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Foo Heppy's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Innovation | #18 | 4.038 | 4.038 |
| Game Design | #97 | 3.698 | 3.698 |
| Fun | #124 | 3.547 | 3.547 |
| Theme | #183 | 3.604 | 3.604 |
| Overall | #241 | 3.296 | 3.296 |
| Graphics | #452 | 3.057 | 3.057 |
| Audio | #787 | 1.830 | 1.830 |
Ranked from 53 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does you game fit the theme?
The protagonist believes he's alone on an abandoned colony planet. He soon learns that he's wrong.
Did you write all the code and made all the assets from scratch?
Yes, with the exception of one attributed button sound effect.
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Comments
Awesome game! One thing I wished for was for punctuation support in the word guesser, because there were a few words I was unsure of and I would've liked to have put (???) after uncertain words, just as a marker for myself. There were a few words I didn't get, but I made it through fine. I like how you had the locked room, but it was completely empty. The value wasn't the room, but rather the confirmation that those words forming the code were correct. Very smart stuff!
Good feedback, thanks! Do you think that you would have liked a second color designed for guesses you weren’t sure about? Like (for example) blue for confident guesses or orange unsure guesses? Or do you feel like punctuation support would be better than that?
Some inbuilt system could be used though I personally like the idea of making my own lexicon of meanings through punctuation. That could disrupt the flow of your dialogue though, and if you want to have actually important punctuation like a question mark, that could be less obvious due to whatever punctuation the player added. I think either way could work, down to your preferences.
THIS is also what game jams should be about, creating new, interesting and complex game mechanics. I loved the puzzles, especially the numbers on the blackboard but also the subtle language built into the world like the countdown timer in the vent. I THINK xode means wait... could be wrong though.
This game did a great job at making me feel like I was in an alien world through it's mechanics and that's quite an achievement, so very well done. I genuinly think you should further build on this ide in the future, but also try to find a better way to introduce the mechanic to the player. I was confused at the beginning. But once it clicks, it's great.
Thanks so much for the kind words. I’m glad you had fun with the game. Yes you’re exactly right; ‘xode’ means ‘wait’. Those verbs (along with pele (help) and jade (push/press)) were the ones I was most worried about being able to teach to the player, and xode was the most important of the three, so I’m glad that came across. I do think I’ll try to build on this and work out some of the issues once the jam is over.
*(Revisiting for some more in-depth feedback)
Ok so let's start with the game page here - I really appreciate the colour palette you've used, it's easy on the eyes & has good readability. Adding in a back story in the game description (of someone needing help) gave some extra depth, I like when games do this because it helps me to connect with the story/gameplay better.
Now onto the gameplay - this is a very good game. At the start it felt like I was watching a movie & I became quite engrossed in it (lengthy for an introduction but something I would watch if it was a story on YT). It's the little touches in this game that make it special, like the automatically opening doors on approach, the change on camera on interactions, the slow reveal of dialogue. It's a very creative game & you can tell a lot of thought went into this to make it so the player felt connected to the world they were in.
What I liked the most: The writing. The incorporation of your own language for the aliens is just so cute & funny, it really added to the feeling I was somewhere non-Earth like. World building in games is not an easy thing to do - but you've done a wonderful job at that here. Adding in a feature where you could radio in to the alien was genius & left me wanting more.
What could be improved on: The introduction was sooo long, I would've loved an option to make the dialogue go faster & some music or SFX added in (in general with this too). Also would love a 'run' option because I like to explore maps in games like this, so I'll revisit areas often & having a running option would make this much easier to do.
TLDR; Innovative game that made ME feel like the alien. It has puzzles, is story-rich & leaves you wanting more. A must play if you haven't had the chance to & one to play more than once.
I just looked at your original comment and realized what you were saying on discord, that you thought it was one of the ones I was complaining about! I didn’t feel like you were being lazy with your feedback at all. But thank you so much for following up, this is such a great comment and I totally agree with your criticism. I think I want to keep working on this game, and shortening the intro and adding a run option will be two things that are high on my list. Good luck in the rest of the jam!
