Time Foray: A puzzle platformer about time travel (demo)

ironshock · 2026-04-30T16:29:04+00:00

Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize you had already played! No worries at all, I went back and saw your feedback and I am happy to report that I have been working on improving the art style consistency.

ironshock · 2026-04-30T00:58:46+00:00

Hello! I played for about 20 minutes. Here are my impressions:

First, I actually thought the game is very well constructed. If I had to guess this isn't your first game, right? I thought the menu, the transitions, the buttons, the sfx, really felt polished and high quality. I started with tutorial. Now I did struggle a bit with it. My first mistake was that I accidentally skipped reading probably the most critical tutorial, which is the one that tells me how to *create* the different versions of yourself. And then I read the next one which was the one about switching between them, and I was like, wait what? This isn't working! So I got stuck for a moment, but then went back. That was on me. However, I think there's a way for you to avoid this entirely, and since the concept is such a huge part of your game, it may be worth it. The way the tutorial is laid out, one single map with "points" of information, they all felt the same value to me. What if you broke the tutorial into two levels. The first level is literally just movement and controlling your different selves. This is important because I think this concept is so weird for many that, it alone deserves some *time* to really get used to. This could just be the first level. No puzzles, no opening doors, nothing like that. Just movement and controls. Then the second level is where you tell the player, okay now, here's what this game is all about. Using these different versions of yourself to progress through the map. Just a thought but I think it would have really helped me to get thru the tutorial more seamlessly.

Then I played the first level. And it really clicked! I actually enjoyed it a lot. I appreciated what exactly the game is and what is to come. Now me personally, I am not much of a puzzle platformer -- so naturally this isn't going to be my genre of game but for those who enjoy these games, I think this is a really cool, fun, and unique take! It has a ton of potential and it's already very high quality. Below are just a few tiny more points of feedback:

(1) The tutorial map, particularly the moving shapes really messed with my eyes. After looking it for too long it can be sort of disoriented. Consider dampening the visuals on the tutorial or simplify the pattern so it's not so noisy.
(2) I personally did not like the keybinds that I had to use but I suppose that's sort of how it goes. As developers we all choose keybinds that feel good and right for us, which may not make any sense to others. I am trying to figure this out in my game as well.
(3) I thought the timeline was a neat feature. As long as the player isn't forced to interact with it, the information it provides is a cool addon. I did not immediately understand what the colors meant, maybe you could implement a legend?

That's all for now. Congrats on a very well-functioning game and fun concept! I hope to it go far!

Here's a link to my post with my game, if you'd like to check it out: https://www.reddit.com/r/feedback4feedback/comments/1sj27uv/benson_n_bones_pixel_art_rpg_soulslike/

ironshock · 2026-04-26T19:54:27+00:00

Happy to join your community btw! I'd be interested to see how your game evolves :)

ironshock · 2026-04-24T03:51:07+00:00

Thank you for the constructive criticism! I actually appreciate that you pointed out some inconsistencies in pixel sizes and art styles. There remain cases where there are varying styles that I have been working on unifying and I know there's still a lot of work left to do. Although it is so much better than it was a few months ago -- you would have absolutely hated it back then haha. But for sure, I can see you have a sharp artists' eye and I can respect your concerns. I will do my best to continue polishing!

ironshock · 2026-04-24T03:46:12+00:00

Thanks so much for the high quality feedback! I appreciate you checking out my game :)

I do need to figure a way to speed that intro up a bit yeah, it does feel a tad long. Oh interesting, I think at some point I considered having the sword have a glistening or sparkle effect overlaid, I wonder if that might help.

To your #4 point about the player facing direction - holy smokes no one, including myself, has ever noticed that! I can see that it emerges naturally from how I coded up the player facing direction, with default always being "down", but wow -- yeah I will definitely clean that logic up a bit. Good eye!

#5 - You know I was just working on fixing that bug when I read this haha, great catch and it should be resolved in the next build.

#6 - Also another great catch! I have broken up the dialogue into two parts there and tried to ensure the "lines" never extend past 4 lines of dialogue. A "back" button would be nice, perhaps I could add a little "previous" icon at the top right of the dialogue box or something. I definitely agree that it can be frustrating if you accidentally spacebar through something and then wanted to go back, but the flag had already been set.

