the difficulty is pretty high, it took me 30 deaths to clear level 2
I'm getting a bit frustrated by hearing the same voice line every 2 seconds after I die, I would maybe cut it after a few tries
overall, very beautiful game and the main mechanic is interesting, great job

Completely transported me.

I love the game overall, though the main thing that had me quit is the repeating voicelines. They're really good, but the stress and tension does distract from the puzzle when its repeating. A fire once on first entry to level should do the trick honestly! Or once every 5 mins. Something.

I love the aesthetics, mechanics, topic, and the puzzle simplicity. Would love to see more! Relevancy to the theme? I think I see it too. Never had a cardiac arrest, but it did remind me of the depths of what a panic attack feels.

Thank you for the experience!

Idea is nice, but I didn't figure out why I can't switch direction two times in a row...

@tero-pulkkinen You spend a charge each time you switch direction and it gets recharged by bouncing off blue blocks

@pandalk @eya thank you for feedback, I will implement breaks between voice lines in the first patch :)

# Flatline v1.1 is out!


## **Changes**

+ Updated Level 9

+ Reworked Level 10

+ Added smooth background color change between levels

+ Fix: Ricochets are now more reliable with updated collision mask

+ Fix: Voice lines at the start of the level repeat only after a couple retries

Also featuring Windows & Mac v1.1 version. Mac version hasn't been tested so any feedback is welcome.

Current browser version includes all changes.

Jam version with ricochet / voice over fix is available separately as a Windows executable, but doesn't features anything new as that would be cheating.

Amazing vibe, though I never cleared level 1 XP Kuddos for the amazing work tho!

Love the concept of it ! Didn't really saw the theme in it but still that's a nice vibe ! Great job !

It's really a good concept, well executed, but the difficulty is WAAAAYYY to hard hahaha

I love how the levels start to become little puzzles! Unfortunately, the tightness of the timings combined with the moving hazards later on started to make the game really frustrating. I did end up finishing, but I think if there were any more levels I would have not chosen to play them. One small adjustment I think would help would be not letting the player bounce off the corners of platforms; doing so was never required and I kept accidentally sending myself flying in a random direction and inevitably dying. Dying became even more frustrating due to the long respawn timer (and, sometimes the voice acting wouldn't play? It seemed about 50:50 whether it did or not to me).

Also, sometimes, on the third-last level, I would phase through the blue platforms instead of bouncing off them? I ended up using that rare occurrence to beat the level. Not sure if that was intended.

@python-b5 thanks for feedback!

Voice acting not playing is intentional as people were complaining it was playing too often :laughing:

UPD: Phasing bug is fixed in the last update now :)

# Definitive v1.1.1 for Flatline!


*Not my best score, but I am too tired now :cry:

## **Changes**

+ Features "Last Run Score" and it will save in cache. However you must beat the game once for it to be saved.

+ Fix: No more clipping through blocks

+ Fix: Final update to collision mask to make ricochets more reliable

Original jam version itself receives none of these updates.

Pretty fun and addicting game, feels satisfying once you piece together the puzzle and execute it all in one go. One thing I noticed is that you can bounce off the corner of blue blocks, usually leading to your death. The music did a good job of setting a zen, trance like feel. Overall very well done!

great design. although I don't appreciate the feeling you are aiming to create with this game.

Took me a bit to get the hang of it, but it was pretty fun! I love the style & vibe, as well. The last stage took me 116 tries, I don't even think I was doing it correctly :P

It took me a bit to understand how the movement shift works. Maybe it would help if the player changed a bit more depending on whether the shift was ready? I noticed it changes a little bit, but it's pretty difficult to tell when it's moving so fast.

so much charm and polish :O

# Super Ultra Definitive v1.2 for Flatline!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRPKiro5TVg

This is the last update, I promise :)

## **Changes**

+ Added Autocomplete. Use this if you just cannot complete the game yourself. Click on Rhombus in the top-right corner of the menu to enable it. It supports override as well! Note, your run score would mention you used it so you cannot cheat your way into top score. Fellow Ludum Dare people who just want to see the game can either use this or see Youtube video.

