Aqua Feast, a simple and addicting html5 mobile game

[moe091]

EDIT: Based on feedback I received from other testers I am changing a few things around, in addition to adding the tutorial and the other things I was planning on adding. You can still play the game get a sense of the gameplay and so I can get some more feedback, but just know that it will be changed a lot to be made more accessible for new players(I was the only one to play it up until recently so I kinda failed to make it easy enough for new players, in addition to the complete lack of instructions except for the text I added on the main screen at the last second)

Here is my current game (Minus the directions screen and a few minor visual changes, plus I still gotta add code for local high scores):

 

 https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/268817464/Arrows/index.html

 

I obviously don't plan on keeping that hideous directions text right on the main screen, but I don't really know where to put the instructions.

Does anyone have an suggestions? Maybe display them in the actual game the first time the user plays it?  Also my menus seem a little boring, does anyone have any suggestions how to make them look better?

 

I am looking for sponsors for this game, It may be early to start looking but I figure it can't hurt to let everyone know. The game is 99% done and you can definitely tell what it's going to be like when it's 100% complete. Also if any sponsors had specific requests for features/changes to the game I never mind implementing them as long as it's not too time consuming. Email me at [email protected] or post here if you're interested.

 

I'm thinking about adding another gameplay mode called 'Survival' where there are no points, you just have to live for as long as you can. It'll be a lot harder to live because everything will move faster(you and the enemy fish) and I might make the fish spawn more often. Any thoughts on this idea? I'll probably code it up one day this week just to try it out as it shouldn't take long at all to do.

 

I'd love to hear anyone comments/criticism about the game, please post if you tried the game and have anything to say about it!

 

And for anyone with experience selling games to sponsors, is this game high enough quality to warrant selling licenses for a reasonably low price? I know it's not very big or anything(My project folder is under 1.5mb and I could shrink it some more) but it's actually a pretty fun and addicting beat-your-score type game with decent graphics and (once I add a the few things left to add) plenty of polish. But of course that's just my own biased opinion, what does everyone else think?

[turnA]

Nice gameplay there. I would add more fish and several obstacle to make it more frantic and fun for player.

I really can't comment about it's viability as commercial product. For one, I can't imagine how much you will polish it until after I see i. But I have seen games with similar quality sold (although I don't know their price/license type)

[moe091]

Hmm, thanks a lot for the input. I had a couple ideas for increasingly difficult obstacles to add as the levels went on, but i wasn't sure if they were needed or it would just clutter the simple gameplay. Your post convinced me to add a few. I'm probably going to add sharks, which will swim in from the side and go straight across the screen and off the other side. They'll be unkillable and move quickly, but I'll add a warning effect to the side of the screen the shark is going to come from so the player has time to prepare(it won't give away the exact location, just the side the shark is going to swim in from; perhaps a flashing red light shining over whichever side of the screen a second or two before the shark comes

 

Another idea is fish hooks that drop in from the top, They'll drop in and instead of just staying still in the water they'll constantly be dropping down or reeling up, it'll bob up and down a few times before going up. You'll be able to steal the bait(and get a hefty point bonus) if you grab it while it's dropping down, but if you hit the hook while it's reeling back up it'll be game over. I'll probably make them drop quicker and for a shorter time and reel up slowly and for a longer time to make it difficult and risky to steal the bait. And idk if it'd be taking it too far, but I might add a few different kinds of bait on the hooks, some will be worth more points but more difficult to steal because they drop faster/reel up longer on the hook making them more difficult. Does that sound like overkill?

 

Do those ideas sound like they'll add a good dynamic to the gameplay?  Do you think that'll be enough? Anyone else have any ideas? 

 

I'm also changing it so that your fish wins against the others in head-on collisions(my girlfriend pointed out that it felt wrong to get eaten by a clownfish as a piranha in a head-to-head battle). and I'm adding a play-through tutorial, I don't know whether to make it optional or mandatory though. Another thing my gf pointed out to me is that the swipe controls need to be more sensitive, oftentimes she would swipe but her finger wouldn't slide far enough to make the fish change direction. Anyone else have that problem with the swipe controls or is it just her swipe technique? I could fix it by making the more sensitive(but then it'll be easier to swipe the wrong direction by accident) or I could add button controls, where there are just 4 arrows to tap for each direction. Think it's needed?

 

sorry for the tons of questions,, thanks to anyone who actually reads this.

 

And TurnA, thanks a ton for the feedback! I'm actually adding a lot to the game just because of you