Coming from a "Teacher's" perspective, with alterations, I can really see this being used within schools as an extra resource for AEN students, particularly those with Autism/Aspergers.
Fear
This level was definitely one that felt "fearful" as you try to outrun the ghosts. If they catch you, they send you right back to the start. Due to the challenging nature of this level, perhaps you could keep your progress with keys, rather than being sent back to the start with a fresh slate. As this is aimed at children, they can have a short attention span, so as soon as they find a level challenging, it is easy for them to just give up. But if they are shown a sense of progress and achievement, rather than losing all their keys, they can use that as an incentive to keep going and free fear!
Happiness
Doing the three tasks felt nice and purposeful, music was uplifting and really conveyed that sense of happiness. Only nitpick would be the maths section as it felt just a tad out of place with the theme of emotion. Visually, it was engaging, bright and captivating! I can't fault it there.
Envy
Really liked the detail of the blue guys that came over to the platform as every object was placed down. Scenery was very well made and the cut-scenes at the start and end were engaging, conveying the message of "loving yourself". Also, the red herrings placed around was a great touch! Could be nice to see a counter at the top to show the player how many objects they've successfully placed down.
Sadness
The aesthetics of the scenery definitely matched with the theme of sadness. Not too difficult, though going back to the attention span of children I mentioned earlier, the bridges at the end could pop up a little quicker as sometimes I felt they took a little too long to come up out of the water. Nonetheless, this is a lovely level.
Angry
Loved the three challenges of destroying boxes, "whack a wisp", and fighting off the wisps from the well. Metaphorically, the calming down of Anger, going from big to small, was a great touch. It shows the player how anger can manipulate you and turn you into something that you are not. With the help of others, they are able to work together and hone in their anger. However, I will add that the combo of F+space bar was a tiny bit challenging, possibly for those with dyspraxia where they can find button combos difficult to carry out.
Overall, for a children's game it was brilliantly thought out with a clear intention in mind to teach children a better understanding of emotions through a platform which would be more engaging for them in this modern era. The only thing I would point out if I really wanted to be overly nitpicky, would be that emotions could be shown more explicitly rather than taking it out from the scenery alone. Maybe dialogue from each emotion on how being trapped made them feel and even show them expressing that emotion more :)) The opening sequence was lovely for showing each emotion expressed on a face, which is a key resource for those who may have autism.
For a topic and audience, that isn't well represented, I think you all did a fantastic job, especially for your first year of Uni. I absolutely cannot wait to see what you come up with next. I'm very tempted to share this with some teacher friends to see what they think!
I love the concept of this game, with the individual emotions and how this could be used in an educational setting for children to learn more about certain emotions. For example this game could be applied to child psychological therapies, which would be really useful for children with autism to help them learn about what each emotion means. Although some work would need to be done to make sure this targeted the right audience. I agree with previous comments that the controls could be made slightly easier for younger children, with more of a back story for each emotion (to really highlight the meaning of each emotion), however I feel that this game would be suitable for older children who needed help understanding emotions. Whilst this game has educational aspects, it was still great fun to play. I found all levels to be engaging and well thought-out. The characters were interesting and well conceptualised to represent each emotion. Each level felt interactive with lots of different aspects. The design aspects of each level were interesting, I particularly enjoyed the watery aspect of the sadness emotion and the spooky aesthetic for the fear level. The fear level was challenging and really helped me to engage with the game, however for younger children, or children using this game to help with emotions, they may loose their temper rather quickly. A difficulty setting may resolve this issue, especially for different age ranges. I can tell that you have worked exceptionally hard on this game and produced something incredible, especially given the current situation. The concept is refreshingly different with multiple applications. Overall, the game is brilliant, and with some minor tweaks could prove really beneficial for some people, to have fun whilst learning.
So I'm not quite the target audience for this game despite being childlike in nature - however, I do have feedback regardless!
Firstly, this is incredible - the game you've produced here despite worldwide carnage and the walls of reality breaking down like that one season of Doctor Who is seriously impressive, and it's clear that every part of this has been thought out in great detail. The art is consistent, the level design is great, and there's a general sense of cohesiveness in this that I've not even seen in some of the games I've paid money for. The music is great and overall it's a really solid game that you could honestly probably end up selling with some work.