+ Made uncharged ~~protagonist~~ ~~ball~~ balltagonist more easily distinguishable from the charged version


Also now featuring Linux version of the game 🐧

Enjoy!

I really enjoyed it, it was pretty difficult but it never felt like the game was unfair, it made me want to get better with my movement. the levels explore the mechanics in fun ways and there's a lot of variety in the level design.

I also think it's an interesting take on the theme and I liked that there was a little narrative going throughout every level. The presentation and music as a whole is great nice loop. The only thing I am not too big on is the repetition of the voicelines but it isn't that big of a deal

Good entry. The visual style with animations, lighting and particles was well done. The design of the puzzles was good as well.

One thing that would improve the game would be making the earlier levels easier, to introduce the player to the mechanics. The timing windows for when you need to change directions are really tight which made me feel like I didn’t understand the game or how to play. Even the first levels I failed many times because I couldn’t make those turns precisely enough.

Additionally, I would’ve liked a more distinct noise for each type of interaction the light had. That would add another level of polish to the game without being too difficult to implement.

Nice puzzles. The minimalist aesthetics work well with the theme, and there's a good sense of progression in the level design. I found the level with the moving blocks a bit less fair, but they were still doable. Great entry!

Graphics and gameplay mechanics work well and are fun to play, but level design isin't the best and they don't have a lot of integration with the theme..
What I'd do from that point on:
(Gameplay)
* add more, simpler levels at the start and make the difficulty increase a bit softer.
* Make moving elements reset with the level (or else its practically a luck thing for most players)
* Clean up level design to fit with the general vibe of the game (clean, simple, etc...). More chaotic levels can ofcourse be created if the story backs it up (the protagonist's mental state is deteriorating, etc..)
* add More level/tile types

(User experience)
* Add some way of seeing the level state you're in. These could hide automatically when the asthetics require it, and only show up when the player does something (.eg presses a button not set/moves mouse/makes a guesture not set)
* Add some way of going back/forward/exit game, etc...

Overall, I think the game is fun and a lot can be build upon it. Somewhat reminds me of 'Just shapes and beats', so you might take slight inspiration.

@kartoffel-licht I really appreciate this feedback!

Difficulty is like that on purpose. I wasn't planning to make too many levels with this specific project and I didn't wanted it to be a simple game. While you're correct that level design could be more polished, it is partially chaotic on purpose (as protagonist is dying and gets worse) and then it makes sense that the only really cleanly built levels are first and the last one (in non-jam version). Though again if I really wanted I would probably have rebuilt most of them.

Each level did had specific goal in mind. This is straight from the notepad where I planned it out:
+ Level 1 (Tutorial)
+ Level 2 (Tutorial Exam)
+ Level 3 (Introduces Breakables)
+ Level 4 (Breakable Exam)
+ Level 5 (Introduces Warp)
+ Level 6 (Warp Exam)
+ Level 7 (Introduces Moving Reds)
+ Level 8 (Introduces Rotating Reds)
+ Level 9 (Core Exam)
+ Level 10 (All Mechanics Exam)

Moving elements while may seem like luck. They do reset each level and if you know the timing you can complete each level consistently. This can be proven by "Autocomplete" feature in the game (rhombus you can click in the top-right corner of the menu) that uses a movement state of those objects to make ball move at the right time.

I definitely agree with everything you've wrote and I am very glad that you see here some potential, because so do I! I'm planning to make a successor as a Mobile & Browser game and it would feature much much softer learning curve and some endless fun!

I never heard of "Just shapes and beats", but this would be a nice first reference for a commercial product.

Thank you!

~Xp

# Live Leaderboards in v1.3


This is the final update now. For real!

### Changes

+ Live Highscore Table! Time to begin the score chase! Don't try to cheat with autocomplete feature as it would not be registered as a highscore.

+ Change your name in the game. Note, if you want your highscore to use your current name you must change it before starting the run. Changing the name later would only change it locally for you.

