Soul Anchor

Fun, simple platformer. A little short, but the soul anchor mechanic is interesting, I could see it turning into a decent game if given more time.

Wow! You should make this into a full game. I was really pumped when i got the chain reaction but then the game ended D:

Brilliant idea! It was fun, I loved the 1-bit artstyle as well.

@BluePinStudio Thank you for playing! Sorry that the game was a bit short. I will definitely see what I can do about a full game.

@Gord10 Thank you! I'm glad you liked the concept.

@YarnSaw Thanks for the feedback!

You did a really good job. I just loved the game.

The black and white idea is good.

The gameplay was really intuitive. I'm 72 years old and it was just excellent.

You should definitely expand on the game. It would be great. More levels. Maybe have some kind of bonus ups after you get so many souls.

I don't know but it has a lot of potential

Thanks

I just looked at your folders for your project, and how you set everything up. You are a really clean coder, well organized, that is really important.

Good luck to you

@Beebster I am glad it was to your liking! I have been strongly considering making more levels or an expansion for the current game, given how short it currently is. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

The soul mechanic is unique and interesting, but it is unfortunately only utilised at a surface level. The "chain reaction" near the end looked good, but it didn't "feel" satisfying as there was a lack of feedback. Aside from the soul mechanic, the gameplay is the same as any other standard platformer. I'd say the game is too short and there aren't any challenges for the player. I liked the 1-bit artstyle and the "screen-wipe" animation was nice polish. I don't believe the theme "gravity" was used, or even in mind when this game was created - its only application was the player falling after jumping, but that is standard in virtually all platformer games. Given that this was made in pygame, and likely a lot of basic functionality such as collisions was implemented from scratch, it is impressive.

@Bklyn Thanks for your feedback. I agree that more feedback could be added to the soul anchors, maybe a sound effect when you reach one or a visual effect. I have also received plenty of comments concerning the length of the game, which was unfortunately much shorter than I would have liked it to be. The theme of gravity here applies to the soul anchors, which attract you towards them when you turn into a soul. As a soul, the gravitational pull of the soul anchors is the only force that can move you, as you are otherwise immobile (can't jump or move around). I guess "gravity" just depends on your interpretation of it.

What a bummer of a jam game, because it left me wanting more! You did a great job tutorializing the mechanics, which is rarer than we would like in jams. I'm sure given more time you could easily set up some levels and let this run wild. I'm sure you already have something in mind. Jam problems, am i right? Great work.

@FunBaseAlpha I'm glad you feel that way! This was actually the first game jam I have ever taken part in and planning and pacing were something I had to constantly keep in mind. I wanted to prioritize quality over quantity leading to a relatively short game. Thank you for your feedback and I will see what I can do regarding an expansion to the game.

The presentation is really great, the graphics and sounds fit together nicely and the game is explained really really well!
I'm gonna have to agree with Bklyn when it comes to the gameplay though, with the game as it currently is, the morph gimmick is not really all that used for interesting things. There may be potential, maybe if morphing carried momentum (and that'd also fit the theme better) but at the end of the day, it's a platformer that works as expected and that in itself makes it pretty fun to play.

I'd definitely be interested to see what you will add to this game!

@Taevas Thank you for playing! I actually have considered the idea of adding momentum when morphing and unmorphing. However, I found that the idea wouldn't really work due to the inherent properties of the soul anchors. The player's soul must reach the anchor that is currently attracting it before the player can unmorph. Removing this restriction would lead to many design issues such as the player getting stuck in walls or reaching unintended places. Making the player walk slowly and have a uniform jump height were both intentional design decisions that made this game into more of a puzzle-platformer where you need to plan out your actions.

I have been implementing and testing more mechanics (i.e., mobile soul anchors) which I think will really add some much needed depth to the game. I do not want to make any immediate updates or changes to the itch.io page until the end of the rating phase.

Cute! Clean, stylised graphics and a slight twist on basic platforming mechanics. I found it such a shame that the game ended when it did, and just after a level that very naturally explained a new facet of the mechanic (that the soul keeps going to other anchors after the current one was reached). There's many way this could be extended: puzzles where you need to carefully time your reentry so that you don't get pulled by another anchor; ones where you need to plan out a route that doesn't lock you out due to anchors with limited uses; ones where you might want to become a soul even without an anchor nearby to avoid moving threats; …

@Aurel300 Thanks for checking out my game! I've already been working on new mechanics such as moving soul anchors which has really brought out a lot of the game's potential. I've already built some new levels which happen to have some of the ideas you brought up here with more to come in the future.