What is new? What was the motivation?
We made significant progress in updating our game this week. Specifically, making headway in addressing the primary feedback we received from our playtesting, which was to further enhance the presence of the theme within the game. We added multiple cutscenes to give the play context for the core hero-sidekick dynamic (lazy hero getting carried by the sidekick), added movement to the main title page, juiced up the level transitions, and added audio to help set the mood. We also added 2 boss levels to the end of the game to add a sense of closure to the story, and help address one of the weaker points of our puzzles, which is the hero playing an inessential role. In addition to theming, we fixed some outstanding bugs, improved our ramp collisions, revamped the hero navigation AI, tweaked existing puzzle mechanics (ie: changed magnet from toggle to hold), and introduced more hero-centric puzzle mechanics.

What is next?
We want to add more story elements and polish the existing ones because we think the theming is very central to the enjoyability of the game. Other priorities include additional levels, new puzzle mechanics, and quality of life improvements. We are planning on specifically keeping an eye on making sure the hero is a relevant part of as many levels as possible instead of just wandering around, since that is a piece of feedback we have consistently received. This is a ripe area for new puzzle mechanics, and we have a few ideas for new sidekick abilities that facilitate interaction with the hero, allowing the sidekick to occasionally control hero movement.

Builds:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RkNl2lN_84jOX31H9tg8xWrCwJfSWA7s