Temple Eclipse

Temple Eclipse looks like a unique game, and while it is a work in progress I see a number of problems in its current setup.
It is made in unity for a game jam, you are a Mayan princess and you are stuck in temple collecting stuff and procceed from level to level, because it's fun!

It took me a while to fully understand the concept and layout - I did not consult the gamepage which helps with the core idea - and the tutorial page was a little confusing without being in the game. A proper tutorial would have been appreciated, but you can pick up most rules along the way.

In Short form: You need to collect gems until your exit appear, you then use the exit.


And this is where I got stuck. Can somebody explain me the idea behind this level?

A few additions that became apparant

- there is a bar on top with moon that fills up -> full, you lose. It takes roughly a minute to fill, but I did not time it
- usually (bare the last one), collecting one full group of gems opens the exit
- according to the "moon-phase" two things happen -> blocks with their color disappear, gems with the same color appear, previous gems disappear
- each gem location is hinted at on the map in a very light tone of the color outside their phase to anticipate

Apparantly the guardians with their red sight of vision speed up the meter, but with a waiting level it does not seem to be a significant amount. With the lack of visual or sound reaction to getting into their sight (when are you, or are you not seen anyway?) I assumed they simply bugged and did absolutely nothing.
At the same time, the timer is tight regardless so you may want to just rush through and grab the stuff.
Replaying it with that in mind - while in the red zone it passes quickly, but if you rush through it becomes a minor factor.

Movement feels sluggish in its responsiveness, often when I turned or changed directions it needed a moment to respond - this feels frustrating when pressed for time and makes avoiding the statues tougher as well.

The Map shifts slightly with the movement, it is too little to be hard on the eyes, but it means that the outer line of blocks/pathway is not visible until you move towards. I needed to retry a level because I simply did not see the passageway on the sideline. It also looks rather unprofessional and added for no reason. A static map would make it easier to plan and observe, in any case.

There is no count for gems in any given form - some sort of interface to record your gem progress, especially as they disappear without a trace, would feel very welcome. Collecting more gems than you need for the exit to appear seems like a waste of time (especially with the sluggish-feeling movement), instead of an incentive to plan better.

Game Flow

Now with general notes and complaints out of the way, after getting used to the system, I still find it a difficult system to play in. Not knowing what was going on at first it felt some roadblocks are linked to going back to a certain field, for example, after I first assumed it is maybe linked to picking all gems up.
The aesthetics are .. functional. You can make out everything easily enough, but it is not all that pretty. Music does not exist, only sound-effects for the passing of a moon-phase which is very effective and striking, the disappearance of doors, and for picking up gems which was a little jarring.

The idea is that you need to plan your steps carefully as you are under time constraints - so as to pick up as many gems up as quickly as possible, and utilizing proper steps to get the most out of the time you have.
However, at the same time the change of moon-phase and passage limits what you can do during this time - there were many many passages where I was simply waiting around for the next door to finally open so I can procceed. Waiting around is no fun.
Yes, with the gems hinted at you may think of what to do next, but there is really no choice in the matter. The objectives are clear - it feels like it was maybe designed as a stealth-based game, but it really felt more of a puzzler to me. Only that there is only so much to figure out, I had no satisfaction in waiting for the next pathway to open or picking up glowing orbs.
This clear restriction of time and gems separately from another seems very limiting.
If instead you needed to pick all gems up for the next doors to open, for example, it would require you to plan in a way that needs you to pick up all gems - and this may require you to avoid statues for that little bit of extra time.
This way you just do what you can, then wait until you can do more, then return.

The last level I played and got stuck in was particularily frustrating - I realize level design was considered a problem on the page - but I also feel there may no clear focus as to what you can or should plan with the system.
In it, you literally were blocked out of any means to procceed to anywhere until most of the time had passed. You literally waited around until you could leave the passage you were locked into. Then you could pick up a bunch of red orbs, but it did not make the exit appear, nor did I see any way of getting anywhere.

All in all, while game offers possible level design ideas, all levels that are present are not using it too well, and the overall interface needs additions to make it engaging or satisfying.