On average each board gives .75 pts ((.25-3)+(.25-1)+(.251)+(.256)). In the long run, it’s not really about luck; just click as fast as you can.
There should be a leaderboard. I beat Xenon’s score on the server someone mentioned here, but I don’t know if I beat everyone’s score, because I can’t see a leaderboard.
I would not recommend this game because it’s just a battle of who can click the most.
I enjoyed playing this game, but I wouldn’t recommend it to others because it’s very short and there’s not much of a challenge once you know what to do.
This is an interesting concept, but I couldn’t figure out what to do, and I somehow got trapped in the library (I think it had to do with playing multiplayer, maybe my brother locked me in.).
I can’t seem to figure out how to play this game well. I can tell you’re supposed to move to get the power ups and avoid the birds (coins don’t seem very helpful as they’re only 10 points), but it seems I can’t actually move fast enough to get anything intentionally. I also am not sure I totally understand what the powerups actually do. The game is fun anyway.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
I appreciate this submission I like to see more parcour games in general, so thank you for that. :-)
This one in particular is too basic and too abstract for my taste. In 3 weeks time, more levels and especially more interesting elements should have been possible. This feels like many of the classic parcour maps the Minetest community has seen over the years. So it fails to stand out. Parcour maps from Inside The Box are generally more engaging because of better graphics and soundtrack.
The graphics … they are just too abstract for my taste. Or rather, to minimalist. Idk, it's not just something I like.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
This is one of the few game jam submissions that are actually PLAYABLE. Really important, many people did not get that far (and thus gained lots of thumbs down from me, sorry. :-( ). And this game feels complete, with multiple levels, a menu and everything you expect. Even just 1 level would have been enough for me, but you went with multiple. Nice!
So yeah, this is a classic bomberman clone with everything you expect from it. I don't know what else to say, but I just like it. I think the execution is done nicely. I'm missing a singleplayer mode, but it's okay since multiplayer seems to work.
I also can't remember any bugs. The game isn't really great, but it's kinda good in my eyes.
The menu is done very well, it has many features, even an in-game help is provided (something that many games with much MORE time to work in lack!). I know how much boring work it is to put a good menu together, and you did it completely within the time. I highly appreciate the effort that was put into the menu. Although I think, graphically, the menu is still kinda "meh", from the usability and features standpoint it is good.
Most importantly, this submision perfectly fits game jam's theme: "small game". It's a small yet COMPLETE game. Clear and easy thumbs up.
For post-jam I think more levels would be nice. A singleplayer mode would be very cool. I hope someone will host an actual server of this game someday, that would be cool.
first things first, a common community rant that is true, the screwdriver sucks and is a pain to use. while you can sort of get used to it, it never really makes sense and better options like rhotator exist. when comparing this to alter a game that has more solid colored textures, it actually makes more sense than this games mash of textures from difference sources. additionally i get more fun and challanged by alter rather than this game
The goal of the game is to rack up points by crossing rooms filled with aggressive humans. Defeating the humans is easy and navigating the rooms is easy, so there’s no challenge. I made it to around 30 points before I got bored, but I can’t see myself actually losing. I think the game needs time pressure and maybe traps/parkour to add challenge to the game.
I would not recommend this game in it’s current state due to the lack of challenge.
I would like to start of by mentioning that this game doesnt even have an icon. I think this is a giant demonstration of how little effort was put into this. Furthermore, there was a segfault for an unknown reason when i completed level 2, this might not be something that is the creators fault but it still influences my decision. This game, after a while, gets very repetetive and boring as basically all you do is press on your mouse to rotate the blocks with the screwdriver. Also, it would be nice if the game saved your progress....
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
It's an interesting concept. The hexagon platforms are a HUGE surprise for something like Minetest. But that's not enough for a good rating. Unfortunately, there's not much to do, it's basically a demo version right now. I played through the whole (demo) game. There are 3 things you can do: Dig "resources" which are colorful cylinders and you use them at the borders of your hexagons to create new hexagons. And occassionally you find new "friends" which are basically traders, they give you new resources. And that's it for now. Hate to say it, but that's not really enough in my taste. Especially the mining and building gets boring rather fast. The concept seems fine for a small game (the game jam's theme) but I think the mining and building activities would be better if they are faster so you don't have to stand on the same spot for a long time. There is no sound, nor are there any effects. The building is very awkward, you have to hit into an invisible spot to build, there is no indicator except a text. The game also gives color somewhat weird name. The "silver resource" is not really silver, etc.
