itch.io

You are welcome, its a fantastic little game. If you have anything that you want to write/share to others reading the thread (it had around 2.200 views so far), let me know and I can put a message from the developer in :)

And a dev log would be neat, I think this type of game massively benefits from seeing others engaging with it, seeing some highscores or even finding a few solutions/tips here or there if people are stuck.

World 2 - Take Care has the same issue of the goal not appearing. I have another video if you need it.

I can already see the millions of future Micro Dash players thanking me for my service of not losing their sanity in that level, haha. ;)

World 2: Ghost in the Shell seems to have another bug:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1439109533

The following time stamps show all wall areas after collecting all gems and none highlight up for the goal:
43:15
1:00:00
1:06:55

Seems like the goal is missing/not activating.

Also as a small suggestion, I would highly recommend adding 5-10 seconds to the timer of that level if the goal is somewhere above the wall as its a little bit brutal for the second world ;) If the goal is below the wall, the current time is probably fine.

It works perfect now :) Thanks again for the quick help! Also I just figured out that I was solving this section completely wrong (Just walk up to it and grab it with space bar) and figured you might enjoy seeing my weird workaround, haha

The new version apparently includes an active cheat code that unlocks every level from the start, haha. It gives me 15000 score and 150 Opals right away :)  Apparently it only does so if I use it on my old PC with the old save file? When I test it on a new PC, everything is normal.
Might only be an issue for someone who already has a save file, a bit weird.

I am using windows, but it seems to be still the case on the current windows version that I downloaded a few days ago, unless I misunderstood and you haven't updated it yet :)

Yeah, even in a different sequence, that particular teleporter is always broken and immediately crashes to desktop.

I am drumming up some support for it over on Resetera: https://www.resetera.com/threads/micro-dash-boulder-dash-ultimate-free-gift-copi...
and Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/itchioJusticeBundle/comments/tkvrwe/micro_dash_ukraine_...

Might also make a video for my youtube channel Indietiative, we shall see :)

Also quick note, there is a game breaking crash in the middle of the last level in world 1 (end of the video after entering the green teleporter):
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1434672287

Its apparently reproducible, as I triggered it twice in a row in that stream.

Average Session: A few minutes

*stops playing after 4 hours*
Uh-huh. >_>

Dont worry! Just telling you that you really have something special here with the mechanics of Plant Down and your animation style. Its a wonderful and precious thing and one of the most memorable Indie Games I played over all bundles. Please never start waivering about your love for the medium, you are incredibly talented and your work is a treasure for every lover of Indie Games, even if most people havent found you yet, because it is so impossibly hard to gain traction as an unknown developer.

I cant wait to see what else you come up with, or if you go back to design some more bosses.

This is absolutely fantastic, ridiculously underpriced and one of my favourite Indie Games I played in the last few years. Just calling it a Boulder Dash clone would not do it justice. For those who dont know what Boulder Dash is: You try to dig around gathering gems while avoiding being crushed by falling objects. Sounds simple, but in reality makes for some very tense mix of puzzle and action gameplay where you plan out your routes and then pull them off in time.

This is the inofficial spiritual successor to the original Boulder Dash gamesin my books and the best game I ever played in its subgenre. The first world alone would be an amazing Boulder Dash game with its varied challenges, very tight and balanced level design that are a joy to puzzle out over several hours. And then the developer added 5 more worlds of that quality. Some of these levels have no clear explanation of how you even finish the level,making it necessary to explore its mechanics carefully, which I absolutely adore. They are also a blast to optimize for finishing and maximizing your score. That score will also be important to unlock further levels down the line, giving you a perfect incentive to perfect every inch of the self-dug labyrinths.

