I really enjoyed this! The main mechanic of using the axe to grab walls is really great and engaging. It's cool to use it to wall jump, and to slide, and makes me think more about how often I take those mechanics for granted in other games. I think there's lots of room for experimentation with this! I found the combat a little frustrating and wonder if the game would've been stronger with more of a focus on the platforming? Maybe the caves would be even eerier without enemies±!

Nice concept! I liked the way how you use the axe.

The thing that I didn't like is that you have to use the [Z] to jump. Why not use the [W] or the [up]?

Great graphics! I got frustrated with the obscure control scheme. Overall good job! :clap:

I love mechanics

Very nice start/prototype of a game. The mechanic works well enough.

One thing that needs improvement is to "register" the hits on doors, gems and enemies. For now, you're not even sure you're hitting until, after several hits, the thing breaks. Adding sound and visual effects would greatly enhance those interactions.

Got the flower!
Basic mechanics are pretty good and work as intended. I can really see it expanded in a bigger game. Loved the rolling attack, and climbing with your axe feels good as well.
Game teaches you the mechanics gradually pretty well and runs great!

That was fun!

The ability to grab walls and then jump with your axe was really neat! I tended to deal with the long falls by falling most of the way and grabbing the wall at the very end, which I'm not sure was intended but was faster.

The art was lovely. I particularly liked the flower. Beautiful. Very satisfying to get to.

Did the gemstones do anything? I initially thought they might heal me, but that didn't seem to be the case. Just fun destructables?

Well done! Everything run smoothly, music has a little bit of sadness to it that fits your game so well! I liked how you can climb the walls with axe, thou it took me a bit to get used to it. Nice graphics.

Great character graphics! There were some challenging areas, but I liked how you didn't make me restart the entire game when I failed lol.

Cool mechanics, and I liked the ax separately!))

The axe wall jump animation is cool as heck, you could make a game almost entirely on that mechanic and make it a speedrunable game if the player was tad faster.

Liked the graphics. Controls were very hard to use with wasd and keys like z and x.

It's a very nice game mechanic, the art are great too and it's fun to play ! Maybe add some Sound effect/ SceenShake when you hit things and it will be perfectly polish. Great Game !

Pretty good game. The controls were quite difficult though (I suggest changing it to something more common such as 'w' or space to jump). The mechanics overall was good though and worked well. Some death animations for enemies would've been nice (I was hacking at already dead enemies for a bit). Other than that, it was enjoyable.

Nice game! I liked the graphics and the grabbing on to the wall mechanic was really cool. The controls were a bit awkward to use, mainly because my instinct is to use wasd rather than the number keys so that made the z and x in a bit of an awkward place and I kept trying to use w/up for jump. If you were to have it so another key such as space was the axe grab and up/w was jump then you could use either wasd or the arrow keys depending on you preference. Great job though! :grin:

Nice graphics, intro. But there is no visible goal. Why do I collect gems?

The graphics were nice and the gameplay was really nice too. The music was MYSTEROUS-TYPE which really set the mood. But it could really be improved by just changing the jump key from Z to W or upArrow. Because it gets really difficult when you have difficult levels and difficult controls.

The axe-climbing is a really fun idea! I'm also grateful for the frequent checkpoints - I was fearing I'd have to start all over when I fell into spikes midway through. Would have been cool if gems had more of a purpose, but it did still feel cool finding that hidden stash near the beginning. Nice job!

@sam-machell I agree I wasn't too happy with the combat either but ran out of time, might've been a smarter plan to just focus on the platforming for the jam as you mentioned. I think I'm going to explore the idea a little more and try to bring the combat to a more satisfying level. Thank you for trying it out.


@the-martijn, @eric-smith, @timeloopedpowergamer, @zeppelingames @jamie-slowgrove @anshul-k I didn't realise the control scheme was difficult, probably because I hardly ever play with the keyboard and didn't consider WASD preference to arrows, I appreciate that you played through it anyway and I'll definitely keep this in mind for next time thanks.


@slowfrog-again, @shin0nome Yeah a bit bummed I didn't managed to get more feedback in there, totally agree on those points. Especially the doors, I wanted a bit more there.


@bidentworks haha I wasn't sure to keep the roll then just forgot to take it out. Glad you found it and liked it though!


