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A jam submission

Wooden Hearts DEMO (Scream Jam 2019 version)View game page

A small spooky horror game. What happened in this house? horror spooky dark very dark darkness light lamp
Submitted by Undead Cartridge (@undeadcartridge) โ€” 4 hours, 9 minutes before the deadline
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Wooden Hearts DEMO (Scream Jam 2019 version)'s itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
BEST GAME (GENERAL)#14.1434.143
BEST GAME (HOST'S CHOICE)#43.4293.429
SCARIEST GAME#53.8573.857

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

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Comments

(+1)

Very much enjoy the aesthetic, look and feel. The slow build up in tension and anxiety Is well executed and this game has legit general "feels" of horror. Love it.

Developer

Really appreciate it thank you! 

Submitted(+1)

Exploring the rooms of an abandoned castle while being watched by those "dolls" is really disturbing, great work!

Developer(+1)

Hey thanks for playing! Glad you enjoyed it!

Host

I like this little horror experience! It works well as a surreal game that has an amusing payoff - I found the little wooden figures more adorable than spooky, but navigating the desolate castle corridors is definitely atmospheric. I like how there was a little effort to create some storytelling with the use of the figures, and the flyers of the missing child. I don't *quite* know what was going on and some further signalling could have been useful, but it was definitely a memorable experience! It certainly subverted more than a few expectations.

Thanks for submitting this game to SCREAM JAM!

- SCREAM CATALOGUE

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! I actually didn't have the story all planned out. I just had some ideas I wanted to put into the game like for example  the "Missing" flyers and children turned into puppets. Kinda was inspired by all these creepy Grimm-like children's stories. I will expand on the story in a content update. I agree that the figures don't really look spooky. I may change their appearance or keep it and add something else that takes the part of scaring the player :) In the end I think I want it to be some sort of  puzzle horror adventure game. 

I am glad you liked it and thanks for hosting this game jam!

Submitted(+1)

Very good atmosphere and as already mentioned, the lack of cheap jump scares was definitely appreciated and the tension stayed up the whole time! Nice work!

Developer

Thanks very much for the nice feedback!

Submitted(+1)

This was a great experience. Loved the lack of jumpscares in this.

I found 2 bugs:
1. The walking puppet will get stuck if you sprint away from it.
2. The wooden baricades didn't open for me.

Developer

Hey thanks for playing and for the feedback. I just updated it and hopefully fixed the bugs.  It's interesting to see that some people like the lack of jumpscares and others seem to be a bit disappointed. I am currently working on a content update for this game and I think I will raise the amount of jumpscares just a little bit. 

Happy you enjoyed it! It keeps me motivated :)

Submitted(+1)

Creepy, doesn't devolve to jump scare, actually has an original aesthetics that isn't just grey-black-red.

That's a thumbs up from me!

Developer

Thank you very much for playing and for your feedback. Really glad you liked it! 

Submitted(+1)

Gameplay

+ pretty spooked at beginning
+ liked the level, how it weaved on itself. Felt like a house
- stopped being as spooked after reveal, no longer felt threatened

Art
+ I like the assets
- The darkness is honestly a bit too oppressive here. Making the lamp a bit stronger would have been nice
+ The art and the use of blue lighting contribute to spookiness, haunted house vibe

Sound
+ Lots of good atmospheric sfx, good job in this category
+ Definitely added to the spookiness

Bugs
+ No Found, good job

Submitted(+1)

and oh yeah, it was fun. Good work on this one

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback! It really helps a lot while I am  working to update the game. You are right after the reveal it's not really spooky anymore. More like a sad atmosphere. I will try to keep it more spooky in my update after the reveal or change the timing for it. I really  wasn't sure if the darkness and level of light was right. I wanted the player to have limited sight but maybe it was a bit much lol. I will try to improve this for sure. I guess I am lucky because there definitely are some bugs here and there x) Glad you liked it!

Submitted(+1)

Being sad post reveal is fine. It could even be good, it subverts exceptions and that might be interesting to players. But I'd probably try to emphasize the scary tone or the sad tone.

Submitted(+1)

Neat game! I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and I was surprised at the inclusion of a couple physics puzzles. It was just a nice extra something. 

Developer

Hey thanks for the nice feedback! I'm gonna add more content to Wooden Hearts as soon as I can.  So check it out after my next update if you like it.  

Submitted(+1)

Sure! Looking forward to it.