LÖVE

Want to wander through a forest brewing potions to save a cat? Potions is the game for you!

Potions was my submission to the 2023 Love2D Game Jam. While it did not fare as well as my previous entry, I did get some really helpful feedback. I've taken that feedback and published a post jam version. It's live now at https://alexjgriffith.itch.io/potions

Any further recommendations would be greatly appreciated. What I am trying to improve is the discoverability of features / game enjoyment and engagement. Do you think the tutorial wizard shares enough information, or would it benefit from a tutorial section? Would you rather the puzzles become more complex with the current abilities, or should I focus on implementing effects for the other potions?

I love this kind of game so I liked it

The first things I said to myself (very negligible details for a Game Jam game that is frankly clean in my eyes):

• The collision of the feet with the pressure plates is strange, which meant that I hadn't noticed that they were pressing on them and that I hadn't understood what to do with the stones (only 30 seconds, I quickly understood all the same, and I also assumed that it's to have the sprite of the stone in the right place then, I didn't check the code at all but the average player doesn't think that kind of thing, to see if that happens too to others)

• When you put the stone back and you're just above the hill, the stone seems "mounted" on the hill (I'm the only one who comes across this kind of thing? xD)

• And I thought for two seconds that there was a bug because the sprite was not going down but I'm stupid and tired, especially since it's understandable given the time limit of a Game Jam.

• I was able to do at one time the four potions (if these are the right names) "mixture of levitation", "brew of bed", "dragon hide compound",
  and "invisibility potion" all of a sudden (maybe I smeared too much) while thinking of having to make a choice at the start, I was a little disappointed.

• With the levitation potion I thought I could fly but I could barely walk on water, well maybe I'm asking a lot but maybe give it several levels or another name? I don't know, maybe I'm looking too much for logic where you shouldn't be looking, especially when it comes to magic

But frankly a very good job and above all I like the idea, I still found the game very pleasant and very clear, the character at the beginning gives enough details in my opinion, so personally I like games that project you into a world where it's up to you to understand and discover everything, this is not the case for everyone but your game seemed rather easy to me suddenly, I would prefer more complexity but it is really personal, to see the opinion of others.

Bravo!

Note: I was disappointed that I could not carry the cat but do not let me have this power

Thanks for the feedback Still working on ideas of how to handle the other 4 potions

I see what you mean about the mounting. I'll see what I can do to clean it up

Picking up the cat! Now that is an idea

Nice art.

Bigfoot71 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 2:25 am
Note: I was disappointed that I could not carry the cat but do not let me have this power

Lol

Edit: Checked out the page.
...and...

I like the comedy.

I WISH I COULD WRITE FUNNY STUFF LIKE THAT, how do you do it

a lovely game, pleasant to play. Finished the web version. Nothing I can add, other than I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Maybe more NPCs, or quests, or random events.

Game looks amazing!

Post contains mild spoilers.

Not the kind of game I usually play but I gave it a try.
I recorded my first blind attempt:

There is no commentary or anything, I just record sometimes because it might be helpful to see others play.

The reflections in the water look good.
I basically ran around and collected everything that I could pick up. The tutorial wizard was okay.
I liked the graphics and the atmosphere seemed nice so I was happy to walk around some more to look at things.
the world seemed varied enough as is, Maybe there could be a little more stuff to look at, some NPC or animals or a waterfall.

Random notes:
1) I did not notice that the green glowing thing is a pressure plate switch.
I thought that it was the brewing pot. So the first minutes I stand on the switch and randomly click through the inventory.
In hindsight that was pretty dumb. Maybe the pot could have a smoke animation from the fire to make it more visible.

2) The dark-brown ground sometimes has those light-brown edges that can not be crossed.
It looks like normal flat ground to me, so that was confusing. Only later I noticed that it is meant to be cliffs.

3) Even when I placed the stone on the green switch, I did not notice the green gate opening.
Maybe because the gates look just like normal fence pieces. In the start area there are three colored fence pieces, I thought it was just a randomly painted fence.

4) When I arrived at the second (or third?) switch, I went back to the first stone to put it onto the plate.
I had not noticed that there was another stone. Then I failed to find my way back from the house to the switch.

5) At the end, the game hang up. The music still looped but it did not react anymore to keyboard or mouse input.

Thanks for giving it a go! I should probably use a different colour for the cliff tops. I was trying to get away with a minimal pallet. Those fences! I added a sound effect to let you know something is happening, but maybe it would be a good place to add a nice particle effect? I do really like love's particle effect system.

I played this game. And in the first gameplay, i didn't need to collect any ingredients. I was able to pick up the stone without brewing any potion. And then i went to the cat and tapped Space, and the cat got recovered with the Life of Elixir. What was that? I didn't even go to the other side of the map. Under 30 seconds, the game was completed. minecraft apk

Then the page with Replay and Quit buttons didn't work. I kept clicking on the Replay button, but no response.
Then i had to reopen the Potions page and restore the game.
In the second gameplay, it was all normal. Did anyone experience it?

@Felxi I did a test of the web version and the linux version and they seem to be working as intended. Which version were you running?