This game is very difficult, it is so difficult that I gave up playing it, I will hope to release an update that will make it easier to play it again.
How do I start the game? All I’m getting is the title screen with no options. I’ve tried pressing every button I can, and nothing seems to do anything.
Let us get the obvious out of the way first: this game is difficult. I dread to think what it was like to play the earlier versions of this game. I struggled mightily through the first two levels, made it to the end of the third map, and said, “That’s good enough for me.” I am using the flimsy excuse of “I am playing it on a small-ish laptop,” knowing full well that I would not have done much better on a desktop computer (let me be my mediocre gaming self, okay?!). It would have had a decent enough difficulty for me without any “Meatyeors,” if I am being honest.
For the super difficult games, it takes some design skill to keep a noob like me engaged. Enter that music. @AlexKay sums it up perfectly.
AK also reviews the gameplay really well, too. The success feedback from the female captain was amusing. The game mechanic of drawing lines reminded me of playing Hot Dog Hero on NeoPets (another game I was atrocious at playing). The repeated failures eventually got a bit disheartening (as you start to get closer to succeeding and start focusing harder), but the game has that peculiar quality where the first dozen fails are hilariously epic. A pause feature might be a bit too nice, but I would really enjoy a stop feature at the beginning (ship) and end (ration). Poor guy should get a chance to steel himself for another run after respawning at the base, and surely that ration pile is big enough to hide in for a moment until you are ready for the mad dash (hopping?) back. I wish my guy was able to walk at a speed more comparable to his jumping speed.
Makes sense, and I actually appreciated the detail–as frustrating as it might be, at times. The initial problem was that the game window only has one size, and that size took up my entire screen. Since I had my taskbar locked at the bottom, I was not able to see the platforms, at first.
The “monkey bars” glitch was quite forgiving. I only encountered the “infinite light-bridge” a couple of times; too bad it was only temporary. I still had Meatyeors get me through the light lines, but falling was the bigger issue for me. This is partly because I ended up just saying, “screw them, I am going to go kamikaze with my first two lives just to clear some of them out.” To make it to the end, I would need an easy mode where you would fall through the bottom and come back into the frame from the top–Portal-style.
Overall, this game was challenging, but enjoyable; simple, yet fully functioning; not entirely refined, but polished enough to stand alone. It satisfied the Game Jam theme very well, and it was exactly the kind of game you would expect to do well in a Game Jam: one that is a complete proof-of-concept that can serve as a teaser demo for a more complete release down the line. A marvelous solo product, given the amount of time you put into it. I wish you the best in the Game Jam judging!
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You should just have to press play then select level 1.
Believe it or not the game used to be even harder than the initial release! If you saw the third level then honestly you’ve pretty much seen the game, there’s only some flavor text at the end so congrats on essentially beating it! Lol, I would never call out flimsy excuses in games, I’ve used them more time than I’d like to admit… It’s always the lags fault, never mine.
Yeah, I’ve gotten a lot of feedback about the window size and if I develop the game further I’ll be sure to add options in for this.
I love hearing the different ways people took on the challenge. I think most vouched for the “kamikaze” method you described lol. Personally I played it safe and drew a million circles around the meatyeors and way too many bridges just in case. Ooh I like that portal falling idea *writes it down.
Much appreciated! It was fun to work on and the feedback helped not only with this game but with how I’m approaching my other projects as well as future stuff so it was definitely a learning experience for me. Thanks for the feedback and well wishes! 
First Round Scores
Jux Score
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Game Runs: | 500 |
| Use of Theme: | 500 |
| Art: | 66 |
| Writing: | 66 |
| Music & Sound: | 66 |
| Mechanics: | 89 |
| Game Concept | 85 |
| Use of Fetish | 56 |
| Judge Preference: | 29 |
| Total: | 1457 |
Grimimic Score
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Game Runs: | 500 |
| Use of Theme: | 500 |
| Art: | 84 |
| Writing: | 67 |
| Music & Sound: | 43 |
| Mechanics: | 30 |
| Game Concept | 70 |
| Use of Fetish | 40 |
| Judge Preference: | 60 |
| Total: | 1394 |
Squirrel Score
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Game Runs: | 500 |
| Use of Theme: | 500 |
| Art: | 72 |
| Writing: | 68 |
| Music & Sound: | 95 |
| Mechanics: | 92 |
| Game Concept | 84 |
| Use of Fetish | 87 |
| Judge Preference: | 82 |
| Total: | 1580 |
Final Score: 4431
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Just wanted to give some knowledge here, no idea if anyone has already said this stuff.
The light bridge that spans the whole next screen can be triggered by holding the mouse button at the edge of the screen. Free jump, doesn’t take up any “ink” on said screen.
If the character jumps into the bottom of a platform, he is pulled into it. I assume that you designed the platform with some sort of pulling quality that you used to make the platforming, which would explain his magneto powers. Makes for a nice ride, though. Maybe you could cannibalize this into a feature?