+ Few minor fixes here and there

Now we're going to move on to the successor project! Have fun everyone ;)

I REALLY like the concept, but man, the difficulty is REALLY high. And restarts aren't immediate, I have to wait a good few seconds before I can move my ball. And the voice lines at the beginning can get really tideous after dying too many times. The game is perfectly polished and the audio is really well done.

I really wanted to love it, I like difficult puzzles, but the fact that every respawn took multiple seconds was really irritating. Beside that good job on creativity!

Wow, what a great game with so much potential! I agree with some of the opinions shared. I believe this type of game should focus more on puzzle-solving and thinking rather than player skill. Let me explain: there are two kinds of games, those that require physical skill and those that require logical thinking. I see this game as belonging to the second category, where logic is key. There can be a bit of skill involved, but it shouldn't be a barrier, as the real satisfaction comes from solving the puzzle. If a player finds the solution and then is asked to perform it with high precision, it can become frustrating. In my opinion, demanding high dexterity doesn't pair well with strong puzzle design. A small challenge is fine, but not too much. Those of us who feel this way aren't trying to be critical, we genuinely enjoy the game. Personally, I find the concept simple yet brilliant, with the potential for very complex levels that challenge the mind. With more levels and a bit of polish, this could easily be a Steam-worthy game. Please don’t take this as criticism, but as sincere feedback. I think it’s an amazing entry and a fantastic game, my heartfelt congratulations!

@milq I do take notes on everything people write, especially constructive feedback like the one you provided!

One can't get better at anything if they only look for confirmation bias and I will apply this knowledge to the successor project. Criticism doesn't take away, it gives me fuel to evolve.

You're right that action and puzzle don't mix too well together. Recalling it now, I was going towards action game originally and switched towards puzzle half way through and this inconsistency naturally reflected itself in the level design.

In the future project, I'm thinking there could be normal levels that are more puzzle-driven and then perhaps alternative version of the same levels (like Hell in Super Meat Boy) that are action-driven or perhaps a different mode entirely for that. This is something that I'm going to consider very carefully! The jam served it's purpose perfectly as I dug up my unfinished 2013 project, redesigned it and now in the process of harvesting knowledge to apply this in the future work. This in my belief is exactly what jams are all about!

And I am glad that more and more people see potential in this! Thank you :slight_smile:

Damn you guys cooked on this one
This feels like a full game I'd get on the app store :video_game:, really impressive you did this in 72 hours
My one comment is that I wish it was faster to restart after you die, waiting for the heartbeats after each death felt frustrating when the gameplay is so quick

This is really fun and addictive. How does it connect to the theme (just curious)?

@nevercontent You climb back to life from the depths of your unstable subconscious.
Though everyone can interpret it as they see fit!

Really cool concept with amazing polish for a jam game! Feels too hard for me:) The voice acting is great, it immerses you into the game!

@empyreans makes sense. thanks!

I don't think your thumbnail is doing the game justice because this was one of the best I've played in this jam. The music was very comforting and the voice acting was the best I've ever seen in a jam I think. The gameplay I also found very engaging and it had a good amount of puzzling + platforming. Difficulty was solid also. Very good entry!

@verttixpertti You're so right, exactly my thoughts. I'm going to commission someone to make a better one :)

This is a great idea, the gameplay is simple but works well, the difficulty curve is a bit too steep, the second level is really hard. Nonetheless the minimal graphics and the sound works really well, good job !

Very cool, I like the graphic style and the controls are razor sharp. The background music is perfect for this type of game. My brain was too small for some of the puzzles, but I enjoyed it all the same. Well done!

This works so well. It was a pleasure to play.

A clever puzzler, but I found it quite frustrating to play in practice. Maybe because I was playing the web build, but one out of every ~10 touches was only registered with a big enough delay to mess up the whole level - as the mechanic is very unforgiving. And then towards the edges of the blocks you bounce off at an angle - which frankly just seems unnecessary and mean...
It took me 77 attempts to pass level 2 (tempted to make a joke about actual cardiac arrests here). The following 3-4 levels were considerably easier, but once I saw moving pieces, I just had to tap out. Nice option to have the autocomplete though, it allowed me to complete the story. The male voice actor knocked it out of the park with his performance.

