-How difficult did you find the game to be? What elements made it difficult (or not)?
I struggled to get very far because I had some serious lag playing the prototype, which obvious is not really a mechanical design problem. That said, I can see this game taking some time to learn the controls to be really good at it. Jumping while rotating (once, and even tried double rotating while jumping a few times) is certainly a core manoeuvre that takes some getting used to.
-If you found the game difficult, would you say it was "the good kind" of difficult or was the difficulty more annoying/stressful than anything?
I would say mechanically all the difficulty is good. This felt very much like the sort of game that would have a minimal clean aesthetic but develop a community on Twitch fo people doing insane runs. Somewhat high barrier to entry, but also a very high ceiling for people who would want to get really good at it.
-Did you feel like you were able to properly understand the impact your actions had on the game's environment?
A lot of the actions are, of course, not initially very intuitive, but I can see learning to think of them more intuitively through repeated play.
-Did you feel like you were able to maintain your sense of direction throughout the the game?
I felt like every time I rotated the level, every things was momentarily very ambiguous. Consequently, i found myself having to visualize each jump fully before making the actual jump. This is mostly just the effect of multi-directional game play but there might be a way to experiment with the rotation animation that feels like jarring. I can see this being hard for people who easily get motion sick.
-Did you feel like your abilities (rotating the room, pulling green blocks) made the game more interesting than if you didn't have them?
Rotating the room was a very cool mechanic. It reminded me of 2D games where you reverse gravity, but in 3D space and 1st person. I can see pulling the blocks being a really deep design space requiring a lot of practice to fully master too. (I.e., complex jumps requiring multiple rotation while having to move blocks mid jump).
-How easily were you able to understand/master the controls of the game?
Understanding the mechanics was very easy and straightforward. Mastering them feels like something that would take hours and hours of practice to perfect.
-How clear did you find the game's visual language to be (for example, different colors and shapes being used to differentiate elements)
Even at this fairly rudimentary level, the visual language was quite clear. I would be inclined to say that if/when you develop the aesthetic look further, to not stray too far from a fundamentally strong geometric style to avoid visual clutter.
-Would you be interested in playing a longer game (with an actual narrative and better visuals, among other things) based around this core concept?
Better visuals would be nice. Maybe a couple more mechanics (bounce pads maybe?). I personally don't think this game would need a narrative. I can see this have incredibly deep gameplay just from a game mechanics perspective.
-Do you have any suggestions on what you would improve in terms of mechanics and gameplay?
As mentioned above, a few more mechanics might be cool, spread out over various levels. Something like bounce pads are an obvious idea that comes to mind but there's a lot you could probably do exploring the multi-directional 3D physics space.
-How difficult did you find the game to be? What elements made it difficult (or not)? I struggled to get very far because I had some serious lag playing the prototype, which obvious is not really a mechanical design problem. That said, I can see this game taking some time to learn the controls to be really good at it. Jumping while rotating (once, and even tried double rotating while jumping a few times) is certainly a core manoeuvre that takes some getting used to.
-If you found the game difficult, would you say it was "the good kind" of difficult or was the difficulty more annoying/stressful than anything? I would say mechanically all the difficulty is good. This felt very much like the sort of game that would have a minimal clean aesthetic but develop a community on Twitch fo people doing insane runs. Somewhat high barrier to entry, but also a very high ceiling for people who would want to get really good at it.
-Did you feel like you were able to properly understand the impact your actions had on the game's environment? A lot of the actions are, of course, not initially very intuitive, but I can see learning to think of them more intuitively through repeated play.
-Did you feel like you were able to maintain your sense of direction throughout the the game? I felt like every time I rotated the level, every things was momentarily very ambiguous. Consequently, i found myself having to visualize each jump fully before making the actual jump. This is mostly just the effect of multi-directional game play but there might be a way to experiment with the rotation animation that feels like jarring. I can see this being hard for people who easily get motion sick.
-Did you feel like your abilities (rotating the room, pulling green blocks) made the game more interesting than if you didn't have them? Rotating the room was a very cool mechanic. It reminded me of 2D games where you reverse gravity, but in 3D space and 1st person. I can see pulling the blocks being a really deep design space requiring a lot of practice to fully master too. (I.e., complex jumps requiring multiple rotation while having to move blocks mid jump).
-How easily were you able to understand/master the controls of the game? Understanding the mechanics was very easy and straightforward. Mastering them feels like something that would take hours and hours of practice to perfect.
-How clear did you find the game's visual language to be (for example, different colors and shapes being used to differentiate elements) Even at this fairly rudimentary level, the visual language was quite clear. I would be inclined to say that if/when you develop the aesthetic look further, to not stray too far from a fundamentally strong geometric style to avoid visual clutter.
-Would you be interested in playing a longer game (with an actual narrative and better visuals, among other things) based around this core concept? Better visuals would be nice. Maybe a couple more mechanics (bounce pads maybe?). I personally don't think this game would need a narrative. I can see this have incredibly deep gameplay just from a game mechanics perspective.
-Do you have any suggestions on what you would improve in terms of mechanics and gameplay? As mentioned above, a few more mechanics might be cool, spread out over various levels. Something like bounce pads are an obvious idea that comes to mind but there's a lot you could probably do exploring the multi-directional 3D physics space.