Amazing idea, very well executed. An overall great entry

Awesome idea and really well made! Had lots of fun while playing it. Really great job!

A really nice game with an amazing idea. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it and had to stop at the first level that used the scroll-wheel. It got really frustrating to jump against the last crank-obstacle again and again and having to start the whole level over. Another more minor nitpick is the shake it mechanic because often after using it I the cube in an awkwardly tilted position that was tedious to fix. Other than that the controls felt really good and the graphics look great too.

Wow. That was a really cool idea! Defo 5 stars for Innovation and Theme! Really really well done!

Very cool, unfortunately I was playing a laptop so I think I was playing hard mode. Really cool idea and it was fun figuring out the system.

Wow, this is wild! I also go for the "game console within a game" things, and this was neat. Although it WAS kinda frustrating...Having to go back and forth was tricky, and the box kept going in random directions. I almost felt like was a Surgeon Simulator or QWOP version of someone playing a video game! I really only got to the second level (the "last level is hard" thing kind of scares me). Incidentally, there are all these controls on the box, but I don't have any idea what some of them do...I figured out the button and "shake it", but the rest is mysterious. DO they do anything? Oh well, whatever. Good job! Maybe you could expand it out in some way?

This idea really is incredible. Went from "Oh old retro themed game" to "Omg it's from another dimension." I had a huge blast playing it, and only got more and more excited to see how each unused contraption was going to be used. The idea of the game is seriously thinking outside the box (I'm not sure if I intend for a pun here or not, I'm sorry.) I guess the only criticisms I can make is about the difficulty and the 8 bit sounds sounding a little random with how they're used, but that feels more like nitpicking. Very well done! (Also, thanks for the confetti)

Amazing, one of the best entries I've played. Imaginative, dynamic, challenging but yet possible to win. I had a really fun time beating this game and descovering what every part did. Well done not explaining the mechanics, it is in fact so good to discover what every piece of the box did. In my opinion it is a full 5 game, perfect for a jam. Great work indeed.

What an incredible game, guys! I loved it!
It felt a bit frustrating at first but I had to kept playing, it's adictive. The gameplay is very polished, the graphics are well acomplished and the sound fits with the aesthetics.
Such an innovative idea and perfectly executed. Excelent game!

Amazing execution! It's like unboxing a new retro console. However, i think it needs a little more sound design.

This is very original!

That was funny and original :D Probably the first game that has made me really laugh :D

Shaking made the box be in a really in a weird position, maybe a "turn upright"-button or something could be nice!

Really fun and original idea, graphics looks nice, but sounds could be better. Great Job!

I love the idea and the graphics. Great job!

@Qu4k @pedro-miranda
Thank you for your kind words and playing the game! <3


@junber
= 0 You were so close! That level is actually the last.

About the shake's mechanic, you're right, we really had some debate about adding an automatic stabilizer as a feature, sorry for the inconvenience!


@jannes-nagel
Wow, thank you very much for that!


@varelsegames
Playing on the laptop truly is hard mode lol. I'm glad you had fun, though :)


@chaoseed
Hahaha, yes, that "trickiness" was, somehow, intended.

And yes, all the controls around the box really have consequences in the game.

We are planning a small update (post-jam version) with some additional features that were originally intended, but we had to cut due to lack of time. Hope you look forward to it!


@ciderwrath
Your comment is really lovely!

'Thinking outside the box' certainly was not a pun, but now, it's my favorite line related to the game lol

(I'm glad you liked the confetti ;D)


@mr-houdini
Thanks for this comment! We actually have some hard times thinking about whether or not it was really a good idea not to explain most of the mechanics. It turns out, we can trust the player more than what we usually think.

Again, thank you for your comment, very valuable!


@ferran-benavente
Thank you, so happy that the initial frustration turned into pleasure in the end.


@risingoat
Unboxing something certainly is a nice feeling hahaha, I'm glad you like the game!


@hunttis
We made someone laugh !? That's really one hell of an achievement!

And yes, the side-effects of the shaking were definitely a controversial part of the game haha


@andreu @theflyingkeyboard @evrim
Thank you very much for playing and commenting!


----


Again, thank you all who took the time of playing our game, rate it, and leave a comment, we're so grateful to be able to read your feedback!