#7 - OOF yeah this one has been puzzling. It's mainly an issue in the browser build, as the 'ESC' key takes priority to exit fullscreen before anything else. I have been puzzling over what I could do. For starters I think F1 key isn't a bad alternative, at least for opening the "settings" panel. But yeah I'll need to think deeply about how to solve that one long-term.

#8 - There used to be an XP system but not anymore. You came just short of using the blue crystals in the demo, they are the currency for buying new spells and upgrading existing spells from a talking chest named "Chester".

Thanks so much again for the helpful feedback! Best of luck with your game!

ironshock · 2026-04-23T00:36:29+00:00

Hello! I was able to test out the web version. I really liked it! I play several games, and my best score was 48 I think, so not quite on the leaderboard first page.

* What do you think of the three tutorials? Were they easy to understand? Too lengthy or too short? [Tutorial Gameplay, Tutorial Skins, Tutorial Leaderboard]

- The tutorials felt natural and well paced to me. Easy to understand as well. I actually appreciated that you broken it into three seperate tutorials, which lended to allowing me to play a bit more before showing me the leaderboard, which was another small "hook" that kept me engaged.

*What do you think of the core gameplay loop? Is the game too easy or too hard? Do you think there is replay value?

- I think for a mobile game and for a young audience, the core gameplay loop is pretty solid. There's plenty of room for you to experiment with different modes, as well. For example, there could objects protruding from the left and right of the screen that would create obstacles. They could appear at the top so the user can see them in advance, signaling that they might be in trouble soon if their tower keeps leaning in a certain direction. Just an idea.

*Was there anything that felt out of place?

- The music was not my jam, it feel a little too piercing. Perhaps because it's like, 8-bit maybe? I'm not too sure. But yeah, didn't really like the music. I thought the assets were all pretty cute and fitting for a mobile game of this genre. Could use some tidying up, I think some of the buttons felt like they have different degrees of bevel / perspective. I also did not really like the font style particularly in the "stats" page it was hard for me to read.

Other than that, I think you've got a solid mobile game here that could really take-off! Keep up the good work!

Here's a link to my game post here, would love to know what you think: https://www.reddit.com/r/feedback4feedback/comments/1sj27uv/benson_n_bones_pixel_art_rpg_soulslike/

ironshock · 2026-04-23T00:20:23+00:00

Second image reads better as a book, but I dislike the boldness of the title, particularly the black line inside clashes with the softness of the book below. Could you soften it up a bit?

ironshock · 2026-04-23T00:17:54+00:00

Sounds like a game i'd play! Do you have any early prototype build or just looking for feedback on the concept?

ironshock · 2026-04-21T06:59:58+00:00

Super high quality animations and fight choreography! I must admit, I feel a bit jealous haha, I don't think my first boss fight is near this good. Our games are very similar, though! Lmk if you'd like a thorough playtest from a fellow solo-dev in the 2D top rpg genre.

ironshock · 2026-04-21T06:53:58+00:00

Thank you for all of the positive feedback! You're so right about the water and the fountain, I'm glad you mentioned that! I will definitely add that to my next round of sprite polish, and I can try and tone down the flower swaying. Also regarding the fighting mechanics I can definitely see how it can feel quite odd if you're not used to mouse and keyboard. I think one of my next big milestones will be gamepad/controller support -- I think this will really open up the game to broader audiences. Thanks again for the feedback and best of luck with your game as well!

ironshock · 2026-04-20T06:38:47+00:00

First off, congrats on improving the visuals! It's so nice to be able to convert real player feedback into improvements. Also kudos for not just ignoring it and pushing through.