@abigailcorfman glad you enjoyed it. @kingslee142 will be happy to hear that about the flower, as she rushed to at least get that in at the end as we were out of time :grin: I handled the drops the same way while testing haha, so I think its fine as there is some risk to doing that so why not reward, @bluedingo made a great suggestion in making it a speedrunner, then that would fit even more :laughing: Appreciate you and @bidentworks made it to the end! Thanks for checking it out and the feedback.


@labete @anshul-k thanks @kingslee142 picked out the music from freesound.org.


@mariszin, @brainloaf-studio unfortunately the gems don't do anything :slight_frown: @abigailcorfman you were right the green gems were meant to heal you just didn't get round to it. I thought I'd make the red ones help level up stamina or attack damage.

@zypo @brainloaf-studio considering how many people had trouble with the controls I'm glad I got the checkpoints in too :laughing:

@saussol @valentine-skachkov @bluedingo @bidentworks @shin0nome @zeppelingames @jamie-slowgrove @brainloaf-studio glad you liked the mechanic, makes the time I spent trying to fix it worth it! :grin:

Going to try to get to all your games thanks for the feedback

It seems you don't even need my feedback since everyone else told you about them before it! So maybe a good refresher is in session? ... and maybe suggestions on them as well.

* The art was pretty good! Execution on how those assets are used... not really good.
* The main mechanic, which is the grabbing with the axe, is real nice!
* Actually, it's honestly too slow to even use and react to. This kind of game wants you to be snappy to cling to the wall. Especially as a speed game, unless you reward skill and timing in a speed game.
* There's actually a jump where there's spikes on top then the area you want to grab.. that's actually against design you're going for and it's honestly a really hard jump.
* Speaking of, I thank you for giving hidden checkpoints! It does also contribute to anti-frustration and a definite time save as a speed game.
* I do like the slow introduction of the mechanics in the level design. Really nice!
* WASD + ZX is painful! Though it was my intuition that made me use arrow keys... maybe you should have told you could use the arrow keys too.
* On the other hand, there is an alternate way of taking this with the WASD users, namely Space and the mouse buttons!
* The story was lacking ... I was confused why we're even going underground, but if it was to heal the girl of her illness from a flower, definitely!
* On a sidenote, I too got the flower!
* Gems are useless.
* Definitely aware you're supposed to use them for health and power. I consider that a bug, at least for the health. You can patch that in, at least.
* You need the ability to show and register hits on enemies... at least some sort of feedback.
* "Well, I didn't know they're already dead..."
* Considering enemies, so many things you could do with the axe to definitely make it interesting! Like throwing, wide swinging arcs, sweeping, charging, slamming, etc.

Do note I do keep in mind your time crunch. Sadly it does creep up and maybe you should be prepared next time. Do have yourself a game plan and it might be a good idea to keep you smooth sailing.

Either way, it's definitely fun but definitely shows that this game is just a base that you can definitely build on and improve! Great work, you two!

@fiakaiera Thanks for taking the time to give me all that awesome feedback! Yeah until I read the comments here I hadn't noticed I didn't mention to use the arrow keys at all. Simply stating that in the beginning of the game might've improved the experience for many! I've put it in this description now at least.

Some good insights on the gameplay there, I agree and most of it is just bad time management, Like you mentioned I need to have a better planning system! This always happens to me in jams...or I need to bring the scope even smaller than I already aim for :grin:

Thanks for checking it out and getting to the flower! Appreciate the feedback and I'll have a look at your game too

Think to upload a cover image it is more attractive !

The music was relaxing, and the checkpoints felt automatic in a good way. Great job making a game with a simple design! It is kind of funny how the gems can be ignored since you are only looking for the flower.

I won! :)

You produced a very nice game and can be proud of it :) animations and graphics are awesome, the level was not tedious but instead filled with new interesting things every minute - really impressive.

Small things to maybe adjust: There should probably be more damage feedback - on the player as well as on enemies (flashing red / hit sounds / particles / corpse remnants / ...) - more "juice" in general, if you know what I mean (have you seen "the art of screenshake" by vlambeer? Has some very good suggestions for juiciness imho)

The collectable gems should probably be a bit bigger, and should matter in some way (maybe a score counter in the corner?)

Great jam. Nice mechanics. The control choice is weird, why X and Z?