We'll try and play/comment all your games too, it's the least we could do.

This game has a really innovative concept. I love the idea of a game inside a game. At first the outside elements seemed a bit token, but I really enjoyed it when the game introduced elements from the outside that interacted with the game itself, like the crank and the scroll wheal. Having to physically interact with something like that with the mouse is a lot more mechanically satisfying than pressing a button. That said, I feel that the need to constantly reset the screen brightness is a real pace breaker that prevented the game from living up to it's full potential. What I will say is that this type of device would probably actually work well as a real product, though I doubt either of us have the resources to make that a reality. In any event, I did enjoy my time with this game and found it to be one of the most unique and innovative entries I've played this Ludum Dare.

Oh my goodness. This is such a great concept, and the game itself is so amazingly well-crafted, but I CAN'T STAND IT. Haha. I had to rage quit twice! :P That's probably the point though, isn't it? Regardless of how poor I personally am at time-management and general multitasking, this is a super cool game, and really incredibly done. Great job!

This game is fantastic! Well polished and everything feels good to do. The sounds are on point and the platforming is just right. Such a great concept and the ending is pretty funny! Awesome job guys!

This is a great concept! The idea is innovative and the use of the theme is the top!
I love also that you will play in weird position in order to get the level done quickly before you need to push again the button on the back.
Great one!

Great idea for a game, at first I was a bit confused, but after that, i had a lot of fun and the game itself is just so good and well made. You should be proud good job

Very funny and clever concept and a really good interpretation of the theme. It was frustrating and tedious but in a hilarious way - where I was always laughing as i struggled to get this ridiculous contraption to work. i love how you are left on your own to figure out what each of the functions on the box does and how they are gradually brought in. The music and sound design is also great, I liked the crowd noises giving you an idea of the "real" world outside of this retro game you're playing and the crowd applause at the end was hilarious.

Overall, excellent game!

Ahah nice, the concept is very funny ! I would totally love to play that game on a real cube :D

Once of my favorite parts was being able to play a 2d game on a wildly titled screen. It felt nostalgic to a degree that I didn't expect it to. I just wish I could keep the power on for longer so that I felt like I was doing something more than constantly recharging the box.

That was so fun, i love the nostalgia trip to 2d platforms and i love the way you shake to recharge it, although i think it would be better if you didnt have to press the button every time

Slowly figuring everything out was a pretty fun experience! Whenever I saw something new on the screen, I was encouraged to explore the box, which was a great design decision! The switches and knobs on the side really add a challenge and keep the simple platformer fresh. A button to re-orientate the screen would have been nice, but the controls worked well for the most part.

One of my few complaints was how quick the power went out. I just wish the power had a meter like the platform shake did, so you could press the button more (or hold it down) to build the bar and keep it on longer. If the theme wasn't losing power, I'd even suggest replacing it with a screen tint which shows/hides objects depending on how bright it and the objects are.

My only other complaint is a small one. The screen knob doesn't do anything until the last level, which confused me. It should have scrolled the screen on the previous levels as well, just so you could understand it did something universal. The other switches only interacted with things that weren't there before, which meant you were encouraged to try them when you saw something new, which wasn't the case with the screen scroll.

Overall, a solid jam entry, and a great idea!

@superpokeunicorn
Thank you for your extensive feedback!

The rate of pressing the button sure is a polemic topic, we'll take a thoughtful look at that for the next version.


@eggnog
Thank you!!

Sorry to hear about your ragequits, some levels can be truly unkind due to the coordination between on-screen game and the outside elements. But if you enjoyed the game, that's more than enough :)


@remzo @hav24 @emery
Thank you guys!


@mgpxl
I love your comment!

So glad that we made you laugh, thank you for your words!


@karreg
A real life model will be totally awesome! We daydreamed about that during the jam as well hahaha


@will-walters @game-coder28
Okay, the rate of pressing the button SURE is a polemic topic lol

Thank you for your feedback!


@zee
Your power-meter idea is actually a really interesting one!

And yep, your complain about the screen scrolling is on point too, the scroll wheel was a late addition and could definitely be improved.

That was a pretty interesting game! I enjoyed playing it :D I wish there were more game tapes and we could switch them. A virtual console in a game wow.

