HayMan’s Really Real Reviews — Jam 10 edition

HayMan’s Virtually Veritable Votes

My votes go to:

  • 1st Place — Rainbows Below – Lune  (24/24 points)
  • 2nd Place — Redemption – chessmasterriley (24/24 points)
  • 3rd Place — Papantzin – GameDevDan (24/24 points)

  • Best Use Of Theme – Outlander – Coolbot4k
  • Best Use Of Handicap – Seeing Blue – True Valhalla
  • Best Presentation – Smithereens – Fireball16
The HayMan Favorite List:
Best Weirdness ——————– Outlander – Coolbot4k
Best Old School ——————– Paraverse – jett87
Best Eye-Popping Graphics —– Redemption – chessmasterriley
Best Artsy-Fartsy —————— Sriggy Moggful – orange08
Best 3D —————————— Polar bear and Penguins: Antarctic Battle – Greenblizzard
Best Potential ———————– Skyscraper Kingdoms – Snail_Man
Best Originality ——————— Matrix 6 – Earthwalker
Best Humor ————————- Nut a joke gaem 2 – Lukasmah
Best Worst Game —————– Nut Kick – IrfanFox


The rest of the rankings:
  1. –
  2. –
  3. –
  4. (23) – Introductions – @Alex@
  5. (23) – Hi Me Ro Me – NAL
  6. (22) – Mission: Demolition – swifty & teamsteeve
  7. (21) – Distant Mind – 11clock
  8. (21) – The Four Doors – Exkakx
  9. (21) – Eternal Chamber – newkill
  10. (21) – Purple Intruders – SecondReality
  11. (21) – Hitman – Joh
  12. (21) – Smithereens – Fireball16
  13. (20) – For a Lost Hat – Gorkiller
  14. (20) – F.O.D. (Foreign Object Detection) – chance
  15. (20) – Seeing Blue – True Valhalla
  16. (20) – Cyan – amcd
  17. (19) – Sriggy Moggful – orange08
  18. (19) – 8bit Vomit – Yal
  19. (18) – Paraverse – jett87
  20. (18) – Defend the Homelands – MishMash
  21. (18) – Polar bear and Penguins: Antarctic Battle – Greenblizzard
  22. (18) – Ego in Hoc V Horarum – Darzoz
  23. (18) – Nut a joke gaem 2 – Lukasmah
  24. (17) – Avoid – SecondReality
  25. (16) – Outlander – Coolbot4k
  26. (16) – Matrix 6 – Earthwalker
  27. (16) – Rovitation v1.0 – Team 2Dee/Curio/Dr. D. Flopper
  28. (15) – Slippery Slope – Dadio & Jack
  29. (15) – Intruder ALERT – benf2
  30. (15) – Fortress Face-Off – RekNepZ
  31. (15) – September Campaign – The Legend
  32. (14) – The world I created that I hated – bobmoo
  33. (14) – Death to Zeppelin – Goinbatty
  34. (14) – Dark World – MikeDark_x
  35. (13) – Polaris: Star-crossed – Oracizan
  36. (13) – Bliss – Lilybugged
  37. (13) – Platform 13 – darkwalker247
  38. (12) – The life and times of..this square right here. – makerofthegames
  39. (12) – Samurai Ghost Hunter – 94931355
  40. (12) – When they come – trg601
  41. (12) – Pie in the Face – jordland
  42. (12) – Dust cloud gone mad! – NightGrader
  43. (11) – Greyfield – nightswim
  44. (11) – Snail Racer – Rusty
  45. (11) – Shooting stars – feerple
  46. (11) – RUNNING from the FOREIGN – Bruin Games
  47. (11) – Island Medley – mr magnus
  48. (11) – The Foreign Wars – Overloaded and Jagtiger
  49. (10) – Skyscraper Kingdoms – Snail_Man
  50. (10) – Recrudescence – Dangerous_Dave
  51. (10) – Rain: War You Got – Rusty
  52. (09) – Cursed UFO – The Black Dragon
  53. (08) – Alien Attack – slojanko
  54. (08) – Defend the Treasure  – Sirham
  55. (06) – Borders – gmxo
  56. (06) – Lazer Dojo Death Frenzy – blu3
  57. (05) – Nut Kick – IrfanFox
  58. (05) – Super Jelly Alien – gamemakerfun300
  59. (00) – Rotastic – Brano000

HayMan’s Really Real Reviews

Rating system: Each category gets 0 – 4 points, then the points are totaled for score and averaged for a quick-glance star rating.

