Dream Escape

This is a story driven platformer about a boy called Kevin who is being bullied. When Kevin goes to sleep, he dreams about a world that is being slowly taken over by a dark wave and needs to jump upwards in the level to find a kind of portal to escape. I think this game would appeal to younger players who might experience bullying at school and who will appreciate the very "cartoony" art style.I really enjoyed the beginning of the game where the story was told through the use of the cutscene and thought there was good use of visual symbolism to tell the story prior to Kevin's dream.The game was extremely difficult to play, as I could not get onto the clouds to rise above the wave (the controls need to be more responsive). However I noticed that there was an unlimited double-jump which I used to simply "fly" up to the portal (e.g. going to the complete opposite end of the spectrum and making the game super-easy). At the start of the level I was trying to work out what to press for jump. I tried spacebar and this took me back to the cutscenes about the story (quite confusing). Although I get the metaphor of the dark wave as relating to the experiences of bullying, I did not get the metaphor of the portal as means to escape – so I am not sure this educates anyone about bullying. I would suggest for you to think about ways to stop bullying – tell a teacher or something? (do some research about it) Maybe you can replace the portal with something that is related to that? A phonebox? Door to headteacher's office? Although I know it is a wave because I have spoken to you, the wave itself probably needs to be animated or something to make it clearer what it is -- at first sight it could be floor, a dark cloud or anything! The game could also be improved further with the addition of sound effects and music to help build the feeling of tension as the wave get closer to engulfing the player. A wider selection of animations on the main character would be good. Standing still, walking, jumping. At the moment even when the player is mid-air their legs are moving as if they are walking.