Overall, since this game is too basic right now and just in a demo state, I have to give a thumbs down at this stage. Also the lack of sounds is disturbing.
That having said, I think you struck a quite interesting concept here. If the building and mining aspects get a little more refined, and less annoying, and if there are just more features in general, or more depth, I feel like this game has potential to become something cool.
The game is not very good in the current state, but it COULD be. I will probably look forward for new versions of this game (post-jam) to see if more interesting stuff is being added. If this is extended with the right ideas, this might become something interesting.
I was originally going to say I wouldn’t recommend this game, because the controls seemed kind of flakey and there wasn’t much to do. But, over several days I found myself coming back to this game as a quick game to play when I’m bored. Eventually I learned that the controls aren’t flakey; they just aren’t meant to be held down. I thought I would stay sliding as long as I held down shift, but it turns out you’re meant to press shift once per slide, and you can only slide so long.
I did get an error at some point, but I’m not sure what it means: 2021-12-27 22:25:49: ERROR[Server]: [sm_game] ATTACH NOT FOUND!, creating new attachment!
I do kind wish you could play again using the space bar instead of using the mouse, and I wish the camera wouldn’t reset each game. That would make it so you didn’t need to use the mouse in-between games.
I would recommend this game, but don’t expect to play it for a long time at once.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
It's a simple and nice idea, perfect for a game jam focused on "small games". But I don't like the way it got executed. It's just a very minimal snake clone. You need to eat apples and grow, and that's it. That alone wouldn't be a problem, but the controls and camera are extremely awkward. They just don't feel right at all. Especially the camera is a HUGE problem. This really shows the limitations of Minetest. I apprecitate the effort, though. I like it when people experiment with unusual concepts, games that Minetest clearly was NOT made for. And obviously, when you experiment, you fail sometimes.
If you try to play this game multiplayer, beware that 2 mazes may generate on top of each other, reducing hallways, making mining required. Also, the server crashes any time a player dies. I didn’t realize the goal was to reach the edge of the jail at first, so I was expecting a more obvious exit.
I would recommend this game if you like mazes and can deal with the crashes. I would not recommend playing multiplayer though because there’s too much mining and any player death crashes the whole server.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
I got bored. :-( Not much to do. You just run aroud in a random maze and rarely you run across items and guards. Most of the time, you wander around aimlessly. Am I supposed to have fun that way? o_O Apparently you can break walls, but they just lead you to other parts of the maze. Apart from that, there's nothing else to do. This is barely even a playable game, it feels almost like a sandbox. I don't know how to escape, but I’m not intersted enough in this game to care.
The only goal of this game is to mine coconuts. If you fall in a cave, you may have to build out of it with coconuts, as mining most other blocks is impossible. My brother and I raced to reach the drill, but my brother got bored around 30 coconuts collected and since he was hosting turned on cheats and skipped ahead.
I would recommend this game if you have friends to play it with, but not if you would play single player.
I finished levels 1-8, and then went to the game page to submit my review and saw that there were only 10 levels, so I went back to finish the last 2, but the game doesn’t save and I didn’t want to play through levels 1-8 again. Pirate theme seems like an odd choice for a game about lasers, but I like it.
I would recommend this game if you like puzzle games.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
So … The basics of a kart racing game are present. You can race on a simple race track, there are computer opponents, there are some bonuses that I don't understand. The driving physics seem solid and also the opponents seem to work more or less OK (but I did not test for long). The fact that you managed to get some kind of working AI in that time is really impressive, however, I have to admit.
But the most important thing is missing: There's still no actual game. There is no time-trial, no laps, no actual timekeeping, no actual racing, etc. It seems like an early demo, probably ran out of time. So since the most important aspect of a racing game is missing (i.e. racing), I sadly have to give a thumbs down. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but for 3 weeks of time I expect at least have a basic gameplay. At least playable 1 level/race/time-trial, or anything. Keep in mind the theme of this game jam: "small game". This is small, but not a game (yet). I'd say this thing was CLOSE to a thumbs up from me, but it's not quite there yet.
