockDude, one of my favorite games on the TI-83. After about level 3 or 4 I began to realize this game wasn't going to be a casual puzzle game like BlockDude, but more about twitch reflexes and pixel perfect jumping. I don't really care for games which rely on pixel perfect timing, so I give this only a 54%. I give it this because I can tell there is quality and entertainment value to be had from this game, even if it is not my kind of game.

Banana Toss by Toque. Now this game is up my alley. Very much a throwback to Game and Watch games. I really enjoyed the very simplistic nature of this game. It is a great game however, it simply does not "reach" it. Just a little bit of more sound effects and polish and it would have achieved true retro glory. So I only give it a 60%. The gameplay has both dodging, timing, and strategizing your shots.

Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokilsa. I really like the graphics of this game. Not crazy about the default font in the corner though. The music is pretty good, but plays the same on each level. The gameplay is unique, but still repetitive. There are different enemy types which add variation. However, the movement system is locked to orthogonal axis and is awkward. Some of the enemies seem to also hold you down resulting in an instant kill you can't escape from. Not enough polish was put into the game in terms of player death sequencing. 70%.


The Empire by TinyGamesLab Its a pretty neat idea for a strategy game. However, there isn't much strategy or depth to the game, the map was asymetric and I conquered the enemy too easily. When I went to conquer the final planet, the game had a bug and I had to close the game. Also if you send too many troops to a world it seems like all just die without giving you a warning, (although I could be wrong about this, but even if not, still) 79%

Everything is Better with a Trebuchet by GhandandPivot. This game had me in stitches. I love everything about it, including the clean looking art style and the 90's music. Where on earth did you get that music btw? The storyline is simply hilarious. However I only give it an 80%. I prefer the 90's over the 80's, and the best score you can get would be 100, representing the year 2000, the second millenium which is of cosmic significance. This only made it to the 80s, because there are a few things wrong here. It seems like an infinite ammo so no challenge. Shooting the trebuchet feels kind of weird also. It doesn't feel as satisfying as shooting a real trebuchet. But it makes up for it with the funny storyline. The sound effects themselves are poorly implemented and one of the levels is very difficult and tedious, and on this level the rocks making a repeating noise when next to each other.

Victory by Cardinal Coder 64. Overall its pretty good if you are looking for a casual fighting game. The graphics are no Wave Race 64, but if you are looking for a game like one of those Battlefield Pearl Harbor kind of games where you must causally engage the opponent, it's pretty good for what it is. Kind of has cinematic 007 music in the background, but the mission is very long and tedious so it gets old after a while. If one of your squad mates dies you must restart the level so it's very tedious. I give it only 85% for this reason. For a game made in only 3 days its not too bad.

ALPS by Game Dev Dan. I don't really understand the story in this, I think its more tongue-in-cheek humor making fun of British people for "saving" colonies by conquering them. In any case, the graphics are kind of neat, psuedo 3d newgrounds. The gameplay is more of the same, similar to the game I just mentioned, Victory, a casual military game where you take over enemy bases at your own pace. There are no suprises, each level seems to have the same Kevin MacLeod song on loop, which is why it doesn't get a higher score. Newgrounds games rely on jokes and interesting and varied levels, and this game's levels are all the same. I have only played 3 levels so far, but 3 levels all being almost the same was enough for me. There are no weapon pickups or powerups to be found, and as far as I have seen, there are only 2 enemy types, making the gameplay repetitive and tedious. Devs just maybe need one more day to make games, 4 days maybe, enough time to put some spice into the levels. 87%


I'd move mountains by lt far fetched I am really dissapointed I could not beat this game. I wanted to see the ending. But the controls seem to have some kind of input lag and it got to be frustrating when my character kept dying due to unresponsive controls. I would have given this a higher score, but I only give it a 90%. Its a great, unique and original puzzle game. However, the music makes me feel really depressed and nihilistic, like that it's all just so meaningless.

Spirit Walker by Bingdom Wow. Just gotta say. This game has one of the sweetest looks I've ever seen in a game. Period. This a game about morals. The moral of the story is to find all of your alter egos and kiss them as much as possible, in order to save their souls. Each new alter ego becomes harder to get. The gameplay is like Mario, but with Wallbouncing. I am not giving it a 10/10 because the difficulty curve is exponential, it seems like very easy then nearly impossible. There are simply too many spikes and not enough save points. I have never played Celeste so I need an easy mode or something. 90%


Bow before the Queen by the M Great game. Very regal graphics and setting. Unique gameplay design and elements. However, I give it only a 91% because there is a game breaking bug that crashes the game. Also the gui elements are unclear, and some of the conditions seem vague.

Goating up by iBlackpen Not sure what to rate this, the difficulty curve is like 90 degrees and I can't get past even level 2. But I like the presentation of it, it would be better with sound though. I'm kind of tired so I don't know what rating to give it.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF THE MOON Best game of the lineup no doubt in my mind. 10/10. Just kidding 0/10.
 
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Alice

Darts addict
Forum Staff
Moderator
Alice's Vacation Reviews

I sorted the reviews by the order of playing, as it allows me to reference the earlier games I played.

Top 3:

ALPS by GameDevDan
It was a pretty cool action game. Good job with including this collateral damage aspect, as it prevents the player from wreaking havoc aimlessly (instead, they wreak havoc carefully).

King of the Ant Hill by Relic
The most satisfying strategy game I've played for this Jam.

Britskrieg by Allison James
That was quite a large entry to complete, but it's perfectly possible to complete in a single day.

Best ofs:

Best use of THEME: I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
Best Concept: Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
Best Presentation: Britskrieg by Allison James
Best Story: Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

Full ranking:

  1. ALPS by GameDevDan
  2. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  3. Britskrieg by Allison James
  4. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  5. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  6. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  7. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  8. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  9. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  10. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  11. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  12. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  13. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  14. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  15. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  16. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  17. Bow before the Queen by The M
  18. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  19. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  20. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  21. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  22. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  23. Super Pancratio - Conquest of the Olympus by Arabong
  24. Banana Toss by Toque
  25. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  26. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  27. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  28. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  29. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  30. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  31. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  32. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  33. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  34. Tank-You by EvanSki
  35. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio
  36. Mini Civilizations by Lukan

General remarks:
Some additional common takeaways from the reviews:
  • conclude the games where applicable - even a simple YOU WIN message goes the long way
  • don't mix keyboard-controlled menus with entirely mouse-controlled game (or other way round)
  • if you use only left/right arrow keys and other button for jumping, you might as well use the up arrow key for jump, especially if there's a bunch of other action buttons as well; keep one hand for movement, other hand for actions
  • mind the balance between the gameplay time and setup time; too long setup sequence when you can get killed in a few seconds can be pretty frustrating
  • introduce difficulty by making the levels/phases more intense, not by making them longer
  • if you are to add more levels, make sure they provide something new that wasn't in the previous levels; better keep it short and varied rather than long and dull
  • use spikes in moderation
  • don't use spikes in dark rooms; it's mean

Comments (1st half):

The Empire by TinyGamesLab

(review #1)
So, I conquered the red empire, but the game seemed to have no winning condition trigger (like "you won!" or something), so I decided to stick around for longer.
Result: maximum population on every planet!

Generally, I've found the entry pretty enjoyable. I was initially confused that I couldn't move my forces around - probably should have mentioned that the transport cannot lower the source planet's population below 1. Aside from that, the various planet properties provided enough variety to give some strategic depth while not being so numerous as to overwhelm the player. The graphics were pleasant to the eye, and they nicely corresponded to different planet types. The interface generally was clear enough and I could grasp the general situation, although there is still some room for additional player feedback (e.g. showing max population alongside the current one, changing colour depending on how overpopulated is the planet etc.). The music was calm and fitting.

There's just one thing I can't quite fathom...
Why have player press Space to advance tutorial if the game is otherwise entirely mouse-controlled!? >.<

Super Pancratio - Conquest of the Olympus by Arabong

(review #2)
Sadly, it seems to be one of these entries where the presentation is excellent, but the content disappointingly scarce. As far as I can tell, the game features only a single kind of enemy and one map that seems to go nowhere (I reached the very top and even got myself on the roof of the temple).

Too bad, because the core mechanic isn't half bad (would be particularly fitting for an earlier CHARGING UP Jam theme) and could be used in an interesting way; it's quite curious how the only direction to shoot at is up, as if the protagonist was cursing the heavens. The graphics and animations are pretty well-made and remind me a lot of Warioland art style (also, these full-sized pictures of Zeus and the protagonist are nothing to sneeze at, either). The music and sound effects work well with the overall mood and style.

Tank-You by EvanSki

(review #3)
I have defeated all enemies in what seems to be the only actual level in the game. I didn't get any victory screen, I was just wandering aimlessly afterwards. Didn't see much of a CONQUEST, either, just tank battles...

When it comes to the mechanics, I got pretty confused by the "W" thing. It took me a while to figure out that you're supposed to run these obstacles over by pressing W repeatedly. Another thing I wasn't exactly fond of was lack of reverse movement for the tank; it makes already sluggish travel even more exhausting.

As for the enemies, one thing I noticed is that they constantly turn towards the player. It also means that as soon as the player enters their line of vision, they'll already be prepared to shoot at the player. Tankfully, it seems player being damaged wasn't implemented, but it's a serious balancing issue nonetheless - the player needs to move around and change directions to take down enemies, while enemies just stick to their positions and rotate along the player.

The audiovisuals are nothing to speak tomes about, though I've found the effect of repeatedly pressing W somewhat amusing.

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

(review #4)
Yeaaaah, cleaning up these pixels doesn't feel like CONQUERING at all. It might have as well been OVERCOMING all this mess or such.

It seems like the kind of relaxing, no-pressure kind of game, maybe except the fact that you can lose the precious broom to these pesky slugs. Speaking of the broom, I'd rather have it go along with the player direction but at least do the job right, instead of having full 360 degrees of freedom and somehow miss lots of dirt along the way - inexplicably, some regularly separated lines of pixels were missing, as if there were some invisible collision sectors or modular arithmetic involved.

Also, the map was way too large. Not only that, once I left off screen, the view suddenly turned black until I got back; it was distracting. Finally, the underlying picture is... well, pretty dull. It'd have feel more rewarding if there was some battle scene or Mona Lisa reproduction or something like that. The music was fitting, but got old quickly as I tried to clean up what appears to be 640x640 worth of pixels.

Overall, while the concept could have been nice and relaxing, it's spoiled by frustrating missing spots when brooming, too large map and little reward for uncovering the picture.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar

(review #5)
Gah, right after the Pixle Cleaner I got another game which seemed to be designed to be a chore. At least this one seems more appealing visually and feels more like a CONQUEST.

Basically, the only level of this game involves navigating my unlimited army through a narrow serpentine path, conquering the enemy forces along the way. While the premise itself sounds somewhat fun (especially with the "unlimited army" part), its execution drains lot of fun from it. To name the main points - the units are super-slow and the path is so narrow that I can only move around 5-7-ish units throughout a single run. But most importantly, deselected units keep going even after reaching the intended destination, likely to their doom; it means I can't even try some time management tricks like setting the destination for one army while spawning and managing another.

From other nitpicks - the controls are reversed when compared to RTS games I played (I'm used to "left-click for select, right-click for action" scheme) and the audio is completely absent.

On a side note: for a moment I wondered if I suddenly spawned an elite unit, with a shield and a sword. Once I moved the unit, it turned out it was an ordinary once, just placed behind a badly layered rock decoration. Speaking of which, the decorations are badly layered.

Spirit Walker by Bingdom

(review #6)
7/10 too many spikes
Really, though, with its precise platforming and spikey unforgiveness this game surpasses even the OVERCOME ALL ODDS difficulty. I write this after ragequitting the level where right off the bat I'm supposed to perform two perfect jumps through the spiked tunnels in a quick succession (also, not get killed by retractable spikes in the middle), to be met later with the overhang wall jump challenge, with spikes right below the ledge. After failing there and getting a few more unsuccessful jumps I shut down my inner completionist and quit.

The game introduction started off nicely; for a moment there I was wondering if it's JacobV game due to how similarly it played out to Shred of Light, but I digress. Then I learned about the core game mechanics, with hugs and stuff, and I enjoyed these little bits of dialogue. I appreciated the general atmosphere with fantasy cave visuals and calm music.

And then, spikes happened.
At first it wasn't too bad, later on it started getting a bit annoying with how the darkness made it impossible to see potential obstacles. Then I got to spiked overhanged walls jumps and spiked tunnel jumps, and things got quite frustrating. It's a stacking of difficulty, really - the darkness that obscures obstacles (of course, dev wouldn't mind that because they know the level layout), precise timing of a jump, holding the jump key just long enough to get the exact right height, switching between side buttons to perform the overhang wall jumps etc. It may be something that developer gets desensitised to after hours of testing, but it's much harder on reviewers who get dozens of games to play (especially those who are completionists like me).

Too bad. I signed up for a cute emotional game with nice presentation, not a spikey platforming hell. While I appreciate the merits the game has, this stacking of difficulty left a bitter taste... u_u'

Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

(review #7)
I won the game. Wasn't particularly challenging, though.

The game strategy is quite simple and boils down to two phases. First, moving all units to the large pile of gold, grabbing coins and going back to produce more minions. Then, after enough minions are produced, take down the enemies and capture the key points. AI doesn't seem particularly bright, so it poses little challenge (which is somewhat compensated - but not quite enough - by its favourable starting position). If there's one thing that made the game a bit more difficult, it's wonky pathfinding and lack of clear visual indication of the conquer points state (i.e. whether they're more dominated by the player or the opponent). Also, at some point the gate would inexplicably stop spawning more minions despite having well over 15 coins, and at other times the game would teleport player units near the center.

Stll, after hunting down all enemies and capturing all points I met the winning condition, which I appreciate (sometimes Jam games lack a clear message: "Yes, you have won now", and just keep on going). Also, unlike other strategy games I've seen across Jams, this one actually use the "left-click to select, right-click to act" convention I'm used to.

As for audiovisuals, they are quite fitting, and have an interesting aesthetic going for them. For some reason, player minions remind me of lemmings.

Overall a decent entry, though somewhat unstable in terms of mechanics.

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

(review #8)
I completed the game and I still don't know what was the point of the on-boat screen (where you move around as a viking) aside from on-map screen (where you travel to the Canada).

The game... it wasn't very polished, but it had its charm. There was some variety to obstacles and enemies I faced, and while the game dragged on for a while, at least it has clearly Canadian ships near the end, giving the feeling of near completion. Aside from that, I've found the varying enemy sized pretty funny, especially when one of ships was scaled to be particularly tall (was it a LONGBOAT or what?). Also, I still can't get over that idea of an octopus appearing near the mouse cursor; I definitely didn't expect that.

The game is pretty rough when it comes to the mechanics. In particular, it took me a while to figure out how placing a mouse on land or near land doesn't allow the ship to go - I assume that only spots where the ship wouldn't collide with the land are considered valid destination points. Aside from that, I generally found collisions to be unintuitive, especially with the partial top-down perspective. The perspective suggests that e.g. the tip of the iceberg is something above the base and thus is not involved with sea-level collisions, while in reality the tip also takes part in the collision checking.

Still, it was somewhat enjoyable entry; I'm not quite sure about defying the CONQUEST as a use of theme. I mean, "we're bored of conquest, let's do something else" could justify nearly any gameplay mechanic, from warehouse keeper puzzles to fashionista dress-ups. ^^'

Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

(review #9)
Yes, I have a very specific idea of fun.
(and yes, I covered the entire map with it; if you look closely at the stats, you might notice they corresponds to 49 mills, 49 quarries, 925 barracks and 1 origin; 1024 cells in total in a 32x32 map)

It's pretty well polished and it does certainly use the CONQUEST theme; the graphics and audio work very neatly together as well. If I were to point out the greatest flaw of this game, it's the lack of strategic depth. I did well enough going around and fully conquering cells along the way, as well as cutting out enemies from their territory (I didn't even need to involve military in that, it seems). If there's any fear I had associated with the AI, it's that I had no idea where are the opponents and whether I risk getting attacked by them or not.
(on second playthrough - yeah, defeating enemies is super easy, since they usually leave a single cell wide trail that is easily broken apart; took me like 1-3 minutes to cut off all enemies, I think)

It seems to be another game which has no defined "win" conditions ending the game, which results in what I linked above.

Banana Toss by Toque

(review #10)
Pretty nice idea and I enjoyed it for a short while it lasted, though I'd have liked a "You win" screen instead of having the seemingly last level repeat over and over (I mean, the one with two whack-a-mole conquerors and two spear-throwing ones).

The gameplay mechanic was easy to learn and I didn't spot any bugs; at the same time, different kinds of enemies provided reasonable variety. The graphics involved a nice use of these game & watch aesthetics. The sound effects were appropriate, though I'd have preferred if there was some music as well. A solid entry overall.


CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames

(review #11)
A simple variation of the 1D clashing armies games. I'm just not quite sure why it's a "CardQuest" when it all boils down to selecting units in a pool (usually, I associate cards with something that, when used, is either discarded or returned to the deck).

The game provides some variety of units, but ultimately they seem pretty similar - either a melee unit like a villager/knight/thief, a ranged unit like an archer/mage/scientist or whatever the king is supposed to do. I mean, the king just shoots bullets up and the game wasn't so kind to explain what sort of benefit I get from that. Which is actually quite a relevant flaw in this game - there are some stats provided, but there's no explanation what specific stat is doing or what are special abilities of each unit. Moreover, the stats aren't shown in the shop, just in the deck-building area.

As for the gameplay itself, it isn't particularly challenging. After playing around, I've found that waiting for enough mana to gather up then sending a swarm of archers was good enough for bulldozing my way through any opponent melee units and easily taking down the ranged units as well. When it comes to audiovisuals, they aren't particularly "pretty" or polished, but there's some nice variety, especially when it comes to different battlefield backgrounds.

Victory by CardinalCoder64

(review #12)
I was victorious. Twice.

It was a nice game to play. The art wasn't exceptional, but it was pretty clear and functional. The audio fit the game as well. When it comes to the gameplay, it wasn't particularly varied or intense, but still enjoyable. One thing I've got mixed feelings about is the difficulty balancing mechanic; on the one hand, it prevents the situation when gathering more shipmates will make all islands past the first one a walk in a park, on the other hand it's pretty unexpected, and the difficulty increase is pretty steep. Also, it can be somewhat easily mitigated - after my first victory I decided to try a speedrun where I destroyed everything on every island except for the castle, and sure enough, difficulty didn't increase. Then when after the first island I released my first shipmate, the remaining islands were already cleared, so freeing everyone was a formality.

Either way, pretty enjoyable entry overall.

Also, I didn't know that a shipmate is a mate who owns own ship

King of the Ant Hill by Relic

(review #13)
This is the most satisfying strategy game I've played for this Jam thus far. I say that after defeating the enemy on hard mode.

The game was quite tricky to learn at start. In particular, the fact that I'm supposed to trace a looping path rather than broken one, or else the ant will just keep wandering aimlessly until it stumbles upon an anthill or dies. Also, there are quite many skills to take into account. Somehow, my first run didn't go that bad, but eventually I got swarmed by the enemy ants. During the subsequent runs I was trying to figure out different strategies, and eventually on 4th or 5th run I've found a strategy that earned me a victory. Overall, I like how different skills are useful in different situation; I think I used all of these maybe except for extra HP. This game involved more strategic depth than any other entry so far from this genre.

One thing I found somewhat annoying was the micromanagement of paths, as well as somewhat unclear rules about sending ants (e.g. the fact that apparently only up to 5 ants can be assigned to a single path). In particular, there were these non-looping paths that were left over even though they wouldn't be used ever again (unlike the reusable looping paths); it'd be more convenient if they disappeared after being used up. Another thing is lack of information on specific upgrade levels. I can purchase an upgrade, but I can't tell if my distribution of skills in speed, population and spawning is e.g. 6/2/2 or 4/3/3 or something else altogether. This kind of essential information should be readily available to the player.

Putting aside these flaws, though, I've found the entry quite enjoyable and challenging; while the graphics weren't exactly brilliant, audio added this fitting toy military feel. Well done. ^^

Bow before the Queen by The M

(review #14)
I let the enemy diplomat in with the message "We surrender", and then I got a fatal error. That's about as tangible of a surrender as I've ever seen in a game. Does it mean I've won?

Either way, I played around with this game a bit, and there seem to be various themes going on, with that annoyance of the admirer standing out in particular. I do like the variety of interactions and how they affect the current state. One thing I couldn't figure out is how to make more money. I never seemed to get more of these, even after taxation levels increased...

When it comes to the presentation, it was adequate - the graphics and music appropriately followed a sort of royal/aristocratic style. If there's one thing I'd like changed, is maybe making the font a bit less fancy and a bit more readable? Actually, make that two things, because having a way to upscale (e.g. by a factor of 2) would have helped, too.

Pretty solid entry overall, though I am not amused by taking away my moment of victory by that fatal error...

Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker

(review #15)
When all you have is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail. When you got a mace, too, everything starts looking like a mincemeat.

Apparently, it's a game where you are supposed to dodge. Also, you can swing a sword. And dodge. And a hammer. And dodge. And a mace. Also, have I mentioned the recommended way to play this game is to dodge?
I'm a rebel, though, and the mace was OP enough that I took down most enemies before they even noticed me mowing down their ranks; in large part, it's thanks to mace being able to pass through walls. To be fair, though, even without walls it's pretty OP. I must admit, though, dodging got pretty useful during that last boss fight; I don't think mace alone would be enough to get me through it.

Balancing aside, I've found this entry mildly enjoyable, though it got intense only during the last battle. The audiovisuals were decent enough (though at first I thought the main character is a sentient eyeball), and the variety of my attacks was nice, though I'd really have preferred if mace wasn't put at Left Shift button, considering how often it's used. A good game overall.

Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

(review #16)
Gah, that last level was brutal. Still, after lots of cursor dancing I emerged victorious.
(thank goodness I didn't have to play it on a touchpad; it'd be a living hell)

Either way, while this entry doesn't have particularly great graphics and the premise is quite simple, I've found it to work pretty well. In particular, I appreciate the combination of enemy attacks used - on the one hand there are player aimed bullets which are best handled by quick micrododging, on the other hand there are lingering gas clouds which in turn drive player away from a specific spot for a while (thank goodness there are these warnings beforehand, though for later part I'd suggest making the cloud harmless as soon as it starts fading out).

Not much else to say except that I've found entry quite enjoyable and I smiled at this intruduction story bit. If there's anything that story was missing, it was the word "inferior".

Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

(review #17)
"Huh, Axem Conquest? Like, Axe'em Conquest?"
(notices the main character sttacking with an axe)
"Oh, okay."

I give you that, the level design and general presentation was pretty nice. But there wasn't much gameplay to speak of, just swinging that axe back and forth at opponents (also, took me a while to figure out I use Control to axe in the first place). Also, seems to be another one of these games where you benefit from spamming the attack button. I prefer either having rare, but strong attacks (maybe it's not exactly the cooldown that limits them, but rather the very act of attack lasts long), or frequent reloadable attacks performed by holding (not pressing) attack button.
(I can remember the same thing happening with Victory and Click to Conquer, by the way, though in the latter case it's somewhat justified by mouse cursor being the protagonist)

Aside from that, I haven't found anything particularly memorable about this game. It was basically over before I started getting into it, sadly... ^^'

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

(review #18)
It's one of these games where subtitles would really help a lot.

That aside, while I've found graphics quite stellar, I'm afraid in terms of gameplay this game is no match to Spud Pump from a few Jams back. There are still ways to go.

If there's one thing I'd ask for, it's that if you put together a joke game, please at least don't claim to have made a genuine game when it's actually not quite one. I hoped for something at least as playable as that tentacles platformer from many Jams ago and was disappointed to find out it's not. This can lead to trust issues, you know... u_u'

Due to the single post characters limit, the rest of the reviews is in this post.
 
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Bingdom

Googledom
Bingdom's Epic Reviews
Look mum, I'm on TV Edition!


Please don't take this with malice. My comments may seem rough, but it's all constructive criticism.

I also ran out of time (might be able to fill in more later tonight), but I did manage to get a lot more votes in. Reviews are more rushed than the last 6 I did.

Full ranking:


  1. Bow before the Queen by The M
  2. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  3. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  4. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  5. Britskrieg by Allison James
  6. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  7. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  8. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  9. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  10. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  11. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  12. Banana Toss by Toque
  13. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  14. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  15. Tank-You by Evan EvanSki
  16. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  17. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  18. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  19. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Comments:

Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

I entered this game without a clue what to do. Then these guys started running towards me. I then jumped over while building on the right, and couldn't find myself out of it. Only then to be shortly introduced by a bombardment of noise. I then noticed I could attack with control. I restarted it and gave it another go.

Killed the guys, and jumped over the castle again. Nothing happened.

Anyways, that was my story with it. I don't really have much to say when it comes to feedback. There's really too little to give feedback on, other than that the screen is way too small.

Please don't take this with any malice. I know how myself can get a bit sensitive when I read reviews sometimes.

If this is your first game jam, then congratulations! You're on the right track. My advice would be to practice, get more experience, and study game design.

Banana Toss by Toque

I didn't like the idea that the enemies move quickly.

Maybe if there was a marker where my banana would land, it would help.

Bow before the Queen by The M

This was a good entry, except that it was way too small. This made the font a little difficult to read. Thankfully, you can fullscreen with Alt+Enter.

Story writing, world-building, etc was good. I couldn't sit myself an entire playthrough of this though. This is just a personal preference.
I couldn't find a way to build up "money" and the term "work" felt ambiguous to me. Work felt like either "work available" or "workload". Initially, I thought it was workload, but the dialog indicated that it was available to work.
I did initially select a project to do at the beginning, which was confusing as to why "work" stayed at 100%. Hence my initial interpretation.

So yep, this has been a good entry. I don't follow what you do much, but I like to see that you do something different every time.

Britskrieg by Allison James

I liked the graphics, and the approach you were going for.

The UI was way too big. Maybe a way to hide it during gameplay would be nice.

Chroma Crown by JacobV

The game had a good art direction.
The controls were sluggish and didn't feel good, however.
Gameplay also felt weak and slow.
I also don't see where the theme comes to play.

Just a personal note: you seem to make similar games for these jams. I'd like to see something different. Try something that will push yourself.

Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

This was a good entry. I found that the sounds from multiple cannons shooting were very aggressive.
I also found the gameplay a bit lacking in variety. Maybe you could've introduced the gas dispensers at later levels, maybe turrets that could temporarily block the ability to capture an island, etc.
Random pitch changes change a lot with sounds. I'd recommend experimenting with it.

Anyways, good effort for a game put out in a short time.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar

Once I learnt what I needed to do, I automatically felt that the gameplay was too long.
It would've been nice if each level was much shorter, and introduced a new mechanic for each new level.

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

I didn't like how I had to hit space to advance in the intro sequence.
Watching the ball wasn't a fun wait. If It was a clear miss, I'd like to skip the wait.

I also didn't like that the camera didn't auto focus on the trebuchet when I was about to take a shot. I'd like my eyes to be ready before taking a shot. It helps me learn the nature of the trebuchet..
I know you can pan by having the mouse on the corner of the screen, but this takes too much time.

Anyways, it was a good take on the crush the castle concept (if that's where you got the idea from. I used to play that game :p). It also had good art.

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

Text is a bit broken at the start, which makes it a bit hard to read.

It has a nice charm, and the graphics is good.

The gameplay feels slow (character move speed, character transisitons), lacks in variety (no new hazards), and unrewarding.
I do notice it does introduce puzzles, but I feel that the introductory pace is a bit slow.
Sometimes I feel cheated because I get confused when I can actually move again, only to screw up my movement.

Everyhing is pretty small too, which makes it hard to see the fine details.

It does follow an interesting concept, which I like.

I couldn't see a match in theme though.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

I felt that there was poor balance. I can make my army consist of only swordsmen and I'd win every time.
I also felt that turns were out of balance. I could pretty much destroy the enemy in one turn, and the enemy has no change at recovering.

Attack sequences should've been a bit shorter. The troops felt like they had too much health.

The graphics was ok, and the music was good.

Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

It felt that the game was lacking deeper gameplay. I wandered around and noticed that the AI seems to focus on the top-right of the map/ predictable patterns. So I could just focus on stamping on them and win the game.

If this had faster gameplay, this certainly would've been more enjoyable. More types of buildings to help develop strategies would've helped too. A smaller map, fewer players, procedural terrain generation... are some ideas.

I understand these suggestions are difficult to fit with the small timeframe, but hopefully, you can take these ideas to help improve on your (future) game(s).

Anyways, good entry. The graphics where alright, but might've eaten up too much time for you to focus on gameplay.

Mini Civilizations by Lukan

I can sort of see where you're going with this, but it feels very incomplete.

I think you're already aware of the issues, but here's a few anyway; the red rectangle overlays the UI, cannot move your troops again after a partial move, UI is unintuitive.

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

One thing I quickly notice is that the Viking head is blatant "Pixel honeydew" from the Yogscast.

I found that the music at the start was ok. After that, it was just a simple piano note, which wasn't all that appealing. The assets are imbalanced with quality.

After I started the game, I started wandering around the ship without a clue what to do. I restarted the game and realised that there was a controls menu. I did set sail, only to move mindlessly around the map and get hit by invisible hitboxes.

It's a good approach to keep pixel resolutions the same throughout the game. Having stretched/ scaled sprites relative to other sprites is a bad idea.

I wish you better luck for the next Jam. I hope you don't take this as any malice. It's hard to provide feedback on a small game. As I've advised with someone else. If you're new to game making, you're on the right track. Keep practising, research game design, etc.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

bestest pontatot coquost. pontota over da wuld

Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

I think you may be already aware of some of these issues, but I'm going to point them out anyway.

Pathfinding is important in an rts game.
Enemies need to have better AI. It seems the only goal is to build up your own army big enough to defeat their stagnated army.
For a game like this, I expect there should be some sort of build functionality and strategy. I understand that there's a limited time. Hopefully, you've learnt by now that rts games aren't really the go-to for Jam games.

I found that the characters and walls were way too small. It was difficult navigating them to the enemies hiding in those red chunks. I also found the collisions with it a bit odd.

There was a lot of things unclear. What are the capture points? Why was the turret at the enemy base shooting at me? Oh, it looks exactly the same as the other towers on the map, just the one next to the enemy base happens to shoot my guys. I did eventually notice the capture points when I noticed I started to gain coins. I'm trying to say is try to make the game as user-friendly as possible. Think like the player.

The placement crosshairs sometimes stick too.

Anyways, good entry.

Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

Enemies should die when they touch your base, otherwise you're giving the user a weak excuse to waste their resources.

It was initially a bit confusing as to why I couldn't place down my towers, but I soon learnt that some gets placed on the path of the enemies, while others get placed on the outside.
I felt that the idea of the game came to me be a bit late. I have already placed down my first harmless tree, wihout realising they don't deal any damage. I then realised that I'm supposed to use them to slow down the enemy. Which felt like it ruined my first game.

Anyways, the art was good.

Tank-You by Evan EvanSki

I was stuck on the homescreen for a bit, but thanks to my frantic button spamming, I worked out I had to shoot.
The start was a bit slow to start. I feel that the countdown was a bit unnecessary.
I had myself stuck in the top-left of the map, surrounded by sandbags. I saw W appear on the tank, but I was already holding it to move forwards.
Kinda unfortunate, as I pressed every button I could think of in hopes I could break the sandbags. Shooting them appears to do nothing.

Slow turning speeds and no reverse is not a good choice.
No readme either.

The Imperialist by Azure Knight

Maybe because I didn't play long enough, but I only encounted one enemy type.

I could hardly find a match to the theme either.

These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

I felt that the gameplay was too long, too plain, and not rewarding. The objectives felt like a menial task.
I would've liked if the the player wasn't so constrained to planets, and that they could move at their own will while in space.

It also seems I'd fly indefinetly when I don't aim for a planet, which means I'd have to start all over.
 
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B

Baukereg

Guest
Still pending...

ALPS
The world rotating around the player kinda makes me dizzy, doesn't work for me. The game lacks anything to make it stand out from simular shooting games. At least strafing would improve the overal gameplay. The 3D effect is nice.
6/10

Apocalypse Chronicles
Why is my movement constrained when I shoot? Shooting and moving is 99% of the gameplay, but it's no fun this way. Also lacks an original take on the genre.
2/10

Axem Conquest
Love the retro color palette. Biggest problem though is that most of the time I wasn't even sure whether I'd hit an enemy. There's no visual feedback (like animation, or blood particles).
4/10

Banana Toss
Lovely graphics, really takes me back to the one-game handhelds of days long gone. Control scheme is a bit weird though, why not enable arrow keys just as well? Overall nice concept with potential.
6/10

Bow before the Queen
Great concept, reminds me a lot of Reigns. Would have definitely played it some more if the text was easier to read. Pick a better font, add more out of the box scenario's, and you have yourself a very nice game.
7/10

Britskrieg
I can imagine a lot of people being fed up with the UK at the moment. I don't want to dip my toes into politics too much, but let me say politely that making a game about Brittain taking over the world... meh. I have a weak spot for games that have the entire world as its playfield though. I had no idea what was going on, which kept me from playing any longer. Graphics looks pretty solid, although the world map could use some more space.
6/10

Card Quest
I like the concept, but picking cards it basically just a choice between spawning a lot of weak units or just a few heavy hitters. Card games are popular these days, so without interesting tactics and cool synergies your game won't stand out. No full screen is a let down as well. But overall not too bad really. Keep it up!
6/10

Chroma Crown
The pixel art is amazing. Impressive really. But I can't get rid of the feeling that most of this game has been made before the game jam even started. Not just because pixel art of this level usually takes a great amount of time, but because I absolutely see no connection at all to the conquest subject. Even if I'm wrong here, a game jam in my opinion is not about production value but about concepting and experimenting. The colour switching isn't enough to elevate this game from being just a basic platformer. I'd rather see a crazy out-of-the-box concept with placeholder art than an average game with beautiful graphics.
4/10

Click to Conquer
I dig the idea of the mouse cursor being your star ship. Easy to pick up by everyone, no difficult control scheme's. The clicking is tiresome though and it gets repetitive after just a few stages.
5/10

Conquer the Treasure
Difficult control scheme and the conquest subject is far fetched. But a great game none the less. Despite some minor frustrating parts, the level design is amazing with well thought out progression and learning curve. Platforming works like a charm even for this low resolution style. The art is lovely and I love the subtle but effective use of particles. Great job.
7/10

Conquest of Lem
I really wish to give this game a better rating because I really like the idea. Spawning infinite numbers of units and most of them falling down is a lot of fun. Gameplaywise there isn't enough variation and there are too many annoyances, like depth problems and selecting units.
5/10

Conquest of the Olympus
The art style and audio definitely hit the right spot. Not a lot of content but the overall idea is good. The limitation of only shooting upwards and the tension of charging up while being in the middle of action make for a lot of potential. It just needs more levels to further exploit the concept. Penalty points for not having any connection with the conquest subject.
6/10
 
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Evanski

Raccoon Lord
Forum Staff
Moderator
EvanSki's Reviews
You all did well in your own shape and form, Even if you were not first, you made something, be proud of that! :)

Top 3:

1# Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
This game is really good, I 'd love to see it as a full game.

2# Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
I love this, it was funny, it was great

3# Chroma Crown by JacobV
I died then it crashed, but other then that I like the art style and story and think this game has a lot of potintal

Full ranking:

  1. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  2. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  3. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  4. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  5. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  6. ALPS by GameDevDan
  7. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  8. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  9. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  10. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  11. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio
  12. Banana Toss by Toque
  13. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  14. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  15. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  16. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  17. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  18. Britskrieg by Allison James
  19. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  20. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  21. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  22. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  23. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  24. Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
  25. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  26. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  27. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  28. Bow before the Queen by The M
  29. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  30. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  31. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  32. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  33. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  34. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  35. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  36. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

Comments:
 
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Sadly I didn't get to thoroughly play every game submitted, so I don't feel right voting at the last minute. I did, however, play every entry for a little bit and I enjoyed every one in some way. Thank you everybody for participating, this was a fun jam!
 
