Polygon Bash by josehzz

[raw]
made by josehzz for LD 42 (JAM)

Captura<em>1.PNGCaptura</em>0.PNG Geometry wars like game. Walls close in the more you shoot, but you need to shoot to take down polygons and move.

Mouse click to shoot/move.

Music by DST https://opengameart.org/content/tower-defense-theme​​

Ratings

Overall 191th 3.797⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Fun 121th 3.788⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 427th 3.345⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Theme 436th 3.69⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 380th 3.741⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Audio 126th 3.781⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Humor 868th 1.907⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 378th 3.366⭐ 58🧑‍⚖️
Given 57🗳️ 64🗨️

Feedback

mistersdevelopment
14. Aug 2018 · 03:23 UTC
The game was hard but definitely a cool concept!
Michael Wingfield
14. Aug 2018 · 03:26 UTC
Wow! This was a really innovative game! Really neat take on a sort of Geometry Wars type game. Well done!
Burgee
14. Aug 2018 · 03:29 UTC
Take my high rating and leave me alone so I can play this game.

I don't dedicate time to get good at many LD games, but this one's got its hooks in me.

6250-ish for a high score - come at me LD community, I've got you all beat.
CrazyD
14. Aug 2018 · 03:33 UTC
Loved it! Good challenge and fun. Sounds are great!
BustosMan
14. Aug 2018 · 03:40 UTC
This game was definitely challenging, but probably could have used a bit more originality to feel innovative. Perhaps the force applied from the shooting could be less powerful to make things somewhat easier.
Nam Nguyen
14. Aug 2018 · 05:40 UTC
Love the complexity: you need to kill the geometries, but firing pushes you back and you dont want to touch the things on the wall, and the the wall shrinks as the bullets hit it. The complexity is telling me that this will be very tough, yet I keep playing and playing LMAO. Great job! The music went great with it too! If I had any recommendation, maybe its that the shrinking of the wall is not very visible. Maybe you can use color indication or some kind of reference in the background.. Idk, but its a very promising game for mobile. Keep it up!
stellaryyan2
14. Aug 2018 · 06:20 UTC
It's a little hard for me, but really creative design!
Niarkou
14. Aug 2018 · 14:35 UTC
Very hard game for me, but nice work! One time, a triangle appeared so close to me I died instantly. Apart from that, the game is so cool, I played for a long time. The music and design are great too.
Very cool game, thanks!
Chocolat-Endive
14. Aug 2018 · 14:53 UTC
Really hard but cool! My score depends a lot of where ennemies spawn. Maybe you could add a little algorythm for placing ennemies a little more all around the player ? Music is fine, but i think the fire sound is a little too loud. Overall, it's a solid little game you have made!
blinry
14. Aug 2018 · 17:24 UTC
Pretty graphics, and a very interesting game mechanic! I enjoyed that the simple controls brought so much fun, the conflict between shooting enemies and pushing yourself into the wall conveyed the theme really well! Nice!
Paulie B
15. Aug 2018 · 00:22 UTC
Interesting take on the theme! While difficult, this game was innovative and fun. The graphics, mechanics, and sound worked together nicely
Wendel Scardua
15. Aug 2018 · 04:12 UTC
Not only this is fun, but also it looks beautiful :-)
Himadri Sekhar Mahanta
15. Aug 2018 · 08:59 UTC
Tough! But still fun to play. The graphics and sounds are really well done too.
Dylan Shumway
15. Aug 2018 · 17:03 UTC
Love the multi-faceted application of the shooting mechanic! Having to balance your rapid gunning with careful movement leads to incredibly rewarding moments when you're able to dodge out of a cluster of enemies without dying. While the game is already very challenging, it is pretty easy for the player to camp out on the edge of the arena between spikes and shoot enemies for a while there, so it may be worthwhile to add some incentive for staying off the wall? Great job overall!
outstar
15. Aug 2018 · 17:38 UTC
