SimCorder's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Burning Down (DEMO)]

Man, Fire Fighter games are extremely underrated, double so for well made ones such as this.

The difficulty is a bit unforgiving, mainly with the pacing of Rescuing everyone trapped inside and then racing to save the building afterwards. I rarely got through a level on the first try. Once I got a bit more familiar with the level layout it became easier to manage since I could clear the areas I needed cleared more quickly.

I love the idea of the foam mechanic to create safe zones. However there is a bit of an issue is just how limited it is, either using it to make a fire proof zone, or to blitz through an area quickly and then your out after using it in 2 situations. Then there is the smouldering walls and ceilings, nothing brought me more frustration as I'm trying to put the last fires out, and the smouldering walls re-ignite the areas I cleared and I lose the game solely because of this. Plus there's no way to fully put them out without foam.. when I used up all my foam for damage control earlier on.

I tried spraying them down with the water sprayer, and it sounded like it worked, but it didn't do anything. I don't know if this is bugged or not implemented yet, but I'd recommend at least making it so the Water Sprayer turns any smouldering surfaces from "red" to black, but they'll reignite if another flame source goes near them.

--My Recommendations--

As much as I wanna say the player needs a tad more foam (maybe like an extra second or two) so they have more margin for error, perhaps it might not be needed depending on how the difficulty is adjusted later on.

There needs to be a way to permanently extinguish smouldering walls/ceilings without foam. Since they are usually a massive annoyance at the end when trying to douse the last few fires.

Also there needs to be some elaboration on not to break open windows. Or at least I assume breaking windows is bad because it allows the fire to breath more easily and thus spread.

Never the less, the challenge still makes this game exhilarating and satisfying when everything goes to plan. Mostly just needs some polish and I'd say this is going in a great direction.

Stopsignal responds:

Damn, I wake up and get hit with three positive reviews already, and two of those and descriptive and thoughtful!! Thanks a lot!!! (:

I started checking out firefighter games since I started this one, and I kind of fell in love with the genre, specially how everyone has a different take on how to do it, which is great fun to analyze

I'll think about adding more foam! Maybe with upgrades, as the final game with story mode is going to have some. We'll see! (:



Now, about the smouldering walls, im dumb and didn't tutorialize that, sorry! You can put those out with the sprinkler, but it takes a while.

It works exactly as you said, takes some time, so you can choose whether to continue and save people or clean all fires!!

I have made the feedback of doing so a bit more exaggerated, and added an small tutorial message before entering the level

About windows, I will add a temporary tutorial message for that too! (when I leave the office lol) They are kind of a risk reward situation, where they heal people by some seconds but also make fires stronger around you!


Thank you so so much!!! (: This helps a ton!!!

[Dima - Shepherd]

took me a lotta retries, but I got all 6 endings.

Controls take a bit of getting used too, but are fine once you get the hang of it

--Spoiler warnings beyond this point--

A problem I ran into though, when I was still figuring everything out for the first time, was that I got to the Wolf Cave before anywhere else, I figured this was the first boss area, but in reality, its the finale. I actually did manage to beat it in every flavor possible (more because I kept losing sheep or dying trying to keep them safe.)

In hindsight after completing the game however, I feel like the above statement was intended to be that way, rather then an error in pacing.

I found the gun before I found the axe. I don't know if that was intentional, but when I was blasting down the trees, I found the axe. Then I realized that you can walk past the cabin to get to the axe without needing to waste the precious ammo to blast the trees. I could of just been blind as a bat, but the layout for the cabin area gave me no impression there was an area behind it that you could explore which contained crucial items. Perhaps a walkway or trail would of made it more clear, but again, could of just been my lack of trying.

The hidden boss fight was rather savage though, mostly cause its hitbox from the side is a lot skinnier then it appears, I felt like I died more because a hit that I believed should of registered, didn't. However I got around this by finding out that hitting it from the front was the best way to go and once I figured out how it moved and attacked, it became way more manageable. I will say though, the fact the game puts you back right where you left off was the only thing keeping me going at some parts of the game due to how frustrating that fight was in comparison to the wolves.

In the end, when I fully completed the game though, I believed, or at least felt I could understand your vision on how the map and game play were designed and paced the way they were. (My guess was to encourage trial and error and force the player to explore and discover more ways to get the remaining endings)

One thing I have to offer full praise for is the audio, the eerie and dread inducing atmosphere and the fight track really added to the fears and dangers you were/could be facing.

Overall, while the game was unfair and confusing at times. Looking back after I conquered the challenges you put before me. I loved it, every bit.

Warxwell responds:

Thanks for your comment!

From the controls comment I think it's because of the JKL combo, maybe ZXC and arrow keys are the ones most people expect? I can add those no problem.

You're right on the cabin part, the sheep icon blocks it so it's not really visible. I'll add a longer trail so it's clearer for future players.

## Spoilers (? ##
The reason why the secret boss is hard to hit from the side but not from the front was most likely because you were aiming at the "head", you have to hit the legs first so it falls, it's a quite tall monster so the player wouldn't be able to hit the "head" without stunning it (This is my guess since I don't know exactly where you were trying to hit it, I may be wrong). Maybe I could've made it clearer that's where you're supposed to attack without making it too obvious. Hopefully, that didn't discourage the use of the gun or bear trap, which I think are easier/faster to hit the boss with.

Glad you managed to defeat it at the end, it's a super boss so putting you back near it was the natural choice.

## Spoilers Ends ##

I'm happy that you completed the game and figured it out (yup, you're right). That's the sort of feeling I want to leave the players with my games.

Thanks for playing!

