Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
Tags
A jam submission

Michael's BirthdayView game page

Explore The Most Complex Machine Of All: The Human Mind

Play game

Michael's Birthday's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
BEST GAME#213.3683.368
SCARIEST GAME#332.5792.579

Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Leave a comment

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Comments

(+1)

Really loved the design, great execution. Really interesting to see how specific moments of our lives have an impact on us, and how we interpret the world bases on those. I love it!

Submitted(+1)

Well this was super dark. This was a creative way to explore a linear narrative, and definitely made the ending impactful.

Submitted(+1)

Well that was....different.  Loved the Art.  Big fan of jam games with off the wall design choices.  The colours...ALL THE COLOURS.  Sound was great too, especially the xylophone at the end.  Thanks for making this!!!

Submitted(+1)

Interesting concept, voice acting was very good and the concept is terrifing

Submitted(+1)

I'll echo what some others said. Subtitles would be very nice. I also was slow to realize to consume the brain cells after listening and returned later. Although I did remember what each one was as I consumed them so they all managed to have their own importance (and also some randomization would be nice, I too noticed the furthest one was the most negative).

Other than those small things, amazing submission. The visuals and voice acting do a great job of setting the mood and the game allows the mechanics to tell the story to you.

Submitted(+1)

Fantastic submission ! loved the voice acting and just the vibe of the game... thank you for sharing this.

Submitted(+1)

Disturbing. I liked the sound design, I think I would have liked some subtitles, some of the voice acting was hard to hear. Apart from that,  I agree with most other people about the game. It has potential that I wish it would have reached.

Submitted(+1)

It isn't scary but very dramatic, voice acting is great. 

Jam Host(+2)

This is a surprisingly dark game in a way that was more complex than I expected coming in! The core concept of the player acting as a prion that spreads neurodegeneration through memory loss is certainly one of the most unique interpretations of a horror game I've seen in a while. 

The execution of the idea works fairly well. I like the use of narrative through the collection of soundbites that build a progressively clearer story as the player continues the game. The use of different characters to tell this story and have memories form over time gave it more depth. I think the voice acting was as good as you could hope for for an indie game at short notice too! 

The gameplay is interesting and I like the implications of the player's role as destroying the memories of the character. I think it could have been more subtle to approach it this way rather than to 'destroy Michael's soul' at the ending. Also, it may have been a little more gamelike to have some form of progression to scaffold the story i.e. by having areas open up after destroying certain memories.

The visuals are RPG-Maker lite but supplement the scrambled psyche and weird neural environment of the character's brain. The birthday motifs and music, and the colourful visuals seemed suited to more of a child character - it would have been interesting to know how old Michael was! 

All in all this is a very sombre game idea that is executed pretty well. Its strength lies in the originality of its story and interpretation of the theme, and its open-ended and ambiguous use of storytelling. I encourage you to keep on creating these weird and wonderful experiences in the future!

Thanks for submitting Michael's Birthday to the SCREAM MACHINE jam!

- SCREAM CATALOGUE

Submitted(+1)

I really liked this games aesthetic qualities / the narrative as a whole. Although I didn't find it too "scary," I walked away from it feeling unnerved as I should from a psychological horror game. The music was also really great, and loved its atmospheric qualities. I really did feel like I was in Michael's head. Have just a few suggestions:

1. I found that the memories had a pattern, where the furthest away were always the most negative memories. Because of this I paid less attention to the last one, as I sort of knew what they were going to be saying. One way to alleviate that would be randomizing the order. 

2. I was a little unsure what to do once I listened to each memory, so just wandered around. Only after interacting with them a second time did I realize I could also consume them with "Z." I think having a separate consume key (maybe "X") would make this more clear that I can both interact and consume each memory. 

3. For the most part I could read the letters / words (and liked how you designed them). But, I had a hard time reading "soul." 


Thank you for sharing your game! 

Developer(+1)

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback, the first two were things I was aware of but came down to the time restraint and procrastinating on this. The 2nd one is something I've been hearing a lot so I'll be sure to make some kind of patch for that if I can.