Bmarzi's Knockout Reviews

Game Reviews & Feedback
139

Spore Tower Defense by @CarbonSoda

This game is really good, and with a little bit more work can be fantastic. The artwork is wonderful and the only mixed sprite size I found was the title, but you could easily fix that if you wanted to, but I don’t think it’s necessary. While I’m talking about the title, I would suggest changing the T in tower to an actual T instead of a mushroom. Also, change the purple stripe in the S to be a dark red, and then center both lines together and add a border around the whole title similar to the buttons (with the grey, then black, then white on the outside) to make it pop. Lastly for the menu screen… add a button for controls or add a tutorial level.

The gameplay is really fun and easy to figure out, but if you click the button instead of dragging it will place a mushroom at 0,0 in the top left. Also, the placement of the mushrooms doesn’t always work correctly, I wonder if a grid system would help, because I notice it would sometimes place them on top of another one. The game does seem to lack direction, it gets a bit repetitive and doesn’t have a clear objective. I would design different levels and try to add a 3-star system, perhaps X number of kills for bronze star and so on. I really like the different idle animations for each mushroom and slug, also the explosion effects are really cool. I would also suggest changing the temp of the music for each wave to add to the intensity.

Lastly, for the credits screen, it cut back way too quickly, I would get rid of the timer and simply add a back button.

Theme: The theme is clearly defined and easy to understand… slugs are attacking your garden, and the mushrooms help defend them. Also, the title says it’s a tower defense game so you should know what you’re in for. Good job. 5/5 stars
Fun: The gameplay is simple, but fun. It’s easy to understand what you’re supposed to do, however the lack of objectives and scoring make it hard get invested in the game. Also, the placement of the mushrooms is a bit janky and seems to overlap or drop in a different place. 3/5 stars
Art/Sound: The artwork is nice and adorable. All the characters have animations… each mushroom has a specific projectile and the slugs each have a separate explosion which is a nice touch. The sound gets repetitive, so I would suggest you change the tempo for each wave. 4/5 stars
Creativity: While tower defense games aren’t new or original, but I can’t recall that many on Flowlab, and this one works pretty well. 4/5 stars
Overall: The game is a great start but needs some direction. Keep working on it because there’s no reason this can’t be a near perfect game. Awesome game bud, way to go! 4.0 stars

If anyone else has a game they’d like me to review let me know…

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140

Thank you so much @Bmarzi VERY VERY HELPFUL

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141

FanTenDogs by @GameNub

I really like the new menu interface, however the mixels in the title standout… looks like they’ve been stretched, I would suggest manually creating the titles. Also, I would make the “FanTenDogs” word a lot more prevalent than “Title .com”. I enjoy the hover over effect on the buttons, but it doesn’t seem to work every time, also add a sound effect for the hover would help. Lastly, the menu needs some idle movement, I would add a power light that flickers periodically, and possibly a window in the background with a bird and clouds that go by.

When I click on the “play” button it brings me to the next page, but after 10 seconds it goes back to the menu page… is this supposed to happen? Also, when you click on anything in the next page it also brings you back to the menu page. I finally figured out that with A/D you can switch the page, and you can see the dog to the left and a shop to the right, but again after 10 seconds it goes back to the menu.

I’m assuming the game is still a work in progress, so that needs to be taken into consideration, but the game is confusing, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.

Theme: The title says dogs so I expect dogs, which after a minute or so I figured out where the dog is. 2/5 stars
Fun: It looks like this is supposed to be a game where you take care of an animal, but I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. Also, the aforementioned glitch which brings you back to the menu after 10 seconds, makes this game confusing. 1/5 stars
Art/Sound: The art is really good, the only mixels I noticed where in the title, but that is easily fixable. Great job! 4/5 stars
Creativity: I can tell you have a plan for this game, and it isn’t going to simply be another game where you control a player and go around fighting enemies, but at this point the game doesn’t have a direction. 2/5 stars
Overall: I really enjoy the artwork, but I’d like to review this after you’ve fleshed out the game a little bit more. Keep working on it. 2.25 stars

I saw somewhere, perhaps on Discord, that @Agent_Y requested I review Stone Cold Steel, so that is up next…

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Thank you for giving feedback! I will keep this post in mind while working on the game in the future…

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Nice

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144

Stone Cold Steel by @Agent_Y

I enjoy the extremely dark backstory. It’s simple but perfectly affective for this type of rampage game. I would add an intro scene before the game starts, with lightning effects and maybe rain to really drive in the anguish the character is feeling.

The issue I immediately had is my own user limitations: I have a laptop with no mouse, and I’m normally left-handed (hence Southpaw Entertainment on all my games) so not being able to use arrows was hard for me, I failed spectacularly attempting to use my right hand for the mouse pad, I made it past the tutorial level, but not past the first room; and I didn’t even rank on the high score… If you could add arrow keys to movements and maybe spacebar for additional pickup that might help the “WASD+Mouse Click” impaired players like myself.