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V

VagrantWhaleGames

Guest
Reviews

Top 3:


I'd Move Mountains
Lt. Farfetch'd

Bow before the Queen
The M

Chroma Crown
JacobV



Best ofs:

Best use of THEME: Britskrieg by Allison James
Best Concept: Bow before the Queen by The M
Best Presentation: Spirit Walker by Bingdom
Best Story: Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
Best Devlog: Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

Comments:

ALPS by GameDevDan

Amazing game! This has to be one of the more fun games for me, just romping around destroying the city. Graphics are perfect for the game. Sadly, after a few minutes of playing I started to feel a bit dizzy. Not sure if this was the camera perspective, zoom or the turning. Could just be me, still...awesome game!

Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal

Impressive that this game feels so complete. Main menu, options settings, difficulty settings and even a boss. I'm a fan of shoot em ups so this is up my alley, but had some trouble getting use to the restricted movement while firing. Almost gave me the feeling of being stuck in quicksand everytime I started to fire. Even with that it was a lot of fun and a good feeling when a game has a sort of finale.

Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

I'm a fan of the art in this game. Started the first level and had some enemies come at me, they ended up getting stuck in the border between inside and outside the room. Got to the end of the level but couldn't figure out what to do next. I think some more feedback for the player (when he hits an enemy, selects a level, basic controls or what his goal is) would help a lot.

Banana Toss by Toque

Fun game, I always enjoy the presentation of games like this. Everything feels really cohesive. Though I got hit by a spear and died afted I had already beaten the level.

Bow before the Queen by The M

I really really like the style of this game. I'm a fan of the small screen retro style, the sound effects, art and gameplay. It all comes together into a great little game. I like how the details are kind of obscured so you must find what works based on your own thoughts mixed with what information the characters tell you.

Britskrieg by Allison James

Another game that feels very professional and polished. As someone who always has trouble with UI elements this game is very inspiring. Commands are simple and easy to execute and enough info is displayed. Very important for a strategy game.

Chroma Crown by JacobV

Some really nice art in this one and the main mechanic of color switching was great. Didn't expect it to be applied to the enemies as well, that was cool. One thing for me was it was hard to tell when I was doing damage to minions, a little bit more feedback for the player when he hits would be awesome.

Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

I like that this is a faster paced clicker game and was kinda funny having them throw my mouse around.

Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games

This is a really great concept and turned out to be a really fun playthrough. Could see a lot of potential in this sort of game.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar

I like this concept a lot, I just think it needs a bit more going on. It seems the objective is to try and keep my units from falling off the slide of the map by micromanaging their movement. I think this would be great if it was almost more like lemmings. Using tools/enviornment and objects to help your minions get to the goal. Also having a set number of units being able to spawn would make some more challening gameplay.

Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio

I like this game. It's very professional looking, has some interesting attack mechanics and all...but I'm not a fan of getting 1 shot. I could just not be very good at these sorts of games, but it gets tedious dying over and over especially when the charge attack requires you to charge up.

Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

When I first opened this game I almost immediately shut it because I thought it was bugged. Eventually I realized it was suppose to be a simulation of me jumping like in a battle royale game. Honestly not at all what I would expect but it wasn't bad. I ran into similar problems I have in all BR games, running around not finding anyone and already looted boxes. Eventually found a rifle, enjoyed the style of the shooting mechanics and got a kill. Only saw one NPC and he was unarmed, he basically just ran away while melee attacking. I'm guessing he would have tried to fight if he had a weapon.

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

This game was a lot of fun and the art is simple but nice and easy on the eyes. I enjoyed the story too, even though it was pretty short was pretty funny. I ended up finishing it...reminded me of some of the flash games I use to play as a kid.

Goating Up by iBlackpen

This is really clean looking, I really like the style! It's sort of like the undertale combat system expanded into its own game. Though it was pretty dang hard I didn't get very far, seemed like it went from 0 to 60 pretty quickly.

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

Great game, this one stand out with some really awesome gameplay mechanics. Nice art and presentation makes this game feel really well done.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

This game is a cool mix of strategy like boardgame and siege attack/defense. Presentation was nice and clean, everything worked great. I really enjoyed the battles but the added bonus of taking over the map was nice.

Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

I like this game, easy to understand and play. Though if the challenge was ramped up it may be a bit more engaging.

Mini Civilizations by Lukan

The movement and pace of this game is the real killer. Concept is okay and a lot you could expand on...but the somewhat clunky controls and restricted movement of units made the game a bit slow.

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam

Nice little clicker game with some added upgrades and a drill to get ores and cash. I enjoy the visuals, they're simple but somewhat charming and I like the hand drawn backgrounds.

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

This is a good foundation, I like switching between sailing and boat interior, but I'd like to be able to go explore different items and maybe have some sort of combat or goal. Could be a cool concept for a viking like oregon trail.

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

Another cool concept but seems to be a bit unfinished. Good start just needs more gameplay elements to make it a game.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

GG.

Professor Heinous by HayManMarc

Mixed feelings about this game. The concept is actually solid and has a lot you can expand on, but first time I played my character got stuck due to collisions. After playing a bit I realized I could spawn infinite units, no resource, cooldown and no unit cap. If there was some sort of enemy or something to overcome you would have some legit mechanics.

Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

Wanted to try this one a lot, graphics were awesome but I kept getting an error, the game couldn't find the ship instance.

Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

Nice tower defense game. Pretty fleshed out, good amount of units to choose from and they all seem to have a purpose. Level of difficulty was also very nice, kept it interesting and kept me thinking.

Spirit Walker by Bingdom

A simple platformer but extremely polished! Everything felt really great in this game from the art, to the sound to the levels. I had a lot of fun with this one.

Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf

This game has a lot going on. Boasting some advanced gameplay systems, a save & load function, along with this beautiful UI...This game feels very professional.

Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa

This game was a lot of fun, I was really enjoying the gameplay. Good mechanic throwing and retreiving your weapon and enemies that complemented the style well. The level up system was pretty intuitive as well.

Tank-You by EvanSki

I couldn't figure out how to get past the sandbags in the fist level I was kinda trapped in a corner. The controls seemed pretty interesting but couldn't get out of the corner to test them out.

The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde

First thing I felt while playing this game is that my character moves way to fast. I guess that could be a gameplay element to help you dodge and set up shots, but it was almost hard to control. The charge shot is a nice idea, it seems to penetrate through enemies, but for this to be useful I think there needs to be more enemies or have an AI that complements that mechanic.

The Empire by TinyGamesLab

This was a nice relaxing strategy game for me. Presentation and mechanics were professional, instructions were nice and clear and the AI enemy was good too.

The Imperialist by Azure Knight

Art style was a bit intense, especially when you're flying really fast. It is way too busy and hard on the eyes. Couldn't find any enemies to fight but the ship was really nice to control.

These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

Fun mechanics that need to be a little more fleshed out. I liked flying around to different planets to see what resources they had. A couple things I noticed were that you can give items to outposts even after you completed their request and I couldn't really figure out how to build anything with the number keys. Also, traveling to planets (especially if you had an iron forge etc on it) gets a little tedious when you're far away.

Victory by CardinalCoder64

This game is a bit basic but I really like the combat mechanics you have and I like just kinda sailing the ship around. This could be expanded with lots of cool stuff!

King Of The Ant Hill by Relic

I had fun with this game but the battle seemed like a war of attrition. Every time I thought I had made some progress the enemy would take back 2-3 of my ant hills. Eventually I settled on a strategy where I would find the anthill that was nearest to a food source and put every line there to gather food, this will give you lots of food pretty quickly. Even after I had upgraded my ants, I still had the feeling they didn't stand up to the red ants. Overall a great strategy game and I was impressed by the AI. One issue I saw was that if you don't complete a loop back to your base while ants are gathering food, sometimes they wander off....this could be intentional though. Some more info to the player on his ant statistics and current upgrade level, along with maybe a more noticeable upgrade but less of them, might make this game more engaging.
 
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2Dspessman

Member
2Dspessman'S REVIEWS AND VOTES

1st Place - Island of Risk
I voted for this game because I enjoyed playing it, I could clearly see the theme being used.

2nd Place - Blitzkrieg
I voted for this game because it was clearly made in 48 hours due to how closely it follows the theme, it has a story and I think is programming is impressive. That said I didn't enjoy it that much, too ambitious, but regardless I think it is very impressive in general

3rd Place - Simple Village Conquest
I voted for this game because I really enjoyed the gameplay, the theme use was there not as strongly as I would have liked but you clearly incorporated the theme in your story and added elements (the prisoners and the village having been conquered) of the theme to the game play.

Best Ofs
Best use of theme: Island of Risk
Best concept: Sci Domination
Best presentation: Blitzkrieg

This is my review of the following games, for clarity this is how I rate a game:
How closely does it match the theme, then how fun and how stable it is and lastly how pretty and good sounding it is. This is a 48 hour game jam, I would rather play a game with ms paint drawings that matches the theme and tries something new than the most gorgeous and fun platformer that has nothing to do with the theme.


There will be spelling mistakes, 35 games is alot and I don’t have time to proof read them all.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


1.Island of Risk: a very nice and fun game, you used the theme correctly and produced a great game, good job.


2.Blitzkrieg: an impressive game about taking over the world, I did not finish it (obviously) but very good graphics and use of the theme.


3.Simple Village Conquest: go in and conquer a village that has been conquered, I loved this game, good use of theme, would have been better if there was some conquesting mechanics instead of just the story


4.ALPS: a lovely game where you conquer the Earth, nice cartoon graphics, couldn’t get past second level I'll admit, I kept dying and the 3d effect made me a bit nauseous. Overall a very nice game


5.King of the anthill: very good use of the theme, gameplay was interesting and fun. I enjoyed the graphics and the sound effects they matched the theme of your game and by extension the theme of the game-jam

6.Sci Domination: interesting game, use minions to collect gold and capture locations, I got a fatal error once about unable to find player character. Correct use of theme yay.

7.The Empire: charming graphics and great use of the theme, I conquered all the planets but I didn’t win it just went on for ever, but still good use of the theme



8.My righteous conquest: fun game, graphics were nice and clean, ended up abusing a glitch which let me keep upgrading the first 5 extra move tile. Then died from starvation. Overall a good game, lack of sound is understandable due to time limits. It doesn’t match the theme heavily except if you mean by conquering nature, but I didn’t see a lot of conquering unfortunately.


9.Apocalypse chronicles: theme is used via story and word play, you are conquest horse man, used love arrows and play through the story, I didn’t get to finish it, I am not good at these games :( maybe at a later date ill get the courage to play it again.


10.Victory: save your friends and become stronger to save more friends, it was a horrible control scheme, and the last castle has ridiculous hp, my hand is sore after spamming the left click so much. However, it was still a good game, I just wish you could conquer the islands or something.


11.The conquest of Castlecrest: a simple game where you defend against a conquest. Simple and sticks with the theme, even if not by mechanics


12.Professor Heinous: weird little game, but you correctly used the conquest theme and conquer buildings with potatoes.


13.I’d move mountains: beautiful art and music it impressive how it was made in 48 hours, game play was a bit repetitive, this may have only been an issue for me, but I had unresponsive controls and incorrect inputs, on one occasion I pressed left and went right. I couldn’t finish the game, got too frustrated at the level where you latch onto the roof and fall then time the move to latch onto the floating block, either the controls or myself kept missing it. Technically you use the theme conquest to overcome a mountain... but I don't think that is a really good use of the theme.

14.Conquest of lem: a lemmings game, where you control soldiers who want to commit suicide to destroy the houses and thus conquer the land. Interesting mechanics, even if it was very tedious to get the lemmings to a point. I can see the use of the theme, not exactly conquering but pretty close.

15.These Planets are mine: jump around planets and trade items to get their loyalty and say you conquered them. It was a good game, it somewhat used the theme correctly. I kept flying to space and had to restart.

16.Conquer the treasure: beautiful game, very impressive to have made all that in 48hours and still have time to make all the levels, well done. However, you used theme to conquer treasure, but unfortunately all I see is a platformer where you run to the end grab treasure and drop it off, I wouldn’t call that conquering unfortanelty.



17.Everything is better with a Trebuchet: fun game, physics are impressive for a 48 hour jam, couldn’t finish the bungie man level though. I didn’t see much in term of conquest other than the trebuchet which is often used to conquer I guess.



18.Spirit of the forest: no music and its has more of a defence theme going than conquest, but the game was enjoyable to play and art style matched what you were trying to accomplish, not sure what the life shroom did, but I found that tough trees and shoot shrooms looked like a very good combo.

19.Bow Before the Queen: Im not sure if I missed something, all I did was click, I gave up after a while, I didn’t see much conquest other than a few battles (that were explained by the general). Also, the screen size made it difficult to continue playing, I alt-entered to get full screen but I struggled to read the font.

20.Kingdom conquest: couldn’t figure out what to do, killed all the other ai by blocking their trail back to their base, then just started building mines and lumber… not sure what I was supposed to do. Music and sound was good, I could see the theme even if I didn’t get to see it in action, gameplay seems a bit unfinished though

21.Mini civilizations: wasn’t sure what I was meant to do, I got a fatal error once, and I claimed a whole bunch of Teepees. Clear attempt at using the theme congrats.

22.Cardquest: I didn’t get far, I could only buy the villager and couldn't win any battles. Good use of theme, from what I played it has some nice gameplay, but its not stable unforunatley.

23.Axem conquest: I like the graphics it looks retro, sound was a slight problem, but I see an attempt was made, I didn’t figure out that control got out the axe until I remembered reading another review mentioning this issue. Once I knew this I just ran to the end and quickly cut the flag pole for all three levels.


24.The imperialist: a top down space shooter game, where you go to areas and fight for a score: I can almost see the theme, with going to specific areas… but you don’t capture them and you don’t have to even defeat everyone just stay in that area for long enough.


25.Spirit walker: a game with lovely graphics and music, you play as a spirit infecting people with a ghost disease while performing more and more complex platforming, I couldn’t finish the game the random spikes from the floor in the darkness felt like artificial difficulty and after dying about 25 times I gave up, sorry. In this game I assume you conquer peoples hearts, but I think that’s a weak use of the theme at best.


26.Chroma crown: beautiful graphics, sound was good when it played as well, impressive how these were all made in 48 hours, didn’t see much in terms of the theme though. I couldn’t get past the massive bug enemies and after my 6th attempt the game sent me back to the start of the game? I did accidentally open another instance of the game when searching for a readme but closed it down straight away so that may have been the cause. Unfortanely, this game really suffers from lack of theme there are colour shifting mechanics and an action platformer with beautiful graphics and sounds but no conquest mechanics.

27.Conquest of Olympus: didn’t get far its hard, didn’t see any conquest theme though, except maybe story, sorry it was too hard for me to get far enough to see the end.

28.Conquest Royale – Booty of Treasure Island: should have seen a battle royale coming, a lot of features that make it hard to believe this was made in 48 hours. Unfortunately it is very similar to a battle-royale game and has no conquest elements and is very glitchy.

29.Goating up: dodge game like Undertale, with Undertale like graphics… I could not see any use of the theme “conquest” in it, so I cant rate it high.

30.Super Mana Force Ultra: incredible pixel art hard to believe it was made in 48 hours, game play unfortunately has nothing to do with conquest, and there is no story so I cant rate this high.

31.Banana Toss: cute game that’s like the old hand held games. In terms of theme it didn’t really do anything outstanding, you just throw bananas and doge spears, I don’t really see the use of conquest.


32.Oh Canada: I couldn’t figure out what to do, Im assuming you never got to finish it past the cut-scene and walking around the boat, too bad because I was interested to see what was gonna happen.


33.Tank-you: tank game, unfinished, no use of the theme, could barley get out for the hole I was placed in.

34.Pixel cleaners pixel conquest: things went wrong very fast, I lost the ability to clean sections by walking over things, after launching a huge number of balls by spam clicking the balls would move any longer, got some frame rate issues and when I ran off the map weird things happened to the score. Theme use?…


35.Pontatot Conquest of Da Moon: Nani!?

Unranked: Stellar Destiny: I am not confident yet to play this, allot of reading, comes with its own multi-page game manual.

Edit: some spelling, fixed ordering (I skipped a number), added stellar destiny to unranked for now, clarified a few points, deleted herobrine, formatting issue fixes, etc
 
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Alice

Darts addict
Forum Staff
Moderator
Continuing from this post.

Comments (2nd half):

Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf

(review #19)
To be frank, I don't think strategy games should borrow UI patterns from operating systems. ^^'

The game has been quite a hassle to me. It's not that its gameplay mechanic is particularly bad, but rather the way the user interface is handled; there are quite a lot of flaws to point out.
First of all, I can't think of any instance when a single left-mouse click wouldn't be preferred to a double-click. Second, I don't need a ton of overlapping windows when I just want to check my ship data; a simple interface to the side would suffice (it's been done pretty well in The Empire by TinyGamesLab). Also, the manual has been provided as a separate document, which for a game this complex had me switching back and forth between the game and the help. Also, while it shows characteristic planets and spaceships of each alien type, they feel too indistinguishable for me to memorise them (maybe more colours would help). Finally, the game closes after it's finished, so after each failed attempt I had to run the game again.

It took me several efforts to reach the victory. First I played humans, then I decided I'd rather play as Yog Sothoths (originally they had different name, but not any more pronouncable). Then I started out with 100% planet development for seveal turns, and only then started doing the research and eventually producing ships. Thanks to that I could spawn decent quality ships relatively quickly. I won a bunch of battles, set out to explore planets, eventually got to the point where I could see a mass of uninhabited planets and finally overwhelmed all opponents. After this successful run, I kinda feel like either my strategy got good (unlikely) or the game races are unbalanced (more likely).

I wouldn't exactly claim it's a bad game, but I feel the interface is needlessly convoluted, using double-clicks and windows where single clicks and a side panel would suffice. Aside from that, visuals were appropriate and I somewhat enjoyed the music. Nice job, overall.

Goating Up by iBlackpen

(review #20)
In this entry we take control of a young goat put through five trials by two supervisors - Sir Ramsey and Balthazar. The trials are difficult, but after enough learning and finding the right routes they can be reliably passed. The whole ordeal is presented with monochromatic, yet well-drawn artwork; however, there are no sounds of any kind to accompany the challenge. Also, I must mention the variety of before-play prompts and masters' remarks, making the game ever so lively. I'm just not quite certain how it relates to CONQUEST theme. If anything, OVERCOME ALL ODDS seems like a better fit.

In this genre, there is a fine tradition of leaving some margin between the collision area and the character's pictorial representation so that slight imprecisions won't spell out the player's loss. Sadly, this tradition is not upheld here. Perhaps I wouldn't make the collision area as faint as that of a shrine maiden, but leaving the outline out of the collision should already grant some breathing room. I say, that room was much needed in the final challenge, when I had to navigate my goat through a maze of maceheads. Indeed, it seems I have some bad luck with spikes, since it's not the first time this Jam I faced great difficulty because of these. I would rather have maces on my side, thank you very much.

From other technicalities, I was displeased with the choice to use WSAD control scheme exclusively, especially in a game that doesn't use mouse. Arrows are much more intuitive and reliable choice, as they don't rely on a specific keyboard scheme.

Regrettably, once I succeeded in overcoming all five trials, I have found the conclusion to be the most unsatisfactory - as if the creator had so little faith in players' perseverance they didn't actually expect anyone to emerge victorious. Simply put, all the core interface elements were removed and the masters went completely silent, leaving the young goat to wander aimlessly in its prison for all eternity. Such a resolution after all these hardships is truly unbecoming; even a word of acknowledgement and praise would go the long way.

While the game itself provided an entertaining challenge, I cannot overlook the complete absence of sounds and - more importantly - the disappointing conclusion.

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

(review #21)
When all you have is a trebuchet, everything starts looking like a siege.
...dammit, I paraphrased that already!

In this charming game we solve people's mundane problems with trebuchet's grace and it goes about as well as it sounds. I managed to save the cat and improve the view, at least. I wonder if these final remarks change depending on player's performance, and how many levels can be completed in a "bad" or "good" way. I know that I got the dude to touch the platform, but somehow it didn't register as a success, is it even possible?
(considering that the police takes the protagonist away because of the skyscraper and only then mentions things like destroying a house or killing the dude, I have a feeling each level has a "good" clear condition, but the condition itself is unclear to me)

The game generally works well and is somewhat entertaining, though the occasional long waiting between one shot and another was mildly annoying. When it comes to graphics, it's cartoonishly deformed, but generally works pretty well (especially with the absurd story). Also, somehow I didn't need to check the credits to guess that Waterflame music was used here.

Overall, one of the highlights of this Jam.

--- EDIT ---
Oh well, after consulting ghandpivot it turns out only the cat level and the skyscraper level allow some sort of peaceful resolution. Still a fun game, though.

Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games

(review #22)
Look at that magnificent speedrun
(and I just wanted to pause...)

This was quite a challenging and varied platformer. At first, I had troubles with controls, since jump button was right between the throw/drop button; I'd have preferred if jump was done with up arrow key - keeping the arrows for movement and letters for action. I eventually got used to it, but it was still somewhat inconvenient. There were also several obstacles and an enemy to keep the gameplay fresh, which I appreciate; though the later levels except for the very last one felt a bit simplistic. Another thing - the gold felt way too slidey; usually I'd expect the gold (or virtually anything else, really) to stay at place after landing in the ground. Overall, though, the challenge was quite entertaining.

The graphics were a good use of retro style, though I wouldn't mind getting a bit more detail. Another thing to point out - the birds with their intense dark colours felt a bit too much like a foreground - I've caught myself many times trying to avoid the birds as another obstacle, even though consciously I knew they aren't a threat. I think if the birds had their colours faded to match the sky, they'd appear more distant and feel more like a part of the background. As for music, it wasn't bad, though felt a bit generic, as if it could fit some futuristic platformer as well.

As for theme, I feel like it was somewhat forced. I don't quite feel like treasure is something being conquered; obtained, collected maybe, but conquered...? I dunno.
On the other hand, I chuckled at the "treasure died" game over message. ^_^

Also, there's one mistake I should point out. The game says in the third level "spikes are bad". I think the phrasing you meant to use was "spikes are evil".

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

(review #23)
Just for the record, when you conquer all territories, you just can keep raising your army indefinitely; so no crashes, at least.

I've never played Risk, so I can't quite compare it to the original game. What I can tell is that it has some pretty interesting strategy element, especially with all that armies being moved around and such. On the other hand, it seems that it can be broken somewhat easily by putting lots of army in a single place, then have that army traverse the enemy territories during attack mode, one by one. Well, it would have worked if not the fact that, for some reason, I couldn't move my army between two specific territories despite the to-be-attacked territory lighting up green. That's some serious bug that thankfully didn't cost me the play, but it very well could have. (also, there were these confusing negative numbers; at least they were mentioned in README as the bug I should ignore)

The part that I've found the most tedious was the battle mode. It takes about 5-10 seconds before the armies even start to engage, and then it can go for several dozen more without any player intervention needed. Also, the seemingly random unit speeds means that going forward causes army to spread out, and I have no way to put it back together at a desired spot without engaging with the enemy. Either way, I would rather have the map section more polished and have the battle outcome determined e.g. by dice rolls instead (each dice roll for each defender or something), which might or might not be what the original game is doing.

By the way, after some experimenting it turned out probably the most effective way of dealing with enemies is spawn lots of swordsman, wait for the enemy to come nearby while spreading out their army and then send your tight-knit group of swordsmen to slash mercilessly at the first opponent. I even managed to defend myself this way despite enemy initially having higher numbers.

Graphically, this entry isn't particularly great, though at least the interface is clean enough. I am not exactly fond of this rectangular soldiers design, though I guess it's not that bad if one needs to draw people quickly. The music was good, and transitioned nicely between the strategic and battle modes. When it comes to sounds, they aren't bad per se, but I've grown tired quite quickly of the swordsmen clashing swords.

Pretty decent entry overall, though it really could do without the battle mode.

Professor Heinous by HayManMarc

(review #24)
This game isn't really challenging, but the sight of pontatot armies conquering the cities is quite magnificent, at least.

The rules are simple - place spudotrons around and conquer the city. There isn't really anything to oppose you so unless you quit early or somehow cannot choose the targets/place spudotrons you are going to succeed eventually. Speaking of choosing the targets, it's actually trickier than it sounds - I experienced some trouble selecting some specific buildings, I don't know exactly why. Still, I eventually managed to win, with the game slowing down to some super-slow tempo (I dunno if it was meant as a special effect or was it motion planning algorithms suddenly having no target) and showing the victory text.

When it comes to technicalities, aside from the tricky target selection there's also some issue with Spudotrons placement. In general, with professor Heinous not being grid-aligned it's not 100% obvious which tile counts as the one he's at. If grid-aligned movement was used, there'd be no problem whatsoever. Also, one thing to note - the game has incorrect explanation description. I mean, it's written that you use left mouse button to place Spudotrons and right mouse button to select target buildings, but it's actually the other way round.

The graphics of professor Heinous and Spuds are appropriately goofy, though the buildings seem kinda lazy; I'd have liked to see at least a few different kinds of houses. The music is appropriate for the game. Overall, not the greatest entry, but fun for the short while it lasted.

The Imperialist by Azure Knight

(review #25)
This is some little frantic game. Apparently, it works in cycles - at the beginning of a cycle, a new battle zone appears and the player is supposed to approach it, then take down as many enemy ships as they can within that zone. Once the battle zone times out, a new one appears elsewhere and the process repeats. I'm not quite sure whether the whole battle zone spawning concept is necessary - it feels like something that's meant to move player from one area to another, but otherwise there's not much threat involved if they don't get there soon enough.

As for the battles, they are fine, though I feel things go a little bit too fast to react appropriately when opponents rush at you, especially with the shooting direction corresponding directly to that of the ship, and that takes time and/or attention (to actually remember there's the sharp turn feature). Maybe mouse-aimed guns would work better? I dunno. My biggest complaint would be probably lack of variety - there seems to be only one kind of enemy, and things become somewhat dull somewhat quickly; I kinda don't have motivation to play further.

The graphics and effects were pretty neat, and the music worked nicely, too. The sounds were appropriate, but felt way too loud compared to the rest (especially shooting and taking down).

Overall, a decent entry with good presentation, but lacking in variety.

Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

(review #26)
There are kind trees, spike trees, tough trees, life shrooms, shoot shrooms and poison shrooms. Guess which ones are the most effective?
Well...
I FINALLY GOT THE SPIKES ON MY SIDE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!
(they tickle)

Basically, after playing around with various strategies, I found out that carpeting the path with spike trees and constantly replenishing these near the beginning is a perfectly viable tactic; especially if you strengthen them further with life shrooms. This setup managed to fend off a whole wave (18th, I think) without any intervention on my part. Speaking of that wave, it was at that point when I accumulated over 10k spirit dollars or whatever is the currency you purchase your flora with and I was ready to borequit.

Why borequit, though? Well, first of all, I kinda found the strategy that would keep me playing for a long time. At the same time, there only seemed to be two kinds of enemies, varying only by their strength and having otherwise identical behaviour. Simply put, it didn't seem like I'd get anything new from this game anymore, and it probably would go on indefinitely. One other thing I'd mention is that initially I didn't know what each tree/shroom type was supposed to do, no description or anything; I had to find that out through experimentation.

The graphics were nice; I particularly liked how trees changed their appearance based on how much health was left and how they'd get stronger under Life Shroom effect. Sadly, there was no audio at all.

Overall a decent entry, but quickly get tedious. If I were to make a suggestion, it's probably that rule of thumb - don't make more different player abilities than different enemies you'd apply these abilities to. Well, there might be exceptions like with everything, but generally I'd rather get e.g. 2 types of zombies and 1 weapon rather than 10 weapons and 1 type of zombies, so to speak.

Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

(review #27)
But... but the theme was meant to be CONQUEST, not CONTEST?
(on a more serious note, while on earlier entry I said treasure is not exactly something I associate with the conquest, defeating many other opponents to get it feels more like it)

Aside from that, I feel like this entry could be quite enjoyable if it was balanced better. As it is now, it's very easy to die by other pirate's hands, and much harder to actually obtain the key and find the treasure before one of many opponents does. And when I do lose, I must once again go through loading screen, the initial landing sequence and try my luck looting the crates. I wouldn't have minded it as much if a single iteration lasted at least a few minutes or so, but with how quickly I meet a failure, it feels like I spend more time on the setup than on the actual game. I guess the experience would be greatly improved if all that 3D terrain/models setup - which I assume is what takes so long to load - wouldn't be discarded after each try, but instead kept in memory for quicker re-use.

When it comes to the gameplay itself, I feel like the player movement was too slow compared to the map size (even taking running into account), and the gameplay for me boiled down to dull walking sequences occasionally broken by crate looting or pirate encounters; the latter is particularly troublesome, as I can't quite read when the opponent attack will happen and when I'm safe to strike myself. Having a brief attack indication before the attack itself could help time my swordfights better; right now it feels to me like a matter of luck.

As for the presentation, I generally like various graphics and effects here, but I feel like the blood splat and the sword feel out of place; I dunno, as if they're too simple compared to otherwise detailed rest of the game? The background music was fitting, and the sound effects pretty amusing. I just wish that standard popup message boxes wouldn't be used; they interrupt the flow of the game. Speaking of messages, I kinda feel like there was too much of "dev didn't have the time to" sort of remarks. ^^'

Overall it seems like a certain amount of polish went into that entry, but it's brought down by long setup sequences and mostly dull or just short bits of the actual gameplay. Also, I feel there's a bit too much luck involved...

Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa

(review #28)
I got through three waves of the boss battle, then the boss stopped altogether. Does it mean that I won?

I've found the gameplay concept pretty unique and fun; it kinda reminded me of the game of pool (well, there are some pools of water in the game, too). It's pretty cool sending the mana force at the opponents and taking down multiple of them in a single strike (it was particularly important when I played level 1 and 2 and didn't yet know that this RMB "Rebut" thing is meant to attract the mana force back towards myself ^^'). It gets even more entertaining once the triforce upgrade is purchased (as in, the upgrade which occasionally results in three times the mana force). There is also the money increase upgrade, the extra lives upgrade and whatever the shield is meant to be.

Which brings me to one of the game's flaws - how upgrades are handled. There are no descriptions, and there's no mention how much gold they cost. Also, they constantly appear at the bottom of the screen, which means they I can't aim there; instead the game will try to purchase the upgrade instead. What I'd rather like instead is having the game pause indefinitely after each wave, leaving the player the time to collect all stuff and purchase upgrades, then allow player to launch the next wave manually. This way upgrades wouldn't interfere with the game itself. Also, the upgrades are capped at value of 3, which means that around the late level 2 or early level 3 player will have all upgrades maxed out and no more use for the gold. I'd rather have them go indefinitely, but have their cost increased each time (e.g. doubled) - it keeps the gold meaningful while not making the player too overpowered.

Another flaw would be waves being stretched out; one of the mistakes I see people doing is having later waves not more intense, but longer instead. It makes the game drag on for far too long, especially with level 3 only introducing the spider with even more HP, and level 4 having no new enemies. I'd rather have, I dunno, 2HP mandragora and a variation of mandragora shooting diagonally, for instance? This should provide a more intense gameplay and allow increasing waves difficulty without stretching them out. Granted, level 5 introduced a boss battle, but there seem to be only 2 different attacks implemented, and after a while the boss simply stops.

The audiovisuals worked well with the game, though by looking through Anokolisa Twitter it seems some artwork (mostly the terrain and water) has been reused from their earlier works. ^^'

Either way, pretty entertaining entry overall, though could use more variety in enemies, better handling of the upgrades and shorter waves. Also, maybe an actual conclusion, instead of an interrupted boss battle...?

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

(review #29)
When you don't even have a hammer, get over it.

When I saw the Dan's game titled ALPS in the Games Topic, I kinda figured there'd be more entries involving conquering mountains, but this one might very well end up being the only one (also, it seems I misinterpreted ALPS as actual Alps while it's actually about aliens?). I kinda hoped there'd be actual mountain moving involved (it's one of the brief ideas I had when I tried to think of creative spin to put on mountain-climbing), but sadly this was not the case.

Still, I find this entry to be quite a cool puzzle game. The mechanics are pretty clear; not so complex to overwhelm the player, yet not so simple that most puzzles end up being dull. These mechanics open up a potential for many interesting puzzles, which the author used well in the level design. In that regard, I greatly appreciate the gameplay aspect.

What I don't appreciate is the clunky and somewhat unresponsive movement mechanics, in particular the inconsistent use of the input buffer. You can only begin the first step by pressing the arrow button when the golem is fully formed; yet throughout the entirety of the first move you can already input the next one. It led somewhat frequently to a situation when I try to begin the first step, but the golem hasn't formed yet, so I press again and again, and end up repeating the original step even though I intended to make a turn. I'm pretty sure movement would flow much more naturally if the first step was possible to schedule as soon as the golem lands and starts reforming, not only after it's fully formed. Also, since the down button is kinda useless (in that if you can move down, you are falling or about to fall, anyway), I'd rather have the wall/ceiling clinging to last indefinitely until the player presses the down button. It'd leave more time to think without the need to constantly refresh the clinging, and it'd emphasize the puzzle aspect rather than timing.

The audio was fitting. The graphics worked well enough, too, though they weren't particularly stunning. I particularly liked the golem changing crystal colours depending on the current step.

Pretty original take on the theme and an entertaining puzzle entry overall, though it's made a bit frustrating by the control scheme. Still, when you do manage to get over it and beat all levels, you are given one of the most rewarding and cutest victory scenes this Jam. ^^

Britskrieg by Allison James

(review #30)
As I write it, I have my leaders recruiting new troops in Bangladesh and India, as these seem the most densely populated; or at least densely populated enough to keep leaders busy enough while I review this game.

Generally, this plays as some kind of drawn out idle game. It's not exactly anything bad, though for this kind of game I'd like to have at least two features. First, the ability to save, so that I could come back to that entry later and didn't have to complete everything in one go. Second, the ability to mute the music, especially separately from the highly useful sound effects. The troubling thing about the music is that it sometimes plays, sometimes it doesn't. So even if I wanted to listen to the in-game music, there's rarely anything I could listen to. And if I wanted to play something else, I could, but eventally at some point the in-game music would pop in. I could technically disable the game audio channel, but then I wouldn't get the "Awaiting instructions" message, which I actually want.

Speaking of the audio aspect, the music is calm and fitting and it kinda fits the game, but only plays for like 50% of the time or so, leaving me mostly listening to my computer's noises. The voice clips, on the other hand, are magnificent. I love how distinct they are, making each character immidiately recognisable, and the blitzing clips are extremely satisfying (especially Allie's and Nocturne's laughs). If there's one sound effect which I could do without, it's the building sound effect; after hearing it thousands of times (I'm not even exaggerating). As for the graphics, the game has some pretty cool design and the interface is generally clean enough, though sometimes the action information text would overlap with map numbers, with two merging together.

By the way, by the time I'm writing it I have already completed the game (I ran out of India and Bangladesh, and remaining countries had too small populations per region). I think it took me 3-4 hours overall. I would post a nice screenshot, but sadly I somehow goofed and pressed Esc instead of PrtScr (oh well). Sadly, there was no extra screen, just the game going on indefinitely and bragging rights (and yes, I did check that I conquered all 193 countries).