This got a lot easier when I realised I could use the arrow keys instead of WASD to move, then using Z and X was a lot easier haha :sweat_smile:

This was a lot of fun! The main mechanic was very interesting and felt very satisfying to be jumping and hacking into walls constantly. The hand-drawn aesthetic is cute, and the animations are fun too. The music is relaxing and the game itself has a good mood.

I wasn't sure what the point of the gem mining was as there was no score at the end as far as I could see? But it was still nice to have optional alternate routes to mine more gems!

I like this game. It was fun to play and not too hard, although the combination of x and z is really difficult on a QWERTZ keyboard. I was a bit disapointed that collecting all the crystals didn't make a difference, but I think that is one of your features where time ran out.

Overall a good quality entry.

Hi, pretty decent game even if you were caught by time there is a complete experience here.

Graphics are really nice, music and sfx are pretty decent and don't get annoying even after lots of repetition (which is not common in a jam ^^).

The game indeed lack something to be more than jsut a platformer, I'm curious about what were your plan.
I like the axe mecanic to grab walls and slow down falls (it's always a plus in my book when something is use for both combat and something else).
As others have pointed out mapping the jump to z can be weird (we don't have all the same keyboard layout :p), you could consider for your next game adding remapable controls (you're allowed in the rule to have some base code so you can invest time between jam to do this).

Very nice mechanics! Movements are smooth, the combo grab and jump is a very good idea :astonished:
I'm very impressed by this gameplay, well done !
Graphics and progression throught the game is nice, the tutorials, checkpoints etc..
Great job !

Nice graphic and cool axe grab system. Congrats!

Nice and simple. Interesting mechanics and good art. Some places was pretty difficult, but fun. Great job!

Wow! The game is lovely! I really liked the mechanics to "climb", but for god! Why Z and X... It's too weird! In fact I needed to use my right hand to press Z and X... Would be amazing (and expected) to use the SPACE to jump and LeftMouseButton to swing the axe. Beside the controls the game is really cool! Well done!

Very nice and smooth mechanics and controls. Graphics remind me a lot of old flash-games. I liked the "climd" mechanics too and game overall felt very nice.

Cool game! The fall damage was a little frustrating but I put up with it because the mechanic of climbing walls with your ax was so cool!

Wow, I had a blast playing this. I highly suggest to map the controls differently. Why not jump space and using axe with a mouse? Or at least Buttons that are closer to each other. And maybe make the music longer and add some health option but thats all I have for improvement. Its already great!
I loved how after some time I got the grip of the controls and felt like a Masterknight raiding this dungeon. And the klinging to wall mechanic was perfectly executed. And also nice, that you spawn near your death spot, thats a good trick for gamejams to keep the impatient players engaged. A pitty i couldn't use the money, because I didn't have any motivation to collect the treasure.

I liked the mechanic with the axe alot. Sounds for the enemies and a healthbar would have been nice. A score or some counter for the crystals would felt better. Overall I had fun.

bad UX in platformer in 2021

why?

Nice idea for a game, the mechaninc with the axe is very good. Few suggestions for the future: add sound effects and visual animation for damage and crystal counter. The music is not matching with the game, its to chilling! Good job with the game =)

I beat the game! I really appreciate the checkpoints! You have no idea how many Ludum Dare games are of equal length to this one but just opt to reset the game upon death. it's ridiculous! I love the music, and the story is pretty great too. Nice boss fight! Great work all around.

Loved the "lock" mechanic, a nice touch to the character, cool game. Finished it and enjoyed it!

@nbumgardner yeah didn't get around to making the gems useful. Thanks for checking it out, I appreciate the feedback.

@erik-brendel I completely agree on player feedback, I did have camera shake in it at first but switched to unity cinemachine and didn't have time to reimplement it properly. I have actually seen that video. A very good suggestion. I will re-watch before the next jam for sure. Thanks for the feedback.

@doctortm I don't really play games on the PC so keyboard controls are foreign to me. I didn't take into account other keyboard layouts or the popularity if WASD controls either. A lot learnt this jam. Thanks for trying the game.

@joedev yeah it completely slipped my mind to mention arrow keys and I forgot the WASD keys would work with the default implementation of horizontal controls...lesson learned. Im glad you stuck around though. Thanks for the feedback

@klon160 I think going forward I will learn how to allow remapping of controls. Appreciate the feedback thanks.

