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Elowen's Light's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall | #1 | 4.571 | 4.571 |
| Visuals(Graphics) | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| User Interface (UI/UX) | #2 | 3.571 | 3.571 |
| Sound/Audio | #3 | 4.143 | 4.143 |
| Fun | #4 | 3.429 | 3.429 |
Ranked from 7 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
DevLog Link
https://juzek.itch.io/elowens-light/devlog/408863/finding-our-direction
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Comments
Congratulations on first place in the jam -- this game definitely deserves it :)
Thanks! We will keep on working on it until it is 100% done!
This game has beautiful art and great relaxing music. I like it and I want to give you feedback so I'm going to do some nitpicking.
There were a few small issues with the movement. I would personally like it if the fall speed was just a bit slower. I think it would help a lot with precision platforming and would fit the overall pacing of the game. I would would also make the glide slowly fall in an arc as well but that's just my preference.
I also noticed that movement gets a little jittery on sloped surfaces and I actually got stuck a number of times.
I feel like it would be more consistent with the other game mechanics if you could stand on the blue snails on the wall. I wasn't really sure why they were dying or if that should be my goal. In fact I wasn't really sure why I was collecting mushrooms or anything else other than the orbs. You might want to add more immediate feedback to the collection of those items.
I'm probably just too dumb for this game but after explaining how to plant seeds I never figured out how or where to do it again. Maybe add a prompt in the places it's available?
I also had a little bit of trouble discerning between some of the background/foreground elements and a platform elements. I only saw it a few times but occasionally there was a tree in the foreground that obscured a block I was supposed to jump over. This might have be a design choice but you could probably find a way to make it more clear. I would also add a shadow or something to any foreground elements that are blocking the view of the player.
Overall very nice work!
The atmosphere is fantastic, and the gameplay suits it well. It’s not by any means the most exciting game I’ve played, but it’s certainly relaxing. I’d say it meets its goal quite well- I think you’ve done a good job aligning how the game plays and how it feels. If you guys can keep that up in future projects, I think it’ll serve you well!
Thanks! The feeling has been the top priority for us. It's kind of funny how stressed I was during the original Cultivation Jam compared to what the game was trying to achieve.
We hope to re-vamp the story a little to make it more engaging/ intriguing.
Thanks for trying it!
Such a pretty game, guys! I love the little pieces like the recorder(?) for the speech in the conversation. Those ladybug critters are super cute following the player. (They seem to fall to their death, if I don't stomp them and make them fall to their death?) I love the lighting, too - the dynamic movement through light and dusk, has a great effect with the magic also lighting the scene.
ocarina actually:)
I need to make sure they all only fall to their death if disturbed by the player. In my game the "enemies" are totally harmless, but touching them prevents them from giving you any magic, so you are supposed to try to avoid them.
a nice tutorial system is high on my priority list to let the player know things like that.
My favorite part of the lighting changes is how they are coordinated to the 10 minute music loop
I enjoyed this game and the atmosphere. It is very calm and relaxing. Reminds me a tiny bit of a concept in Japanese animation/anime called Iyashikei, or healing, which create really relaxing atmospheres showing the characters living out calm peaceful lives.
Glad to hear a tutorial is high on your list. I found myself confused a lot and would have benefitted from some more explanations. For example, I had not realized until I stumbled on one that I needed to enchant seeds and still do not know why can some seeds can be enchanted and others can't. I also somehow missed that the lights are the magic we are supposed to be gathering and did not notice the stat bar until Elowen commented she had plenty of magic and should head back to the house. (On that note, I also would appreciate if she always said this once she had enough magic, since a lot of the time I often never notice I have long since collected enough magic.)
I look forward to seeing an updated version.
Had a quick go and voted. I liked the fact that you added on-screen buttons. Is it intended for a mobile release?
yes! I have a build on my android, but my "improvements" broke the audio so that the web version no longer works, but it used to run on phones well.
The intention is to release it when it is done on the Google Play Store, and Steam
Some HTML games does not load the audio files in mobile browsers. It seems to be related to audio type files.
In terms of graphics, this is a very nice looking game. The gameplay is a little bit boring, but you say that you are going for a a "relaxing experience" so I think that that's fine.
A few things that I do want to bring up:
ooh thanks for playing! You are very right on all 3 accounts. I have yet to add more difficult sections after the player gets a few upgrades. The glide sound was a last minute patch just to have something, but the original sound designer is working on re doing all of it. And I was in the middle of trying a new mechanic for the seeds, where they unlock the more powerful ones, and forgot to remove the old UI.
Just curious about pacing, how long did you play it for?
I think I played for around 25-30 minutes.