As for the gameplay, it was pretty simple and more on a relaxing than a challenging side, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Having an option to save would be a tremendous help, mind you. It took me a bit to figure out how towns abilities work, and that speed churches and merchants are global (too bad I couldn't get troop cost below 10% *whistling*). Also, I really could have used an option to quickly add multiple points in a specific area. I had to do loads and loads of mouse swipes to get all leaders to 1100% speed and was pretty exhausting overall. Also, I feel like the army and housing upgrades were just too tiny and insignificant compared to recruiting existing population, especially when powered up by churches (which in turn were made cheaper by merchants).

The simplest strategy I found was the brain drain - recruit people from enemy territories and then attack much weakened capitals. I applied that in Bangladesh, India, China, Pakistan and Nigeria, to name a few countries - these had particularly dense population, giving me some breaks between all that micromanagement. Sometime in the middle of the China conquest I decided to send Nocturne off to conquer some small countries in Africa or making some smaller recruitments; so that I wouldn't wait idly for the whole group to conquer another batch of China regions. When I finally got a significant numbers advantage over the unconquered forces, I started sending more people to do blitzing and stuff, until I eventually conquered the world.

Either way, that was quite a large entry to complete, but it's perfectly possible to complete in a single day. I just wish there was an option to easily add many upgrades at once, and also mute the music part...

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam

(review #31)
Welp, just as I tried to begin drilling for full-ore ground with extreme Autonomy, the game crashed. Oh well...

It was a nice and short upgrade/incremental game, though the control scheme feels a bit too mobile-centric for my mouse (especially collecting apples was quite a drag). It has somewhat reasonable set of upgrades and play modes, though I was initially confused by the selling. It doesn't take much time to gather all the upgrades, but after playing Britskrieg I find this change of pace more than welcome. Also, I like the idea building more factories ends up in lower apples production.

I kinda like the hand-drawn style graphics and the background gradient works well with it. I kinda wish the rest of the game followed that style, too; the apples in particular stood out a bit too much to me. Sadly, there was no audio at all.

Overall, an interesting concept, too bad it's unfinished. Also, it doesn't quite feel like a CONQUEST to me...

Mini Civilizations by Lukan

(review #32)
Apparently, there's no actual point to the game, so I just converted all enemy territory into mine, making sure no swordsmen are spawned by putting *my* swordsmen on enemy tents.

There's not much to say, because there's not much content in the first place. I had to play around a bit to make any action, but eventually I figured out what to do. Sadly, it seems that buildings and land (whatever "land" option is) don't work at all. Also, it seems enemies will keep following some predetermined path, sometimes even going outside the map.

The graphics are functional, though I'd have liked them upscaled by a factor of 2 or so. The audio is entirely missing, though it's not surprising given there's no core gameplay, either. Not much, overall, though I appreciate the attempt.

The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde

(review #33)
There isn't much to this entry - just a large game of survival as invading forces try to conquer your castle. I must admit, the player being conquered rather than the conqueror is at least not the most obvious use of theme, which I appreciate.

The gameplay is taught via a simple tutorial room, where you can move around the knight and shoot the practice targets - I appreciate that. The player can use regular shots and charged (piercing) shots, though the latter takes a while to pull off while the enemies are relentlessly attacking. Aside from that, the rules are pretty simple - don't get shot (getting shot is instant death), shoot down other enemies (either spearmen or archers) and try to survive as long as possible. I played it twice - first, I made it to the hour 7:00 and got some kind of bad ending screen, then I got to 25:00 and got what seems to be the good ending (the knight still dies, but at least the rest managed to rebuild and the player gets a paraphrasing from speech from "Halo", apparently). Actually, I appreciate having different endings depending on how well you performed.

The graphics could use some work; generally they seem to use simple colours, as if they were drawn in MS Paint, which actually isn't a bad thing and at times can work pretty well. However, the backgrounds were standing out too much and sometimes interfered with the game. The road background had these floor tiles with black outlines which obscured the arrows flying around, while the purple... carpet? ...made the player's crossfire hard to spot. The audio works well enough within this game, though the main in-game track gets repetitive somewhat quickly.

Overall, maybe not the most visually appealing entry, but somewhat playable and it has some good elements (like the interactive tutorial or different endings).

ALPS by GameDevDan

(review #34)
Uhhh, maybe it's a side effect of being subjected to Britskrieg, but I really don't have much patience for long games now. Levels up to Moscow and the last boss were fine, because there was a new kind of enemy introduced each level, but I could do without San Francisco and especially Tokyo. I mean, is Japan really that militaristic? The only justification to include that level for me would be having a mecha enemy (we all know Japan is all about mecha), but sadly it was not the case here.

Aside from that, it was a pretty cool action game. Good job with including this collateral damage aspect, as it prevents the player from wreaking havoc aimlessly (instead, they wreak havoc carefully). Also, there was a good balance between the punch weapon and the bullets (at first I preferred the punch, because it allowed avoiding collateral damage better, but eventually found that these tanks are way too pesky). The last boss was somewhat fun, too, though I'm not exactly sold on the idea of bullet hell mixed with 360-rotation control scheme (as opposed to plain 4-direction control scheme). I found it pretty tough and had to restart a few times (by the way, I would rather have not the whole cutscene repeated every single time; just restart to the main battle >.<), until I've found I can punch some bullets (the orange ones, at least; maybe others, too).

I don't really have any issues with audiovisuals; they match the game well. I particularly like this 3D-like effect when the player is turning, it's a great touch.

Also, given the title I'm somewhat disappointed it's not a mountain climbing game; apparently, there's only one of these this Jam.

These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

(review #35)
The game seems somewhat functional - I could grab items, trade them with planet inhabitants and conquer the planets that way. I encountered pirates who accepted wealth, but I don't know what's the point of giving it to them. Also, I managed to build the mine, but didn't get any iron after waiting at least a single cycle of crystals respawn. The game mentions making buildings, but I couldn't get it to work. It seems there's no particular danger in this game, except for launching the robot in the space so empty there's no planet to land on. Maybe the game would have worked better with wrap-around (to prevent infinite launch) and maybe some kind of minimap, so that I can tell how many planets are in total? It's particularly important with the planet setup being randomly generated.

The graphics are generally eye-pleasing, with this slightly pixelated artwork; the background parallax effect is a nice touch. The interface and messages are pretty clear, too. Sadly, there's no audio at all.

I managed to conquer all three conquerable planets I've found; from Games Topic post it seems there's also more violent way than trading, but I couldn't find how to do that. One thing that's lacking is a clear endgame condition; after I conquered all these planets, I didn't know what else to do.

Chroma Crown by JacobV

(review #36)
Thank you Jacob! But your theme is in another Jam!

This game has been very clearly made with CONTRAST in mind, considering its core gameplay mechanic of switching colours. I must admit, it helped out a lot, since I could skip past the enemies of the same colour rather than engaging in combat with them; there was some occasional damage, but I could still easily get to the shrine before running out of health. The most time-consuming part was definitely bosses. The first boss (was it the king?) kept slaugthering me for quite a few attempts until I finally got enough grasp on their ability to react appropriately. The giant slunnies were quite a hell, too, especially with this claustrophobic area design. The queen somehow felt the most fair, maybe except for these moments when she launched the blue-and-orange-rings scream (?), then skulls-pillar-and-blue-ring strike immediately afterwards, basically having orange and blue rings stacked one over another; still, I would fight her over Sanctum anytime.

One thing that didn't make the game easier was the control scheme. It's just that during intense boss battles I felt there are way too many buttons, and often mixed up attack and colour-switching or jump. I think it would help if the attack/change buttons were kept as they are, while jump button would be assigned to up arrow, keeping the movement and action strictly split between two hands. Also, sometimes controls felt a bit non-responsive; as in, I intended to jump right and make an attack to the left immediately afterwards, but I ended up making attack to the right instead. I suppose in terms of pure mechanics the input isn't bugged, but it still could be improved for a more streamlined experience.

The graphics were amazing as always it is the case with JacobV. I particularly liked the town with its backgrounds and characters/enemies designs and animation (the queen is all the right kinds of creepy). Also, the textbox seemed to be handled than it was in the previous games, too (actually, did Shred of Light have any textbox in the first place, or just floating text?). The font also now uses pixel-art and doesn't look out of place compared to the rest. When it comes to the audio, sadly there aren't any sound effects. There is occasional background music for encounter with Harmony, another for the 1st and 2nd bosses (though it felt a bit too relaxed/funky for the first boss) and another for the last boss. Also, there were some issues with two instances of the boss track playing out of sync when I first fought giant slunnies, but after restart there were no more problems. As for the story, I wouldn't exactly call it original, but it's presented and implied well enough to keep me interested. Sometimes I just wish that for once these entities that were sealed away wouldn't turn out to be homicidal maniacs.

I just wish I could see some proper victory acknowledgement screen; all I got was the screen turning totally white, without a proper closure.

Overall, an trademark JacobV's engaging platformer with trademark JacobV's difficulty balancing. Sadly, it's brought down somewhat by the lack of sound effects and large sections without background music. Also, it feels way more like CONTRASTing than CONQUESTing.

And that concludes my reviews...
 
Last edited:

Rob

Member
▶ 00:22 - Victory by CardinalCoder64
▶ 07:04 - Spirit Walker by Bingdom
▶ 13:36 - Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandipivot
▶ 19:25 - Mini Civilizations by Lukan
▶ 25:29 - Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
▶ 31:33 - Conquest of Lem by Dengar
▶ 36:36 - Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
▶ 43:25 - ALPS by GameDevDan
▶ 49:22 - Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman


I thought I'd try a different approach to reviewing for the 2nd part. I still played all of the games for around 5-10 minutes, if it was possible to do so, and I cut down the game play to show the different parts of the game (and also cut the parts of me speaking whilst playing out). I then have some commentary at the end of the game play to voice my thoughts.

If any Jam-game creators want to see the full game play footage for their game, let me know.

Apologies for the poor voice quality, I don't know why some of the reviews sounded better/worse than others... time for a new headset!

▶ 00:00 - Island of Risk by Matharoo
▶ 01:05 - My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
▶ 02:16 - The Empire by TinyGameLabs
▶ 03:30 - The Imperialist by Azure Knight
▶ 04:27 - These Planets Are Mine by Baukerg
▶ 06:08 - Apocalypse Chronicles - The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice & Siolfor the Jackal
▶ 07:20 - Super Mana Force by Jordan Robinson & Anokolisa
▶ 08:30 - Banana Toss by Toque
▶ 10:41 - PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio
▶ 11:01 - Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
▶ 11:54 - Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest
▶ 12:58 - Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
▶ 14:03 - Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
▶ 15:30 - Sci Dominion by Niziowns & Purul3nt
▶ 16:32 - Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
▶ 17:59 - Chroma Crown by JacobV
▶ 19:20 - Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
▶ 22:04 - Goating UP by iBlackpen
▶ 22:58 - Britskrieg by Allison James
▶ 24:49 - Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
▶ 25:47 - Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
▶ 27:03 - The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
▶ 27:57 - CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
▶ 31:19 - Bow Before the Queen by The M
▶ 33:00 - Simple VIllage Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey and Nacky Slockey
▶ 34:13 - King of the Ant Hill by Relic
▶ 36:10 - Tank-You by EvanSki
▶ 38:01 - I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd


I scored entries based on FUN, THEME, CONCEPT, PRESENTATION, AND STORY from 0 to 10 points (although only 1 "game" managed to score 0 in anything).

FUN and THEME were worth double when scoring for the top 3 places.

If there was a tie for the "Best of's" then the game with the highest combined score got the place.


======================================================================


1st Place - The Empire by TinyGameLabs

Score - 55/70 - Excellent theme, presentation and concept and fun (high scores in all 3)

2nd Place - ALPS by GameDevDan

Score - 53/70 - Excellent theme, presentation and concept and fun (high scores in all 3)

3rd Place - Victory by CardinalCoder64

Score - 51/70 - Excellent theme, presentation and concept and fun (high scores in all 3)

Best Ofs
Best use of theme: The Empire by TinyGameLabs
Best concept: These Planets Are Mine by Baukerg
Best presentation: The Empire by TinyGameLabs
Best devlog: NA / Unscored


======================================================================


Full Ranking (Place / Game + Author(s) / Score)


1. The Empire by TinyGameLabs - 55/70
2. ALPS by GameDevDan - 53/70
3. Victory by CardinalCoder64 - 51/70
4. These Planets Are Mine by Baukerg - 50/70
5. Island of Risk by Matharoo - 48/70
6. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames - 47/70
7. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd - 45/70
8. King of the Ant Hill by Relic - 44/70
9. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman - 42/70
10. Britskrieg by Allison James - 41/70


11. Banana Toss by Toque - 39/70
12. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson - 37/70
13. Bow Before the Queen by The M - 37/70
14. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty - 35/70
15. Super Mana Force by Jordan Robinson & Anokolisa - 35/70
16. Simple VIllage Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey and Nacky Slockey - 33/70
17. Conquest of Lem by Dengar - 31/70
18. The Imperialist by Azure Knight - 31/70
19. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc - 30/70
20. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf - 30/70
21. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam - 29/70
22. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin - 29/70
23. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha - 29/70
24. Spirit Walker by Bingdom - 28/70
25. Apocalypse Chronicles - The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice & Siolfor the Jackal - 27/70
26. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandipivot - 26/70
27. Mini Civilizations by Lukan - 26/70
28. Tank-You by EvanSki - 26/70
29. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games - 24/70
30. Goating UP by iBlackpen - 23/70
31. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio - 23/70
32. Sci Dominion by Niziowns & Purul3nt - 20/70
33. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde - 20/70
34. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev - 19/70
35. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest - 14/70
36. Chroma Crown by JacobV - 6/70
37. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio 1/70

I'm sure we all know how hard Game development can be and I tried to be as constructive as I could. I hope everybody keeps creating games and doing what they love to do, regardless of their ranking and place.

You certainly did more in the jam than most game devs (including me, although I spent many hours reviewing and editing the videos)

In Summary:

There were several factors that kept coming up during game play and my thoughts/comments and here are the main things that were important to me:

The controls - If the controls are clunky, aren't explained well, don't conform to the norms, don't allow for more than 1 control scheme or just plain suck, it's (probably) going to negatively affect my experience playing.

Do I understand what to do? It's easy to play your game when you're the one that made it. You know everything about it. Some dude in his late 30's doesn't always know what to do so he'll try "the usual" things to see if he can make it work. If that doesn't work he's not gonna enjoy it.

Pretend a big dumb baby is playing. Are they going to know how to play just by looking at the game?

More than a few sentences to tell me how to play is a no-no. Why? Because I'll forget pretty soon and start pressing random buttons / trying different things (unless it's clearly marked all the time!).

Is the game relevant to the theme? I feel like some people just submitted whatever platformer they've been working on and that annoyed me. If you want people to play your game, do it the normal way. This is part of the reason that the THEME score was double weighted when compared to presentation etc.

[EDIT] If I'm wrong about the platformers then I accept that and I'm sorry! I don't think the scores would change much if at all though, because I tried to score fairly in all categories.

Was it fun? Something that I picked up from Ghandpivot in his reviews before I started mine and I'm glad I included it because games are meant to be fun, at the end of the day, right? Also double-weighted (and yes, even if your platformer is fun, if I can't press space to jump I'M MARKING YOU DOWN FOR IT!!! lol...)

Is the game small enough for a Jam? I would fail at making a jam game in such a short time because I can never seem to make a small game so kudos to you guys that made it in 3 days. I want to see games that I can play in 5-10 minutes and complete, or at least have fun. The games with small maps that were easy to pick up and play with minimal effort from me scored higher, I'm sure.

Also @Toque has a big butt (haha - you "liked" it)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Slyddar

Member
My Placeholder...

1st Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...

2nd Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...

3rd Place - Game Name by Author Name
I voted for this game because...

Best Ofs
Best use of theme: game name by author name
Best concept: game name by author name
Best presentation: game name by author name
Best devlog: author name
 

Apapappa

Member
So here are my "reviews".
They are mostly just random ramblings while and/or after playing the game for a bit.
Don't take anything I say too seriously, it's basically just my thoughts after playing.
I tried to keep it all short since there were a lot of games to go through.
So if you want to know why I think something is good or bad then just ask me in the discussion thread or something.


So, the way I rank things are based on things I find essential when making a game.
Like, how fun it is, how it looks and sounds, how complete it feels, how polished, etc.
Basically how much a game felt like a true completed game.
I know these are just small games but I still wanted to treat them like any game out there.

If this is not the way to do this, then I'm sorry I guess.


Top 3:

1. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

Played until the end, was pretty good actually.

THEME - 1/4
Not sure how it followed the theme but that's ok.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay was pretty good with different challenges for each level.
Waiting for the rock to roll around became a bit tedious but that's fine.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Graphics were not the best but they did the job.
Sound effects were good.
Music was fine but loud.

STORY - 4/4
The story was great for the time spent on this, "cutscenes" and all.

OVERALL - 4/4
This was very good overall, I'm not much for these kind of games but there is potential here.



2. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

Played until I was the only one left, so I guess I won.

THEME - 4/4
This fits pretty perfectly with the theme, you go around conquering the squares and eliminating the other castles and so forth.

CONCEPT - 4/4
The gameplay definitely has potential, there were some things I didn't completely understand but such things can be fixed.
Example: I don't think I had to build anything and could just go around taking squares.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Graphics and music was good.
Sound effects were a bit loud.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 4/4
This was very good overall and I think you should put some work into making this a full game, it's got a lot of potential.



3. Spirit Walker by Bingdom

Probably played this one the most of all the games, really tried to beat it but the platforming got too precise. (feels weird saying this when I'm usually the one hearing it)

THEME - 2/4
Guess this goes with the "love conquers all" saying I guess?
If so, theme was OK.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Standard "precision" platformer gameplay, decent difficulty curve, some parts were a bit too precise.
Overall the gameplay was good, needs some movement tweaks in my opinion but still good.

PRESENTATION - 4/4
Great presentation overall, graphics were great, music was good but got a bit repetetive and sound effects were good.

STORY - 3/4
Story seemed good, lots of small flavor dialog (or whatever you call it), cutscenes were good.
Just good overall.

OVERALL - 4/4
The game was great overall, just a few issues that could easily be fixed.
You should definitely consider making this a full game.



Best ofs:

Best use of THEME: Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
Best Concept: Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
Best Presentation: Spirit Walker by Bingdom
Best Story: Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
Best Devlog: King of the Ant Hill by Relic

Full ranking:
  1. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  2. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  3. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  4. Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
  5. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  6. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  7. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  8. Britskrieg by Allison James
  9. Banana Toss by Toque
  10. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  11. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  12. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  13. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  14. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  15. ALPS by GameDevDan
  16. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  17. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  18. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  19. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  20. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  21. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  22. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  23. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  24. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  25. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  26. Bow before the Queen by The M
  27. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  28. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  29. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  30. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  31. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  32. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  33. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  34. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  35. Tank-You by EvanSki
  36. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Comments:
ALPS by GameDevDan

Played for a couple of levels then got bored since it's not my type of game.

THEME - 2/4
I guess you're conquering major cities or something.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Gameplay was OK, a bit hard to dodge some things with how the steering worked but that's fine.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Sound effects were a bit lacking and they were loud.
Music was fine, the level select music was loud.

STORY - 2/4
Got a bit lazy with the text here aswell so skipped some but since there was a lot of it it must have been at least OK.

OVERALL - 3/4
Pretty good overall, needs some tuning.
I think you could probably turn this into a full game if you wanted.



Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal

Beat it on "sweetheart mode" and died a couple of times on "heartless mode".

THEME - 2/4
I guess the player name was conquest and from what I understand this game was a play on the quote "love conquers all".
Maybe something about the bible, but I wouldn't know anything about that. (I even had to look up "love conquers all" on google to remember if it was a quote or not)
So this fits the theme pretty OK to me.

CONCEPT - 3/4
The concept was pretty good, you spread the love with your arrows in a pretty standard bullet hell type of game, nothing wrong with that.

PRESENTATION - 4/4
Graphics were pretty good, sound effects were fine, music however, was veeery good.
So all in all the presentation was great.

STORY - 2/4
I read the little story snippet and it seemed OK, don't know what else to say here.

OVERALL - 4/4
This was very good overall, not much to complain about, maybe some missing sound effects or more animation but since this was made in a short amount of time I will let that slide.
I think this should definitely be expanded upon and made into a full game.



Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

Beat the 3 levels and then I *think* that was the end.

THEME - 1/4
Not sure what it had to do with conquest.

CONCEPT - 1/4
Standard platformer, not much to say here.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Sound were loud, graphics were OK I guess.
Sound effect reminded me of like commander keen or something for some reason.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 1/4
Overall this was not that great, loud sounds that could also be spammed if an enemy got stuck, some collision bugs, no explanations what so ever.
I'm not trying to say it's terrible but it really does need some work.



Banana Toss by Toque

Played until the last level I think, it just seemed to repeat after that.

THEME - 1/4
Unsure how this followed the theme, but that's fine.

CONCEPT - 3/4
The gameplay concept was actually very good.
Can be improved of course with more things happening but all in all it was good.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Graphics were good, sound was fine but the lack of music brings this down to Good.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 3/4
Overall this was pretty good and should probably be turned into a full game.



Bow before the Queen by The M

I clicked until I got this error:
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object obj_visitor:

Variable obj_dialogue.diplomat_statusC(100036, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Script_create_dialogue_diplomatC
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_create_dialogue_diplomatC (line -1)
gml_Object_obj_visitor_Step_0


I honestly had no idea what was going on I just clicked.


THEME - 2/4
The readme said something about military conquest but as I said, I had no idea what I was doing so not much to say here.

CONCEPT - 2/4
I can see that this gameplay could turn into something full fledged.
Needs more work and a lot more explaining what is going on.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
The game had OK graphics and it had sound and music so presentation was pretty good.
Sound was OK but a tiny bit loud but that's different for everyone.
The game window was also very tiny, so I had some trouble reading the text.

STORY - 2/4
From what I gathered you are someone sending people to see the queen, I mean, don't know what else to say here.
I'm basing this from the text in the readme, which I'm guessing is the story.

OVERALL - 2/4
This could become a full game, might need some more mechanics and such and more explanation.
Overall this was OK.



Britskrieg by Allison James

Played for a bit but got bored since this is definitely not my type of game.

THEME - 3/4
Seems like you conquer the world, that fits pretty good with "conquest".

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay seems good for those who like these kind of games.

PRESENTATION - 4/4
Graphics were good, sound was good but a bit loud, music was fine but randomly stopped playing.
Overall presentation was great.

STORY - 1/4
I guess the queen talking was the story so it wasn't really a story to me.

OVERALL - 3/4
This was good overally, could use improvements of course but that is understandable.
Should probably be made into a full game.



CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames

Played for a bit, didn't understand how to drag cards to the hotbar at first, turns out the cards on the table were not actually unlocked.

THEME - 2/4
I guess you conquer eachother's castles or something.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay needs work but there is some potential here.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics, sound and music were OK, not much else to say there.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 2/4
OK overall, needs work but could potentially become something if made into a full game.



Chroma Crown by JacobV

Played this one up until the white monster boss thing but didn't beat it.

THEME - 2/4
Not much to say here, I guess you were on a "conquest" to claim the crown or something like that, which is fine.

CONCEPT - 3/4
I'm not that much of a fan of the dark souls like gameplay (at least that's what I would call it) but it was fine for what it was trying to accomplish.
Switching colors was nice and all but made it so you could just run past most enemies, that doesn't mean it was a bad mechanic though, just needed more time invested.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Graphics were very good but the lack of sound effects brought presentation down to good instead of great.
Controls were a bit funky but that's probably on my end since I'm not a "zxc" user or whatever you would call it, so not really anything wrong here.

STORY - 3/4
I got a bit lazy reading the text so I skipped some of it but from what I gathered the story seemed decent.

OVERALL - 3/4
Overall this was very good, needs work but that's understandable.
I think this could become something great if more work was put into it, even if this is not the kind of game I usually play.
You should definitely try and turn this into a full game.



Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

Did not play for long, ears got murdered.

THEME - 2/4
From what I gathered, you're there to conquer a planet so that fits the theme OK.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Gameplay wasn't that bad, I just didn't experience much of it.

PRESENTATION - 1/4
Not great graphics, sound effects brutally murdered my ears and music was OK.
Overall, not that great presentation.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 1/4
This wasn't that great overall, needs a lot of work overall.
Audio most importantly needs work.
Graphics need work but gameplay was OK.



Conquest of Lem by Dengar

Played a bit, units moved waay to slow so I stopped.

THEME - 2/4
You conquer houses I guess, fits OK with the theme.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay was the best thing here, needs lots of improvements but it has potential.

PRESENTATION - 1/4
Not great presentation overall, graphics were fine but seems a lot was pre made so that brings the score down.
No music or sound effects either.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 1/4
Not that good overall, as I said, gameplay was the best thing here.
You should probably look into making a game with similar gameplay and of course improvements since it has some potential.



Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio

I think I played until the end, couldn't find a way to progress after reaching the top.

THEME - 1/4
Not sure what to say here.

CONCEPT - 3/4
It's your standard old NES like platformer gameplay, and there is nothing wrong with that.

PRESENTATION - 4/4
Graphics were great, sound was great, music was good but a bit loud.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 3/4
This should definitely become a full game, you got all the basics done already.



Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

Played until I won and got the *booty*.
The game wasn't that bad actually, nothing super special but fine overall.

THEME - 2/4
I guess you search for a treasure, fight other dudes and you're all trying to conquer it or something.
At least there was a thing to get which implies there is something to conquer, so this fits the theme OK.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Just your standard battle royale game as far as I can tell, nothing really special so I guess it was OK.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Graphics were fine, sound effects and music were fine, it had a menu, tutorial text, hints and stuff so the presentation was pretty good.

STORY - 1/4
Dont think there was one.

OVERALL - 3/4
I'm not a fan of battle royale games but it was still pretty good overall.



Goating Up by iBlackpen

Played for a bit, did not get past the knives, not really my type of game.

THEME - 1/4
Not sure how this fits the theme.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Gameplay was OK, needs some tweaks though.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Decent presentation overall.
Graphics were fine, needs music and sound effects though.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 2/4
OK overall, you should probably put some more work into it since there is some potential here for people who like these types of games.



I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

Played for bit but then died and the gameplay felt too slow so I stopped.

THEME - 2/4
I guess you're conquering a mountain? if so, fits OK with the theme I guess.

CONCEPT - 3/4
The gameplay was pretty good but could definitely use some faster movement and more responsive input.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Graphics, music and sound effect were fine, so pretty good overall.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 3/4
Pretty good overall, you should probably try and make a full game out of this.



Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

Played for a bit but realized it would take too long to win so I stopped.

THEME - 3/4
This makes pretty good use of the theme, don't know what else to say there.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay was good, RISK with some interactable combat, could be improved of course but that's understandable.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Graphics were OK, music and sound effects were good but a bit loud.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 3/4
Pretty good overall, could use some improvements but that's fine.



King of the Ant Hill by Relic

Played for a bit, not my type of game so I quit.

THEME - 3/4
From my understanding, you were supposed to build your ant army and conquer all other ant hills.
This seems to fit the theme pretty good.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Gameplay wasn't bad, just not my type of game.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
OK presentation overall, graphics were not the best but they did the job.
Music was pre-made but fine, same with sound effects although I don't think I heard more than one.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 2/4
OK overall, could use some work.
I can see some potential here for people who like these types of games.



Mini Civilizations by Lukan

Had no idea what I was doing, never got the "building" or "land" menus to do anything either, I dunno.

THEME - 2/4
From my understand you were supposed to conquer the squares maybe?
If so, it fits the theme OK.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Gameplay wasn't bad, most things just didn't seem to work.
If more work was put into this I could see some potential.

PRESENTATION - 1/4
Not great graphics, no music or sound effects so the overall presentation was poor.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 1/4
Not great overall but if more work was put into it I could see the gameplay aspect becoming something.



My Righteous Conquest by SamSam

Played until I almost upgraded everything and then the game froze.

THEME - 2/4
Not sure what I was conquering, maybe the thought was something like human factories / technology or whatever was taking over nature or something.
But since I'm not sure, I'll have to put theme at OK.

CONCEPT - 4/4
The gameplay was actually kinda interesting.
If the rest of the things you wrote in the readme were added and maybe some more then I think this could become a pretty enojayble game.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics were good but the lack of sound effects and music will bring this down to OK.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 3/4
This was good overall, I definitely think you should look into making this a full game.



Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

No clue what I was supposed to do, walked around the ship and sailed over the whole ocean (I think?) and found nothing to do.

THEME - 3/4
The vikings were tired of conquering stuff so they went to... conquer canada?
I mean, it does fit the theme I guess.

CONCEPT - 1/4
Unsure what I was supposed to do so no clue what the gameplay was supposed to be like.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics were not that great, music wasn't that great either but it was there.
Sound effects did not exist either so I think the presentation wasn't the worst but it wasn't that good either.

STORY - 2/4
Vikings, tired of conquering, goes to conquer canada because they were tired of conquering.
I guess that's OK, could have been worse.

OVERALL - 2/4
Overall this wasn't that good since I didn't know what to do but since it had some decent presentation I'll put it at OK.



Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

Played for a bit and got bored, then realized there was a readme and used the "cheat" and then won.

THEME - 1/4
Conquer the pixels doesn't really fit the theme that well to me.

CONCEPT - 3/4
The gameplay concept was pretty good actually, needs a lot of work and the areas need to be waaaay smaller.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Not that great graphics, the sound effect and music became a bit mind numbing after a while.
But overall the presentation was OK I think, just needs work.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 2/4
This wasn't that great overall but with more work then I think this could maybe become something if you try and make a full game out of it.



PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Since I'm new to these jam things I'm guessing this is one of those joke games.

THEME - 1/4
N/A.

CONCEPT - 1/4
N/A.

PRESENTATION - 1/4
N/A.

STORY - 1/4
N/A.

OVERALL - 1/4
N/A.



Professor Heinous by HayManMarc

I guess I finished it, placed spudotrons around the entire city, conquered it and then the game almost froze.

THEME - 2/4
I guess you conquer cities or something.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Gameplay could be turned into something, maybe like a reverse tower defense or something, so I see some potential here.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics were OK, music was OK, no sound effects so that brings it down a bit.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 2/4
Overall this was OK and could be turned into a full game with more work and some new mechanincs.
Maybe like a reverse tower defense as stated before.
I also realize some of this game was probably made as a joke, but it could actually be turned into something.



Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

Played until I won, AI didn't seem to do much.

THEME - 3/4
Fits the theme pretty well, don't know what else to say here.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay needs to be improved but I can see this becoming something.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics were OK, music was OK, no sound effects so that puts it at OK.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 2/4
If this got worked on more, I could see this becoming a full game.



Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker

Played until the end, guess it was OK.

THEME - 1/4
Not sure how this followed the theme, I guess the enemies conquered the towns or something?

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay was pretty good but needs improvements, felt a bit hotline miami styled I guess.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics were not the best, Sound effect were OK, music was not the best but it was there.
The game could probably benefit from zooming in the view a bit.

STORY - 2/4
You save the villagers from the evil dudes, I'll put story as OK I guess.

OVERALL - 2/4
Not really my type of game but I could see this becoming something with some more work and improvements.



Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

Played for a few minutes, checked what would happen if I died and then stopped.

THEME - 1/4
I guess the enemies tried to conquer the tree or something.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Standard tower defense gameplay with a few twists, pretty good overall.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Not the best graphics, but they were presented pretty well.
No music or sound effects though so have to bump this down a bit.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 2/4
Could be good as a full game, needs quite a bit of work though.



Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf

Played it for a bit, didn't understand anything at first.. but eventually found out how to do things.
I also don't really know what's actually pre-made or not, the readme lists a bunch of things and such.
There's nothing wrong with using pre-made stuff in this jam but to me this will have to bring the rating down a bit.
Anyway the game itself seems fine to people who like these sort of games but it's not really my style of game.

THEME - 3/4
I think you basically conquer the universe so fits pretty good with the theme.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Not my style of gameplay so can't really comment much here other that it was a bit hard to understand at first.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics, music and sound was good, but I'll bring this down to OK for the reasons mentioned above.

STORY - 2/4
Didn't really catch much of a "main" story but there was some backstory to the races and such so I'll give this an OK.

OVERALL - 2/4
Overall this was fine but for reasons above I'm bringing this down to an OK.
Not my type of game but I'm sure others could enjoy it.



Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa

Played for a couple of levels then got a bit bored and stopped.

THEME - 1/4
Not sure what this had to do with conquest.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay was pretty good, the movement was a bit funky though so that might need some work.

PRESENTATION - 4/4
Graphics, sound effects and music were all great, UI might need some work but thats fine.
Should probably be more info on what the UI icons do aswell.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 3/4
Pretty good overall, should probably be worked on more since it seems like it could be pretty decent as a full game.



Tank-You by EvanSki

I was stuck in the top left corner and couldn't get out so either I'm stupid or that's it.

THEME - 1/4
I mean, "conquest" as in war as in tanks I guess?

CONCEPT - 1/4
I guess the concept was drive around in your tank and shoot other tanks, I don't know.
Something about the soviet union on the main menu.

PRESENTATION - 1/4
Graphics were sub-par but not the worst.
The shooting sound murdered my ears.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 1/4
Since I was stuck in the corner I can't really comment much on this but it does need a lot of work.



The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde

I ran around and shot some dudes.

THEME - 2/4
I guess the enemies were trying to conquer the city or something, so that fits the theme decently.

CONCEPT - 1/4
I don't know if something else happens if you play longer but I just ran around shooting dudes.
So I guess what I'm saying is that this would be your standard wave survival type of gameplay.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics were not great, too many repeating patterns causing eye strain.
The game had music and sound so this would bump it up to OK.

STORY - 2/4
Decent attempt at a story, although the only way to know was to go to the "how to play" screen and then the story text was basically unreadable because of the background.
But from what I could read it seemed like some effort went into it.

OVERALL - 2/4
I mean, you can make this into a full game, it really needs work for that though.



The Empire by TinyGamesLab

Played for a bit, almost seemed like I got stuck in an infinite loop (not a freeze, just planet taken, then taken back etc etc) and then I stopped.

THEME - 3/4
Seems like you're supposed to conquer the galaxy or something so it fits the theme pretty good.

CONCEPT - 3/4
Gameplay was pretty good, could use improvements of course but there is potential here.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Good presentation overall.
Graphics and music were fine, could probably use some sound effects though.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 3/4
Pretty good overall, there's definitely potential if you decide to make this a full game.



The Imperialist by Azure Knight

No clue what I was supposed to do, flew around until the timer ended and just restarted again, never found anything.

THEME - 1/4
Not sure how this fit the theme.

CONCEPT - 2/4
I would imagine the gameplay to be decent if I had found any.
Not sure if it was broken or not but if things actually happened the gameplay might have been OK.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics were OK, sound effects and music were loud.
Overall the presentation was OK.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 1/4
Not that great overall, but if I found something to do I could see there being some potential for gameplay.



These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

Played for a bit, conquered one planet.

THEME - 3/4
You fly around conquering planets, fits the theme pretty well.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Gameplay definitely needs some improvements but it is a sound concept.

PRESENTATION - 2/4
Graphics were pretty good, no sound effects or music brings it down to an OK though.

STORY - 1/4
Don't think there was one.

OVERALL - 2/4
This was fine overall, you should probably explore this concept a bit more since it could work out pretty well.



Victory by CardinalCoder64

Played until I won.

THEME - 2/4
You take back some islands that some evil dudes have taken so I guess that qualifies as conquest.

CONCEPT - 2/4
Gameplay was pretty good, needs less clicking though.
With some more work I can see potential here.