@marcenat I felt the axe climb and slide mechanic differentiated it a bit, I had other plans for the axe holding mechanic too. such as being able to hit your axe into a rock to pull and drag objects to use to traverse as well as to grip while standing but couldn't get it in within the time. Thanks for checking it out I appreciate the feedback, I'll be taking your advice in preparing a remapping script beforehand thanks ;)

@crucknuk Thank you for the nice feedback. Checkpoints were very last minute, glad I got it in though.

@pawciu Thank you! I wanted to expand a bit more on it but glad you appreciate it.

@alexascher Thank your your feedback. A lot of the level was last minute so not surprised it isn't fully balanced, still glad you had some fun.

@ricna Haha thanks for going to those lengths to play the game! I don't really play on PC, I thought these controls would be fine but I as you can see I was mistaken lol Thanks for checking it out and I'm glad you like it.

@lesinvisible Glad you thought this felt nice, Thanks for checking it out. You're definitely in the minority when it comes to liking the controls it looks like :)

@flashviper Thanks for the compliment, I'm glad you appreciate the mechanic and appreciate you checking this out.

@johannimations Awesome to hear you overcame the controls and enjoyed the experience. You're right about the health, there is no way to get more, green gems were meant to heal you but didn't get that in the game within time. Glad you liked the wall clinging, it took me longer than I would've liked to get it working.

@shadow30 Good suggestions there, I agree with all. Thank you for trying it out.

@felo07 Yeah the I like the music but it was slightly more chilling than I would've liked to be honest. But I guess that's what we get for last minute music hunting. Glad you appreciated the mechanic. Thanks for checking this out.

@100th-coin I know what you mean and glad the checkpoints came in handy. Thank you for checking this out, and for getting to the end, appreciate the compliments.

@brice-mahier Thanks for trying this out all the way to the end and glad you liked the mechanic!


OK I think we got to everybody's game, if @kingslee142 or myself haven't left feedback on your game please let me know and I'll try it out tonight! Thanks again

There is definitely potential if you decide to improve the gameplay and the game itself. The graphics were really good. I did not like the music as I believe it did not fit into the game's mood. It would be great if you could add more sfx as it would support the gameplay better.

Overall, a good entry.

The main mechanic was fun. The addition of stamina as well as fall damage was a nice way to make the wall clinging/climbing not overly powerful as an ability.

The game ended pretty quickly - I found myself wanting to play more. I definitely think there's potential to expand on this - more moves like for instance a double jump could open up a ton of really fun movement possibilities alongside this mechanic.

I like the design of the main character. The graphics are pretty nice overall, but some assets clash with each other just a bit - the tiles especially felt a little small and simple compared to the rest of the sprites. But overall the game looked good.

I don't think I have much else to note that hasn't already been mentioned. Good work with this!

A short and sweet game - overall it was a fun little platformer with good controls!
One thing i didn't like was the keybinding as it conflicts with the QWERTZ keyboard layout - making it difficult to play effectively.

Aside from that, the Sprites were mostly looking great - the last area was a little bit "clashing" with the overall art style but it was not hard on the eyes.

Good work overall, keep at it!

I love the spinning animation when you pull yourself up! The movement mechanics feel very good once you get the hang of it.

I might've broken the game :sweat_smile:. Somehow about halfway down, after collecting a few crystals, I fell into spikes and didn't get hurt. Then I got to the end and fought the skeletons and still didn't take any damage. I honestly kinda appreciated it because it let me try a hard jump a few times over. I found the controls for the wall-climb stuff a little awkward, mostly the way you had to hold X and wait a second before jumping. I like the idea though! Fun little entry, if a little buggy.

@chris15686989 thanks I'm thinking of making it a mobile game and you're right,I wish there were more sounds.

@empty-set Thanks, yeah I thought those were needed to reinforce the mechanic too and yeah a few more moves would've definitely improved it

@xatulu considering keyboard layouts and input preferences has been a big take away from this jam for sure. Thanks for playing through that.

@sestren That's good to hear! Movement is always the first thing I focus on. Thanks for checking it out.

@nardandas That sounds like quite the bug. There is one that insta kills you very close to the start of the game but I didn't come across this one. Thanks for the feedback and playing through the bugs!


I think we got to all your games. Thanks again!