The game also doesnt mess around with modernizing the level of challenge as the levels in the first world are already genuinely hard, but never unfair. They ask you to keep an open mind, be aware of what your surroundings, experiment with the tools at your disposal and is genuinely a perfect continuation of what Boulder Dash started. New mechanics, new items, hidden secrets, TONS of content and replayability for any level. It is a tiny bit unfortunate how relentless the game is in gating its content if you just want to experience the later levels as the game asks you to really get down with the previous levels, which make keep you stuck for a while occasionally. It also doesnt explain its controls well enough (laying Bombs is right alt + direction), but other than that, this is an amazing, amazing game and faithful sequel to one of the most iconic games ever made. I honestly do not believe you could make a better Boulder Dash sequel while staying true to the roots of the series. 4,5/5

I cant unfortunately join all these discords from the 1.000 Indie Games I played in the last 2 years ;)  I would love to stay in touch though, I have a Steam recommendation list of around 19.000 people and a YT channel with 500 subscribers that hopefully grows still. Mind keeping me in the loop about things? :)
Email would be: Indietiative@gmail.com
Feel free to put me on a mailinglist or something if you want to start one!

Is the Android version not available on Itch? :) I can only see the apple and PC downloads.

Still going through the games from the bundle, and similar to Dee Dum, this is also a fantastic little experience. Seems like I should try more of your games =P

I was ready to immediately dismiss this based on my first impression and I would have been very wrong. I am not the biggest fan of Balloon Fight, so an interpretation of 10 different variations wasnt entirely what I was looking forward to play today. However, the basic idea of distilling a game to its core and playing with the rules that makes the game is endlessly fascinating. How about a mode where you flap to go down instead of up? Or a mode where you need to collect the stars or run out of energy? Or a mode where you poop stars with every flap that can end up hurting you? 

Now not all of the modes are great, not all of the modes will end up your favourite, but even aside from the idea of exploring a game concept this way, the developer also randomly and seemingly accidentally included a Balloon Fight variation that is actually rather genius. There is a Shadow of the Collossus mode where you need to balance your flaps with Stamina and explore some treacherous flapping courses to find the collossi hidden in the world. The mode would need some more balancing, some more thought into level design etc. but its the most fun I ever had with a Balloon Fight game and has huge potential to be its own game. This is a collection worth looking into if you enjoy thinking about game design.

Great job!

This is a magnificient, marvellous little thing. Its unfortunately only available on Android, but everyone with an Android phone needs to play this. The developer previously made a very sizeable action roguelike called Mask Up in a similar style (free for Android on itch) and decided to pair back his ambition for Plant Down, while doubling down on the mechanics and polish of the experience. Plant Down is 3 bosses and thats it. Its not a long game, but the creativity, unique control scheme, lovely animations, and simply good boss design makes this a bite sized adventure worth experiencing. I would gladly pay money for more bosses, or variations/difficulty levels of the existing ones. I wish there was more, but what is here is gold. 4/5

I have done that for my other lists on my profile, I literally spent 20 hours at least just sorting them over time, which is madness.

Happy that those lists were of help to others :) Just a matter of finding the time really and Itch makes it unfortunately incredibly time intensive to sort those lists.

This is a clever little game. I feel like this is one of those games that will be eternally misunderstood by most people looking at it or even playing the first level, as it seems overly simplistic at first. Its a puzzle platformer, but nothing like I ever played. Most puzzle platformers bring huge evoking concepts to the table (Time travel in Braid, super complex riddles in FEZ,etc), but rarely do I see a game where the basic platforming itself is the puzzle. From the top of my head, I surprisingly cant think of any. This is more akin to a traditional puzzle game in that regard, as you need to plan out your steps to be able to finish a level and by keeping it all very self contained and with few elements. 

The goal is to get both elements to their destination while moving both of them at the same time, meaning you need to be aware of how their surroundings affect them. The levels dont get too overbearing either, so that the amount of complex maneuvers is kept to a minimum. Its a bit unfortunate that the game looks as simple as it does, but my biggest complaint is the balancing and variety of level elements. This feels like a first world of a grander game, introducing smaller elements that you need to interact with and learn their intricacies of, and due to being focussed on a very specific single idea, you'll learn some tricks on your own way before they introduced later on. This is still absolutely worth playing and I hope the developer returns to this at some point to add to the idea.