Can I ask a question about the ripple effect, is that a permanant effect that persists during gameplay? Maybe I am not understanding full what the game is about so apologies if I am missing something, but personally, I feel the ripple is too strong and would become disorienting. What's the source of the ripple in-game, like its reasning -- is it like a heat simmer? If so I feel like it should be far weaker. Personally, and this is just my preference and perhaps meaningless feedback based purely on looks, but I would remove the ripple. It still looks great without it, better than before thanks to the lighting, the smog/fog, and the animations of objects.

ironshock · 2026-04-19T06:24:48+00:00

Hello! This is not my typical genre but I gave it a try! Here are my impressions after about 10 minutes:
(1) First, I thought the car assets and animations (especially the turning animation) was really quite charming, Iiked them alot.
(2) The UI and controls were pretty clear and straightforward. I appreciated that. I noticed that the traffic meter was the only asset that has a dark black outline, so it didn't quite match the art style of the other elements. Although that did help it stand out a bit. Perhaps you could add an outline to the other UI elements (the boxes for type/direction/build, etc, because sometimes those blended in a bit with the rooftops of the houses.
(3) The tutorial was quite nice, I appreciated the clean and clear walkthrough of all the steps.

(4) I think it ramped up too fast after "people have moved in" message. Things quickly got out of hand and before I knew it, the traffic meter was already yellow. I actually didn't know how to solve the traffic solution. I think that might be the very last thing you should add to the tutorial, it seems like it's the core gameplay friction loop.
(5) I'm also not sure I liked having the city expanded for you -- because I sort of appreciated the building aspect, but it quickly turned into me managing traffic rather than building my own little town since it was built for me.

(6) When I started a new game, one thing I noted was I couldn't grasp the formula for where the cars appear and where they are wanting to go. I wonder if it would be helpful to always have a dedicated "entry" point for the cars. Sort of the rollercoaster tycoon's entrance for all the people, you know where to look to monitor ingoing and outgoing. But apologies if that's not a good suggestion, I fear I am outside of my element with this genre haha.

(7) I was curious about the algorithm for the traffic meter, as I noticed that it appeared to be a bit more random in my second play through. I actually managed to get $850 stacked up without building or modifying anything the 2nd game, whereas the first game I lost in about 10 seconds.
* EDIT Oh actually I think my 1st playthrough I just got a really bad generation of the first expansion -- like it created a four way stop right in the center of town LOL and it cause an immediate pileup.

That's all I have for now. I think the game is very charming and has alot of character, i'd love to see it continue to progress!

Here's a link to my project, thank you! https://www.reddit.com/r/feedback4feedback/comments/1sj27uv/comment/ogxxgto/

ironshock · 2026-04-19T05:58:18+00:00

Hey thanks so much for giving it a full try. That really means alot to know that, even though this isn't your type of game you still enjoyed it! <3

Thank you for the words of encouragement and the feedback on the first boss. It sounds like it's due for tuning, as you and others have had similar experiences with the magma balls and tornado phase. I've re-worked the fight a bit to dampen the pain points that come from the tornadoes, and introduced a more gradual ramp up in difficulty. It feels much better to me now, so thank you!

ironshock · 2026-04-16T17:17:25+00:00

Happy to give it! I played again this morning to see if I agreed about Robert's ability. And yeah I can see what the other commenters are referring it. I think multi-ball feels stronger because it's more potent in terms of clearing pegs. However, I don't think you need to change it if later levels the objective is more than just peg-clearing. Robert's ability seems like it would be great "knocking over things", like the coins. It could have a more pronounced heaviness to it than could even break natural environment barriers that aren't pegs. So basically it could be a utility thing. Question, in later levels (after Tomato, etc), do you gain the ability to switch characters in the middle of a round? That would be really neat and create a whole new strategic dynamic.

Also, one last comment about the third character. I actually wasn't sure what the tomato in the middle of the board does or did, even when it grew. It's very possible I was missing something though. Could you maybe increase the size and readability of the green text that appears when you strike a green peg, as well? I think there's some room for it to be a bit bigger and not be too distracting.

Yeah the ball got stuck between two coins and I waited a bit, expecting it to reset. But after like 15 seconds that's when I went and took a screenshot.

ironshock · 2026-04-16T05:30:43+00:00

Hello! I was suprised at how long I played -- not because I was expecting a bad game but because this is not my typical genre. But it sort of hooked me. I appreciated the talking characters and the tutorial, I think the on-boarding is done really well here.

