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A jam submission

Meta StasisView game page

A mind-bending puzzle/JRPG that uses saving and loading as a gaming mechanic.
Submitted by Human (@AkraticHuman) — 1 day, 22 hours before the deadline
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Meta Stasis's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Overall#24.2114.211
Gameplay#24.1054.105
Creativity#34.6844.684
Writing/Story#43.8423.842

Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

  • Wow, I love how you used persistent data in the save file to add depth to the game and puzzles, this concept is SOLID. What a fun game! :D
  • Licky lick ! Very very cool game. I was working on the same kind of feature some time ago (saves remembering things from other saves), so i really loved that and really enjoyed to see how you used that idea. The story is simple, but good. Protagonists are funny. I loved the interactions between them in battles. There is also plenty of jokes that made me laugh. The ending is cool. Maps are really easy to go throught, made too much. I like when there is a bit of exploration in games. But puzzles with anchors are great. The combat system is also cool and balanced, and also linked to the anchor system for the last battle, which is a great idea. Little Tina is maybe a bit too useless for normal battle. (she is OP for the last battle, tho) I really enjoyed to play your game, thanks for that and your submissions. Cya ! :) Drag

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Comments

Developer

This is streamer Hawk Zombie playing the game. Arguably more entertaining to watch him play than to play yourself:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/578895094?t=3h05m30s

Submitted

Hello there! Got to play your game! (There is so many... Why I told myself I'd play all of them?)

ANYWAY... Great job with this entry! The story is interesting, the little dialogs in combat makes it more lively, the puzzles require actual thinking to go through and using the save system in that manner is very clever and original.

If anything there is one thing I'd like to talk about, something I found strange. The Dagger of Extra Stabs does not equip itself automatically? Or is that the last piece of equipment you get from the chests that is not equipped automatically? I find it weird because the other two are equipped to their respective characters automatically upon obtaining them.

Aside from that, I enjoyed it and I wish you the best of luck for the game jam. You definitely have your chances. ^^

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing PikaMew! So. . . yeah, the auto equip thing I should have done better. Basically the items auto-equip when you load a new game. I was assuming players would equip the items as they opened the chests, and the auto-equip on loading was meant to ensure that meta-equipment would magically be equipped, even if you load an old save file.

But I neglected to make the items auto-equip as soon as you open the chests, which can cause confusion. This is one of the many ways I tortured myself with the Meta Stasis concept, and the fix didn't make it in before Jam submission.

Submitted(+1)

You're welcome! It's ok, just a small problem. It doesn't ruin the game at all. ^^

Submitted(+1)

This game is incredible. Beautifully presented and masterfully executed, about the only critical things I can think of are: 1) I want a way to defeat Little Tina! 2) I want more! (Though as an entry in this jam goes, it's the perfect length).

I would love to see this game developed further to include even more puzzles and elaboration on the save/load mechanic. Good job on this entry!

Developer(+1)

So glad you enjoyed it! I have 2-3 other puzzles that didn't make it in due to time. Maybe I'll release an updated version with some flaws fixed and non-rtp graphics. 2026 tentative release date :).

Jam Judge

Hey there! We did a high level review of your entry this weekend and would like you to see it on our channel. You can find the exact time to skip to in the description:

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback! I'm so gratified that you enjoyed the characters and the concept. Your criticism was very, very insightful and right on target.

(+1)

AMAZING CONCEPT!!

Jam Judge(+1)

But does it work if you never save...?


Developer(+1)

Yeah. You could (unwisely) play the whole game without saving and the concept would still work. The Meta Static effects are not triggered by saving.

Jam Judge

Actually, I was trolling my friend Hawk. XD He's famous for forgetting to save in his streams.

Developer(+1)

Ooohh. I get it :). Consider it Hawk-proof.

Developer

Some people are getting stuck in a couple "soft lock" moments! Remember, your choices remain throughout all your saves, and even new games! So if you are in a pinch, begin new game and you can continue progressing.

Submitted

Very fun and creative implementation of the save and load feature into puzzle/RPG game. The banter between characters was great too. Love it!

I think I did foolishly manage to softlock progress by 'touching' the top switch of the first meta-gate while walking back to face the golem, and have overwritten my beginning anchor points so I couldn't get through the gate.

But overall a top entry! Good job!

Developer(+1)

That softlock is a totally intentional aspect of the game. There are always way to continue progress. . . at least until the end. Consider escaping the softlock another meta-puzzle. 

And thanks for playing!

Submitted (1 edit)

Now I need to go back and try that out!

Edit: Nice, that is a clever way to get around that!

Submitted

Awesome game!!

  • I missed some of the narration in the beginning because it auto skipped when finished.
  • Good humor, like with bow
  • really fun to change things in puzzle that affect other timelines. Not a huge difference then just flipping a switch, but the loading the game gives it a whole other feeling that works really well with the setting of the game.
  • couldn't set an anchor point after beat the big guy in the beginning, but didn't end up needing to.
  •  loved the door effect with the sound!

Also loved the ending! Tried loading several different anchor points after the last boss. Thanks for the fun and interesting game!

Developer

Thanks for playing! Regarding the narration, I wanted to give the sense that one character was interrupting the other, but it could use some fine tuning. After the big guy in the beginning, saving is still restricted to just save points, so I hope its not an error.

Glad you enjoyed!

Submitted

The writing was pretty good, the use of the saving/loading mechanic was very creative (it reminded me of Undertale/DDLC, especially at the end). I really liked the moment that Brawn set his own Anchor Point in the middle of the battle, and you can tell because the boss has that same Meta Stasis animation on it.

I also like how the game teaches you how to use the mechanic, and then with the final boss shows exactly what this mechanic is capable of.

I am curious: is there anything left after "Little Tina" starts saying "..." whenever you return to an Anchor or when you start a new game?

Developer

That's it! I wasn't sure how else to indicate the total final end of the game. Thank you for playing and for your kind words!

Submitted(+1)

OK. That's one of my favourite games in this jam. It's impressive how the mechanics were woven into building out the game. Not only the puzzles were great, the final boss had a bit of a "aha" factor as well. Ya get an A+ from me.

Submitted(+1)

So funny, I was browsing the entries yesterday and your description peeked my attention. I downloaded the game yesterday but didn´t realized it was you ma dude! I´ll play it later =)

Developer(+1)

My dude! Your game was pretty righteous too. Love the totally original and maddening concept!

Submitted

Duuuuude! That was an INTERESTING mechanic....great job!!! It was super fun, really liked both of your jams =)

Submitted(+1)

Got my hands on this and I love the concept. You can tell a lot of love went into the combat system and the Meta Stasis. I really enjoyed it. The story seemed really serious, then less so, and then the end kind of caught me off guard. A very short game, but a pretty fun one. I would say the only part that was lacking was the maps, but they served their purpose.