Cycle Breakdown by TheJohnyFeeD
Cycle Breakdown is a pixel art top-down action game.
The player will have to escape the sci-fi prison, killing enemies, clearing room by room, completing the tasks of each room, or otherwise the room will loop.


Changelog #1
- Fixed a bug at which marked enemies didn't change their sprite, preventing player from completing the task
- Fixed a bug at which marked enemies didn't play their animations
- Fixed a bug at which player could stuck in the intro room
- Removed the mute sound hotkey
Changelog #2
- Fixed black screen in the boss fight
- Fixed disappearing mouse cursor
Changelog #3
- Fixed boss sometimes spawning in an intro room
| Youtube | https://thejohnyfeed.itch.io/cycle-breakdown |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/cycle-breakdown |
Ratings
| Overall | 8th | 4.438⭐ | 82🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1th | 4.544⭐ | 81🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 180th | 3.938⭐ | 82🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 220th | 4.131⭐ | 82🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 82th | 4.475⭐ | 82🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 28th | 4.399⭐ | 81🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 51🗳️ | 25🗨️ |
It might be worth considering to just go one room back and don't push the player further back for making mistakes? In it's current state it feels as punishing as it is satisying.
Other than that, I've enjoyed it a great deal!
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/763143712
The music and sound effects complement the game's rhythm very well.
The level design matching the theme was also very smart. I think this is the first time that I have seen a game creating the restriction of not being able to walk and shoot at the same time, very cool!
Perhaps my only criticism is in the AI of the enemies, they are a little too easy: if I simply run around the room, near the walls, it is very difficult to be hit.
But overall, one of the best entries that I've played!

I'm very like juice. Screen shake and slow-motion are very good.
Other than that, it looks like perfect Switch title for me!
Job well done!
I think you can add many more constraint to push more higher your game, you can have infinite idea on this to be more fun for player to discover a new constraint each time.
Hope you will update your game to reach a perfect fun game.
(If you update it I would like to be there to play it again)
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/766774040
If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/767497194?t=5h31m35s
Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D
💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady
https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin
Well done on getting such a lengthy campaign in with various kinds of condition to keep things interesting. Great game!
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/764573572?t=01h48m08s
This game was straight-up bananas. You packed an *impressive* amount of juice into it, which made the combat and movement feel suuuuper nice and responsive. I kiiiiiiiind of wish that dying didn't set me back to the previous room, and instead restarted the room that I died in, but that might just be a personal preference.
Regardless, I'm super jealous of what you managed to pull off here in such a short amount of time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15n2Eq8yeVA
(video will unlock in 18 hrs from now, sorry about that)
Thanks for submitting! 😊
The combat system was fairly simple but did the job, everything was instantly familiar, as were the pros and cons of the two weapons. The task system was a great mechanic and really served to help vary the gameplay in interesting and unique ways. The "use the right weapon" was definitely my favourite. The 'don't run and gun' one probably being my least as it kills the pacing a little (pun not intended), but definitely a great place to start expanding the gameplay here.
Another place would definitely be the rooms. I'm sure you're well aware but the same room shape every time was a little rough. The "avoid the red" rooms could really help with this by adding the not-obstacles to the environment, so more than one kind of pattern there would have been great.
All the effects were punchy and satisfying and really helped the combat feel satisfying. You have the game feel down already, and that's such a huge thing to have. Nice.
Finally, my biggest gripe with the game - knowledge on how the progression worked! It was so tricky to know if I was really starting over or making any progress at all! I didn't realise I was going *back* in progress for ages, I just figured I was running out of invisible lives at some point. I think a map at the top of the screen wouldn't go amiss. I also think a little reminder of your task would be great for the less attentive of us.
Also, a reminder that I somehow got stuck and didn't progress when I tried to go to the next room! Wonder how that happened.
Really well done though guys, I was addicted by the end and very satisfied to have beaten it.
...a bug which stopped me from finishing the game :-(

Great game, but I would love to be able to finish it...
I'll check what can cause this problem, never seen that glitch before. Sorry again!