This scoring system aint the best, but it’s all I got.  I can live with it.

Theme & Handicap

  • 0 = Both are totally missing from the game.
  • 1 = Usage is very poor and/or one is missing from the game.
  • 2 = Both were incorporated; usage was less than average.
  • 3 = Both were incorporated; usage was average or better.
  • 4 = Excellent usage of both.

Gameplay

  • 0 = What the …?
  • 1 = Below average.
  • 2 = Average.
  • 3 = Above average.
  • 4 = Fun, easy to understand, and challenging.

Graphics

  • 0 = Hire an artist and/or a graphics coder.
  • 1 = Not good, but representative.
  • 2 = They’re okay, but could have been better.
  • 3 = Above average, easy to recognize.
  • 4 = Beautiful, matching, and nicely animated.

Sound FX & Music

  • 0 = Both were nonexistent.
  • 1 = Horrible or no music and/or some sound effects are awful.
  • 2 = Tolerable music and sound, but not enough.
  • 3 = Great music, sounds were non-annoying.
  • 4 = Perfect music selection and sound effects that ‘fit’ the game.

Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, In-game messaging, Tutorials, etc

  • 0 = None used.
  • 1 = Hard to understand.
  • 2 = Functional, but uninteresting or very plain.
  • 3 = Nicely incorporated and game-fitting.
  • 4 = Excellent use of these peripheral game utilities, enhancing the overall experience.

HayMan Likablility

  • 0 = Completely hated it; won’t play it again. (No offense.)
  • 1 = Didn’t like playing it.
  • 2 = Meh.
  • 3 = Liked it, and might play it again.
  • 4 = Saved it to my hard drive and gave it a shortcut. :)

I believe that a game should include all directions and explanations in-game. If your game is not easily understood just by playing it, it’s going to get marked down. I may or may not include a few random thoughts about the game, but I will display the final score and a zero-to-four star rating system based on the average of the category scores, rounded up. The scores will determine the ranking. In the event of ties, simply, the game I liked better gets a higher ranking.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

I want to express my utmost appreciation to all the developers here who take valuable time out of their lives to place that value on creating these games for this competition and developing games in general.  It is a pleasure to participate with you all, and be entertained by your games, whether they are outstanding by the highest standard or lousy to pointless extremes.  I truly enjoy playing, reviewing, and otherwise participating in the Jam discussion board.  I even enjoy the games I don’t enjoy, if that makes any sense at all.  Thank you for your obvious mighty and tenacious efforts.

with (obj_previous_paragraph)
{

The things I say about the games in my reviews are MY OWN OPINIONS.  These comments reflect what I like or don’t like in games — my personal taste of what makes a good game, or even more generally, what is good game play or good game elements.  My preferences will not always match anyone else’s.  Any comments or suggestions I write in these reviews are only suggestions for consideration.  They, by no means, portend that you should change your game, or keep it the same, to make it any better — I’m definitely not an expert, nor try to pretend to be.  I just know what I like.  I’m old-school from the old-school, but do like pretty graphics.  I sincerely hope to only and humbly (or sometimes not-so-humbly) give my honest opinion as constructive criticism for the advantage of the developer.

}

And one last thing….  I love you.  Shocked

 

REVIEWS

(I decided to use the randomizer and my old reviewing system again.  It was just easier.)

 

8-Bit Vomit – Yal

3.5 stars

19 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of the 8 bit genre, but this game had me for a bit. (8 bits in fact) 🙂  I got to the second(?) lever/switch level and it got too brainy for me.  I had to stop and rest my noggin.  The music started to shake my brain to bits, too.  Well done by making me like something that i don’t really like. 🙂

A Gentlemanly Game of Pie in the Face – jordland

2 stars

12 points  out of 24

  • 1 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 1 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
At first glance, this seemed like it was going to be pretty cool, but after playing it, it was pretty limited.  I could only play ‘one-player’, so there was no AI.  The jumping around guy was humorous and cute, but was hard to control.  I tried to move around to other platforms, but it always proved futile and pointless.  Character art and simple animations were great!  The music seemed fitting at first, but got really grating after a while.  If this is truly your first experience with Gamemaker, then this was an excellent job!

