Reviews

Review by MarkOates all reviews by MarkOates

"Fole & Raul: Capylandia Eco Rescue" takes players on a delightful cat-filled (you can never go wrong there) adventure on a charming island. The task of saving capybaras offered a unique and heartwarming concept that me and my game review partner enjoyed. We liked the capybara graphics, and felt sad to see them tied up, and that became a main motivator for us to play the game.

Despite the concept, I found myself wishing for a more relaxed pace to truly soak in the game's world. The constant presence of a timer heightened the anxiety and prevented me from fully immersing myself in the surroundings. We felt rushed in a way that degraded our experience of the game.

From a technical perspective, I appreciated this game. The idea of re-used code was a smart approach that I think more hackathon participants should adopt (it's a more realistic strategy for 72-hours and makes for more interesting games, less stress and less disappointment). The inclusion of auto-generated dungeons was one of my favorite twists, and as someone interested in the technical side of game development, that piqued my attention. So, from a technical perspective, good strong marks for this game.

Visually, the game showcases a vibrant iridescent art style. While the concept is intriguing, the abundance of visual contrasts and fixed scrolling mechanics made it visually noisy and aesthetically difficult to parse. This resulted in the biggest hinderance in our ability overall to enjoy the game. The game could be improved by addressing the visual design from a global perspective, by creating a clearer, simpler visual hierarchy among different elements, such as the HUD, player characters, environment, items, etc. For future projects, you might start with a restrained, single color, 4-shade palette, and focus on the visual elements and their role in creating a cohesive presentation of the game's information. So, though the artistic *rules* were met well (artistic rated a 4), it hindered the game overall (overall rated a 3).

Overall, one of the stronger entries technically, so thank you for making this game 😀.

Scores: Overall 3 Artistical 4 Technical 5 Genre 4

Review by MarkOates all reviews by MarkOates

"Les Beaux Ballons" by the team BALLOONTASTIC is an underwater-themed game that delivers a fixed perspective experience. With opposing players facing each other, the objective is to inflate balloons and shoot down those on the opponent's side. The game's use of vocals in its music added a whimsical DIY touch. Though the music itself is enjoyable, we felt that introducing more variety in the soundtrack would enhance the overall experience.

Initially, "Les Beaux Ballons" presented some challenges in understanding the objective clearly. It took some time for us to grasp what we should be doing, or, what effect shooting our balloons had, and that affected our ability to get immersed into the gameplay. To enhance the gameplay experience, consider incorporating more visual and audio cues (when collecting items or hitting targets), to clarify the objective and help players better understand the mechanics. By providing these cues, players can more quickly immerse themselves in the excitement of the balloon battle.

It was good to see an entry to TINS that was developed using Unity, and this choice was reflected in the visually appealing atmosphere, graphics, and animations. The underwater setting creates a captivating backdrop that immerses players in the game's world. However, as we delved deeper into 'Les Beaux Ballons,' we discovered that the gameplay mechanics felt somewhat underdeveloped, resulting in a sense of repetitiveness. The core mechanic became a repetitive task, lacking enough variation to fully engage us. While the attention to visual detail is commendable, the game would greatly benefit from incorporating additional gameplay elements or introducing new challenges that break up the monotony and enhance interactivity within the 2-player gameplay. By expanding the mechanics and adding more depth, 'Les Beaux Ballons' could achieve a better balance between its impressive visuals and engaging gameplay experience.

Including 2-player gameplay was a great choice. As reviewers, we were happy to have a game that we could both play together, and as such it felt like a solid trade-off for not implementing one of the other rules.

Overall, despite the impressive visual presentation, "Les Beaux Ballons" would benefit from further gameplay refinement to match the high standards set by its visuals.

Scores: Overall 2 Artistical 4 Technical 3 Genre 2