GnomeZome's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Vertex Shifter]

Got there!
Man Thoof, you can really make some intense games.
I really liked this one, especially the consistency in the mechanics making it so easy to pick up, but still leaving quite the challenge.
The count down mechanics on a grid actually got me musing about the idea of a game similar to othello, but with secret bidding mechanics, essentially a piece capture game where the pieces are laid out, but your not sure what value of piece the other player has placed, but since there would be a limited pool of pieces with set values you could make some of deduction.
I think having the pieces be able to move in given their hidden value, or perhaps a Shogi (Japanese chess, more or less) like capture mechanic, where your can score or use enemy pieces would be quite interesting.
Ah! Caught myself musing.
Thank you for making this.

[MonkeyBusiness]

Gangbeasts meets SSB.
So I generally thought this was pretty cool, but, and it's a big butt, it needs polish.
The rage screams when eliminated are tiresome, and do not add much to the experience.
Also if knock off recovery is to be a reliable mechanic, I suggest not having the screen dramatically zoom in an out because it naturally makes it harder for the already struggling player to recover, creating unnecessarily punishing negative feed back loop.
I like the quick Dive Kick like skirmish nature of it, but overall it still feels a bit inconsistent.
Thank you for making this.

[show]

I really enjoyed this.
Maybe it was how amazingly smooth the controls where, or perhaps the diegetic use of classic film countdowns for resource UI, or just the fact I found my self genuinely smiling, even when I messed up, because of how much fun this game was.
Thank you for making this.

[IMP]

III...II..I..!
Man this immediately grabs your attention!
You all did some amazing work making this intuitive, and engaging, while trimming away of the fat that got in the way of making this concept shine.
I deeply believe that at autonomous double jump system like this makes for a really interesting opportunity in game design, I certainly enjoyed what you all put together here
Thank you for making this.

[Pullfrog]

Dang, sometimes, you don't expect the treasure you find.
I like about what you all manged to do with this game.
The retro console vibe, the visuals, the smooth controls, and the fact, that for first time playing a variation on the classic Russian capital T, felt new, inattentive, and expansive to the original Ruskie classic.
I deeply fear the amount of time I might lose to this game.
Thank you for making this.

[Contract Rush]

I think you did quite well here.
I liked the sense of growth that this game captures quite elegantly, like each upgrade really made it feel like the lil'merk was getting more and more scrappy, and while I did not have the patience to get through the boss, I still thought it was overall really engaging.
I also think the music and visuals are well tuned to this kind of game, and I am impressed by your achievement with them in the time frame.
As, passing thought, there where occasional instances where I felt like the upgrade loot from killing enemies was poorly timed, and maybe in the first area before the boundary of no return having the enemies there with in drop set power up might help flow, but I might be misunderstanding your intention.
Overall a work of consistent quality from start to finish.
Thank you for making this.

[Factions]

A very meeple kinda fun.
I would not recommend using a track mouse for this game, to save any one else the trouble.
That said, it's very fun, and the squeaky little warriors are nicely reminiscent of Wurms.
I had a thought that it would be interesting to make each color faction have it's own tone, and I actually figured out that if you made their tone faster or slower based on the light wave length of their color then you could tell who is fighting who and such.
Also since your considering developing this further, and it great so I encourage you to do so, keep in mind that color based mechanics are a little tough for people who suffer various forms of color blindness.
Thank you for making this.

Frenchie14 responds:

I hadn't thought about giving the different factions their own sounds - that's a great idea! Not sure how to deal with colorblindness; I'll have to do some research!

[A Game of Cups]

This was straight forward, but interesting.
I know in blacksmiths you often have to make a tool, to make a tool, to make the tool you actually want, and I get a similar feeling from this, in that I suspect you are teaching yourself how to create this kind of experience.
I like the choice of keeping it minimal graphically, and I was impressed by the amount of personality you manged to show with a a simple face and lines of text.
I also thought simple visual cues like the number of cycles increasing the vibration intensity, and Billy tap his foot with impatience when you fumble too many times are all really sweet little additions.
Thank you for making this.

[Life Of Alex]

A wonderful piece of passive aggression.
It's certainly very simple and deliberate game, but the jaunty tune and the feeling we all have of knowing that one friend really makes all the crazy adventures work.
Thank you for making this.

[Ninja Suffering]

A solid effort.
I feel like this almost obviously designed for phone, so i feel a still having played it on PC.
I think the game, over all, is extremely intuitive, and over all this an interesting rendition on the flappy bird formula.
I had some trouble with the controls, and it was not immediately obvious there was a double jump, but it's a nice discovery in play moment.
The limits jump height is almost comical, but I think it actually adds to nature of the game in a nice way.
Thank you for making this.