My garbage playing skills aside this game is amazing, @Baron_Wasteland (aka SugarCube) absolutely crushed it with fantastically awesome artwork. I would like to see an UP animation for the guy where we see the back of his head, this way when moving up he doesn’t appear to be walking backwards. All the different animations for each enemy and weapons are great; and all follow the same design structure, add this to the music and sounds, and the way the player recoils when he shoots so the whole game feels purposely put together…Way to go!

I think the menu could use some sprucing up, it seems a bit elementary (and no, that’s not a pun about the FlowJam theme). You should create a separate page for the leaderboard, and also a credits page. Then add dev logos before the main page, this would really make the game look professional. Absolutely great game!

Theme: With the cover art and title it’s pretty obvious we’re in for a shoot 'em up game. Also all the artwork fit within the same design structure. 5/5 stars
Fun: Despite my own personal disabilities, it is very apparent this is a fun game, add to that the fantastic artwork, and you got yourself a winner. 5/5 stars
Art/Sound: As previously mentioned the artwork is phenomenal and the music paired well. Great job! 5/5 stars
Creativity: There are thousands of shoot 'em up games out there, so this game is not very creative; but it doesn’t have to be because of the great artwork and fun gameplay. So don’t take this as a negative. 3/5 stars
Overall: This game is great, add arrow keys and work on the menu to make it look a little bit more professional and you got yourself a ■■■■ perfect game. Great job! 4.5 stars

Anyone else looking for a review?

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It’s supposed to be more of an Arcade type demo of a bigger game I might make in the future, which is why the scoreboard is shown right away. If I ever make a full game it won’t be about beating it as fast as possible, it would just be a classic rogue-like type game where you fight through randomly generated safehouses of elemental gang members.

The main reason why he doesn’t “look up” is just that it would’ve been more work, for me in the backend and for sugarcyube to make all the sprites

I’ll definitely add more keybinds, I already have it set to work on azerty keyboard since I have one.
(Done, you can now use arrow keys and space to pick stuff up)

Thanks for the positive review :slight_smile:

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I’ve been working on Last Stand recently, and I could use some feedback.

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Last Stand by @JUSTPLAINOP

I’ve got a lot to say about this game, so bear with me, because I really like the game and want you to keep working on it…

From the start there were a few things that stuck out to me: first, I like the dev logo, but you should make it a separate level that is timed to auto transition to the main menu, because when you go into one of the side menus and hit back it restarts from your logo… the dev logo should only show at the beginning of the game. Secondly, I like the background art on the main menu, and it’s ok that the pixel sizes don’t match since this is a stock photo, but the rest of the items on the main menu should be the same pixel size. I really like the symmetry of this page, but the buttons aren’t the same size and you should try to make the font the same pixel size as the art. Continuity is key when trying to make a great professional looking game. Third, each side menu should look the same with the same art style, and yours are all different… I prefer the “credits” style the best, save the image for the main menu only. I have a few visual things for the side menus: the credits page is good but try to fit everything on the same page and get rid of the scroll: or make the scroll start off screen and end off screen. For the settings page switch the + and - so to make the bar go to the right you hit the button on the right and vice versa. Lastly, for the backstory page, just some grammatical issues: World War III would have both words capatalized and Roman numerals, also in the US, we normally say “east coast” instead of “eastern side”. I would suggest you write it this way…

December 2051
World War III had been raging for over a year. The United States was under attack from the east, the Russians. Due to multiple bombings, the east coast was a flattened plain of dust and despair.

I re-arranged the statements to lead with WWIII because that’s the big news and added a word at the end to accentuate the tone and let’s face it, alliterations are always a nice touch. Now I’m going to actually play the game…

I like the true top down view, and you seem to use all the same sized pixels here, even with the HUD; I like all the death animations and the foot prints is cool. The gameplay is a bit janky though, you need to simplify it… WASD and arrows should be for movement and mouse movement for aiming, and allow left click to also shoot. Also, add an objective or something to tell us what we need to do. (i.e. is it a stay alive as long as you can or is there a certain number of kills needed?) Then ad a back button to the game level so you can go back to the main menu from in game.

Theme: The background on the menu gives off a sci-fi feel, and with the spiders in game it sort of ties together, but maybe determine is it more a military game or a sci-fi game. Then make sure that feelings is through out the whole game. 3/5 stars
Fun: The game is fun to play, but it feels like all the other games out there, so think about what could make your game different and add it to your game. 3/5 stars
Art/Sound: The true top down view is nice, and the pixels sizes are all the same, but you should use the black outline for everything or nothing. 3/5 stars
Creativity: There are a bajillion shooting games… what is going to make this stand out? Flesh out the story and think of something you don’t see a lot of and get to working on it. 2/5 stars
Overall: This game is off to a good start, tighten up all the artwork and make sure the whole game is stylized the same way throughout. Your game got a better rating than it did for the Winter Jam so fantastic job! I’ll definitely be looking for any updates. 2.75 stars

Anyone else looking for a review?

