JorisRollfox's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Not a Race]

Interesting little game, though I would say it's too hectic for a meditation game even when playing it right. I also think that the controls could be communicated better: the Z button could just as well look like a Z, when you die I would show ENTER, and I would indicate that you're over relaxing by filling the purple bar with a second (green) bar.
Lastly, just one or two simple sound effect and music that switches between hectic & relaxed would add a lot to the experience.

Overall, it's a fairly solid experience. How much time did you have to make it?

amidos2006 responds:

Thanks a lot :) I can see the point your talking about. I was trying to reach more of understanding the concept because it will bring u peace in our hectic life. It took me like between 4 to 8 hours, I don't remember :)

[Christmas ADVENTure 2019]

Just wholesome.

My only complaints are that I had to read the description to figure out the controls, that you walk way too slow, and that the ingame art feels a bit inconsistent (e.g. the characters being way less detailed than the tree). There may not be much gameplay, but it makes the art feel just a bit more special.

[Wayward]

Though the theme stated in the description doesn't come forward, to me the story was an interesting take on compromises. Both possible endings being bad sucked, but this suited the unique narrative quite well.

I also really like the art, but its inconsistencies feel a bit off. Some things have way more details than others, and the characters are a lot more saturated than the rest of the game (especially the much darker outline feels off). Also, falling in the water looks kinda off, I would just do a quick ripple / splash effect before respawning the player.
I would also prefer the text with the parents to be in a homelike environment, instead of over a pond. You could also put a window in front of it, to show that you're looking outside.

The music is great too, and although it feels a bit weird that there are no sound effect I didn't miss them that much. This also allowed me to take in the music.

Anyways, given the unique narrative I would like to ask what inspired you to make this?

OurLittleStudio responds:

Hey, you raise some great points about the art and overall level of polish. Due to time constraints on this little project we had to compromise on a lot of these things.

In response to your question, we gave ourselves a brief surrounding the concept of motivation, and how this affects decision making, and the result of the choices made.

[Berry The Scientist]

73 ticks.

Quite enjoyable, though it could be more challenging. I rarely thought my actions through and yet I only took damage a few times.

Also, give an in-game description to explain the dash & which button triggers it. I shouldn't have to look at the description to figure out why I can't move across the gap.

I haven't played Terry, but I like the interconnectedness of the two. Makes it feel like a real world, and makes me want to try it. Besides this being the "real" story compared to the fake in Terry, I found the story quite lackluster. I enjoyed the mini in-between cutscenes, but they could be a bit more interesting than "church throws more stuff at you." You can add a lot of flair by adding little details: "The church was running out of options, and desperate enough to promise sacred land to whichever wicked witch would bring your head. Anything was better than the prospect of joining their lord soon."

How long did it take you to make?

amidos2006 responds:

Thanks a lot for the feedback :) It is always appreciated and always fun to see people enjoying the game :) Both Terry and Berry took like 4 days to finish for the ProcJam :)

[Hyper Dimensional Dynamo]

Really good time-waster, though while the constant feeling of progression makes it quite addictive it also becomes repetitive quickly. Especially once you realize that staying on the middle platform in the first level makes aiming a lot easier.

The main variation comes from the many weapons, as there are only 3 enemy types and the difficulty does not increase during the game. Most weapons are quite interesting, though there are also a few that are too similar to each other.

Even though you can buy new weapons in the shop, it is unclear what their characteristics are. I would at least display their names to give a hint. If the large amount of weapons in the shop gives choice fatigue you can always reduce the number of options (e.g. new weapons become purchasable only once you've bought a certain amount).

Buying new weapons also increases the maximum multiplier, though tbh I never reached beyond 6 anyways. What I do like is that picking up weapons increases your multiplier, which makes it feel as a choice even though you're always going to grab it for the multiplier even if you don't like the weapon. If you fail to pick up the weapon before it fades away however, it decreases your multiplier which adds a nice bit of urgency.

The small level also adds urgency. If you let only one enemy pass you want to take it out asap, which means neglecting new enemies that can also pass you, rinse & repeat. Chaos guaranteed. Because you'll constantly be in chaos, it is a shame though that you can't easily see the amount of remaining hits the dynamo can take. I would add hearts or something, instead of a health bar.

The game also looks & sounds fairly good (the screen shake can be a bit excessive though), especially the start menu is dynamic & funny. So I'm curious, how did you make the art?

KanartStudio responds:

Really thanks for the feedback, this kind of thing really makes me happy, I will make sure to add all these suggestion to the list. This game was more like a study to me, trying a score mechanic to see how people react, maybe in the future, I could make a sequel with some new things.

About the art, it was made by thornduck
https://twitter.com/murilo3031?lang=ca
https://gamejolt.com/@ThornDuck
I also did some small things, we both used Aseprite ;D

The Sfx was made in SFXR also by myself and the music by Ekebe
https://soundcloud.com/ekebe23
You can also find everything in the credits at the main menu ^~^

[Just Slide!]