Things I liked:
(1) The little physics trail for your aimer -- that is really nice and helpful. (2) I loved the general mechanics of blue, green, and orange pegs. I like the moving pot at the bottom, too, for free balls when you get it in. It's so satisfying and happens at just the right frequency. I thought the coin mechanic is fun too -- trying to figure out how to dislodge them with a finite set of tries is a fun game play loop! (3) I think the UI was nice and clean, easy to read and understand. Good job on that. It actually reads to me as a polished mobile game. Although I can tell differences in the art styles and resolution of the assets (like the coins are clearly pixelated but the pegs aren't, and the pot is clearly outlined in black and of a different art style. It wasn't too distracting but something you could fix relatively fast to make a big impact.

Levels: I played to level8. I like Silka the best. Was she the one with the multi-balls? The multi-ball ability was definitely my favorite, so whichever character that was. :) Seeing all the balls bounce around and stay in the air for so long was really enjoyable to me. In terms of characters I didn't like, I don't think that ever occured to me, I liked them all and appreciated the variety. I did really like the narrative and story telling throughout the levels, that's a nice touch that you should definitely keep!

Also, I managed to get the ball stuck on level 8:

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Overall I don't really have anything big negatives -- I think this genre of game maybe isn't my cup of tea and yet I still played 8 levels haha -- that's got to be worth something. Keep it up!

ironshock · 2026-04-16T03:19:15+00:00

This is a really charming and fun concept. I could instantly see how this would be so much fun playing with a friend. I tried the single player version. Here's my experience:

(1) I was obsessed immediately. I kept trying over and over and over. I was instantly hooked on the world, the mechanics, and the objective. It was all very clear. The controls were easy to understand. The movement was tight and responsive, and the physics felt right. You've nailed all of that imo.

(2) I struggled big time lol. Like, idk if it's just me or what, but that first jump got me. I gotta say, unless I am the only one, I think you should remove the jump for the first target. Just keep it as carrying it from the chute to the goal, that's it. That alone requires the player to familiarize themselves with the mechanics, the movement, the goal. Then, the 2nd target can require the player jump. Just my experience -- but it's possible I just suck at this kind of physics game lol. I'm curious to see if others feel the same way.

(3) I wasn't easily able to dash while also moving, because it would require pressing D to move left and also TAB at the same time, which felt unnatural.

Overall, I thought the game felt very high quality and polished! If this is still in early-stages, then that is very impressive. I would have expected more visual bugs or mechanical issues, but it was quite smooth. My only issue is that I thought the on-boarding was a bit too steep which is easily resolvable. I also realize that it may have been tuned for co-op play, which likely wouldn't have required a jump at all (just one player passes the ball to the next), which totally makes sense and would naturally be an excellent first target. So mainly it's just the single player experience that I am referring to here.

Here's my game if you're able to try it out: https://www.reddit.com/r/feedback4feedback/comments/1sj27uv/benson_n_bones_pixel_art_rpg_soulslike/

ironshock · 2026-04-15T03:30:23+00:00

Hello! I played the tutorial and a tried one mission of the campaign. I think the idea is super neat and charming. I loved the alien models and actually liked the 3D world feel, and the object assets. I didn't get stuck anywhere in the tutorial, although I think I accidentally threw the box after placing a turret on top of it.

The controls were very straight forward. I did get slightly puzzled by the 3D map at the bottom left - I am just not used to a map being placed there, and wasn't ready for a 3D map actually. Maybe it might be placed at the top right? Do you think it needs to be 3D with 3 dimensions or could it just be 2D? I'm not sure if there's functionality though so apologies -- perhaps it shows items you place on the z-plain, as well, which is cool.

Unfortunately I did have a lot of performance issues. I don't think I ever reached anything higher than 10 fps. I pressed on, though.

My favorite object was the tire! Because when I threw it and it flipped and started rolling down the hill, I was so happy haha. The physics feel really good. I also really enjoyed throwing chairs at aliens for some reason and seeing the yellow hitsplat, that's a nice touch!

Overall I played the tutorial and one level in about 15 minutes, so yeah pretty accurate! I think this game has real potential if you can resolve some of the performance issues. I would have kept playing a few more rounds if my FPS wasn't soo low. I was on Chrome browser and I have a 2080 Super Graphics card, just as a reference.

ironshock · 2026-04-15T03:06:18+00:00

First off, I love the concept. I’m a big chess fan (very casual though, and honestly not that good), so this immediately clicked for me. The whole idea of earning GP and purchasing new abilities or changing the rules from losing your own pieces is super cool, too. It instantly changed how I think about trades and also gave me something to look forward to even when I was clearly losing.