As for graphics. The racing track isn't really exciting either, the landscape is completely flat. This is probably also on the TODO list, I guess? I like the kart racer models and the kart selection.
Finally, I can 100% say this one is far superior to the other kart game in the game jam (Minekart).
This game seems to have no defined goal so I didn’t really enjoy the game that much, but I could see how someone might enjoy just expanding a city endlessly. There’s not much challenge and the cities don’t feel alive at all. That said, my brother enjoyed this game and build a fairly large city, so I would still recommend it if you enjoy open world building with no limits.
The first time my brother and I played this game, we spawned in the outside area and was getting attacked by aliens. I had no idea what to do and died fairly quickly, respawning inside the base this time. Despite working as a team of 2, we lost several games, and we couldn’t really figure out what the strategy is? We eventually gave up, but we might play again later (especially if there was a public server so we could have larger teams).
I would recommend this game if you like a challenge. Maybe you can succeed where we failed.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
It's a Pacman clone. Unfortunately, the game jam version is in a very incomplete state, it's like in an alpha state right now. The level does not generate automatically and even then the victory condition does not exist. Did the author run out of time?
My threshold for a thumbs up for the Game Jam is at least a minimal amount of playability, but this is not the case here. Sorry. :-(
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Incomplete game. You can only generate a map (apparently random?) with a chat command and drive with a kart around. There is no gameplay, like actual races, time-trail, or anything else you expect from "normal" racing games. It seems this game was not finished in time. Sorry, I just can't click in good faith click "Recommend" for incomplete games.
Basically gambling, except it's not addictive (because it's boring)
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
The problem with this game is that the very game concept is not convincing. You just click squares and HOPE it randomly turns gray or green. And it seems there's only one level. I can't see how this could be possibly fun for more than 10 seconds. To me, it feels very boring. This is very subjective, I just write about my feelings here.
But it is probably a good thing this game itea is so utterly boring, because then casinos might sure as hell might find a way to capitalize on it. ;-)
Even slot machines are more "engaging" than this. I am biased, of course, since I DESPISE casinos and gambling mechanics and this looks like a classic casino game, except it probably won't get adopted.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Right off the bat, the game does not really look like the screenshot. The early levels look very empty and much less impressive. Also, the map ends in open air, rather than a constant grassland. For this deceptive/bad use of screenshots, this game immediately gets a thumbs down.
The cool models seem to appear in the later levels only? But why only in the later levels? Meh. Not enough for a thumbs up anyway. A little bit more consistency would have been nice. The screenshots sure look nice, but the actual game much less so (esp. early levels).
Also, I'm stuck in the level in which I'm supposed to climb up the vine. No matter what I do, I can't get up. I read the instructions, but they didn't help at all. Confusing and frustrating. Difficult is okay, but if I have no idea what I am supposed to do to do basic tasks like "climbing", then the game has failed.
If this game would have been a little bit more stable and playable, I might have given a thumbs up.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Bad. You fight with a diamond sword against retextured stone monsters between shelves full of presents and that's it. Sounds mildly exciting but it's really not. The map is also very repetitive. I don't see the point. Very boring. Is this an incomplete game? And when you die, you teleport outside the map.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Unfortunately, this game for me is broken and unplayable. You spawn in an empty world and fall down. You can't do anything. The game starts with two warnings. Sorry, this is all I can say. :-(
Maybe I will look again at it later, when the post-jam version has been fixed.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Boring. You just enter random cubes to drive around a boring minimalist retro poly city and that seems to be it. This is barely even a complete game, sorry. This seems like a basic tech-demo.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
There is not much to do except hopping around to color the blocks. On the ContentDB I heard of dragons by replicating something in the screenshots but I was so completely unexcited by this idea I didn't even try. This is very essential information, should be all in-game. Since this is a GAME jam, not a SANDBOX jam, I have no choice but to give a thumbs down.
And even as a sandbox, I think it's boring since you literally have only 4 actions.
I highly appreciate the experimental nature of this very unusual game/sandbox concept, however. Experimenting with new concept is always great, so obviously some experiments end up in failure. Don't feel bad for this project, the thing is that you did something.
This game is pretty incomplete, and I was able to pay every cost in less than 10 minutes. Sine there isn’t much to do, expanding the island isn’t very fun as there’s no reason for it. So, I would not recommend this game in it’s current state. I’ve enjoyed watching the development progress of this game though and I think it could be a good game with more development.
