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Crop Circles's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay / Fun / Engagement | #15 | 3.537 | 3.588 |
| Audio / Sound Design | #15 | 3.537 | 3.588 |
| Overall | #15 | 3.624 | 3.676 |
| Art Style / Visuals | #19 | 3.653 | 3.706 |
| Theme | #24 | 3.769 | 3.824 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Game Engine / Tools
GameMaker
How does your game fit the theme?
you only have so much space to plant your crops, if they start to overlap they will die so use the limited space wisely. also everything is made of circles of regular pentagons
Anything else you'd like to share about your game or development process?
not really but the limited shapes thing was a super cool twist and made for a very fun limitation
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Comments
The Game Maker crew doing a great job again, huh? Haha. What a fun game! The harvesting system was really well done and fits perfectly with the theme. The constant threat from enemies adds a great sense of alert, making the game more intense and action-packed, significantly boosting engagement.
You made great use of shapes here. Despite the limitations of the jam, everything is impeccably recognizable, whether by the silhouette of the objects or their color. Both of these elements together make the game’s art super charming and cute.
Of course, the sound effects were also essential in creating that friendly atmosphere. You made a great choice of sounds for your game and its overall concept.
I’ll admit, at first, I thought the controls would be too difficult for me, but thankfully you included an option to customize them. That’s a big plus (I almost never add customizable controls in my games, maybe I should start investing time in that).
It looks like your game does have an ending, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to reach it. The reason is that there was an error in the step event of some object, at least in the Windows version (which is the one I play most often).
Well, as I was writing this feedback, I remembered there was also a web version, so I decided to give it a try. It seems the issue is only with the Windows version because I was able to reach both endings in the web version. Now I feel the experience is even more complete!
Anyway, I’ll attach a screenshot of the error so you can check the code later, in case you plan to continue working on your project.
Congratulations on the game, it was a lot of fun. Best of luck with the jam!
This is such an awesome comment, thank you for writing all that out!! So nice to hear you appreciated the key re-binding, I spent like half a day on it and almost no one used it lmao. Really appreciate all your positive feedback, it helps make it all worth it. Very helpful to have the that bug report thank you. I got that same bug occasionally on both builds and ran out of time to fix it. I think I'll polish the game up after the jam and address that. Thank you again for playing and the kind words, I really appreciate it!
very invels
I saved my family on the second try, ahha. I didnt realise at first i shouldnt place my crops too close together xdd. I appreciate that i could choose my keybinds, that helped.
I thought this game was really cute, the art was super creative, it was almost like we didnt have a shape limitation. The gameplay was fun too, and squishing bugs was super satisfying. i did manage to go into generational debt buying the first upgrades, Lol. but all is well, i managed to pay it off. I like that we had a goal of reaching 1k, but an endless mode could be a fun idea too. gg
Thank you so much, really nice to hear all that! Very glad to hear you used the keybinds, I spent at least half a day on them and no one else seemed to notice they were there. There's even a couple comments requesting the ability to re-bind xD, my fault should have made things more clear. I had a blast with using the limited shapes to make the art, so its cool to hear that. Endless mode is a great idea, and wouldn't have been too difficult to implement. Thanks again, much appreciated!!
I love the mechanics in the game! Unfortunately I haven't been able to finish it.
The only thing that I would improve is to make sure that the bugs are always on top of the crops. Making it so you can only harvest if you remove the bugs. It seems that even if the bugs are shown on top sometimes the action is affecting only the crop (idk if it is a bug or if it is intended).
All the elements blend together so well especially the bugs, that was an incredible idea. It turned a simple farming game into a roguelike game.
Good job! It fits the theme and its quite fun.
Thanks for playing, I appreciate the kind words and the feedback!
There's a few bugs related to the bugs (hah), definitely something I'll have to take a closer look at if I return to the game. Glad you liked the simple farming with roguelike elements idea, thanks again!
Had fun with this! Pretty standard farming sim type game, but i like how it has that mechanic of other crops needing space to grow, thus highlighting the limited space theme and it was executed really well. Also good artstyle, i liked how you used the limited shapes for everything but it didnt feel monotonous.
One small issue i had was with the UI buttons in the game overlapping the bugs! so i couldnt squish the bugs when they were behind the button, so that was a bit annoying!
Apart from that neat little game, good job on this :)
Glad to hear you vibed w the art and liked the theme use! And appreciate the heads up on the UI button bug, I didn't even consider that lol. Thanks for playing!!
After four tries I managed to save my family from foreclosure!
I liked that this was a game you have to learn- first try i terrible, second too, restarted it early. Then the third one, I almost made it, and the fourth one was the charm. Gameplay is easy to understand, and fun, but I encountered bug, where I could buy the first upgrade, even if I didn't have money (I played fair in my last game though :)). The other thing is that the shortcuts would be better as 1,2,3,4 keys. Right now H is a bit far from others.
