Turn it ! by Kaimon

Links to play the game below :point_down:
Description
Turn it ! is a little puzzle-platformer game where you play a magician whose going deep into a cave ! You'll have to make your path here and for this, you have your magic wand which can turn some blocks within its range ! (to be honest, that's powerful)
Controls
A and D to move
Space to jump
Left mouse button to select tiles
Right mouse button to turn tiles selected
Screenshots


Afterwords
As always, I really like to do GameJam when I have the time, to be honest I went to a really small scope because I learned Godot in the last two weeks on my free time and I wasn't really sure I could do it to the end but I'm really happy with the result and I'm now more confident with Godot (especially as a hobbyist like me). As well as the Ludum Dare 51, I continued to use Aseprite and gosh, this software is simply amazing !
Anyway, I hope you'll like the game and don't forget to leave a comment ! :heart:
Software used
Godot 4.1
Aseprite
Beepbox & jsfxr
| Link | https://kaimon.itch.io/turn-it |
| Link | https://kaimon.itch.io/turn-it |
| Link | https://kaimon.itch.io/turn-it |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/turn-it |
Ratings
| Overall | 78th | 3.909⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 80th | 3.841⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 33th | 4.111⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 286th | 3.144⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 96th | 3.867⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 102th | 3.548⭐ | 44🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 93th | 3.671⭐ | 43🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 25🗳️ | 39🗨️ |
At the first screen, I thought there was a space to go up, but then it was a dead end. Would have been really cool to at least see a secret there.
The platforming felt good and overall the game was very creative! good work!
Thanks for the feedback !
When you are adding resets (through death in this case) it often gets frusterating for people who can't do everything perfectly and especially when its been a while since the place they would go back to. A platformer that handles them well is celeste, it give you a checkpoint each time you change a level. In this case you just have one open level so you can't easily do this. I see two ways this could have been done, adding checkpoint flags that change from one color to another when you touch them and each 'puzzle' your camera moves freely but locked to the 'puzzle' until you finish and reach the next one.
Another issue with the camera and that makes me think option 2 is the better one is that sometimes in the midst of one puzzle you'll change where your camera is. The issue comes in when you have a vertical transition and you need to jump, you just have to hope your platform is in the right place and that you can jump to it.
The game is very much not a puzzler, the only times my brain actively tried after I was taught the mechanic was the final jump in the final level. The ways to improve the puzzle aspecs I thought up are, changing the rotation area, not letting the blocks go through walls, and limited area that you can use your rotation magic. While I think that it could be a good puzzle game it's not, there just is not enough thought put into it other than the same repeated motions to movethe blocks
I dont quite see the theme other than its in a cave which is limited, I am probably just not seeing but it feels like its just a platformer that you made.
My feedback isnt all negative, I really love the art and art style though its very charming, and I think the audio is good too. Was fun!
I agree with you with all you said and appreciate that you took time to write it, for the theme, on top of the cave, their is the main mechanic which is limited in space, if I had more tile/set I think that could have been better to embrace the theme, I'll make it clearer for the next jam I do !
My only major nitpick is that some of the levels felt more like a test of finess than a puzzle. In these levels, it was maybe a bit too clear what you need to achieve and there were too many possible solutions to it. And this means that the player just has to execute a long series of turns to get on top of a platform etc. I was left hoping for more obstacles or restrictions in these levels to keep me thinking.
But overall, this was one of the best entries I have played thus far!
The puzzles were also very cool, but not very challenging to me. Especially because you could basically overcome any challenge with just two blocks (although it could become a bit tedious). Perhaps some way to force the player to think on where to place certain blocks would have been interesting? That said, I did really like the puzzle mechanics and I think there is a lot to explore there.
All in all, really great job! I actually enjoyed this a lot :D
I loved the innovative yet instantly understandable game mechanics, and it was super fun right up to the end!
The smoothness of the rotation controls and the fact that each stage wraps up quickly made me feel it's a well-crafted game that never gets old.
Additionally, the pixel art graphics and the calm BGM set a really great atmosphere that I got immersed in. The walking effect is also impressive.
One small note: in the Controls instructions where it says "Q and D to move," I think it might be "A and D" that's correct..
The idea is very cool and the aesthetics are great. (It's just so... simple, yet elegant.
Even though I did lowkey ruin the puzzle elements eventually by just standing on top of a block, jumping while rotating, and basically riding those to the finish (in the levels where possible), I still enjoyed it hehe.
Did you have any potential extra mechanics in mind? Just curious!
Thanks for your submission!
@jcmonkey Appreciate the comment, thanks !
@nash Thanks a lot ! I had idea to make it more "puzzle" but didn't manage to throw it inside :(
@wuppos Thanks ! I'm not really an artist, but i'll try to make more assets next time !
@ackbad Thank you for your comment i appreciate it and take it to note
@zundou Good job ! Sorry for the controls, i'm a native french and we use ZQSD buttons instead of WASD one :sweat_smile:
@kepsert The thing you talk avec jump over a tile was intended, and prove that you have some skills ! I certainly had to make it less possible in order to prevent it too much. I mainly thhinked about physhics-based tiles and different form tiles, on top of fixing tiles being able to float over the ground/ceiling. I may be making it after the rating round (in order to improve my Godot skills mainly)
@ascenial Thanks for your comment !
@castitatis Thanks !
@anciententity I appreciate your comment ! :smile:
@euix Thanks for playing the game, I definetely had to add some form of constraint as you and above said !
Some leads for improvement:
- It's a bit frustrating to lose the game at the end of a level because of a small mistake, and having to start again with puzzle chunks that were already solved. Maybe it would be better to have smaller levels, but more of them instead.
- I found the inputs to be a bit confusing (I mean they were very clear but for some reason my brain decided to work differently). Many times I wanted to "release" the area, and intuitively I clicked the right mouse button for that. Many times I fell to my death because of this. Maybe something like left to select, right to release and space to rotate would feel better?
- I loved the idea of having to jump and rotate the area at the same time, to create a new platform in the middle of the jump. I think you could have built more puzzles using that mechanic, going crazier!
- Again, maybe it's me, but I would have preferred that there is momentum when jumping. I like to press jump and release the left/right inputs, assuming that this movement will continue while in the air.
Other than that, the visuals are beautiful, all animations felt pretty smooth and on point, and the music fit perfectly!
Great game!
I think you should add checkpoints, dying near the end of a level and having to restart the whole thing can be pretty frustrating. I also think the left click to activate the rotation box is unnecessary, the controls would feel a lot smoother if you removed the clicking requirement. I would've also liked a way to rotate the blocks counterclockwise as well.
Overall, it's a very good game and I managed to beat it. Nice job!
@thewinrawr Thanks for your comment !
@wiru Thank you !
@rcxa I appreciate your comment a lot, thanks !
@haydads Sorry for the cam ! And thanks for playing my game :D