Also, this is probably not the game’s fault, but the first time my brother played, the world disappeared from the main menu after playing. It turns out the world.mt file had been emptied, and we had to add gameid = stella to play again. This did not happen on my computer, so I think it was a random error or something.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
I almost gave up playing this game at all. It took me ages to figure out that I have to build at the first street. Building anywhere else is forbidden. :/ Okay, so the game is basically a very simple sandbox. You can basically only do 3 things: Collect power from wind turbines, and build streets and houses, and power them. That's it. Building costs money, but powering a building (or street) gives you back the full cost. So there is literally no strategy at all required here. You could theoretically make your city infinitely large (well, at least until you hit the ocean or hill, because slopes and bridges don't work yet).
The controls are kind of awkward and simply due to Minetest's limitations. Since Minetest is at its core a first-person game, top-down city-planning games are somewhat awkward to do, but the game tries its best. You have to awkwardly rely on Minetest's "fly mode". This is one of the more special games for Minetest which shows the limitations of the engine. Another big limitation of the controls is that you can't really build long streeds or housing areas properly with drag-and-drop like in other city building games. Again, Minetest's fault.
The graphics style is really cute, something really refreshing to see in Minetest. The ocean could look better but apart from that I like it a lot.
As for the gameplay: Really basic sandbox building game, except you can only build streets and like 5 types of houses that don't do anything. It feels very incomplete. Needless to say, it gets boring very fast.
And because of this, I give a thumbs down (sorry!).
This game is a very good Bomberman-like game. I haven’t played much Bomberman so I don’t know exactly what the differences in powerups, etc. are but I like the ways in which the players can interact with bombs (punching and springing), and it’s fun to rack up wins on the leaderboard.
Unless you have 7 friends to play with, I would recommend playing this game on a public server, so that you might end up with extra players.
This is a fun and short puzzle game. It was clearly designed for one player only, but it is possible to play multiplayer as long as all players are at the button before someone presses it (You can smuggle extra cubes into levels by doing this.). There were a few puzzles that made me think they would be really difficult and maybe give up, but we always figured out the solution without too much trouble.
Fun Game About Fighting Dragons With Elaborate Structures
This is definitely the game I spent the most time with. My brother and I worked together to defeat the first 2 dragons (each 1 took 2 tries) across 3+ hours. We didn’t fight the black dragon because it was getting late and it looked really hard to make the structure. When we get time though, I do want to try to fight the black dragon.
I like the emergent mechanics and the puzzle of figuring out how to build the structures. Usually I think information about a game should be inside the game, but in this case it feels like it fits well outside of the game, as if the player character already knows exactly what they need to do. The game does put a lot of faith in the player to figure out the puzzle though, which may scare some people away.
One of the tags is “Singleplayer-focused”, but as far as I can tell the game works well in multiplayer too, and I can’t think of a reason why it would be more fun single player than multiplayer co-op. I would recommend playing this game with friends, because working together makes the fights easier. But, if you can only play single player, then I would still recommend the game (set aside lots of time though!).
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Bad. I'm greeted with many console warnings. This is barely a game, almost just an (incomplete) sandbox. You just walk around in a maze and kill people. There does not seem to be an objective. This is unconvincing.
Just a Clicker Game
On average each board gives .75 pts ((.25-3)+(.25-1)+(.251)+(.256)). In the long run, it’s not really about luck; just click as fast as you can.
There should be a leaderboard. I beat Xenon’s score on the server someone mentioned here, but I don’t know if I beat everyone’s score, because I can’t see a leaderboard.
I would not recommend this game because it’s just a battle of who can click the most.
Easy to Get Stuck
I beat the first level, but then I fell on the second and apparently soft-locked the game. The floor should probably instantly kill the player.
I would not recommend this game because it’s easy to get stuck.
Not Sure What to Do
It seems there’s nothing to do but fight monsters, probably unsuccessfully. If you fall into a cave it might be impossible to get out.
Too Short Escape Room
I enjoyed playing this game, but I wouldn’t recommend it to others because it’s very short and there’s not much of a challenge once you know what to do.
Confusing Interesting Game About Portals
This is an interesting concept, but I couldn’t figure out what to do, and I somehow got trapped in the library (I think it had to do with playing multiplayer, maybe my brother locked me in.).