This is one of the prettiest games in this jam. Using very limited shapes you created vegetables and bugs, that were so cool, that for a minute I forgot that we had a shape limitation! Audio is on point- music is nice, sound effects fit the gameplay.
As for the theme- yeah, you need to use the space wisely, but in the end for me it meant "only plant six vegetables at the time". Since this was enough, especially with eggplants, I didn't think about limited space anymore. What I'm saying is that you could have explored the theme a bit more.
Over all, I had a lot of fun! Keep it up!
Very glad you were able to save your family from the bank's foreclosure, would have been terrible to have your loved ones taken away xD.
Really nice to hear you enjoyed the learning process of the games mechanics, seems to be a rare take in a sea of people wanting some sort of tutorial (which is a very fair request!!). Good to know about that bug, and good on ya for playing fair anyways. I hear ya on the shortcuts, I went with the first letter of the tool H = harvest tool, S = spade tool, etc which is an admittedly terrible way to do things lol. Tried to mitigate that with a key binding option in the main menu, but not a single person has commented on that so far haha. And even that is letters only. Using 1,2,3,4 seems like a no brainer now that you've said it, not sure why it didn't occur to me. Someone else suggested using the mouse wheel which I think could be a viable solution as well.
That is very nice to hear that you enjoyed the art direction, and got lost in the sauce a bit, so to speak. I really enjoyed the creative limitation of having to build everything out of a limited selection of shapes.
Interesting take on the theme too. I hadn't thought about it that way but you're correct it is a bit "meh" as the space isn't really limiting the player per se, there's just a limited area to play in. I tried to incorporate the theme a bit more with the growing zones behind the crops but agree that it misses the mark a bit. Maybe some kind of synergies between crops based on proximity would have been an interesting dynamic to explore.
Thanks a bunch for the detailed comment and kind words, I very much appreciate it!!
I think this game fit the theme very well! The gameplay was very fun, but I did find it challenging to switch between tools (maybe that was the point). It would be nice if the hotkeys were closer together or could be switched with the mouse wheel. Overall, nice job!
Thanks for playing and leaving some valuable feedback, appreciate the kind words! There was some intended difficulty in having to switch between the hotkeys, but I tried to mitigate that by letting the player re-bind keys in the main menu. Unfortunately, literally no one so far has noticed that lol. Maybe I should have brought the player directly to the re-binding scene after pressing start, rather than just having it as an option in the main menu. Using the mouse wheel is a really clever idea that I didn't think of, great call. Thanks again!!
Did anyone beat it? It was a nice game! Good idea! Lovely graphics! You do actually have limited space. I get to eat my GMOs? :( :( :( Oh no! (375 score with everything maxed out)
Looks like only one person beat it so far lol. I think a big problem is the lack of tutorial. As the developer with intimate knowledge of my own game it's easy to beat it by day 5 but I think I really erred by not making things clearer for a new player. For example you can squash the bugs with the spade tool and earn more cash, which when coupled with the bug upgrade makes you a lottt of money to the point where you don't even really need to plant crops. My fault! Sorry you have to eat your GMOs with the rest of us plebs haha. Thank you for playing!!
No! It was fine, leaves something for the players to figure out themselves. The tutorial did say you could squash bugs. My main problem was, while I was doing that, my eggplants and tomatoes went bad. ^^ Might come back at the end of the jam to try finish it.
Great Game, very fun!
You did really well with making a game with growing plants that really stresses the player out, with always switching between the four hotkeys. Also i think that the difficulty of the game is right at perfect sweet spot, i did it with 1016 on my second attempt.
Things that could be added, would be more variety in plants and maybe some kind of defence against the bugs.
Good job!
Thanks so much for the feedback, very cool to hear you had fun with my game!! Glad that the chaos of switching between the different hotkeys worked for you, it seems to be a somewhat divisive feature. Also, I think you're the first person to beat the game so congrats :) I was going to add a corn plant that had extra vertical length and a pumpkin that is just super big but ran out of time. And for the bugs you can actually click on them with the spade tool to squash them and you earn money for it, but I didn't make that clear enough to the player. Thanks again!
The game is super cute! It's fun once you fully understand how the game works. As everyone else has commented, the game would benefit from a simple tutorial.
I especially like that the visuals all include only the allowed circles and pentagons, and that it somehow does not feel like the shapes were limited for this game.
The audio also matches the cute artstyle and make the game feel relatively polished for such a short development time. However I am a bit stuck on whether the music matches the gameplay, as the gameplay feels more intense than the music is. So the sound is both well picked and a bit off.
