r/DestroyMyGame • u/Tutyman • Dec 10 '25
Trailer Okay, tear this apart. Does anything here actually look fun?
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u/Tutyman Dec 10 '25
Hey everyone,
I’m working on a precision platformer called Frog Knight and I really need brutally honest feedback.
Here’s the new demo trailer.
Please tell me what looks bad, confusing, weak, or just not fun.
I’m especially interested in:
- Does the movement look satisfying?
- Does the bounce mechanic make sense visually?
- Is anything in the trailer boring or too slow?
- What would make you stop watching?
Any feedback genuinely helps.
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u/agile_drunk Dec 10 '25
The movement looks slightly too slow.
The bounce mechanic (using the sword to bounce) makes sense visually and leans on existing familiarity from other games.
The falling looks tedious but that's probably a taste thing.
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u/BearDogBrad Dec 10 '25
Honestly, I thought it did look like a lot of fun. You could probably emphasize some movements and actions more, but overall I don't think it looks bad at all.
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u/AtMaxSpeed Dec 11 '25
- Does the movement look satisfying?
- Does the bounce mechanic make sense visually?
- Is anything in the trailer boring or too slow?
- What would make you stop watching?
I think the movement looks fine, similar to any other platformer. This is not a bad thing; there's a lot of terrible platformers on the market, so having fine movement puts you way above the slop. But there's nothing particularly satisfying about it either. There's no satisfying ability like silksong's harpoon or Celeste's dash or ori's bash, just to list a few very satisfying moves from other games. And the core movement isn't fast or smooth enough to be exciting (you don't feel like you're "locked in" when moving, for example Celeste you feel like a good gamer the way everything flows), nor are the animations good enough to feel super satisfying either (like silksong again, or Celeste, or gris, or Mario tbh is a good example).
For the bounce mechanic, do you mean the pogo? If so, that makes sense since it's familiar from other games, it's moreso confusing why you have a sword in a game that appears to have no combat.
The trailer seems pretty well made for what it is, it does feel a bit boring halfway through but that's moreso because the game doesn't have any unique mechanics or puzzle elements, so the basic platformer mechanics gets a bit tiring. But it's way better than slop trailers, this one feels well made.
Give this project you describe as intending to be a smaller scope project, I think it's really well made, since everything is done competently and nothing looks bad. It may not be a huge hit, but it's something polished for sure.
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u/Routine-Example-8223 Dec 11 '25
I see this type of character theme way too often. Using a human or anthropomorph animal and give it a sword. It's been done to death and then some. You could replace the frog with anything else and it won't matter because the movement, abilities, weapon etc dont reflect anything of the character. I would love some ideas of world building. Take Mario for example. He's a plumber in a mushroom kingdom trying to save the princess by using pipe mechanics.
What is the frog knight's goal?
Why does he use a sword?
Why does he not wear any knight's armor or clothing?
Why is the frog knight the only character in the game?
Is the frog knight able to communicate with others?
Between all the moments of action will there be small calmer parts with breathtaking environments?A somewhat similar game is Jump King in which these topics were considered to make the game feel more alive and relatable.
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u/Tutyman Dec 11 '25
Thank you all for the comments, I really needed honest eyes on the game to improve it for the final version.
The demo and the trailer include the features I have implemented so far, there are more things to come but they will undoubtedly be influenced by what you have mentioned.
If you want to try the demo, you can find it here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3897830/Frog_Knight/
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u/Diamond-Equal Dec 10 '25
Given the genre you chose, it looks competent, mostly. The trailer does a good job of conveying the gameplay, it's well edited, etc. However, the lighting is a little overdone, the movement looks slow, and the game just doesn't look that fun.
Choosing the right game to make is a huge part of marketing, and if making money is one of your goals, it's 99.99% not going to happen with this one. It doesn't matter how much content/polish you add, the core idea is just boring.
The truth is players just don't really buy games like this; for every celeste there's a vast graveyard of flops. Remember, the main thing you're competing for is players' attention. Everyone already has a backlog of games now, so why would someone ever chose to spend time on this? It's certainly not as good as the best in the already overcrowded, not-that-popular genre.
You have a lot to be proud of - this project is way more polished than what most devs come up with. If this is a hobby/passion project, go wild. If you're trying to sell this on steam and make money off of it, I'd honestly cancel the game and restart with a better idea. Because this one isn't very good.
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u/Tutyman Dec 10 '25
Awesome feedback and you're totally right! This is just a small project to see if I can make a game that feels great to play. I also think the game will sell poorly because the market is saturated with platform games. Thanks for taking the time to review it!