Snake, but 3D
I don’t like that it’s possible to run into yourself by doing a 180 (i.e. press W then S).
I would recommend this game if you like other versions of snake.
Empty
The music is good, but there’s nothing to do. Racing might be fun if the game kept track of it.
Somewhat Confusing Launcher Game
I can’t seem to figure out how to play this game well. I can tell you’re supposed to move to get the power ups and avoid the birds (coins don’t seem very helpful as they’re only 10 points), but it seems I can’t actually move fast enough to get anything intentionally. I also am not sure I totally understand what the powerups actually do. The game is fun anyway.
Too few features and content
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
I appreciate this submission I like to see more parcour games in general, so thank you for that. :-)
This one in particular is too basic and too abstract for my taste. In 3 weeks time, more levels and especially more interesting elements should have been possible. This feels like many of the classic parcour maps the Minetest community has seen over the years. So it fails to stand out. Parcour maps from Inside The Box are generally more engaging because of better graphics and soundtrack.
The graphics … they are just too abstract for my taste. Or rather, to minimalist. Idk, it's not just something I like.
Nice, small, simple, complete game
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
This is one of the few game jam submissions that are actually PLAYABLE. Really important, many people did not get that far (and thus gained lots of thumbs down from me, sorry. :-( ). And this game feels complete, with multiple levels, a menu and everything you expect. Even just 1 level would have been enough for me, but you went with multiple. Nice! So yeah, this is a classic bomberman clone with everything you expect from it. I don't know what else to say, but I just like it. I think the execution is done nicely. I'm missing a singleplayer mode, but it's okay since multiplayer seems to work. I also can't remember any bugs. The game isn't really great, but it's kinda good in my eyes. The menu is done very well, it has many features, even an in-game help is provided (something that many games with much MORE time to work in lack!). I know how much boring work it is to put a good menu together, and you did it completely within the time. I highly appreciate the effort that was put into the menu. Although I think, graphically, the menu is still kinda "meh", from the usability and features standpoint it is good.
Most importantly, this submision perfectly fits game jam's theme: "small game". It's a small yet COMPLETE game. Clear and easy thumbs up.
For post-jam I think more levels would be nice. A singleplayer mode would be very cool. I hope someone will host an actual server of this game someday, that would be cool.
Too Easy Building Game
Since there’s no time pressure, the game is too easy. And, mimicking a structure exactly just doesn’t seem that fun to me.
I would not recommend this game because there’s no challenge.
painful and boring
first things first, a common community rant that is true, the screwdriver sucks and is a pain to use. while you can sort of get used to it, it never really makes sense and better options like rhotator exist. when comparing this to alter a game that has more solid colored textures, it actually makes more sense than this games mash of textures from difference sources. additionally i get more fun and challanged by alter rather than this game
Too Easy Endless Walker
The goal of the game is to rack up points by crossing rooms filled with aggressive humans. Defeating the humans is easy and navigating the rooms is easy, so there’s no challenge. I made it to around 30 points before I got bored, but I can’t see myself actually losing. I think the game needs time pressure and maybe traps/parkour to add challenge to the game.
I would not recommend this game in it’s current state due to the lack of challenge.
Insta-crash
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
This game insta-crashed on me. Sorry, that's all I can say. Contact me if you want a re-review (once the bugs are fixed post-jam).
Boring, with little effort put in
I would like to start of by mentioning that this game doesnt even have an icon. I think this is a giant demonstration of how little effort was put into this. Furthermore, there was a segfault for an unknown reason when i completed level 2, this might not be something that is the creators fault but it still influences my decision. This game, after a while, gets very repetetive and boring as basically all you do is press on your mouse to rotate the blocks with the screwdriver. Also, it would be nice if the game saved your progress....
Build your own island with hexagons
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
It's an interesting concept. The hexagon platforms are a HUGE surprise for something like Minetest. But that's not enough for a good rating. Unfortunately, there's not much to do, it's basically a demo version right now. I played through the whole (demo) game. There are 3 things you can do: Dig "resources" which are colorful cylinders and you use them at the borders of your hexagons to create new hexagons. And occassionally you find new "friends" which are basically traders, they give you new resources. And that's it for now. Hate to say it, but that's not really enough in my taste. Especially the mining and building gets boring rather fast. The concept seems fine for a small game (the game jam's theme) but I think the mining and building activities would be better if they are faster so you don't have to stand on the same spot for a long time. There is no sound, nor are there any effects. The building is very awkward, you have to hit into an invisible spot to build, there is no indicator except a text. The game also gives color somewhat weird name. The "silver resource" is not really silver, etc. Overall, since this game is too basic right now and just in a demo state, I have to give a thumbs down at this stage. Also the lack of sounds is disturbing.
