ECTO

Wow this is difficult but also really good! I like the progression of upgrades as well as the difficulty increasing as you progress further. The gameplay loop is so addicting that I spent nearly an hour trying to get to the end (as well as dying dozens of times).

My main criticism is that the difficulty is simply too high, you start with 5 HP which is easily depleted as multiple enemies show up, although it can be upgraded. Also, I found it easier to just cheese it by dashing straight to the bottom rather than trying to get upgrades and inevitably dying. 

After beating the armada I'm not sure what to do. The devourer showed up and killed me instantly the first time. The second time, it got stuck inside of me which I think is a bug.

Ultimately, the game is a very unique and innovative take on space shooters and I did enjoy it enough to play as long as I did. If you were to change one thing to improve upon the game, I would say to just tweak the difficulty a bit because what you have already is really good. Well done!

This game fit the theme really well for the jam.

I liked the cookie planets too, though I did wonder if cookies counted as biscuits. In my own game you can sneak around and overhear a conversation about that, which gave me a smile.

I really enjoyed the ramping difficulty as you got closer to the goal. Having to collect asteroids for ammunition was a clever touch and made for a unique gameplay experience.

The part I didn’t enjoy as much was the inventory system. It felt a bit clunky. I think it would have been smoother if collected items automatically went into the next available slot, with a simple “throw away” key to press when needed. The way the slots popped out and covered half the screen made it feel like I was being punished for picking things up, but that’s just my take.

Overall though, I think this was a solid entry that could have done really well in the jam. You all did great work and should be proud of what you accomplished in such a short time.