The steak will not be up for grabs in the semifinals btw.
2 Likes
Yeah! I was honestly NOT anticipating second, but, uh, thanks I guess! And nice job @Phoen1x for the win!!!
3 Likes
Gameplay: Great! The controls are intuitive, so I can understand why a tutorial was not included. The game revolves around the playerâs duel with the Westward Gaurdian. The enemy AI is really well made, I can tell a lot of effort was put into balancing it! I found it just difficult enough that I was replaying the level, but easy enough that I knew I could beat it and kept coming back to try again.
Art: The art is made by Luke. Do I even have to elaborate!?
Stunning color pallete. Amazing understanding of shading, light, and limited resolutions. Unique character designs with fully detailed animations that make them feel alive. Each frame of this game reads like a full illustration that I would gladly hang in a museum or as a poster on my wall. And itâs complemented PERFECTLY with some amazing compositions from @InvalidProject !
If I had to summarize why I like the art so much, Iâd say its because each little detail adds up to create a fully immersive experience for the player.
Story: AWESOME!! Within a very short timespan, weâre already introduced to our characterâs motivation and the barriers in place that are preventing them from reaching their goal. The dialogue is to the point and the westward guardianâs language immediately establishes them as an enemy to the player. I truly want to see more of this world and its characters!!! 
The only real criticism I have for the game is the Westward Gaurdianâs anticlimactic disappearance when the player wins, likely due to a lack of time. Do they die? Do they live and change their mind about the player? Who takes their place as the new gaurdian? Iâd love for more detail and a more dramatic win condition!
Other: Delicious⌠If this is a prologue, Iâm begging you, we need episode/chapter 1!!!
9 Likes
has anybody found all three cowboy hat easter eggs?
2 Likes
SAME HERE MISS PRESIDENT
(sentence)
2 Likes
Gameplay: AMAZING!!! The game offers an easy tutorial with simple graphics explaining the core mechanic of the game (swinging on ropes / a lasso) without needing any text or lengthy explanations. The level design is elegant and the highlighted red hooks make it easy to understand your path through the level while still allowing for the challenge of determining the best trajectory. Itâs infinitely replayable and encourages experimentation, I love it!
Art:
STUNNING! Vibrant colors from the beloved makecode pallete make the game a treat to look at. I love the use of green as an accent color in the cacti and sparse plants, with the mix of blues, oranges, and yellows for the background. It helps the red and gray hooks pop! The design clearly shows a lot of knowledge of video game art with dlithering, seamless repeating textures, consistent lineart style, and great small details like the cowboy-hat shaped clouds and animations for everything.
Story: Probably the only piece where this game falls short- at least from the first two levels that I played, the game has no story. However, I can see how the great gameplay and art would make up for it. I recommend an approach like in HEBES, where the playerâs focus is mostly on the gameplay and art, however pieces of story like the text in levels, boss dialogue, and introduction give us enough story to establish clear goals and motivations for the characters.
Other: Sorry this review is quite long, I adore this game!! @eugeneredwing8 , this is an amazing contribution to the forums and you are clearly a great game developer!
7 Likes
GUH!?
Wow, I guess I have to do a review part 2 because I missed this amazing additionâŚ
- I LOVE the new mario-style sound effects when the player falls into a pit!! very dramatic!
- The game is now a bit easier, which Iâm very thankful for! I can now make it past level 2
- LEVEL 3 IS ON A MOVING TRAIN!!! The entire artstyle shifts and includes realistic train sounds, more animations (like on the wheels), and a beautiful scrolling background that really makes the scene come alive.
- One glitch Iâve found: I had switched to level 4 to see the horse mechanics (AWESOME!!) and after dying, it appears my horse saved, but the level reverted back to my actual progress (level 3). I can now ride a horse across a moving train XD
Youâve somehow made this GEM of a game EVEN BETTER!!! 
I havenât played Luke, Chimbro, or Phoenixâs games yet, but honestly, I donât know how theyâll top this⌠@Taser , why only FOURTH!? 
6 Likes
Gameplay: A classic platformer, where the character jumps and dashes over obstacles. The twist is that the character can discover certain caves through the dirt, revealing hidden coins and paths through seemingly impassible obstacles! It works, however..
I canât make it past this very early obstacle! I know Iâm supposed to get to the gap on the right, however, my short little legs canât jump up this two-block tower. The path to the left also leads to another two-block tower that I canât scale. Due to this, my review is only for the early few minutes of the game until @WoofWoof can help me make it farther XD
Art: Simple, but not in the elegant kind of simple, the quickly made kind of simple.. apologies, WoofWoof, I adore your other art, but the solid colors and lack of scenery may need some polish! However, the character design itself is great- I love the deep royal blue against the light blue and brown background. The color fading is also great!