PRESENTATION - 3/4
Good presentation overall.
Graphics were fine, sound effects could use a bit of work and they became way too loud towards the end.
Music seemed pre-made according to the credits but it wasn't loud and fit pretty OK so I'll let that slide this time.
(I know it's fine to use pre-made assets it's just not part of my vision for a game jam)

STORY - 1/4
Not much of a story.

OVERALL - 3/4
This was good overall, with more work I could see this becoming a pretty good game.
 
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Relic

Member
Reviews
Top 3:
I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
Excellent game. At first I thought you had botched the puzzle element because I was just scaling a wall indefinitely by alternating up/across but later levels restricted this and forced carefully constructed moves. The only downsides are:
1) The window is way to small. I'm putting my nose on the screen to read your instructions and have no idea of the nuances of your character design. Please let me go full screen if I want to - takes no time other than selecting the option in the settings.
2) The controls are not very smooth. I found myself repeatedly tapping the direction keys so ensure they registered in the time between sticking to a wall and performing the next move. Be more generous with the controls, recording the next (yellow) move in advance if need be (and showing it to me that my input has been registered. This would also help when repeating the early section of a level when I only failed at the end as I could efficiently return to where I started.
3) Some levels a bit too long. I don't like repeating what I have already mastered, let me stay close to the puzzle that has tricked me so I may try again quickly.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
Thought it was just Risk, then bam! a battle mini game. Was a nice addition that is perfectly suited when taking the board game into video game land. Art and sound was good - nice that the battle backdrop was varied.
My army can go off screen - have enemy start directly opposing mine. An auto resolve would be nice 20 v 1 is kind of a given. AI also kind of dumb - had 20 in one of their few remaining territories, surrounded by a sea of "1" territories but they chose to attack only once.
Very well connected to conquest theme.

The Empire by TinyGamesLab
Nice little strategy game - kinda like RISK. Graphics and music stood out (in a good way!). No sound effects, but don't know if it needed any - the intense but minimal sound track was nice to work out my moves through.
I think I won as I held all the planets, but no end screen I guess. Strong tie to conquest theme. There are no other downsides, but the game is simple - replay-ability is minimal, but maybe new maps or planet features to mix up games?

Best ofs:
Best use of THEME: Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
Best Concept: Bow before the Queen by The M
Best Presentation: Banana Toss by Toque
Best Story: Spirit Walker by Bingdom
Best Devlog: Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

Full ranking:
  1. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  2. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  3. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  4. ALPS by GameDevDan
  5. Bow before the Queen by The M
  6. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  7. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  8. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  9. Britskrieg by Allison James
  10. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  11. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  12. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  13. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  14. Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
  15. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  16. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  17. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  18. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  19. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  20. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  21. Banana Toss by Toque
  22. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  23. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  24. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  25. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  26. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  27. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  28. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  29. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  30. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  31. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  32. Tank-You by EvanSki
  33. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  34. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  35. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  36. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio
Comments:
ALPS by GameDevDan
Consistent and deliberate art style, very nice. Felt like I had to fight with the controls during combat - maybe strafing option would have helped. Felt I had no choice but to get enemies just on the edge of the screen, shoot a bit then backpedal to avoid enough damage to complete a level.
Main menu theme song was my placeholder music for my current project for a long time...... very weird to hear it in a different context.

Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
It was ok - a pretty standard side-scrolling bullet hell shooter. Spice it up with some inventive shooting/dodging/power ups - anything really to make it more than just a bare bones game. I may have missed the point of "change focus" by holding shift - didn't seem to do much other than effect the character sprite - was it just to focus the player's attention on where heart hit box was? Why slow the character too if so? Graphics stand out a bit for a Jam game (I can't talk as mine are poor) but nothing amazing. Well done on having a complete game - menu, sounds, story, end screen. Most jam games are not a complete package but if you had the time for these extra frills, I'd rather see something else added (something more daring) in the game-play itself.
Your story tied to the theme of Conquest well - nice thinking outside the box.

Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
Graphics were unique, with a consistent style but background of cave (criss cross) was weakest part of graphics (other than seeing the enemy and my own axe's hitbox). No indication of being hit or hurting enemies. NPCs at first looked robust, jumping up and down hills to chase me, but then they got stuck on each other. Using the mouse to select a level while all controls were on keyboard is a mismatch - menu should be keyboard too.
Not sure what your intention or hook to the game was going to be - its a basic platformer with very limited combat options. Did you have something more in mind?
I first thought the theme was conquering a mountain, but the second level made me go deep down into a cave, so not sure now.

Banana Toss by Toque
You had your retro idea early and stuck with it- props for that. Just not very interesting or fun to play - embarrassingly took me 5-6 times succeeding at the same final level to realise they were the same.

Bow before the Queen by The M
A unique game, sets it apart from a sea of platformers, top down shooters and RTS games this Jam. Graphics were nice and the transition from day to night with little sound effects was all very well done.
I wasn't able to get my head around the game systems - sure I choose up to 3 meetings, but did I have control over the Queen's mood? The red pips seem to indicate the people's mood... did it matter if I responded to these or not? The population started to starve - but at what point did I have control over avoiding this, or if unavoidable, which meeting would help rectify the situation?
I could not work out which people to meet as the story progression mechanics were left very opaque. The font was also hard to read - too fuzzy in full screen (and the game too small when windowed).
The tie to the theme was there - albeit managed from the throne room which was just fine with me!

Britskrieg by Allison James
Excellent presentation, but I could not find the fun in the game. It felt like a cookie clicker (is that a genre? I only know this one web browser game) but without the intuitive repetitiveness to make it satisfying to watch numbers go up. Everything was so slow to build up and my wrist was getting RSI from trying to build up base stats in the towns. The game was both too complicated and too simple at the same time - simple because there was only one resource to manage (troops) but complicated because of the interactions between breeding, recruiting, attacking, town building where I was still unclear on the finesse of these systems 15 min into the game (and that's all I can commit to any Jam review) The GUI was a little hard to read at times (white text over other light colours or overlapping with other tesxt).
Well done on what seemed like a full and deep game produced within the Jam time - and nailing the Jam theme.

CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
Battle was tedious, just a war of attrition of which I felt like I did not have good control The wizard for example, could be taken out by a single villager if the timinig was unlucky - which is how I lost my second battle even though I had a more powerful option. I found it was safer just to spam the villager in groups of 3 - 4 to win. Took a while, with no nice animation to keep me engaged while I mindlessly clicked the same icon for 5 minutes. The screen was also very small, with no fullscreen option. A few games have done this in the Jam - not sure if its the size of my new monitor or my eyes going bad - but I have no idea how you could have been play testing this game and thought the size was ok without sticking your nose to the screen.
There is promise in the game (I have played some variety of this on mobile) but the interactions between minions needs to be tighter so I feel like every encounter is fair and my choice to go hard with one minion vs bide my time with another would matter.
Nice tie to conquest theme - having your decks fight over land.

Chroma Crown by JacobV
Great art! And a nice commit to a story too (but I did not get to see it through to the end sorry).
I liked the concept of the colour changing (even though it has a whiff of you committing too early to the potential "contrast" theme). Colour switching to aid platforming was great but feel this mechanic in its current state took away from the combat more than adding to it. Being a colour essentially allowed you to ignore all enemies of a certain colour - not being able to hurt them and them not being able to hurt you left an uninteresting decision to just focus on other coloured enemies first, then swap. Perhaps (and maybe you intended this but it did not feel like it was possible to pull off) the colour switching should of been more of a replacement of a dodge ability. I really wanted at first to roll/dodge to the other side of enemies when I saw their animation cue, but in lieu of this I would have accepted changing colour to save me from the attack. Problem is is that I needed to change colours again to attack - so a double press was required, to first avoid, then be allowed to attack again. If this was intended player behaviour, the colour changing was too slow as I always whiffed the opportunity to attack back or was too slow to begin with and got hit. The more I play the less I feel this was your intention because it was impossible to colour change on a blue platform with orange ghosts - so the only real option was to run away, especially as the enemies were floating too high to hit. As another example, fighting the two large slimers(?) boss, the tactic that worked best seemed to be use the orange colour and walk under the jumps, attack and predict the next spot to walk to to avoid then next jump. The fight didn't need colour changing, and in fact would make it harder as the spread of orange shots is harder to avoid when player is blue, and you couldn't hit the boss in this state anyway (unless I'm really not understanding these fights).
Having the player halt jumping movement when changing colour looks great but made the platforming annoying when it caused me to miss the platform I would have otherwise reached.
I often ran past all the enemies until a gate blocked me - yeah finding cheesy maneuvers is easy in jam games but worth pointing out. There were also too many "fall to find out what's below sections"... well even 1 of these is too many in my opinion. I don't like having to fall down to find out a blue platforms is at the bottom, not orange - and suffer a loss of hp.
I did not finish the game as I was committing too much to trying to beat it (you managed to get a lot in to this game as I for sure thought the first boss with the scythe would have been the end but seems like this was not even 1/3, at least) - stopped just past the slimers boss where once again I was blocked on an orange platform with a blue flying ghost.... leaves no interesting choice as I have to stay orange to avoid being hurt by the platform and to attack the enemy - going blue might save me from a blue projectile but I'm standing on an impossibly long orange platform. So there is no choice to be made.
This game overall has great presentation and feel - everything from the character attacks, the colour swap animation, indications of (player) getting hurt and scrolling backdrop - but the game design is lackluster as the colour swapping is usually useless or in fact makes the game harder if it's tried to be used. Game mechanics for me are king over art and story which is why you are quite low in the ranking. The game also has nothing to do with the theme of conquest.

Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
Wow! great idea. A twist of the classic 2d Shmup bullet hell by making the mouse itself the player controlled character. Your idea is by far the best part of your game and makes it stand out as something innovative - I value this innovation in a jam game. You would have done better in the rankings, and likely been number 1 if for the following:
1) add a unique cursor sprite - I know you were going for "mouse is ship" but a mouse cursor looking ship still would have been nice
2) Bit more variety of opponents which add more challenge and things to look out for beyond just more (and faster it felt?) bullets from the 2 enemies currently implemented
3) an alternative to your health system or just scrap it altogether - apart from a level (4 or 5 maybe) with just poison clouds, it was (almost) impossible to stay on an island long enough to get any health back. Just boost me back to full health before rounds or perhaps have a "health pickup" that also moves around the screen which would be more interesting (and possible) to collect.
4) Art in general - I can't talk as all my art is taken from CC by SA sources, but you clearly have stronger programming and design skills that sprite work.

Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
Great that you can get across the level without the gold fairly freely - to see the potential traps and pitfalls, then return with the gold - only because levels were short. It was like - do the easy mode, then the hard mode all within the same level.
Graphics were nice and very consistent - did you just learn about the wave function? lol, grass, trees, birds all oscillating. Kinda nice that the player interacted with this wave function to make it look like the character really was in the world.
But why o why is there a different key for pickup and throw? A to pickup then A to throw... surely? Also, even though its in your title, this is not a game based on the theme of conquest. Greed, treasure and/or looting is not really connected enough to the definition of conquest for me.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar
Nice graphics and possibly a nice idea in there but not much to flesh out the experience. It was tedious to get the soldiers through the maze. I'd get 10 through at a time, eventually they die then I just repeat the process - its the same challenge done to death. Waypoint/spawn points may help - if I manage to get far enough I can spawn closer to the end - maybe guarded by an enemy that must have X number of soldiers to beat - if I can't get that many soldiers through the enemy is back to full health - makes it less about attrition and more about completing a designed challenge.
Why buck the trend of every RTS since the mid 90s? Left click to select, right click to move! I came back to this game a few days later after my first try as I got too frustrated to finish the first level. I ended up quittng again because of this control setup! Once I learnt your soldiers will keep walking forever (i thought they would stop where I clicked the mouse) I tried to select the group currently walking over the edge, only to left click (oops!) which sent my safe group over the edge too.
Kind of attached to the theme.... poor houses though - make them forts for true conquest lol.

Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
Solid little platformer with distinctive art-style. Sound was great - with little nuances like the changes in frequency and pitch of the steps when powered up being a nice touch.
I don't know if the game was finished or not, but I could not make a jump onto the (first?) sloped section after taking out every bird I could find. A running jump couldn't do it. A powered jump couldn't do it either - however my keyboard would not let me hold down, across and press z at the same time (or your game wouldn't ) for some sort of powered running jump so not sure if I could have made it if this worked.
It was frustrating birds were shooting at me from all directions, including from below where I had zero chance to respond by limited to an up attack only.
No connection to theme.

Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
First experience: Wha, is this boat flying? Oh ,nah - that must be a water asset as I see... waves? Click mouse button.... oh what? I shot something.... oh that's me and I'm falling! The ship was flying... lol is this a battle royale? Land next to another pirate, get stabbed. Restart (after finding the invisible "Begin" menu option.
Second experience: Jump out my flying pirate ship. Seem to be alone. Hack at a chest for a bit... nothing. Use 'e' on the chest.... nothing. Hmmmm... instructions said a yellow marker would appear on a map. Press M, - no map. Tab? no map. Esc? nothing. Start hitting all keys - something restarts the game.... maybe R?
3rd experience: Jump out, see little squares that could be the "yellow" things and so land near one. I slide over it a few times due to the very low friction physics of the walking, like I'm ice skating, I cut it... nothing, 'E' it,..... nothing again. Walk right - enemy pirate has a gun. He shoots me as I try to approach/strafe his shots. Notice the sound effects for someone killing me. This sound along with some "comical jazz" seemed out of place with the scope of the game - as does the electronic beats while playing. Music in menu is much better suited.
I'm impressed with the 3D implementation Misty, as I can't do this in GM, but I can't figure out if I'm missing some key interactions or whether the game is just not finished. If it is a fully working single player battle royale, I don't see a connection to the theme. Taking on enemies to be first to some treasure isn't conquest - its competition/greed/outnumbered.
Edit: I watched some videos of the game - I did not have a gui like the others! no progress bar for looting, no compass, no minimap, no cursor, no clues appearing when standing over them - I figured out its because I went fullscreen using alt-enter. Bumped up a little in the ranks after playing again.

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
66 stones. I built a 3 m (9 ft) high trebuchet for giggles when I was in high school - I can appreciate the difficult of getting the Physics right. This was fun with a nice little story. My only major gripe is it felt like the stones were restricted to only a few possible trajectories. For example, helping the bugee jumper resulted in - too high, too low, too high, too low, too high, too low...... always by the same amount it seemed. I wish I had better mastery of the swing - perhaps if it had a longer swing time so I could better anticipate the launch position.
Was the trebuchet meant to hit the theme of conquest? I guess they were used in sieges but that's a stretch.
Goating Up by iBlackpen
A very well presented game, supurb art aesthetics. Not a game for me - mastering through learning the pattern in games (for me) is a big turn off. I feel no satisfaction from mastering any ludricrously hard scenario by just having to go through trial and error until muscle memory is strong enough that the correct pattern of movement results in victory. I worked my way to level 4 but not beyond - not that each individal challenge wasn't a nice little puzzle to solve - but because repeating levels 1-3 to try again is what turns me off. Once I've completed a level, I've proven my worth. I never failed a level after successfully completing it so I feel my time is not appreciated when I have to do it again. You may disagree, but a save after each level would have gone a long way to make this a fun game. Alternatively randomising the challenge somehow would have w
No connection to the conquest theme.

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
Excellent game. At first I thought you had botched the puzzle element because I was just scaling a wall indefinitely by alternating up/across but later levels restricted this and forced carefully constructed moves. The only downsides are:
1) The window is way to small. I'm putting my nose on the screen to read your instructions and have no idea of the nuances of your character design. Please let me go full screen if I want to - takes no time other than selecting the option in the settings.
2) The controls are not very smooth. I found myself repeatedly tapping the direction keys so ensure they registered in the time between sticking to a wall and performing the next move. Be more generous with the controls, recording the next (yellow) move in advance if need be (and showing it to me that my input has been registered. This would also help when repeating the early section of a level when I only failed at the end as I could efficiently return to where I started.
3) some levels a bit too long. I don't like repeating what I have already mastered, let me stay close to the puzzle that has tricked me so I may try again quickly.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
Thought it was just Risk, then bam! a battle mini game. Was a nice addition that is perfectly suited when taking the board game into video game land. Art and sound was good - nice that the battle backdrop was varied.
My army can go off screen - have enemy start directly opposing mine. An auto resolve would be nice 20 v 1 is kind of a given. AI also kind of dumb - had 20 in one of their few remaining territories, surrounded by a sea of "1" territories but they chose to attack only once.
Very well connected to conquest theme.

Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
Nice graphics with an interesting concept. I would need to play more to really understand but taking over land by controlling colours makes for a change over bash my troops into the enemy. I liked that I could try and corner off my section of the world - but the rate at which I could build things meant I was losing tiles quicker than what I could build upon. Maybe I was being greedy with my territory though.
Wasn't a fan that mines cost more wood than stone, while lumber mills cost more stone than wood - a bit of a chicken and the egg scenario. Perhaps all you need is wood to build a lumber mill (with starting resources), and eventually enough wood gets you a mine, and enough stone gets you a gold pit (or whatever) to give resource gathering some clear progression instead of one lumber, then one mine, then one lumber, then one mine - because that is the order in which I had enough resources.
Took me a long time to realise that I was changing tile colour by staying on them (thought the chime was a turn counter), that I could overtake other player tiles by staying on them long enough (thought it was just a dead end) and that the final victory would come from sitting on the opponent town long enough. Please provide some instruction - even if just through a readme of the idea behind the game. Jam games are built in too short a time to hope players will figure out even the basic concept (especially since you did more than just a stock standard platformer or shoot em up).

Mini Civilizations by Lukan
Looks like the start of some turn based strategy - from what I could pick up I was getting funds automatically, could purchase units and place them anywhere on the map, moving units coloured in the squares but not much else was happening so don't know what else to say - sorry if there was more to the game but it just seemed like it was still in very early development.

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
The best part of this game is the drilling mechanic - trying to pick the path that gets the most ores with the drill bits remaining. Smashing e to sell ores was not so great - prefer to just receive my bounty or perhaps if there was another mini game to finalise the sale.
The apple dragging was pretty tedious and seemed like pointless busy work between the drilling. When I was on the last factory stage I realised the apple production would no longer meet my hunger - and that's when the game crashed so not sure if there was an end or not or if the game was going to make me more environmentally conscious.
This has the basis of being some sort of mining magnate game - keep building wealth to purchase fancier sounding mining equipment that bring in more wealth. The sort of feedback loop that keep a player wanting to play just one more round to get that next perk.
Conquest is in the title, but what we being conquered? The ore? Nature? Not sure of the tie to the theme.

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
I tried to sail around to find something to interact with - but found nothing. If there was something to do or find - sorry, I did not. Not much to critique because there was no mechanic other than clicking to make a boat go to the mouse coordinates.

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
There could be something to this with a lot of tweaking. I think I read you were going for methodical/relaxed experience - but for now I found this to be the opposite. Having the character and thus hitbox for cleaning pixels rotate to face the mouse was frustrating. Probably not the sort of game for me, but I was trying to min/max the game by committing to go very clearly row by row, while shooting vertically to try speed the process up. Missing pixels because of a rotation made me go "ugh". The cleaning also seemed inconsistent - I would go over a few pixels a half dozen times before they would be cleaned. The music and sound effects were also at odds with the meditative experience (I sure hope I am remembering you saying this since I'm focusing so much on it). The sounds were not calming. I know there must be a audience for "meditation through cleaning" as my partner does it in real life but this sort of thing isn't for me. My screen also went completely black, no gui or anything, when the character went off the edge of the room.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio
NA

Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
I conquered! But that's probably not going to surprise you. Could of been interesting depending what the challenge/ game play loop was going to be. Art looked nice for what you had done. Better luck next time!

Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
Nice looking colour scheme and all the art ties in together well - even the cursor matched. Music had a good sci fi theme but no sound effects was noticeable.
So small! I could not see what was happening, even with my nose up against the monitor. Why did you choose to not allow a fullscreen option?
Pink "obstacles" were not consistent - some I could walk through, others not. AI seemed to get stuck in them too.
Was AI fully functional? They seemed to bounce around a lot but my first move was to move my initial guys into the middle and the enemy just walked into a slaughter.
I did not seem to be able to capture any control points - or was not obvious if I had.

Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
I love the variety of weapons. They each felt unique with different advantages and disadvantages. The combat was intense (when I wasn't cheesing it).
Path finding of enemies and ability to hit through walls meant I ignored all advice about running in and evading. I could just coax some enemies towards a door, sidestep then hit them from the other side of the wall.
Some visual cue as to how many cages/chests were left would be nice - had to go back to the exit portal several times to find out.

Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
Interesting concept to bring nature into the role of the defenders in an otherwise classic tower defence setup. It was a smart move to just have never ending waves (I assume) of enemies instead of levels for the jam - but would expect that there would be some sort of progression if the game was extended so the player could learn the roles of the various plants. The game ran well with nothing unexpected and without any bugs - but there also wasn't much extra added to what a tower defence game traditionally is. I'd like to have seen something innovative/ a new spin.
Art was very "programmer" so lots to improve there. More info about the roles of plants would be nice- naming them for "what they do" helped a bit but I still don't know what a Kind Tree does.
Abides by the conquest theme - it's hard to have a tower defence game not be about conquest (or defending against one!).

Spirit Walker by Bingdom
An amazing game with consistent and well thought out art style choices. That dithered lighting was inspiring. Only "art" critique I have is the hugs sound and feel like I'm pulling on the cord of one of those bey-blade spinning tops
- here
Limiting vertical height when pushing against a wall compared to jumping straight up was jarring - would prefer to keep same max height as if I was trying to get to the top of the platform. This became less of an issue after I realised wall jumping was an option (then requirement in later levels)
Looked like a great story in there too (didn't make it to the end) and you make things intuitive - like zooming in on the door when it unlocks. The game however lacks decent platforming design. Spikes in the dark is a horrible mechanic to deal with - making a game difficult by hiding the danger zones makes me annoyed as the player. The hugs were not very interestingly placed - at least one was right next to the door. The hugs, being a requirement to move on, should force me to complete a challenge that otherwise could have been skipped to get to the door. I couldn't get passed the wall jump where the platform above jutted out so required a bit of a wall jump away, then to quickly return back. Maybe I could of done it with a gamepad but my fingers couldn't get the timing precise - not impossible but having given up half way through Super Meat Boy I know precise, brutal platforming games are not for me. To your credit, like Super Meat Boy, you put me back in the action quickly without needing a "push R to restart" prompt.
Not a lick of connection to the theme though which puts you lower in the ranks than if this game was in a different jam with the theme "empathy".

Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
Amazing presentation both graphics and sound- my only issue was that I'd prefer to see the ships move smoothly, rather than jumping ahead each turn press, or at least some indication a battle was taking place or colonisation happening. Some GUI text didn't quite fit, like the buttons top right.
I thought this game was going to be the top of my list based on the manual and the systems it seemed you had put in - I like games with a bit of resource management (even if its just planet output here) and I love space themes. It for sure looked like there was going to be a strategic depth that would really entice me... but.... is the game finished? It looks great but the colonising was bugged, or perhaps non existent for the player. I colonised my first two planets with the first two ships I sent out. They churned out a couple of ships each - l lost one to the enemy (I think, no indication about combat outcomes) but after that every ship I sent out to any uninhabited planet would disappear with no change to the planet itself. I started a new game after being defeated but the situation was worse - I could not conquer any planets at all. I wanted to give this game a real chance, so I loaded up a 3rd time. Sent my first ship out to a planet - and got it this time! Then passed 3 turns waiting for a new ship, in this time the AI took over both my new planet and my homeworld so I lost by turn 6 or 7 I guess. That's a balance issue.
No way to quit when in fullscreen. Game entirely mouse controlled but I have to push space on end screen (defeated) and it quits the whole game.
I could not see the whole planet panel(cut off the production bit - was just able to select between warship and colony ship) . I hit the load button before saving - game froze.
My advice for is to give players visual cues or other feedback about what is happening "between" turns in the game - you had amazing options regarding screen resolution, difficulty of AI, races which offer different advantages/disadvantages, save and load system (maybe, didn't try it beyond freezing it) but in the end I could not make out what was happening in my game and why colonising was failing (or it was bugged/unfinished). Next time leave all the fancy (and unnecessary) features for a Jam game and get that core gameplay loop as solid as you can.
Edit: Saw the readme that many options/GUI was from a premade asset so you may have not "wasted" too much time here instead of the core gameplay loop after all.

Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
The art was stunning and the magic orb that shot out then needed to be recalled was a nice mechanic (was this God of War inspired?). Did the orb do more damage on the way back? Felt like it which made me really focus on hitting enemies with its return. Music and sound effects were ok.
Give me a pause option - ESC to quit is fine, but I wanted to write these notes down while playing and it sucked to lose progress.
The time to get the orb to return felt long - it made me vulnerable sure, but watching that orb almost come to a complete stop dragged on too long.
Wanted an indication how much the upgrades would cost.
Controls felt off - pushing left and right not causing player to stand still but move in direction of last key and not having a diagonal movement in a game with diagonal shooting felt unintuitive.
Did upgrades max out at 3 each? Not sure what all of them did. Lives were obvious. Something gave me multiple orbs but this did not happen every shot - or was this what the upgrade increased? Chance of 3 orbs? Lacked clarity
Weird choice to have me restart a level indefinitely with 1 life minimum. I could not progress past level 4 because one life was not enough and I already maxed out the purchase life option.
Overall very fun, but only a minor connection to the theme of conquest, if at all. Defeating enemies isn't a strong enough tie to the theme to rank this higher.

Tank-You by EvanSki
It works without any bugs - however I can suggest quite a few things to work on.
I drove into the sandbags (and good idea trapping the player in at first so they have to work out they can be destroyed) but nothing happened. It was not intuitive I would have to tap W instead of driving continuously to destroy them. The missile hit box is too large - they look like they are going to get past the corner of a sand bag but are surprisingly destroyed. The sound of the rolling tracks is fine but then there was no engine noise so the tank just sounded like a rusty shopping trolley - the sound should also be applied when rotating on the spot. The missile sound was from a different era to the tank sound - a bit crush like explosion didn't work with a more modern.. clear sounding track squeal. Other than that, you are probably aware of more obvious issues such as no end game condition and very basic AI that can be cheezed easily enough.

The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
Charging the bow had no effect other than keeping me vulnerable for longer. I decided in the end to just run around as trying to shoot was more risky. Speed was too fast - could outrun everyone and enemy arrows too, many times over. Ran from 4:00 until 20:00 - got bored and tried to shoot a few guys which got me killed - so now just have to hope there was a happy ending if I made it to 24:00 lol.
The aiming cursor was too small and blended too well with the pink carpet. Text in how to play screen was hard to read against the background. Seeing the characters at a different resolution to the tiles was jarring - keep it the same.
This is the start of something if you made charging the bow matter, made it impossible to just avoid everyone and improved the user experience (those GUI elements). Nice tie to theme - being conquered rather than doing the conquering is a nice flip.

The Empire by TinyGamesLab
Nice little strategy game - kinda like RISK. Graphics and music stood out (in a good way!). No sound effects, but don't know if it needed any - the intense but minimal sound track was nice to work out my moves through.
I think I won as I held all the planets, but no end screen I guess. Strong tie to conquest theme.
One crash:
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object o_planet:
Variable o_rock.orign(100033, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_o_planet_Step_0
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Object_o_planet_Step_0 (line -1)

The Imperialist by Azure Knight
Got 8290 points.
I liked the flying - having the sharp manuever key was nice as I enjoyed making sharp turns to get behind the enemies. The visual cues when taking damage and at low health were great - taking the strain off trying to read the health indicator at the top during fast paced play. Sounds were very appropriate for the gameplay and art style.
The background was a bit of an eye sore compared to the other sprites. This also brings up the issue of theming - there wasn't any conquest. Taking down enemies is not conquering. You could have included the conquest theme by making these "battle zones" more like capture points - perhaps against an AI that was trying to do the same instead of having mindless drones. This might not have been what you wanted from the game, but I rank you lower because of no theme connection.

These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
Loved the movement between planets, felt good and the cartoony animations tied with this movement superbly. That said - don't let the player drift off into space with no way to recover. I tried on purpose once and was disappointed with the outcome. I did this accidentally twice more which is when I gave up playing - the game doesn't seem the sort that should be so punishing for a single mis-jump.
Needed more visual cues - didn't know which planets I had conquered or how many I may have had to conquer to win (didn't finish so not sure). Was the game finished? I don't think the pirate interaction was working. Strong tie to the theme so points for that!

Victory by CardinalCoder64
Nice camera - zooming out when at full speed was a nice effect. Water effect was pretty cool too.
AI was pretty dumb - always aiming where I am instead of leading their shots meant I could just move in straight lines, focusing on my shooting without fear of getting hit.
Controls felt a little weird - just using one keyboard key - I think I know what you were going for - player can either turn ship or aim, not both - but I'm not convinced this is the best control layout.
Saving ships to join your fleet was neat - but made the combat easier and easier - some way to dynamically change difficulty of the next visited island may have been nice. Actually, now I notice the enemies are gaining more hp. This is making them bullet sponges, not more challenging as they lack the firepower to destroy me anyway. I'm disappointed the final fort took a minute of firing to take it down - its not a great way to make the islands more challenging - instead, add more ships, increase their firepower and/or add more challenging enemy types (submarine that goes underwater and can't be shot but will torpedo you for a while for example).
Also the large gaps between islands was unnecessary - probably half the distance since it was just a time sink moving to the next objective.
Nice jam entry that stuck to the theme.
 
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L

Lt. Farfetch'd

Guest
Rankings, Episode II: The Rankoning

Concept: 10/10 - This is a fantastic take on the theme, with an undeniable originality. This alone was enough to get me intrigued and into the game, but the game holds that intrigue on its own merits as well by getting me invested in the life and times of this very fickle, rash and often downright unprofessional monarch. The card-game-esque take contributed massively to the originality or the game, and made it easy to digest the whole experience.

Sound: 8/10 - The sounds in this game were really good, from the effect when you flip through cards to the main game loop which sounded very regal. However, the effect that plays when text is being printed to the screen is very off-putting. At a certain point I had to mute the game because I just found it too jarring, and unfortunately I found it to take away from the overall sound quality just a bit too much. The only other minor complaint I would report is that the main game loop sounded a bit noisy (as in static). In some ways, however, this actual contributed to the feel in a positive way because it reminded me slightly of an old gramophone.

Graphics: 7.5/10 - I was definitely impressed by the graphics. There are two distinct styles at play - the edging, fonts and card system make up one of these, and the players and fatigue/mood bars fall into the other. These two distinct styles tend to meld nicely, and are each individually very good. Some real stand-outs for me were the buttons/button movement, card shuffling effect, the way that visitors come and go and the font you decided on (though it did appear to be a little bit granular on my machine, but I didn't mind that). Some points I would suggest for improvement would be the two bars up, which could use some colouring which indicates progress as well as an explicit indicator when they're empty and the text being cut off on the bottom panel with some frequency. Some more details in the transition between days would also have been nice, but that's just a preference and not really a criticism.

Gameplay: 8/10 - The mechanics of the game did take me some time to wrap my head around, because there were quite a number of factors at play. The first time around I really screwed up quickly, while the next couple I did at least a bit better. Since I went through the game multiple times, I did find myself a little disappointed at the lack of variation with the way the story unfolds irrespective of my choices. I encountered a couple of issues with the mechanics such as a continuity breakdown when the general had "taken matters into his own hands" in sprite of me giving him the order, a card which had no text at all and so produced a totally empty conversation with the general, and that bastard Kenneth. Kenneth is a terrible, awful human and I don't blame the Queen at all for her malice towards him. The number of times where he would appear out of nowhere and totally ruin my interaction with a diplomat, I swear. :mad: But on a more serious note, there were a couple of buggy occasions with Kenneth, my favourite being when he appeared on his knees twice in the room (once directly in front of me and once in the usual visitor's position). Seriously, one was more than enough!

Cohesion: 7/10 - My experience of the game was pretty great across the board. I found the graphics and sounds to be really consistent and to have contributed meaningfully to the greater whole. The storytelling was really great, though I would mention that the spelling errors did detract a bit from the overall experience. At one point my gameplay was interrupted by a fatal error in the step event of a diplomat object, where an unset variable was being read. The difficulty curve is an interesting topic to address, since the game is probably not inherently set up to have one. However, I do feel that it is at times counter-intuitive or unnecessarily difficult to increase the Queen's mood. Generally I found that only a successful war campaign would get her chuffed, which may well be a clever nod to the theme, but did frustrate me a bit when I wanted to help the citizens of the kingdom but had to constantly fight an uphill battle against my own character.

It's difficult to capture the number of things that I love about this game in just a worded review. It's a fantastic idea and a really great implementation. Hopefully my critiques can help you identify areas where the game could be tweaked, because I'd love to see a full version of this at some point!

Score: 81

Concept: 5.5/10 - I can see a tenuous link to the theme being drawn, but it just isn't enough for me to score it highly. It definitely feels much more like 'collecting' than conquering. As for intrigue, I think the game goes really well. I was drawn in by the sick beats and the awesome graphics, and the concept itself reminded me of my days spent in lectures playing Spelunky. As such, the nostalgia value was great, although it did frequently feel too akin to Spelunky, which I wasn't quite a fan of. For that reason, and because the game doesn't make many tangible new contributions to the genre (which I would put as a sort of cross between traditional platformer and a roguelike), I didn't perceive it to have a high level of originality.

Sound: 9.5/10 - The sounds in this game were incredible. The absolute highlight here is the backing track that plays on the title screen, which then plays underneath a heavier track (or another component of the same one, perhaps) once you actually start playing. The transition is flawless and it creates suspense well, with the ambient bird noises contributing to the feel massively. If you implemented this yourself, then that is a tremendous feat in only 17 hours. The sound effects were really well implemented, and all fit together fantastically. I feel as though they don't really match the landscape especially well, but that's only a minor point.

Graphics: 10/10 - The graphics are incredibly good. There are so many intricate details that contribute massively to the look and feel, such as the flowers and grass swaying in the breeze, the particle effects and the subtle scrolling background. Naming the levels was also really cool, and I liked seeing the names pop up at the beginning of each. It reminded me a little of how the route number would display on handheld Pokemon games. Again, this is a massive feat for a game jam, especially considering that not only did the images and animations themselves function well, but the integration of all of the different components also seemed nearly flawless. Great job.

Gameplay: 6.5/10 - Almost all of my qualms with the game are gameplay-oriented. The game has some really awesome platforming mechanics. For example, slowing down while holding treasure was great, and the throwing mechanics felt good and made for some interesting puzzles. Additionally, killing enemies with the treasure is incredibly fun and appropriately challenging. However, these components are totally overshadowed by the very clumsy 7-key controls (if we include 'R'), repeated jumping while the 'S' key is being held (and the resulting double jumping on ledges present in most platformers that implement this) and the occasions where the sliding/deceleration effect killed me (which is definitely too pronounced). One other suggestion to enhance the gameplay would be incorporating a save feature. This game is long and brutal enough that restarting just isn't a viable option. The world-building, however, is a real shining-star. The world feels well-constructed, ambient and lively. This is in contrast with the level design, however, because I can definitely see deficits there, pertaining to the difficulty curve.

Cohesion: 6/10 - Graphically and musically the game is beautiful, and its consistency across the board is brilliant. Its story-telling ability wasn't great, and while I normally wouldn't feel as though that's a problem in this variety of game, without any tangible link to the theme I think that the introduction of a story was necessary or would at least have been helpful. I would suggest that the level design could use some work, as the levels provide a nice difficulty curve conceptually, but result in a lot of failure due to the implementation of the controls and mechanics, rather than the introduction of greater platforming challenges or new obstacles/objectives. Examples of these pitfalls include throwing treasure through small gaps from very close range, treasure becoming stuck under very small gaps, and forcing level restarts when a long-winded but simple puzzle is failed. The latter feels the most offensive to the player because (as is the case in level 18), this is the same as designing a much shorter level featuring only the core puzzle, save for increased travel time.