[Auto Necrochess]

After losing several times, I managed to beat the game, first time, I died, but managed to kill the king. (I guess as long as you kill the king, you still win even if you die, it just alters the ending slightly)

As of writing this, I finally beat the game with health to spare. I gotta say, I did not expect this game to captivate me as much as it did, its simple, yet complex. I bet this could be a really good port for mobile due to its minimal interface.

Heres some tips for those who are struggling (they helped me to some extent)

-Don't neglect the bard, the bard really shines when paired with units that summon, such as the Funny Bone, Skull and your Summon Skeleton Spell. Main weakness with this strategy is that you cannot divide the lane into other ones. If you decide to get the Rockstar (who shields summons on any lane) and get your bard to level 3, any summons you have become terrifying.

-Don't be afraid to sell obsolete units, even at level 3, units such as Viking and the plain skeleton fall off hard compared to later tiers. Despite that, Skeletons are really useful early game due to them returning money on purchase.

-Watch for synergies, some units really excel when combo'd with other units or spells, examples being the Succubus and Shield Spell, or Milkman and a high damage unit behind it. Or the Giant Skeleton and the Nurse.

-When in doubt, Spy, you might be tempted to save your spies for later, but if you don't know if your forces are gonna win the next round, knowing where the kings forces are strongest can buy you some time to turn things around.

I do have some critique however, namely the buildings, I don't know if they are glitched but judging from the descriptions, the farmer and the blacksmith are supposed to give permanent upgrades at the end of every turn, but they only upgrade once on purchase, making them a trap investment when compared to Milk which gives a +1 to everything.

Only unit I don't like is the wizard. Yeah, he is powerful if you got a loaded spell book. But your also forced to use spells prematurely or forced to reserve them to make full use of his magic. This can sometimes make the wizard a detriment. Though in fairness, this could be the point, I never did manage to get wizard to max level before the game ended, one way or the other.

Overall, this game really stands out, well done.

[Downhill to Infinity]

Oddly enough, what sold me on this game, was the wipe out segment. Where you get the bone crunching "OH F*#K!" and watch as you tumble and fail. Got a few cringes and laughs out of me for a while.

Closest thing I compare that to is Solipskier, an old NG game where if your skier got killed, you had no choice but to watch yourself just wipe out cause you had no control.

Also, very impressive Title Screen by the way. The Presentation and feel of it was excellent.

[Paradise Slice 02: Read the Comic]

Well that was.. Steamy, hoh,

Although all the important stuff is pretty straightforward, what had me intrigued is a lot of the stuff happening behind the scenes and with all the characters interactions. Which has me asking questions about whether Aliens are the new "Minority Ethnicity" or perhaps they are, or were, infiltrators causing trouble and/or fleeing it.

The ending has me pondering what Paradises deal is, is she a creature that's biologically driven to eat/absorb people? but chooses not too? I presume it'll be explained at a later time.

Overall, an intriguing read. the panel with the mirror reflection and how detailed it was had me quite impressed, I doubt I would of gone to such lengths in your shoes.

My only critique would be asking Harry about integrating a zoom function. While opening it on a new tab and using the browsers zoom works fine, its a bit of an inconvenience.

KittyhawkMontrose responds:

Steamy is what I deliver. :D Thanks so much for reading, and I'm glad you're having fun with the mysteries, though they will be no longer as the story unfolds. And yeah, I went insane with details on this one, but it was fun.

The reader respects the browser zoom in full window mode, so it assumes whatever level you start at as 100% and goes from there. It even respects pinch zoom on mobile. We are thinking about some QOL changes.

[A Halloween Cat-Tastrophe]

A simple game, I wasn't really expecting much when I jumped into this, took me a while to grasp I had to take out all the unique pieces despite skimming through the instructions. I ened up playing through this.

Now.. I believe that I am pretty competent at puzzle games and figured out how to navigate levels 1 through six after a bit of deliberating.. but then why is level 7 so hard for me??

I've look at it from various angles such as lining them up diagonally or chipping away at the tower equally. Maybe I'm just impatient, but with how much time the other levels took, feels like I'm doing something very wrong. (don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the challenge, it is the final level after all)

That aside though, decent game for what it is, and a nice mix of art and audio to go with it. Give my regards to your crew.

KittyhawkMontrose responds:

Thanks so much for playing! We're so glad you liked it. Yep, that final level is a doozy. The secret is waiting for just the right piece. ;D

[Crush the Industry Demo]

I gotta say, I didn't have very high expectations from what I first saw when I booted the game up. But the sheer amount of strategy and game breaking you can potentially pull off had me captivated. The fact I am coming back for a 5th play through is testament to that.

[Voiceless (Legacy version)]

I got a love-hate relationship with this game, its fun and satisfying but golly it is frustrating with unforgiving puzzles and even fewer check points. I only got to the second level, I couldn't get past the part where you had to do an off beat jump to reach the top. I'd suggest giving more room for error on some puzzles or alternatively, adding more check points. (not like putting one at every major puzzle, but at least some of them.)

To anyone reading this, play the Tutorial, its quick and it will come in handy sooner or later.

[Unemployed Shift at Night (Beta)]

I like the potential here, but there are 2 glaring issues that need to be addressed.

First, although I didn't get too far into the game. I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking out for. The graphics are acceptable the way they are, but the monsters should have something that causes them to pop out, like a contrasting color in comparison to the background.

Second, there's a bug that breaks the cameras, I thought it had to do with changing positions while looking at the cameras. But I ran into the same issue when changing positions and then trying to look at the cameras again.

philRacoIndie responds:

Thank you for the feedback!
Yeah, no animatronics have been added yet, which is why you couldn't see them and
i'm working to fix that annoying bug.

[Penguins]

I remember an era when games like this would have to be downloaded off some random website in order to be playable. Its amazing how things have evolved over the years.

The game itself is simple fun, but the customizable map specs add to the replay value.