@InOneProjects that's very kind. i am very open to any & all comments but please don't feel obligated. you have already spent time with the game which is all i could ask for! :)
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ecto
15 posts
TOP 10 GAMES I REVIEWED OUT OF ALL 945
After reviewing all 945 games in #vibejam (unofficially!!) these are my picks, not presented in any order. The genre's and what's on display are so diverse that it really feels like a disservice to pick any of them as a true top spot winner.
As a reminder, I'm not an organizer or involved in the judging in any way. These are my personal opinions and I have no connection to the actual competition except that I submitted my own game and took the time to review the competition (they beat me).
Links for all of the games below.
Vibefall by @imkieransmith
This titanfall homage is one of the smoothest experiences you can have from FPS offerings in the vibejam. It’s got great onboarding, sound, visuals look good without looking vibey, feels like part of a much larger game, and is overall the sort of game that pulls from you an astonished, “This was vibe coded?”
Fight life @fightlifemobile
There aren’t many games that I loaded up and which had my jaw drop, but this was unquestionably number 1 on that list. This is the best mobile first boxing game since Punchout and it captures the feel of NES meets modern gaming like no other. The retro vibe is exactly my style, so there’s bias here, but I think the quality bar is set high enough that even non-mobile, non retro loving gamers can start this up and be impressed.
Tiny Skys @DannyLimanseta
The simplicity disguising a deeper game and the unmatched approachability of this make it a perfectly scoped, gorgeously packaged entry. It’s performant, plays well, looks good, and packages multiplayer and meta progression alongside the single player experience. It’s also just an absolute stunner from the very first load.
Pawnfall by @rnschiehll
A stylish, run-based strategy roguelite somewhat reminiscent of Slay the Spire or FTL, Pawnfall packs incredible depth into a package that in no way feels vibecoded. Music is perfect, animations are great, gameplay is chess inspired and easy to take in and get a feel for, everything just clicks. It’s brutally hard, but to me, this is a sleeper hit I heard nothing about and I think is likely criminally underplayed.
Vibe Inc. by @cadostropia
While I saw a number of games approach the genre of “automation and number go up” this one impressed me earliest and still does with it’s depth and polish. There’s a lot of complex games on the list that are really well done, but this one feels the most complete and the most approachable, not overplaying complexity as a cheap trick to reach depth.
Aeralis by @duckocancode
The most fun 3rd person shooter I played in the whole jam. A few tried to reach this level of fast paced, feels great to play, high skill ceiling shooter but none of them have the polish, feel, or vibe that Aeralis has. It’s a bit much putting the lyrics at the bottom of the screen for the music but, damn it, I DO like the music.
Nebula Zero G by @Rev12Studios
It’s simple, it’s not super pretty to look at, but this game more than any other on this list captured me as a player. I put another hour into it today over lunch. I can’t stop. It doesn’t bury the lead in complexity or force you to spend an hour discovering its true worth. You either pick it up for a second run and don’t put it down, or you give up. I just wish it was on iOS already.
Capybara delivery by @leocooout
My one qualm about including Capybara on the top 10 is it feels too complete, too good to have been done in a month. Maybe some people (teams?) are just built different though. A lot of these games struggled with identity - is it a shooter? A survival roguelite? Adventure? “A Game about Capybaras Delivering Food” feels like you’re John Malkovich going into his own head in the movie “Being John Malkovich” except instead of everything being Malkovich... It’s Capybara.
Orbital Ops by @sidriff
This game fought neck and neck with Null Range (honorable mention) to be included in my top 10, but there’s only room for one low poly, retro neon vibe space shooter and this one edged out the spot. From the very beginning it impresses, with a menu that feels hand crafted, a depth that is only hinted it, and an easy to learn difficult to master play style that gives it feel on par with commercial games built by teams.
Field of Command by @Southers15
Unquestionably the fullest game I played among all of the standouts. A full, voiced tutorial, tight RTS controls, deep respect for the historical context it lives in, and it plays great. There’s a campaign, skirmish, and multiplayer (though I didn’t get there in my reviews). It feels like the kind of game you’d pick up at the store and pop the plastic only to get lost reading the manual, not wanting to miss the smallest bit of the nuance that goes into the play experience
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Tone@InOneProjects
I have finished reviewing/getting impressions of every single game out of the 945 games submitted to #vibejam. If you submitted a game and haven't received any feedback or tags from me, take a look at the link below. Impressions tend to be brief. To be frank, some of these games did not deserve even the brief time I put into them. But SOME of these games are genuinely stunners. Some of these games have enormous depth, gorgeous visuals, addicting loops, and genuine commercial potential. I'll be posting some of my thoughts, opinions, and wrapup ideas as the official judging of the vibejam continues. As a reminder, I am not an official vibejam judge. I just wanted to look at all of the competition and see what the playing field looks like.