I wish that I could say that I completed this game, but level 20 was just so specific on timing that I couldn't. Though I spent over an hour on the game overall. This feels to me like a game that switches intention. At the beginning, it seems like a fun platformer that's supposed to draw you into the landscape and concept - which it does very well. At the end, it feels like a game designed to be difficult for the sake of being difficult. I enjoyed many aspects of the game, and found many others to be infuriating. However any given person feels about the games progression, it's undeniably stunning and well-developed. With some tweaking to controls and mechanics, this game could easily realise whatever vision you had for it. :)

Score: 75

Concept: 9.5/10 - Concept was awesome, and fits really well with the theme. It felt unique enough to stand out easily from other military-style games. It took be back to playing Age of War for hours on end, so at least for me had good nostalgia value. But it added an additional element, which helped to break up the game and give it greater replayability, while also making it much harder to just find a definitive winning strategy and stick to it (as with Age of War). Its definitely got me intrigued, and I always felt like I was playing a mash-up of other games, rather than something totally tried and tested, so it felt distinctly original too. If I have any minor criticism, its that I didn't quite get a feel for who my enemy was - perhaps because I had no face or figure to attribute them to. I think that this would be a nice addition to the game, and could help add story elements to it if you wanted.

Sound: 7.5/10 - The music is really suited, and is subtle enough that it doesn't detract from the gameplay at all. Sound effects are simple but fun, giving fight scenes greater oomph (literally couldn't think of any better word, sorry). Perhaps some grunts or yells from your troops would be good, if you were looking to build the oomph even more. I'm hearing something kind-of akin to barbarians in Clash of Clans. All-in-all the sounds implemented are really great. I can see a lot of opportunities for more of them to be implemented, and certainly I think it would benefit the experience overall, but the game doesn't feel incomplete without them.

Graphics: 6/10 - The visuals may not be polished, however the map looks clean and pretty professional, so I appreciated that. The bordering on the text/info boxes were really nice too, and the fonts were totally nailed. Graphically the part that lags behind is really just the battle screen, though I did really enjoy the blocky soldiers (including their varied movement), siege artillery trails and sword strikes. The overlapping of health bars is an ever-present issue in 2D side-on battles, and the lack of death animations and particle effects were something I felt after a few battles.

Gameplay: 7.5/10 - The help menu probably didn't explain enough of the details to give me a solid impression of how to play the game, but I think that's just the way it goes with games that have a number of different mechanics. I also haven't played Risk, so that wouldn't have helped. I picked up on a lot of small details that hindered me, so here they are: Troops probably shouldn't be able to fight off-screen (or at least shouldn't be able to move off-screen, particularly this is annoying with siege weapons), clicking in the control pane when the siege attack is activated fires off the siege weapons, being able to activate a siege strike with 0 siege weapons is a little odd (though it doesn't actually fire off), it looks like you can't attack or reinforce territories to the left of the one selected, though they are highlighted (presumably this is the bug you mentioned), not being able to minimise the operations box while on a map is a bit limiting, and siege shots at close range (left-side of screen) just don't work. This sounds like a lot of complaints, but that's really just the way it goes when you pack a whole lot of content into a game. In reality, I think that the mechanics were pretty well implemented across the board, and I had loads of fun with the game. Hopefully my specific findings can help you sort out some bugs or enhance the user experience a little! I've got plenty of good things to say and not enough time to say them, so feel free to shoot me a message if you want a more thorough review!

Cohesion: 7.5/10 - Any game that can successfully tie together two totally disjointed mechanics has to have achieved a fair degree of cohesion, and this game is no exception. The consistency was good, though admittedly I don't think that the graphics within the two components complemented each other especially well. The story-telling capacity wasn't really too present, but being able to see the full conquest start-to-finish really brought the game together for me and conveyed a sort of abstract story. Slap some faces and names on it, and it's basically Game of Thrones. In terms of the curve, the AI is often pretty good, but there are occasions where they only take one territory from me when they probably ought to claim a string of one-troop territories. However I sometimes just appreciated this because I don't think I'm all that good at the game. Overall, the biggest downfall in cohesion is that the game doesn't have any ending to it (though it's definitely going to finish before the Song of Ice and Fire books, even if it is an infinite loop).

Score: 76

Concept: 7/10 - Your take on the theme was pretty interesting - a total rejection of the theme. I didn't mind this, at least it was a fresh take. Though I think that it's not wholly appropriate when your gameplay ends up having no influence from the theme. The idea was fairly original, and the intro definitely conveyed that originality brilliantly - as well as getting me super intrigued and pumped to take some vikings to Canada (this makes no sense. I love it).

Sound: 3/10 - Is this the Canadian national anthem? I'm pretty sure it is, and I only know that because my Vietnamese friend identified it. Honestly that's hilarious, even if the specific instrument it's played on just makes it annoying after a while. :p There were no sound effects, which definitely took away from the game on the whole.

Graphics: 4/10 - This is a real mish-mash of various art styles. I found that individually, many components were attractive (I really like the vikings themselves), but on the whole I found the presence of poorly scaled sprites, the sameness of the water, the lack of differently shaped icebergs, the lack of detail in the grass, and problems with how the mechanics forced the graphics to make no sense (land sharks, sea serpents with that are cut in half by icebergs) to be pretty amusing but not exactly high quality. Definitely could use some polish.

Gameplay: 7/10 - This game took some initial figuring out, but beyond that point there weren't really many things to discover or do. Overall I think that the world building/level design just resulted in unexciting play. Definitely more closely packed maps were more enjoyable, and on the more open-style ones perhaps you could consider implementing a mini-map? There were quite a few mechanics, and the thought that went into them was often quite cool. I enjoyed needing to figure out how the following of sharks worked, and was pretty shocked the first time I hit myself with a darn octopus. It wasn't very tentacool. :p The mechanics had some variance, but could definitely use some work to make the experience more fun overall, and the same goes for the world-building. Also I hope that you based the scenery on an actual potential route to Canada.

Cohesion: 6/10 - So I got to Canada. Apparently it's just a random patch of Ocean (I never reached any land, so I can only assume as much). I'm going to assume my Viking pals were torn apart by sea monsters after the end credits rolled. It's also been pointed out to me now that Vikings and Canada didn't ever co-exist, so the game definitely gets a boost by that fact. Seriously speaking though, I think that the difficulty curve was honestly really good, and the story-line was awesome. Hilarious, nonsensical, fun. The main problem was just that the consistency was pretty poor. Great job, we had some fun with this.

Score: 54

This game 100% gets maximum points on general enjoyment. Hilarious, just downright funny.
Since it isn't a game, I'm not going to review it as a courtesy to everyone who made games, but in many ways this was my favourite anyway. Great job @dadio.

Score: N/A

Concept: 6.5/10- This is bloody hilarious. The originality is the absolute best and the game immediately gets me totally invested through the distinctive art-style and the absolute out-of-the-box idea. I have absolutely no complaints here except that it doesn't really seem to fit in with the theme to my awareness.

Sound: 5.5/10 - The music here fits really well with the feel of the game, and contributes well to it being absolutely hilarious to play. The lack of sound effects is definitely a detriment to this game, however, because I seriously want to hear things getting smashed by my trusty trebuchet. But the little meow of the cat in the tree is brilliant.

Graphics: 8/10 - The graphics are applied in a really consistent way and are utilised to the maximum comedic effect in all instances I can think of. Some real stand-outs are the "right on" dude, and the police station break-out in addition to the ending sequence as a whole. Some particle effects would have been really beneficial to the game, and if you decide to extend it then I'd definitely recommend incorporating more detailed destruction effects.

Gameplay: 10/10 - The gameplay is where this game seriously shines though (other than the faultless storyline). It was intuitive, straightforward and very satisfying. As mentioned by others, it might be nice if you didn't need to wait for the boulders to stop rolling, but I didn't really mind this because when I missed I really missed, and the boulder was off screen pretty fast.

Cohesion: 9/10 - The difficulty curve doesn't really exist too much here, but it was so fun that I didn't notice until I was doing the review. As a result I've not deducted many points in this category. Consistency is not an issue at all - you clearly knew exactly what you were going for and did not fail to deliver on it at any point. Additionally, this game wraps up really nicely and delivers a complete package, which is a real feat for a game jam. In terms of storyline, the last category, no complaints.

I feel like this is probably one of the least useful reviews I've written, because wherever my criticisms lie, they're going to be things that you're definitely already aware of. Nonetheless, I think it would just take way too much time to nitpick this game, and I am very thankful you submitted it because is it seriously good.

Score: 78

Concept: 6.5/10 - This is a quirky little game, and quite a cute one as well. The shout-out to dadio was very nice, and I enjoyed the experience. Nobody could reasonably say that the game lacked originality, nor creativity! However I have to say that the game only held my curiosity until I realised that I could put a spudotron 6000 on every tile surrounding the town, place a target on every building and then sit back and watch the world burn. Likewise, the link to the theme is probably not the strongest, but I reckon any link you can draw between potatoes and conquest is an achievement in and of itself.

Sound: 5/10 - A most ominous backing track made for an experience that was altogether quite pleasant, ironic as it may sound! I liked the track, and thought that it fit well with the character himself. It would be nice to have seen some sound effect in this one - perhaps if you could capture the sound of mashing potatoes in a bowl. It would certainly make for a darn good brain-eating noise, should we assume there are humans being consumed in this process.

Graphics: 6/10 - The graphics are simple but well-designed, especially the professor himself. The one exception to this is the fonts and styling of the home/info screens. These each feature a bit of a more detailed style, at least in terms of the backdrop. I really liked the fonts, though seeing the spudotron on the info screen highlighted the details which I couldn't make while playing the game, which I found a little unfortunate. I think that overall the most useful enhancement would just be some more detail to each of the components in-game (buildings, roads and grasslands particularly). But don't change the professor, cause he's great.

Gameplay: 5/10 - I don't think there's a great deal for me to touch on here. There are only a couple of mechanics, which work well and don't take any effort to pick up really. It's a small package, but it's one that demands very little time to pick up and work through, which ended up being a nice break in the midst of a lot of complicated games. The world didn't quite come to life for me, but I felt I grasped the Heinous persona and was determined to seize control of the city by any (potato related) means necessary. Additional levels and mechanics would undoubtedly have helped with that, and some screams of terror or just confusion would probably go a long way too.

Cohesion: 6.5/10 - The game feels pretty consistent across the board, with the general storyline meshing well with the music and Heinous sprite. The story was very straightforward, but it definitely couldn't be missed. The difficulty curve though, is probably a difficult one to perform an analysis on. A single level and a pretty easy entry-point mean that it just doesn't exist in this version.

It's a very short game, but it's a full one - and full of charm too. I enjoyed playing it for a couple of minutes and I'd like to see more of the professor in future jams. :)

Score: 58

Concept: 8/10 - This game seems to touch on the theme of "love conquers all". This is definitely a clever take, but I don't think that the implementation quite conveys this meaning explicitly enough for the game to feel as though it's done something meaningful with the theme. However, the originality is fantastic - from the shader you implemented to the simple introduction and the use of hugs (kisses?) to set free the wayward souls, the game is full of big and little things which give it a real spark. Likewise, the intro is fascinating and got me really excited to play the game. Throughout most of my gameplay, the platforming was varied enough to hold this interest.

Sound: 6/10 - The main game loop definitely livened up the game a little, though I had to mute it after a couple of levels because it wasn’t quite soft enough to not become pervasive. I would recommend heading for a softer track, and some cave ambience incorporated into it (or played on top) would probably push the track suitably into the background while also bringing the cave to life even more. The jumping effect was pretty nice. It sort-of made the character sound like a rock or golem, which I think was the intention here. The death effect (when spiked) was also a decent selection, though it might be good to bear in mind that players will be dying a lot - so whatever effect you choose should basically be tolerable on replay every 5 seconds. I’m not sure what would be best, but I think something less metallic would help, and you could make it more flavourful by changing the spikes into some sort of stalagmites instead. If that’s too dim, they could definitely always contain gems of something similar - perhaps glowing blue blood?

Graphics: 8.5/10 - The graphics are definitely the highlight in this one. Your awesome shader bolsters the visuals substantially. I really liked the floating glowing particles, and the bounce of the character’s hair (?) as I platformed around. A couple of frustrations did come up with some jittering of the player when interacting with walls in specific ways, and the overall size of the illuminated area around the player - which was just a little too small for me to get an impression of some of the obstacles I was up against. The doors probably also could have used an animation for unlocking and opening - perhaps a faint blue glow could emanate through a crack between the doors or from an open half? However I did appreciate the very clear way that you conveyed this with the hugging and then unlocking sequence - though in itself I think that that sequence could afford to be a lot shorter.

Gameplay: 7/10 - I found that the gameplay was pretty easy to pick up from the start. Basic platforming controls lent themselves to a quick start, and you only utilise one button majorly outside of that. However, I did find the speech very frustrating, because of the pause that almost always occurs in the middle, which caused me far too many times to expect that the character had finished speaking. This was probably compounded by me being a bit bored with the character’s monologues after the first couple. Perhaps if what they said was designed in some way to give you cryptic guidance on how to play the game, or revealed the storyline in sequence? The game’s central mechanic was very cool as a whole though, and I’d like to bring particular attention to your well-implemented wall climbing, which I found to provide a reasonable platforming challenge while being intuitive to learn and improve at. The world building is quite well done. I don’t know exactly where I am, but the game definitely makes me feel like I’m somewhere - a place that is consistent, somewhere that is part of my character’s natural environment in some way and a world that is home to more than just myself. By far the biggest issue in the gameplay category is the effect that (I suspect) the shader had on my experience. I had huge FPS variation throughout all of my play which I was unable to correct, try as I might. It made it hard to play and ultimately made me put down the game in conjunction with a level that was just too spiky.

Cohesion: 7.5/10 - my primary concern in terms of a cohesive game experience is the difficulty curve. Or perhaps more appropriately ‘difficulty spike’ which occurs a few levels in and makes it very difficult to progress. I would strongly recommend implementing level checkpoints whenever you reach a soul, because the curve in this game made my love for the graphics and concept become overshadowed by the fact that I couldn’t progress at all. In terms of storytelling I am quite impressed. The gentle intro gives a very vague exposition, and the main game maintains that vibe very well. I don’t know precisely what I’m doing (definitely wish I’d made it to the end for that reason), but I felt an attachment to these characters because they were the only sign of any life other than myself - and as far as I can tell they are either the same sort of beings or are themselves part of me. As I mentioned previously, I’d love a storyline to be conveyed more concretely through these characters, but there was enough flavour in the game overall to satisfy me. The consistency is really pretty good across the board. The backing track stands out as a bit too much, but everything else feels like it was placed in the game quite mindfully.

Score: 74

Concept: 5.5/10 - This is definitely a cool concept, and the fairly cute, very neat implementation caught my attention nicely. However I didn’t find enough exciting elements or clear ingenuity to draw me in for too long. Likewise, I don’t think it fares too well in terms of originality, because from what I saw the game doesn’t take any steps to do something overtly new with the space exploration genre. The theme is met pretty clearly. At first I was sceptical that it met any true definition of conquest, but I had a think and am now satisfied that a less invasive, more peaceful form of take-over is a nice take on the theme. :)

Sound: 0/10

Graphics: 7.5/10 - I loved the cute resources and the planets, which are really well drawn, as are the effect for the space-ship travelling and some of the more subtle effects like the regeneration of planetary resources. Some very good attention-to-detail can be seen here. The moon sprite is a real stand-out, I adored that one.
The variation in planets is very nice to see, and allows for the game to hold interest a little better by shaking up the gameplay slightly. The two separate layers of stars in the background was a good idea too, however I think some animation would have brought it to life just a little bit more. My primary complaint is how static the arena feels, which is quite common in 2D space games. I missed the activity on the planets, climate effects and other realistic features that would have made the planets all the more exciting and added another layer of variation.

Gameplay: 7/10 - I loved the trade mechanic, though was a bit surprised that anybody would accept some wood in exchange for planetary control, but who am I to judge. Unfortunately the game does sort of peter out. Once you've explored all (or most) of the planets once it becomes a bit monotonous. The space travel is really clever, and I liked how the ship homes in on each planet in a sort of gravity-like way. However it is unfortunate that you can fly forever into oblivion, which is how the game ended for me. A clear winning condition could be good.
Since the game has an exploratory feel to it, a good idea might be to implement a mini-map which is gradually revealed as you explore. Since the map can be quite large and planets can be modified it would be handy if the map could be toggled so that it can take up most of the screen. Additionally, due to the sheer size of the map, it might be worth permitting the player to invest in automatic collection of resources at some point throughout the game. Or if you think this would make it too easy, perhaps conquered planets could alert the player to nearby planets with available resources via the mini-map or some other notification-dedicated system. As previously mentioned, my primary complaint here is that the galaxy doesn’t feel alive enough, in spite of it being inhabited. So the world-building is probably the aspect that suffers most. Though it’s very clear that it was carefully constructed and that each planet type has its own sort of persona - so great job there.

Cohesion: 5/10 - The game fares very well in terms of consistency. It feels like every component is part of the same whole, which is a feat when you’re designing planets - your art style definitely lent itself to this being the case. Unfortunately, I don’t think the game has much of a difficulty curve at all, and this in conjunction with the lack of a guiding storyline makes the game feel a little aimless. In short, it feels as though all of the foundations of a great game are there, but it doesn’t provide tangible objectives or an edge to get you hooked.

Score: 50

Concept: 4/10 - The wave-system and upgrades feel like fairly standard things for a combat-centric game to have, however I was intrigued by what you were going to do with the orb-slinging mechanic. As such, you had my attention and game didn’t feel totally unoriginal. However, the game slowed down far too quickly, and it just couldn’t quite sustain that attraction. If you wanted to maintain the player’s interest, I would suggest that a shake up of the mechanics is probably in order - you could either do this by extending the upgrade paths further or by introducing different weapons, enemy types, or even landscapes that have some bearing on gameplay. Perhaps most importantly, this is a game that didn’t account for the theme in any capacity I can see.

Sound: 7/10 - I thought the sounds were fairly well rounded. The landscape didn't feel like it matched the intensity of the music, but otherwise I though the backing track was A-OK. The effects are definitely a bit too high-pitched, but serve their purpose well. The bouncing noise was the one I particularly enjoyed. I would recommend using a variety of music to suit the mood - perhaps of increasing intensity? But all-in-all a decent job.

Graphics: 8.5/10 - the graphics were really quite stunning. Your backgrounds are of particular note here, which look as though they were very meticulously crafted. Well done. A couple of small points - the player’s sprite feels a little bit oddly placed amongst the scenery, and often the enemies too. I also think that more involved death animations for the player and enemies would help to really put the player in the game. And particle effects. Definitely just particle the crap out of everything.

Gameplay: 5.5/10 - I touched on the mechanics of the game in the concept rating. In sum, I found them to be enjoyable, but to include too little variance. A major detriment would be that the upgrades seem to stop at level 3. They were the primary motivation for me to continue, so losing them was unfortunate. The world building here was quite effective. I wish that I’d been able to see more of it though, because the scenery didn’t change over enough over the course of the few levels I was playing. Some mountains, beaches, maybe even cityscapes, would be nice. And probably also facilitate the introduction of new game components well!

Cohesion: 6/10 - the game all comes together pretty nicely, but it feels in desperate need of some music to really tie a bow around the package (though the package itself is pretty). The difficulty curve worked pretty well, though I suspect that this was helped by the lack of upgrades beyond level 3. Nonetheless, it felt like a good incline and I genuinely knew I was building skill (which was important for me since I was on a laptop and the mouse controls were pretty unresponsive). The story-telling is about average. I got some vague outline from the combat, my character, and what I could infer from years of playing flash games like DragonFable. I definitely would like to see a more explicit storyline in the game though, because it doesn’t feel too distinctive without it.

Score: 62

Concept: 4/10 - The game felt overall a little bit incomplete, and this was probably my primary take-away from it. The idea fits with the theme fairly well, and again the inversion (defending, not conquering) is fun to see - so props for that. The game does lack originality, however, and is in most ways a rehashing of defender games, with the addition of movement (while this does indeed exist, the majority of defender games I've played operate from the perspective of a static character/building). I think I knew exactly what the game was going to be from the beginning, so unfortunately it just couldn't manage to grab my attention.

Sound: 4.5/10 - I found that the game got off to a rocky start in terms of sound because the intro music and battle music played in conjunction. This marred the battle scene (musically speaking) for me, and I couldn't really focus on either them. The into theme is designed to sound delightful and upbeat I suspect, in order to help convey how pleasant Castlecrest is supposed to be (pre-invasion) - in conjunction with the opening screen's visuals. However the theme itself becomes annoying quite quickly, and that's a real problem when I can't figure out how to stop it. The sound effects (particularly on the menu) were very jarring. I would recommend heading for something much less high in pitch. I definitely think that the ending theme was well suited though, and it provided the sort of calmness that I think the intro screen failed to capture. Sound effects when you defeat an enemy were definitely needed in order to convey greater sense of victory, but the sound effects in game were mostly understated, which was good because it didn't attract too much attention to each minute action.

Graphics: 5/10 - The graphics in the game were a bit of a mixed bag. Overall I would say they get the job done during the battle sequence. A specific concern would be that when you have brickwork or tiles that are too close together and make up a large chunk of the screen, you end up with a dizzying effect when moving at speed. I ended up totally avoiding anything but the grass as a result. Some darker or more neutral colours would definitely help too, because it is a bit hard to focus on the game for too long. This might also allow you to more easily contrast enemies, the player, arrows, etc. depending on the final colour-scheme. A highlight graphically was the intro/ending scenes. They were quite cute, and they conveyed the story well. The intro does suffer from the excess of harsh colours issue, but less than the battle sequence because it's static. Finally, I would strongly recommend implementing death animations.

Gameplay: 5/10 - The gameplay feels pretty good, but very basic. My primary concerns are that not being able to shoot while moving isn't all that fun - and feels pointless when it's an infinite survival game (i.e. there's no incentive to limit the player from the start), and that the game doesn't have much of a range of mechanics - only those that you start with. An upgrade tree might be a good addition here. However, the world-building felt nice. I didn't feel a strong sense of attachment to Castlecrest, but I think that's coloured by my personal preference away from this variety of game, rather than a lack of anything on your part. One things that stands out that this game might lack is a competitive edge. The time survives is fairly good, but much less satisfying that a kill count would be. This alternative would probably draw out people's competitve spirit in a similar way to what Flappy Bird did (though god forbid anybody should recreate Flappy Bird).

Cohesion: 6/10 - The story, as I have touched on previously, is fairly well constructed. The repetition of the game makes it feel a little bit... moot, but otherwise I liked it. In terms of difficulty curve I think you did quite well. It became hard to keep up with reasonably fast, and training the enemies like in the Call of Duty Zombies games (for example) was near impossible due to the archers - so the difficulty was definitely there. More weapons or weapon upgrades feel very necessary though after a short while, as a result. Finally, the consistency of application is average. The music is the primary sticking point here, I would say - and the lack of closure in terms of death animations and the ultimate protection of Castecrest.

Score: 49
 
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The M

Member
Reviews

Top 3:

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
Spirit Walker by Bingdom
King of the Ant Hill by Relic


Best use of THEME: I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
Best Concept: Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
Best Presentation: Spirit Walker by Bingdom
Best Story: Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

Full ranking:

  1. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  2. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  3. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  4. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  5. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  6. ALPS by GameDevDan
  7. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  8. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  9. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  10. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  11. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  12. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  13. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  14. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  15. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  16. Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
  17. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  18. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  19. Britskrieg by Allison James
  20. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  21. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  22. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  23. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  24. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  25. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  26. Banana Toss by Toque
  27. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  28. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  29. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  30. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  31. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  32. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  33. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  34. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  35. Tank-You by EvanSki
  36. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Comments:

ALPS by GameDevDan

* The pseudo 3D looks great but it's a bit jarring to turn around. I'm not sure if having faster turning would make it more comfortable to play.

* There was a lot of variety to the levels and it was neat to see the different land marks. The levels did feel very similar though, probably because they all played out almost the same (go in, shoot the soldiers, punch the rest, repeat). I think this would be a great place to introduce some kind of upgrade tree. If not else then to improve that meekly feeling gun.

* I was confused as to what counted as positive scoring, since everything gave +X when destroyed but the game clearly wanted you to be careful about what you break.

* The level selection screen was awesome with its turning globe.

Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal

* The game plays fine but could use some more effects to sell the intensity. I fire half a dozen arrows at once, which is awesome, but they just disappear when they hit an enemy and are hard to see against the background. Flashing enemies and heart-shaped sparks on impact would add a lot.

* There was a good amount of variety to the enemies and bullet patterns and I just barely beat the game when playing on kindhearted difficulty.

* Personally, I preferred the boss patterns because they had more, but slower, bullets. It made it feel more intense while giving me a better chance to dodge than when I was up against the normal enemies.


Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

* The game feels ambitious but doesn't have a clear goal or intention behind it so it ends up being very generic.

* If there had been some kind of explanation of what you were supposed to do it would have made the game more engaging I think. The world map did add a bit of an overarching goal though, which was really nice.

* The graphical style sets it apart some with the 2.5D perspective, although it is a little weird that the characters are flat in comparison.

* There are some rough edges and I had problems finding the attack button. Once I got used to it, I had no problem playing from start to finish.

Banana Toss by Toque

* The 'old school game' style is neat. There's a lot of personality despite being very simple graphics. I like the flipped take on the theme

* The controls are super awkward. A, D and B does not feel like a natural way to hold your fingers. I'd prefer just using the arrow keys, with the up arrow for throwing bananas. As it was, I often pressed S to throw, only to mute the sound instead.

* I think the limited banana ammo is interesting, if a bit harsh. After a while you aren't allowed to miss a single throw against fairly unpredictable patterns.

Britskrieg by Allison James

* It took some time to get used to the interface but after a while I started to like it. It'd be nice with some larger scale actions because going one tile at a time was a bit too much micro management for my taste. The UI design is super sleek and looks great.

* The countries had annoyingly high military power and it didn't feel like there was much to do about it other than grinding out a larger army and attack. I basically hunted down every minor country in Europe and then gave up.

CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames

* It's cool to be able to build my own army but because there seem to be a single optimal strategy, there's not much room for experimentation or strategy. Because of this, the game turned into simply waiting to spawn new units and waiting for the enemy to run out of health, neither of which being very fun. Perhaps if you were given 10 points to work with, you could assign them to create a platoon and send groups? It's one way to cut down on the wait.

* I like that there are many different kinds of units but they aren't very balanced. Archers are a good counter to lone villagers but can easily be swarmed with a group. Knights seem to be impossible to kill, no matter how many villagers you send so just pumping out knights as fast as possible seems like a simple strategy.

* The setting is cool, I think you could utilize the screen space more since characters and cards are all very small.

Chroma Crown by JacobV

* The sprite work is great as always and the action and details are really cool. You nail the dark/strange atmosphere.

* I cant help but feel you went with contrast over conquest. That's fine but a strange choice. I think the swap color mechanic was interesting in concept but ends up as being mostly annoying. I think the part of the problem is how changing colors freezes you and stops your actions (also aborting any jump you're doing), which breaks the otherwise quick pace. Another part is that it is somewhat hard to tell which color is effective against which enemies. I belive this mostly boils down to not having enough feedback on dealing damage. If the enemies blinked or something, it'd be clearer that your actions had any effect. I also got confused by how you flash when taking damage, which is similar to when you change color. It made me think I change color when hit, which wasn't the case at all.

* The game would feel so much more impactful with sound effects to go with the visuals.

Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

* The concept of dodging fire as you use the mouse to take over the world felt novel to me, nice!

* The turrets were incredibly loud. When multiple turrets fired at once, it got to a point where I had to mute the game to continue playing.

* The 'knockback' on the mouse, while jarring at first, was a really cool effect that adds a lot to the immersion.

* I wish you could take over land by just hovering above it, because each landmass required so much clicking I quit more from exhaustion than boredom. I think the game would flow better if you sped up the take-over, made it automatic and perhaps made the turrets fire a bit more often to compensate.

* At one point it looked like the bullets were going to bounce off each other. It'd be cool to have more kinds of turrets like that.

* It'd also be neat if you could disable turrets for a while by clicking on them a few times.

Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games

* I really like the art style of the game, though the swaying looks like screen tearing which is a bit distracting.

* I love the amount of details, like the birds and particle effects. Most of all, I think how the flowers sway as you pass by is awesome.

* The control scheme uses a few more buttons than what's really necessary. Why press 'R' to restart when you press 'D' to continue and why use different buttons for picking up and throwing gold when they could have been the same?

* The goblins were cool but so very annoying with their constant stealing treasure and throwing it into spikes or pits.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar

* This was a really interesting take on a real time strategy game but I have to ask: why are the controls inverted!? I probably lost as many men from using the right mouse button to move them as I lost from the winding path.

* With that said, I really liked the idea of having to micro manage incredibly stupid units, there was a lot of charm to it.

* I'd have liked them to move a bit faster, considering how many groups you had to send. I tried to juggle multiple groups at once, just to make it go a bit faster, but that made me lose most of the guys from each groups. It'd be really nice with a stop command.

Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio

* I love the art style and audio which both scream retro gaming.

* Gameplay feels creative and the controls are tight, but the lack of levels make the game fall flat as there is no way to progress.

Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

* I did not expect a battle royal game to be in the jam, so that's cool.

* Combat is not so great. I was killed by an enemy that didn't seem to be in range to attack me, yet I instantly died. It made it feel unfair and frustrating. Also, you can't seem to restart if you lose.

* The flying ship was awesome and the game was very thematic. I like the concept of finding the treasure on top of trying to survive. It gives the game a unique flare.

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

* Once again with a stupidly witty game. I laughed at several points of the story, though the end was almost bittersweet.

* The many physics actions worked great and felt varied enough. It took a few levels before I realized you could keep firing without restarting the level. It was nice, but I'd have liked if I could reload a little quicker when I knew I'd misfired a rock.

* Timing the shots was a little tricky but not too hard. It took some time for me to find a use for moving the trebuchet but it did help on some levels.

Goating Up by iBlackpen

* I love the clean aesthetics of the game. Everything looks great and the transitions are smooth.

* The levels themselves are kind of dull, especially when you have to redo the old ones just to get back to where you failed. The first level might be near-impossible to lose (the first time I didn't even realize I could move at that point, because the game just told me to use the space bar), but that doesn't make it interesting.

* I liked the snuff masters, giving encouragement for each level. It made me keep going for longer than I'd like to admit.

* it's a shame about the lack of audio.

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

* The menu, and the game in general, has a very calming vibe to it and great atmosphere.

* I was confused by the menu. Some letters were a bit hard to read and there was no indication of how to proceed to the game itself. After hammering the keyboard I tried to click around and only then did I realize the square was a level button (I thought that perhaps it was the golem and tried to move it with the arrow keys).

* I like the movement system, it's clever and allows for some interesting puzzles but I also wish you could buffer inputs, especially after the golem has moved and is reforming. Because the long animation doesn't end just as the golem is rebuilt but lasts a little longer than that, it often happened that my first input disappeared which caused the golem to move on my second key press, flying off in the wrong direction.

* When you have a very limited (and slow) movement system, having sudden bottomless pits is not very great without checkpoints. I think overcoming individual challenges, such as a wall or pit, is the appeal of the game and having to retread a lot of old ground just gets repetitive.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

Overall, I think the game was solid and well functioning, with a great user interface and somewhat lackluster combat. Some notes:

*It's not obvious how to close the help screen (I tried the next phase button because it was big and shiny, but it, thankfully, didn't work).

*I'd have liked a "transfer all" button, because I always wanted to transfer either one or all units.

*It's difficult to know what the difference between a swordsman and an archer is before you've been into battle. Swordsmen seemed generally superior to me because of their high health.

*Combat was interesting at first but the best strategy seemed to be keeping all units in a tiny clump and wait for the enemy to come spread out. Maybe if the enemy could have used siege weapons it would have made for a little more varied strategy.

*When defending, it's hard to see which country is attacked because the UI is in the way.

*The user interface on the map screen is very friendly and helpful. I like the messages that tell you what to do, why you can't (accidentally) skip the placement phase, and the attack and defend menus. The only time I didn't understand how it worked was during reinforcement where I thought I could move units from/to several countries and not just make a single transfer. Being able to see the help screen at any time was really good too.

*I can confirm that if the enemy is defeated, the game continues with no place left to conquer.

King of the Ant Hill by Relic

* The theme usage was straightforward but the ants were a nice twist and it worked well.
* I had some trouble understanding how the game worked at first which put me at a significant disadvantage. When it clicked for me, I restarted and the game was much more enjoyable. My problem was realizing that sending ants over food and then back was how you gained upgrade points. I know the instructions said something about it (and once you know it, the fruit symbol in the UI is pretty obvious) but I probably forgot that while trying to understand and get familiar with how you played (as in where to draw paths, what happen when you do, what are all those things in the UI, etc).
* I think the UI was clear and easy to use but drawing the paths was a bit tricky because it wasn't always obvious if a path wasn't being used and why not. Understanding when to delete paths and draw new ones became a big part of the game and the UI could probably make that a little easier, for example by highlighting which colors are currently drawn.

Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

* The game looks really good with the 3D esque graphics and sleak UI.

* Throwing me right into the game with no explanation makes for a very confusing start. When competing around territory and resources, that's usually not good. I liked the gameplay and it was nice to see the numbers grow but the game really needs an explanation.

* The music fits very well. I think the sound effects could be improved to be a bit less sharp for the ears.

* I'm not sure how to win but I somehow managed to remove all other kingdoms. I still didn't win though.

Mini Civilizations by Lukan

* Cool, but I don't see the point. You can conquer enemy territory but you can't keep the enemy from creating new units even if they have no territory left.

* The game is too small and fidgety to be very interesting. It takes several turns to move the cheaper units and it's a lot of micromanagement.

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam

* I really liked the hand drawn graphics. The computer made graphics was fine and the UI was clean and transitioned smoothly. The visual upgrades were awesome.

* The gameplay felt a bit lacking. It was fun, if not very challenging to figure out the optimal mining path, using the limited digs and upgrading was exciting but overall there was too little variation to make it really engaging.

* I'm not sure about the apple part. I liked how the tree got covered up more and more but at the same time it got a bit tedious collecting the apples and it felt like it clashed with what the rest of the game was about.

* I feel the same about the cool down on the drill. If the game is about drilling, I shouldn't be locked out of that, basically just having to wait. I think having some harder rocks or other obstacles that the upgrade could help you around would be more interesting for the player. Similarly, I think the selling price upgrade would have been more fun if it replaced some ore blocks with more valuable gemstones, making for a bit of a risk vs reward thing when mining.



Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

* The intro was ambitious but also a bit confusing. I think the timing on each frame could be tweaked to improved the flow of it.

* The menu was nice and got some extra impact from having music after the mute intro. Bonus points for the controls option.

* Collision handling needs some more work. The damage mask covers the water around the iceberg which means you take damage even if you're not actually colliding with the ice. You can also get stuck in the walls which happened to me one and forced me to restart the game.

* The opening is confusing as you don't really know where to sail. You obviously have to go up or left but there is no indication of which way or how far (or even what your goal is to reach).

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

* It's a cool concept and I'm not entirely sure how you pulled it off mechanically. However, cleaning up all those pixels with the tools available is a worse chore than actually cleaning.

* Having a bigger arsenal with more ability to clean up larger areas would have made things more engaging. I also think making the area smaller but with more enemies that would re-dirty the room would be interesting and would add more challenge.

