The narrative in your GDD is fantastic, and the clarity of the doc is amazing as well. Your information was quite to the point, and I had little difficulty understanding the mechanics and how the game would function. Really the only critique I had was the inclusion of the Grimoire- will the documents be kept in there, or is it simply another document? I think having some sort of puzzle tied into it would help enhance the magic themes of the game, and would provide an additional avenue for puzzles and an addiction place to cross-reference clues from. If not, I'm not too sure of its role in the game, aside from being a part of the lore. 

Or I read it wrong! Overall, very nice GDD, great narrative, and I would certainly play it. 

Had a lovely time reading this, and the idea and presentation is superb!

I loved the idea of ‘epistolary deduction’ as a genre, and I don’t see many other games attempting this particular niche. The document presents what could have easily sounded like a dry subject in a clear and appealing way. I could get a good sense of the potential gameplay as well as the overall progression.

The length and detail of the document is pretty perfect, it reads easily while also being comprehensive and concise. I especially like the attention given to art and narrative, since these are two areas which really sell the idea of the game. Perhaps the only detail I can criticize would be the lack of a diagram to describe the overall interface and how a potential letter or puzzle might look - I found myself drawing a blank at times when imagining exactly how it would be laid out on a screen.

The way the art aesthetic is described is mouth-watering and I’d be prepared to check out the game based on that alone. The narrative was also really well-presented and would definitely hook me - especially the contrasting backgrounds and personalities of the characters. The deductive-style gameplay could have used a little more detail about how difficulty would be scaled, and how the epistolary puzzles would be kept interesting until the end with variations/twists (using the Strix Grimoire for example?) - but free-deduction games are some of my favorites and I’d definitely want to give this one a try.

Overall it’s a top-class GDD and I’d be one of your first wishlisters if this ever gets made :)

Oh sure, Gwen, just name drop your critically-acclaimed short story! 🙂

“structured deduction as a game genre” - immediately made me think of some sort of narrative game where you’re retroactively building the chain of events that somehow led to the current situation and I may have to try this in one of my ttrpg sessions.

Concept reminded me of https://store.steampowered.com/app/599610/Lost_Words_Beyond_the_Page/ and https://store.steampowered.com/app/1624540/Storyteller/ a bit

Loved the backstory and main plot — though I was a bit confused by “the male surrealists flee” followed by “Raymond occupies the house”.

Is the Plot progression chronological? IE, does each exhibit represent it’s place in the timeline chronologically? Is it always “and what happens next” or is there “how did they get from there to here” opportunities. IE, exhibit 2 might be about the occupied house. However, this may spoil some of the surprises, so linear may be better (and easier)

Raymond sucks.

The presentation was very evocative. I feel like I can see some of the game already.

Oh sure, Gwen, just name drop your critically-acclaimed short story! 🙂

“structured deduction as a game genre” - immediately made me think of some sort of narrative game where you’re retroactively building the chain of events that somehow led to the current situation and I may have to try this in one of my ttrpg sessions.

Concept reminded me of https://store.steampowered.com/app/599610/Lost_Words_Beyond_the_Page/ and https://store.steampowered.com/app/1624540/Storyteller/ a bit

Loved the backstory and main plot — though I was a bit confused by “the male surrealists flee” followed by “Raymond occupies the house”.

Is the Plot progression chronological? IE, does each exhibit represent it’s place in the timeline chronologically? Is it always “and what happens next” or is there “how did they get from there to here” opportunities. IE, exhibit 2 might be about the occupied house. However, this may spoil some of the surprises, so linear may be better (and easier)

Raymond sucks.

The presentation was very evocative. I feel like I can see some of the game already.

There are a bunch of submissions and I wanted to give feedback to everyone, so I'm going to list some strengths and weaknesses that I perceive from the GDD's in this challenge (take with a grain of salt, I recognize the challenge this jam theme + time limitations, especially during a holiday weekend).

Strengths: As a fan of Gwen, obviously the first strength is going to be narrative. The world building and level scenarios are fun and work well together. You have lovely characters and an interesting story. (I feel none of this will be news to you, but I don't have any especially helpful feedback on this section as it is already very good.) Even your graphics and audio section, while brief, paints a very specific feeling for the game.

Weaknesses: It is a little challenging to understand the how difficulty will increase over the course of the game by reading the description of the mechanics and play flow sections. I also feel that because words are highlighted in your documents that players (you know the ones) are more likely to skip reading documents and just click the words they need to, assuming there are no further context clues to pull from the exhibit documents to help solve the final puzzles. It's not necessarily an issue, but it exists.

Overall: Keep slaying. Can't wait to play your game (I am fully expecting you to make this game now, sorry).

Reading through this GDD shows a promising premise for a Retrospective game. At first thought it made me think of a Point-and-Click adventure to the theme of European art with some real-world lore Assassin's Creed style.

The simplicity of navigating the game's levels and using more visual elements to piece together clues will be a welcome intellectual challenge for people with, or looking to sharpen their, observational and inferential skills. I had a few questions regarding the word bank and Ad-Lib puzzle system. Are you able to see the color-coding of words to blank spaces immediately or do you need to find another clue/solve another puzzle first to show their color association? Having or not having that aid in the game could change its difficulty.

 Learning more about the details of the kinds of challenges you'd encounter in an exhibit would also be intriguing (finding discrepancies in paintings, symmetrizing/asymmetrizing art pieces, kinetic sculpture completion/repair puzzles, or creating visual balance within an exhibit room).

The game's narrative and characters are sure to be a treat for those intrigued in the kind of story the game presents. You and your team did well! I look forward to hearing more about how this project develops!