all strings attached

22 Minutes passed by like nothing!
Got hooked! wink wink

Really fun concept, and i like the pixelart-3D effect on the cubes =)

I wish I'd known the trash icon teleports me back to the start before clicking it 😢

This was an excellent game. The concept was well executed, and it was really fun. Graphics and audio fit well, and each level offered something new. If I had to nitpick, there were times where the level design annoyed me as it was too high for my grapple to reach, and so I had to try and get up, and then keep falling back down again. But again, a slight nitpick on what was otherwise great level design. Great job!

This is surprisingly satisfying!
Cubes transportation is a bit tricky and takes some time to get used to, but is quiet cool when you manage to fly those bastards across the entire level! xD
The game is a bit short, I'd like to see more! (Edit: okay, actually not short, I just didn't go through the door at the end of the level xD)
The 2d, but 3d effect is a cool visual effect too!

Didn't finish it like to submit a highscore, but really addictive game, it's just that I'm not a fun of Rage inducing games, and this one is kinda there :D
Love the concept and the mechanics, overall a solid submission. Loved it.

This is a really fun game. I can't think of anything to critique really. The concept is great and perfectly executed. Great work!

This is a really addicting game. I love the art and the polished product. This is a type a game that I would pay for.

Nice entry! It was fun grappling around and flinging boxes with the tethers.

The main mechanic was implemented really well, and the level progression was very good in that it slowly gained complexity without throwing the player into too much all at once. I will say that I didn't notice I was being timed until after my first run --- it might help the player get in that mindset if you have a timer going from the beginning.

I do think there are some quality of life improvements that could push the game to the next level. One thing that was slightly bothersome to me was the slow retract speed on the grappling hook, which often made it impossible to recover if you aim for something just out of range and don't hit it. I also think faster projectiles on the tethers could be fun, just to encourage some high-speed moving-target plays. :)

Aesthetics and audio were on the simple side, but they worked pretty well for that minimalistic puzzle game vibe.

Overall, great job for 72 hours as a solo dev!

@plasmastarfish faster retract speed and tethers would probably be objective improvements and might help with some flaws in the level design mentioned by @mr_chocolatesalmon and alleviate some of the frustration felt by @MrAmericanMike . Thanks to the shortened rating phase this time around I'll even remember to put them in once the rating is over. :D

The "confusion" about being timed is an intended moment and would optimally invoke a feeling of slight betrayal. Storywriting definitely is not my strong suit, so I take "surprised" as a step in the right direction. :D

Thanks to everyone for the reviews, It's really great to read that the game generally seems to appeal to a lot of you. :)

Excellent game idea! I love the way you incorporated the 3D boxes into a 2D game, although the ropes/connections feel slightly too springy and weak - if you place 2 of them to hold some boxes together it works perfectly. Also, the player can gain near-infinite speed in mid-air (not a very useful bug though, given the enclosed levels).

I like the dark style and gameplay idea, reminds me of this old LD game: https://ninja.frozenfractal.com/ and of my second LD-submission: https://jellenauta.com/games/LudumDare/LD26/. And the 3D boxes in the 2D world are nice indeed, unfortunately I didn't get far, I've added the screenshot in a lowscore as bug report. The door did not open despite delivering all packages.

@DiningPhilosopher ah, I think you ran into an issue of bad environmental feedback rather than a bug. The first level features another field with an extra box just prior to this screen, and both zones have to be filled for the level to be completed. In Postjam I'll definitely add something like a sound and a change of color or something, to indicate to the player, that they're done with a specific zone + an extra bit, when a box leaves the field again, invalidating it.

@elZach Ah you're right, I thought the first box was safe and secured but apparently not. It works now!

Super creative and original game! The tutorial is effective, especially with the "shadow" hints. The music is well done and doesn't get distracting or annoying. Graphics are simple but perfect for this type of game; the 3D effect on the boxes sells it well.

Minor issues: it's sometimes too hard to break a connection, especially if it's short or very close by, and the grappling hook extends a bit slowly for my taste. It could also be made clearer whether you're about to shoot the first or the second end of a connection. Perhaps if you hold the second dot in your hand after the first has been fired, draw a dark "shadow" line from the first to the second?

I had a great time with this one! While the controls could be tighter and less floaty the mechanics themselves and overall vibe were great. I had so much fun swinging around and sticking boxes together. This feels like a clever, fresh platformer!

There's always at least one isn't there? The one that feels like an (almost) full game instead of just a jam experiment.

I enjoyed this a lot. Everything just slots so well into each other. The way the cutting works with the same 'function' as the movement and how that figures in to the puzzles. The whole theming (both of game-jam theme and the 'shady post office/spy' in-game theme), and the way the music & the font adds to that. The way the tutorial/narration feeds smoothly into the gameplay, etc.

(I didn't even really miss the absent sound effects.)

However, when I was still struggeling a bit with the controls instead of zooming myself & boxes throught the air (the initial level took me longer than the final one…) it was mostly just the interesting concept and 'where is this story going' that pulled me along, the real fun in it came only after I got a grip on the controls.

Also, in addition to the earlier complaint (see the poster above) that the connection may sometimes be hard to break if it's short, it seems sometimes the blue connection dots would go past the boxes instead of at them. (But physics in jam-games has never been easy…)

Thirdly, and this is a very minor, nitpicky issue, I thought the story would go somewhere, but it just sort of … ended. (Story-wise at least, the falling and in character score card where definitely more of a real ending than any of my games ever got.) Especially since the player is teased a bit that something more is going on when you see what looks like another spy(?) hanging motionlessly in strings in the background.

Lastly, if you ever make this into a game with more levels, I think some other concepts need to be introduced. It's true that I had a lot of fun, but I'd have definitely sighed if that wasn't the last level.

A very good game, I have only seen a small fraction up until now, but wouldn't be surprised to see this in the top 3!

Hey hey, me again! As we agreed, I won't post a long comment, and I'll simply link my stream replay here :
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/661325497?t=00h39m50s
Thank you again for submitting your game, it was awesome!

hey, I uploaded a postjam version, implementing feedback from this thread. I'd be super thankful if anyone tried it and left a short bit of feedback. :)

Though I played it only after jam, should say it cool entry :D
Really unique idea of mechanics, and comfortable gameplay, good job!

@DictorDro thanks dude, appreciate it.