* In the end (when playing with the small mess) I had a single pixel left. Thankfully, it was in the last area I had to clean so I managed to find it. Had it been somewhere else it'd have been like a needle in a hay stack. I think it'd be nice if small, lone groups of pixels could fade away. Of course, depending on your implementation, this could be hard to achieve.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

* Right, I should have expected no less.

Professor Heinous by HayManMarc

* It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure how to make it actually challenging. There would have to be some limit to how many potato spawners you can place and some sort of opposition to keep a single machine from taking over the entire city. It's doable, and again, would be interesting to see where this could go.

* I really like the tone that is set by the music and the professor's animations. There's this awesome, sinister vibe around it.


Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

* I kind of like the graphics but it is also very hard to see what is what. I'd especially want some indication of which team a tower belongs to.

* The AI seems to be pretty nonexistent as the enemies basically stood in place.

* The pathfinder needs some improvement as it can't handle the narrow corridors of the map and as a result, the minions tend to get stuck everywhere. For this scenario, I think something fairly basic would be enough for this scenario, but you might want to look up some cooler path finding algorithms just for fun.

Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker

* The game is pretty straightforward, much like the name suggests. The level of details is perfectly fine but feels a bit generic when it's only a few different kinds of tiles.

* I liked the various tools you got. I rarely used the hammer because of how slow it was and the ball on a chain was incredibly powerful, to the point where you could steamroll the levels, thanks to it being able to go through walls.

* I liked the enemy variety but I think because you are so powerful, it'd be nice if there were some armored foes that could take a hit or two with the ball, but maybe go down in one hammer swing?

Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

* The game looked fine but lacked some clarity in its presentation. I lost my first play-through because I ran out of money to buy mushrooms and I didn't realize you placed the trees on the enemy path so I just thought the game was buggy.

* I like the feedback you get while mousing over the plants but I'd have liked some info on what each plant does so I could plan my planting.

* The shoot shroom seemed powerful but when the enemies weren't perfectly aligned it was basically useless, which was frustrating when I desperately tried to kill the charging enemies that tore through my defenses.

* It was an interesting take on tower defense and I think it could be expanded upon. I'm not sure I like the idea of timed towers as it's a bit annoying to have to replace them constantly, but it was fun to try.

Spirit Walker by Bingdom

* The game feels really atmospheric and it's only further enhanced with the music and that awesome shader. It all comes across as incredibly dynamic.

* Movement also feels very dynamic, thanks to the fast, responsive controls and fluid moves.

* It feels like having no death animation was a bit of an oversight and it stands out as less polished than the rest of the game. Honestly, I think the game as a whole was better before you involved the spikes. Probably because they slow the game down too much because you can't see them in the dark.

* Some of the later levels are brutal, having several incredibly difficult sections. It'd be really nice if there were checkpoints between them, for example after hugging a person.

Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf

* Really, the game should not have a manual. I should not have to read a seven page document to understand how to play a jam game that I will play for less time than it takes to read all that. It's fancy, sure, but had the stuff been in the game where I was going to use it I'd not only be more engaged with it but it'd be easier to take out the important parts. Bottom line is that I don't care that the Yfwnq are made of sentient silicon; I want to know which buttons to press to do stuff.

* I'm not sure how colonizing works because at first it seemed like I could take over uninhabited planets but later my ships just disappeared when I tried.

* Panning with the numpad keys isn't that great when you also use them for entering numbers in fields. I'd much prefer to pan the view with WASD.

* I think the various management levels were interesting, if a bit intimidating. I rarely changed any of the settings but it was cool to see them adjust when you modified one.


Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa

* The game is awesome for making me feel like a bad-ass wizard. The game looks great and killing the enemies feels really satisfying, especially if you can chain hits together and take out multiple enemies in a single attack.

* The game is very confusing for dropping me right into the action with no idea of what to do or how the mechanics worked. I think I got through the first portal before realizing that you could pull the orb towards you and that was because I was curious about what you were supposed to do if it stopped over the water. I know the controls are shown in the beginning but I managed to forget that by the time I understood what was going on (to my defense, the game moves on automatically after a few seconds on the controls screen).

* It's weird to be locked to moving along 90 degree axes when the orb and enemies move in 360 degrees. It makes it really hard to avoid enemies at times and feels like a hindrance. Diagonal movement would improve the game.

* The upgrades were cool but could also use an explanation because I have no idea what half of them did. When I'd bought the last upgrade, money was suddenly useless and the game started to grow repetitive. The new enemies were cool but didn't really change up the game much.

Tank-You by EvanSki

* It looks like there could be some content but because you start the level boxed in the corner and are unable to get out, there is no way to tell.

The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde

* The intro is very lighthearted and gives off a friendly, welcoming vibe.

* I liked the tutorial screen but the game fails to explain what the goal is. It's also almost impossible to read the black text against that background.

* The lack of contrast is an issue that follows into the game as the reticle blends into some of the background tiles.

* I like how fast you can move, but the fluid movement makes the shooting feel a little unwieldy and cumbersome. I'd have liked to be able to move while aiming, perhaps just a little slower, so that I could still dodge and fight back.



The Empire by TinyGamesLab

* It's a neat looking game with a calming atmosphere. I think some nice sound effects would enhance it a lot.

* I felt at a disadvantage at first with bad planets near my base and the good ones near the enemy. Thankfully for me, the AI wasn't clever enough to use that.

* I think the UI clashes a bit with the rest of the game. It's also very small and could probably be streamlined a bit to make moving units easier and more intuitive. For example, if I increase the number to send above zero I shouldn't have to press another button to confirm, then select a target. Instead, why not always send the selected units and have abort as an option on right click?

* You can't win. Or rather, nothing happens when you do. It takes a bit from the experience.

The Imperialist by Azure Knight

* The game was intense when I was in combat but a lot of the time I just flew in space. At first I didn't realize there was an arrow pointing to where I was supposed to go so I thought the zone timer just meant I had to survive (with no enemies) until the level transitioned. I think the game would have been more interesting without the moving battle zones, or at least with a purpose to them, because now they just felt arbitrary and moving between them just took away the action.

* I like your arsenal, the flashy gun makes you feel powerful. I think the missiles could do with bigger explosions so that they didn't feel like slow-to-shoot bullets.

* The effect when you take damage and is low on health looks awesome.

These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

* I love the art style, it's simple but very clean.

* It was fun to jump between planets but not so much to have to restart the game if I missed a planet and ended up just flying forever.

* I'd have liked some kind of progression indicator. I took over a few planets but they still wanted stuff from me so it didn't feel like anything had changed. I also don't know what I was supposed to be able to build, or how, as the number buttons didn't seem to do anything.

Victory by CardinalCoder64

* Sailing the sea is pretty neat but it's also very empty. It's good that there is a mini map because otherwise I'd quit the game before reaching the first island.

* Defeating the fortresses was cool. I'd like to see a version of the game where you skip the sailing and focus on taking down various fortresses. It was a bit easy to stay away and fire at long range but I liked how it felt like there still was some strategy involved in taking them down.

* I didn't like how the game scaled. When you took down a fortress, you got another ship, but the enemies got MUCH tougher to kill. I understand you don't want the game to grow too easy, but here it felt like I got punished for winning (also, the last fortress has way too much health).
 
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Dr. Wolf

Member
Reviews

A Quick Note: Please keep in mind that, in my comments, I focus more heavily on areas for potential improvement. My goal is to help others improve; if my remarks seem to tend towards the negative, it is for that reason, and not to discourage or to hurt. As for how I rank, well, my methodology is largely holistic; I try not to think about games in terms of categories, but more in terms of how I felt about the overall result, so as to avoid penalizing games for sacrifices that didn't actually have a negative effect on the final product, or rewarding games that "hit all the bases" without actually amounting to much for it. I also give a small credit to games that I found interesting as a designer, even if the end result wasn't all that, and to games that seem to have potential for further development, and a larger credit to games that I might want want to play more of, as I feel that all of these are virtues worth encouraging.

Top 3:

King of the Ant Hill by Relic
Easily my favorite game of this jam, and not just because of SimAnt nostalgia, either. There's a central mechanic here of drawing scent trails that proves more versatile than one might expect. Yes, there are the more basic elements of sending ants to a place (a food source to harvest, a group of enemies to attack), making wide loops to explore or patrol, or harvesting the dead with a less direct path through a former battlefield. But there are also options like creating a longer path that doesn't return to a friendly colony, for suicide scouting or long-distance attacks, which will cost you ants but can be worth it, or very quickly drawing as many tiny paths as possible to call a lot of ants out of a colony for defense. Because paths are capped, and only a certain number of ants (5, IIRC) will follow a particular path, later in the game, conserving paths becomes important; a large number of foraging paths will leave you with fewer available to call ants out of the nest to defend, and making a strong attack sometimes requires you to choose which foraging paths to discontinue.

The upgrades, too, have some interesting subtleties. Speed upgrades help you harvest and maneuver, but also prove important in combat, since faster ants will form up into a fighting mass better than slower ones. Having more ants can help a lot with your economy but, if they come at the cost of your spawn rate, a bad battle can turn into a disaster. Upgrading path length takes vital resources away from upgrading your ants themsevles, but neglecting it can leave you unable to attack, harvest, or even scout.

A couple of very minor suggestions: It'd be nice to have a bit more information about the ants offered by the interface. Capping the number of ants that can harvest from a single resource source, especially for smaller resources, would encourage the drawing of more complex paths (since you'd want a single path to hit more than one, if possible). Overall, though, well done!

The Empire by TinyGamesLab
A neat little strategy game, if rather simplistic once you start getting the hang of it. My first playthrough, I made the mistake of letting the enemy take over the really nice planet in the bottom left, which made it more of a challenge than it should have been; the mistake that actually benefitted my enjoyment of the game, since I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much without that extra challenge. Maybe there could be a higher difficulty mode that starts the enemy with a better homeworld? Anyway, I like the different planets; the variety in the "terrain" means there's a bit more to think about than in a Risk-type game where all the locations are the same (continent bonuses aside). Maybe a next step would be to create a map generator? Overall, this game looks good, plays nicely, and fits the theme; well done!

Bow before the Queen by The M
Why is it so small?! It looks like there might be some art going on in there, but I can barely see it-- and this is on an old 1080i monitor. Also unhelpful is the choice of font; it sacrifices easy readability for looks, leading to eyestrain, and deteriorates into such a pixelated mess in fullscreen that I actually put the game back into windowed mode. Oh, and, for some reason, the people make bleeping noises at each other in a way that makes it seem like they're all actually robots.

Now, all that said, I was actually enjoying this game; the gimmick of trying to influence the Queen's decisions by setting her daily agenda adds an interesting layer of abstraction to the typical priority-setting of a strategy game. I say "was" because it crashes when I try and have the Queen meet with the enemy diplomat to accept their surrender; after it happened the first time, I actually went through to that point again, since I was having enough fun that I actually hoped to be able to continue, but to no avail.

Best ofs:

Best use of THEME: The Empire by TinyGamesLab
Best Concept: King of the Ant Hill by Relic
Best Presentation: Britskrieg by Allison James
Best Story: Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
Best Devlog: ...

Full ranking:

  1. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  2. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  3. Bow before the Queen by The M
  4. My Righteous Conquest by SamSam
  5. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  6. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  7. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  8. Britskrieg by Allison James
  9. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  10. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  11. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  12. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  13. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  14. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  15. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  16. Banana Toss by Toque
  17. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  18. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  19. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  20. Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
  21. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  22. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  23. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  24. ALPS by GameDevDan
  25. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  26. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  27. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  28. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  29. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  30. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  31. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  32. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  33. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  34. Tank-You by EvanSki
  35. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  36. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Comments:

ALPS by GameDevDan

I find this game's perspective-- specifically, the combination of the rotating camera and inconsistently-angled pseudo-isom-- quite disorienting, even nauseating. It also definitely feels more like just destroying everything (especially given the points awarded for collateral damage) than taking anything over. On the upside, it seems to have plenty of content, and there's something fun about just wrecking everything; I just can't handle playing with that camera for very long, hence the low-ish ranking.

Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal

So, full disclosure: even on easy mode, I wound up resorting to making use of the "S to Skip" feature to get through the boss (side note: I just feel like horses are probably not great at dodging things. I know they can walk sideways slowly, but they can't strafe with any sort of speed, can they?). It's...I dunno, maybe someone who liked the more physically demanding kind of bullet hell games would enjoy it? At its heart, this game seems to be about precision over all else, which isn't really my thing; I tend to have more fun with bullet hell games when they focus more on understanding bullet patterns and planning ahead to move through them successfully, and less on just...reacting, and failiing regardless of understanding unless you did the input "just right".

Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

As far as I can tell, this is a very broken, very basic platformer. I killed a few enemies (which was trivial to do), then got stuck forever, and that was that.

Banana Toss by Toque

Ooh, a fake handheld! I had a whole bunch of stand-alone handheld games as a kid, mainly from Tiger and Radio Shack; although this game isn't perfectly faithful to how those handhelds worked (more on this in a moment), it's close enough to play similarly. The gameplay on those devices was designed around the fact that the images on the screen had to be pre-printed; you could have a basic still background with colors, but had to simulate movement by turning on or off black images at different, fixed positions. Often there'd only be four or five positions where your character could ever be, and you'd quickly memorize what would hit you where, what you could hit from where (if you had something to shoot), and so on; at that point, the challenge became one of timing, which would often become quite a significant challenge given that speeding up the entire game was a common technique for increasing difficulty (sometimes there'd even be a beeping sound that played every time the overall world-state updated, so you could hear it speeding up as well as feel it). This game is true to that basic setup: it's not a challenge to learn which spot on your side hits which spot on their side; rather, the challenge lies in getting the timing right to hit a moving enemy.

Two criticisms: First of all, there's something aesthetically jarring about the way the game mixes faithful and unfaithful simulation of a handheld. Your position, and the positions of the enemies, are fixed to certain options, and snap between them as on a handheld, but the projectiles, the enemy animations, the vertical movements of pop-up enemies, and the departures of defeated enemies all abandon any attempt to mimic LCD limitations. I feel like the game would strike the eye as more consistent if it either animated motion between positions, keeping the fixed position options as a purely mechanical contrivance, or did everything in the LCD style, with minimal animations and no continuous motion (hey, if they could do a fun pinball game that way-- and I remember that one being pretty good-- it's surely possible to get passable arcing arrows and bananas). Secondly, it just doesn't feel like a game of "conquest", so perhaps wasn't the best choice for this theme. Overall, a neat experiment, though.

Bow before the Queen by The M

Why is it so small?! It looks like there might be some art going on in there, but I can barely see it-- and this is on an old 1080i monitor. Also unhelpful is the choice of font; it sacrifices easy readability for looks, leading to eyestrain, and deteriorates into such a pixelated mess in fullscreen that I actually put the game back into windowed mode. Oh, and, for some reason, the people make bleeping noises at each other in a way that makes it seem like they're all actually robots.

Now, all that said, I was actually enjoying this game; the gimmick of trying to influence the Queen's decisions by setting her daily agenda adds an interesting layer of abstraction to the typical priority-setting of a strategy game. I say "was" because it crashes when I try and have the Queen meet with the enemy diplomat to accept their surrender; after it happened the first time, I actually went through to that point again, since I was having enough fun that I actually hoped to be able to continue, but to no avail.

Britskrieg by Allison James

This is a good-looking game, with a very definite "style" to call its own, and fits well with the theme. What it needs, above all else, is a point: something that'd mean that there's more going on than the painfully slow pursuit of an inevitable victory. Maybe there could be some kind of opposing forces that start to counterattack after a while, and become stronger over time if allowed to develop, or something like that. Also, it'd be nice to have some way of collapsing the side GUI, or maybe it just needs to be smaller. I'm not really sure what to say about this game, to be honest; it's basically good, but then it's like there's this big gaping hole where any sort of challenge would go, and it's hard to even imagine how it'd play with that filled in.

CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames

I don't think the concept of this game is basically bad, but, without some balance tweaks and more options, it won't be much fun; at lower levels in particular, the effective tactic for "pushing" seems to be spamming the weakest unit while you wait for the AI to spawn the wrong thing and take damage for it.. Visuals could probably use some polish as well, and maybe a change to how upgrades are presented could tie it in with the theme more closely-- taking territory and gaining access to new resources and populations in place of buying cards, perhaps?

Chroma Crown by JacobV

I can't help but give this title a very similar evaluation to those I've given to previous jam games by the same author: lots of high-effort pixel art covering a game design seemingly so obsessed with the combination of aesthetics and precision that any hint of natural flow, or of tactic, trickery, or strategem, is utterly extinguished. Trying to play these games makes my hand hurt. This particular example features a color-shifting mechanic-- I think we all know how those work by now-- locked away by a lethal combination of a long animation and a physics effect (seriously, the color shifting messes with your jumps, as if all the jumping wasn't annoying enough on its own). Once it was clear that I wasn't going to get very far the "proper" way, I tried ignoring the enemies, and managed to make it as far as a boss fight before having to stop. Maybe I'm just not part of the target audience for this one, but I really have no idea what even to suggest for potential improvements, short of calling for a total rethink of the core mechanics and fundamental design assumptions.

Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

This particular game is lacking in polish, but I don't hate the basic concept of a mouse-dodging spamclick game, at least for the few minutes that I can play it before my fingers start to hurt. For future development, in addition to general aesthetic polish, it might be nice for the mouse to actually look like a spaceship, and to have it fire something when you click. I suggest using an extension to manipulate the hardware cursor through the operating system, rather than setting a cursor sprite; trying to do this through GM creates a software cursor (which is why you have to hide the regular cursor seperately-- you haven't actually changed the cursor, just tagged a new sprite to try and follow it), which is less responsive than the hardware cursor.

Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games

Yeahhhhhh...so, the game doesn't seem low-effort, but the attempt to make it fit the jam theme definitely is. I mean, "Conquer the Treasure," really?

As for the game itself, it's not bad-looking, although I'm not sure I'd be able to deal with all that sway through a long play-session without starting to feel a little sick. Gameplay-wise, there might be an interesting puzzle mechanic to do with treasure weight in there somewhere, but it's buried under way too much frustrating precision platforming for there to be any chance I'd enjoy it. I guess I could imagine someone liking this game, but it's not for me.

Conquest of Lem by Dengar

Was this design always the plan, or was it more of a "Plan B" after seeing how hard it is to make a regular RTS within a short timeframe? Either way, it's an interesting experiment: the "infinite" troops, in practice, feel anything but, as only a select few make it through to be available later in the level. That said, while it was neat to see what resulted from such a design, I'm not sure if it actually works as a game; I'm not convinced that the gimmick adds fun rather than annoyance. It doesn't help that there doesn't seem to be much you can do in terms of micromanagement to make your precious front-runners more effective. Also, the controls for bandboxing and moving seem to be backwards relative to the genre conventions, to the point where, in my case, the game was fighting against so many years of reflexes as to be practically unplayable. Moving my trackball to my left hand helped a little, since at least then it was the correct fingers doing things, albeit on the other side...but I'm not ambidextrous, so yeah, that wasn't great.

Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio

This is a cute, stylish game, one that, somehow, with just its look, its title, and a bit of sidebar art, manages to suggest a "conquest" of epic scale. Actually playing it, though, was more frustrating than fun, between the small window size, the small spaces for maneuvering, the movement lock-up when shooting, the awkward charge-up system, and the resets upon death. I enjoy games that are designed more around flow rather than precision-- to feel good in motion, and to interface with a player's skill through their general feeling of motion rather than making them deal with exact positions on the screen-- and all the elements I listed mean that the action in this game doesn't really flow at all. It's a shame, because it's a nice-looking game; it just places itself firmly on the wrong end of the "fun vs. hand cramps" spectrum.

Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

I know you already know this, based on your in-game text, but...this game is kind of a mess. For one, no two objects in the game seem to have the same artstyle, the same resolution, or the same perspective; gameplay seems to be a lot of waiting followed by sudden defeats (often without having done anything). I should note that I haven't played very much battle royale (shrug I play games that look interesting to me, instead of trying to "keep up"), so I have no idea which, if any, of this game's features or flaws are intended as commentary on the state of that genre; instead, I just had a vague impression throughout that there were references being made that I wasn't understanding. Died a bunch without accomplishing much, and am still not sure how this translates into "conquest". Still, it was...playable, and not without its moments of dramatic tension.

Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

Well, it wouldn't be a game jam without at least one silly physics game, right?

So, it's not super-connected to the theme, or super-fancy-looking, or anything like that, but I liked it, mainly for the humor value.

Goating Up by iBlackpen

Well, it's a nicely decorated game with a fun attitude, but what does it have to do with "conquest"? It's also quite difficult; the difficulty curve goes straight from "I completed this level not only without knowing any of the controls, since there are no instructions, but without knowing my position or even the genre of the game, because the main character's sprite reads visually more like a terrain feature than anything else" to "I can get past this level occasionally, but, when I do, I'm sure it's just luck" in the span of a few seconds. Given that the game says there are five challenges, and the first few seem to be a few seconds long each, I can't help but wonder if the game is relying on difficulty to try and disguise a severe lack of content. With a better introduction, a more gradual difficulty curve, and the additional content that would probably have to go along with that, I think this game could actually be pretty fun. As it stands, though, it's not quite there.

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

I like the look of this game, the basic puzzle mechanic-- there's a lot that can be done with the idea of having a fixed-length movement and having to use walls to move in different increments, and it's neat to see it applied to a platformer-- and what it promised to be when it said, "This is a game of strategy. Take your time - the only obstacle is the mountain itself." I think, if it had lived up to that promise, I might have actually enjoyed it, despite the fact that it's using platformer elements. Instead, the focus quickly moved from puzzle-solving to annoying execution challenges. The promise of a game where the player can take their time to think is quickly betrayed by wall-climb mechanics where trying to stick to a spot and go up again can easily result in either an immediate fall or an accidental double upwards jump (followed by a fall) unless the timing is just right, and things only went downhill (sorry) from there. If the real-time elements had been removed from this game, and you could just choose what to do (perhaps through a mouse-driven interface with optional keyboard inputs, with a little display of squares going various directions to show where you'd end up?) when each jump ended, it might have been fun; as it was, I couldn't play very much of it.

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

A Risk-type game is certainly a good fit for this theme, and it is presented here with a nice looks and a good dose of polish. I feel like this game does a good job at being what it is; the issue, for me, is that it doesn't really do much to address the basic flaws that it gets from that game type. "Attack less with more, and don't let the enemy do the same" is the basic strategic principle to follow, and there's seldom a real question of how to follow it, an issue that's significantly exacerbated by the small, unchanging map, by the simplicity of the enemy AI, and the enemy's lack of a reinforcement phase.

The tactical combat is a nice idea, but it, too, follows a simple rule: keep your swordsman and archer numbers balanced about how you'd expect (forget trebuchets; they're not worth it) and let the enemy come almost to you before attacking, so that your units are balled better than theirs. Follow this simple rule and the combat system just means the enemy has even less of a chance to challenge you.

Between all these factors, there's a very low threshold that a player has to pass before getting to the point where they could play forever and never lose another battle; personally, I think I hit that threshold after a couple of turns of my first game and would expect similar for anyone at all interested in strategy games. And, once there, there's really not much point to playing.

King of the Ant Hill by Relic

Easily my favorite game of this jam, and not just because of SimAnt nostalgia, either. There's a central mechanic here of drawing scent trails that proves more versatile than one might expect. Yes, there are the more basic elements of sending ants to a place (a food source to harvest, a group of enemies to attack), making wide loops to explore or patrol, or harvesting the dead with a less direct path through a former battlefield. But there are also options like creating a longer path that doesn't return to a friendly colony, for suicide scouting or long-distance attacks, which will cost you ants but can be worth it, or very quickly drawing as many tiny paths as possible to call a lot of ants out of a colony for defense. Because paths are capped, and only a certain number of ants (5, IIRC) will follow a particular path, later in the game, conserving paths becomes important; a large number of foraging paths will leave you with fewer available to call ants out of the nest to defend, and making a strong attack sometimes requires you to choose which foraging paths to discontinue.

The upgrades, too, have some interesting subtleties. Speed upgrades help you harvest and maneuver, but also prove important in combat, since faster ants will form up into a fighting mass better than slower ones. Having more ants can help a lot with your economy but, if they come at the cost of your spawn rate, a bad battle can turn into a disaster. Upgrading path length takes vital resources away from upgrading your ants themsevles, but neglecting it can leave you unable to attack, harvest, or even scout.

A couple of very minor suggestions: It'd be nice to have a bit more information about the ants offered by the interface. Capping the number of ants that can harvest from a single resource source, especially for smaller resources, would encourage the drawing of more complex paths (since you'd want a single path to hit more than one, if possible). Overall, though, well done!

Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

This is an interesting game! It's good-looking, fits the theme well, and offers a blend of geometric and economic strategy that feels fresh. The basic idea seems to be that you defeat enemies by cutting them off from their churches (or whatever the home building is); at the same time, there are resources to be secured, and buildings to be built, which can make it harder for an enemy to take a square, or easier for you to take one of theirs. So, in theory, a player must find a balance between claiming an empire that's as geometrically defensible as possible, on one hand, and securing resources on the other.

I say "in theory" because, in its current state, the AI plainly doesn't have a clue. It expands in a way that's about as vulnerable as it's possible to get, while making no real effort to attack, so the game is trivially easy. It'd be neat to see how this plays with a functional AI, and maybe a bit more fleshing-out of the buildings side of things.

Mini Civilizations by Lukan

Unless there are commands I don't know about-- which may be the case, as there seem to be no directions-- this game is very incomplete. As it stands right now, winning is trivially easy; you can start your first turn by creating cheap units directly in enemy capital cities (I think that's what those are) to stop those enemies from doing anything. Any remaining enemies can be dealt with by doing the same to them once their own unit(s) move off, and their units can be destroyed by creating stronger units directly on top of them. Appearance is quite basic as well. I don't know what the game might have going on "under the hood" in preparation for future features, but, as it is right now, there's not much here.

My Righteous Conquest by SamSam

Oh...I see.

Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!

...

Okay. So, it's a cool idea: take a genre (incremental games) that's all about greed, all about the desire for more in its rawest form, then subvert it by creating a setup where, by acting on that greed, the player brings about their own downfall, organically, in a way that seems obvious in hindsight, but which first arrives completely unexpected, hidden by the unquestioned hunger and the conventions that have arisen around it. The game isn't something I'd play more than once, and it's not without bugs (one of the kinds of powerup can be re-purchased every cycle, and the whole game froze when buying powerups from the fatal ultimate tier), but it gets the point across.

Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

Making a functional game, any game, within a jam timeframe is tricky. This seemed to be a functional, or mostly functional (I did notice some collision issues where the ship would become stuck) bound-type game, and not altogether without playability or enjoyability. That said, there does seem to be considerable scope for improvement in all areas: the aesthetic is rough, with mixed pixel sizes, blurry text, and a very minimal amount of visual effects; gameplay is simplistic, without a great deal of obstacle variety and with long stretches of minimal challenge; connection to the theme seems limited to the faintest of suggestions contained within the game's premise, unless there's more to be found somewhere after the point where I got bored; mechanics ranged from the unpolished (movement physics, standard obstacle collisions) to the annoying (mouse octopus).

Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

This feels more like a repurposed tech demo or stress test than a purpose-built game; gameplay is minimal at best, and not really on-theme. If it *is* a tech demo, it's worth noting that the screen goes blank when walking off one of the edges, and flashes black when shooting off the edge in a couple of directions. As a game, well...revealing the "underlying game world", as the readme calls it, is neat and all, but with neither a mechanical relevance to the cleaning, nor a particularly interesting underlying world to discover, it is ultimately pointless and rapidly starts to feel tedious rather than fun. What it does is neat, but I feel like it needs to be used for something, something other than, well, this.

PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

Is this a deliberate attempt to try and claim last place?

If so...okay, that can happen.

Professor Heinous by HayManMarc

There'd have to be a lot of work done to give this game a point. With limits to how many spawners you can build, different spawner types, and some form of enemy to resist conquest, there could be interesting strategic decisions about what to send, where to deploy from, and what routes to take. With infinite resources and no resistance, however, none of that is present.

Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

Took me a couple of tries to figure out what was what-- the game would be *much* more readable if the pylons would change color when you took control of them-- but it fits the theme well. With some tweaking to readability, micro mechanics (there's not much to it right now; you mine until you have a strong ball, and then dominate, because there's not a huge amount of scope for doing well with a small force), enemy AI (which is why the whole "mine until you dominate" thing can happen in the first place), and pathfinding (the walls tend to get a little bit...sticky, for want of a better word), and some more content (more levels? more unit types? upgrades?), this game could actually be pretty fun. It's just not quite there yet.

Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker

A neat little game, though with limited connection to the theme. The game tries hard to encourage you to play very aggressively, dodge a lot, and generally apply a reflex-heavy play style, but I found doing so both annoying and ineffective. I had much better results going more slowly and taking full advantage of the terrain, though the later levels did force me to go a bit faster. There's not a huge amount of content here, but what there is goes down relatively smoothly by jam game standards. Overall, not bad.

Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

Kind of an interesting twist on the tower defense genre, in that it's less about towers than barriers, and spending efficiently on consumables rather than building up over time. That said, while it was neat to see and a good match for the game's theming, I can't help but feel the lack of development in your defenses (because of everything being consumable) makes it a bit less satisfying than a standard defense from a mechanical perspective. The game could also use another balance pass IMO, as a defense consisting of nothing more than spike trees with some life support seems to be better than any more sophisticated layout, and easily held out for as long as I wanted to play. More enemy variety might help on that score, too, since it'd be another way of getting around the whole "do the same thing forever, only a bit spammier each time" deal. Still, this game was, at the very least, a neat experiment to check out.

Spirit Walker by Bingdom

One of the fastest ways for a game to irritate me is to put me in a situation where I've already figured out the "trick" to getting past a specific obstacle (something like..."Oh, you've got to slide down a bit, then walljump over to the other side, wait for a bit for the spikes, then jump across, but not at full intensity, or you'll go too far..."), but where I'm stuck anyway, because the game won't let me just do what I know I necessary unless I can meet its absurd standards for input precision. There's nothing fun about that kind of design; even when I finally do succeed, there's no satisfaction, only a cramping soreness in my hand that I know is going to ruin my day later, when I need to type something, or want to play another game, and find that my fingers won't move properly. If you absolutely must make yet another awful frustration-platformer, please at least give it crappy art because, when you make something as clearly high-effort as this, I wind up feeling obligated to stick with it for longer than I really want, and wind up suffering for it later.

Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa

This is a pretty little game with an interesting central mechanic, though, I have to admit that there's still a good bit I don't understand about it: what are those GUI elements on the bottom referencing? Is "gold" a score, or is it possible to buy upgrades somehow? And how does any of what's going on relate back to the theme of "conquest"? Maybe more would have become clear later on but, after completing 3-4 levels, I got to a point where it was clear, after many failures, that I wasn't going to make it through to the next.


Tank-You by EvanSki

Not really sure what the intent was with this one. What we wound up with seems to be an extremely basic shooter featuring an invincible tank on a single level with three enemies. Because of the clumsiness of the tank (not only can it not shoot over or through obstacles, it can't even go backwards, which is odd-- if it can't reverse its treads, how is it able to turn in place?) and some awkward hitboxes for the terrain, you're bound to take hits, but it doesn't matter; in fact, you can just ignore the gun altogether, drive straight up to the enemies, and crash into them to win. Getting the foundations of this right will involve a lot of work on the basic mechanics to make it so that the tank can fight both skillfully (using player skills to avoid enemy fire and land hits, all while still feeling like a massive tank and not like a fighter jet) and intelligently (where the tank uses terrain to get into positions where it can either hit the enemies first or hit them from a position where they can't hit it back); building a game on those foundations will then require the creation of content in every kind, as there really isn't much of anything at present.



The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde

Seems to be quite a straightforward game-- you run around with a bow shooting people who are coming after you with bows and swords and stuff, and try and hold out as long as possible. It's quite simple, and not really great-looking, and the crosshairs tends to blend into some of the teerrain types, but it works, I guess? There's not really enough beyond the basics here for me to feel comfortable in suggesting a particular path for improvement. So I'll end this comment here.

The Empire by TinyGamesLab

A neat little strategy game, if rather simplistic once you start getting the hang of it. My first playthrough, I made the mistake of letting the enemy take over the really nice planet in the bottom left, which made it more of a challenge than it should have been; the mistake that actually benefitted my enjoyment of the game, since I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much without that extra challenge. Maybe there could be a higher difficulty mode that starts the enemy with a better homeworld? Anyway, I like the different planets; the variety in the "terrain" means there's a bit more to think about than in a Risk-type game where all the locations are the same (continent bonuses aside). Maybe a next step would be to create a map generator? Overall, this game looks good, plays nicely, and fits the theme; well done!

The Imperialist by Azure Knight

Oh man, it's been a while since I've played something with this kind of control scheme! Not gonna lie, in the old days, anytime I found that a little 2D spaceship game that I'd downloaded had throttle-based controls, I was pretty disappointed (my preference then, as now, was for thrust-based controls with momentum); these days, though, I feel like there's such a lack of variety out there, with "twin stick" controls being so dominant and basic scrolling picking up most of the remainder, that I'm happy to see some less common setups still getting some representation, and find myself more willing to give such games a chance and see what they can make of their choice in terms of mechanics. In this case, the result is a system that encourages a very "proper" style of dogfighting, where you're always trying to get on the tail of an opposing ship to shoot it down. It'd be interesting to see what could be done with it; my feeling about what's here now is that it's right on the line between being a game and being a tech demo for the control scheme, and needs a bunch more meat on its bones before it becomes fun.

These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

As far as I can tell, this is a game where you jump between worlds and bring things from one to another, which causes the receiving worlds to declare, eventually, that they belong to you. Is it incomplete? Some systems, like building mines to get iron, and building buildings with that iron, don't seem to have any purpose. The only danger seems to be impatience: make short, careful jumps and you'll be fine; get careless, or try and jump beyond what you can see in an attempt to save time or to explore, and you're likely to float off into the void forever. With a change in focus-- say, if enemies were added, along with some sort of mechanic to save after a "missed" jump (emergency teleport?)-- and some more fleshing out of the building and trading systems, I could see this game becoming fun, though it's not quite there yet.

Victory by CardinalCoder64

It's a neat idea-- I wish we got more games about boats in general-- but loosely connected with the theme at best. I'm also not a fan of this game's control scheme; the combination of holding one mouse button to move, having to click for every shot, and constantly switching between aim mode and turn mode felt cumbersome and often left me wondering why my guns weren't firing or my ship wasn't moving properly. Ultimately, I settled on the tactic of trying to "orbit" enemy islands at a relatively safe distance by pointing my mouse towards the enemy and occasionally releasing aim, letting my ship naturally turn towards the target a little. I feel like it might play more smoothly if your weapons would fire continuously while the button was held, and would fire whether or not you were in aiming mode (aim mode would just be for when you wanted to aim somewhere without also turning to face that way).
 
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SamSam

Guest
SamSam's Reviews
Well done everyone! This jam was so intense I spent more time reviewing than making my entry. I tried my best to use an approximately correct english but don't hesitate to notify me if something doesn't make any sense. I also chose a unique link to the unknown for each one of you. Hope you like it!


Top 3:

ALPS by GameDevDan
@GameDevDan,

It seems you've interpreted the theme the same way I did, you filthy piece of lefty parasite ! Of course I am very appealed by this side of your game.
The part of the story "kill the army to abort the sixth mass extinction" is very audacious. Maybe someone is missing in the equation though ;)

At first I wish there was a strafe mechanic but I understood it would have killed a good concept as I was playing. Dodging the bullets requires a bit of technique and, you can't shoot continuously while shooting or you'd destroy every last tree. By the way I found a bit odd that destroying trees and killing civilians gives you point anyway. I know there is a bonus at the end, but this doesn't match very well with the story. Maybe replacing the bonuses at the end by a penalty when you shoot at civilians and tree ?