Story: I appreciate the introductory motivation, it really helps drive the character to do anything necessary (including exploring random caves in dirt) to find their poor sweet horse!! (How DARE you steal him)
Other: I can see the inspiration behind the game through the dirt caves, but itâs clear you couldâve used more time to polish the rest. Itâs still a fun play and would clearly shine with some work!
7 Likes
Gameplay: Very unique! The lasso mechanic allows the player to click and drag around livestock so they can herd them back into corrals. However, due to how new the mechanic is to players, I would suggest a tutorial rather than a text description. The side scrolling landscape keeps the game fast-paced and provides a nice sense of urgency!
I have a few pieces of constructive criticism / questions:
- In order to corral as many animals as possible, I would stack them all up into a small space so I could lasso them all at once. Is this a bug or a feature? I found it very useful because I could drag around 32 animals, but Iâm not sure if a real lasso could hold that many
- The game is a little unclear on the life system. From what Iâve found, you lose hearts from colliding with either tumbleweeds or cacti. Without a tutorial, I had to figure this out through trial and error. This is a small detail, but Iâd love for it to be included!
- The game can be a bit repetitive once you master the mechanics. However, this may be due to the fact that I could never make it to 200 catches and unlock the extra âshootâ button to possibly fight the thieves. I believe the main flaw with the gameplay loop is that after each play through of the game, nothing changes, discouraging replaying the game or trying again. I suggest some sort of currency the player receives for wrangling the livestock into corrals, so that on their next attempt, they can purchase upgrades or somehow improve their situation to keep the game interesting and keep the player moving toward a goal.
Art: Really the point where this game excelsâ the amazing art!
The lasso stands out with its realistic wobble and rotating rope. The modified color pallete and cute textures for the animals and player show a lot of care and consideration for the art.
Even the menu screen and status bars have adorable western themed art and colors! Small details like the sound effects for the gallop of your horse and the sound of your lasso really bring life to the game.
Itâs a delight to listen to and look at! 
Story: As far as Iâve played, none, expect for the short description included in the forum post. It would be helpful to include this background inside the gameâ I suggest a short, dramatic sequence that shows the robbers stealing the cattle to really give the player a motivation.
One note about the story that confused me; The game states that robbers stole our livestock, but theyâre mostly just wandering about outside of the corrals. It seems more like they let the livestock free rather than stole them. Perhaps instead of robbers stealing the livestock, the game focuses on criminals who free the livestock believing that the player shouldnât have them (maybe due to unethical animal treatment, to sabotage their farm, or a personal drama)! 
Other: Itâs a well made game! Apologies if my review focused more on how to improve the game rather than my thoughts on it. Iâm a little biased because these kinds of point-and-click, endless farm games arenât really my style. (I tend to prefer more story and strategy!) I can see why @Taser would place it highly, though!
7 Likes
Gameplay: The base is a simple platformer but with double jumping and the added gun mechanic, allowing for dashing and fighting enemies. (Thatâs basically all I have to say- the game is short enough that I canât see any major flaws or upsides to these mechanics.)
Art: I can see similar elements to red line with the limited color pallete!
The simple designs effectively convey the function of each tile without the need for text. With such a short timeframe, Iâm glad to see little details like a life system, complex special effects for the gun, and enemy sprites are included! Obviously, more polish is needed, but a solid basis is established.
Story: None.
Other: Honestly, this is more than I would have expected for a 45 minute game. Your skill as a coder shows through if, in such a short timeframe, you were able to establish a clear gameplay mechanic and a striking visual style!
6 Likes
Gameplay: It has the very core mechanics of the Oregon Trail, where you can either travel or hunt for food. The hunting mechanic is great, with details like the time it takes to reload, however it lacks the original gameâs bullet storage mechanic, meaning you can just keep hunting indefinitely and not have to buy/trade for more bullets. The game has a win condition which I met, but no way to lose. With more of the mechanics from the original game, this recreation could really shine!
Art: It matches the old video game style aesthetic well!
I appreciate the fading blue to black sky and little animations on the animals and playerâs wagon. The oregon trail style sprites fit well into makecode!
Story: You have to make your own. Allowing the player to pick their familyâs names allows for a real attachment and motivation to form, however, the game lacks any way for these family members to die or be hurt. If the player had more consequences for their actions, the minimal story elements could have worked in the gameâs favor.
Other: This is a faithful recreation. However, by drawing a direct comparison from your game to the game itâs based on, itâs much easier to notice flaws or places where the game could be improved. I enjoyed playing the game, but itâs impossible not to compare the experience to playing the actual oregon trail game (which is obviously much more flushed out with an actual team of devs).
Amazing life advice 
8 Likes
Gameplay: A great gameplay loop: Destroy cacti â get upgrades â destroy even stronger cacti! The game lacks a tutorial, but the mechanics are very basic (with A to shoot, WASD to move, and B to heal) that I can see why it wasnât a priority. The game would have better replayability if it had some upgrades that saved / were permanent between runs, but the temporary upgrades work enough to keep the player motivated. I was able to make it to the fourth cacti (Normal, the ones with mustaches, the small ones, and the very large ones) with my record being somewhere like 55-75 cacti.
