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Life with a Newborn's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Narrative | #37 | 4.372 | 4.372 |
| Creativity | #479 | 4.209 | 4.209 |
| Enjoyment | #927 | 3.744 | 3.744 |
| Audio | #2544 | 3.093 | 3.093 |
| Artwork | #7416 | 2.093 | 2.093 |
Ranked from 43 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
Main loop: regular parenting chores; Meta-loop: Roguelike-ish (emphasis on "ish") for replayability; and some more loops hidden in-game (don't want to spoil it).
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
See description for full credits.
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Comments
good game i had fun.
Thanks!
:)
Very unique, I hope the life of a parent doen't had to be like that. :')
Thank you!
And, I'm sorry, but it, uh... very much is like that, in my experience.
XD
kinda weird that husband is getting happier and happier, and it is repetetive a bit but its still interesting concept and unique, and kinda fun too
Thank you for your feedback!
:)
The husband's happiness never really going down is something I failed to spot during development.
If I make changes after the jam, I will look at that.
In general, I'm not 100% confident that I balanced all the happiness scores properly.
I also wanted to add more stuff to increase variety; but, as is the story for most of us, I ran out of time.
Such is the nature of a game jam, I guess?
XD
The input section did make me laugh... a lot. The game was interesting but it got a bit repetitive and no matter what I did the husband was getting happier even after cleaning up cat vomit and changing a babies nappy
Thank you, I'm glad that you enjoyed the input section!
I was hoping people would find that.
:)
Also, yeah, I was worried that I made it too long (and thus repetitive), so that's fair.
Good catch on the husband!
I didn't notice during development; but now that you mention it, I think it's actually impossible for him to be unhappy...
<_<
he's just a chill guy
Great music and really original concept, I didn't expected to see a text based game. The musics fits the game perfectly as well.
After a couple of tries I kept losing my wife's happiness very suddenly, which is probably accurate to have a new born lol. But yeah, good job!
Thank you very much!
lmao note to self, speed running divorce is an option. Neat concept, well executed, would be interesting in seeing what you would add with more time.
Haha, thank you!
I was hoping someone would find that.
;)
the story is great, I love the multi layered interpretations of loops, the game logo is perfect too, great job!
Unique idea, I really liked the narrative :)
Unique, fun and great music loved it
Wow! What an insightful narrative game into the domestic chaos of having children. I can imagine the chaos already - my head was swimming with juggling the laundry loop on top of feeding those darn kids who refuse to eat anyway. Oh, and why does my cat vomit so much? x3
All in all a great job! All the best and it's sweet to dedicate the game to your family!
Very cozy game! I played it during my 9-month-old daughter's nap, by the way 😄
Not sleeping while being completely exhausted is brutal — just like in real life!
Happy to have unlocked the achievement!
I really like that you can restart directly from the chaos phase, makes experimenting way more fun.
My score at the end of the weekend:
ACHIEVEMENT: All happiness scores >= 10 on a chaos run
That's ridiculously impressive!
I wasn't sure anyone would actually get that achievement.
Testing it was a pain, because of how hard *I* found it.
XD
I also appreciate the camaraderie, fellow sleep-deprived parent.
:)
At first, I kept wanting to stop cause of the repeating gameplay loop, but I saw all these comments and I...couldn't. The music, the story, the chaos...it was so awesome, very well chosen on all these fronts. Wish I could make the wife happy but alas, I couldn't. Hey at least the game jam got done tho! Very well worth the play.
Thank you very much!
I'm glad you liked it.
Out of curiosity, what kept you playing when you wanted to stop?
I was wondering if I made the game too long (and thus, too long of a loop); and I was fully expecting some people to just be like "TLDP".
The ability to spam 0 on level 3 once I'd managed to piss of the wife too much XD
I think the main thing that makes it feel long for the first two levels is the limited options, but the choices are repeated multiple times. It feels like since I've already managed to get a good outcome out of a choice, i.e. changing the baby's nappy, I'm thinking less about what to actually choose and it starts to get monotonous.
The opposite thing happens in level 3, where now I've got too many options to choose from (which I know is the intent, and your message is portrayed well here), but this meant I was now spending a lot more time thinking about the choices. Since it seemed to be the same level duration as the other two, I really didn't want to spend double the time of the prior levels just to beat level 3.
TLDR I'd say that the number of choices could go down for each level by a little bit, but especially for level 3, where more thought needs to be put into each action which takes more time.
Oh, that's actually a really good idea!
I've been getting feedback that the game was too repetitive; and I was worried about that during development.
However, my idea for a solution was to add *more* options, but at different times, to increase variety.
That idea didn't feel right; because I already felt like act 3 was overwhelming enough.
BUT, if all the levels get actions reduced, then maybe the player just kind of speeds through acts 1 and 2...
I guess I wanted to put more options in earlier because I was worried people would think "oh, this is all" and quit early.
Game dev is all a big balancing act, I guess (like life, in general XD).
your game really fit with theme so cool.
If possible, can you please vote my game and leave a comment too?
Thank you; and, yes, of course!
Give me a couple hours (need to do the night time routine and put the kids to bed).
:)
I love the narrative so much! It's refreshing to see a text-based game like this in a sea of games with visuals and all. I'd love to keep playing to see if I could keep everyone happy, and I like how it ties with your real-life family. <3
Thank you for the kind words!
I am hoping that at least one person will want to try to reach the "happy ending" that I teased at the beginning.
(Although, I might have made the requirement for it too hard...)
Really cool approach to the theme of loop!
Such and interesting phenomenon to be in, and really creative and nice narrative 😎
I am at a loss of words, great story work and I love meta stuff so … ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you very much!
:)
If you like meta stuff, then you should check out this one I just played:
https://itch.io/jam/gmtk-2025/rate/3768756
I used meta like a bit of seasoning; but in that game meta is the main dish.
Wow! Maybe my favourite I've played so far this jam, just because of how unique it was. I failed pretty hard in Act III but maybe that's part of the point! Really cool use of the theme, the "loops" of each day feeling similar but still progressing through life. Great work
Yes, that is exactly the point of Act 3!
No matter how hard you try, you still feel some regret over the things you didn't manage to do.
I'm glad that you liked it.
:)
almost got me when the console puped up, great narrative game, really fun despite being just a console game
Hey, composer from the game "Attic Requiem" here! Firstly, thanks for checking out our game! I really liked your game and found it to be a unique take on the theme for this jam. I thought it was really cool that you were able to put a little bit of yourself in your first ever game, and I think it really shows how much care and effort you put in the game. When the music hits you for the first time is when I became immediately hooked!
This was a very fun game! Trying to manage everyone's needs and happiness with a limited number of actions was a good mechanic.
Thank you very much!
You are the first person to comment on my first game in my first game jam;
and I am super happy that you liked it.
:)