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A jam submission

A little Tale of Nonsense, Pizza and GoldView game page

Submission for Narrative Driven Jam #2
Submitted by TomsTales — 14 hours, 55 minutes before the deadline
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A little Tale of Nonsense, Pizza and Gold's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Theme#163.6304.000
Audio#183.1113.429
Graphics#273.1113.429
Overall#273.0683.381
Enjoyment#292.8523.143
Concept#293.1113.429
Story#292.5932.857

Ranked from 7 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Did you use any optional theme? If so which one?

Pizza lover

Break the 4th wall

What game engine did you use?
Unity

Did you have fun? :D
Yes - until the playtesting ;-)

Discord username
TomsTales

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Comments

Submitted

Cool concept. I like the idea of switching between characters. The platforming felt nice as well, though I got stuck in the second level after freeing Leah. A better explanation of the mechanics would be welcome. Keep it up!

Submitted

Very well presented. Obviously the next step there is to get a little character model to really sell things. Enjoyable writing! Good job!

I got stuck on the level with the one torch in the top left. Very frustrated I couldn't figure it out. Low light and platforming do not mix well, I find.

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! If it is the one with the moving platforms, you can use them to get to the torch and then to the lever to open the door.

Submitted

ghost_bros pretty much summed my toughts! Really charming, nice platforming mechanics, and neat mist animation! Also the music was a really good fit.

I too got very stuck on the second level and had to refer to the comments to beat it. It's a really neat idea!! But I think the issue is that the Narrator's clue is too vague. Even if the player is questioning whether or not the narrator is telling the truth, the sign doesn't really hint at what the narrator wants the player to do.

Perhaps a clue like "Jump into the deep ominous darkness" would be a bit better for that one :)

The level with the ability to switch between Leah and the main player though... that one I was unable to figure out even with the hint you gave Korlagwen. I kinda picked up on the idea of jumping through walls but wasn't really clear on what to do with it...

Overall, the game is very creative and has so many unique mechanics, but I think because of this combined with the unreliable narrator bit, I think the learning curve is a bit too steep for new players. Some things I think could help flatten that out a bit (You probably only have to add one of these, adding all would make the game too easy, and we still want a challenge! :P )

1) Adding more narrator clues throughout. Maybe they can appear after a certian number of deaths. Would also be a great way to see more of the narrator in action.

2) Add a checkpoint or two on some of the more spread out levels like the one with the 3 switches.

3) Make some quick gifs of yourself beating the parts that gave players trouble and put them on the itch page! Simultaneously works as a preview to the game and a mini spoiler free guide! :D

Hope these suggestions help you! 

-Sasha

Developer

Thanks for your feedback. I absolutely agree with your points. If I work on this again that are things I'd build in, and also I realize the learning curve was not very well presented as thats the general feedback :-) I ran out of time to test, but thats well the learning of a game jam!

Just for the small chance you want to see the ending (I guess no one did haha), if its the first level with "free Leah", you can jump with the player on the ground of her "cage", then Leah cann fall through. Now, you can get to the left and "open" that pass for leah, but first with leah you can open the path to the right for the player. I think that was the level :)

Submitted

The cheeky untrustworthy narration and options were fun. The gameplay was smooth and just challenging enough. Unfortunately I got stuck in the second level where Leah appears! Wish I could have played more, the platforming was fun. I liked the way the mist revealed platforms sometimes, and the reverse-psychology narration was satisfying to discover. Great job!

Developer

Cheers mate, would you like to tell me why you got stuck?

It seems that especially this level was not good enough explained by myself as there is another comment below from a mate who got stucked. There is a box near the "snake" text, I can only imagine this was not obvious enough for everyone :/

Submitted

So I might just suck but I got kind of stuck on the second level of the game, the one with the definitely not a box of snakes. There's a little gap it seems like you're supposed to fit through after turning on the third light but I can't get through it no matter how many times I throw myself at it. Not sure if it's a bug or user error but either way seems a little tough for just the second room.

Also I would recommend either making it full screen automatically or lowering the window size, the lower text options during the beginning dialogue were blocked by my taskbar so I had to hide it. Not a huge deal, just a usability note!

Apart from that though I liked what I was able to see! The little notes the narrator leaves you were quite funny and the sound/graphics fit the mood of the game. Wish I could see more of it, let me know if there's a trick I'm just missing.

Developer

Hey, thanks for the comment! You are right with the usability stuff, I didnt face that but it sucks you had to hide it!

Regarding the second level, there is a box you can jump on in the dark part of the level, near  to the narrator text (a bit above and to the right). You can jump on that and continue, would love to hear your opinion on the "full" game. I didnt have time to send it to anyone to playtest, so yea my hint with the snake box seems not to be very good :D

Submitted

Aah knew I was missing something. I thought it was hinting that the platform we could see was actually a box of snakes so I didn't want to jump on it haha.

So I'm having a bit of trouble again at the rescuing Leah level. The tutorial said when you're touching the wall, she can move through it but it seems a little inconsistent? Sometimes I push up against the rightmost wall and Leah can walk through, sometimes she seems blocked completely no matter what I do, sometimes I die to the spikes and she can suddenly walk through the floor upon respawning without the black box moving at all.

Developer

I think it happened that I was so into the "zone" knowing what happens I forgot to better explain the mechanics...thats what happens if you are the only one playtesting!

So the mechanic basically is that if you touch a wall with a player, it gets solid for THAT player (leah or main character), and the other one can pass through. In the Leah 1 Level, you can jump up with the Player, then Leah can fall through the base box because it is solid for player, but not for Leah. As you now need to get both Leah and player to the exit, you need to think how to well do that :)