I agree with a lot of comments here, full points for innovation! I love the idea of trying different controls to try to get through the level. X-D The power cube station made me laugh for all its retro-ness... and doohickeys, and... just everything.

Like @zee above, I also found having to press the red button to be annoying after a while. Having a power meter might have helped.

I got confused about the shake thing the first time I played. I was worried the power cube station might turn off and I'd have to restart if that meter fell to zero. At least, that's what it looked like to me whenever the screen went black, and I saw the battery meter at zero (though now I guess I just fell off the platform when the screen went black). So I kept shaking to charge power, then pressing the red button, and repeating. It wasn't until I picked the game up a second time that I finally figured out that it is an entirely separate mechanic to control the platform movement from level 2 onward. The game made a lot more sense after that.

Overall, an innovative jam entry. While I had trouble playing it, I still got a biiiiig smile. :-) Thank you so much for sharing this!

This is brilliant, but after I finished level 1 I had to give up. Best theme/innovation entry this time tho, congrats. Very well executed.

I really like the idea. :smile:

amazing concept and very well made! I really enjoyed the experience of playing it and I think is one of the most creative games of this jam. Congratulations to the team.

this game is extraordinary (and also incredibly impossible!! ;)
the idea is brilliant and it is also well executed. I even think it would actually be more fun to play such a cube if it was a real object
just one remark: please do not forget that not all people have querty keyboard (maybe implement arrows as well)

anyway congrats it's a really polished entry!

This is a really cool concept, and definitely a throw-back to old school puzzle platformers. It also requires a keen sense of the game as a whole to be able to switch away from the screen to interact with the rest of the cube, and not lose track of what you were doing in the platforming portion. With that said, here are a few suggestions / observations, if I may:

* Control of rotating the cube was a little difficult; while the size of the interactive elements helped, especially being able to grab the shaker and push the screen power button without needing to rotate the cube all the way around, receiving a little assistance (even if optional) here would have been a nice touch.

* Needing to switch away from the platformer portion happened a little too frequently. Balance here is a bit tricky, given the theme of the jam and the concept of the game. I'd argue that since the platforming portion was the main focus of the game, having to switch away from it quite so often even at the early stages of the game was a little frustrating.

* SFX were a little simple, although certainly appropriate and cohesive; there could have been a bit more going on aurally.

* Screen usage was limited to an almost square aspect ratio; there were large portions of the screen that went unused, perhaps being able to zoom in to the main screen would have been helpful, but on the flip side, that might detract from the idea of the game being the cube, instead of just being contained within its screen.

I really like the concept of having a cube that controls the game you play. And you needing to play with the levers and switches to get it back up and running again. The sound effects where spot on as well. It's a pity there was no background music. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that every time you fall off a platform, back to the bottom of the level, you have to charge up again which become tedious and frustrating. Maybe I just don't have the patience for it. But I really liked the concept. Well done.

Very cool, it felt nice to interact with the cube, very tactile. I agree with others that I'd like a way to reset the view if the cube gets turned around (although I had fun doing the platform bit upside down!)

It was hard in places, but I kept playing to see how the different elements of the cube worked. Very clever and high marks from me!

One negative: It is tough to get to actually "play" the minigame. It is also hard to realize what each part of the machine does.

Apart from that: On innovation, theme and mood, this is by far the best I've seen the entire LD. Very well thought, very well made. Congratulations!

Cool idea. It was really fun to play.

Very unique game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 39 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKdZrHdMrvE

Such a clever idea. Really enjoyed how you used the theme and the way the player had to not only play the game but control the machine they were playing on, was a nice touch. Also the battery running out so quickly worked well in being a frustrating mechanic but something that went with the overall theme and helped enforce it. Also liked that every side of the box had a control that you had to figure out and it wasn't all spelt out for the player with what they did but instead left you to explore.

This game is in the top 5 of best concept idea, very original and unique amazing game, I loved how you used the sfx very good sounds, the art is very good also, but the concept and gameplay are great, the only thing I would change would be change the WASD to the arrows and make the up arrow jump instead of the space. Besides that I liked this game, amazing idea, congratulations to you guys !

It felt so real!