Nice! impressive game for the compo!

Love the Audio art and music. It comes together perfectly!
Can you beat the final boss with the helicopter equipped? Because I could not find a way to inflict damage so I had to restart the game

@ausstein Thanks for the feedback! I'll put a way to deal with the final boss with the helicopter. I only tested the fight with the gun, but the idea of choosing your weapon sounds good.

EDIT: Just updated the game. Now the helicopter can parry (and redirect) homing bullets. Spinning bullets can't be redirected, so that this isn't too easy. The gun is still recommended.

Yes the Helicopter Bossfight is absolutely amazing well done, and in time before the compo deadline as well. Good Job.

My favorite game so far, speedrunning this seems like a lot of fun as well :)

Nice graphics and loved the rope gunplay. I wasn't expecting boss fights. You got a ton done in a short period of time. Good work!

Fun game! Lots of potential with the rope mechanic. The art and music were great and fit together well.

I felt that there wasn't much challenge between boss fights, I was able to pretty much run past everything. It would have been good to add more puzzle elements to force the player to interact with the environment.

But overall great job, especially for a compo entry.

Really impressive game for the compo. The dynamic of using the rope that was meant to kill you as the killing weapon to kill others was a really neat idea. It would be cool in a future release (if you want to pursue a public full release of the game on some platform, which might be cool) you could add some really cool rope mechanics, like using the rope to move boxes etc.

@nate-wert Thank you for the feedback. I don't usually continue development of jam games beyond a v1.1 with general improvements, but yeah there's some potential, like adding the ability to grab food (or coins) without consuming it with the rope to attract coyotes (resp. sheriffs) somewhere, this sort of thing.

10/10 IGN GOTY. Big fan of the chunky thick black line art style. The mechanic is hilarious, unique, and fun. Great job.

incredible game for a game jam, the way the gun recoils when fired is really interesting.

Amazing game, loved the gun recoil (although it does allow you to shoot yourself). I did manage to get myself stuck in the water at the bit with the boat, so it might be nice to be able to reset to wherever you would go if you run out of lives. Oh, also the music and sound fx work really well, and create a really good mood.

Fantastic work! A very unique concept and great gameplay! I love how the rope works, especially with the recoil effect. Hats off to getting so much done and so well.

@clemonades @vanea @shortbread Thank you!

@wevel The gun recoil is intended to be dangerous (shooting yourself also makes for a quick way to reset your progress). I'm considering dedicated save points to avoid being stuck in a situation with too few lives. I'm also planning to do something about being stuck in the middle of water. Thanks so much for your feedback.

woah, this is really impressive! Some amazing mechanics and loved the boss fights.

Very cool game, good atmosphere, cool music

I really like the art and bosses in this game.

Wow! I love the artstyle!

Really fun game!!! Reminded me of West of Loathing. And the way the theme was implemented was brilliant! Well done!

Great game. Well done. You can make the crazy rope shooting mechanic into a really fun game.

Very fun. This has the right amount of absurdity to make it work as a video game. Only bound to a gallows' rope and not by reality.

Really fun and unique game!

Really nice job for a compo game. I absolutely loved the rope mechanic. The boat item was little mystical how to use it but that is a minor flaw. The bosses were also really nicely done and were challenging enough. Best jam game I have tried this jam!

I think this is by far my favorite game that i played in compo. Fantastic game, love the graphic and music. The boss fight was really interesting!

I really enjoy it. Nice work.
(Though I often have the gun shoot myself if I click too fast.)

Ah yes, *definately* one of my faves. Solid idea, fun gameplay, very nice art and awesome music. There's nothing I could complain about, I like it very mych :)

@unluckyninja I think that's supposed to be part of the fun.

Funny, nice art, good use of the theme. I really like it!

5 out of 5, i really loved the gameplay and the music, i only arrived to the first boss fight, but i think that this is really a good game!

That's a really nice game! I aspecially loved the music, reminds me of so many spaghetti westerns at the same time!

A little bit of criticism on the rope-gun mechanic. While it works fantastic on the regular level, in boss fights it kinda shoots itself in the foot: you have to shoot really sparingly, since, while focused on dodging and damaging the boss, you can't keep an eye on where your gun is. It's also not always apparent that you shot yourself, because the gun gets inside your character sprite, not behind it. Honestly, on the first boss I died more times to my own bullets than his.

That being said, the gun that flails around as you shoot is still teally fun!

@oneiromancer thank you for the feedback and criticism! You're not the only one to complain.

I'm considering removing the damage when you shoot yourself, instead just being stunned and having to wait two seconds until the next shot, as if you were reloading your gun (which you never need to do anyway, so that would serve the same purpose except it's a bit random).

I saw one of your dev updates and thought your game looked interesting, but I didn't think that I would find it again. I'm glad I did!

This game is really impressive! It feels like a complete experience, with a surprising amount of content and polish. I mean, it has not only one but two boss fights! I dig the art style, which the music complements perfectly. The bits of writing are funny and make the world feel more alive. And your take on the theme is very clever!

I have to admit that I struggled to figure out that you can fly with the paddle. I thought that it was a sword at first because it looks and behaves that way if you only click instead of hold.

