itch.io

Wow! Amazing!!

thank you!! you totally clocked the art style, it was definitely inspired by jelly car and the old flash game aesthetic

for sure! i think the chase for constant improvement at constant threat of layoff is stressing our workforce near the breaking point!! its really cool to me how your gameplay connects itself to such a clear narrative theme even with limited dialogue

slimewitch!!! i've been in so many jams alongside you and i'm always so impressed with how you construct a style across your projects. not just in art and palette but also in gameplay structure and mechanic prototyping! IRIS fits so neatly in your portfolio it's hard to believe it wasn't there the whole time.

i really enjoyed the main mechanic and how it informed the level design. however, something about it was a little bit unintuitive the whole way through. it was hard to remember whether the orbit was clockwise or counterclockwise, and my brain kept telling me that the ball would keep its momentum on release rather than shoot off straight. i think the way you have it is much better for the gameplay, but i wonder if there's an even better way to communicate the motion. i LOVED the sound and music, it does wonders to elevate the aesthetic into an intentional, meditative experience.

overall, great stuff! make more forever!! see you in another jam :]

thank you for playing!! those are actually somewhat intentional choices, although not very well communicated. the lap counter used to say #/♾️ but i thought "out of 1" was cuter, and the timer is supposssed to not even start until you enter the second level haha. so it starting when u die is totally a bug!

well, got my answer! definitely a healthy step forward i think. sorry for hijacking my feedback for such an odd tangent haha

https://bsky.app/profile/gamemakerstoolkit.com/post/3lvph7zxwvk2r

tom ragtag does it again!!! maybe it's my current trackmania obsession showing but i had too much fun just playing this over and over. unfortunately, i couldn't seem to get any better than 14 seconds, but i love how the metanarrative layer commented on the unsustainable expectation of infinite growth. to be honest, it reminded me of the GMTK Game Jam itself: it's expected to grow larger and larger every year, placing more pressure on the staff and participants each time. what will falter first, i wonder??

while i enjoyed the challenge, the game maybe felt a bit too difficult. i think there could be a visual indicator of the satellite locations so it relied less on memorization. or maybe a way to see your previous path as a whole, so you can keep the same line but focus on improving each time. either way, the game felt sooo polished, bringing the same professional energy your games have every year. such fun stuff -- excited to see what you make next!!

such a pretty and relaxing game!! i wish there was more of an incentive to switch up your keybindings, but with such nice visuals and audio it was hard to complain about the repetition. i really like this game, it's short and sweet but does something i've never really seen before

this is a very cohesive first project! my first jam game was a total mess of spaghetti code and confusion, so it's cool to see that you executed this game with such a clear vision.

i liked the main twist! we went for a similar concept of "same level, different each time". the levels were put together well, but i think there was a little too much backtracking over the course of the game. i wonder if, instead, the changes could be overlayed on top of a smaller play area, adding complexity and difficulty while remaining visually similar? i also think it would be cool to see an extra layer of mechanical challenge on top of the solid 2D platformer controls.

it's clear you put quite a lot of time into atmosphere and dialogue, which i haven't seen a lot of in this jam. i think it elevates the game! the glitches and ominous tone helped keep the game interesting and memorable. overall, this project shows a lot of proficiency in design and structure -- i would love to see you build on that in future games!! hope to see you next year 🫡🫡

woah!! i made a game with a similar mechanic for the Bigmode Game Jam this year, but i never could have imagined it elevated in such an experience as this game. maintaining such a cohesive tone across gameplay, art, and sound is incredibly difficult in a game jam setting, but your game has such a specific and fully formed aesthetic that it's hard to believe it didn't exist 5 days ago. amazing work, seriously, whatever you do grab onto this team and never let them go!!!

thank you! last year i made a meta game about my frustration with the jam, so it felt nice to make another meta game about my love for it! the jam comes around every year, getting bigger and better, and sometimes it totally feels like its own time loop haha

thank you!!! definitely list to more of my jam partner's stuff on soundcloud!!! i was experimenting w/ a new art style and i'm glad you liked it :D

thank you so much!! i really appreciate your feedback. haha i'll definitely have to improve the controls but i'm glad you were able to push through and play the levels that interested you!!

this game is soooooo cool!! the production value is so impressive for a solo dev, you've crafted such a sinister vibe through your worldbuilding and beautiful art. my only issue was that it was very hard in some places! i had to skip two levels, which was a little frustrating because i felt like i knew the circuit i had to build just not where to place it. 

the main mechanic is really clever! it feels more like programming puzzle than a tile placement game once the new mechanics get introduced. overall this game feels crazy professional and boasts a ton of levels, and it's soooo cool to see your improvement year over year man!!!! top quality stuff

she has great taste!!

wow!! i do not normally play visual novels or romance stuff but this popped up on my feed and i just decided to click it. and i got all three endings!!!

this game accomplishes a lot with such an intentionally small scope. i especially enjoyed how the narrative themes of agency interact with the 'choose your own adventure' gameplay. and even though the player ultimately has no choice in what will happen to them, they're still encouraged to replay and try other routes because of the compelling worldbuilding you're rewarded with.

on top of all that, the character dynamic is so unique in how it portrays a controlling, abusive environment yet never milks it for cruelty. kataja is also never really shown as interested or uninterested in romance, which prompts the player to pine for the toxic yuri and seek it out lol. so fun.

