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We're so glad you really enjoyed playing our game, and for a whole hour! And thanks for sharing your tips and strategies! The minion build is definitely powerful, though it seems you never had the chance to get the Rite of the Red Ash card from the Ash dude (lol), which is basically the best one.

It was fun seeing how you interpret the drop rates, but one thing I'd like to clear up is about the artifact's boss buff. All bosses already start with 7 artifacts, and all artifacts (except the useless pebble) apply a buff based on whether it's held by the player or by a boss. Bosses already benefit from the artifacts they hold. So for example, exchanging the gravedigger's obsidian spade (boss buff is +40% area and +20% bolus area) with your useless pebble makes his attacks smaller as he now has a useless pebble (which does nothing) instead of the spade. But on the other hand, exchanging the spade that the player now has for, say, the ceremonial shears held by the hairbeast (which only has a boss buff of +25% area) will just give the hairbeast an extra +15% area and +20% bolus area.

Also, you thought the spade drops more from the gravedigger, but it's because it's actually exclusively his. Bosses have at least one exclusive artifact each that are a little bit more powerful than others.

Thanks again for taking the time to play and leaving this comment! It means a lot!

Glad you liked it! We're actually a duo! And thanks for the offer, we'll keep it in mind!

Thank you so much for playing AND for the really in-depth feedback! It's really nice to see how people do their builds. I didn't expect anyone to use cards for extra dashes, but there you were!

A more thorough tutorial or guide would be quite helpful for a game like ours. We just really didn't have the time, with this being a one-month jam. To answer your questions though, duration modifies how long traps last—which include blazes (DPS pools), mucus (slowing pools), blisters (green mines), and mists (DPS smoke)—as well as the HP of minions—which include cultists, skeletons, graves, etc., as well as the hellgate, which is unique in that though it has HP, it cannot receive damage but instead deals damage to itself. All the other minions are destructible, but keep in mind the distinction between them and traps—blisters are traps and cannot be destroyed.

Since bosses always deal 1 heart of damage to the player, their damage only affects the player's minions. We know that that doesn't really feel the most intuitive, but we had to work with it. We'll definitely rethink and refine this if we decide to publish the game.

You brought up how the first bosses are really hard and the first few cards/artifacts really boost the player's survival rate. THIS was the very balancing problem wetried so hard to deal with but couldn't quite perfect due to lack of time for playtesting.

The exchanging mechanic was definitely intentionally forced, and I'm glad you got the reason why!

Lastly, we do admit that the butcher is our most difficult boss. If you watch our gameplay video, we actually lost to him too lol. We'll see what we can do!

Thanks again, and we're really glad you enjoyed playing!

Thanks for the review!

You're right! That is actually how the system works. But, after it's pressed, mouse input should be blocked. I suspect that when pressing the button, it becomes focused, at which point, ui_enter inputs (which is space and enter) would trigger presses again despite mouse input being blocked. Anyway, the bug should be fixed easily.

As for the boss going beyond the platform, that's actually something we're aware of and decided to put at the bottom of the polish list as it didn't seem to disrupt gameplay too much, though we will find a way to deal with that too if we decide to develop the game further.

Thanks for reporting the bug! I'm impressed you pressed space 126 times just to show that lol

Thanks for reviewing our game! We're really glad you liked it!

Yeah, the player UI took a lot of iteration and even now we're not completely sure what control scheme's the best. We tried hotkeys but thought that it added too much work to the hand that was already occupied with movement and dashing so we gave card selection and aiming to the mouse. We'll also try your suggestion about the card placement, it seems like a good idea, and maybe also increase the base thinking time to compensate for the details the player has to keep track of. We'll also crank the particles down a bit to make attacks more readable.

Thanks again for the feedback!

Thanks for the really detailed response! We really appreciate it!

Card-artifact synergy is very important to the game. I think you thought the melee attacks were weak because you hadn't seen much of the artifacts that could improve them. Melee cards tend to have low or even zero mana cost, making them particularly useful for taking out summons. Also, cards like chop or scorpion swing can also dish out high damage to the boss if you get near enough to land all their projectiles. It just takes some careful artifact choice and maneuvering. Generally though, I do think melee attacks could still use some buffs.

Though, you were right about the gravedigger. His particles were too big, especially with the "great boulder" attack.  We noticed it after uploading, which was too late lol. The butcher, though, was meant to have really large melee attacks. It's kinda his thing, so the player just best stay away when he gets near, which is generally the rule of thumb for bosses with melee attacks. Alternatively, you could steal the artifacts that make them dangerous (for the butcher, the bonesaw, rune knife, and ceremonial shears really boosted his slash area), making them more manageable while also making your melee attacks a lot more effective.

Regarding the environment objects, dashing actually allows you to pass through them, if you didn't notice. Also, some artifacts can increase your movement speed and max stamina, which could be helpful for bosses like the hairbeast, though I personally think good spacing and timing is a bigger factor. Taking advantage of the invulnerability frames when dashing is crucial with pounce and ram attacks.

If you like, you could watch the gameplay videos we posted so you could see how we personally played the game! Our personal best (which was not recorded, unfortunately, but here's a screenshot) was using the creed of obsession!

Thanks again for the feedback! Given that the game is basically still in development, it's so helpful to hear other people's experiences!

Thanks for playing! We're glad you liked it!

Thanks so SO much! We do hope we could release this on steam eventually, and comments like yours are really motivating! Thanks!

