Environment art is gorgeous, and the horrors are horrifically cute!

Apparently I misinterpreted the save/load icons and never saved my game (or, if there was a save, I immediately saved over it when starting a new one :( ).  At least saying "no save game available to load" when I kept clicking on the "load game" icon while playing would have been nice to know it wasn't actually saving :(. Note to self: top one is save

After dying and starting a new game, all of the dialogs appear to have not reset, including, perhaps very importantly, the one that gives me stimpacks from the backpack... I suspect I need to restart again...  Yup, had to restart, couldn't make it back to the Captain on just 1 stimpack it seems.  On my third run, after a complete reset, this time with much saving, it all worked out.  And, apparently, I was right before the end when I died!  I would have liked one more level, I think =).

It feels weird that encounters are sometimes triggered upon turning, I usually think of looking around as a "free" action in this kind of game...  Although, I can't quite figure out how it works - sometimes I can sit and spin in circles and eventually I'll get an encounter, but then sometimes not... are there like invisible monsters roaming around and not actually random encounters?  Nope, doesn't seem like it... minimum distance since last encounter?

Combat felt nice, although wasn't much depth, at least I could think a little bit about whether or not to do a dodge attack or a main attack and hope to save a few HP, although the randomness in damage meant it was often unclear if my strategy worked =).  The sounds on combat were very satisfying, and I liked the monster names and their descriptions as they arrive and leave.

Great job!

This was awesome!

The visuals were beautiful, the interface was nice and straightforward, the sound effects were good and punchy, the music was fitting and eerie. Good amount of polish all around!

The levels were just chock full of little details on the walls and on the ground, I loved just looking around to see what there was.

The game also effectively carried across the horror aspect, even if it happened a couple dozen times I'd always jump a little at an enemy encounter.

The cutscenes were also well done, but I did run into a little bug/oversight. In the final cutscene where you go into collect the artifact, and enemy spawned right on that last tile. So for the entirety of the first-person perspective of the cutscene theres a little creature in the middle of the screen. I was able to blast if off partway through but it did spoil the tone a little I think lol.

As for the combat itself, wasn't very deep but I think it was adequate. Had enough enemy variety and punchiness that I didn't mind having only one weapon and effectively 4 actions the entire game.

It was unfortunate you couldn't get the actual in-game settings working, but I appreciated the steps to make the game fullscreen in the ini file.

My only real suggestions for improvement/expansion would be maybe letting the player use Williams' railgun as a weapon/upgrade and preventing enemies from spawning on tiles leading into a scripted sequence. also a nice little detail would be if your squad's status updated as you found them. Like if Williams' became listed as dead when you find her.

Besides that I really liked this one, great work!

Oh wow, this was fantastic! Very well done on all fronts and especially on the map design: despite that the maps felt quite open and large, they funneled me into the right direction at all times and I never felt lost or straying away from my goal.

Lots of attention to detail and a very engaging story. Game was the perfect length as well! Very good job, I have nothing to complain about!

Such a great entry! Loved this. Honestly this is such an awesome self-contained experience, that didn't outstay its welcome.

The art was absolutely beautiful and everything felt nice and consistent, I take my hat off to SandySketches for that. By the same expression of admiration to you, the level and systems design was also excellent for the size and scope of the game. 

It is a very polished game and frankly I don't have anything bad to say at all. But as this is a jam I will at least try to give something I think could theoretically be better.

The sound mixing was a tad inconsistent on my headphones, I adjusted the volume a little in the beginning for the footsteps and music, then my eardrums were blown out for the rockfall / entrance collapse (I had the exact same issue in my own game in a particular moment). This might just be my setup, so take with a pinch of salt!

Secondly the narrative is lovely, but the writing I think could be even better (this is personal opinion only and doesn't affect my score one bit, so please absolutely disregard this if you don't agree!). I'm a big fan of 'show don't tell' and I prefer not being told something that I can already see or already know. Examples include the character's internal monologue pointing out the footprints or telling me that the view is beautiful -- you already showed me a beautiful view so you don't need to tell me. 

There was a conversation a little later on which was an example of the "as you know" exposition trope, where the two characters were talking about something they both already would have known as crew members, it just felt a touch strained, but I promise I'm literally just nitpicking so I can give you some feedback!

Genuinely amazing entry, it's the type of game I aspire to make. Like the other commenters I would love a puzzle perhaps, and I think you can really flex those storytelling muscles with some environmental storytelling to supplement your narrative.

The cutscenes were gorgeous and it was a great way to end, very well done and I can't wait for the next one.

Very polished and self consistent. The graphics were all hand drawn but they worked very well when put together. The lighting was good, you even had ambient occlusion in there. The small animations of the bubbles, worms, etc. in the scenery was a really nice touch that added to the atmosphere.

The narrative was very good and kept you on task. From the start animation, to the text prompts/messages, you always knew why you were there and what you were trying to do. Simple but effective.

Radio Beacon was an excellent idea to give you rough directions, but not a complete map so you sometimes hit dead ends and had to backtrack.

There weren't many puzzles in the game. There wasn't much to pick up, therefore no inventory, other than the health stims. We think we picked up weapons but we weren't sure. The only difference seemed to be we did more damage in combat, but we don't know why.

Combat was well done, although we often found just repeating the Defend action seemed to give the best outcome until the end of the combat where you might deal the final blow with the attack icon, since the enemy didn't get a counter attack and you did more damage. Better than Rock-Paper-Scissors, but not by very much. The idea of trying to escape was good, although the monster just disappeared and you stayed in the same place. You avoided the traditional two-step by not allowing enemy or player movement during combat. 

