[530+ level reviews] - Grading levels by Authors A-C

Here are my personal letter grade reviews for levels submitted by authors A-C (technically NUM-C) corresponding to pages 1-6 on knyttlevels.com         

            
Disclaimer: I don't consider myself an authority on what makes a "good" level. It's a lot easier for me to fill in a single letter on a spreadsheet than spend hours making these levels so if a particular grade seems unfair I am more than happy to give more in-depth thoughts on any particular level.            
            

   

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What each grade corresponds to:      
      
OUTDATED   Obsolete versions of levels (see newer version for review)         
N/A   Tileset showcases, demos, etc. that can't be judged for gameplay         
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F   Unplayable or broken         
D   Severe issues (see criteria below) that makes completing the level unenjoyable, will not replay         
C   Average levels, no strong feelings one way or the other         
B   Great levels that are replayable, or great level concepts          
A   Must-play levels         
            

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Things that may negatively impact grade (-) :            
            
Broken levels / no ending            
Random tile or enemy spam            
Excessive "hallway screens" that pad-out level with no challenge / noteworthy visuals            
Unnecessarily long walking period before receiving run powerup (unrelated to challenge)            
Arbitrary hidden spikes / invisible death tiles            
Wall clipping on screen transitions / void pits            
Poor distinction between foreground / background tiles            
Poor save point placement (e.g. save point > multiple hallway screens > challenge)            
Surprise death by environment/enemy immediately on screen transition      

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[Outdated]
Sheets link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dHLxjO63eIP4owuM2rJK0F1k7CLFGbMIV9WbTV8H2o4/edit?usp=sharing
STATS: https://imgur.com/a/wlGZoM6
SORTED BY ALPHABETICAL: https://imgur.com/a/llts01m
SORTED BY GRADE: https://imgur.com/a/0WNviDN

The above links are out-of-date, see here for the latest version: https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=7484.0

You could do it like this:

Thank you plural!

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Some random thoughts:

The older levels (12-14Y) were definitely more of a mixed-bag when it comes to quality. A lot of first-time levels and casual submissions.

For those that enjoy exploration heavy levels, I tried to mark them as such in the notes column since my ratings for those types of levels may seem low. (ex. "Caverns" by Bunnrey)

Two authors in particular consistently made levels that showed promise and incorporated great ideas despite average ratings. These authors are "60FourMaster" and "Comhon" and are worth checking out.

The most common issues that I saw were:

- Otherwise great levels that were padded out by 1-2 flat screens between every interesting challenge
- Levels where the player can either proceed left or right from the start; the run powerup being placed multiple screens away in one direction (which the player can miss entirely).
- Overuse of surprise spikes / "spikey digletts"


Favorite mechanics:

- Power-up swap shop for nonlinear progression - as seen in "Red Palace" by Anton Ergo
- Persistent minimap in corner / shifting between X-axis and Y-axis - as seen in "Change the View!" by Ble
- Overworld (though not original to this level) - as seen in "Le Llave de Gustavo" by Carlos
- Gravity inverter to flip level / unlocking coordinates to visit new planets - as seen in "Sohe and the rrokked" by baroncid oldgil
- Story incorporates revisiting screens from the author's past level submissions - as seen in "Supreme Sanktoh" by 60FourMaster
- "Interactive" prologue, walking through story screens - as seen in "Long Walk" by DjGopher
- "Corner sweeping", could be applied to other maps as an alternative to 50GC versions - as seen in "Super Corner Checker" by Anton Ergo

Would it be easier to link it as a Google Sheet?

(Also yay me for choosing a letter at the end of the alphabet!)

Nice. There are even some B rated levels I have never played before.

It's also possible to share excel table with onedrive if you have one.

I copied over to Google Sheets. See tabs at the bottom for sorting by grade and author.

If you are unable to sort/edit due to the permission settings, just make a copy of the sheet.


Sheets link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dHLxjO63eIP4owuM2rJK0F1k7CLFGbMIV9WbTV8H2o4/edit#gid=0

Sheets web link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTDP1iJQd-tJaU8X5EviTzQJ1EOjhumlOSx3RDXgsKd9P2K55B1fnRTLlap2hEeG81Jmk9tLR4gZAtS/pubhtml#

Looks like Sturgeon's law is real. Nah, I'm kidding.
I would never have thought someone was willing to play and grade all 2700+ levels.
Great job.

(Also yay me for choosing a letter at the end of the alphabet!)

I don't know whether to laugh or cry because:
1. I would be on page 15.
2. My levels are still unfinished.

Looks like Sturgeon's law is real. Nah, I'm kidding.
I would never have thought someone was willing to play and grade all 2700+ levels.
Great job.

If that person exists, they're not me.  The majority of these were filled out over the years but I don't see myself making it to the end of the alphabet (sorry ZAPAZOIDS!).


Hopefully helpful to others who navigate the minefield of knyttlevels since there isn't a rating feature.

Ooh, that's too bad. I really hope the whole archive will be rated like this at some point.
That would save thousands.