This is strangely addictive and a really cool interpretation of the theme - I'm surprised it's not another "your space shrinks" kind of game taken literally, but your space DOES shrink, considering your enemies and spikes on the other side. Very smart. Also, graphics are nice! I only wish the pew pew sound was a bit more quiet :)
Zinski
15. Aug 2018 · 18:02 UTC
I really liked the concept of the game! the fact of using the recoil of the shots to move is very well thought out! In addition, the minimalist style and music match the game very well! Great job!
Flauschzelle
15. Aug 2018 · 21:08 UTC
Cool idea, I think it fits the theme really well :)
I found it hard not to crash into the polygons or the spikes on the wall, so I gave up rather quickly.
But I like the pretty graphics with those glow effects and animations :)
schizoid2k
16. Aug 2018 · 01:31 UTC
Finally got the hang of the controls! Quite challenging as previously stated. Nice GW-type of game.
Silvae
16. Aug 2018 · 01:40 UTC
It's amazing how adding a glow really makes a game stand out. Great use of the effect. Enjoyed the gameplay as well. As others have said, it's hard - but that's what makes it fun to play. Music was enjoyable as well. Nice entry!
Julien Foucher
16. Aug 2018 · 09:43 UTC
Easy to learn, frickin' hard to master! I love it!
The inertia induced by the shoot is well tweaked, that's a nice game.
We had a concept that looked like that in our brainstorm for this jam but we decided not to use it. I'm glad you did to show that something could be made with it :)
Gleb Shishov
16. Aug 2018 · 11:22 UTC
Very interesting gameplay mechanics. But very difficult. Dark Souls are only wars of geomentric figures. I thought I found a cheat resting on the wall but after 2k points I moved and lost .. It was fun
GilgusMaximus
16. Aug 2018 · 11:33 UTC
Very interesting movement implementation. But the clea nart style, and nice colors make the game very bright and funky, like a good bullethell game. Only thing that could be improved is the enemy spawning, and that if you hit a spike, then aftzer a while you should get damage from it again. Because if you manage to stay on it, then you do not get damaged again, so you can stay there and kill all enemies
Jaydek
18. Aug 2018 · 00:11 UTC
This was a lot of fun to play, sounded fantastic and looks beautiful. Fantastic submission!
shimage2
19. Aug 2018 · 02:51 UTC
The music is wonderful! It is very good with harmony of minimal graphics and beautiful effects. Gameplay is solid and addictive. I scored 6704. Nice work!
MagmaFortress
19. Aug 2018 · 02:57 UTC
I like it. I seemed to do best when I just kept my back up against the edge. Maybe being able to bounce off the walls would add some extra level of tactics? The sounds and music seem to go so well together.
Pennycook
19. Aug 2018 · 03:36 UTC
Moving by shooting makes this fiendishly difficult, and I love it! Like @magmafortress, I found that the best way to get a good score was to hug the wall -- you should definitely think about implementing some mechanic to make this tactic less viable, as it makes things a bit too easy.
VikFX
19. Aug 2018 · 03:37 UTC
Really addictive
edj99
19. Aug 2018 · 03:40 UTC
Great game. Awesome assets, fits the theme well and is super intuitive. I might suggest that making the walls kill you on touch would improve the game by removing that tactic. If you have the time I'd love it if you could have a look at my game.
Brandon JS Lea
19. Aug 2018 · 12:04 UTC
The idea of shooting to propel yourself helps to intertwine mechanics which is nice but I'm personally not sure it's done to the greatest degree here. Whilst it's more fun and compelling to shoot yourself around at high speeds, I'd do best if I just sit in a corner and occasionally shoot of the enemies without moving much at all which seems very opposed to the fast paced gameplay you seem to be going for, judging by the fact you can shoot yourself around at high speeds and the neon look and music gives it an energetic feel. The game feels as though it should be fast and frantic but the mechanics encourage you to be resourceful with your shots which is feasible given the enemies slowly bumble towards you. Whenever I did tried to be more energetic I'd almost immediately die.