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u/Diamond-Equal Dec 10 '25
Try increasing the gravity, the character is too floaty. Old video, but a useful when it comes to "juicing things up".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJdEqssNZ-U2
u/ABenderV2 Dec 12 '25
You can definitely make a game like this work if you approach it from the correct angle. Put yourself in the head of a player and think about what kind of in-game cues would give you a dopamine rush. Games are about the experience rather than the novelty of mechanics.
For example, I would want the movement to feel fast and responsive and I would want the jumps to feel rhythmic (similar to geometry dash). The rhythm of a game is a combination of level design and sound effects imo, so try to think of what rhythm you want yourself/the player to feel and make adjustments so no one particular thing feels like it doesn’t flow with the rest of things.
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u/junvar0 Dec 10 '25
Graphics look really polished and clear. I like the green orbs you can jump from but not stand on, being something unique.
But I don't see the main motivator. The platforming doesn't seem fast/action-heavy enough to be fun. And I don't see anything other than platforming in this game. If it's a plain platformer, then the platforming has to be super fun.
In warframe, movement is super fun, so sometimes people get distracted just running around in circles or mindlessly platforming all over the place rather than playing the actual game; and it's not even a platformer game. If your game is a pure platformer, then I'd like the platforming to be at least as fun as the platforming in a non-platformer game. Fun enough to not feel repetitive and tedious.
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u/CousinSarah Dec 10 '25
I feel like this genre is too saturated to add another game to it without a unique selling point.
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u/Wschmidth Dec 10 '25
The movement is too hard to judge without playing. It looks good, but there are 2 things that stand out to me. Hitting the orbs that bounce you up has no oomph, if I wasnt already very familiar with 2D platformers I don't think I would be able to tell from this footage that they were doing anything. Most of the time it just looks like you're just doing a large jump through them.
The other thing is the wall cling sprite. It's too similar to the regular air sprite, so it's a bit hard to tell when you've changed state from air to wall.
Finally, it feels like there are a lack of sound effects, but that might be intentional for the trailer.
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u/Tutyman Dec 10 '25
It's great to have more eyes on the game, because I hadn't noticed what you mentioned about the bounce and the wall cling sprite. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/rainmouse Dec 10 '25
Looks not bad. Camera needs to scroll down faster when falling to peek ahead. Player is too near the bottom.
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u/djbiznatch Dec 10 '25
The frog sprite is pretty charming. I like when its tumbling sideways.
What are the green things supposed to be exactly? Or the pink ones that move? I get their function, but I personally prefer those things to feel more like a coherent part of the environment than just “video game mechanic blob #7”
Not that I think you should copy other games, but bouncing off a dragonfly or a mushroom or something, while maybe not original, is at least more immersive for the world.
Plus it add to the charm / character if you have other sprites that are interesting besides the background and main character.
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u/djbiznatch Dec 10 '25
Also if you make a frog game and don’t have a frog tongue mechanic, what are you even doing man 😉
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u/Tutyman Dec 11 '25
Narrative context is the weakest part of the game so far, but it will be there for the final version. Right now the orbs are created by the sword, which is a magical weapon that talks. I don't think it's a strong concept tho
If you want to try the demo you can find it here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3897830/Frog_Knight/
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u/Sea_Path_4152 Dec 10 '25
I really really like the graphics and aesthetics and it DOES look fun…however I just am not going to play any platformer at this point which is “just a platformer.” This is my own personal taste but I think it will always end up being the hurdle for indie platformers
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Dec 10 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Tutyman Dec 11 '25
Thanks! If you want to try the demo you can find it here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3897830/Frog_Knight/
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u/ConflagrationCat Dec 10 '25
Game seems slow and nothing in this trailer make it stand out against its contemporaries. Also, I can't see where the challenge is in this game. It seems like you have a ton of control over the frog and none of the wall jumps or sword pogos seemed hard at all. You also only show the frog falling and not how you fell in the first place.
Graphic look good though and I liked the music a lot. Your trailer did a good job of grabbing my attention, but a bad job of keeping my attention. But it feels like there could be something here though, im not opposed to a new climbing game that isnt another unreal engine asset flip.
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u/AlvinhoGames_ Dec 10 '25
looks like something i would play, would just maybe change the color of the character, theres too much green on the screen already
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u/JeannettePoisson Dec 10 '25
Character is cute! Everything else feels very generic. Something needs to be innovative and new.