Good stuff!
Ahhh I'm kicking myself about not adding a tutorial now, classic case of dev plays their game for a week straight and it makes sense to them...but only to them lol. Very glad to hear you liked the art direction it was really fun to use the creative limitation of certain shapes and it's cool to hear you liked the outcome. You're spot on about the audio! I spent maybe 6 or 7 minutes finding a song at the very end of of the jam and went "meh good enough" and you're right it doesn't fit the rest of the game super well. Thank you for playing and the great feedback!!
Very creative and polished game with nice visuals and a fun idea. While the game play could benefit from a clearer introduction and the theme feels slightly underused, the overall experience is engaging and enjoyable.Very good work! This is what I thought in detail:
Game play / Fun / Engagement ●●●●○
The core idea is clever, and I enjoyed experimenting with the different tools. However, the game play isn’t very intuitive at first. Switching tools and then figuring out how to use them feels a bit clunky until you get used to it. A clearer introduction or tutorial would have helped smooth out this learning curve. Also if a plant grows behind the button you barely can do something with it. Still, once you understand it, the loop is satisfying, so I give this category 4 out of 5.
Art Style / Visuals ●●●●●
The visuals are great. You made very creative use of the limited shapes, and the game looks like a polished, complete experience rather than something restricted by constraints. The art direction feels consistent and immersive, which earns a full 5 out of 5 here.
Audio / Sound Design ●●●●○
The sound design is solid but not flawless. The button SFX don’t always work correctly, and while the music is fine, it doesn’t feel like the best fit for the game play. It still adds atmosphere, but compared to the visuals, this area feels weaker. That’s why I give it 4 out of 5.
Theme ●●●●●
The interpretation of the theme is interesting and explained well and is also central to the game play. You literally have limited space for the plants to grow! Because of that, I rate it 4 out of 5.
Wow, awesome feedback, thank you so much!!
Player-onboarding seems to be a real issue. I should have gotten someone to playtest the game before submitting, as its easy to think the game you developed makes sense, but to new eyes it can be confusing. Thanks for explaining your thoughts on that.
Super nice to hear you liked the visuals :) I really enjoyed working with the creative limitation of the shapes and am glad that you found the overall aesthetic cohesive.
And you're spot on about the sfx/music, I threw those together in the last couple hours and the quality is not what I'd like it to be. Good ear lol!
Glad my take on the theme worked for ya. Thanks again for such a detailed and thoughtful comment, I very much appreciate it!
Hey PBA Studios! First of all good job on the finished game!
The game was surprisingly fun, once I figured out how to play. A tutorial/How to play would've been amazing. Once I understood what I had to do it created a nice flow. I think the controls could've been simplified, for example squashing a bug and harvesting could be a default on click behaviour without needing a separate button to be pressed beforehand.
The visuals are also very nice, I think you managed to create a fun atmosphere especially considering that it's all made of pentagons and circles! The audio was nice and fitting aswell. Everything had a sound and nothing felt out of place or unbalanced.
All in all, good job!
Hey Stealthix, thank you for the kind words and feedback!
The lack of a tutorial seems to be a common issue, I guess I should have focused on that before menu screen sfx and animations lol. Interesting to hear your opinion on merging the bug squash/harvest tool, I hadn't thought of doing that. I think I would leave it as separate buttons to force the player to be constantly switching between tools to fit the chaotic, fast-paced gameplay vibe, but I appreciate hearing your perspective.
Very nice to hear you liked the visuals and audio, I had a blast with the creative limitation of only using 2 shapes.
Thanks again!!
At first I didn't know good what to do, a visual tutorial would have been nice. But the 2nd and 3th time it went better and I understood what to do.
I accidentally pressed R and that resetted my game I was doing soo good (woopsie). Love the sounds and music, I defenitly like the sounds on the main menu those small touches you did.
I did experience a weird visual glitch where my hole screen was red for the hole gameplay (idk what and how it happend).
Overall a fun gameplay that kept me going for a while,!
I agree the lack of player-onboarding is a real problem, you kind of just get thrown into things. There are tool tips in the key binding screen from the start menu but I doubt most players will ever see that, it would have been better to add them to the game screen as well so that you can hover over the buttons and know what they do. Glad you were able to figure things out on your own!
Noooo sorry about the R thing lol, I had that in as a temporary thing when playtesting and forgot to take it out (woopsie). Very nice to hear you liked the main menu sounds, I wasted a lot of time on that instead of more important things (like a tutorial lol).
There were a few bugs related to the bug (no pun intended) that made the screen go black occasionally in my playthroughs so its likely something along those lines. If I put more work into this game I'll certainly have to squash that.
Thank you very much for feedback and the kind words!!