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A jam submission

We Are Not AloneView game page

A New Twist On Horror
Submitted by Stasis Booth Games (@NotAlone_Game) — 6 days, 23 hours before the deadline

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We Are Not Alone's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Controls / UI#64.5384.538
Sound/Music#84.5384.538
Overall Fun#154.3084.308
Art / Graphics#204.3854.385

Ranked from 13 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

(2 edits) (+1)

I'm not a very picky individual, although I am nitpicky... that said, I thought it met each and every criteria extremely well!

Including two more categories I'd personally add myself, namely "Novelty" & "Horror" both of which it achieved with flying colors!!

Right now, I'm just over the moon at the possibility of what comes next for this talented & underrated developer whom I've followed since 7th Chance.


My parting thoughts?

"The most innovative horror game I've seen in decades... Much like its prized & lauded camera shifting mechanic, meticulously incorporated into its puzzles I might add, it really changes your perspective on what you can expect from the genre. Terrific work~"

-DaRevieweD


(Oh, and my fingers are still crossed that you'll snatch that funding application~)

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much!

So glad that the game has continued to meet and exceed your expectations. Especially with you there was a bit of pressure after how much you enjoyed 7th Chance!

I might have to put that quote somewhere ;) 

Keep those fingers crossed. Should have a yes/no any day soon!

Submitted(+1)

A really good slow-burn horror adventure, with a great hook and an interesting story!

Art Direction: I really like the style. It reminds me of some sort of Control demake, and the atmosphere is creepy, mysterious, and even oppressing at times.

Audio: really good, nothing too invasive and the sound design works really well.

Controls/UI: I find the UI a bit lacking, but nothing that can't be improved. The controls are really good, and a great choice for this kind of game. I only felt the walking in first person a bit floaty /rubber banding but may be a personal sensation.

Game Loop: classic adventure game loop (explore, gather items, talk to people, advance with the story) but with an amazing twist.

I really love the hook of this game, the switch between two types of controls is a brilliant idea to change the pace of the game but also convey different emotions to the player. While being in a first-person view I felt in control, but in the third-person view, everything changed: now I felt like a simple spectator looking at the main character being at the mercy of anything.

Great idea and a great game so far. Will keep en eye on this.

Developer

Thank you so much for playing and the review :) 

UI - I'm planning to bring a UI artist on board, assuming I get some good news I've been waiting on for the past 6 weeks. Definitely agree it needs work.

Controls - I think the issue here comes from the character have deceleration on the controller, which doesn't make them stop when you stop pressing an input. This has been removed, but not released as an update yet. 

(+1)

I am going through all submissions to make all developers aware of an important Google form I've made.

I'm joining the IQ folks to help organize smaller events in between the main FQ event in order to help prevent us from getting too many games in main events. Right now, I have a planned structure for these events but I would like to hear from everyone who was in this event in order to tune things better. The survey is a bit long, but it covers as much as I could think of. If you can take the time to do the survey by June 1st, I would immensely appreciate it!

You can find the form here: https://forms.gle/P9LPYwERhJtpZzteA

Developer(+1)

Thanks for putting this here - I saw your tweet thread and definitely agree with what you're talking about.

I'll go through the form now.

(+1)

The form is a lot of the same stuff in the Twitter thread, but with everything more clearly written out and solid.

(2 edits) (+1)

This game is incredible, the ambience and graphics are fantastic. Story line is riveting. On the whole, I was able to find my way through the game with minimal confusion. The only thing I did not like was having to put the camera down and pick it back up again. I feel like it should be stowed in the inventory. A quick tutorial of controls might be beneficial but it wasn't that big of an issue without it. This game has made it to my list and I will be playing this again in the future!

VOD Highlights:  

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1810070579

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1810070580

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing and for the nice compliments :) 

There are a few changes to the camera in the main game. The idea is that placing the camera down gives you a curated view of what you need to be looking at - but I can see if I can make it more intuitive!

As for controls, there should be tutorials that pop up at certain times (starting the game, picking up the camera for the first time, hovering over an item for the first time and opening inventory) - they are also available in the options menu. Potentially though you had a bugged build that didn't show these tutorials - woops!

(+1)

The bug explains it! Your game seemed super polished and well thought out so it makes sense that you had tutorials. 

Also, I did think it was interesting that the view of the character remained at the camera (when it was on a table, etc). Which I imagine has some explanation later. 

Overall, the game is fantastic.  Keep up the excellent work!

Developer(+1)

It stems from my idea of the point of view of the game is actually from the camera, not so much the character :) 

This will play a big part of the game in the full release!

(1 edit) (+1)

Hi I am part of the Feedback Quest and I reviewed your game. The VOD is up if you're interested in the Review.

VOD Link: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1820605598

So some feedback. Honestly, at the start, I was genuinely star struck at the beginning that I almost forgot to actually review the game. It shows how interesting the game was to me.

The negatives I'd need to point out and so did my chat was that the Character Models did not fit the world. The characters were a bit more detailed and the world was super low poly. I think adding some minor texture details or some PBR stuff might aleviate this issue. Its not a big deal but something to consider. Also I am aware its a demo but I fear it might spill into the full game but scare payoff wasn't entirely worth it. I felt let down when the horror moments were supposed to start. I also feel like the game might benefit from a Zoom feature to inspect certain details. 

Another problem I noticed but this is entirely personal, is that it is Naggy. I feel like being told too much and such leaves me feeling pushed around. I want to experience the world that was made and to explore the small space. To do certain things and get immerssed. I feel giving players some freedom will benefit this game highly.