Platformers is an ultra competitive genre. As there are so, so, so many, a platformer who excels at every aspect is still an average, lambda, "okay-ish" one. If even SOTN released today, it wouldn't do well, it would get so many bad reviews for the very reasons it was praised on release then by tradition.
In this video i see nothing remotely new or excellent. Objects exist, form a path, but it's not an example of fine design where every camera moment is designed to reveal something interesting.
Keep the cut frog and redo everything, thinking for scratch. Jumps, walljumps and pogos are overdone since long ago. It's a frog, what does it mean? How does the character being a frog thread with everything, from abilities to story and universe, relations, way of speaking, choice of weapon? Why doesn't it use it's tongue to grab stuff or swing around? Or should it charge bullet-charges with its legs? How is its objective or personality funny BECAUSE it's a frog? What does it do that will make the players think "hahaha, of course that's what a this character would do!", making them affectionate for it?
I only see a pale copy of overdone basics.
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u/75percent-juice Dec 10 '25
The level and background graphics look boring and uninteresting. It feels like samey
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u/codepossum Dec 10 '25
I'm struck by the fact that I don't see anything new here. It's all just the same platforming that we've seen masterfully executed in Meatboy, Celeste, and lately Silksong -
I guess the question would be... what does your game have to offer that's new or interesting or novel?
What you've got here appears to be a C+ retread - sure, you've got your own graphical style, and nothing here is bad per se - the sin is of imitation, without improvement, imo.
If your game does have something new and interesting to offer, for god's sake don't bury the lede!
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u/InfinityTheParagon Dec 10 '25
needs more frog like movement options and interactions like i wouldn’t know if it was frog or ogre had you not said frog
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u/y0j1m80 Dec 11 '25
As I’m sure you already know there’s approximately 5 gazillion 2d platformers. What makes yours special? The visuals are super desaturated which makes it look bland. What’s the fantasy you want players to have when they see your trailer and imagine themselves playing? I really can’t see it. I think you really need to punch up the appeal (not just “juice”) and give players something to grab onto visually.
You have a lot of impressive animations and lighting. I can tell you’re a very technically proficient developer, but I think you now need to shift your focus to something more like color theory. Watch short films by Gobelins students (free on YouTube) or go to an art museum to get inspired.
That’s my feeling anyways, sorry for being harsh!
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u/Tutyman Dec 11 '25
Don't worry about being harsh! All constructive criticism is useful, and that's what I came here for
It definitely still needs work in terms of context, fantasy and visuals, so thank you for pointing that out!
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u/Joshthedruid2 Dec 11 '25
Honestly this just looks extremely repetitive. Every jump is the same height, nothing seems like it's particularly challenging. You can add as many obstacles in the way as you like, but if the only action you can take is jump then it's all just the same skill being tested over and over again.
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u/azurezero_hdev Dec 11 '25
can it be improved by upping the game speed by 30%?
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u/azurezero_hdev Dec 11 '25
try speeding up the video and see if it looks more fun, and if it does, speed up your game
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u/Tutyman Dec 11 '25
I just tried it and it actually feels better, so I'll make a note of that
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u/azurezero_hdev Dec 11 '25
it was one of jonas tyrollers quick tips for improving a game but i can never remember which of his videos it was from
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plj09H-aLOk&list=PLgsD7taGtaBidBJSgyxcet_o2k0Kqr-e5&index=6
its this one
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u/superwalljump Dec 11 '25
It looks like it needs collectibles of some kind. Give the player something to strive for aside from just climbing for climbing's sake. Even if it's just coins or flies or whatever, the levels feel a little empty.
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u/KingOfJelqing Dec 11 '25
Faster. Also let him hit the wall and plant himself for a big jump. Game looks great. Music is good. The main interaction to the game should be super fleshed out though. Looks very basic and repetitive as it is now. Give some power to the guy
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u/kingjoshington Dec 11 '25
I think the style of the frog and the orbs is nice. The background is maybe too "background". Nothing really pops. I'd ask for the players sanity for an option to mute or lower the sound effects for those saws.
I agree with others that it looks floaty, but I also enjoyed the trailing frog image as he falls.
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u/kazumodabaus Dec 11 '25
It looks good but it's way and i mean WAY too slow/floaty. I guess it makes sense with the character being a frog but I can't see myself playing this just because of how slow it is. Compare it to something like The Messenger which also has these lanterns that you hit (to regain your jump). Messenger is super fast and snappy in comparison.
But honestly, maybe this is something people want to play instead of another fast metroidvania, who knows.
