"Adventure for Breakfast!" - Make sure to include all your dependencies in the file. I shouldn't need to download FMOD.dll - That said I'm enjoying the game so far. A very nice, straightforward game. I enjoyed the various play modes (as per the competition requirement) and it didn't feel forced. Died a couple times by not thinking about the boulders that were above me, but was relieved to find I didn't have to start over. I think more could have been done to make getting items a puzzle, but overall an enjoyable play-through.
"BadCaveGuy" - When you first start a game, dying isn't exactly the best start. I die again tapping the space bar but the controls weren't responsive enough for me to notice any change. After a couple more deaths I try holding the space bar and I notice it's working. Awesome. Up to the point you enter the cave, it is running really fast - then you hit a wall and everything slows down. This gives the user the impression that their computer is lagging (even when it isn't the case). I try a couple times to get to the second part, but the time it takes and the difficulty of getting through the last small part wasn't worth spending more time. Edit: Tried it again, got past the first section: Then I'm shooting things.... but I can't shoot anything. After trying to shoot the thing shooting at me, everything goes through it. I get shot and die. I understand the concept, but I think it needs work.
"Chack" - So... after spending 5 minutes trying to figure out what the correct file to compile is and where to put it (I first headed the source/game/Main.bas - then Game.bas, then Source/Chack.bas - Success! Oh wait... when I run it, it doesn't do anything... I check exceptionLog.txt... cannot find files... oh okay, put the exe in the main Chack directory)... I finally get to the game. I click "help"....
...
Nothing? I then start the game. Oh, cool, a Chess variation. I start with my typical opening... I go to castle and... oh... You can't castle? Okay... I continue, and the AI makes a pretty big error. I go to capture and... suddenly, pong? A ball gets thrown at me so fast the screen is closed and my piece is gone before I can even react. I lose 3 pieces before I realize that I need to have my hand on the arrow keys and I can't use the mouse that I've been using the whole program. I press up, and my paddle shoots straight off the screen. I try a couple more times, but it is clear that the game has no timer management and is ultimately unplayable. I like the idea, but it is just not executed well.
"Face Invaders 2020" - Controls are intuitive and everything starts nice and easy to get you used to everything. While the graphics aren't exactly polished, they have their charm. I looked at the data files, and noticed two things: The title screen graphic that I assumed was stretched, and therefore blury, wasn't actually stretched at all. Here is a copy of your title screen, but with with some minor changes that I believe would make it look more polished.
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/706/titlei.png - These changes make the text much easier to read, and puts the spotlight on your lizard rather than covering him up. Also, I'd take a look at D.J.Peters' MultiPut function. That way you can just flip the sprite when the mouse moves across the screen rather than using two sprites.
I felt that this game, while playable, didn't necessarily feature multiple game modes. I felt like I was switching between two levels. Also, in the lizard level, it doesn't seem to give you any clue why the lizards disappear and you lose health. They just sort of vanish mid screen. After level 15, it felt like it had sped up a little more,[edit: I went full screen around level 15, and that was the cause for the speed increase. Not full screen, it is a bit slower] but by level 50 I really didn't feel much changing at all. I could quickly click and drag across the lizards and click the faces no problem. I think after level 20 or so, you should add a 3rd face, and a 3rd lizard, then continuing to add them as you get further into the game. Also, I think taking less damage, but not recovering health between each stage would make it a bit more challenging. Enjoyable though.
"Plix TowerDefense" - After spending a couple minutes getting used to the controls, I must say I'm pretty impressed with this game. It feels like it moves at a good tempo and the shape of the path is nice. It rewards players for putting turrets in good positions. At times I feel certain towers like the radiation/poison tower didn't give enough feedback to the player. At first you think that it simply isn't doing anything, and it isn't until the later upgrades where you can really get feedback that the radiation is doing damage over time. Maybe some initial damage plus damage over time would help with that. The shooting range at first is very small... maybe a little too small as it puts a new player right next to danger for the first round or so. As a side note, when I alt+tab out, I can't seem to get back into the game. Hitting 'enter' next to the red portal (thing at the bottom of the screen?) didn't do anything. Also, if you're going to include a *.doc file, use some formatting. If you're going to use just plain text, leave it a *.txt :p | That aside, very enjoyable and polished. I do think that the theme of 'Gameplay Combination' could have been explored more and done in a more innovative fashion. That said I do like both modes of play.
"Witchcraft Adventure" - Having an engine puts this game at a bit of a head start over the competition. That said, it is easy to tell a good amount of work went into this game. One thing I notice off the bat is the small resolution. I'm all for low-resolution games, but an option to do a simple 2X scale is a very simple solution and helps people with larger monitors not have to squint the whole time. I have a 1920x1200 monitor, and unfortunately, whenever I tried to go full screen, it would kick me out into windowed mode.
Those details aside, the game plays well. The old man I think should explain food and water a bit more, maybe mentioning the meters and that you lose health if you run out. Walking around in the first level getting hurt every step isn't very fun. Maybe some sort of visual cue on the meter might help as well. When trying to combine wax and string to make a candle, nothing I tried worked. I hit space bar first, I picked them up, hit enter and place one on top of the other and hit space, I hit space on both items, dropped an item and pressed space... nothing worked. Also, hitting the 'del' key to bring up the map didn't do anything. The puzzles and graphics are nicely done and I'd love to try it again with those things working. Oh, also, occasionally the graphics would glitch - for example, at the first water fountain thing, I'd use it, turn around to head the other direction, and the fountain would stay in front of me until I moved to another square. I also enjoyed the play between the alive and ghost modes. Fits very well into the theme of the contest.
I enjoyed going over and playing the entries. If I sounded a bit rough at all, it is nothing personal, it is simply critiques that I think would help improve the game play or quality of the entries. I will leave my vote confidential for right now, but I will say I will be voting for the one I feel fit the theme well and demonstrated solid game play. I'll have to join in the next contest!