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148

I’d appreciate a bit of feedback on this game I’m working on, it’s very unfinished and you may have to load some levels in with the editor but some feedback now would be nice

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149

I’ll take a look in the next few days.

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Yes, I will make this.

Ehhh, it was AI generated, XD. I will scale it down though.

Well, I’m using Flowlab’s sprite text system.

Wow, thanks! I must’ve written that a year ago, XD.

Well, I lost the ‘Repeating Mouseclick’ bundle.

I would, but there isn’t much space in the HUD.

Shucks. Well the theme is a common one.

Ok! Consistent outlines.

Ok, thanks! That’s above average!

Notes:
Dev logo only once at the start.
Sclae down menu background.
Hopefully an objective.
Maybe something to set it apart from the other top-down shooters.
Consistent outlines.
Mouseclick for shooting and arrow controls.
Updated backstory.
Thanks a bunch for the review Bmarzi! Really helpful feedback!

-Ember.Y of JUSTPLAINDEADLY

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Thanks for reviewing our game! If you didn’t notice already I also helped work on it.
I’ll try to keep these things in mind.

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Yeah, we have a bit of stuff to work on in the near future, lol.

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153

UltraDemake by @BradenS

I very much enjoyed playing this game because I really like the artwork. Now to all those who want to go check it out you should now there is nothing to do yet, but if you go into the editor and jump to level 2 you can start to really get a good feel for the direction of the game. The ticking bombs and explosions are really fun, and I especially like the gears and pipes in the background. But for level 1 I think the background is a little flat, but I like the hellish cave ground better than the red ground in level 2. However, back to level 1, while I like the red ground, the blue ground feels too ice castley; and if it’s supposed to be heavenly, then it should look cloudier… in my opinion. The animations, dashes, and slams of the player is great, don’t change any of it; but the buttons seem off, I would change jump to W and add arrows to both jump and side-to-side. Keep S (and down) as slam, and shift as dash, since you can get to shift from either WASD or arrows.

For the menu, it’s a good start, but you should add something to the background. Then add a “controls” button so you game make an in-game controls page. Also add a button for the backstory. Finally get to work on the gameplay and level designs. This will help you flesh out that backstory too.

Theme: I’m giving you a higher score here because I can envision the science-meets-religion theme here, but it’s not quite there yet. You should develop the backstory to really help push this theme across the finish line. 4/5 stars
Fun: Although there is nothing to do yet, the continuous art style along with the sleek looking effects really make this game fun. I really want to play more and destroy some bad guys. 3/5 stars
Art/Sound: As I stated earlier, I really like the art style, there are a few tweeks you can make, but overall quite nice. Not sure about the jump sound effect… 5/5 stars
Creativity: This game, along with 90% of the rest, feels way too similar. You’re off to a great start with the artwork, but now you need to make game something different and better. 2/5 stars
Overall: You’ve got something here, just need to figure out what it is. Develop the heaven vs. ■■■■ backstory and integrate it into the gameplay. Who are the bad guys? Are there different types of bad guys? Also, how do science and religion blend in this story? Keep working on it because it’s a great start. 3.5 stars

Anyone else looking for a review?

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154

Can you review this game? It’s pretty short. There is a short tutorial, and if you need more help, there is more description below the game.
@Bmarzi

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155

This isn’t a FlowLab game? Did you make it?

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156

Yes, I made it in Godot.
I even made a devlog here

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Ok, cool, give me a little bit of time and I’ll have the review up.

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158

Dunebound by @Flying_Fajita

Although this is not a FlowLab game, and despite the feeling that this is somehow sacrilegious, I like this game. It’s a bit familiar and unoriginal… but the artwork, font, and backstory really do a good job of bringing the theme together. You definitely need to add music to both the menu and gameplay.

I would add the story into the game through a series of cutscenes between each tutorial tip, start with a silhouette of the ship crashing then go through all the buttons, including the weapons switching. The buttons all make sense (thank you for adding both WASD and arrows) so I wouldn’t change any of that.

As for the gameplay, I feel like I die way too quickly, or the enemies don’t die quickly enough… If you don’t hear this from anyone else, then don’t worry about it. I also think that the running animations aren’t fast enough for the speed of the characters.

Theme: The theming is excellent. You really did a good job making everything feel duney, even the font. Add the backstory to the opening and let us see it all in game. 5/5 stars
Fun: The game is too similar to all the other games out there, so you have to figure out what can make your game stand out. 3/5 stars
Art/Sound: I really enjoy the artwork, it’s continuous throughout the game and is quite nice. 4/5 stars
Creativity: As I stated earlier, this game is too similar to all the rest, but that being said it feels more complete. 3/5 stars
Overall: I like this game a lot, but I would like this game a lot more if you integrated the backstory into the game a little more. 3.75 stars

Anyone else looking for a review?