mb for the essay i'm just a little out of my depth here so i didnt know how to say it short! but this is super cool! keep making stuff!!

got it on my third loop! i really enjoyed the ordered problem solving, though it took me a little bit to figure out what things did. i adored the different character designs, and the main narrative device gave me great memories of one of my favorite old web games, no-one has to die!

wow, such a simple concept elevated to perfection! i feel like this is exactly the kind of game that the GMTK Jam is all about, a clever take on the theme that makes you go "of course!", trimmed down to a fun experience that leaves you wanting more. such good stuff!

this is so crazy and outlandish yet streamlined and simple. a really solid entry in the incremental genre that feels like its carving out an entirely new niche. you could totally keep going with this! so impressed.

love this!! i really enjoy the way synergies feel intentional but not forced, really solid minimalist execution that highlights the strengths of this concept with absolutely no chaff

i have eliminated my sadness as well as your jonas from the leaderboard. this game gets bonus points.

after a certain point though, there stops being tempo changes, so if you are able to cross the jonas threshold you are likely to get a very long runaway score haha

alright i gotta review this one tomrrow cause i pulled an all-nighter and i'm already so bad at pipe dreams and slide puzzles 💀 but i'm in love with the vibe, the flickering lights and grimy bricks are so yum

yeahhh it looks like i accidentally made the car size 1.25x bigger in one of my last minute commits LOL so there's a lot less room for error now woopsie

i really like the dog but i get so sad when him hula hoop falls off

yes luka i'm so excited to play yours!!!!! you always make peak !!! ahhh omg ur here before i have a thumbnail or a description so embarrassing 

no need to fret! i'm looking forward to playing your next 6 years of games as well hehehehehe

Thanks for your feedback! There were some balance issues with the previous version that have been overhauled in v0.2.0. This issue should be fixed. :]

Thank you for playing another one of my games Tsuneko!! Your videos are very charming, and it's super helpful to watch another person playing through my game. I appreciate the feedback, and I love how you recognized me as the Baller developer!!

Thanks for the bug alert!!! Right now that is intentional, because you get more Stars if you defeat a higher-level rift. However, that's probably going to change in future patches.

Thank you for your feedback! No, you definitely didn't pick stupid, the skill order just hasn't been balanced yet. I'm sorry you got stuck, but I really appreciate you commenting and giving it another go!

This weekend I've been pushing out optimization patches, but my next goal is to iron out the gameplay loop and put together a satisfying progression curve. I'll post an announcement alongside each major update!

Thank you for letting me know! I don't currently have access to a Mac, so I hadn't tested it there at all. For now, it sounds like trying another browser may help, but I will ask a friend to bring over their laptop soon so I can see if a downloadable Mac export is possible.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention! I haven't thoroughly tested the game across browsers. Does it halt on the Godot loading screen, or the in-game loading screen?

WHAT!!!!! thank you michael electric!!!!! i didn't even know i was IN a contest!!!!!!

i really, really appreciate the detailed feedback, the game is at a super malleable stage where I can mess around with a lot of the mechanics behind the scenes, so reviews like yours help shape arcannon's development a ton! 

i've found some of the main performance bottlenecks (like the aiming system) and am stamping them out behind the scenes as I write this out. the softlocking with rebounds and enemy spawn upgrades totally slipped past me before release, but after a lot of feedback i'm making big changes to the skill tree to make sure there's less "trap" options. i think your prestige/refund system is also a great solution to allow build variety without making anyone feel stuck in something sub-optimal.

i really appreciate your work spotlighting and supporting indies, and I will be watching your VOD later tonight to learn from your live playtest. thank you for giving me the exact boost i needed to start my friday dev hours!

hehe i'd just be happy to see your game do well, it's such a polished first build. i swear i'm not just a machine that generates steam festival suggestions but you should probably check out Tiny Teams as well 😭 just living vicariously since i'm not sure i can get a steam page approved fast enough

yeah, i think you're totally right that the incentives are a little shaky overall. since each level is harder and gives the player less kills, it will naturally mean a big drop in income as soon as you enter the next level. i'm going to prototype some new strategies to see if there's an elegant solution!

right now, further rift levels give you more star rewards, but in the future i may only give out star rewards the first time a boss is defeated. i want players to be able to go back a level and farm rewards, but you're right that there should be more incentive to progress!

thank you for bringing this to my attention! the left and bottom paths (Stability and Summoning) are planned to be further in the progression tree behind some not-fully-implemented upgrades, so I hadn't fully tested their impact as such early nodes. i've added this to my bug tracker!

i really appreciate the detailed response! not generic at all :]

i think youre totally right about the crystals feeling lonely on the end screen. i'll see what i can do!!

bummer! there should be one in the fall anyways. registrations also recently closed for a third-party steam festival called Short Games Showcase that runs from August 4th - August 11th, but you could try sending an email if that's something you're interested in; i don't think they've made their selection yet. either way your game has wonderful bones, and it looks like the itch algorithm is loving it! excited to see how Outhold develops

I like this! Capitalism breeds bad actors who we should absolutely point fingers at, but it's the system itself that incentivizes harmful choices for the sake of profit.

wow, this is great! the minimalist gameplay and presentation feels super sleek, polished, and professional. will you be in the upcoming June Next Fest? your demo is totally steam ready imo