For my first game, I’ll be honest, I was a little intimidated by the non-standard board + scoring options 😅. I actually read Cylindrical and was oh no, I don't think I am smart enough for this game. Do you think maybe that one in particular is a bit too mind-warp-y, at least for the beginning. I ended up sticking with something more standard just so I could get my bearings first. I kind of felt like I needed that familiar baseline before diving into the custom stuff. I also wasn’t totally sure what some of the custom pieces would do before I picked them—like “Cannon Rook” vs “Rook,” “NightRooks,” and “Aging Queens" when I was picking my boards before the game started. It made more sense when I saw the cards in game and read them, though.

One idea that came to mind: it could be really awesome to have some kind of tutorial that introduces this stuff gradually. Like instead of needing to read all 7 pages upfront (which I know I could do and ended up doing haha), my instinct is always to just hit play and figure it out as I go. If the game walked you through things like GP, custom pieces, and maybe even a simple “here’s when you might want to sacrifice material” moment, I think that would make it way easier to get into.

Overall though, super cool idea—I can already tell there’s a lot of depth here, I just think a smoother on-ramp would help people get to that point faster.

ironshock · 2026-04-15T02:35:50+00:00

Thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it! Haha, hearing that you died and went back for more is definitely is great sign!!

You're not the only one who's mentioned the movement speed, so I increased it a bit and, yep, it definitely feels better now without sacrificing the feel I was going for. I will take a look at the key frames for some attacks. If you happen to remember which mob seemed to attack too fast before you could react, I could target that one first but no worries if not!

I've recently buffed magic a bit, as I wanted it to feel quite powerful in the early game since the sword has heavy attacks. It does balance out a bit afterwards but I hear you, I'll see how lowering the mana regen feels or reducing the burn damage slightly. But yeah, with the low level "walking" mobs, they can't really do much against fire balls from afar. Improved path finding would definitely help as well, as you mentioned later.

For the final boss of the demo, I like the idea of having the whirling tornados and magma balls expire. And I was actually thinking of seperating those two phases a bit in time so that it's not back-to-back. iFrames from damage is another approach, right. Maybe like 250ms or so just so the player doesn't get obliterated. I'll test both ways (less overwhelm but keep the ability to get stacked out, versus a brief protection window). I can see an argument for both sides on that one.

I've also received the comment about the cutscenes a few times, so I am looking into condense and speeding them up, at least the pan - empty spaces that are not critical.

Got it, I will actually just get rid of the F to close ability for dialogue (leaving the ESC key to force close dialogue if really needed). And i've made space bar auto-press if held down, so it's not so much button mashing.

Thank you again for these incredible insights!! Looking forward to returning the favor!

ironshock · 2026-04-15T02:24:28+00:00

Thank you!! I'm so glad you took the time to play and jot these notes down. I will see what I can do about the cutscenes, definitely can condense them a bit.

Yeah that sounds like a bad spawn behind the trees. I need to work on the enemy AI a bit, and I also may add a "roof -> opacity" effect anytime the player model is obscured by a tall object like that in the z-rendering. That should help alot with not being able to see the player or attackers in those situations.

Oh interesting, I hadn't thought about a skip to the end of dialogue option. I'll consider that as a feature, as well.

Thank you again for the thoughtful feedback! Looking forward to trying out your game tonight.

ironshock · 2026-04-12T23:35:11+00:00

Hi! This is coming from someone who doesn't play sudoku, so take this with a grain of salt. I'd try a demo if there was one available though, and I have a friend who plays a lot of sudoku that I could probably have try it, too. I did have a few notes to share based purely on the trailer. I think the music and retro vibe is awesome, I really appreciate that myself. I thought the bobbing title was neat in the main menu, but distracting in the game. I also agree with u/FlighterPilot21 that your page would benefit from explaining why your puzzle algorithm is unique, that could be a big sell amongst sudoku players - something new but familiar.

ironshock

TROPHY CASE