Barring any more additions I'll end this contest at the end of the the day today, any stragglers are welcome at any point, the deadline isn't over until it's over. But again, barring any more additions, I'll post the contest winner and my thoughts and the three levels submitted (I've played through them all already), in about 18-24 hours or so; probably sooner rather than later.
Edit because I don't want to double post:
Dave.Germain - EndLoop
I like the start and end loop cutscenes, felt a bit fun/cute/silly. It would have been cool if the level never ended and just cutscened back to the start but even I can see how that might get annoying. The first part threw me for a loop (pun not intended, but I'm not gonna shy away from it either). I felt like the dog that's doing chemistry in that one meme picture that says "I have no idea what I'm doing." But once I found the way to the next section it was much easier for me to understand. That's not necessarily detrimental that I couldn't understand well I just felt like I was thrown into that part in the action/adventure or rpg where you're suddenly in the looping forest area except you forgot to talk to the guys who tell you the correct path so you just start guessing until you get there. Maybe some direction would be better, or maybe I'm just stupid about it. Anyway, I really like how the level was cohesive from an artistic design standpoint, a lot of levels just end up being a mishmash but it was nice how the grass ran into temple. The difficulty didn't really ramp to me. There were two kinda hard parts with the flying meanies that shoot things, the one that shoots the four way darts and the homing glowy ball shooter. But once I got inside the temple the platforming was pretty simple. Not gonna say I mind but I think cutting up action/maze elements with simple platforming is more palatable, at least to me. I feel like the art could use a little work, rounding edges etc but it was at least nice to a change, I think this was a new tileset, I'm not as long of a player as most people here. Anyway it was a fine level but it didn't strike me as much as the other two.
Klämrisk - Find Home
There was a lot of really cool stuff in this level. The alternate paths are often so simply in your face that it's really hard to tell which way is the correct way sometimes. And I like that. I have a few complaints that the only real gameplay was the repetitious fridge traveseral (but who needs jump/dodge/duck/dive/dodge to make a good game?) I think the alternate, secret paths play against the game a bit because of the repititious fridgness. I also felt like this was incomplete in some ways. I can't tell if it was, but just poking around in the folder for the level I found cutscenes that I never did find while playing, so maybe there's even more I'm missing? It was difficult for me to tell if I'd gotten everything even after opening up the level in the editor. Anyway, this level felt a lot like ride rather than a level. Something that just drags you through experiences and interesting, crazy, crap to show you a good time. The dream/nightmare wakeup, along with the sharp pixel art reminded me of that south park episode City on the Edge of Forever with the fake clips and the weirdo monster and it all being a nightmare. It was a lot of fun to just load up and experience. Did you really sing that song at the end part? It's nice.
Winner
Firecat - The Tiny Planet
If this level had a story besides the tacked on cutscenes it would've been my pick hands down. I really liked the way the level worked and expanded with powerups. It wasn't too grand or epic, had a good balance of different kinds of gameplay from dodging to platforming to finding-another-way-to-get-somewhereing. I liked the use of Smashy's Tundra tileset a lot. Or maybe I just like that tileset a lot and haven't seen it that often or at all before. Anyway, this level also felt unfinished, not just because of the story but because of the small portion just before the center and the center itself, or maybe this is just due to it not having a story that those parts just felt empty. Maybe if there were a story reason explaining that. I don't know. The level reminded me a lot of how I felt when I started playing Knytt Stories levels a long time ago and I really like that feeling. I also really liked how it looped but each level of the loop was shorter because it was deeper down, it was an excellent touch to an entirely looping planet. That's the touch that sealed it for me. Even without the story, it was something that honestly made me feel a little stupider for not intrinsicaly understanding and when I did get it, I thought it was just great.
It was really close between Find Home and The Tiny Planet. They're both well worth playing. EndLoop is fun too but the other two stand out much more for me. Great job by everyone. Now, please do better than I did. Firecat, you're our only hope.