Even if I didn't have too much _fun_, I have to respect the artistic vision here: the theme of heartbeats resonates throughout the game mechanic of precision timing, charging and bounces, echoed by the colours and the shapes of the levels themselves - clearly this is very well crafted, and one of the most complete entries I've encountered so far this jam. Bravo!

@ditam Thank you for the feedback!

Web build should perform nearly same as the Desktop ones, but I assume you played on Mobile and then the performance definitely demands a high-end device as the game wasn't specifically optimized for the platform. I found it to be way more challenging there as well, both due to performance issues and because finger was getting in the way sometimes.

@empyreans I played it on a regular (non-gaming) laptop. I didn't see any signs of performance issues otherwise (no stuttering in animation or anything), but the inputs were sometimes delayed.

@ditam I'll look into that. Thanks!

Very atmospheric! The game grabs your soul and you sincerely want to help the character...
And on the second level you yourself begin to suffer from the complexity and JUST SHUT UP DUDE, HELP IS IN THE PROCESS, YOUR SCREAMS DOESN'T HELP!!

it was damn cool!

That was hard ^___^ Nice game!


@yanato Wow congrats! You are a person of focus, commitment and sheer will :sunglasses:

This is a stylish and polished game, with some great atmosphere. The mechanics are simple, yet allow for clever puzzles. However, it was too much of a challenge for me. I managed to get through level 2 in just under 100 tries, and then gave up on level 5. If I were to simplify one thing, I'd probably avoid having to do precise corner hits.

But aside from the difficulty curve, all of the pieces fit together pretty well!

@hexstart In level 5 I suppose you went down instead of going up to use Warp, there corner bounce is actually speedrunning strat for the level and not the normal way. Generally the corner bounce doesn't require that much accuracy once you get the hang of it. However I agree that those can be tricky, the biggest problem comes with using built-in behavior for the bounce which would work just fine otherwise, but in the game where direction of your movement matters so much it doesn't help at all.

This is a super solid entry. I really like that the focus seems to be more on the puzzle solution rather than on precise movements, I felt like once I knew which path to take then it only took a handful of tries to execute it, and that the solutions never really involved any specific corner jumps? I was a bit stuck on a later level thinking I had to do some fancy side jump but I was overlooking a warp. I honestly would have given up a lot earlier if there were some mandatory corner shenanigans.

Visually the game is quite nice, the color coding is clean and I really like the background. It almost looks like some shaky handheld camera movement (how'd you guys do that lol). Also the voice acting on some of those lines was incredible (especially "no one's coming"), and I appreciate that they didn't play on every attempt - spacing them out gives them more impact, like I'm really trying to save the guy, yknow. Really nicely done, the audio and visuals and gameplay work together really well, I enjoyed this a lot!


@empyreans I did go up, but I guess I was already spent after level 2 and restarting taking a bit more time than it could.

I played the Jam version; some of the feedback might be outdated by now.

The game is quite difficult, which on its own isn't necessarily a bad thing; however, the restarts are too slow for a game designed around many short attempts. The game also has the puzzle aspect to it where you need to figure out the order of operations. Often I found myself knowing how to complete the level, but then struggling to actually execute it. The small goal and narrow passages didn't help, neither did moving pieces later on. Also, I wish paddles consistently just bounced the orb like a mirror, without any Pong-style shift near the edges - if I'm not mistaken, beyond level 1 hitting the paddle for a plain reflection is generally preferable. If level design demands non-plain paddles behaviour, it might be better to incorporate by splitting the paddle into a few segments, each with own explicit rotation.

The level voiceovers caused me a great deal of frustration - I don't like hearing a distressed Debbie Downer every several tries, when I already feel bad enough about missing some or other timing. As early as level 2 I kinda wanted the voice to shut up, and that's before dialogue went from "help" to "actually there's no way you can help me". I understand one can be overcome with plenty negative thoughts in an emergency situation, but would it hurt to be a little more hopeful for the last few levels at least? He didn't even say thanks in the end, the last words in the game were "you are already dead" (as in, the person helping...?), how rude!