That having said, I think you struck a quite interesting concept here. If the building and mining aspects get a little more refined, and less annoying, and if there are just more features in general, or more depth, I feel like this game has potential to become something cool.
The game is not very good in the current state, but it COULD be. I will probably look forward for new versions of this game (post-jam) to see if more interesting stuff is being added. If this is extended with the right ideas, this might become something interesting.
Challenging Endless Runner
I was originally going to say I wouldn’t recommend this game, because the controls seemed kind of flakey and there wasn’t much to do. But, over several days I found myself coming back to this game as a quick game to play when I’m bored. Eventually I learned that the controls aren’t flakey; they just aren’t meant to be held down. I thought I would stay sliding as long as I held down shift, but it turns out you’re meant to press shift once per slide, and you can only slide so long.
I did get an error at some point, but I’m not sure what it means:
2021-12-27 22:25:49: ERROR[Server]: [sm_game] ATTACH NOT FOUND!, creating new attachment!I do kind wish you could play again using the space bar instead of using the mouse, and I wish the camera wouldn’t reset each game. That would make it so you didn’t need to use the mouse in-between games.
I would recommend this game, but don’t expect to play it for a long time at once.
A failed experiment
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
It's a simple and nice idea, perfect for a game jam focused on "small games". But I don't like the way it got executed. It's just a very minimal snake clone. You need to eat apples and grow, and that's it. That alone wouldn't be a problem, but the controls and camera are extremely awkward. They just don't feel right at all. Especially the camera is a HUGE problem. This really shows the limitations of Minetest. I apprecitate the effort, though. I like it when people experiment with unusual concepts, games that Minetest clearly was NOT made for. And obviously, when you experiment, you fail sometimes.
Maze Game With Enemies and Mining
If you try to play this game multiplayer, beware that 2 mazes may generate on top of each other, reducing hallways, making mining required. Also, the server crashes any time a player dies. I didn’t realize the goal was to reach the edge of the jail at first, so I was expecting a more obvious exit.
I would recommend this game if you like mazes and can deal with the crashes. I would not recommend playing multiplayer though because there’s too much mining and any player death crashes the whole server.
Just a maze
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
I got bored. :-( Not much to do. You just run aroud in a random maze and rarely you run across items and guards. Most of the time, you wander around aimlessly. Am I supposed to have fun that way? o_O Apparently you can break walls, but they just lead you to other parts of the maze. Apart from that, there's nothing else to do. This is barely even a playable game, it feels almost like a sandbox. I don't know how to escape, but I’m not intersted enough in this game to care.
Collecting Coconuts Slowly
The only goal of this game is to mine coconuts. If you fall in a cave, you may have to build out of it with coconuts, as mining most other blocks is impossible. My brother and I raced to reach the drill, but my brother got bored around 30 coconuts collected and since he was hosting turned on cheats and skipped ahead.
I would recommend this game if you have friends to play it with, but not if you would play single player.
Puzzle Game About Mirrors and Lasers
I finished levels 1-8, and then went to the game page to submit my review and saw that there were only 10 levels, so I went back to finish the last 2, but the game doesn’t save and I didn’t want to play through levels 1-8 again. Pirate theme seems like an odd choice for a game about lasers, but I like it.
I would recommend this game if you like puzzle games.
Just a techdemo at this stage.
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
So … The basics of a kart racing game are present. You can race on a simple race track, there are computer opponents, there are some bonuses that I don't understand. The driving physics seem solid and also the opponents seem to work more or less OK (but I did not test for long). The fact that you managed to get some kind of working AI in that time is really impressive, however, I have to admit.
