Panic Percussion by verysoftwares

[raw]
made by verysoftwares for LD 44 (JAM)

tap Z on beat! a kind of rhythm-puzzle game.

the big number:
your life is time! the fraction part marks the current beat. on every 8th beat, your life goes down by -1, so work fast!

control:
tap "Z" with the rhythm. you will bounce to the opposite side of the circle, triggering an event on your sector.

events:
green zone: hit the enemy. it will drop something. most of them have 3 hit points.. the level changes once you've beaten the enemy.
hourglass: +2 life. remember that you have to be on beat to get this, otherwise it counts as a miss! (-1 life)
red zone / dynamite: don't step here! it will cost you 3 life! once the dynamite goes off, it's safe.
two arrows: auto-bounces you. hmm, what is the effect if you "GET!" this on time..?
lock: it blocks your movement. you have to bounce -into- this sector to break the lock! (respawns in 6 beats.)

gif-show.gif

Ratings

Given 3🗳️ 6🗨️

Feedback

BoltKey
29. Apr 2019 · 18:44 UTC
I have no idea what I am doing. But it is fun!
Suchista
29. Apr 2019 · 19:11 UTC
It's confusing, some instructions would be great. Also, transitions are really slow. The art is nice!
🎤 verysoftwares
30. Apr 2019 · 08:22 UTC
hmm i'm not sure what to put in the instructions.
randomphantom
30. Apr 2019 · 14:12 UTC
Music is pretty cool, but I echo the comments above (no idea what I'm doing - it seems to work though - up until the third level!)
🎤 verysoftwares
01. May 2019 · 12:15 UTC
instructions added based on playtester feedback!
yopox
01. May 2019 · 12:58 UTC
Thanks for making a rhythm game ! I got to the 4th enemy but I took dynamite each time haha :bomb:
🎤 verysoftwares
01. May 2019 · 13:47 UTC
there is a way to beat the 4th enemy without damage, though the solution is a bit unintuitive.. so i've added a hint in the instructions
Saering
01. May 2019 · 14:32 UTC
Well I'll be honest on my feedback, I got completely lost so I quit :/
I expected a rythm game to have cool music, and then you press some keys at the same times of the snares, kicks, hats, etc, but here the background music is only made of drums so it's really really hard to get the rythm right. I'm not the best at music, but I honestly found it too hard, and when I got the first level right, I did not know how I did and I immediatly died on the second.

Also, had it has been said, I just didn't know what was happening, I was just pressing Z, not understanding why there was hourglasses, a circle, etc. Might require some more explanations and balance in my opinion, and it could be a funny game!
udo
02. May 2019 · 12:11 UTC
I came here because you posted to the IRC channel, but then vanished before anyone responded to you :smile: So... yes, I agree with you, the interface and design language are pretty clear. However, that doesn't mean @saering is necessarily wrong. This game is extremely unforgiving and it's not always clear what you're supposed to be doing or how you're doing. I would describe the experience like this: it's like you're suddenly in an advanced level of a game where you really wish you'd have gone through the tutorial levels first. For example, it's not clear to me - even after going through several attempts - whether I was actually making decisions about the state of the game board, I was too busy trying to hit Z on the beat.

I do think this game does have a lot of potential, the problem is just that it has no (perceived) difficulty curve :smile:
🎤 verysoftwares
03. May 2019 · 09:01 UTC
ohh okay, thanks for your feedback. keep it coming and i can make a post-jam deluxe build to address these issues