GnomeZome's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Gragyriss, Captor of Princesses]

Solid clicker experience, with a fun fantasy skin.
As long as you patience, there is no real challenge, but the experience of playing it is soothing and smooth.
Thank you for making this.

[You, uh, wanna play a game?]

it's important to have fun and try new things to break up a project. and this was pretty cute.
I know Konami actually got a US patent for putting their old arcade games as loading screens, and I believe that is expiring soon, so ideas like this might be more worth developing than you think.
Thanks for making this.

[JuantankamonRedux]

So, frankly this is incredible.
The lacking light sources and differences in visuals really makes an impressive asymmetric games situation.
It's certainly possible to memorize the map, and to figure our your co-player's tactics, but I think as a basic idea this very strong.
Randomizing of the map, or just the location of the keys could ad a lot replayability,
There's a point where the two players get to know the map, and each other's tactics, and maybe it's a matter of changing roles each death,

Overall the sound design and the tension are really well done, but as a method of helping create that tension for the hearing impared, an random chance that the mummy's presence animates an object in a room could be really interesting.
A mummy's situation. It would slow down the guard to have to fight the objects but it would also leave tracks of where the mummy has been.
I really the potential of this format, and the wonderful effort you have put in so far, still has alot of room to grow.
Thank you for making this.

[Dying In Dungeon]

Hey again Thoof,
It's really good to see your stuff as always.
You really did well this time, and it's really impressive to see your dedication and growth.
The character modle does have a slight chance of becoming stuck to the bottom of the mad if run along, and for a touch pad mouse user, this was actually a pretty difficult game.
That said, it's well enough made that working within the limitations of the touch pad made feel rewarding.
I think the idea acknowledging that in a game like this the character will die, and then embracing that into a full mechanic of how you die mattering really makes some intesting choices.
I think that it's a rare case of maybe needing more narrative context, because it's very possible for most users to just head down and not familiarize themselves with the game's actual purpose.
That a detail that could be easy buffed out, and I understand this was made for a game jam, meaning that it was being made by a developer for developers, and mechanically it just sings.
The atmospheric music is on point, and I can tell I am going spend alot of time seeing how far i can get.
Again making the deaths a necessary part really makes it a fascinating resource management question, and I will edit when I have better sense of how the end game feels.
Thanks for making this,

Thoof responds:

Thanks for the kind words & feedback!
I'll have to look into the getting stuck in walls bit, never ran into that when testing.

Yeah, probably should have done more of an introduction/tutorial, as I am finding that it takes most people a couple deaths before they understand how it works.

Endgame wise... well, it's a tad unbalanced at the moment. :P

[Weird Bunny Banana]

So, a few ideas thoughts on this.
I know my own computer setting might be causing some of these issues, but there is also some presentation and UI issues.

You made a fairly solid game, and seemed to really focus on it being hard and therefore good.
hard games can be good, if they feel fair to the player.
Since you have no formal tutorial, some people will feel intimated and try the mode labeled "easy" to try to get the swing of the game.

the "easy mode being an very well made homage to the Gameboy Mario games is really cool, but it would have been better as bonus, something unlocked maybe, because it's not visually engaging. You went to a lot of effort to make a version that is very visually engaging, but by lining the the modes up from left to right, how many people read, it visually gives a sense of progression. So, instead of playing the fully illustrated main game, people are going to try the unappealing "easy mode." considering the sensitivity of some of the hit boxes and how important the visual cue are to managing the controls, it's a very frustrating starting point.

Also upon dying the music cuts out, and will not restart until relaunched.

Also I think I saw the girl friend called "retarded" somewhere in the game, and that's just off putting and outdated language. I know people, especially in the gamer community through it around, kinda like "fag", but being edgy is not necessarily an enjoyable product.

What I am trying to say is you obvious have alot of very good ideas, but they all seem to be held back by a weird set gamer dogma's and it makes the game less enjoyable for people who just want to boot something up on a coffee break.

I know some of this worked well in the 90's and I love those platforms, and played the Game versions of Super Mario over and over, but in terms of what people are looking for from a flash game today, I don't think this is it. The punishments are too random and there just some hostile level design choices that it's clear are intentional.

I would like to see the some of the hit box issues worked out, and while there is totally a place for hard games, it doesn't feel like this game earns it, at it comes off to scornful, and simultaneously unpolished. I think got too attached to the idea of a "Hard Mario" and forgot the escalation of challenge is meaningful.

I like your art choices, sound design when it functioned, and you passion.
I would love to play the next version, or Weird Bunny Banana 2.
Thank you for making this.

TristanMX responds:

Thanks! I'm really thinking on doing some adjustments based on overall feedback. I forget we are on an age were people is not as I was used to back in my days (the old man speaking lol) but yea... being a kid in the 80's was different. I love the retro game design (visuals and difficulty) but I'm trying to make it suitable... Not many people will follow since they are used to quick rewards (new gens) and as I said in a previous post, this game ain't easy but is still playable and enjoyable... thanks for playing and I'll try to upload some improvements as soon as I restore my back up... my freaking computer wiped out :(

[The Goodest Boy]

I like the idea that dogs might enter their own little Narnia's out in the woods.
It's a really cute to explore in an interactive medium, because the chance of failure makes us lover our own dogs even more irl.
Some very slight notes about the hollowed out log looking like a an object to jump on opposed to going through, but in terms of training dogs in agility trials that kind of rewarding exploration is very much so how dogs actually are, so I like it. The controls seem a little non responsive running after re spawning on the return trip through the geyser field, but a level of challenge makes it a worthwhile experience, kinda like taking care of a dog.
Thank you for making this.

[THERE IS NO GAME]

"MOAT" could have functioned as way to carry water, but still enjoyed this a bunch.
Would give more feed back, but want people to have their own experience.
Thank you for making this.

[Hunted in the Winter]

Hey Thoof,
It's always nice to see your work!
This one was pretty interesting.
I was having trouble understanding if their was an encumbrance mechanic an endurance mechanic or what have you, but I found it an interesting and fairly realistic balance of loss and and gain for survival resource gathering.
I could see this being a goof core mechanic in a survival/spy narrative.
The track covering mechanic is trulr interesting, because you can potentially leave red herrings, and as long as you never leave tracks near your base, the patrolmen are less likely to enter that area, where leaving tracks randomly in the open area makes your home safer.
I suppose never tracks in a line of sight where you liver or intend to gather.
Thanks for making and sharing this!

Thoof responds:

Yeah, the track covering mechanic was originally intended to be the core point of the game, but I ran out of time for the game jam :)

The original idea was that you would also be able to walk backwards so that the soldiers would follow the tracks the other way & into traps and such, but that did not get implemented.

There wasn't any endurance or exhaustion mechanics at play, just hunger and thirst. I was thinking about it but for how simple the game is it seemed unnecessary.

[The Warrior with the cursed sword]

Very well constructed.
It's a very interesting take on puzzle solving and platforming, with loss of control being core focus mechanic.
The morality questions actually are really interestingly demonstrated, and I want to come back to this when I have more time.
The art was simple, but still very effective for getting the information across, and I like blood stain mechanic.
Thank you for making this.

[OverWired]

This is so well made.
You took an interesting concept of the malfunction in the suit, and made some very cool levels based around those limitations.
Also your color choices where really clever allowing the setting to seem unnatural/otherworldly, and for use to keep track of the protagonist's contracting color, in a way that really hammer home he does not belong.
The glitch function was so fundamental to the theme and the overall game play, and was fun to experiment with.
I'll come back to this to finish it, but for now, thank you for making this.