At first I thought "Why isn't it keeping track of my number of moves? Where is the challenge without it?" But I quickly realised it works much better as a relaxed experience, without a constant reminder that you can do better. There's just something serene & satisfying about filling in all boxes, even if it is almost exclusively trial & error. The game is also just the right length, perhaps maybe 2 levels too long I was about to quit at 30 until I saw I was near the end.

The art looks poorly made & inconsistent at first, but it has its own charm (like the constant variation in color). Especially the "Level complete Awesome!!" has a really neat 90's WordArt feel to it. The menu could look more interesting though.

Also, great music & sound effects! I don't think I would've completed the game without it.

Besides some small touches the game is pretty much perfect. I would look up "game juice", this game doesn't <em>need<em> it but it makes pretty much anything more fun. Also, adding some variation to the sound effect via a random pitch shift does wonders.

As it works so well I have to ask, how did you come up with the concept?

AdityaChaudhary responds:

Do you know "GazThomas" or have you ever played his games on Kongregate.
I have learnt a lot from his games.
His website "FreeGames. org" had a similar game. I though of making something more advanced than that and came up with this game.

[Do Not Click The Cookie]

While not my kind of humor, it is definitely original. However, it also feels as if it was haphazardly put together with little care to detail. Adding squash & stretch when the cookie moves & talks would make it feel much more lively, and perhaps some cookie crumble particles when you click on it (I would look up "game juice" if I were you, it does wonders).

Also, because you can only move by clicking on the arrows & the game has no reaction for when you do not click the cookie, it feel less like a game where you have some form of control and more like a movie that automatically pauses.

As a side note, the audio seems quite loud compared to other games on this platform. Though that may just be psychological due to the yelling.

DynamiteFrog responds:

Okay, I understand that I din't put too much detail in the game and the game feels more like a movie than a game. I probably should've added more reaction and details in the game, but I didn't thought of it too much.Thank you for leaving an extensive review of my game! I will continue to make my game better in the future!

[Pawnbarian]

Pretty neat, though after playing through it once I feel like I've seen everything. So I'm curious what you'll add to the game to fix this.
Controls feel a bit weird at first but once you get used to them they feel quite refreshing, and they probably work even better on mobile. How did you come up with these controls?

j4nw responds:

This style of movement is just what I did right off the bat when making the game for 7 Day Roguelike, without much thought or conscious inspiration behind it. It worked out nicely so I stuck with it!

[Pumpking]

The sound is stellar, and the art as well. I especially like the dynamics & use of colors, though the black outline on the key & lock can look a little harsh. The 3D aspect & empty void as background also take some getting used to.

The gameplay is quite interesting, and even though it never challenges you to explore the full potential of its turn-based nature (see Rust Bucket by Nitrome for inspiration) it keeps up the pacing & ends quickly to prevent it from getting dull (which is something that Rust Bucket fails). I would've liked to see it end on a higher note though, like a boss fight.

Anyways, I'm curious to what inspired you to make this. Just some random idea that you had to get out of your head & turn into a game?

nyunesu responds:

Hey, thanks for your feedback (:

I had a ton of inspiration from everywhere I'll try to break it down for you.

First thought while starting the prototype stage was to avoid making a platformer, I made three in a row, so I had to make something else because I was feeling "stuck" in a genre.

I started to try exploring more a previous game I made (based on Sokoban - you can try it here: https://nyunesu.itch.io/generator), I never came to add moving NPCs to this game, so I thought of giving this a try.

At first, the objects were just crates that you could destroy instead of pushing. Then I drew some Halloween characters with the palette Matt used for his game PUMP (you should play it, very good game) and I started to get in the mood by the art.

I tried a bunch of random mechanics such as pushing enemies several cells forward, but I thought I was seeking too much in the prototype stage, so I decided to remove this mechanic and focus on the enemies instead of my character. But I got nice info from the experimentation: counting cells to manage your move was interesting.

I created some basic enemy behavior that would move differently each turn, e. g. 1 turn rest, 1 turn move. Then 2 turn move, 1 turn to rest and started to see how those dynamics affected the game. I played redungeon before (from nitrome as well) and since it inspired me a lot so I went to play it again. I tried to use the same mechanic they had of moving stuff in real-time in a turn-based game, didn't work well but it inspired me for other aspects of the game.

That is basically my process, experiment with the things you already have, changing values, see the results and try to get the most out of it. Then add new stuff that affects the previous mechanics, look for other interesting mechanics and repeat the tunning stage.

I tried to explain in the best way I could, hope that helps (:

[Tap-a-Paca]

Lovely art & music, everything looks so fluffy & cute! Though the alpaca's have too much detail & too different colors compared to the rest of the game, Jamy is the only one that fits.

The gameplay is nice & simple but really needs more variation. Also, if the game is played with keyboard I would like to be able to navigate the menu with keyboard as well. Regarding the menu, the way you buy new skins isn't intuitive, and I didn't know how to use checkpoints until I quit.

PS: is there somewhere where I can download the music?

fiddex responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I will bear that in mind about the keyboard navigation a good point. About the variation what kind of thing were you hoping for as we were playing around with some concepts for weather effects that can impact the jump arc and clouds popping in an out of existence.

Soundtrack wise, no, but I can make it available somewhere and I can let you know when it's up. That way you can listen to your hearts content!