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Chronoculus's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Enjoyment | #364 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Narrative | #816 | 3.400 | 3.400 |
| Creativity | #986 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Artwork | #1246 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
| Audio | #2217 | 3.171 | 3.171 |
Ranked from 35 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
The game takes place in a time loop.
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
"Half Machine" and "Home" by HoliznaCC0, Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/holiznacc0/retro-gamer-soundtrack
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Comments
I really liked the feel of this one. I'm glad you don't waste any time between deaths and jump quickly from death to upgrade screen to restart, it makes it pretty painless. I really loved the color palette you went with and the art style of the boss and the player, if I could make a wishlist for what you might have done with more time, I'd have loved to see the UI elements designed in pixel art to match that style. I also think (again, in a perfect world where you'd had time to do it, lol) it would have helped with clarity and strategy for the upgrade options to have little pictures of the ability so you can visualize it, as - especially at first - in the chaos it's hard to tell which move is which number, and hard to remember while on the upgrade screen which of the bosses' abilities has been giving you the most difficulty. Anyways, you can tell I really enjoyed this because my brain is excitedly imagining how you could take this tidy, well executed concept and take it to the next level!
Definitely agree with you on the UI, we didn't worry about it for the sake of simplicity and time but I agree that it would have added to the style if everything was pixel art. Including pictures by the upgrades is a great idea, unfortunately not one that came to mind while we were making it! If we ever work on this in the future it would be a great feature to add. I'm glad you enjoyed, thanks for playing!
This is fantastic! I loved the idea of overcoming a seemingly unbeatable boss by getting stronger each loop! This game has really well thought-out mechanics, like how you learn what attack power each "hour" corresponds to - a perfect mix between skill progression and numerical progression. You guys did a seriously great job!
Thank you for the kind words! It's great to hear that tying the attack to an hour was an interesting and helpful mechanic. Thanks for playing!
Good idea
The music seems to be broken, or is it intentional?
The boss is cool and difficult
I like it :D
The music is intended to slow down when dying, and speed back up after leaving the shop. Is that what you're referring to? If not, I'd be curious to hear how music is broken because we never encountered anything like that while testing!
Thanks for playing!
No, that's not what I mean.
Maybe it's just that my player has some issues?
This was quite hard, but also an incredibly fun progression. Fantastic boss design too
I'm glad you enjoyed, thanks for playing our game!
That game was legit fun and addicting! At first it seemed impossible but little by little i could see beating Chronoculus was possible!
I'm glad we were able to capture that feeling of beating the impossible! Congrats on finishing the game, thanks for playing!
Having the time needed to beat chronoculus (sum of all attempts) on the end screen would be a nice addition :)
Ahh, that would have been a great addition to the stats! We didn't think of it at the time, we had deaths in mind as the main score of the game. Maybe if we decide to work on the game post-jam!
I honestly can't explain it. I died constantly, often frustratingly, and each time I did a little better, improved my character a bit, made the enemy worse, and honestly it just worked. In general I think these bullet hell games live and die by how they shoot, but honestly the real MVP here was the shield. I really really like how you allowed the player to use the shield offensively and also upgrade elements most games would never think to of like that brief moment of invincibility after getting hit. I also think visually the game is really really nice.
As for feedback, I think it would be better if the player had some more notification about which way the attacks are going to come from.
Overall, it was frustrating in a really satisfying way that made me stick it out even after I would normally bail. Defeating that giant boss was wonderful (also I really really love his design with his little clock eye).
Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad we were able to strike the balance between frustrating and motivating in the game loop, and that the feel of the shield worked for you! Definitely agree that providing more indicators on the upcoming attacks would have been a great bit of polish to add. Congrats on beating the game, and thanks for playing!
Really interesting take on an incremental style game loop. Super clever to have both an upgrade track based around survival time and one based around damaging the enemy. It also took me a while to realize I could move up - something about the layout and certain art assets seem to suggest a sideview perspective. Maybe a couple of 3/4 view pillars or something would help to sell the effect. Either way, great job!
I appreciate the feedback! You're not the first to comment that they didn't realize that they couldn't move up, but I hadn't realized the perspective on the art style was the issue. I can definitely see how the game could be perceived as a side view now that you've pointed it out though! Thanks for playing!
The gameplay loop had me continuously coming back for more. I lost track of how long i was playing for. really fun!
Having lost track of time is a great compliment, I'm glad you enjoyed! Thanks for playing!
Man, this was way too addicting! Pretty difficult and it somehow reminds me of Wings of Vi - great work!
I'm glad you enjoyed, thanks for playing our game!
This is awesome! It's like the Radiance from Hollow Knight all over again but top down lol. I beat it with 33 deaths, 23 upgrades and 26 boss downgrades. The randomness of it was also really fun, and tying each move with an hour on a clock made it easier for me to remember what each attack was and informed by decisions when choosing downgrades. Love this!
To be compared with Hollow Knight is a high compliment! That's a great score too, thanks for playing!
This is so hard, it's almost as bad as the bosses in Knight Witch. The intro story is hilarious, and the art is good too. Great job, especially for so little time!
I haven't heard of that game, I'll have to take a look! Thanks for playing!
Hard but funny, I like it
Thanks for playing!
really cool! the time loop theming/narrative and the gameplay feel really well-integrated and the art/music set a great tone :)
Thanks for playing our game!
This was really incredible, my fav so far easliy. The progression of learning the 12 attacks and how to dodge while also learning how to actually effectively attack the boss and pick which buffs/nerfs to pick - really well done! Thanks for making it :)
One note, and this is probably just a skill issue on my part, but it took me around 10-15 deaths before i realised i could move up/down haha
That's really kind of you to say, I'm glad you found the upgrade system rewarding! We did add the small starting room as a chance for the player to learn the controls, but the boss is so chaotic I can totally understand forgetting them once you get into the action. Thanks for playing!
the battle mechanics were pretty amazing I like how after a while it almost feels like an undertale fight having to avoid all the attacks after a couple of rounds my muscle memory started kicking in. overall it looks and feels really good especially as I'm new to godot myself
I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for playing!
The boss attacks linked clock positions is really cool! Good job :D
I'm glad you liked it, thanks for playing!
Very creative concept, feels rough at the start but after the mechanic kicks in and you get some upgrades it's way more enjoyable! Also I may be biased due to it being a bullet-hell. :)
A fellow bullet-hell creator! We definitely wanted to capture the feeling of impossibility at the beginning, but maybe we went a bit too far with it. Appreciate the feedback, thanks for playing!
cool rogue like elements and nice art style
Thanks for playing!
Real fun, nice progression and attack variety!
Thanks for playing!
Very creative! I enjoyed growing more powerful every fight!
Thanks for playing our game!