Very creative game with a cool twist on the theme! The Artstyle works pretty well considering its more puzzle focused and the story was pretty nice. Good work!
Such a creative and fun game, well done
Never seen anything with a simillar concept. So original in such a brilliant way! Slowly unrevealing the mystery of a unknown language is exciting and it was put forth in a very fun way. Had a great time playing it and I'll continue another day because I didn't have time to finish it.
Nice game idea. I finished it unexpectedly though, I figured out the codes (took me like 15 minutes in the first room, I'm dumb) put the OJ in the other room then found her. Not sure what I did but it was fun nonetheless.
Haha yeah that’s the right way. I just didn’t have enough environmental storytelling I think to explain what was happening there. The generator had failed and you needed to power it with “OJ” so that she could open her door up. Thanks for playing, looking forward to checkout out Dementia.
I really enjoyed figuring out the translation. The falan room, xode room, and nonverbal codes were really helpful hints, and it was so satisfying seeing how the alien's message was slowly being translated to something that made sense.
I did finish the game, but I really would've liked to have translated more words before that. I think I could've guessed some, but there weren't definitive clues that I was right. I also would've liked the character to move faster, or for buildings to be clustered closer together because walking from room to room was the least fun part of the game. Overall I think if this made it into a full game with more bits I definitely would play more! Great job!
Great game. I was really attracted to the concept of challenging an unknown language.
Definitely the most original game I've played so far, and I've played a ton during this jam. Love, love, love the premise and concept. The art style doesn't just work; it shines.
The navigation was super smooth also; I appreciated this. More so, I appreciated the challenge presented to the player right out of the gate -- it doesn't hold your hand but is innovative and exciting enough to keep on playing.
Another thing I super appreciated was the art style. It's minimal but executed well enough to complement the gameplay.
Overall, this game has juice. It's the sort of juice every game dev wants in their end product. Great stuff!
I look forward to updates to this game; thanks for reading!
Omg I think it's the most innovative game I played yet. I think the introduction is a bit long but overall, you did a really great game. Good job!
very cool
Great concept. I like astronaut animation! What I would add is some post processing, music etc to make it more enjoyable. Overall good game. Good job!
Great idea, and a nice puzzle. Finished all of it.
The only negatives i can think of (apart from the obvius sound and some artwork) is that walking from one place to another in search for clues is a little tideous and the fact than you can finish the game with only half words translated.
Great game!
Good feedback, thank you for playing all the way through! I’d like to rework this post-jam so that the interaction between the words you’ve learned and the puzzles is tighter.
I’ll check out Guns, Legs, Loadout soon, love the premise already.
OK so I spent almost 45 mins on this one, which for a gameJam definitely means something.
The concept here is awesome and progress is meaningful (thank you for the 'falan' room!). I spent quite a while trying (unsuccessfully) to understand what each word meant before moving on and that's probably why I found it so difficult. Once I figured out the button puzzle (great hint with the 'xode' room!) the rest fell into place.
I do think that perhaps if we didn't have a brief interaction on discord I may have given up before becoming engrossed. That may say more about me than the game though.
While it lacks a bit of sprite work, some things are surprisingly polished. I really liked the astronaut walk animations and the roof-hide on building enter. Also having my name in the game felt really nice so I'll probably steal that ;)
Really glad I managed to save Heppy in the end, even if I still can't fully understand what she's talking about most of the time.
Great game!
Thanks so much for taking the time to play through. In hindsight yeah it’s probably not the best style of game for a jam because it takes quite a bit of patience to figure out. So your time is very much appreciated. I’m glad the clues in the school room helped, I figured they would give the most useful information.
Interesting concept, while the graphics are simple I like the polish it has to it, such as the building fades, sprite rotation, etc... Overall feels like a nice experience
Very good concept, enjoyed playing it :)
I love the starting cutscene dialogue for this a lot! I agree some extra SFX would really help elevate this game - but great job overall!
I like the astronaut design a lot ! maybe a bit more work on the map design (graphics, etc.) would've been better. There is also a little lack of music, that would give a better vibe ! The story overall is very well written, almost gave me chills ^^'
Greatt concept. Please review and rate our game.
https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-8/rate/1681254