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[HopFrog]

A friend just pitched this to me, in regards of building a game based on a simple prototype I made quite a while ago.

It involves an ice cube being abducted into an alien mothership, just sliding through levels while collecting gems. Simple stuff.



I like it a little bit (it obviously still needs some work), but I have this bad feeling that it might look too much as a small flash/browser game. Which is totally not where we are heading since we will be developing this for consoles.



At first, the characters had more detail, but he was having trouble designing the levels with that much detail work:





Any thoughts on this? Do you like the detailed version more?m Why, why not?

Any feedback is highly appreciated

[JohansenIndustries]

For my own tastes, I definitely like it, but I definitely agree that it looks like a browser game than a console one.

Personally, I like the simplified version more than the complicated version, since the sharp edges seem superfluous. If you want is to look like a carefull constructed creation for consoles, I'd suggest more moving parts or particle effects, or things like that.

If you want people to go 'wow, there's a lot of work been put into this', the easiest way is to probably ensure you put a lot of work into it.

I do genuinely like it though. 

[inkwellmachine]

Essentially what JohansenIndustries said.

I understand minimalism/simplicity, but conveyance is almost always more important. And what do I see looking at that screenshot? Shapes. Colored shapes and varied line weights.

For some games, that's enough. But these shapes have eyes, and you guys are clearly trying to characterize them in some (albeit slight) way. Push these basic concepts. What is the green gem-thing supposed to be? How can you exemplify that in its design? And how can you turn mildly-worried-looking blue square into a relatable character (even if it is just an ice cube)?

If you're having trouble, do a google search. Find out how other people have achieved what you're trying to with your art and learn from them.

The same goes for the environment. I'd never have been able to tell that was a spaceship if you hasn't mentioned it. Make it clear convey to your audience what you want us to see. Don't make us use our imagination--that's what books and table games are for.

Lastly, a word on the actually technique: the blocks in the center and the walls around the white area have (arguably) more character than anything else on the screen. I think that's because the line weight for their outlines is inconsistent, which can look good. But uniform-thickness lines can also look good, so this might just be a matter of opinion.Still, whatever you do, make sure you keep it consistent. Cause right now, the slick black outlines on the characters and items really clashes with the lines of varying weight used to draw the outlines for the borders and walls.

Good luck on nailing your game's aesthetic.

[HopFrog]

Thank you both for your feedback! I'm not much of an artist, so I was having issues identifying what was wrong in the first place. Hopefully, we can get to fix it soon, until then any additional advice is of course greatly appreciated 

[woodsmoke]

Maybe add some water effects/trails when the ice cube slides around.

Does the ice cube melt?.
That could be a timer.

As said, do space ship concept too.

I don't like the first alien because the two forms (hexagon and blob) do not go well together.

[SeanNoonan]

It looks pretty solid, but as mentioned, very browser/mobile in style. It's likely the combination of clean, high resolution assets with a relatively cute style in a single screen format - I expect to see 1-3 stars pop up at the end of a level, etc.