This was good! Super simple but I enjoyed the choices I had to make within that simplicity(grab fuel or shield? run into an asteroid but grab the fuel that's inside?). I like the song too, and the graphics fit well. I would have enjoyed being able to play an infinite level for a high score, or something like that to extend the gameplay.

Simple game, but I enjoyed it. Nice job

Music was great. Would have rated high if you hadn't opted out.

@tengusheath Thank you. It's way simpler than I would have liked, but stuff was cut due to time.

@dandala88 I agree the music is awesome, but it wasn't made by me, which is why I opted out of the rating. All attributes are in the posting (and in the itch page). The BGM is “Galactic Knight (Chiptune)” by MAOU from OpenGameArt.Org

@xxnolanxx I won't be adding an infinite mode (I think), but I will be extending the gameplay to be much longer and add the theme-twist mechanic

Thank you all for playing

I like the simple UI style you went with. Fits the game well.

Nice, fun, simple game, a joy to play! Well done!

Intriguing dodge-em-up! I think that the mix of having fuel and shield upgrades creates interesting questions for the player. If 2 are coming at you, which one is worth it? If I hit that asteroid on the way to the shield boost, will I come out ahead or behind? If this is a game you want to expand upon, I would put consideration into how you want to lay out these kinds of upgrades to create interesting challenges. Good work!

Nice job! I like the simple, old-school look and the music too! I failed on my first attempt but got through on the next. Definitely fun and addicting! I thought there was going to be some recursion/repeat nature to it but it was fun and bite-sized. Nice job!!

This was a pretty fun game. it was really hard and unpredictable though because all the enemies would randomly move. Other than that, I really liked the music and the arcade feel.

Simple but fun. The minimalist graphics fit perfectly and the music selection was excellent.

Awesome! Lots of fun. I wish there was more nuance to the take on the theme, but the mood and vibe are excellent! Great little game!

@conrad123 I agree with you on the theme. I'm really sad that I had to scrap the recursion mechanic due to time constraints. Thank you for playing.

theme twist mechanic or no, turning it upside down would have already made it feel more like going deeper ;). Played really well, I liked that it forced me to actively sacrifice some shield to get fuel here and there.

I like the resource management in this game. Originally I didn't like how fast the pickups went by, but more often than not you would only have time to get either a shield or fuel replenishment. The only issue is, that you lose fuel way too quickly, so there's little reason to go for a better shield. I think your fuel should be going away slower, while you take more damage from asteroids.
This is a really solid entry though. I had a lot of fun with this one.

It's short, but fun. I think if the picture is flipped over, it will fit the theme better

@rialgar @xiyou
Thank you for playing. That's a good idea that never occurred to me. I'll experiment with it in the future.

Lots of times where I had to trade-off between getting hit and getting fuel made the game feel interesting. It took both strategizing and skill to win.

It was balanced well enough that I just barely made it to the end, which felt rewarding :)

Not sure how the game has to do with "recursion", the title made me expect something else.

@jack-lance The recursion was going to be the thematic mechanic where there wasn't enough fuel in the starting level, so that you had to go into sub-levels to acquire more.

Each sub-level would also have its own (optional) sub-level with more resources, but also more (and faster) asteroids. It would be a judgement call when to start "recursing back" up the levels with enough fuel to finish the very first.

Tutorializing this mechanic so that it wasn't confusing to players would have taken way too long, so I had to scrap it for the jam version.

I settled on "Edge of Recursion" because:
- I needed a name that would work for both the complete and jam version (the "trivial case" of the recursive gameplay)
- I figured naming it would motivate to work on the post-jam version with the mechanic
- I specifically did **not** want to name it "Deep Space" because that was never the thematic implementation of the game
- The name sounded cool and I was running out of time (I considered "End of Recursion" too)

Like some other games I've played here, this game is simple but fun — challenging, but not frustrating. The music is OK, but it does become a little repetitious after a while (IMHO). Also, you could add more flourish to the winning screen. Just some ideas if you wanted to improve the game. All in all, good work.