Everything else is done great; the visuals and music all go a long way to creating a strong feel, I just feel as though that feel is contradictory to the games core. The game seems to punish speed and instead reward slow and smart gameplay which whilst working for a strategy game, doesn't so much for an arcade shooter.
Antti Haavikko
19. Aug 2018 · 19:59 UTC
![polybash.png](///raw/1e4/3/z/1a48b.png)

I think the whole shooting recoil movement made the whole gameplay kinda awkward. It made the boring *"stay next to a wall between spikes and shoot everything from there"* the best tactic. The only downside to that tactic was that sometimes when you died to a spike, after respawning you couldn't move at all without dying right there and then again. I think respawning at the center of the stage would make more sense.

One way to get rid of that boring tactic as being the best way to play would be to incorporate a multiplier that would go up every kill and would drop back to one if you touched a wall. Multiplier systems are always a nice and easy way to make scoring more interesting.

If I understood correctly, the music wasn't made for the game during the jam so this bit of the rules applies. I'll just leave the audio category unrated...
> You’re free to use 3rd party Artwork/Music/Audio assets, or assets you previously created, but we ask that you OPT-OUT of the respected voting categories (Graphics, Audio).

The sound effects and visual effects were quite nice but could have used more of them. Enemy deaths especially would have felt more rewarding with that same pulse ring effect (maybe smaller though) and some nice booming explosion sound.

Anyways, good job!
MZA
19. Aug 2018 · 20:39 UTC
Sound is great. Controls are smooth as well as mechanics. A simple game - almost flawlessly executed. May be a tad hard though.
Slojanko
20. Aug 2018 · 00:01 UTC
Awesome game! Very fun to control, the sound/visuals are great. Nice job !!
Ogma
20. Aug 2018 · 07:27 UTC
Really nice! :) Before I knew it, I spent like 30 minutes on it.^^

An arcade entry like this one is always welcome, nice graphics, kept simple and a bit flashy to give a special touch. It reminds me a bit games like Super Hexagon and the likes.
The music is really great and fits well, the sound effects are also nice.

Using only the mouse button and the cursor's movement is a nice idea, it makes you trying to focus en multiple thing at a time while the arena shrinks as the "time" passes. The game forces you to be quite "tactical" but at the same time act quickly or else... ^^
It's a good challenge and totally fair difficulty. "Simple" and effective concept that fits really well the theme.

I played the web build (Mozilla Firefox, up to date) and didn't encounter any bug or problem whatsoever, everything went smoothly.

Good job! o/
RiptideStudio
20. Aug 2018 · 15:33 UTC
Nice! It was pretty difficult. Love the death effect and sfx
Wejna
20. Aug 2018 · 16:27 UTC
Simple to play but not simple to master. One minor problem was sometimes respawning on top of the spike that killed you, instantly killing you again. Fun game!
🎤 josehzz
20. Aug 2018 · 18:53 UTC
@chocolat-endive I like that idea, I'll take it! thank you.

@gilgusmaximus I should implement a short invulnerabily after respawning.

@dylan-shumway, @magmafortress, @pennycook, @edj99, @antti-haavikko I hear you guys, I thought it would be enough by putting spikes on the sides but I'll add/modify something to make "hug the wall" strategy less appealing, thank for finding the exploit :)

@brandon-js-lea I needed this thank you so much, yes I want the gameplay to be energetic but as right know if you shot just enough bullets to kill an enemy or avoid a spike it becomes too tactical and less frenzy which is the best strategy (I've been playing Medieval 2 again maybe I did it subconsciously thinking slow, tactical play would be the best design). I want a crazier experience, so again thank you for pointing that out I'll rethink the current state of the design and see what I can do.

Thank you all for playing your feedback means the world to me, if I had not rated/comment your game yet, don't worry I will :)
wildcard
24. Aug 2018 · 13:03 UTC
I got to about 5600 points. Extremely addictive gameplay! It is somewhat easy to simply stick to the wall for a while and shoot(that's how I got to my score). Perhaps add more spikes in the walls to make it harder, though it is still very challenging. Good execution on the theme too! Well done!
Avocado
26. Aug 2018 · 14:09 UTC
Pretty fun little game, and actually kind of challenging too. I was worried how you'd spice it up from typical geometry wars and the enclosed space combined with movement by fire made me really hesitant to fire blindly at everything.
HellSquirrel
04. Sep 2018 · 14:11 UTC
Nice game!