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Cirque des Animaux's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Story | #2 | 3.900 | 3.900 |
| Presentation | #3 | 4.400 | 4.400 |
| Creativity | #4 | 4.100 | 4.100 |
| Overall | #4 | 3.940 | 3.940 |
| Gameplay | #5 | 3.400 | 3.400 |
| Theme | #6 | 3.900 | 3.900 |
Ranked from 10 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How did you choose to implement the Theme: Heir to the Throne in your game?
The main character, Kat, is the Crown Prince of his kingdom, destined to become King—even against his own will.
Did you implement any of the optional Bonus Challenges, and if so, which ones?
Runaway Royalty - Kat hates the responsibility of being prince, so he often rebels against his father by sneaking out. In the beginning of the game, he runs away to go watch a circus performance.
Be More Responsible - depending on what the player chooses to do, Kat can become more responsible for his role as Crown Prince, finally choosing to obey his father’s wishes and carry out his princely duties.
An Important Choice - while there are many decisions that can be made by players throughout the game, there is only one important choice that determines which ending you get.
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Comments
The art and music are really great and work together with the story's tone to cement the whole game's vibe really well; a very strong identity for this game. I like how unique your combat looks and feels. The only improvement to it I can think of would be when they are bracing for defense or defending an ally if there was some kind of tell for the player to see that, like an animation or a status icon or something to let the player have more easily informed decisions in battle. I have not fully finished playing yet, working on collecting 9, but what I have seen so far is a really strong story intro and well-developed theming with solid pacing. Looking forward to playing the rest, thanks for making it. :)
Love your art style! The story seems a bit rushed and you explain a lot of things - either via narration or dialogue - that would probably be better shown, but I guess that's due to the jams' time limitations. Combat - and searching for combat - can become a bit tiresome, but the story somehow hit home (yeah, I cried at the final decision...)
this game is passable. combat is very easy i only died once because i was trying to see what the full extent of the mechanics are but if you take the hit it till it dies approach you will win every fight. there seems to be a bug where the escape button didn't work which made the villain's "were not so different you and i" monologuing frustrating to sit through as it felt like i was forced to not be able to back out of combat just so the villain could have a very tiny point.
visuals are nice but it is not verry horror and this is coming from someone easily scared by things not even horror labeled. the story is also passable its very standard and by the book these days not because it really leans into the themes but because almost everyone takes this direction when given any theming about responsibility. it was difficult to really relate and understand why the circus was appealing to the main character perhaps because I've personally seen parts of the world with little to no civilization or order (not a very pleasant experience) which made sitting through the villain's philosophy and nihilism for beginners' level of understanding dialog at the last encounter rough to sit through. maybe i am simply noy the target audience for this.
as for following the theme it dose but it feels like it was added on last minute in order to fit both competitions the game is in. perhaps if the main character had a bit more introspection about his responsibilities, the importance of the sacrifices everyone around him is making not just the ones he's expected to make and the importance being the prince is to people around him it would feel more in line with the theme as the character growth can be boiled down to "this is scary im out of here back to the cozy castle and ill be more responsible from now on i guess".
thanks for the feedback :)