But the most important thing is missing: There's still no actual game. There is no time-trial, no laps, no actual timekeeping, no actual racing, etc. It seems like an early demo, probably ran out of time. So since the most important aspect of a racing game is missing (i.e. racing), I sadly have to give a thumbs down. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but for 3 weeks of time I expect at least have a basic gameplay. At least playable 1 level/race/time-trial, or anything. Keep in mind the theme of this game jam: "small game". This is small, but not a game (yet). I'd say this thing was CLOSE to a thumbs up from me, but it's not quite there yet.
As for graphics. The racing track isn't really exciting either, the landscape is completely flat. This is probably also on the TODO list, I guess? I like the kart racer models and the kart selection.
Finally, I can 100% say this one is far superior to the other kart game in the game jam (Minekart).
Aimless Building Game
This game seems to have no defined goal so I didn’t really enjoy the game that much, but I could see how someone might enjoy just expanding a city endlessly. There’s not much challenge and the cities don’t feel alive at all. That said, my brother enjoyed this game and build a fairly large city, so I would still recommend it if you enjoy open world building with no limits.
Challenging Game
The first time my brother and I played this game, we spawned in the outside area and was getting attacked by aliens. I had no idea what to do and died fairly quickly, respawning inside the base this time. Despite working as a team of 2, we lost several games, and we couldn’t really figure out what the strategy is? We eventually gave up, but we might play again later (especially if there was a public server so we could have larger teams).
I would recommend this game if you like a challenge. Maybe you can succeed where we failed.
Obviously incomplete
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
It's a Pacman clone. Unfortunately, the game jam version is in a very incomplete state, it's like in an alpha state right now. The level does not generate automatically and even then the victory condition does not exist. Did the author run out of time?
My threshold for a thumbs up for the Game Jam is at least a minimal amount of playability, but this is not the case here. Sorry. :-(
Incomplete game
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Incomplete game. You can only generate a map (apparently random?) with a chat command and drive with a kart around. There is no gameplay, like actual races, time-trail, or anything else you expect from "normal" racing games. It seems this game was not finished in time. Sorry, I just can't click in good faith click "Recommend" for incomplete games.
Basically gambling, except it's not addictive (because it's boring)
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
The problem with this game is that the very game concept is not convincing. You just click squares and HOPE it randomly turns gray or green. And it seems there's only one level. I can't see how this could be possibly fun for more than 10 seconds. To me, it feels very boring. This is very subjective, I just write about my feelings here.
But it is probably a good thing this game itea is so utterly boring, because then casinos might sure as hell might find a way to capitalize on it. ;-) Even slot machines are more "engaging" than this. I am biased, of course, since I DESPISE casinos and gambling mechanics and this looks like a classic casino game, except it probably won't get adopted.
Screenshots are deceptive
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Right off the bat, the game does not really look like the screenshot. The early levels look very empty and much less impressive. Also, the map ends in open air, rather than a constant grassland. For this deceptive/bad use of screenshots, this game immediately gets a thumbs down.
The cool models seem to appear in the later levels only? But why only in the later levels? Meh. Not enough for a thumbs up anyway. A little bit more consistency would have been nice. The screenshots sure look nice, but the actual game much less so (esp. early levels).
Also, I'm stuck in the level in which I'm supposed to climb up the vine. No matter what I do, I can't get up. I read the instructions, but they didn't help at all. Confusing and frustrating. Difficult is okay, but if I have no idea what I am supposed to do to do basic tasks like "climbing", then the game has failed.
If this game would have been a little bit more stable and playable, I might have given a thumbs up.
Just ... bad
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Bad. You fight with a diamond sword against retextured stone monsters between shelves full of presents and that's it. Sounds mildly exciting but it's really not. The map is also very repetitive. I don't see the point. Very boring. Is this an incomplete game? And when you die, you teleport outside the map.
Broken
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Unfortunately, this game for me is broken and unplayable. You spawn in an empty world and fall down. You can't do anything. The game starts with two warnings. Sorry, this is all I can say. :-( Maybe I will look again at it later, when the post-jam version has been fixed.
Pretty much nothing to do
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Boring. You just enter random cubes to drive around a boring minimalist retro poly city and that seems to be it. This is barely even a complete game, sorry. This seems like a basic tech-demo.
Too sandbox-y
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
There is not much to do except hopping around to color the blocks. On the ContentDB I heard of dragons by replicating something in the screenshots but I was so completely unexcited by this idea I didn't even try. This is very essential information, should be all in-game. Since this is a GAME jam, not a SANDBOX jam, I have no choice but to give a thumbs down.