During the combats, my main strategy have been to play with the off-camera, this is kind of downside but not that much. I'm not quite sure actually. But getting far from the action and shooting approximately in the direction of the enemies works very well. I was often going back and forth, shooting, getting far again to dodge bullets, until there was no one left. This is interesting because you have to use strategies, but I had the feeling I was playing too much with the limits of the game, almost with a glitch. The boss was so cool though ! And it exploited very well the mechanics of the game, especially the "can't strafe" one.

The visual style is awesomely simple and self-explanatory, the fake 3D effect is impressive and adds depth to it.

A music related to your game, and to MGS 5 :

I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
@Lt. Farfetch'd,

Damn.

You chose you a romantic use of the theme and this is very relevant. I like this humble interpretation of conquest, and it made a lovely story in a cute chill game. I actually finished it twice. I wanted to see what was on the downward path on the last level before the end screen. I'd be interested to know why you have placed it. Was it supposed to bring you back to some other level ?

This game made me feel like with "Getting Over It", it made me feel great satisfaction when I managed to climb, and from time to time great frustration when I fell the entire level down and had to go from the start again. It hasn't been an issue for me, actually It made me laugh when I felt, and since your game is a strategy game and not a dexterity one, it was more easy to go where I was before I felt, unlike in "Getting Over It".

I found only one bug. At a moment, you have a small "vertical corridor" (third level from the last one), just as large as you, and you can go through it. When I did it, I somehow stuck the golem in his red state, and I was able to jump in the air as much as I wanted (I quickly panicked and died).

The level design is crazy, I really wonder how you found the time to think about so many things and to make them as well. There is just one thing in the game design that may be a downside. You can not stay too long on walls and ceiling. But if you "mash" the key to the wall or ceiling direction, you can actually stay as long as you want. So it makes the "cannot cling too long" rule a bit obsolete. But the only true frustration I had is the idle time between each series of jumps. It is justified by other aspects of the game, but it is almost paradoxical with the fact that you can't stay on walls for too long. This rule forces you too speed up when you are on a wall or ceiling, but you can't have a response from the keyboard immediately, so you spam, and too many times I ended up falling the entire level down because I made a second move in the same direction by mistake. And as you express it on the menu, this is more a reflection game than a dexterity game. So maybe a more reactive response in the commands would be a good thing. Plus, I felt a small tension within me as I was playing because the idle time problem created some sort of heaviness in the game feel, and this is a little unfit with the overall mood of the game as I understand it.

The music and graphics are awesome ! They build together the mood of the game, and, like in a good movie, transcend the story without the need of huge directing tricks. I may have a small observation about the music. As good as it is, when you spend a lot of time in the same level, the looping music can lose some impact. Maybe stopping the music at the end of the track from time to time, and launch it back later would give a renewal of contrast, allowing the player to discover again its richness, and contributing to the preservation of the universe's depth. The fade out of the music could for instance hand over to a wind or blizzard sound effect. It could put the emphasis on another side of the story, the struggle for the top of the mountain, and then give a touch of hope as the music comes back.

To summarize, your game is so good that I had to speak about the ultimate details I could find but...
Damn.

Some romantic music (composed by a deaf guy) :

Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
@Apapappa,

Details, details, details... Details everywhere ! So much details man this is insane ! Even a chronometer and a death count.
20 various and challenging levels ! You're fast.

Your game looks gorgeous. All the colours melt perfectly and build, together with all the visual details, a very appealing style. I love the way you add a lot of gamefeel features, even in the menu. I always had the sensation of really activating things. Very cool.
The sound design blends perfectly with the rest, without being too much. Same for the music.

The trees might have a graphical bug. I am not sure but when they move they have a Vsync looking thing. If it is a problem it is really a minor one in my opinion, but it hurts the eyes a little. There is the same thing in Britskrieg when the panels rotate so It's maybe a GM interpolation thing.

During my first minutes of playing your game, I was dodging the birds. There is something in their contrast that make them look like they are on the same "z-axis" than you, and in the way they fly that makes them look like they are attacking you. But they enhance the great impression of lively universe.

The bully is very interesting in the way a little mechanic can offer multiple ways to play. You can kill him by throwing the gold at him, or you can try not to kill him, which I did cause he's sooo cuuuute ! ... I hate him.
But we made up on that last screen after I realised I couldn't kill him here anyway. You can also make him kill himself on the spikes. You can wait for him to jump towards you over a whole, and throw the gold to the other side and it makes him fall down or onto a spike. If you are on the edge of a cliff, they sometimes jump, grab your treasure, fall and die with it. When you are separated by a spike wall, you can just do a small jump without moving sideways, and he will jump onto the spikes. This is a very rich gameplay feature.

I died 389 times by the way.

This game is awesomely complete, good-looking, and fun !

In honour of your birds :

Best ofs:

Best use of THEME: I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
Best Concept: Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
Best Presentation: Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
Best Story: Spirit Walker by Bingdom

Full ranking:

  1. ALPS by GameDevDan
  2. I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd
  3. Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games
  4. The Empire by TinyGamesLab
  5. Chroma Crown by JacobV
  6. Britskrieg by Allison James
  7. Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo
  8. Spirit Walker by Bingdom
  9. King of the Ant Hill by Relic
  10. Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal
  11. Goating Up by iBlackpen
  12. Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf
  13. Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot
  14. Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty
  15. Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa
  16. Banana Toss by Toque
  17. Bow before the Queen by The M
  18. Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin
  19. These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg
  20. Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson
  21. Victory by CardinalCoder64
  22. Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker
  23. Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman
  24. CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames
  25. The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde
  26. The Imperialist by Azure Knight
  27. Conquest of Lem by Dengar
  28. Oh Canada by Silas the Dev
  29. Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt
  30. Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio
  31. Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart
  32. Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha
  33. Mini Civilizations by Lukan
  34. Tank-You by EvanSki
  35. Professor Heinous by HayManMarc
  36. PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

(comments in separate posts because of characters limits)
 
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SamSam

Guest
Comments 1:

ALPS by GameDevDan

@GameDevDan,

It seems you've interpreted the theme the same way I did, you filthy piece of lefty parasite ! Of course I am very appealed by this side of your game.
The part of the story "kill the army to abort the sixth mass extinction" is very audacious. Maybe someone is missing in the equation though ;)

At first I wish there was a strafe mechanic but I understood it would have killed a good concept as I was playing. Dodging the bullets requires a bit of technique and, you can't shoot continuously while shooting or you'd destroy every last tree. By the way I found a bit odd that destroying trees and killing civilians gives you point anyway. I know there is a bonus at the end, but this doesn't match very well with the story. Maybe replacing the bonuses at the end by a penalty when you shoot at civilians and tree ?

During the combats, my main strategy have been to play with the off-camera, this is kind of downside but not that much. I'm not quite sure actually. But getting far from the action and shooting approximately in the direction of the enemies works very well. I was often going back and forth, shooting, getting far again to dodge bullets, until there was no one left. This is interesting because you have to use strategies, but I had the feeling I was playing too much with the limits of the game, almost with a glitch. The boss was so cool though ! And it exploited very well the mechanics of the game, especially the "can't strafe" one.

The visual style is awesomely simple and self-explanatory, the fake 3D effect is impressive and adds depth to it.

A music related to your game, and to MGS 5 :


Apocalypse Chronicles ~ The Horsemen Clash Over Hearts by Alice, Siolfor the Jackal

@Alice, @Siolfor the Jackal,

Yeay, a game about the four horsemen ! Darksiders fans : ... GOOOO HOOOOME ! There's nothing for you here ! What a disgrace, goddammit !
Just kidding, it's great. Well done for the theme interpretation, well done for the jokes, well done for the drawings, well done for sending us news about Jueg... Oh wait.

I didn't understand what the focus was for. I saw It activates automatically when you shoot and I didn't see what was different when I activated it with shift, except it doesn't shoot.

I haven't played a lot of shmups so I will maybe note a common thing, but slowing the player when he shoots is very smart, because you can't just keep shooting all the game long anymore, and it makes the choice of the shooting time strategic.

Putting the hitbox only on the heart and not the whole character is something I have never seen before. It puts the emphasis on the weakness of the rider, reinforcing the storytelling, as well as it creates a very singular way to look at the danger and to dodge it.

I have to find a downside or you will find my review useless so : It could have a stronger gamefeel... Here you go.
Maybe a shooting sound, a bit of screen shakes, but most of all... Come on, Alice, you know what I'm talking about ! Pa-pa-pa ! Par-ti-cules ! Par-ti-cules !

Now I have to help bring you and Darksiders fans together :


Axem Conquest by TheMiningBoyAlpha

@TheMiningBoyAlpha,

Your game has a very appealing style. The 3D effect is great, graphics are good, and the whole game is very legible despite the very small window. Which is a very audacious choice so congrats !

The combats may need a few adjustments to be truly pleasing. You can't dodge, the enemies are too fast, the only way to fight is to just mash and hope you have a large enough amount of life points. Maybe if the enemies had an idle time before hitting you when they come close, and if you had an evasion skill, the combat would be more interesting.

A readme with the controls would have been ok. How to play was not very clear, I had to find out the controls and the fact that you have to destroy the flag to win the level by myself. However, you had the good idea of playing a sound when you hit the flag, so the player knows it has an effect.

A fine basis if you want to continue to improve this game !


Banana Toss by Toque

@Toque,

Your game is really fun, I understood immediately how to play and it is instantly gratifying to chain the levels until the last one which repeats itself (a "you win" would have been nice but it's ok like so).

The graphics are beautiful clean and efficient. They match really good with the cute and funny story, coming with a smart use of the theme.

The technique that allowed me to chain the levels was to take a visual point of reference on both sides of the tree, and then to count the spaces from there to the target and to move as much.

Your game is cute and reminded me of the many hours I had with a very special game on game boy advance. (Featuring @katavanda - the flower prince -) :


Bow before the Queen by The M

@The M,

While your game hurt my eyes a little because of the difficulty I had to read the texts, I found very interesting the choice you've made to make a PC game into such a small window. It definitely had an impact on the way I perceived the game, toned down a little maybe. In a good way I mean : since the topic is pretty serious, it adds some contrast to the stakes.

Unfortunately, my experience took its end with a crash, but I have been able to play for a decent amount of time before it happened. The level design is well-thought-out. It starts easy and can get hard very fast if you take unwise decisions. I tried to avoid wars and it wasn't that easy but It worked for a while. I also tried to "unspoil" the princess. Didn't really work, her boyfriend dumped her and she told me she hated me... I knew abortion would have been the best thing to do...

You took the theme the literal way, but then you changed that point of view so much that it is actually surprising and very original. So for me this is a subtle and smart use the theme.

The rhythm is perfect. No time to get bored, but all the time you need to think carefully.

The sound design is very good too and adds a true value to the gamefeel. It makes the cards and action you make with them tangible and, therefore, their consequences too.

There is a good chance you played this game already but did you realise how beautiful its soundtrack was ?


Britskrieg by Allison James

@NAL,

Your game proves one can have fun with a game you can't lose at. This one is even pretty addictive because there is a sense of exponential development so It doesn't get boring. For me the challenge was to find the fastest way to capture every zone. The good thing is, nothing forced me to play the game this way. Anyone could find his own way to play.

My worst enemy has been the game's frame rate. It was often very low like 25 fps, but this was not problematic since this is not a "precision" game. There is a short freeze each time a zone is captured. When the gameplay became faster, it made me do unwanted actions, like sending someone somewhere while I wanted him to capture the zone. The radial menus work very well, but when you want to add 150% to the action speed of the four characters (I did it), It can get a little tendonitis-friendly. Same thing when you build a city and want it to pop 10000 troops/s and do it again for the four characters.

Since the game is very long, an option to cut off the music may have been a good feature. This is the kind of game I like to play while listening to something else (just like Maddening Euphoria ♥). Plus, most of the time there is no sound, since the music only plays from time to time (Which is good).

The interface looks very good, but the part you use the most is the right side one. So I felt a bit confined with the huge left-side panel. It pushes the right-side one to the background, and it can even be almost oppressive since it is like you are trying to see the action trough an overly tiny porthole.

Overall it is a very fun and addictive game, I played it for very long and had to force myself to quit it. I will surely play again from time to time until I conquered the whole world (except India of course).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIdZ-eXpjIw


CardQuest by VagrantWhaleGames

@VagrantWhaleGames,

Your game and its art style have something touching in their innocence. ^^

As soon as I was level 2, I found a good technique : sending a group of three or four archers, very close from one another but not too much. The idea is to pop them with the right rhythm, so their arrows create a virtually impenetrable wall, and they crush the enemy in seconds. At first I was afraid It would place the other classes on the dugout. And then I unlocked the last classes and you surprised me. The last classes are also attacking from a distance but in different ways, so much that you have to experiment and try to figure out again what is the best troop composition.

The AI is not quite bad too. Maybe too easy, but maybe not. I always loved easy games since big challenges are not what I seek in gaming. Of course there is a limit to this and I think there is a huge difference between "very easy" and "no difficulty". But in your game the balance is fine in my opinion, the IA becomes a bit more smart at high levels.

The way you transformed a common menu into a storytelling machine is a true success. So much that I just didn't notice it at first, but yes, your game has two distinct parts : the battlefields, and a menu. But this menu has been made in a way it tells the story, and the cold technical side of a classic menu is completely removed. (The exact opposite to my entry you'll notice :) )

Your game reminded me a game I played a lot a very long time ago, hope you enjoy :
http://www.maxgames.com/play/age-of-war.html


Chroma Crown by JacobV

@JacobV,

You look gorgeous. No I mean... wait ! Your game looks gorgeous ! I am confused right now. And I am not surprised since I have seen this insane "The Tarnishing Of Juxtia" WIP of yours. But how the hell have you been able to make so much story and graphics and gameplay and level design in three days ?! I know I am on the noob team so I have a pretty low reference point but still, this is crazy.

And the craziest part is : I just couldn't make it past the first boss ! I think I have been very annoyed by the right key/left key/z/c/x controls. I never played a game with such ones and I failed to find an intuitive way of using my hands. Therefore, my favourite strategy has quickly become the rush through. And since I was barely fighting my way, I didn't improve, and then the boss arrived and he just @*♠#&♥ me so hard ! I really tried but I couldn't go further into the game, and I am really sorry for that. I wish I could have seen more of your work and give you a review about the full game. Maybe you did it that way to create emphasis with the fact the character holds a big artefact on his head, and so it is hard for him to move. But if not, more intuitive commands could be something like a d or q d to move, space or z to jump, right click to attack / left click to change colour.
Edit : just realized it was because on a QWERTY keyboard, the z is elsewhere, so I will try again as soon as I can.

The level design is very good and the idea of red/blue is very well exploited. For instance when you fall as blue and discover that a red floor is awaiting you. Too bad the actual theme wasn't contrast. ;) Even if, after all, the conquest is in the story, but not in the most singular way in my opinion.

It is truly impressive. Here is for your madness :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGHsxMqpL0c


Click to Conquer by 2Dspessman

@2Dspessman,

Awesome concept ! It took me some time to understand that the mouse cursor was actually the ship, but this is genius. And this is very well explained at the beginning but I think this was so much genius that I just couldn't imagine this idea before I see it in-game. It makes the gameplay awesomely nervous since you dodge the same way you aim. The "story pictures" cleverly use this principle, and the game becomes a little meta. You didn't change the cursor appearance and I think it is a good choice to be completely at ease with your strong commitment.

Maybe preventing the mouse to leave the window would have been a good thing because I clicked outside once or twice and died before I had time to recover my window.

The game is pretty challenging, and at the beginning of the game I was trying all the keys because I didn't know the ship was the mouse position, and I found you can change levels with the arrow key. Don't know if it's intended but I used It as a checkpoint. :)

Well done, this is a fascinating game !

I picked a 2260 BPM music for you :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RAYlykjQrw


Conquer the Treasure by Apapappa Games

@Apapappa,

Details, details, details... Details everywhere ! So much details man this is insane ! Even a chronometer and a death count.
20 various and challenging levels ! You're fast.

Your game looks gorgeous. All the colours melt perfectly and build, together with all the visual details, a very appealing style. I love the way you add a lot of gamefeel features, even in the menu. I always had the sensation of really activating things. Very cool.
The sound design blends perfectly with the rest, without being too much. Same for the music.

The trees might have a graphical bug. I am not sure but when they move they have a Vsync looking thing. If it is a problem it is really a minor one in my opinion, but it hurts the eyes a little. There is the same thing in Britskrieg when the panels rotate so It's maybe a GM interpolation thing.

During my first minutes of playing your game, I was dodging the birds. There is something in their contrast that make them look like they are on the same "z-axis" than you, and in the way they fly that makes them look like they are attacking you. But they enhance the great impression of lively universe.

The bully is very interesting in the way a little mechanic can offer multiple ways to play. You can kill him by throwing the gold at him, or you can try not to kill him, which I did cause he's sooo cuuuute ! ... I hate him.
But we made up on that last screen after I realised I couldn't kill him here anyway. You can also make him kill himself on the spikes. You can wait for him to jump towards you over a whole, and throw the gold to the other side and it makes him fall down or onto a spike. If you are on the edge of a cliff, they sometimes jump, grab your treasure, fall and die with it. When you are separated by a spike wall, you can just do a small jump without moving sideways, and he will jump onto the spikes. This is a very rich gameplay feature.

I died 389 times by the way.

This game is awesomely complete, good-looking, and fun !

In honour of your birds :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg9aQvjMS60


Conquest of Lem by Dengar

@Dengar,

In the menu there is a tone like "this is gonna be a joke game like Dadio's" but this game is actually great !

I mean, I know you didn't have time to achieve all your ideas but I can clearly see the concept and I have never see something like this before. I think a few fixes would be enough to make this game really enjoyable :
• Create the selection frame from any of the four angles
• When the soldiers reach the place where you sent them, they stop, so you can have multiple groups
• Accelerate the rhythm a little
• Gamefeel of course

Unfinished, yet already very fun !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H2FRxvsd2M


Conquest of the Olympus by Super Pancratio

@Arabong,

It seems you have put so much time and effort into the game design that you hadn't anymore time to make more than one level. I hope it is not me who just didn't find how to go forward.
But the game design is so nice ! The graphical style too. And all the little details you have made, even a different animation when you slide down while charging !

All the sounds are great, the huge borders with the "gameplay" on the middle is a very good idea.

The birds are cute and I was almost reluctant to kill them. But not enough though. I love killing.
They are maybe a little too hard to beat. They have a fast fire rate and since I am not very used to the arrows / z / x commands (which I discovered for the first time with Chroma Crown yo be honest), It was pretty hard for me to get to the top of the level.

I hope you will continue to work on this game !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvI3RxLbi0s


Conquest Royale - Booty of Treasure Island by Misty

@Misty,

Mistyyy, mistyyy, mistyyyyyy... Let's review your game as a friend ;)

Well it's a good game actually ^^. I wish It was trash so I could make this comical effect work but never mind.

So, the fights are very punitive, especially when you didn't have luck with the chests at the beginning of the game, and an enemy snipes you while you just have your sword.
I find this same sword being very well implemented. The zone attack and the idle time make a good abstraction of a sword fight, you have to understand rhythm, anticipate your enemy's moves, and take the advantage at the right moment.

Fighting with a gun is pretty hard, but that makes a good reason to be happy when you kill an enemy. Sometimes a pirate shoots you dead before you even had the time to see him entering the screen. There is a weird thing when you move, if you aim somewhere else it doesn't shoot if you just click, you have to keep the mouse button pressed to shoot. Also, the inertia of the character is a bit annoying sometimes. Most of all when you are trying to open a chest and the inertia makes it hard to stay into the looting zone.

Did you pre-rendered that boat ? I mean it looks crazy !

All your texts are really funny ! That's the trolly troll we love. :B ♥
The Windows window is a smart way to save some time but It breaks the fourth wall a little. Though It didn't disturb me after a few games.

I think all the musics are well-chosen, except one. Unfortunately it is the music you hear the most often. But the music during the games sounds a little cheap compared to the others. The sound design of the riffle frag proves that a classic can still be very funny. All the sounds have something funny actually.

I have been very close multiple times but I sadly didn't find the booty once.

Your game is fun, funny and unique that's for sure.
Well done !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1SdZyfXfOs

I hope you will be top 3 and get your copy of Dishonored !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbdDFdZQ6mI


Everything is better with a Trebuchet by Ghandpivot

@ghandpivot,

The story of your game is really funny. The cynic humour works very well and is reinforced by a wise choice of music. The theme interpretation is a bit far-fetched... But it's here.

The visuals are not the most beautiful in the world, but they are very legible and the ingenuous style actually makes the tone even stronger.
The films are efficient, using a single sprite and just moving it to tell a story is very smart.

The gameplay is fun, destruction is my passion, it fits perfectly with the story. The camera can be a little heavy to manipulate. To explain why I choose to give you a link to another game. Waiting for the projectiles to stop before you can launch another one is a bit frustrating in a bad way. It teases your passion for destruction.

A funny short game.

This is a ballistic flash game. As you can see, the player doesn't handle the camera. It is automatic, and makes "slow" movements from side to side so you can appreciate the distances. There is also a minimap to help. The game is very playable and aiming is fairly easy :
https://www.miniclip.com/games/raft-wars/fr/


Goating Up by iBlackpen

@iBlackpen,

Your game looks very nice. The drawings, contrast and font choice create an attractive yet striped down style.

The movement has this thing, when you hit an x-axis and a y-axis keys simultaneously, the speed is doubled since you move full speed in x and y at the same time. This may be intended or not but I used this a lot to survive.

The challenge is really tough. It goes very well with the story : you are a student and you have to understand the mechanics to overcome them. What the masters say can really help. For instance, when one of them said "act or react", that changed my way of playing. I was stuck on level 2 and then I started to brain the mechanics. Therefore I made it to level 5.

Maybe the spikes balls on the level 5 are a bit too close from one another, to the point I had to change my hands position to play with both hands each time this level started, because you need an extreme precision and so you have to tap very little knocks on the keys. I have to be honest, I didn't manage to beat this level, and believe me I tried for very, very long !

But overall you learn and progress slowly and this is justified and satisfying. When you understand how to beat a level, you beat it more and more easily each time you try so you don't get bored. This creates again an authentic feeling of improvement.

All in all it makes a very subtle and accurate use of the theme.

Your game is very hard, authentic and beautiful so :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6GK8HhjQQE


I'd Move Mountains by Lt. Farfetch'd

@Lt. Farfetch'd,

Damn.

You chose you a romantic use of the theme and this is very relevant. I like this humble interpretation of conquest, and it made a lovely story in a cute chill game. I actually finished it twice. I wanted to see what was on the downward path on the last level before the end screen. I'd be interested to know why you have placed it. Was it supposed to bring you back to some other level ?

This game made me feel like with "Getting Over It", it made me feel great satisfaction when I managed to climb, and from time to time great frustration when I fell the entire level down and had to go from the start again. It hasn't been an issue for me, actually It made me laugh when I felt, and since your game is a strategy game and not a dexterity one, it was more easy to go where I was before I felt, unlike in "Getting Over It".

I found only one bug. At a moment, you have a small "vertical corridor" (third level from the last one), just as large as you, and you can go through it. When I did it, I somehow stuck the golem in his red state, and I was able to jump in the air as much as I wanted (I quickly panicked and died).

The level design is crazy, I really wonder how you found the time to think about so many things and to make them as well. There is just one thing in the game design that may be a downside. You can not stay too long on walls and ceiling. But if you "mash" the key to the wall or ceiling direction, you can actually stay as long as you want. So it makes the "cannot cling too long" rule a bit obsolete. But the only true frustration I had is the idle time between each series of jumps. It is justified by other aspects of the game, but it is almost paradoxical with the fact that you can't stay on walls for too long. This rule forces you too speed up when you are on a wall or ceiling, but you can't have a response from the keyboard immediately, so you spam, and too many times I ended up falling the entire level down because I made a second move in the same direction by mistake. And as you express it on the menu, this is more a reflection game than a dexterity game. So maybe a more reactive response in the commands would be a good thing. Plus, I felt a small tension within me as I was playing because the idle time problem created some sort of heaviness in the game feel, and this is a little unfit with the overall mood of the game as I understand it.

The music and graphics are awesome ! They build together the mood of the game, and, like in a good movie, transcend the story without the need of huge directing tricks. I may have a small observation about the music. As good as it is, when you spend a lot of time in the same level, the looping music can lose some impact. Maybe stopping the music at the end of the track from time to time, and launch it back later would give a renewal of contrast, allowing the player to discover again its richness, and contributing to the preservation of the universe's depth. The fade out of the music could for instance hand over to a wind or blizzard sound effect. It could put the emphasis on another side of the story, the struggle for the top of the mountain, and then give a touch of hope as the music comes back.

To summarize, your game is so good that I had to speak about the ultimate details I could find but...
Damn.

Some romantic music (composed by a deaf guy) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G4NKzmfC-Q
 
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SamSam

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Comments 2:

Island of Risk by Oliver Stogden, matharoo

@O.Stogden, @matharoo,

Congratulation for your awesome little game ! I took the grasp of the mechanics after only the first round. I had fun, emotions, doubts, reflections, falls, gettings back up, and, finally, victory. Or almost.

At the beginning I was brute-forcing and that didn't quite work so I have been forced to think. And this is an excellent thing that your game doesn't allow the player to go dumb and actually win.

The technique I used on the map was to force the enemy to spread his troops, and then I chained him back since he had just one unity per region. So I launched archers assaults without loosing any unit. Archers assaults where very effective. They are not weaker than the swordsmen it seems, and they can attack first so they easily take the upper hand. The siege units where fun but maybe not worth the 2 men investment. Sadly, I haven't been able to win because the enemy had just one region left, surrounded by dozen of my units, but the bug that prevent to do some actions prevented me to attack. But in my heart I know I won !

The game is really fun to play, and if the theme is taken in the most first degree way, it is still satisfying to plan and see your strategies succeeding. The duration of the game is well-balanced, you might have a difficult period, and when you take the upper hand you start to crush the enemy and this is a good reward. I am very bad at strategy games so thank you for not having make it too hard.

Special guest Matharoo transcends the game with a true udemy-instructor-music-piece-of-art-only-him-has-the-secret-of !

Graphics are cute and efficient, maybe the blue and red colours on the map are a bit too "rvb-ish", but it looked like the French flag at the beginning of the game so it's fine with me !

French flag, huge scale war, huge score, I'm sorry guys but I have to select this music for you ^^ :


King of the Ant Hill by Relic

@Relic,

I really suck at RTS so thanks you for having make an easy level I have been able to enjoy and to beat !

I am impressed with the amount of complex things your game features, like the AI and the way you give orders to your ants. It is very quick to figure out the mechanics and to move on to actual enjoyment.

About the colour buttons that allow you to erase some paths, at first I thought I needed to click on the cross to do so. This might be a reflex due to the way crosses are used in almost every softwares in the world. I discovered afterwards that you can click anywhere on the button, which is good because it's way more fast to do so it matches the gameplay. Maybe the button sprite would have been more readable if the cross was drawn on the whole surface of it or wasn't drawn at all. But if I write about such a small detail, it's because your game is really good and fun.

The strategy I used to win is the radical way of the Warhammer 40k's Astra Militarum. I mainly upgraded the birth rate and the max population and I launched the biggest raids I could on the nests, one by one.

As I said, there are a few RTS I liked, but there is only one I loved (apart from yours of course ;) ), so here you go :


Kingdom Conquest by Braydee Johnson

@BraydeeJohnson,

Your game has a very singular concept and I think it compensates by far the first degree use of the theme. The progression curve is excellent and makes your expansion very satisfying. The little strategies you can make to trap your opponents can be really fun when it feels like you brained them, but sometimes they expand in a straight line, which makes them way too easy to kill. Also, I might be wrong, but It seems each enemy does the exact same thing over the games, so there is no real surprise after the first one.

Overall I think these mechanics are really fun to play, plus, the games is short and I happily launched multiple games to try different ways to play. I even had a game where I stood after killing everyone, just to continue expending and capturing all resources.

As I was playing, I thought that an upgrade of the capturing speed would have been a good feature. If I understood right, the forts you build make the stealing of territories faster, but not the capturing (still not quite sure about this). I tried a game without building any fort and It was my fastest so, maybe, it reveals the fact that resources gathering and building is sadly not that useful to the gameplay.

Since your are capturing all the time, the sound you chose for this can become a little aggressive to the ears.

The music works very good and the voxel looking sprites are really nice and clean ! This is a very good game in my opinion !

I don't know why but your game evokes me this one :


Mini Civilizations by Lukan

@Lukan,

It seems your game is in an early state of development, but I think I can guess a little where you were going. The idea is pretty good in my opinion, and you should go on with it.

Unfortunately, for now there is not much I can say since there are just the bases of it. There are crashes, and not enough rules yet to have a game design that sets the boundaries of the gameplay and give the player a challenge. You can pop your armies anywhere, they can't fight, there is no buildings or "lands" (whatever it does) yet.

I hope you will continue to create this game !


Oh Canada by Silas the Dev

@Silas the Dev,

... OOOOH CAAAANADAAAAA ! TERREUUU DEU NOOS AÏEUUUUUU ! Man I had the laugh of my life when I heard the menu music with these four dudes on the bottom ! ^^ This is very good that you have successfully set the tone of the game right from the beginning, and the comical effect is even more strong since it neutralizes the more serious looking intro sequence. Which is very good too by the way. It is very hard to tell a story with just cuts, pictures and rhythm, and we can understand that they are doing the same boring conquest again and again before it is explained more directly with a text, so well done !
The graphics are nice. I can feel you chose to save some time with the intro sequence and I find it legit. The thing that troubled me was the aspect of the icebergs and their hitbox. Since their are triangular and enormous compared with your boat, and that you have set a square hitbox, I took damages when I was on the top sides of them, even though not touching them visually. Maybe a hitbox that follows the shape of them would have been more relevant. I don't think it would have had consequences on the fps since there is not enough objects going on for that. Also, a good thing is to make the obstacles' hitboxes a bit less large than the actual object so this is more fair to the player, and can give him the confidence to play with the limits and to take risks.

The mechanic with the octopus who pops when you click, forcing you to be more careful with your mouse is very clever, I have never seen something like this before. The sharks have the right speed, they are scary and challenging but "brainable", so this is fun. The level design can have a few flaws, for instance the door of the first room, I found it by mere coincidence, as I was desperately searching what to do. When I found it, I understood what I needed to do in the other rooms but this one could have been made a bit more legible. First off by showing obstacles on each side of it and nothing between, just like you did on other rooms. And maybe with lighting or even with a text or an arrow that shows you the way (but lighting is the real way of the master level designer :) ). Instinctively, I think the green orbs can give you all your life back, instead of just a part. This would fit better with the way the game plays, the overall difficulty, and the "investment" it can be to search some of them.

I couldn't manage to survive longer than the third level which have sharks, mainly because they wallhacked ^^. I tried multiple times but in vain. I will try back from time to time to see if I can go further.

Congratulations, and hoping to see you on the next jam !

For you, I chose my own hymn :


Pixle Cleaner's Pixel Conquest by Bart

@Bart,

Well done with the theme, very creative! And the concept too.
At first I tried to complete the full version but yeah this is very long and can get a bit repetitive after a while. The easy version is, on the opposite, very short. I found out that the best way to clean fast is too spam the gun and to shoot everywhere.

The sensation of cleaning works very well and is very satisfying. Maybe this game lacks some diversity, but it is a fine concept that just needs to be taken further. A badass commitment would be great I think. Big screen shakes, a lively rhythm, more permissive hitboxes and of course a lot of particules (ask Alice ! ) would maybe make the gamefeel even more enjoyable.

The intro music is excellent and matches very well with the story and gameplay.

Here is a music from another meta cleaning game :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcH13zc-39c


PONTATOT CONQUEST OF DA MOON by dadio

@dadio,

Thanks to you this jam has a reference point :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UaJAnnipkY


Professor Heinous by HayManMarc

@HayManMarc,

There is the basis for a revolutionary game as it seems.

I don't have too much to say about your game, but if you want to develop it I am sure it can become excellent. The fact that you can only move around the city and have to choose where to place the spawn can bring a unique style of strategical game.

And the coloured background of the first screens is very nice !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OytJYBfwUk


Sci Dominion by Nizitowns, Purul3nt

@Nizitowns, @Purul3nt,

You have a great concept, too ambitious for a three days jam maybe. The AI, collisions, overall visuals details and probably some other things aren't ready, but your game still manages to be playable and fun. No challenge yet but I think it can become a nice strategy game if you want to continue the development.

You might already know about them so I will just list some big unfinished things I noticed :
• Minions stuck in rocks
• Minions randomly teleport
• No path-finding
• Stones you have to capture don't have visuals to indicate who they belong to and if someone is capturing them
• AI stay in the middle of the map and waits

The art is efficient, all the elements of the gameplay are easily legible, except sometimes when minions are on the base, they can be a bit harder to see.

The animations and the attention you put to some details are amazing, and I understand why the overall game is unfinished.

Good team ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlMgAsAmQKE


Simple Village Conquest by Mikeey Bikeey, Nacky Slocker

@MikeeyBikeey, Nacky Slocker,

Your game concentrates a bunch of radical choices and I love it. Speeds, no idle time, you can use all your weapons at the same time, simplicity of the mechanics... It makes the game very nervous.

Maybe the game is sometimes a little too fair with these choices. The mace is a huge advantage, It destroys everything on its path, and makes the other weapons a bit secondary. I used the sword to quickly kill the few enemies that survived to the mace. The hammer has a few "charging" frames. It creates the emphasis on its power, but it is slower than the sword and doesn't give a lot of other advantages, so I only used it to open the cages.

By the way, cages are a very solid idea. You have to wait a second near the guy you just saved before he gives you a heart so it's like you interact with him.

There is something in the graphics that hurts a little when the camera moves. Maybe the saturation of the colours or some patterns. But overall it works fine The music is pretty good too, maybe it lacks a bit of contrast.

The game is short and intense. The final level is well-balanced, not too hard yet challenging, and it forces you to exploit the mechanics you've learned in the previous levels.

Well done !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR5l99fJPlQ


Spirit of the Forest by elijahmmin

@elijahmmin,

You too ! You interpreted the theme like Dan and me ! So I give you a 20/20 for the theme use ! ^^

The life of all the turrets falls even if they don't take damage. This is a smart move, because in a classic tower defence you build a base and you become more and strong. In your game, the player never really feels safe. This tends to keep the tension alive, and it brings some emphasis with the fragility of the nature.

When I first open the game, my high score was already 20000.

A tower defence in which you can place obstacles on the road is very singular, or at least I don't know any game featuring such idea, and it's great.

You can pop trees on the enemies. I guess It crushes them but isn't it a little glitchy after all ? Because it gives a true advantage.
The difficulty doesn't get really hard It seems.

Your attention to details like the trees who change of face expression when they are about to die add a lot a value to the overall game.

Very good game !

In the last tower defence I played, you are yourself into the labyrinth with a gun :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsULXtalM28


Spirit Walker by Bingdom

@Bingdom,

Your game is a truly elegant piece of poetry. The graphics are sumptuous. The idea of the circles that closes and open to make the transitions is awesome.

The movement controls are fast and very satisfying. But I have to say this game has become way to hard for me. I was stuck where you have to jump two chunks of spikes when the third one is on the ground, and then do it again right after. I really wanted to finish the game but this took me way too much time and I had to move on. I will try again when I'll have time. It doesn't make less good, just too hard ^^. And the lighting makes it even harder by making the anticipation tricky (I know that's the point and it is a very good idea).