Alien attack – slojanko

1.5 stars

8 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 0 — Sound FX & Music
  • 1 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I got all the way thru and blew up the aliens!  But it was rather boring, even tho it took a few tries on a couple levels.  There were no instructions, so I had to figure this one out on my own.  Not good.  I don’t know if I’m missing something or not.  I think if the sprites were scaled down, or the room was bigger, this would be a little better.  No sound makes it horribly drab.  Neat idea, just needs work.

Avoid – SecondReality

3 stars

17 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
At level two, I couldn’t get past the spinney things, so after about ten attempts, I stopped playing.  Nice colors on well-done, simple graphics.  Music fit the scene, but coulda used more sound FX.  A little more explanation woulda been nice, but there was enough to know what to do.  Not a bad game, but not all that exciting or interesting for my tastes.

Bliss – Lilybugged

2.5 star

13 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 0 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This looked like a neat RPG when I started, but it didn’t last very long.  Very short, indeed.  Nice start to a game tho.  I liked the graphics for the type of game it was.  I didn’t really like the running level, but ok.  Not sure what was going on with the other figure there with me.  Lack of story explanation, I guess.  Obviously needed more time with this one.

Borders – gmx0

1 star

6 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 0 — Gameplay
  • 1 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 0 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I placed the castle then looked around.  People started walking around all over.  They broke the fence.  After some time clicking around, I found out I could fix the fence by clicking on it.  And that’s all there was to this ‘game’.  Something tells me it wasn’t finished.

Cursed UFO – The Black Dragon

1.5 stars

9 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 1 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
The music reminded me of the old Dune movie (which is a good thing).  The sound FX seemed too basic and boring, tho. I didn’t care for the graphics, I thought the bad guys coulda been better.  I hated the fact that I couldn’t jump with the up arrow.  With more work and time, this probably wouldn’t be so bad to me, but using a shield and not a gun is always less exciting.  No errors, so well done. 🙂

Cyan – amcd

3.5 stars

20 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 3 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Fun platformer!  Great music and good sound FX.  The graphics were simple and superb.  The handicap was brilliantly done, but the theme seemed a bit lacking.  After a while of playing, I wished I could turn off just the music, but that has nothing to do with the way I scored this game.  Great job!

Dark World – MikeDark_x

2.5 stars

14 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 0 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Those controls are seriously messed up!  I gave this a shot, but I just couldn’t control the movement. It went backwards, and shifted all over.  I try to go up, but i go down.  I try to go left, but I go up.  Horrible.  The graphics looked great, even tho the character sprite was a bit cheap (just a white dot).  The music reminded me of Rusty’s “Shoot the Pigeon”.  I would say more, but I was unable to play it more with the messed up control mechanism.

DEATH to ZEPPELIN – Goinbatty

2.5 stars

14 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
1942, but with bi-planes and zeppelins.  As simple as this game is, it was still kinda fun — but only for a little while.  The use of handicap coulda been better.  I couldn’t see my bullets, so I wasn’t sure if I was hitting the target or not.  The chain reaction idea was good and fun, but a little inside help (from programming) woulda been nice, just for fun/excitement factor.  The graphics were pretty, and the music seemed very fitting, even tho it and the bi-plane predates your timeline. Just details. 🙂

Defend the Homelands – MishMash

3 stars

18 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 3 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This game played excruciatingly slow.  Also, there were glitches in the graphics, with the dead floating around on the screen.  Also, I noticed that two workers from the same side had to walk way around each other and I thought that was unnecessary. They could’ve just walked right thru each other and that would’ve been acceptable.  Random map generation is nice.  The economics seemed balanced.  The great music choice made up for the lack of sound fx.  Nice game — I hope to see it finished.

Defend The Treasure – Sirham

1.5 stars

8 points  out of 24

  • 1 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 1 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I tried it, but I really didn’t know what I was doing.  So I tried it again.  But I still had a hard time grasping the concept.  I think it needs more explanation, or maybe some help tips while playing.  Definitely could have used mouse-over help text.

