Alakazam 21

So here it is…

Game play is as follows:

1. Press the left mouse button to launch a ball. The longer you hold down the button the farther the ball goes.
2. There are platforms moving back and forth across the screen Different sizes, different point values, different speeds
3. The idea is to launch the ball and have the platform catch it on its way back. If you hit a platform as you are coming back you will receive points
4. If you hit a platform on the way down you lose the ball and get no points
5. If you hit nothing and the ball is pulled into the black hole then you lose the ball

Your itch.io page is giving me a 404! Maybe it's set as private?

I got a 404 errror, i think the itch page is private. I'll try again later, sounds like a fun game.

Sorry, the page was still set to draft.

It should work now.

It really does seem like a space carnival game, like, hitting the underside of a bar is akin to sinking an eight-ball early if that makes any sense.

I liked the subtle twist, like gravity was turned upside down. I think the description of it being like a space carnival game is really apt - simple to learn, but tough to master! I also really liked the starfield background. It was mesmerizing to watch as I was trying to time my launches for those pesky 500 blocks!

Thanks for the feedback it is greatly appreciated.

Yeah, those 500 blocks are real killers especially if they are on the bottom.

The starfield is one of my favorite things in the game

I like the concept of the game its fun gotta be precise with timing graphics are good and it works fine with the controls good game.

Thanks brother, greatly appreciated.

Yeah the timing is pretty crucial.

I have yet to break 5000

I didn't think I'd have so much fun despite how simple the concept is! I feel like it's well executed for what it is, though I would wish for some way to gain balls, let it be through reaching a certain amount of score, doing a good shot, or going through a level, but it's really not a big deal.

Out of habit, I figured out the left/right arrow keys move the ball launcher, but I don't think it's mentioned anywhere, you may want to fix that unless I'm mistaken!

The graphics are also simple, but they feel coherent and nice to look at, so good job with those!
Overall, I think it's just a nice game. Only about 5MB too!

The gameplay was very fitting with the theme. I like how simplistic and arcade-y it is. Timing your shots to land upwards was pretty fun for me.

This is a pretty good concept brought to lfe. I appreciate your explicit behavior regarding the controls and intent. That's really good jam design. The 'upside downedness' or 'buoyancy' kind of physics are an interesting choice. I'm curious why you favored that over traditional uppy downy gravity. Ultimately, it felt great, worked well. Time to add some muisc and particle effect IMO.

Thank you so much for playing my game. It means a great deal.

I chose the upside down approach because I wanted to have the cannon change positions on the screen, left, right, top, bottom but there just wasn't enough time.

You are right, it is time to add some music and particle affects.

I am going to add some bonus up too:

1. 10 balls will enter the play area and fall up into the platforms
2. 15 seconds to allow any hit to score points top and under
3. 15 seconds where the platforms score doubles
4. Extra Ball
5. Add 2 1000 point platforms

If anyone can think of more that would be very cool.

Thank you all

Simple little game but decently fun, even if it took me a while to get the hang of it (skill issue on my part). Impressive doing it all using pure SDL3 and C++, I have to respect it. How did you do the shimmer effect on the stars, drawing different primitives every frame? As far as improvements go, I think a way to restart without using all your balls up would be nice (maybe one exists?), since if you want a decent high score you can't really afford many misses from the beginning.

Thanks for playing the game.

The shimmering is done by using 5 different colored balls in my tile sheet and randomly picking one every frame. I also randomly adjust the size. You pretty much hit it right on the head. It was like ten lines of code.

Yeah, to get a high score you do need more balls, so I think I will add some bonus ups to get more balls, and some stuff to increase the score.

Thanks for the suggestions, it is greatly appreciated.

The concept is quite simple, but the learning curve is quite fun. Getting a feel for the timing needed for various shots is very rewarding. Mixing the effect of the charge duration and the target speed/distance hits the right type of fun for me. I've always enjoyed games you have to get a feel for over games about reaction time or puzzles.

It reminds me of random flash games and other free games I played as a kid. I would play to get the top score if I had more time. Great work!

Thank you so much for your input.

Thank you so much for playing my game.

I have a great admiration for you and your talent.