Question to the developer:
How far are you off from the $100 income across all platforms?

Filaipus already mentioned most of my issues, as we've talked a bit in a different place, so I am just going to focus on the design aspect. I'd second any of his mentions (especially the text adjustments) and also throw in another mention of playing around with pixel/voxel graphics for the main character and potentially rebranding the game name. Most people looking for this type of game are primed to look for "Runner" names, maybe something like "Void Runner DX" or whatever, just a random idea, but I highly suggest finding a different character style first and then brain storming new brand ideas.

I would also really suggest you work with very simple blown up pixel graphics and try to get a first version up to see how you like those (there are plenty of free pixel/Voxel assets out there)

They might not even need to be fully animated, just a 2 step animation might be enough (think the first bit trip runner or the little character from the game and watch series)

Actually, you might even get away with trying entirely 2d pixel assets as well, as the game is relatively flat anyway. Do play around with those! That would also allow for an endless amount of fun unlockables that could be simple assets.

I was already thinking of offering the Steam release fee as well, but I see filaipus also had that covered ;)

Do keep us in the loop please. I want to see where you guys take it from here and would love to playtest some more when you come up with a new version or you need some opinion on character design decisions.

In case someone else has the issue: 7z is a file compression extension from a program called 7zip. You can download it for free to unzip the folder. Just google it, its actually a very handy free tool that I would also recommend installing anyway :) 

Perfect, thanks!

I managed to play about 1/6th of the bundle so far, but reordering all of the games every time takes a lot of time for itch collections. Thats why I'll play some more and then throw up a bigger list all at once in a bit. Feel free to follow my profile to get notified once I put up the list: https://tomalexi.itch.io/

I'll probably end up playing 20-30 more over the next few days and then throw up my first ranking list with my ranking and commentary as I did for the old bundles.

Anyone know what the latest 5 new titles were that got added to the bundle today/yesterday?

Gladly :) I have reviewed about a thousand games in the past 2 years, just for context. You really have something special here.
I would gladly write you some more feedback, want me to do that here, on discord, via mail? Let me know!

I... did not expect this to be as good as it is.

Its a Bit Trip Runner style game where you only have one button to jump and need to get through an increasingly difficult set of levels. Despite its looks, and I cant believe I am saying this, this has honestly the potential to be one of the best games in its subgenre. The level layouts are simply good, but the visual trick the dev pulled for the level progression was a stroke of genius, as the levels get created right before you.

Its simple, but its incredibly effective to draw you in and want to explore this very simplistic looking game for its visual tricks and well done level of challenge. I have some gripes with it, like the mobile UI, the start delays, ultimately uninteresting ball graphic unlocks and some slightly childish language and most of all missing highscore leaderboards for its absolutely fantastic endless runner modes, but if the dev takes this game and polishes this up, this could honestly be a huge niche hit. The gameplay and levels are top quality, though. Absolutely recommended to check out.

@dev: If you do want to get in touch for more precise feedback, let me know!

So. Bunnies are cute, right? Well this game is also one of the best Indie war metaphors/fables I have encountered and absolutely hammers and sickles home the attrocities of war. At its core, its a short and simple game of survival, where you deny your opponents valuable resources, so your rabbit population grows, while theirs decline.

I suppose you already realize what this is about, but its also specifically republished as a game based on the current Ukraine conflict and I am honestly not sure how much I should spoil here as the transition in the game works as a wonderful and horrible metaphor for how a ever expanding greed for expansion leads down a dangerous path, until you find yourself setting up Gatling guns at the homes of the opposing rabbits, none of them surviving until adulthood under the constant fire and in the off chance of a single rabbit actually escaping the gatling fire, succumbing to famine and loneliness. Its simple, but works so, so well.

Highly recommended to play. Contender for the Games as Art debate list.