As for the positives. A lot. A lot lot lot of good. I love the game. The two perspectives concept, especially when you set the camera down and control like a point and click adventure I feel is GENIUS and harkens back to old school games like Clock Tower. I am shocked and disappointed that no other Devs have thought of this. I also LOVE that tension build up. The subtle noises, the feel of dread everytime I set my camera down. Its genius. I love how the tension is built up but again I'm let down by the actual thing I'm supposed to be scared of. Also bless and thank you for adding the ability to turn off the Camera Bob. I get motion sickness easily so this is such a welcome feature. Overall, I ENJOYED this game and I'm genuinely excited for a full release. 

Personal Rating: 5/5 Amazing. Just simply amazing.

Developer (1 edit)

I just watched the VOD - thank you so much for playing. Your reaction when the ending card showed up, amazing! 

Thanks also for your comments regarding the scares. I'm attempting to go against the "in your face" jump scares and instead wanted to create a build up of tension. In the full game... it should definitely become a lot scarier and further show off why you don't want to put your camera down ;)

In terms of the "naggy" bits - in the demo I didn't want players to get lost, and also had a shorter time with which to explain the mechanics and get them into the game and playing along. There's a fine line between saying too much and the player giving up due to not knowing what to do. Again this is something that should be alleviated when the full game is out and the player has more time :)

Edit: forgot to address the character models! A combination of lighting fixes and lowering mesh quality on the characters has improved this in a later build, but more detail will be added to certain models to make things a little more cohesive too.

(+1)

yes please. I LOVE your game. Its practically genius. Frankly I can ignore all the faults if you can deliver on the scares. I feel that you've built a lot of tension already, but as I mentioned, the delivery was the only big let down. I agree that the "in your face" type of scare is pretty over done but a the same time, you do need a payoff. I'm not entirely sure how you plan to achieve that but the day your game gets released, I'll be excited to see what you've done.

Hi! I made a clip of your game! Shorts TikTok 

Here they are if you're interested!

Submitted(+1)

Hi, I just played your game!

I definitely had fun. Gameplay is rather smooth and the atmosphere is fantastic - sound ambience you chose really fits here in my opinion. I do not play horror games at all, so the whole experience was something new for me. I'm curious what will happen after the events presented in the demo!


I'll try to give you some feedback:

I experienced a small bug, but didn't manage to replicate it (I tried once again). When I first entered the room, after putting down the camera and clogging the sink, "Pick Up Camera" button disappeared. It was shown only when I pressed Tab or when main character was talking. Second time there was no problem. However, I think this button sometimes showed up at the wrong moments. It's not a big deal, just wanted to drag your attention to it. :)

I really like the mechanics of changing the camera, but I think that putting it down and picking up takes a bit long, and if we do it over and over again it starts to feel "clunky". I thought that maybe simply shortening (or cutting  in half) the animation duration would make it feel more fluid and enjoyable. It's not that important to make this one's pace so realistic, right?

When I got to the sector 2 hallway door, upon using it, my character turned around by 180 degree and only then transition begin. The second time I played Riley did the exact same thing.


These are all just small things - I enjoyed a whole demo nonetheless, it's pretty engaging and it would be a pleasure to have more of this experience in the future! :)

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you liked the mechanics!

Pick Up Camera bug - I've tried to replicate it. This was an older bug that I thought was completely fixed. I'll do some more digging just to be sure!

Animation - I'll add this to my list, see if I can speed it up a little. It's kind of there because it has to load another character so was an attempt to try hide that a little ;)

Sector 2 - There's been something funky with that door for awhile... that I managed to find a fix for and it will be live shortly!

Submitted(+1)

Very good game demo!! I like the interactivity than the game give to every object and also the story than have the game behind!! Good job :D

For me I only find tedious than for use an object you have to open your inventory, grab it and click on the object than you want to use it. For me I will make than you only click on the object and the character automatically use the object than have to use

For the rest the game is looking great!! Good luck working on it!!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for the comments! I'm currently testing a few different ways to improve the interaction/inventory system further :)

Submitted(+1)

You’re more than welcome :D Oh okay, it’s great to hear that!! Good luck working on it!!

Jam Host(+1)

It is really hard to play the game for me because I am impatient. I found everything slow and maybe too verbose. But it is my personal taste so don't necessarily should be taken as feedback. Sorry, I don't have much to say.

Developer(+2)

That's completely fine. I know my game won't be for everyone :)

Submitted(+1)

I'll preface my review by saying I didn't play the game myself (I don't play horror games), but I watched GameGushGamer play it on his stream.

I really liked the dual-perspectives thing, going from first person to third person and vice versa is really creative and interesting. Having to use some tools with both hands makes perfect in-universe sense too, great job there.

I watched to the shower scene, when I saw blood start to appear, I immediately closed the stream. Seeing the person/creature move around before that had been creepy enough, for sure. Even though I stopped watching at that point, it still creeped me out for a long time and it was hard to fall asleep that night, so great job there! :)

One suggestion is to maybe have the other characters in the mess hall move around and do something rather than stand in place, so the environment feels more alive?

Developer(+1)

Thank you for the nice comments! Sorry I caused you to have trouble sleeping that night though! 

Good idea with the characters. In the full game they will be moving around the environment a lot more and not as static. That was the reason Geoff moved his position on day two... just so it doesn't look like he's been standing in place for 24hours, but definitely more movement will be introduced! 

(+1)

Great attention to detail in this thriller adventure game. Switching from first person to third person by using the camera is brilliant. I love the thrill sensation instead of the game just trying to scare me with jump scares. Mysterious storyline to peak interest. Very excited to see where this is heading! Voiced dialogue is not necessary, but I think it would enhance the experience even further.

Developer

Thank you so much for the comments. Glad you enjoyed the game and the mechanics!

Voice acting is planned to be there for the full game :)