Glad you liked it! We also do love those frantic moments lol

We will! After the jam finishes though, 'cause they're not allowing uploads until after the voting. Thanks for appreciating the music and we're really glad you liked it!

Thanks for the feedback! We have tried using keyboard shortcuts, but we found that it seemed to be even harder because the hand on the keyboard is already pretty occupied with the constant moving and dashing. 

The difficulty seems to be the primary complaint lol But practice really helps (and of course a tiny bit of good rng). Choosing a different creed could also help. The gameplay we posted on YouTube actually finished 11 bosses using the creed of ignorance, but our best run was 36 using the creed of obsession. I'm glad you still enjoyed though!

Thanks! Being a roguelike, adding variety between runs was a priority!

Thanks for the detailed response! It means a lot! I'm glad you liked the card dragging mechanic. The difficulty is definitely something we'll be tweaking a lot if we do decide to make a steam release!

Thanks so much! Spending time making modular systems really made adding content a LOT easier!

Thanks! We are thinking of hopefully making a full release on steam if we find the time!

Very interesting concept! Though it does feel mostly probability-based and less player-driven, which makes it repetitive because if you lose, you just have to try again and see if rng favors you this time. The sounds are satisfying and the controls feel fine, but I suggest making the art a bit more consistent and polishing a bit. Good game overall!

Completed the game and drowned in my hard-earned gold bags! The art was amazing, aside from the UI not matching the low-poly style as much. Selling the debris was a bit tedious, and a little nauseating when I had to turn 180 degrees given the low camera FOV. The music was good, but there were some pitch distortion at times (unintentional, I believe). The physics was fun, but some of the objects were randomly not being grabbable for some reason. I also like how the final boss actually made use of the mechanic really well! Overall, a nice game that just needs some more polishing. Great job!

Loved the intro and the voice acting! The sounds were nice, but the UI needs to match how "crunchy" it is. The bosses were a bit too easy, especially with the rifle and grenade launcher, since they had pretty slow movement and rotation speed. I also wish there more uses for the heart mechanic. A fun game overall, but a bit more polishing and balancing would really make it stand out!

It means so much! Thank you!

I'm happy to hear it! Also played your game and left a comment!

We're all about the juice! Glad you enjoyed!

Using blood as health, ammunition, and currency is pretty smart! The controls were pretty easy and responsive, but I do think giving the bosses attack indications would make it a bit more fair for the players. I also really like how monstrous the demons' concepts look, and I thought the animation for the book on the shop was a nice touch, but the overall art style really needs to be more consistent for a more polished look.  Great job overall!

The exchange mechanic was nice! I liked the variety on the weapons, the bosses and the stage. Though, the art and the sounds need some improvement. I also would've liked UI on the cooldowns. Overall a pretty fun game!

The forest vibe is pretty nice, but the player animations feel stiff, and the currency didn't really have much use since the player heals after dying anyway. The raccoon was hilarious though lol

Cool art and concept! I like the overall atmosphere, and would actually love to see more about the world. However, it does require some polishing, especially the parry being a bit too hard to get right. I also didn't completely understand the mechanics, specifically how I was dealing damage to the boss. I did win though, but I was transported outside the map after lol

Nice take on the theme! The sound effects were great and, together with the exchange mechanic, it really reminded me of Mega Man. I like the boss variety, though as already said by others, the red, yellow, and blue bosses were too easy compared to the rest, which didn't really incentivize the player to use the shift mechanic. With some balancing and some polishing on the art, I could see this becoming a really cool retro game!

Have you tried using a different creed? The creed of obsession particularly may be better suited for beginners, since you have less cards to focus on. Thanks for playing anyway!

Glad you did! Already rated and left a comment on your game as well!

Hey! I'm sure you know your game isn't really the most polished in this jam, but the learning that comes is the important part! I noticed that you used pygame, and though it's a VERY great way to learn game development and programming in general, I highly suggest that you look for a game engine you like. It'll let you make way better games much more easily. Great work and keep going!

I guess we should've written "LMB press and hold" instead. I do understand that the how to play screen was pretty low effort lol but since it is a jam, we prioritized building the mechanics and adding content, that I'm glad you liked! And I'm glad you still got the controls. If we do end up fleshing this out for a steam release, a tutorial's definitely a must. Thanks a lot for the feedback!

I LOVE the concept and the art! I found the opening dialogue hilarious. I liked the twist with the final boss and the camera angles were satisfying. Though, I do feel like this could be a lot funner with some more polishing and balancing.  The wyrm fart seemed to have absolutely demolished all the other bosses lol. Nice work!

Thanks so much! And I'm happy to hear you found the difficulty satisfying!

Glad you thought it was cool!

A quick and simple game! The controls were fine and the premise was interesting. Though, it certainly needs a bit more polish, maybe make the pixel size more consistent and add some particles. The bosses were simple and predictable, yet required some good timing. Nice job!

I did not understand the world, but I liked how strange and surreal it was. The gameplay itself felt a bit too slow after going through it so many times, so I think shorter animations would help. Though the most important point was that the dragon was RIDICULOUSLY adorable! 

The controls were simple, and the sound effects were nice, though sometimes the player's projectile dies off randomly. Very nice experience overall! 

Nice short game! The art style's neat! Though, more bosses or mechanics would be great. Also, the rockets sometimes pass through the third boss lol I think there's a problem with the hitbox.

Glad you liked it! Lots of players do find the game hard lol. A lesson for the future I guess. And maybe the environment could use some sounds to improve immersion, maybe some fire crackling or some flies buzzing. Thanks for the feedback!