The random spawning of the enemies was a bit annoying in the end and it dissuaded you from exploring since a visiting the same spot could respawn a new enemy again. You couldn't clear an area and then look around for stuff!

It's a shame there was no free look because you had high ceilings that looked interesting but you couldn't look up to appreciate them.

There was no jeopardy when walking next to a drop off the side since you couldn't walk off the edge to your death. Perhaps not necessary but it could have added something. to the gameplay.

The ending was very well done, with nice cut scenes travelling back up through the levels to get to the ship. 

Overall that was a fun experience and a great game jam game. We really enjoyed it. Well done!

I like Sci-Fi and I liked this one. The atmosphere and visuals is good. I am also interested in the last part of the story.

The radar mechanics is also a good idea and fits the worldview. I didn't particularly struggle with the combat, but I'm glad I was able to concentrate on the exploration.

Overall, this is a very polished work. Great!

I beat it! Awesome entry. Great hand drawn art that I just loved, the movement was nice and snappy. The story was great, but didn't overstay it's welcome. I loved the cutscene at the end and the radar mechanic was neat, but could be fleshed out a bit more as it really wasn't needed. The combat was simple, and it seems you didn't really need to do anything other than attack and occasionally heal, as I seemed to level at the right times to get a free heal anyway. Not a huge complaint, I was happy to play through the whole thing. I'd love to play and learn more about Cygnus, this mission and the artifact! 

Wow that was great. Awesome hand drawn graphics, cool soundeffect an ambience. The little touches like the cutscenes, dialog and monologs with and about the crew. The automatic walking at the end. This entry is so polished, I want to know more about this world. Oh and the movement was perfect. Great entry!

Absolutely gorgeous art! And a nice little story to go with it! I loved the twist at the end and it left me wanting more.

I found running in combat was the easiest strategy for me. It seems the player could still level up even with only running? Not sure if this was intended.

I would have enjoyed a more interesting combat mechanic but I didn’t hate it.

If you’d like to watch my full play through, you can find it here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2110888610?t=03h10m40s

I love the arststyle, all of it, the UI including the radar, the enemies, the environment (the bubbles and such are cool) and the character's animation at the end. It was a specially atmospheric experience.

Thanks for sharing.

Nice graphics! Combat works well I think, its fast enough even though it is random which I usually don't like. The story is great and the game feels a bit eerie which is good!

At my second playthrough I managed to clip OOB when descending first time. Got outside the level and there were just different assets lined up, couldn't get back in.

Nice entry to the Jam!

Wow, fantastic art style. And a nice story too. I think I played only attack and one or two heals. I tried to run just to test it out, but it seemed quite useless. So my guess if something to play a bit more on the horror aspect, the game could at least made it feel a bit more like I was in a terrible spot fighting and health wise. To really drive home the feeling. A trick I used in my game, that I just learnt about is to not have linear health bars so the player thinks they are running out of health faster than they really are. That might also have made the stims seem like a rare resource. You could even cheat and not level up players until the game thinks they need it.

I also didn’t get first that it was one out of four stims that the health thing was. I read it as some plus slider and only realized after I wasted my first stim without really needing to. Perhaps if the other 3 slots were there but not lit up it’d be clearer what it was.

The monsters were really cute, and again game there was a really strong art direction in the game. I also think that the length was quite right, because much longer then the fun of the jumpscary but simple fights might have become a bit boring.

One, do put the game at "no price" for at least the judgement period rather than a "pay what you want"

I like the art style here.

I found myself in the plot of "Alien".

I dont think the company would have wanted me to go down to that planet and leave my expensive ship in orbit.

I like the A-Team shuttle.

Good game.

I love the hand drawn graphichs of the game. The atmosphere you created with those graphics and SFX are astonishing. The game really pulls you in with it's excellent storytelling and atmosphere. I really liked the storytelling of the game with in game cutscenes and the excellent dialogue.

Combat system is nice but straightforward. UI looks great. The radar is a very nice touch. You can't get lost and be clueless on where to go. Gameplay  is definitely polished and engaging. It could be longer maybe but time limitations. I think this is a pretty decent game to make in 9 days.

I'll give the game 4 stars for now. As i play more games of the jam, it can change to 5 stars. Regardless of what rating i give , i absolutely love this game. Great job and good luck in your future projects!

Not sure if that was a bug, but never managed to pick up Williams gun. Considering that I also encountered a bug where I couldn't get stims from backpack - that could be the case... still managed to get through, so there is that.

Ending was funny, not gonna lie! All dread and gloom and then... this :D 

Short and sweet. I absolutely love the hand drawn graphics and the atmosphere is great. The controls are perfect for me. Numpad controls is a rare phenomenon. It's almost like you know what I prefer :D

I wish it was much longer and had a bit deeper combat mechanic but all in all a very solid entry!

The art and sound design in this are great (Though the mix is a little weird, some of the sfx like the rock fall were way loader, but that's a minor thing). I really liked the aesthetic of the world, the varied heights and textures of the walls and surfaces and the creepy monsters. A fun place to explore, and one my favorite looking games I've played so far.

The game-play was good, movement felt snappy and responsive and the combat was pretty juicy. I actually died the first time, because I'd burned my stim way to early, but once I varied my approach I made it to the captain and didn't have any more issues. I never used the radio.

Strong narrative as well, and a really cool approach to the cutscenes.

Really strong entry, I enjoyed it a lot.

Cool game, I liked the visuals and how it told a complete story.  Overall great work.  The combat was a bit too frequent and not super engaging, and the radio function didn't seem like a relevant factor in gameplay.  I also thought the keyboard controls were a bit too sensitive.