Overall, I think this game would have benefitted from a more pronounced structure, with rise in tension throughout the first part as professional help has yet to arrive. The climax would be applying an invasive but effective method and then last few levels would have decreased tension as things finally stabilise. I think such a structure is hinted at through level design, but not through audiovisuals. Things getting darker towards the lowest point and music getting more tense and ominous, only for these to turn around towards the end would sell the dynamic better, I think. Admittedly, dynamic music might be hard to pull off in a jam timeframe. That said, I'd prefer it to have more sense of urgency at least; at the moment the soundtrack feels a bit too chill for the situation. I'd happily trade all the voiceline instances past the first one for more urgent music. ;)

More on the implied structure - the patient's dialogue gets consistently more downer while the helper's dialogue gets more hopeful, which also creates a disconnect; again, panic and harshness is understandable in a critical situation, but it would be nice to get at least some relief/hope in the last "stabilisation" levels. When it comes to the helper, it would be nice if her voice gave away hints of panic too, especially when help has yet to arrive while things are getting worse. Currently, she sounds really calm and collected, almost as if she's not human given the circumstances. It might be just me, but I feel a dialogue between a panicked patient and trying-to-be-calm-but-also-shaken helper could make for some pretty fun dynamic, making both more sympathetic. ^^

Despite my extensive criticism I think the game played and looked mostly fine, though I admit towards the last few levels I wished it would just end. ^^'
I think having more urgent-sounding music and a dialogue more nuanced than one-sided pessimism and one-sided hope would benefit the game a lot. Adding shorter respawn times and wider error margin here and there would make this near-perfect. ^^

@vary @alphish Thank you for the quality feedback and congrats on beating the game :sunglasses:

@vary Background is something I've been working on before the jam for the other project, I worked quite a bit on that to get the feeling just right thought had to nerf a notch for this project. It's mostly just moving / rotating tiled backgrounds with a few blending effects and spawning particles. I'm glad you liked it! :relieved:

@alphish Initially the game wasn't supposed to have a story and when I had an idea for VO I couldn't spend too much time on the structure as the project itself was barebones. Doing a more nuanced monologues / soundtrack would also require more directing on my part and there wasn't enough time for all that. The project largely suffered because I did work less than 48 hours on it as I only began on the second day of the jam after dropping the previous idea, but time constraints aside we definitely could give it a better swirl so I concur.

Fascinating mechanics design! And I will definitely give full marks for the mood and emotion that you are building for us!

# Flatline v1.4 - Adrenaline & Green Blocks

## New Features

+ **Green Blocks** - turn into Blue Blocks on hit recharging Movement Shift & Adrenaline
+ **Adrenaline Ability** - temporarily slows down time to make precise movement shifts. This will help many people who are struggling with the game's high difficulty. Adrenaline is spent on use so you have to think ahead. On Mobile devices Adrenaline is activated automatically on Touch, but placement of Green Blocks generally will help. Each use of Adrenaline is going to take a good chunk of your run's score so it's a huge NO if you want to climb to the top score (so Mobile is at disadvantage by default)


### Minor changes

+ Start-up timer is twice as fast now due to popular demand
+ Tutorial now at the first level includes controls for Adrenaline ability
+ Green blocks now replacing some Blue blocks
+ Movable objects are now moving identically on each retry. Previously your first attempt would have a different timing to the consecutive ones.

Great game. I only wish it didn't go so brutally hard so soon. Some easier levels to ease into the game would make this much more fun. I think I gave up on level 6. Waiting to try again felt a bit too long too. Otherwise, nice visuals, suitable background music and some funny voices.

@flying-dog-fish welp should have waited :laughing: New update makes it easier with a new feature!

I already gave you guys a rating and everything but I had to come back to this one and prove I could beat it and I finally got to the end! 

Amazing job guys! :clap:

This game is so polished! I'm amazed. The gameplay is pretty difficult, though. While you can use adrenaline to make the tight timings easier, the moving elements are very confusing as it's impossible to know what route will result in you reaching the obstacle at the correct timing. I also wish there was a way to speed up your character, as many levels involve a lot of waiting. The story and aesthetic/mood is great, and while I'm not sure it connects to the theme very much, I don't really mind for a game like this. Great job :smile:

@braeden What a comeback :sunglasses: Congratulations!