Hey, thanks for the reply :) I just started it up again to try it out some more and you are right, I was approaching it from a wrong mindset. If I understand it right, the combat is mostly around telekinesis throwing then, right? Guns mostly just as a last resort to finish people off.
I am wondering how it would feel to make the Telekinesis a bit more restricted though (like an energy meter that slowly refills or a limited amount of uses per level)? And instead make the gunplay a bit more viable so the two parts might feel a bit more balanced to a new player. I am going to tinker around with it some more though  :)

I really do think you are so close to having a really enjoyable game here, but its way too punishing as every soldier kills you within a nanosecond of seeing you. It seems like its structured around throwing the people around and using that chaos to grab a weapon and shoot, but even just a half or quarter second longer until the enemies shoot could make a huge difference to still reward planning and using telekinesiswhile making it a bit more fluid overall.

Would love to hear if you already tried this for some balancing ideas (or maybe even an "easy mode".

Regards from Germany,
Marco

Hez, the Dropbox Demo link seems broken :)

Heya, not sure if you changed it at some point in an update, but apparently the game is pretty much impossible now, as the moment I start the wall hits me and gives me a game over. The wall moving should probably have a grace period of 2-3 seconds. :)

Heya, the game is in the bundle for Palestine Aid, which is why I have 2 different lists now on my profile page for the different bundles :)

I just recently made a video on my top 25 recommendations for the Palestine bundle and included Celeste and Towerfall in the first video as its one of the best Indies I played in the last year.

I would love if you could tweet/mention your inclusion on social media/newsletter/discord if you enjoy the video. :)

Thanks a ton for making a fun game!

Regards,
Marco

Hey!

I just recently made a video on my top 50 recommendations for the Palestine bundle and included yours in the first video as its one of the best Indies I played in the last year:

I would love if you could tweet/mention your inclusion on social media/newsletter/discord if you enjoy the video. :)

Thanks a ton for making a fun game!

Regards,

Marco

Hey!

I just recently made a video on my top 50 recommendations for the Palestine bundle and included yours in the first video as its one of the best Indies I played in the last year:

https://youtu.be/YsRnLL35LPk

I would love if you could tweet/mention your inclusion on social media/newsletter/discord if you enjoy the video. :)

Thanks a ton for making a fun game! I really, really loved what you were going for here.

Regards,

Marco

I just recently made a video on my top 50 recommendations for the Palestine bundle and included yours in the first video as its one of the best Indies I played in the last year:

I would love if you could tweet/mention your inclusion on social media/newsletter/discord if you enjoy the video. :)

Thanks a ton for making a fun game!

A visual novel about a young girl suddenly finding herself on the train to the afterlife, which allows her to speak to the other passengers sharing their own passing and reflect on her own thoughts on that matter. Its a very touching topic, that manages to achieve most of its emotional depth through stories of other peoples regrets, while still allowing for some lighter uplifting beats. It is a good story with characters worth listening to. 3,5/5

More Itch Bundle impressions: https://tomalexi.itch.io/
Youtube Channel: http://bit.ly/YTPList

Rhythm game with a fantastic art style and original soundtrack. Its actually a bit unfair calling it a demo considering it already has 10 tracks and 4 difficulty levels each and already feels like a product worth paying for, but I do hope they can polish it a little more for a full release, as sometimes its a bit hard to see the symbols on screen due to the variable zoom and action on screen. Some of the songs didnt really grow on me yet, but its an incredibly fluid and entertaining system that I can easily see losing myself to. 4/5

More Itch Bundle impressions: https://tomalexi.itch.io/
Youtube Channel: http://bit.ly/YTPList

Visual Novel with fantastic voice work about the story of a famous knight. The story progression is very pleasant to read, it has interesting characters and mystery to entice you to keep going with gorgeous art. The itch bundle version unfortunately only contains 2 chapters and the full game isnt finished yet, but this is among the most pleasant and endearing Visual Novels I've read in a while. I highly recommend staying and listening to this campfire tale. 4/5

More Itch Bundle impressions: https://tomalexi.itch.io/
Youtube Channel: http://bit.ly/YTPList

Haha, absolutely the right attitude :) I am looking forward to it!