Sci-Null Runner by WeGlove
In this dystopian Tech-Hell, the Sci-Null Runner, has to destroy the Prism to save the world from certain techno doom.
Will you be able to solve the Prism's devious puzzles on the way, by sending error signals to its robots?
Ratings
| Overall | 621th | 3.286⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 690th | 2.911⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 377th | 3.464⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 539th | 3.518⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 731th | 2.793⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 425th | 2.768⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 669th | 3.161⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 39🗳️ | 36🗨️ |
First of all I felt that it's a little bit unclear what I need to do in order to open and close the gates. When I saw the first [off] and I pressed and I released the button it closed as soon as I did that, but when I hold it on the button for a little bit, somehow it was stuck. It feels like undefined behavior, and if it's actually an intended behavior that I need to press the button all the way while my player is under it, then I personally think it's a bit difficult to move my mouse while like the whole world is scrolling. But that might be a nitpick.
Another point is that I was very confused on what I need to do later in game. Because at first you throw a single button at player and it's okay. I see button > neuron activation > I press the button > I expect some kind of effect. That's good, monkey brain works. Then I see a few buttons and at first it doesn't make sense, I click it and nothing happens, but then I see a combination. That's good, environmental tutorial: I see cross is off, checkmark is on, I've figured it out very quick.
But the next spot with music blocks is a little bit frustrating, because at first I thought it's just some kind of block that I go through, like Minecraft music block, maybe because I just moved through it at the first puzzle that I saw it at. I guess I just was lucky. And that mechanic that you tried to teach me through the first music block, it didn't imprint into my mind. It took me few deaths and few bruteforces through the frantically clicking the buttons to find the connection between the tune that is being played among the loud music and the button sequence that I need to press in order to activate the gate (I'm not gonna say too much about accessibility, because we are in a very tightly timed game jam environment and not everyone can spend extra hours to care about it, especially if it wasn't designed in the beginning, so it's just a side note).
Nevertheless, even with the knowledge of the mechanic, I find it's very hard to distinguish between on and off in the played music tune, especially in a very tight and small window you give player to figure it out. I went through the next checkpoint and I was ready, because now I know what it means, but then I see a lot of buttons and a chomper stands right above the music block and it makes a situation, when I need to listen to it, but I can't press any buttons as I hear the tone I need to memorize it, because if I press even a single one, chomper will kill me and throw me waaaaaay before to the previous checkpoint. It was a little bit annoying, I'm not gonna lie, because world moves, buttons moves, so it makes gameplay a little bit reflective, which is, I guess, fine for autoscroller and platformer genre. But for me personally, I would enjoy it a little bit more, if it was a little more friendly towards player, not asking them to remember 12 tones and then replay them in few seconds that they have before they hit the chomper. It feels like a QTE back from the 2000s. :laughing:
But, with all that said, great job! Very well done for such a small time, and it has this amazing head-drawn charm that I really like. You should be proud of yourself. :)
Really love the principle of the game :D Couldn't make it passed the safe, though xD
It's a great logic runner. All the hints were generally clear, but the section with the 9 buttons was tricky; I didn't have enough time to figure out how to activate it.
You did a really great job.
Pressing the button at the end was very enjoyable and gave us a good laugh.