I really like the weird setting and the graphics go with it well. Also, the difficulty is quite high, but it was nice figuring out each level by playing and always getting closer and closer to the actual solution. I kinda disliked the voice line repeating every 2-3 attempts, it was breaking my focus, but I just turned off sounds so it's no big deal. Otherwise, I find the game and it's whole concept really original and fun. Thank you!

Ok, I had to look up level 8 and 10, but I was able to solve the other ones :smile: I feel like because of the moving segment, level 8 and nine required some knowledge about how to initially time things that are quite hard to figure out on the fly.

But otherwise really fantastic game. Seldom there are games that shine so extremly well in innovation AND audio/mood! The gameplay is very innovative and makes fun. The only issue I had was that some setups seem a bit unreliable (the first bounce of level 5 yielded pretty different results with only slight input differences and there was no adrenaline available to better time it)

The only addition I would make to the game is to use the color of the player to communicate its state. Like make it initially white, then when you hit a blue wall turn in blue to make clear that you have a bounce etc. (well and figure out a clever solution when you have a bounce and adrenaline :smile:) I think this would make the game much more readable and helps in quicker remembering which color means what.

But in general as I already said: Really fantastic entry!

@oadt Thanks for the quality feedback and kind words!

This helps me with the next project currently dubbed "Flatline 2" (though it's not a sequel). There I am going to put a lot of focus on visual clarity and better control over character as timing sections in original just don't work well without any additional movement abilities.

I did originally went on to make Adrenaline here slowing down character only which would give some wiggle room in tough spots, but that would move the game away from the original design too much so I made a different call.

This is a really cool game ripe for expansion. The gameplay is deceptively simple while also presenting a serious challenge and making you consider every move you're going to make before you set your glowing ball in motion. I don't normally like puzzle games but this one is for sure a hit. The graphics are nice on the eyes and the voice acting is hilarious, even if that might not have been the intention. I didn't beat it on stream since I was already nearing the end but this still held me up for around 35 minutes. Making something addictive, fun, minimal, puzzling and difficult all at once is a tall order but this game knocks it out of the park. I'll be returning to this I'm sure. Seriously awesome submission

https://www.youtube.com/live/7r97dJUIDyk?si=2A40JqYi0eX1CJtp&t=13730

@deadroach Thank you so much for playing :) I'm very glad you liked it!

Thanks for dropping in stream! Had fun playing, although my reaction weren't optimal XD

So nice and polished game!
I love this challenging gameplay, beautiful graphics and atmospheric audio!
Excellent work! :gift_heart:

I did not write you feedback, good thing I checked.
Your game is hard but fair . I like the puzzle on start of the level to try and guess the right path you going to take. Often I got it wrong and like that it’s not that obvious. The voice acting makes it more than just a “simple” game . You made a great game!

Nicely polished game! Good fusion of a minimalist puzzle game with reflex intensive block-breaker mechanics. It took many tries for me to time my moves right, but I can tell this is something you can develop skill at. It might dilute the pure skill gameplay, but I found myself wishing for adrenaline to widen the path a bit when I could tell I was a few pixels off in my timing.

Very well done! I really like how simple this game was to pick and start playing. I'm hooked to the gameplay and the learned timing and skill. Thank you for this!

(This is reviewing the Jam Version)

I'm conflicted on this one. I **see** the vision and I want to enjoy it, but man there's a few things that just really detract from the experience here. The graphics are _clean_ and are probably the highlight (no pun intended) with the subtle eye candy and mechanically it's super intuitive and feels good to control... but the precision demanded of you, the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back tight timings you need to execute (on top of the fact that these _are_ puzzles you need to solve) make this brutally difficult. Honestly I don't think the mechanics need to change, really I think you just need more playtesting to streamline the levels. Reduce the visual noise (way too many blocks copy/pasted everywhere to make what's effectively one long wall, etc.) and make sure the timings aren't _too_ precise and/or only require one really precise execution per level (rather than like, 6+ lol).