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@InOneProjects thx! i'm honored! and congrats on finishing this ambitious project. as i'm considering taking fanto's farther, i will follow andré's suit: i would love any ideas u have for taking it out of minigame territory. more modes than the core 3? campaign? missions?
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HONORABLE MENTIONS
Crypt of the Void Sovereign by HL Retro Game Studio
Of all the games, none of them made me want to quit reviewing and get back to building quite like this one. It inspired me with its art style and presentation to such a degree that I’m still thinking about it.
Rubble Kings by @eric_j_sexton
This is such a neat concept that it’s one of the few RTS games I came back to to try again well past my initial review. It needs work but it’s a way of playing I’ve never seen done before.
Bungr Inc. by @JacobFinite
A dystopian burger making game? What? This was the first among my standouts to really floor me with the “this is actually a real game” feel.
Sumo Ball by @netpro2k
It’s just such silly fun. Polished, goofy, and you have to try it.
The Far Colony by @MoeMagicLantern
I think about this game more than any of the others on this list. Not because it doesn’t have problems (it does), but because it’s RTS played in a perspective that invites dreaming of new features. You’re not the zerg. You’re the creep.
Echo Ohce by @JayShugito
I don’t know if this is an underground genre, but this was the 3rd or 4th game in the jam that used blindness and echolocation as a mechanic, but this one nailed it in a way that’s fun, progressive, and actually looks fantastic.
Undersphere by @_NoahWhiteson
Probably the best arena FPS in the jam and with a unique hook for playstyle that captures the essence of a good jam entry by asking the question, “What IF we swap this one variable out in a tested genre?”
Null Range by @taylor_sntx
Tough battle with Orbital Ops and just narrowly missed being included in my top 10. It captures the neon retro space vibe, plays great, and works great start to finish.
Fanto's Megamart by @e_c_t_o
The only thing that keeps me from top 10’ing this one is it feels like more of a mini game than a game. The visuals are amazing, the sensation of hectic play and the N64 era are peak. It’s not one to be missed.
Eyrie by @slowchaz
With some tweaks I think this could have been top 10. It plays well but just needs to amp the pace a bit and add a bit more visibility for the player to know where enemies are coming from. Beyond those tiny criticisms, it’s an excellent FPS roguelite.
Tiny Hamlet by @boona11
The only thing keeping it from top 10 in my book is it still feels like it is in demo territory. That being said, it’s a gorgeous, fun to fiddle with sandbox of a game reminiscent of Tiny Glade.
Hollow Lands by @andreeliasdev
It’s just so dang good looking. Truly astonishing level of detail. It works, but what keeps it out of top 10 for me is the sense that it’s in a very early state of development. I hope they’ll keep building.
The Operator by @itscoleblake
Short, atmospheric, and with great audio and problem solving.
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try out the game that @MrCollison deems "absolutely flipping spectacular" (thank u mr collison, by the way. that's very kind. i think ur game is great as well.)
fantos-megamart.vercel.app
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fantos-megamart.vercel.app <- the game if u feel like tryin it out. the current modes are time trials & online races. go beat my times
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@_NoahWhiteson man i got a 2 star one that just says "fun game." what can ya do. fwiw yours aint no 1 star game from where im sitting. its a lot of fun.
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Hey Lisa and Anonymous user. What was so bad about my game, you didn't specify.
vibereview-one.vercel.app/games/undersph…
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forgot to mention seed is random-o8wn5b. go beat my time fantos-megamart.vercel.app
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been coding games for ages; feels odd to make this speed-shopping game for #vibejam without knowing a thing about #threejs in advance
time trial, vs. ghosts, or realtime multiplayer with friends across 4 billion+ proc-gen stores
play if u feel like it: fantos-megamart.vercel.app
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rollin around in my speed-grocery-shopping game. (seed 042926-5c9231)
fantos-megamart.vercel.app #vibejam
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