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The Delve (V.3)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Horror | #9 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Story | #74 | 3.294 | 3.294 |
| Enjoyment (Best Game) | #84 | 3.353 | 3.353 |
| Aesthetics | #128 | 3.588 | 3.588 |
| Sound Design | #205 | 2.824 | 2.824 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- Plenty of games depict the niche of wandering around a confined space with minimal light, but this game excellently captures the dread of feeling truly lost and alone. The grainy filter works well with the caves, adding to the disorientation. Once I was in, I wasn't going to be able to make it back out! Great dialogue and environmental cues too.
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Comments
version 2 out now with almost every complaint fixed, and more areas :)
So I hate to be this person...I am going to have to agree with the people, The pixels are a lot. Don't get me wrong I like the look you were going for... but it gave me a headache and made me feel nauseous. a game like this would give someone like my dad a seizure (he had to stop playing games like Turok because it messed him up) I would definitely give a seizure warning for now. but not all hope is lost. if you can fix that effect I will gladly play through the game if you can just keep mme posted. I can't give you much advice on how to fix it lol, but don't change it too much.
I actually have taken everyone's advice and changed the pixel style around almost entirely :) It will be updated tomorrow with a ton of new stuff, too!
Good to know, keep me posted.
I liked the dark environments and the scares did get me, but I'm not a big fan of the pixelated effect. Maybe another effect or lowering the pixelation would have made it more pleasing to the eye. But overall a good game.
Liked the dark, creepy atmosphere. I love the pixelization in games but it is a bit much for my taste. Instead of pixelization I recommend old VHS tape effect.
Its great :D I managed to get out after some try. I like how the flashlight take time to recharge and how it get less and less bright as you use it! will come back for the update for sure
Amazing work! Loved the art style and the atmosphere. Like Dace Games said, it would be amazing to expand this in different stories.
I like how you work with camera
This is an awesome idea that you could expand on with more stories any time. Really liked the unique pixel art 3d look and the torch battery levels made it really creepy and atmospheric. I like how fast things move at the end too. Great work!
I am very happy you said that. My wife and I came up with enough content for 4 games! I have already improved on the flashlight, too!
I am in love with pixelart, stories by fire is great idea! Enjoyed)
That was very creepy. Atmosphere was executed very well. Those cutscenes looked cool too. Got used to the pixelated art quicker then expected.
It looks really good.
It was definitely interesting, but the death quit is kinda annoying.
Hope you keep working on it.
It's already fixed :) just gotta wait for it to unlock!
Right on!
I like the concept and the aestethic how the game. My major pain point, which I hope will be easy to fix in a next release, was the Death / Sudden quit from the game and the necessity to start all over again with an unskippable intro. I wanted to go back and try again straight away! Anyway I had fun playing!
Wow, it took me time to get used to the very pixelized visual but it somehow adds to the scary atmosphere (except for some leaks in the cavern haha). I wandered for a long time in the tunnel and got lost until I remember kind of “hack” for every maze lol. Should have pu more singular rock to help memorizing some tunnel branches ;) It was stressful to walk in so narrow tunnels until I find find something that freaked me out hahaha I liked the cutscenes, very pleasant camera play. The flashlight discharge is quick but I found a way to never run out of battery hehe. Nice level design, I would have added kind of echoes to guide the player.
Thanks for playing dude! I'm glad you figured the maze out, I put markers in specific spots for people to have some sort of idea where they are. Did you end up finding all 5? Also, thanks for the cinematography complement! How did you feel about the monster AI and mechanics?
You are welcome :) Yes I found some of the markers, but you did a great job with the maze though.
I saw your monster design progress on the discord. It was already scary without texture, it got even scarier in-game haha. the AI works well I guess because we don’t even have time to look at the monster because you have to ruuuun 😅 Then I got trapped in a wrong tunnel branch then the death sequence is very cool, I almost jumped from my chair!
Well then, well then. Let me just calm my heart and stop my hands from shaking. Top notch fear generation. I agree with lots that has already been said. The Pixel effect was a bit much at first but I started to really appreciate it. The cut scenes were cool too. Once in the cave it started to feel really intense. This is what makes the game shine. That feeling of being surrounded and confined really is nailed here. Great work
This game scared the shit out of me. I played it twice, The first time I wanderd around the cave for 10 minutes finding absolutly nothing, Then I restarted, But this time I kept track of all the twists and turns. And now I mapped out the entire cave (I think). So you could say a had a lot of fun playing this! At first I thought the pixel filter was a bit too much, but it actually worked really nice with the caving! My only real feadback would be to add more sound, But besides that it was an absolutly awesome game. And maybe next time I shouldn't play this at 2:00 at night with all the lights off.
Great game, Keep it up♥
I really like the way the filter works with the cave diving, and a lot of the horror I got from it was just the initial act of walking through it. I found getting out of the caves difficult to navigate, but I'm also quite bad at directions in video games.
My biggest feedback would be updated sounds for the monster
I have a huge list of updates already, might as well revamp the monster entirely to actually make them scary lol. Thank you for the feedback!
Really like the camera work in your cutscenes, and the premise brings a smile to my face. Some more sound design work would go a long way: cave ambience, reverb, 3d sounds. You did a good job making the cave layout disorienting, but the flashlight dying so quickly felt very unforgiving and made it feel impossible for me to get back to the car. As an FYI, the itch.io client didn't like your download for some reason ("Cannot read property 'build' of undefined") and I had to download from browser.
I will for sure add a little more of a proper layout, and add some other landmarks. I think I am going to work on this game a little more. I really like it! Maybe I'll add a little campfire scene to add to the game length, along with fixing the errors! As for the itch app, I'll do some googling! Thank you for the critique on what needs work, and also the praise:)
Awesome game, really enjoyed it and it certainly gave me a spook.
My main feedback's would be to fill in some of the gaps in the maze as they stick out like a sore thumb in the dark and also maybe add some reverb and echo to the sounds in the cave, it would really add the the already creepy ambiance.
Great work!!
Awesome! Thank you for the feedback! :) Working on the gaps right now :)
Great use of the claustrophobic energy of caves and the low poly style.
While the low battery energy makes for some great "oh shit i'm trapped in the dark" moments it becomes a bit frustating when combined with the tunnel maze.
Thank you for the feedback! I am working on some sort of HUD for the flashlight to be a little more effective. An extra one time battery may be added as well. I'm not sure just yet. I do hope you were able to finish it! :)