On the plus side, the music was a great vibe and the sfx of plonking against the blocks was sufficiently satisfying. And I really do applaud your bravery to attempt a voiceover, but... I would really prefer it without. :sweat_smile: Especially since you have to hear it over... and over.. and over again. I appreciate that you guys at least limited it to only repeat every 3 attempts, but uh... I'll be honest some of these levels took me 20+ attempts so I still heard the same line quite a few times.

The other thing that's a bit "at odds" is the fact that this looks, controls, and sounds like a casual game, but has the difficulty of a sweaty hardcore game. I already talked about the difficulty in the first paragraph so I won't repeat that here, but I figured it was worth mentioning explicitly that I felt a bit of a disconnect between the different elements.

Overall I think this really could have potential if refined, but unfortunately these issues did hamper my enjoyment of trying it out right now. That said, I'm really only being so critical because I do believe you're so close to having something excellent and hope that the feedback is useful to getting over those last few hurdles. Still a very solid entry overall.

Thank you for feedback! I'll take that into consideration.

One thing I however can't agree with is disconnect with visuals and difficulty. The hardest games out there look casual at a first glance: "Geometry Dash", "The World's Hardest Game", "Super Meat Boy: Forever", "Super Meat Boy", "Cuphead" to mention a few.

A polished puzzle and timing game. Story wise it felt like I was in the shoes of a doctor whose patient is complaining that they won't survive, which fit really well with the pulse to slow down the player into being ready for the next attempt. (Look the other way patient, you'll forget or forgive the mistakes once we succeed!)

I could see how adding health or ways to survive would change the game too much from being about discovery and training your reflexes. Drawing a map, converting it into instructions, and sometimes using my mouse to hover over where I wanted to turn next helped me mentally break down the challenge into smaller pieces.

A small change I think could be fun would be making the trails persist faintly between attempts, maybe choosing a random color to tell them apart. There is already a trail during a current run, yet having more ways to analyze what went wrong could be a nice layer of feedback. Kind of like how some games leave a splat on the background where you last expired.

Also nice job mixing the voices to fit and making aesthetically pleasing level designs. How did you XpMonster come up with the level designs?

Pretty fun game, I liked the audio and feel like the music really suited the mood of the game. Some of the voice lines got a little repetitive (probably because I'm bad and kept dying) :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Overall, fun little game, great job!

@nbumgardner Thanks for playing the game on the stream! You're 1 of 2 people who I saw complete it live and your approach was very methodical which was entertaining to spectate.

Trail is an interesting suggestion. I will definitely try to work something out in the successor project. It will be quite different to this game and far less depressive in mood, but you would recognize the original mechanics.

With levels I was outlining the things I wanted each level to have. It was short as "Introducing Yellow Blocks" / "Yellow Blocks Exam" etc. there's an exact plan I used just in one of my comments above.

The rest was done in the engine without any sketches or concepts, I would surely do those in normal circumstances if I had time, but I had to rush thing as only 7 hours were left on the clock. So I have built as I went, but the first questions that popped up on each were "Where do I want it to start?" and "Where do I want it to end?" and knowing the level's design objective all other things pieced themselves together naturally. Though the learning curve could definitely be smoother and block out cleaner, but the rushing of things played it's role.

~Xp

Mesmerizing. Once again I’m convinced how much narrative amplifies a puzzle’s impact. I didn’t fully grasp what was happening, but I really wanted to help 😭 The voice acting and snippets of dialogue made it so emotive that I kept studying the level drawings (sometimes spotting a torso or other body parts :^D).

I enjoyed the puzzle side, too—though I wrestled with timing and precision in a few spots, replaying some more than ten times. Still, it was engaging!

I did miss a tiny end illustration—him waking up… or not—to give full closure.

Even without that, it was excellent. Thank you for making such a wonderful game!

We have a new thumbnail now :)


Special thanks to [Arancia](https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/100816447) for making this :heart:

@verttixpertti o7