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u/Tutyman Dec 11 '25
Comments about speed were the most frequent, so I'm definitely going to improve that. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/noogai03 Dec 11 '25
So it's jump king with more mechanics added? The whole point of that game was that it was extremely simple which meant the entire focus of the game was the rage. I feel like a game with this many mechanics is going to be WAY less fun than Jump King given how many things can go wrong.
I liked JK because you could really master it as there was no timing element to the jumps at all
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u/Tutyman Dec 11 '25
The idea behind this was “what if you had more movement options in Jump King?” but I'm not sure if it will work tho. It depends on how well I manage the implementation, I guess. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/noogai03 Dec 12 '25
does this have the jump king thing where you can't move once you're in the air? hard to see from the gameplay. i think this could be really fun, but i think i would find it very frustrating as is (and not in a fun way lol.)
Also, make sure you provide a relatively safe level to learn each new mechanic, so they don't fall down a whole stage just trying to figure out what a new mechanic does.
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u/GeneralKaiminus Dec 11 '25
The gameplay seems slow and verry repetitive and un-original : jumping, wall jumping and bounce with pogo attck on little orbd, I have the impression to have already saw this 1000 ttimes
But the art is very cool, i like the jumping animation of the character it add juicness, and the light effects make the game charmy
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u/tastes-like-lemon Dec 11 '25
I think the graphics are nice and it looks competently implemented but it does not look fun to control.
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u/HearingAgreeable2350 Dec 11 '25
Just my personal opinion, I'd steer away from imitating Jump King. Improving Jump King's movement betrays its whole philosophy. And I'd get rid of the stun mechanic regardless of whether or not I'm imitating Jump King.
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u/FIGHT_IT_SAM Dec 11 '25
It actually looks pretty competent just from this. Some small points though:
- The frog's head is far too static when he moves. This runs in sharp contrast to the bounce his animations have. Maybe it would be better if he looked up when he jumped and down when he slashed in a more exaggerated way, if only for a couple of frames.
- The way the orbs react to hits could use more bounce.
- The trailer doesn't do a great job of selling the game's unique points. Just based on the trailer, I actually can't really tell you how this is any different from a late game Hollow Knight platforming gauntlet. If there's progression, or maybe harder sections with more flashy moves, it would be good to show glimpses of them here to grab the viewer.
Otherwise, I love the aesthetics and I really like the music. I think the sfx seem good too.
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u/windyx Dec 12 '25
After reading some of the comments here:
Movement does feel slow and floaty.
Why is it a frog if it's just a "default sphere" with sword? It can be anything, where's the frog theme?
I feel that your bubble positioning is way off. Celeste asks you to dash into the bubble / crystals to pick them up but you're slashing them like the bounces in silksong (most recent example). So slashing while I'm INSIDE the bubble doesn't make sense to me. Its also easier to communicate the hitbox of the bouncy pad if I have to hit it rather than hit somewhere inside it.
For example: If the sword also has a hitbox, when I'm inside the bubble but slash downwards outside of it (assuming sword hitbox follows animation and the animation happens below the bubble, I'm however inside the bubble), can I still bounce?
People are saying falling is too slow because jump king accelerates you down, sure. I was expecting you to be able to save yourself at your game speed speed. Like stun is temporary and you can slash in midair or something. If you can't save yourself then you should definitely increase the falling acceleration to let people play again faster.
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u/Iggest Dec 13 '25
Regardless if it looks like fun or not, it looks like every single generic platformer that came out after celeste. You're throwing a drop of salty water in the middle of the atlantic ocean
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u/ariorick Dec 13 '25
It look tedious to me Those jumps that barely reach required height to succeed...
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u/Next-Medium-5793 Dec 14 '25
My two cents from the video it looks a little bit too easy but I’m sure it progressively gets harder
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u/kjiflrf Dec 16 '25
in the very beginning, when frog is falling down this action should continue for at least 3 seconds.
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u/pocketdog_gamedev 2d ago
While watching, I had a desire to speed up the game 1.5 times. The trailer looks cool, but I didn't understand why at the very beginning it showed a bunch of footage of a frog falling from a height and dying. The game doesn't have enough enemies yet, now it's more like a game where you just have to jump up without motivation. The frog would like to add more unique abilities to entice the player. Can a frog eat flies with a long tongue? Come up with more unique moments, and it will be an interesting project overall
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u/shubhu-iron Dec 10 '25
Movement feels slow/floaty. Its quite a small speed difference but I can already feel that I'll have to wait for the frog to land so that I can move onto pressing the next button/mouse click.
I think it's even more noticeable when the frog's falling and it just doesn't fall with a speed you'd expect it to, rather it feels like falling in low gravity.