The introduction is finely directed and you are swallowed by the ethereal ambiance from the first seconds. The "muted" sound design and discrete music (a bit repetitive after a while) work very well with the whole direction. The sound of the dialogue panel really surprised me and is very original.

Awesome game !
(She's red-haired !) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgHCRinLB44


Stellar Destiny by Dr. Wolf

@Dr. Wolf,

First of all : best readme file of the jam !
Second : best game manual of... Well of the fifteen last years I guess.

Your game has a few complexities I didn't have the time to grasp, and I am sure I will play it again later when I will have more time.

The ship's windows sometimes pop above the objectives you want to go to, and it is a little frustrating. But just a little. :)

GUI is awesome. Overall graphics are awesome as well. As soon as I opened the game, I dived into this space, despite the striped down style. Even after playing, I am still not sure what each option of the economy does.
I played a little erratically and I liked it so it's perfect, even if died in the end. I played in difficulty 1 and lost ^^. I really suck at strategy games... Had fun though.

A very small "problem" is the fact that when you save or load and you are in full screen, it opens a window underneath the game window, and if you don't know it, you just think the software crashed. The shortcuts are very welcomed, but why control + T when only T would have been enough and more simple ? Maybe even space bar since you "turn" very often.

I would have love to test everything in the game but I don't have the time for now. Crazy game !

I'm happy with this joke :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BTeDCziNdc


Super Mana Force Ultra by Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa

@Jordan Robinson, Anokolisa,

Your game has an incredible style ! The music is very cool and puts you in the mood.

The gameplay is a very good idea. Anticipating the trajectory of the ball quickly becomes very fun. It took me a few minutes to understand the use for the right click, and as soon as I did, the game became way more fast-paced and satisfying. It is really hard though. To be honest I couldn't go further than the second level, I tried multiple times and improved at each one but... too hard. I think the thing that kills me is the number of thing to look at when a lot of enemies are on the map. Maybe the projectiles lack a bit of contrast with the background, so they are hard to see when everything move fast. And the speed of the character doesn't allow a lot of dodging so you really have to calculate you strikes. And I think you need to play a lot to master the mechanics.

At this point, the use of certain upgrades remains unclear to me. One gives you more balls. One gives you hearts. But the two others I don't really know.

A very good and unique game, I have been a noob but still had fun !

Your game made me think about this game :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBzr73_f1RM


Tank-You by EvanSki

@EvanSki,

I know you haven't be able to do as much as you wanted with this game. Though I sincerely think It has the potential to be a good one.

In the current state there is not much to say. I think I understand why you wanted the tank to turn so slowly, and it can actually work if the overall gameplay fits with that pace, but there it can get a bit laborious when you have to turn back to go at the opposite side of the map and nothing else is happening. Maybe the tank could turn faster while not going forward.

The feeling of one chance shot is already pretty good, and transliterates well what we can see in films like Fury. If you had the actual possibility to die, it would actually be good. :)

Another problem can be that the other tanks are just waiting for you and are ready to shoot you as soon as you get in front of them, but when you arrive you are facing another way, so if you had a life gauge, it would have been a bit unfair I guess. I played imagining It was the case, and the only way I found to survive was to play with the hitboxes. I waited for the enemy to shoot, facing him in a way I could move forward without having to destroy the sandbag while not allowing bullets to go through, and waited for the enemy to shoot, and then went forward and shot.

Tank you :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5P_LAqiVg&t=17m24s


The Conquest of Castlecrest by Caoin Forde

@Caoin Forde,

Your game is fun, and being fun is maybe the number one priority for a game, so well done ! :)

Now there are a few problems, more or less subjective, I have noticed. The bigger problem is maybe the text that tells you the story. It is very hard to read because it lacks of contrast with the background. Also, it is maybe not the best choice to place it on the How to Play screen, because you can't be sure all the players will open it, and your story really adds interest and depth to the game. It helps the player to identify to the hero, reinforcing the proximity between him and the game.

There is a minor bug I encountered, I began a game with already 6 hours.

I often lost the crosshair from sight. Making it bigger and brighter could help to make the fights sharper.

The charged arrows are a very good idea. It is really fun to have an ulti to "one shot three kills" enemies. But the charging time slows down the pace of the game. It can be a good or a not so good thing depending on your initial intentions about the fighting sensations. In my opinion it would have been an even better feature if the loading time was a bit shorter, or if you had the capacity to move, even very slowly, while charging, because the number of arrows you have to dodge past a certain point makes it pretty hard to think about stopping to prepare an ulti.

In the end I survived until the 24 hours and I was pretty proud :). The challenge is well-balanced and it took me a few tries to win. Also, I reopened your game later just to listen to the sound design again, and I ended up playing a full game. I think there is no better evidence of your game's quality!

There is a true effort on music and sound. For such a nervous game, I like a nervous sound design. You can check "Au début ça va", my entry for the previous game jam. It was over the top on purpose, and everyone won't like it, or I would say : not everyone hated it, but it definitely is a radical artistic choice that can give a true personality to a game.

I love your title screen ! :) ♥

Speaking about sound, let's check again what pure sound design tastes like (true feeling of it in-game only) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol8Ahvb0PtM


The Empire by TinyGamesLab

@TinyGamesLab,

Well well. Your game is awesome ! This is overly simple and yet so addictive ! It was also very simple to win, not that I will complain about it. Just to say how addictive it is, when the red team was on its last planet, I didn't rush it and took the time to reinforce my surrounding planets before attacking, just for fun. For the same kind of reasons that make me play to big open worlds without using any map or fast travel, and I think it is a great achievement for a game when a player gets the power and desire to build his own goals inside of it.

The theme is used in a very literal way, but hey, doesn't mean it's not relevant.

It is good-looking too. The enemy's planets differentiate from yours by a discrete red or yellow halo, and I think this is a really good thing not to make it too obvious with fat saturated coloured markers. It keeps the space depth alive as well as it qualifies the role of each faction in this fight for conquest.

This music is from an amazing game, in which I love to take the time to slowly walk with my horse, feeling the forest life, ignoring the quest markers, never knowing where I am, and never knowing where I will end up or what to do for. In memory of that achievement of yours to do the same on your own and in three days :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIOax_vsFKU


The Imperialist by Azure Knight

@Azure Knight,

First let's talk about that name. When I saw "The imperialist" I thought there was going to be something political about conquering. In the end if it is the case, I didn't find it, but I really wonder if there is something hidden that I didn't find by myself.

The musics are really cool, they have an aerial and motivating ambiance. The sound design is simple and efficient. The graphics are really nice too. The parallax effect creates a sense of depth with only geometrical shapes, and its textures add to the overall effects. The impacts and explosions are great.

The gameplay is pretty complex. You play with 8 keys, almost transforming the keyboard into a gamepad. It took me several tries to get the hang of it but when I did It became really fun. The enemies are not very aggressive, so you feel like you are a true predator (an imperialist ?). You are very agile, having a specific key to make sharp manoeuvres is a really good idea as it contrasts the piloting style and makes you feel even more in control. Being able to stop completely allows you to become a turret and to take a break because the plane moves forward by default. The missiles are maybe a bit to strong compared to the canons. They have a heavy fire rate and they one-shoot so they quickly became my main weapon.

I think this is a good little game, which successfully complexifies a classic genre !

;) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1wLtAXDgqg


These Planets Are Mine by Baukereg

@Baukereg,

First of all I love the art style of your game. It is light, cute and pleasant.

The movements are gratifying, I can feel the impact when I land, and the way the planets attract you gives a satisfying sense of snapping. I would maybe have make it a bit faster because, sometimes, the time it takes to go to the other side of a planet doesn't give you any more information or challenge, and since the immersion factor is not huge in there, I can sometimes find myself just waiting for it. I wouldn't say this is a big problem either, It could even be a fine deliberate choice. But maybe the missing thing is a bit of music / robot and space sound design to tell the story of this little robot, and allow to contemplate the space during that kind of moments.

The bigger problem I have is the 1 2 3 keys. I wasn't able to make them work. I tried everything with my keyboard and I tried to gather a lot of all different resources, but these keys did nothing. I have been able to capture planets and to mine iron with the space bar though.

I lost one game by accidentally hitting the up arrow key and I lost myself in space ^^.

The farming and conquering mechanics are truly fun and I think there is a really good basis for a complete game here, like a good 2D no man's sky.
Well done !

Since I spoke about it :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InbzqZX5-nQ


Victory by CardinalCoder64

@CardinalCoder64,

You have crafted a nice simple game. The fact that you have to chose a cap and then to keep it straight to open fire gives it a pleasant strategical side. You may have had a heavy hand on the life bars of the last island's enemies. They were very long to destroy and that slowed down the rhythm of the game a little. Maybe putting more enemies there would have fixed the rhythm problem while keeping the same level of difficulty.

After I won, I played a little around the islands to see what would happen if I stuck my ships. So I stuck them, they stood here for one or two seconds and kind of exploded away off the screen. Never saw them again !

Unlocking new ships changes the gameplay enough to make it renew itself. It's a smart way to upgrade while changing some of the gameplay's constraints. For instance, dodging the bullets becomes more difficult. The unlimited fire rate is a very welcomed Borderlands-like feature, it makes you want to click faster and faster and it tends to make the gameplay frenetic in a good way. I love fast and "not too hard" games !

The graphics are nice and your musics are really cool and fit very well with the game.

Your game would have been the big deal a few years ago :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8syGlAMTKA
 
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L

Lt. Farfetch'd

Guest
Rankings, Episode III: The Hastily Written Reviews Strike Back

Concept: 5.5/10 - I had a bit of fun with this game. It was original enough, but definitely had some very familiar overtones which held it back in my mind just a bit too much. The primary issue for me was that I couldn't muster the energy to really see the game through. Right from level one it was taking a lot of time to achieve very little, and this is ultimately the biggest detriment I could find. The theme seems pretty well captured. It's a little bit predictable, perhaps? But it wasn't a take I'd seen in any other games this Jam, so I appreciated the angle you went for.

Sound: 0/10

Graphics: 3/10
- The effect of sourcing different free assets was definitely felt in this game, because the houses didn't quite seem to fit in. Since the houses, characters and tiles were sourced elsewhere, that would indicate that the graphics were almost wholly designed by other people. I've not encountered this before, but it doesn't sit very well with me. I have no opposition to using freely available assets, but they can only do so much for you until you bring them to life in your own way. I recognise that you've definitely managed to do this to some degree, but ultimately I think that the harsh background and the simplicity of graphical implementation (no animations, particles, etc.) have let the game down a bit.

Gameplay: 4/10 - The gameplay is very simple. There are effectively 3 mechanics - unit selection, unit movement, and automated destruction of other units/buildings. The implementation reminds me of Age of Empires, as have several other games this Jam. This is not a bad thing, and I think that your unit selected works really well! However I suggest making selection the LMB, for convenience's sake (or making it toggelable). Unfortunately the let down is just that the mechanics aren't utilised in such a way that a varied or detailed game results. A similar thing can be said for the world-building. I understood what was going on, and my objective, but as for where I was? I'm not too sure. Some exposition could definitely helped, and background scenery would be great. Perhaps these are sky-borne citizens. Or maybe they live on cliffs like the Kor from Magic the Gathering? These are things for you to decide, but I would have appreciated seeing them in the final product.

Cohesion: 3/10 - As previously mentioned, the inconsistency of the graphics (or more accurately their implementation) reduces the consistency of the game on the whole. Further, without any sounds or animations to tie it together the game feels rather empty, in spite of me spamming the spacebar and generating hundreds of units. the Worms games do a pretty great job of maintaining numerous units which still have their own personality and are enjoyable to observe and play as, so that might be a nice place to look for inspiration. In terms of storytelling I can't comment much - there isn't much of a story being told. And finally in terms of a difficulty curve I don't quite think the game brings it in its current state. The use of different natural obstacles, terrains, enemies, etc. could be built in and give the game a bit more of a Lemmings feel - this would definitely be conducive to a decent learning and difficulty curve. I'm sure you've got the grounding for a very fun game here, if you should choose to capitalise on it.

Score: 31

Concept: 0/10 - This is a hard one to judge, because I'm not too sure what the idea was. I had my spaceship and the starting zone, but beyond that I couldn't find anything - and the zone timer kept resetting and button mashing was to no avail. In the end I didn't have any in-game interactions. Since this doesn't give me anything to go on really, I'm going to give a baseline score on concept.

Sound: 7.5/10 - What I did get was a lot of time to fly around and shoot aimlessly. And as such, I heard the sounds for missile and gun firing a LOT. I found them to be pretty spot-on, and honestly just pretty pleasant, especially the missiles. A good selection. The music feels a bit repetitive, but it suits. I would suggest trying to source a longer track that is a bit more involved - but perhaps this is only really relevant once you've jumped into battle. I also can't judge you based on interaction with enemies or the sounds influence or enhance any of the gameplay, so the judgement on sound is totally isolated to my short experience.

Graphics: 5/10 - Everything seemed simple but well done, except the background. This was not very simple, and I'm not sure how well done it was. I think my primary concern with it was that it just demands a lot of attention, particularly when you're moving on top of it. It reminded me of an old space-shooter arcade game I can't recall the name of, but with the graphically intensity turned of to max. The background also made it difficult to read the text, and the font size didn't do much to help.

Gameplay: 0/10 - Again this is one where I can't say much. I really enjoyed the firing and I liked the boost. However the controls were too numerous, and ultimately a couple of them could almost certainly have been cut out. Overall, there isn't enough to go on here either so I'm going to opt for a 0 - but let me know if you'd like more specific feedback on any particular components.

Cohesion: 0/10 - This is again an area where comments don't have much bearing. A difficulty curve can't be calculated and the storyline isn't present. Your music and graphics brought the game together quite nicely from the small amount of it that I saw, but otherwise I'm lost for useful feedback.

Score: 25

Concept: 9/10 - I might have though that Conquest of Lem was going for a Lemmings/AoE feel, but this game definitely exceeds all expectations in terms of that marriage of concepts. The theme is met in a sensible way - it's a bit out of the box since it's not strictly combative, but also still sits comfortably within the idea of military or hostile conquest. The interface got me immediately excited and the map was just the right amount of adorable to make me want to turn my little minions into cogs in the machine of theft and destruction. Originality it pretty well nailed - I see clear comparisons to other games but it's a simple and clear divergence from them - nicely done.

Sound: 5.5/10 - I think that the game was definitely hampered by the lack of sound effects - this is in part because the screen is just so small that it's already a bit tricky to tell what my fellas are up to - and it's only made harder by the lack of effects to notify me of their actions. However, the music was quite nice. The opening and main themes were close enough in timing and feel that the transition was reasonable, and I found them both to be fitting and enjoyable even independent from the game. However, I would suggest that the scientific theme is reinforced mostly by the music alone. The gameplay and graphics (from what I played) don't seem to encourage that mental link quite enough.

Graphics: 7.5/10 - I really adored the graphics of these one, but if I had one wish it would definitely be full-screen. I just couldn't make out the things I wanted to in anywhere near enough clarity. But on the plus side, the screen being tiny definitely contributed positively to the game being cute as hell. I'm not too sure what to recommend, asides from enlargement. Perhaps some greater clarity in terms of the significance of some objects could be conveyed via more detailed sprites or animations. I know that at least for me it took a little while to figure out what the different components did.

Gameplay: 4/10 - The gameplay was probably a bit of a let-down. I was really engaged with the game, but the mechanics just didn't really make me want to keep playing, or give me a drive to win. I found that the confusion resulting from the smallness of the screen and the lack of more intricate details (such as how the natural landscape affects your minions, your minions clustering together or following single file, the opposing minions stealing your loot or seeking to kill yours, etc.) meant that the game just didn't quite have enough depth. These things just take time, so if you invested in the game post-jam then I think the experience could really come together well. Once gripe that I do have though is that on a few occasions my minions appeared to randomly teleport to far reaches of the map and then just go about their business. I also managed to get a few of them stuck in rocks.

Cohesion: 7/10 - The graphics and sounds had good consistency, and the implementation of the selecting and movement mechanics definitely took advantage of the small, simple sprite-work effectively. This game didn't feel like it was lacking a story, in much the same way that Lemmings doesn't. I think that in this case the completeness of your game makes it such that it isn't all that necessary. The difficulty curve, or at least the potential for the player to tangibly see their improvements, is not really present. Greater efficiency in collecting coins is probably the clearest indicator, but I think that the AI probably needs to get better more rapidly for a real sense of achievement to be attained.

Score: 66

Concept: 7/10 - I think that conceptually the weakest point is that the concept of conquest isn't displayed here very explicitly. This feels like a game where the conquest was done by your enemies, but unlike some of the other games I've seen which reversed the roles in this way, the conquest occurs pre-game. However, the short little intro was very nice and got me pumped, and likewise the top-down movement and simple graphics reminded me very clearly of one of the first games that Slowpoke4DeWin and I made together back in high-school. So nostalgia value is at a max and you weren't even trying. Though this does highlight to me that the game might not be the most original out there. It does bring some fun though in the form of a pretty unique weapon, some seriously over-the-top gameplay (looking at you incredibly long chain-mace wielders) and a little bit of dialogue. All-in-all a pretty neat idea.

Sound: 7.5/10 - So I definitely missed the big swinging "WHOOSH" noise that I expected from the aforementioned mace guys. But otherwise, I think the sounds do a pretty nice job. The noise when you get hit is my favourite. "Bleugh!" The backing track is a decent selection, and enhances the experience a little bit. The rhythm goes nicely with the slightly comedic undertone present.

Graphics: 7.5/10 - At first glance the game's graphics look totally simple, but in reality there's actually a lot of information conveyed by subtle changes. For instance, I liked how the attacking and non-attacking states of the basic enemies were displayed, and the way that little pieces of smashed cages get flung off into the distance sometimes was a cool little touch. The sword looks much more like a light-saber, but no complaints there - it has suitable range and contrasts nicely with all the other components, which I imagine is something a silver sword would probably not have done nearly as well. My absolute favourite point was the hammer. I loved swinging that thing, and the way that you managed to capture its motion from top-down was pretty impressive! On the downside, I found that the menu was a bit lacklustre, and the backgrounds throughout the game could use a bit of love.

Gameplay: 7.5/10 - I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the gameplay. This was a much better effort than our old highschool game, for sure. The yoyo-mace is the greatest weapon ever, and being able to hurl it while simultaneously swinging the hammer is broken but super fun (this is how I beat the boss, and just about everything else). The world-building is probably a bit of a weak point though, because the game struggles to make much of an emotional connection to the captured people and their civilisation, and also gives no details as to the background of the conquering race/species/black-clad folk. Even so, the mechanics were simple, and made sure I was satisfied with my objective of smashing cages and slashing little enemies.

Cohesion: 8/10 - Everything fits into place pretty well in Simple Village Conquest. There's a consistent vibe throughout, supported by consistent graphics. The sounds also make a contribution here, though the music probably doesn't match perfectly enough with the rest of the game to tie it together as well as it could. The difficulty curve was pretty good - though seriously that yoyo-mace is broken as. I would advise nerfing that one, or otherwise only introducing it if you're certain the game is reaching a point where the sword just isn't cutting it (pun intended). Finally, the story-telling ability. I would call it decent, but not the best. Everybody living happily ever after is great and all, but I'd definitely appreciate it if you showed me everyone being happy. Especially if that involved the player character being treated to a feast and showered with money or something.

Score: 75

Concept: 8/10 - This is a darn cute game. I strikes me as being basically Bloons Tower Defence but with plants. And man do I love plants, so you're definitely barking up the right tree (pun intended). It's an original take on conquest for this Jam, an it honestly never even crossed my mind to do a tower defence. It looks like it turned out well for you, and I think that the conquest of the forest does fit into the theme just well enough (not quite full marks though). At first glance I thought it was going to be a pretty standard TD, but then my three shoot mushrooms died. Oh boy. Great job on the originality here, I didn't expect that. While it definitely owes a lot to games that pioneered the genre, the plant theme (especially having worked it in when we're dealing with a conquest constraint) and the tower death made for some much more varied gameplay that I'd expected, at least at the beginning. However the game does get a little bit too repetitive, but I suspect this is probably related to time constraints. So the intrigue is there, but my attention wasn't maintained all the way through.

Sound: 0/10

Graphics: 10/10
- You chose an art-style and you stuck with it really effectively, so the game's art comes together very well. I loved the expressions of the mushrooms in particular. Overall I don't want to dwell on graphics because I can't think of any criticisms really. Maybe the enemies could have been a bit more detailed? That's probably about it. But the appeal of your style for me is its minimalism, so I wouldn't want that to be lost.

Gameplay: 9/10 - I enjoyed everything about the game in the beginning, and I found that I only needed to make a couple of mistakes before everything was clear to me. Being able to hover over the plants to check out how they were doing was a wise addition. Personally the game started to trail off for me when I realised that a full road full of spike trees could just do the job. Once I'd solved it, I struggled to have fun with it. However, this game just has so much potential. You could incorporate horticultural concepts into it to expand and diversify the mechanics, or double down on what you've done so far and create greater variance of plants, maps and enemies. But I digress. Some useful additions would have been a plant selection pane (rather than the 1-6), and perhaps the elder tree being able to slowly defend itself. This is a point that I raise because I got stuck with one axe-man hitting the elder tree, 0 finances and no towers to defend him. Either that suggestion or an accelerated rate of damage perhaps. In terms of the world, I think you've constructed a very contained but complete universe. The elder tree must be protected even at the expense of other plant life, the evil humans want to destroy it with the axes, and mushrooms have faces. Done and done.

Cohesion: 7/10 - I think my other sections probably touched on how the game comes together into a cohesive whole enough. I have no concerns with consistency, and the difficulty curve is suitable (that is until you find a definitive strategy). However the game definitely wants for more levels as a result of how easy it becomes once you build up some finances. Finally, story-telling capacity is pretty decent. I have a clear understanding of the story-line, even if it is fairly vague. This game would be astounding with some cutscenes in it though. If it was a story-driven tower defence where you fight with plants I would pay good money for it.

Score: 68

Concept: 7.5/10 - This is definitely an original one for this game jam, and honestly something I've never encountered generally speaking. The Age of War style combat combined with a cardgame is most peculiar, but I really enjoyed it! I can't say it fits with the theme too well though. I guess there's some conquest thrown in when you're battling the opposing forces to destroy their tower, but it's only a vague link. However, in all other ways the game's concept is solid.

Sound: 6/10 - I was quite a fan of the main theme. It felt just a little bit mystical, and captured the fantasy vibe fairly well. The short, punchy sound effects were perhaps not numerous enough, but for those that were implemented they were well done. I wanted to hear some grunts of approval or something from the shopkeeper though, and I think you missed a great opportunity to incorporate that amazing card flipping noise (see Bow Before the Queen).

Graphics: 6/10 - The graphics were very simple, and felt quite akin to those in Oliver's Island of Risk (in terms of the combat phase). They could do with some sprucing up, especially in terms of the backgrounds, but on the whole are definitely a pass. The 3-dimensional components like the table you plan your deck on and the shop were definite high points, but the lack of a full-screen option made everything a bit too difficult to perceive.

Gameplay: 7.5/10 - This is the category where CardQuest really comes into its own. You went with a concept that was risky in so far as it almost entirely hinged on the mechanics being well-implemented. And I think the payoff was achieved in this case - which is wildly impressive since you only had 72 hours to do it. I loved the combination of side-on arena battling and card-game mechanics. It felt like the game Little Alchemist in some ways, while very clearly being Age of War on the other hand. The mechanics were incredibly simple, and I suffered basically no confusion throughout my experience (except occasionally not being able to read something). The world-building is a tricky one. I'm conscious of the fact that a card game doesn't strictly need to build a well fleshed-out world, but at the same time the type of combat you've implemented does demand it a little. Perhaps some greater emphasis on who the player is, their interactions with the shopkeeper, and greater exposition on Mana and the magical world as a whole would have been ideal. In some ways this game is well on its way to being Wizard101.

Cohesion: 7/10 - Again I can draw a simple parallel to Island of Risk. Both games implement a duality of game mechanics, and both pull it off quite well. This has a certain requisite cohesion as far as I can tell, so you're already doing pretty well. There is a bit of inconsistency littered around, such as the fonts not being a great suit with the rest of the aesthetic, and the combat background not really fitting in anywhere. However on the whole, the consistency is reasonable. The storytelling is definitely a bit of a let-down. Perhaps just because it's a game centred in fantasy, perhaps for other reasons, I can't shake the feeling that I needed some sort of greater purpose to fulfil in this game. Finally, the difficulty curve. In honesty I only played a couple of the levels, but I noticed the difference. It seems like a game where a little bit of grinding is necessary to build up your strength, but I'm more than used to that from years of Pokemon.

Score: 68

Concept: 10/10 - This is a fantastic take on the theme - wildly clever and very amusing. The intro got me so hyped for the game, and my first impression was definitely continued on into the gameplay itself. I couldn't possibly claim to have played any game like this (except maybe some of the first GTA games, but that's hardly comparable), and the ingenuity here is just great. Conceptually this game is pretty well the epitome of "diamonds are made under pressure".

Sound: 7/10 - The music was subtle but quite nice. I'm not sure exactly what it was trying to convey - it felt a little too understated to be building intensity, but didn't quite hit a relaxed tone either. It was perhaps a little ominous, which seems fitting enough, but a track with a little more intensity might have been a better choice, particularly if the track specifically picked up or had components added to it in critical moments. As for the sound effects, they were very nice. I enjoyed most all of them, though there was a little bit of a sameness to them that could be good to mitigate. Some more detailed crashes when you destroy buildings would be an example of this. The primary thing I missed sound-wise was the ambience. I never really got the impression that my arrival was a heavily broadcast event, and certainly it seemed very quick from my perspective. So where are all the people and the sirens? I kind of wanted something a little like Nuclear Eagle (but with less terrible screams). But on the whole the sounds were pretty good.

Graphics: 9.5/10 - The graphics delivered really well in this game - they carried the torch first held by the introduction with ease, and the level selection map was impeccable (I love wobbly Earth). I don't really have any major complaints here because the animations were great, the effects were great and all of the sprites themselves were great. The couple of nitpicks that come to mind are that the bullets are pretty darn small, and the buildings probably could have used just a touch more variance.

Gameplay: 3/10 - Were it not for the world-spinning mechanic, this would have easily been my favourite overall jam game. Unfortunately, even for all of the merits I've listed up to this point, the rotation rendered the game totally unplayable for me. The dizzying effect was bad enough that I had to stop playing, and could feel the effects of it quite some time after putting the game down (clearly I persevered much too long). All of the mechanics in the game are well-implemented, except the one that is absolutely central to the game's playability. I don't think I've ever encountered something like this before, so I'm lost in terms of suggestions to make on how to mitigate this effect. On a brighter note though, your world-building is once again absolutely stellar.

Cohesion: 8.5/10 - Since I've already penalised the game for the spinning mechanic, I'm going to ignore it in this category. However it should be noted that the cohesion is definitely affected by it.
In terms of consistency I think ALPS does very well. The sounds might have a very small detriment here, but for the most part the graphics, sounds and gameplay combine to bring your idea to life very successfully. The storytelling ability - flawless. My only question might be the difficulty curve. The beginning of the game possibly doesn't introduce you to which destruction is detrimental and which is favourable quite as well as it could. Some progress bars to relay success to the user could be very useful in this regard, and would make the beginning quite a bit easier. Having said that, the implementation of a tutorial was awesome, and the levels (the couple I may have seen) felt as though they were on a pretty reasonable curve.

This was a complicated review for me to do, and even now I don't know whether I'm totally comfortable with the choices I made. Should you like to discuss the review with me, I encourage you to reach out and do so. Well done for what is an undoubtedly incredible game, nonetheless.

Score: 76

Concept: 10/10 - This was an interesting one. Absolute maximum level of intrigue for this game, but I'm not sure how well the game sustained my interest. The idea though was fantastic. The quintessence of conquest, and I'd honestly add a bunch of points just for the use of "her Maj" if I could. Also you've probably hit a soft spot or something, cause most people here in Aus already think the Queen is a bit of a joke - so reinforcing that was pretty amusing. The game was VERY original, and I doubt anybody could tell you otherwise.

Sound: 9.5/10 - The three main musical themes were really great - or at least I think there were a couple of themes on the map screen. It took about 10 mins for one to start playing, and I'm not too sure what triggered it or caused it to not loop. In any case, they all contributed wonderfully to the overall feel of the game, and I think their selection was great. And the voices, wow. The voices were so good. This felt like an awesome touch of professionalism and just added quite a lot to the game as a whole. Brilliant job.

Graphics 9.5/10 - I loved pretty much everything related to the graphics. There were a couple of really minor things like how scrolling across a big open landscape was a bit jarring because of the white text on dark-background, or how the abundance of white/blue/red made it a little bit tricky to navigate the interface at times, but they were very minor. No point dwelling here really.

Gameplay: 6.5/10 - I definitely enjoyed playing the game on the whole, but I felt that there wasn't a lot to keep me coming back. I found that I would often just let everybody do their own thing on the map and leave it for a few minutes before returning to blitz a country or two. Sadly though I didn't have the stamina to persist all the way down under, and I think this was just because - as good as the mechanics may be - the gameplay is quite slow. The world-building though - I enjoyed that you leveraged a world that is already pre-built. Nice touch there, and some absolutely brilliant exposition from her Maj to really bring together the whole persona of the game in this regard.

Cohesion: 9/10 - The game, as I've touched on already, comes together really well. Your proficiency in art and fonts, as well as music, no doubt have led to this being the case. There are so many components to the game, and yet they all fit together so well that it's clear just how much thought went into the styling. The storytelling is spot-on, but I would suggest that the game doesn't allow players too much opportunity to learn and improve, perhaps because there was too much wealth of choice, or perhaps because it was very easy to not be defeated. In any case, an early game tutorial might be in order.

Score: 89

Concept: 6.5/10 - I get the impression that this was a game a long time in the making, or perhaps a project that started earlier than this Jam. Regardless, it struck me as being a little bit odd that the premise of the game was something totally disconnected from the theme (i.e. colour-switching feels like a mechanic targeted towards a particular theme). I admit I didn't get the opportunity to finish the game, but from what I can glean the theme isn't really met too well. However, in all other regards the game got off to a strong start and I enjoyed the concept very much.

Sound: 0/10

Graphics: 10/10
- Chroma Crown is a really neat looking game, with a bit of variation in background, lots of different components and a world that feels reasonably lively because of it. The sword slashes were a standout for me, but generally speaking anything red/blue based was generally really attractive and well implemented. While my preference isn't generally for drab scenery (as in colourless/sparse, not as in poor), I appreciated it here in relation to the story-line and understood that it played a clever part. Impressively, I didn't encounter any jittery movement at all.

Gameplay: 8/10 - I've definitely got a soft spot for this one just because of a game that I helped to develop in the past that was colour and puzzle based. I can see clearly some of those same mechanics in this game, but with an emphasis on combat rather than in the context of puzzles. I felt as though the jumping was a bit frustrating at times, but that's probably just an aspect one would need to get used to. The only other concern that I had was the people - when you're implementing dialogue (especially that which you can revisit), I think it's always good if everybody has something to say, and something at least mildly useful. And in particular, it's a really nice touch when the same person has a few different things they'd like you to know - even if they're not pleasant things.

Cohesion: 8/10 - The polish on this game is remarkable, and as such it really becomes a full package. The absence of sounds, however, is definitely a price paid. The overall immersion suffers quite a bit as such. The storyline is incredible though. I will definitely be sure to see this game through, because I'm very keen to know how it ends. The game strikes a good balance between exposition and platforming, and perhaps the only thing it lacks is cutscenes - but even without them the story is built up well and the suspense follows suit. Finally, the difficulty curve is very well implemented - I found myself dying periodically, but as I understood each different enemy I gradually became a lot better at progressing - and the checkpoints are regular enough to make it feel like real progress is being made. In some ways the game feels like a more forgiving version of Hollow Knight.

Score: 65

Concept: 8/10 - Click and click and click and click. This game makes for some tired fingers, for sure. The concept seems to be a little bit borrowed from 'tap-x' games on the phone, or even earlier the same variety of Flash games from the later 2000's. In any case, I liked playing it, and it struck me as a really straight-forward implementation of the theme that was no fuss, but a lot of fun. I think its originality is pretty decent, mostly due to the mechanic where your mouse is actively targeted and attacked (though Oh Canada used a similar idea), and I will admit I had misgivings at the beginning because of the intro screen, but the game held my attention until eventually I got too tired to click (I was trying to basically speed run it).

Sound: 6/10 - the sounds were perhaps a little bit on the annoying side, but that's OK. They didn't grind my gears too much, and were still useful inclusions. The music felt like it should have shifted pace once you were actually into the game, because theme you went with doesn't really built a sense of threat at all while you're playing the game. Though perhaps that's the intention, since the character's race is clearly quite arrogant. If this is the case, I'd still source another track, but would probably go for something to convey that. If you know of any characters from cartoons or animes who are arrogant and have a theme to themselves, then that's probably a great place to start in terms of trying to capture the desired feel.

Graphics: 4/10- I can tell that the focus for this game jam went mostly towards the gameplay, which is understandable. The graphics are mostly rudimentary, but still do contain enough detail to be meaningful (such as your brief animation of the poison cloud and ion cannon blasts). With some spit and polish to the graphics I reckon you could definitely have a cool, well-rounded game on your hands.

Gameplay: 7.5/10 - This game's got a really solid grounding in terms of mechanics. The best point in its favour for me was that you decided to move the cursor in response to damage from ion blasts. This reminded me distinctly of games like Finger Slayer for mobile, which you might like to check out. I think that the introduction of some more mechanics would be in order once you've progressed through a few levels, but understandably a Jam doesn't provide the best environment to build a substantial game. As for the world-building, I think some steps should probably be taken. For instance, having some connection to the 'pacified' citizens of Earth might be nice (i.e. some ambience), and generally conveying the climate of Earth as well would be a massive plus - and could perhaps double as a new mechanic.

Cohesion: 6/10 - The thing which most prevents this game from coming together in the end are the graphics, but I won't dwell on that. The story-telling is done mostly from the intro and end screens, but I definitely enjoyed the little bit of comedic exposition and on the whole felt like the story was a compelling (funny) enough. The difficulty curve was pretty decent, and I did eventually die which I think is always a good sign.

Score: 63

I initially had some shader problems with this game, but I'm fairly certain they were resolved with @Dr. Wolf's assistance. Unfurtunately, I still wasn't able to play the game because the on my machine all of the text boxes and labels were bunched up together and I couldn't interact with them properly. I tried a few fixes, but couldn't get anything to work. I should have allowed some more time to jump into the game rather than assuming that the DirectX fix would be the only thing necessary on my part.

Score: N/A

I wrote a full review of this game (or at least the one level I could manage to access), but it was somehow totally lost to void at some point while I was saving my post edits. I'm really sorry about this, and it's only because I forced myself to finish reviewing last minute that I couldn't provide you a proper review. @Arabong if you would like a review of your game then I'd be more than happy to oblige, just give me a shout.

Score: N/A

This one is in the same boat as Conquest of the Olympus I'm afraid. I really enjoyed your game, and took the time to review it on the first day of reviews a couple of weeks back. I'm sorry that I didn't get back to it in time to realise I'd stuffed up, and of course if you'd like a review @CardinalCoder64 then I'm happy to provide it.

Score: N/A

I was never able to get this game to work the way that it was intended to graphically. I'm aware that I was meant to be able to access a minimap, compass, and see pop-ups when I interacted with things, but mostly what I could see were just blotches on the screen and large patches of a default background. This is an issue that seemed isolated to my machine, so I apologise @Misty for not being able to provide you with a proper review this time around.

Score: N/A
 
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