Distant Mind – 11clock

3.5 stars

21 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
11clock can make a platformer skill/action game for me anytime.  This is just awesome.  Great mysterious story (slightly weak on the theme, but it’s there) and excellent difficulty progression.  Graphics were simple but some great FX were used for movement, background, and cutscene (static).  Loved the music, and the sound FX were just fine.  I got stuck on the in/out ladder with the falling reds.  Does that make any sense at all?  Loved this one and I’ll be playing it again until I can conquer the evil red.

Dust cloud gone mad! – NightGrader

2 stars

12 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 1 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Space Invaders, but different.  Everything seemed bland.  I played a couple of times, but couldn’t really get into it.  No music and the one sound effect probably didn’t help.  I liked the rocket trail.  No errors, either, and solid mechanics.  Just a bit on the boring side.

Ego in Hoc V Horarum – Darzoz

3 stars

18 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This was a neat platformer.  The movement took a little getting used to.  Also, I barely saw the theme.  It was still pretty fun, but I quit when I couldn’t get past the invisible blocks and it started me all the way over.  I’ll probably play it again because now I’m curious as to how it ends.  Nice solid game.

Eternal Chamber – newkill

3.5 stars

21 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Holy fan blades, Batman!  This game is brutal!  Excellent puzzler, but a little too brainy for my tastes.  I’m feeling pretty lazy currently.  Very nicely made game!

F.O.D. (Foreign Object Detection) – chance

3.5 stars

20 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Needed some cool music to go along with it.  Nice puzzles and great physics.  The last one kept me at it for a while. Suggestion:  A limited number of blades, too.  Fun game, and I wanted more when it was over.  Scoring would be fun, too.

For a Lost Hat – Gorkiller

3.5 stars

20 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 3 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I really liked this one, too.  Cool RPG platformer!  I didn’t play too long, but played enough to make a rating.  Really solid game.  Lost some points for forgetting to grey-scale the magic menu.  🙂  Now, I can’t wait to get back to this one and play the ‘in-color’ version!

Fortress Face-Off – RekNepZ

2.5 stars

15 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 1 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Nice little game.  Simple. I liked it, but i think it needs some fine tuning.  No music and really basic sounds — coulda been better.  This game would have really been helped out by some mouse-over info text.  Cool game, I really like the idea.

Greyfield – nightswim

2 stars

11 points  out of 24

  • 1 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Didn’t see the theme.  Movement seemed a little too fast or slightly uncontrollable.  Too hard to make a ‘turn-back’ jump from a little ledge on the cliffside.  Makes it unnecessarily frustrating.  There was really no gameplay except jumping thru platforms to find the end.  Not a big fan of the graphics, either.  Nice start to a platformer, tho.

Hi Me Ro Me – NAL

4 stars

23 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
What an awesome arcade action game!  Very nicely done!  I don’t know what the ‘foreign’ is here, but running up a spiral is pretty close, I guess.  This game is very well designed.  Nice work, NAL.

Hitman – Joh

3.5 stars

21 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Where’s Waldo??  I was seriously hoping to see Waldo walk across the screen.  The music was great.  I wondered if I was being fooled when I couldn’t see any differences and find the foriegn spy.  How do I (the player) know I didn’t get cheated by the program?  Great game for teaching the benefits of racial profiling!  (j/k)  I played this one about 20 times.  Well done.

Introductions – @Alex@

4 stars

23 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
First of all, awesome choice in music!  I love that funky stuff!  Secondly, what the ham sandwich?  How do you get past the level with the teleportation switches?  I’ll have to play it again, which won’t bother me in the least.  Funny aliens, fun game, and I can’t wait to get back to it.  Lost a point for no sound fx, but the game is still great.  Nice work.

Intruder ALERT – benf2

2.5 stars

15 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 3 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 0 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Minesweeper, but easier and with way cooler graphics.  Actually, it might have been too easy.  Needs sound, badly.  Also, coulda used a little more explanation.

Island Medley – mr magnus

2 stars

11 points  out of 24

  • 1 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I didn’t see any color in the game, so the handicap score suffered.  I really didn’t like the gameplay.  It worked, but I didn’t like it.  The graphics were pretty good.  Music was fine, but I don’t remember hearing any sounds.  Overall, an okay game, but not my cup of tea.