Art: I love the shading!
The shading, highlights, and colored line art on the player, enemies, and text popups are beautiful. The sandy background does seem a little out of place compared to the highly rendered sprites, although that may be intentional to keep the player focused on the enemies. I especially enjoy the playerâs animations and the little details like the status bar and upgrade popup having the same shading and lineart!
Story: None, the game could use an explanation for why the cacti are alive and attack people.
Other: The game has great art and enough of a gameplay loop to keep the player entertained, with a clear path to polish the game more and transition it from a minigame to a full game. Very fun! 
7 Likes
Gameplay: Collect 50 tacos to win. The special feature of this game: as you collect tacos, your cowboy hat grows to immense sizes. Itâs very silly
Art: There is some. Itâs very silly
Iâm a sucker for anything with the BLARG artstyle though!
Story: I want 50 tacos. Itâs very silly
Other: This game should win. Itâs very silly
7 Likes
Gameplay: Very inventive! As explained in the post, itâs a game of predicting the other playerâs actions to try and win the duel. Itâs like rock-paper-scissors or poker, with a mix of strategy, knowing your opponent, and pure luck. The game explains which buttons to press for which attack, however, it doesnât explain the advantages given for dodging and stalling, which would be a nice addition along with a tutorial. I enjoy how the game leans into being a minigame (by jumping into gameplay immediately) rather than trying to stretch into a full game; replayability mechanics like a score, lives, or upgrades wouldnât fit in with this playstyle, so Iâm glad they werenât included, if that makes sense.
Art: STUNNING.
The game delivers a procedurally generated 3D background, fully animated characters, and idle animations for the characters and slowly rotating sun to keep the scene moving. Itâs AMAZING!! Even the little details like the color pallete, menu, and new settings make the scene feel very real. Seriously, how did you make the player animations SO realistic and smooth!?
Story: None, but you donât need any, because the main motivation of the characters is based on your relationship with the other player. (If you play against your siblings, that is PLENTY of motivation to beat them )
Other: This game has such a clear vision and is truly a delight to play! I wish I could give more criticism, but itâs nearly perfect already. Well done!
6 Likes
Eh, for the 4th place, first off, choosing the top 4 was a massive toss-up for me, tho, and it was pretty hard to distinguish by overall betterness (I need to learn more words). But what really put it down the most was mostly due to the gameplay aspect. When you do some experimenting, there are a ton of bugs compared to all the other submissions that placed above it.
- The rope can extend infinitely after you create it, and yeah, you fall to your death for no reason.
- You can get stuck in mid-air between 2 hooks if you try pressing B on the console button and you have no choice but to basically suicide by then.
- Cactus and death tile hitboxes are way too large, and I constantly died when I was a few pixels above them.
- As you stated, the horse can somehow end up in different levels, and it becomes a major polish issue since, for one, the horse has no backwards animations.
- You can somehow get stuck in tiles while you are roped, which results in you once again having to suicide.
The list really goes on and on and on. Iâm actually not too harsh on the bug factor most of the time; however, if the bugs actually prove to be a terrible interference with the regular gameplay, then I do not look at them the same.
6 Likes
If the health becomes poor enough, your family members die off every day. However, if you have enough food, you donât have to worry about this.
3 Likes
Ok, Iâll just throw in a quick twist for the quarterfinals, mostly to deal with the potential forfeiting wave (this happened in ck4). In this case, I shall make it so that those who did not make it through the qualifiers CAN SUB IN for any of the forfeited top 6 contestants
How this works is that if one of the top 6 chooses to drop out (e.g., Luke), someone on this list, depending on their placement, shall receive an offer to take the place of the contestant. Its a lot like a waitlist.
4 Likes
Thatâs correct.
A failed experiment that caused a cacti apocalypse.
I was going to make a little story animation at the start but I had to leave for summer camp.
I think the reason I lost was because I left so I didnât benefit from the extension AT ALL.
Thank you for your review.
2 Likes
Yeah Iâm not rlly that proud of this game tbh but itâs smt thatâll keep me in the termamemt and hopefully Iâll have more time next time lol
3 Likes
Hmm⌠maybe you accidentally skipped the instructions? When you first pick up a bullet, a message pops up on explaining how to âshoot behind youâ (dash) by pressing B while holding the arrow keys in the desired dash direction.
You can scale up to the right by jumping then dashing up from your current position, walking a bit (6 tiles) to the right, and jumping while running before dashing with the right and up buttons held/joystick in the up+right position.
Idk if that was a good explanation, but just jump then up+right dash at the peak of your jump to gain the greatest height.
3 Likes