And even as a sandbox, I think it's boring since you literally have only 4 actions.
I highly appreciate the experimental nature of this very unusual game/sandbox concept, however. Experimenting with new concept is always great, so obviously some experiments end up in failure. Don't feel bad for this project, the thing is that you did something.
Too Short Incremental Game
This game is pretty incomplete, and I was able to pay every cost in less than 10 minutes. Sine there isn’t much to do, expanding the island isn’t very fun as there’s no reason for it. So, I would not recommend this game in it’s current state. I’ve enjoyed watching the development progress of this game though and I think it could be a good game with more development.
Also, this is probably not the game’s fault, but the first time my brother played, the world disappeared from the main menu after playing. It turns out the world.mt file had been emptied, and we had to add
gameid = stellato play again. This did not happen on my computer, so I think it was a random error or something.Too little gameplay
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
I almost gave up playing this game at all. It took me ages to figure out that I have to build at the first street. Building anywhere else is forbidden. :/ Okay, so the game is basically a very simple sandbox. You can basically only do 3 things: Collect power from wind turbines, and build streets and houses, and power them. That's it. Building costs money, but powering a building (or street) gives you back the full cost. So there is literally no strategy at all required here. You could theoretically make your city infinitely large (well, at least until you hit the ocean or hill, because slopes and bridges don't work yet). The controls are kind of awkward and simply due to Minetest's limitations. Since Minetest is at its core a first-person game, top-down city-planning games are somewhat awkward to do, but the game tries its best. You have to awkwardly rely on Minetest's "fly mode". This is one of the more special games for Minetest which shows the limitations of the engine. Another big limitation of the controls is that you can't really build long streeds or housing areas properly with drag-and-drop like in other city building games. Again, Minetest's fault. The graphics style is really cute, something really refreshing to see in Minetest. The ocean could look better but apart from that I like it a lot. As for the gameplay: Really basic sandbox building game, except you can only build streets and like 5 types of houses that don't do anything. It feels very incomplete. Needless to say, it gets boring very fast. And because of this, I give a thumbs down (sorry!).
Fun Bomberman-like Game
This game is a very good Bomberman-like game. I haven’t played much Bomberman so I don’t know exactly what the differences in powerups, etc. are but I like the ways in which the players can interact with bombs (punching and springing), and it’s fun to rack up wins on the leaderboard.
Unless you have 7 friends to play with, I would recommend playing this game on a public server, so that you might end up with extra players.
Short Puzzle Game About Mirror Worlds
This is a fun and short puzzle game. It was clearly designed for one player only, but it is possible to play multiplayer as long as all players are at the button before someone presses it (You can smuggle extra cubes into levels by doing this.). There were a few puzzles that made me think they would be really difficult and maybe give up, but we always figured out the solution without too much trouble.
I would recommend this game if you like puzzles.
Fun Game About Fighting Dragons With Elaborate Structures
This is definitely the game I spent the most time with. My brother and I worked together to defeat the first 2 dragons (each 1 took 2 tries) across 3+ hours. We didn’t fight the black dragon because it was getting late and it looked really hard to make the structure. When we get time though, I do want to try to fight the black dragon.
I like the emergent mechanics and the puzzle of figuring out how to build the structures. Usually I think information about a game should be inside the game, but in this case it feels like it fits well outside of the game, as if the player character already knows exactly what they need to do. The game does put a lot of faith in the player to figure out the puzzle though, which may scare some people away.
One of the tags is “Singleplayer-focused”, but as far as I can tell the game works well in multiplayer too, and I can’t think of a reason why it would be more fun single player than multiplayer co-op. I would recommend playing this game with friends, because working together makes the fights easier. But, if you can only play single player, then I would still recommend the game (set aside lots of time though!).
Unconvincing
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
Bad. I'm greeted with many console warnings. This is barely a game, almost just an (incomplete) sandbox. You just walk around in a maze and kill people. There does not seem to be an objective. This is unconvincing.
Broken
PLEASE NOTE: This review is written for the 2021 Minetest Game Jam version of this game, by a PARTICIPANT. I used Minetest version 5.4.1 to playtest.
It's literally unplayable for me. It say "Jump to play" but when I do that, nothing happens. I tried that multiple times, but failed. I'm sorry. :-(