Lazer Dojo Death Frenzy – blu3

1 star

6 points  out of 24

  • 1 — Theme & Handicap
  • 0 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 1 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 0 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Due to a game killing error, I couldn’t play long enough to figure this one out.  I scored it by what I was able to gather from the three times I tried it.

Matrix 6 – Earthwalker

3 stars

16 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 1 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Well, I wasn’t too excited about this game when I first saw it, but when I played it, I couldn’t stop.  I finally rage-quit when the “mighty Wipe Out” was too much for me.  🙂  Great game-play.  Too bad the only other color was the player cube.  A little more color with the enemy would’ve been good.  Grey-scaling the enemy with ‘matrix green’ and leaving the player white with a black background would’ve been awesome!  No sound FX or music wasn’t good (except for in the menu). Great job with the story-line.

Mission: Demolition – swifty & teamsteeve

4 stars

22 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 3 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Great stuff here!  The controls seemed to be slightly off, for some reason.  They did what they were supposed to do, but they seemed strange to me.  Not sure why, probably just me.  I really liked this game, and I couldn’t wait to play it.  I wasn’t disappointed!

Nut a joke gaem 2 – Lukasmah

3 stars

18 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 3 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I know you wanted to score low with this, but I think you did an excellent job of programming a working, buggy game!  The lag was precious!  Gameplay received a high score from me because you had to figure out the lag and the fact that the ‘atak’ wouldn’t work all the time.  And the horrible spelling and grammar in the plain message boxes were awesome!  I won the game and was hit with a beautiful game-breaking error to top it all off.  I am truly tempted to give this a perfect score, because everything about it is perfectly game-fitting.  Very well done, Lukasmah.  Very well done, indeed.

Nut Kick – IrfanFox

1 star

5 points  out of 24

  • 1 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 1 — Graphics
  • 0 — Sound FX & Music
  • 0 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This game is sorely unfinished.  Still, I kinda liked it.

Outlander – Coolbot4k

3 stars

16 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 3 — Gameplay
  • 1 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I felt like I was on an old Vic 20!  This was definitely meant to be minimalist, I’m guessing.  But I like better graphics.  The music and sound were fine, and fit the game well.  Absolutely fit the theme as I was lost in cluelessness about these ‘things’ I was trying to talk to and help out.  I actually spent waaaaay too much time playing this game.  After realizing it was monopolizing my time, I decided I might come back to it later.  Way to pull me into a game I didn’t like the looks of in the first place!  🙂  Bravo!

Papantzin – GameDevDan

4 stars

24 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Perfect score!!  The only thing about this game that I can criticize is that it’s short.  But perfect for the Jam.  Way to go, Dan!  Beautiful!
Paraverse – jett87

3 stars
18 points  out of 24
  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Magnificent!  Reminded me of the old ‘Space Wars’ mixed in with ‘Asteroids’.  I think I woulda preferred the space button to shoot, but using the mouse made selecting upgrades easy, so I understood.  I just kept trying to aim with my mouse.  The triangle ship was hard to see which way it was facing until I shot or thrusted.  The use of handicap coulda been better.   A bold ‘Next Wave’ message would be nice.  Some music woulda been nice, too.  Loved the game, and I’m adding it to my collection. 🙂

Platform 13 – darkwalker247

2.5 stars

13 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I could only get about 9 steps from the starting point before dying — about 350 points.  I had tunnel vision, and something, half-invisible, table things were blocking my path.  I couldn’t get a bead on the flying ghost things to shoot at them.  After trying this game a few times, it was easy to decide that it was no fun.  The graphics looked nice, tho.

Polar bear and Penguins: Antarctic Battle – Greenblizzard

3 stars

18 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 3 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 0 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
No sound, too bad!!  I really liked it and will play it again.  Excellent, pinko-liberal, save-the-planet message!  lol.  I hope you update this with music and sound.  Nice work!

Polaris: Star-crossed – Oracizan

2.5 stars

13 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 0 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 0 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This was looking really cool, but it is sadly unfinished.  There were no instructions, and all I could figure out was right, left, and shove.  I couldn’t find a jump, so I couldn’t advance.  The sprite animation was supurb!  Those alien guys looked like sleestaks from ‘Land of the Lost’.  I hope you finish this one because I really liked what I saw so far.