It also feels like the bendiness and reach of the rope could have been utilized more deeply. Some parts of the game, such as collecting far away coins and firing in cover hint at what's possible. However, since the mechanic already changes the way you aim and shoot in an interesting way, I don't think that that is a huge issue. Maybe something for future releases?

I can totally see this as a full game with some more polish. One of my favorites this jam!

Awesome! The premise is silly, turns out even sillier with the boat part, post signs are funny, the gameplay feels very good and the last boss fight is really satisfying! On of the best experiences of mine this jam. The artstyle is also great, the shooting knockback mechanic which could sometimes accidentaly hit you as well is genious. Great job! :)

Great entry, had fun playing it from beginning to end. Was nice mildly challenging gameplay. Good art, sound design. Nothing to complain about! Congrats!

Very nice game, really fleshed out. I like that there is a natural way of preventing the player from rapid fire, because otherwise they're shooting themself.

HOLY SHIT that was the best game I've ever played... Didn't even get the theme until there was a sign about it. Loved the game before that tho. Really good thanks

Very good compo game.

I like the game-play, squishy pixel artwork, thematic music, and boss fights. The helicopter ability was pretty clever. I like how the rope plays into the recoil, giving the pistol a strong sense of power/knockback, while also creating recoil conditions and preventing rapid fire.

Weakest part is probably the sound effects, they all make sense, but they're recognizably bfxr. There's also a couple times I tried leaving areas, but not through doors, through those open areas at the edge of the screen/map, it was kind of jarring that they weren't actually transition space, but it's a game jam game so whatever lol

Good job! Very good game!

Such a nice small Zelda-like game! I enjoyed overall style and cute feel of this entry.

Nice game! really cute and i love the concept! great work

This game is fun, the visuals are great and the humour is really good. One of the best game I played from this Jam. Keep up the great work :thumbsup:

Okay, I saw your post and now I've played through the whole post-jam version, and here are my thoughts.

Wow. This is incredible. Unique mechanics, hilarious Super Paper Mario-style jokes and running gags, fantastic graphics, well-thought-out story, and a nice combination of bullet hells, RPGs, and shooting games. The bosses were very fun to fight, and you can tell the bosses are perfect when I ragequit but come back to Ace Of Rope just a few minutes later. (Honestly, I think Death was the hardest. That was the first point where I turned off self-damage.) The caribou were both flawlessly frustrating and very original, they made all sorts of fun puzzles. Also, I don't know if hiding off to the side in the Time Mansion fight to avoid every single vertical projectile was intentionally added as a cheat or not.

I love all of the little details in the world, from seemingly useless jokes that turn up later, to the fact that the base of the save points actually turns into a software save button when you save. (And I didn't know that in her spare time Death plays Mario Kart and does DJ-ing. This game is educational.)

My only complaint: I need a longer version! This is too good for me to stop playing! (So I'll probably go through the whole game again.) I beat this in probably no more than two and a half hours, and getting a cutscene of what happens after the game would be nice. I also suggest a Super Paper Mario-style approach, when you beat the game there are optional places you can go to for fighting and exploring, and some side quests just to help people out. (Because, honestly, I liked having to run around and fetch stuff. Strategic fighting is fun, too, too bad I can't do any more of it after clearing the game.)

If I had found this game during the rating period, you would have scored some easy fives!

@peace-of-cake-games Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. That's interesting you mention Super Paper Mario, it's one of my favourite games ever. I guess its sense of humour just stuck with me :P

Death was the final boss of the jam version so that can explain the difficulty. And sticking to the side during the dance battle was not intended to be cheaty, I just forgot there was this area near Jo when designing the final phase x)

Optional places and side quests are good ideas. I just need to rework the place system to make the world more open (currently, each boss is a point of no-return, and I can't make cycles between rooms so they need to be tree-like, plus some bugs regarding the save system). Still more open than the jam version (which had a strictly linear progression), which was a bit frustrating to overhaul to say the least.

@cagibi ha ha, same with me, Super Paper Mario being one of my favorite games ever! Between the three profiles I've started over the years I probably have 200 or so hours clocked in. Naturally it was kind of heartwarming and nostalgic playing Ace Of Rope, because all of the side characters such as the cacti and sandcastles really sound like civilians from Super Paper Mario. (After looking at the sky for all these years, I can tell you one thing: it's blue)

Wow, yesterday my friend went through the whole game (with me doing all of the boss fights), and Death took me forever and the final boss was defeated on the first try. Last time I had this much fun against a video game boss was Shadoo (hey look, Super Paper Mario). And I guess all of those "lives" lost are okay since Death actually apologizes and gives me pizza.

I'll definitely have to check out the jam version! I'm interested to see just how much got changed in the post-jam version.

And some reaction feedback I got from my friend during playing most everything:

- Reaction to Judge U R Dead: this isn't so bad. (gets to spinning around haywire part) AAAHHHH!!!
- Reaction to Death: THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! (I beat Death so he can continue) wait, Death is a girl and has a Switch?
- Reaction to the caribou: WHAT. (dies several times because he didn't understand blinking)
- Reaction to the Mansion boss: Awwwwww! (spawns legs) what the-- (final stage) 😥 nooo, cute bunny....

It was... interesting, watching my friend play, because he never really understood the recoil and I had to turn off self-damage as soon as possible.