I love those graphics. The way his robe lifts up to reveal his striped stocks as he's falling. I liked the concept too. Having to summon the poor little doggos to help. It was a little short though. I did play it a couple of times looking to see if I'd missed some hidden level areas. Good stuff :8ball:

The graphics are great! Really liked the concept as well - very Metroidvania-ish, which is a big swing in 48 hours and I respect it. You used the theme perfectly, since the hounds are for combat and also unlocking areas. The sound effects are good, though it could've used some music. I agree that the game was too short but I know you have to start with a proof of concept. The real frustration for me was in the hitbox for the necromancer (I died multiple times with no real indication why, and the game didn't give me an animation or anything before cutting to black) and the ending (again, cut to black as soon as I got there). I'd recommend putting a delay on going to the game over screen - gives the player a second to process what happened and adjust. Otherwise, really nice effort!

unfortunately this game doesnt launch for me, Im using an old laptop

@xer0bot Hey, I've just added a HTML-version, hosted on Itch.io. I hope that works for you!

Thanks for the HTML Upload, this is really great, cant wait to get further. real classic platformer feel with a unique twist.

Congrats on finishing your first "real" project in Godot!

I'll echo the sentiments from MrWarranty - I died twice to the Necromancer without understanding why, only to realize that the green particle effects that I was standing in were his attacks - I thought it was something I needed to stand in to collect. A bit more visual clarify on that would have helped.

Good work!

You hit the theme it was cool to summon the hounds and that you can learn new effects. Would be cool to expand on that.

Excellent use of the theme, I also liked the art, especially the falling animation where the dudes leggings show from under the rope haha i literally laughed out loud when I saw that.

Progression was solid and having the controls explained in-game as you progressed made it easy to get into without having to scour the itch or ld page which is big plus.

It's quite short, but that's fine for a jam game but I was having fun playing right till the end so I wouldn't have minded playing more!

Cool game!

Cool take on the summoning theme. I really liked the idea that defeating bosses gives your hound more powers and would have loved more levels that gave different powers (although understandable for a jam game to be short!) The falling animation is also really cute :)

Good game, I like the modifier engraving, shame it's so short! ^^ The ideas you mentioned that you didn't have time for would have been certainly fun! A few bug reports: If I stood next the the right cave in the pit, I could summon the hound _into_ the cave. I was hoping for an easter egg there or something, but on the right side of the map all I could do is fell into the void :smile: Oh, and sometimes when enemies contacted a dying hound, they didn't continue walking afterwards.
Anyway, good entry, let me know if you add some more content, I'd love to try them! :)

Really appreciated you sharing your game during the stream.
Keep up the good work!

Nice! The game is kind of short but there's a good amount of technique on display here. The gameplay, graphics, and audio were great considering the time constraints. I also liked the tutorialization here, it was easy to understand how the game mechanics worked because of the presentation. Great job!

Loved the old school platformer vibes! Wasn't sure I had to jump towards the end there, but had fun overall!

Obviously it's very short due to the constraints but there's some solid ideas on display here. The variable death text, the characterful falling animation, even just letting the 'puzzle' to win stand by itself rather than handholding the player every step of the way.

Being able to attack enemies from far away, but with something that walks on the ground was fun. Adding more puzzles / levels that require using the hellhound different would make the game more fun.

The hellhound ability, and the fact that it upgrades was innnovative. I would make the game more innovative by making the hellhound a persistent character in the story as well.

Strong theme usage with summoning the hellhound, a summoner enemy, and being summoned to hell. Focusing more on the act of summoning could make the game more thematic.

The animations for each character looked good while playing the game. The falling animation sprite for the player was cute. Smoothing the lines in the art to reduce pixelation would make the game look more polished.

The sound effects for summoning and jumping gave more impact to those core gameplay actions. Adding even a simple background music track would be a big improvement.

I believe you made this alone? Great work! I hope you continue polishing it afterwards!

Good luck with ratings and your next project!

falling sprite was unexpected and funny

Charming! Thankyou for sharing. I enjoyed the sfx and integration of the theme. I had fun with this.

@okamit Yes, solo and from scratch in Godot 4 in two 17-hour days.

@pebkac Impressive!

This was a good game, although I did get frustrated, not knowing how to kill the skeleton guy. I loved the graphics though and the dog blowing up. Lol Good game!

The falling animation was making me crack up. Nice job on finishing your first Godot project! Obviously the game is a bit short, but I think you have a nice framework here. Things seem to work as intended which is a great start.

Congratulations and keep making stuff!

That hell hound is one good boy. And this is a good game, with a lot of heart. Well done!

nice stuff. I only wish there was more. which is probably the best feeling to have after playing one of these games^^

A lot of the art made me laugh. I spent way too long trying to tango with the necromancer too lol. Good work with the summoning theme. Overall, good job!

P.S. Does the dog have a name? We must know

This is a great start! I can see where you're looking to go from here, and I really hope you build more. Getting a working slice like this is a great accomplishment for the jam. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Nice job!

Very solid experience considering you made it from scratch during COMPO.

The graphics and animations are crude but full of personality. Gotta love 'em! I also like the sound the Necromancer makes when casting a spell.

Although short, the game has a well established core-idea and is fun to play. I'd be happy to see it developed further if you're up for it!

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Oh BTW: Someone else also did a [game](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/hells-empty) for COMPO where you summon dogs. You might want to check it out.

:dog2: :cyclone:

Keep on jamming!

@eric-nguyen the dog's name is Bello, as it is for all dogs. Alas, you cannot pet the dog - time was a factor...

Charming and engaging with a humorous twist on the platformer genre. The game cleverly incorporates summoning mechanics that enhance both combat and exploration, though it's notably short. Improvements on visual clarity and game length could elevate the experience.

It was a nice game, good job!

Interesting use of the theme and I loved the creepy trap sound effect! I wish the game was a bit longer though, as you said in the ending scene there is a lot of potential for more enemies and unlocks.

I had a good time playing the game and liked the core idea. The upgrade/door/dog/bad guy combination is a good set of starting mechanics for designing, larger levels and puzzles. I noticed that it was possible to stand on the dog, after you get it to run into a wall, and thought that this interaction could also be used for puzzles. I'd love to see an expanded post-jam version.

The graphics worked very well, including the simple animations!
The summoning felt nice, all in all a solid entry.

It's a pity that the level is very small T-T