Purple Intruders – SecondReality

3.5 stars

21 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I didn’t think I’d like this as much as I did.  Fun, solid arcade action here.  I scored 53.  (You should multiply the score by a cheap 1000.  Then add an online scoreboard.)  Good, game-fitting music makes up for no sound fx.  Sound fx for shots fired woulda been overwhelming and annoying anyway.  Nice job with this one.  I liked playing it a lot.

Rain: War You Got – Rusty

2 stars

10 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 0 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Well… not sure what to say here, but I couldn’t figure it out.  When I died and tried to restart, the game errored.  The menu looked nice, but there were no options.  No instructions either.  This game would be cool if the AC was on.  🙂

Rainbows Below – Lune

4 stars

24 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Awesome!  Everything about this game is perfect.  I got about 340 feet(?) up at my highest point. After playing for about 25 attempts I finally rage quit.  Not in a bad way, tho.  I’m definitely coming back to this one to finish it.  Great game, Lune!

Recrudescence – Dangerous_Dave

2 stars

10 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 1 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Theme and handicap were fine, but could have used color better, I think.  The music got to me only after a little while.  Movement seemed too slow.  Everything about this game seemed too plain.  No errors, tho!  🙂

Redemption – chessmasterriley

4 stars

24 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 4 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Wow.  Just, wow.  My only suggestion is to build up to the final battle a little better.  It seemed too tough and drawn out.  But again, wow.

Rotastic – Brano000

0 stars

0 points  out of 24

  • 0 — Theme & Handicap
  • 0 — Gameplay
  • 0 — Graphics
  • 0 — Sound FX & Music
  • 0 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 0 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Shame on you.

Rovitation v1.0 – Team 2Dee

3 stars

16 points  out of 24

  • 1 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
The music was awesome!  I love that funky stuff!  Makes up for the lack of sound FX, but none were really needed anyway.  Pretty cool idea, but needs a speed button, or something.

RUNNING from the FOREIGN – Bruin Games

2 stars

11 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 1 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I didn’t like that I had such limited control over my character.  I understand this is supposed to be a runner game, but I would have liked to at least been able to speed up or slow down.  The jump was a little touchy.  Sometimes it would jump immediately upon landing and mess up the next jump.  The graphics were recognizable, but I thought they coulda been better.  On a positive note, I didn’t experience any errors and the menu system was pretty good.

Samurai Ghost Hunter – 94931355

2 stars

12 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
The attack moves were extremely slow (except for space bar attack), and I couldn’t tell if I was hitting the ‘ghosts’ or not.  Also, no sound FX to help me.  The graphics were, meh, not bad, but coulda been better.  This is not a horrible entry by any means, but needed more time to iron out the wrinkles, in my opinion.

Seeing Blue – True Valhalla

3.5 stars

20 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This was pretty fun and I wouldn’t expect less from TV.  My only beef with it is it looked an awful lot like Disillusion (Jam 5).  Thanks to the particle effects and the screen shake, the graphics scored a perfect four. I really liked the laser-like bullets, too.  The music was cool, but there were no sound FX.  Too bad.  I really liked this for what it was, but it was slightly lacking in a few areas.

September Campaign – The Legend

2.5 stars

15 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I didn’t play this very long, but I got to round 5 with 420 points.  420!  I’ll play this one again and update the review later, when I’m in a darker room.

UPDATE:  Okay, I’ve replayed this and it did’t really change my opinion.  I think this game was a good idea, but there was no real strategy to it, that I could find.  Hide behind something and shoot the bad guys coming at you.  Cool, moody music, tho!

Shooting stars – feerple

2 stars

11 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 1 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I didn’t know how to advance to the play screen until I guessed to hit the shift key.  I didn’t know to move off the screen to the right, until I just guessed it.  Actually, I didn’t even know I could move at all, for half of the first screen.  It took me a couple screens to figure out a good strategy.  I would have played it a second time, but the game just completely closed when the time ran out.  No summary, no menu, no nothing.  The game just ends and closes.  Weird.

Skyscraper Kingdoms – Snail_Man

2 stars

10 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 0 — Sound FX & Music
  • 1 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This is quite the undertaking for a 72 hour Jam game!  A game like this desperately needs mouse-over help text.  Builder/tycoon type games are my favorite type of game, but this one had too many things going on and not enough easily seen and understood info to tell me what it was that was going on.  Does that make any sense?  Anyway, I really like the idea and I’d like to see this game after another 72 hours put into it.

Slippery Slope – Dadio & Jack

2.5 stars

15 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Japan is a foreign nation?  Really, that’s all you had?  Anyway, this game worked.  Just needs an online high score table.  The music was borderline bad, but seemed to fit the game rather well.  All in all, this game was melons!  Way to go, Dadio!  (and Jack)  My best score was… aw, nevermind.

Smithereens – Fireball16

3.5 stars

21 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 3 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I was blown to smithereens!  This was a great little arcade-type game.  Reminded me of Missile Command.  Graphics were good enough.  I think the ufo’s should have stopped above the people a bit higher up and took a little while to beam them up, giving you a chance to shoot them dead and save your guy better.  But that’s just a small point/suggestion.  Overall, good job!
NOTE:  The game ‘Smithereens’ should not be confused with the band ‘The Smithereens’.  🙂

Snail Racer – Rusty

2 stars

11 points  out of 24

  • 1 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
My 6-year-old daughter loved playing this game with me.  But she’s six.  I suppose snails are kinda foriegn.  The gameplay was very minimalist.  The graphics were nice enough.  I liked the cartoon snails and my daughter liked the big eye watching them.  No sound fx, but the music was okay.  Nice game for 6-year-olds and their dads. 🙂

Specimen – Team Boilerplate

What a cool game!  The character sprites and animations rock!  Everyone should play it!  🙂
Sriggy Moggful – orange08

3.5 stars

19 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 4 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This was interesting.  Hardly anything here as far as gameplay is concerned, but this absolutely evoked an emotional response from me.  But when it was over, I was lost and somewhat depressed.  I suppose the ‘win’ here is finding a ‘teacher/mentor/friend’ in a foriegn place that may help you be accepted.  Not sure, but that’s what I get out of it.  More of an interactive movie than a game, I would think.  Very artfully done, as I wouldn’t expect any less from orange08.  A little more gameplay challenge would have brought the score way up for this one.

Super Jelly Alien – gamemakerfun300

1 star

5 points  out of 24

  • 2 — Theme & Handicap
  • 0 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 1 — Sound FX & Music
  • 0 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 0 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
This game is unplayable.  The jump doesn’t work, and there is no help screen.  Graphics looked okay, tho.

The Foreign Wars – Overloaded and Jagtiger

2 stars

11 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
That was a lot of reading!  There were a lot of grammatical errors.  I thought the sprites were way too big.  You couldn’t shoot upwards, so you pretty much had to stay at the top of the screen.  This game needs some work.

The Four Doors – Exkakx

3.5 stars

21 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 4 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 4 — Sound FX & Music
  • 4 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 3 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Fast moving platformer!  It was pretty fun, but kinda crazy.  Loved the music choice, it really amped things up!

The life and times of..this square right here. – makerofthegames

2 stars

12 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 2 — Gameplay
  • 2 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 1 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
I’ll just be honest.  I didn’t like playing this game.  It’s very plain looking and the fast moving parts were too difficult to control, way above my patience level.  Use of theme was pretty weak, but hay.  No errors,tho.  And the level animation was pretty cool.

The world I created that I hated – bobmoo

2.5 stars

14 points  out of 24

  • 3 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 3 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 3 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
Moody game, but a little too simple.  I’d prefer the jump to be a little higher and have a walking animation.  The background was nicely done.  Not much for gameplay here, either, and a depressing story.

When they come – trg601

2 stars

12 points  out of 24

  • 4 — Theme & Handicap
  • 1 — Gameplay
  • 1 — Graphics
  • 2 — Sound FX & Music
  • 2 — Intros, Menus, Cutscenes, in-game messaging, etc
  • 2 — HayMan Likablility
Random Thoughts
YAY!!!  I saved the planet!  But it wasn’t fast and easy.  I had to climb over buildings, and keep from getting stuck in walls, and jump into acid.  It was pretty weird.  That music was lunatic!  lol.

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