The attention to detail is amazing, these are some standout things I noticed:
- Little icon in the taskbar as the game's running - Walking sound changes places on surface you walk on (ie metal, stone etc) - Little animations for things like lifting an object, diving through a portal - The builders hammering away in Happiness
There are some things to be improved of course:
I agree with Charlie here on the control feedback, to a certain extent. Standard WASD controls might be too much for some kids, but it could also serve as a really good gateway into getting kids used to general keyboard and mouse controls. Weirdly enough, I tested the game with an Xbox 360 controller and it worked, but the sprint button was also bound to the punch button, and I found no explanation on controls for a joystick anywhere. Was this intended or are joysticks just a side effect of how your input system is set up?
General Feedback per level
Envy
A nice level, with a few flaws. It could be an idea to have a counter for how many objects you have left to place on the pedestal. The little blue guys that float around the level also seem to cause a lot of issues in terms of collisions, I got stuck on them a few times. Also, some kind of audible/visual feedback for how close you are to an item could be good.
Fear
Unfortunately this is my least favorite level of the lot, but it's still good. This is incredibly unforgiving (the dark souls of TDEMO games) for reasons I'm not really sure of. The ghost's spotlight movement was very unpredictable and unforgiving in terms of moving through the levels - I often found myself using the hide button to hide from the outer circle, but i would also be moving too slowly to outrun the inner circle. Having to completely restart when you get caught feels a bit much for a kid's game personally, and having to traverse the maze 3 separate times to collect all the keys could make this very stressful for a kid. Perhaps they could collect more than 1 key at a time, or when they get caught any keys they've already used remain used?
It's not all bad for this level though - in my opinion this has the most distinct visual style
Happiness
This is my favorite level of all of them. The visual consistency is on point here, and the level design thrives. The world in this level really feels alive.
Is the maze at the start necessary? It doesn't feel integral to the experience in my opinion. You could make it more a central set piece by having the maze be the way that players navigate between the different tasks, with the cage at the center.
I had some issues finding the apples for the same reasons listed in the Envy section, but this is probably due to me having played it at 4am like a weirdo.
The math part felt a little bit out of place if I'm honest - the game seems marketed as one to teach kids about emotion, so unless you're trying to teach them how to be confused, angry or just sad maths at this scale doesn't seem to fit in. Also the main point of this level seems to be that collecting objects (keys) and doing tasks for others in hope of a reward brings happiness? This is me being really nitpicky, but that's only because I love this level a lot.
Angry
A really fun little level, hard to fault this one. The box smashing challenge gave me real Kingdom Hearts Coliseum trauma so thanks for bringing up those repressed memories. The section where you have to hit the wisps at the end feels a little mean and out of character - maybe instead of hitting them, you have to pick them up and place them into a box of some kind? It feels unnecessarily violent, even if the levels of violence are minuscule anyway.
Sad
A short level, that I really liked regardless. One thing I noticed is that the platforming sections were a bit difficult due to the way your jumps work, and the lack of some kind of clear shadow under the character. In the final key section, when you drop the key in the water it seems to just respawn at another key point. Considering how long some of the bridge segments take to appear, this could be frustrating for some kids. Maybe you could have it just reappear on the same floor tile the player is on?
Overall this is incredible guys - the portraits at the end credits are really nice and you guys have obviously worked super duper hard to make this game. Some of the design in terms of the theme of teaching kids about emotions needs refining but I appreciate that none of you are child psychologists and if this was a real project you would have gotten a specialist in to help properly frame these themes. It's a targeting market you've taken on and I think you've done well!
I hope I haven't been too harsh in my feedback and I'm happy to elaborate further on any points should you need!
This is pretty fantastic. A very visually appealing and technically competent piece. Level design was well done and the overall theming is pretty good. A variety of good puzzles all topped with a great level of polish. You should be very proud of this!
But, no game is perfect. It is clearly evident that the game is intended for a younger audience. However your gameplay conflicts with this, for context these are your controls:
WASD - Move
E - Interact
Spacebar - Jump
CTRL - Crouch
F - Punch
Spacebar + F - Ground Pound
What is making me pause for thought is the sort of audience the themes and writing are intended for would struggle with some of these controls and your puzzles which at times can be a little unforgiving. In addition, I think that the theming and narrative of this game could have been improved since you had a very interesting challenge and premise, which is the discussion of emotions to a child who may not fully understand them. For example, Envy was a good example that, with tweaking, could have been an excellent point of reflection for the user in regards to their own behaviour, but at times some of these explorations are either very surface level or entirely absent. Finally, in some of the levels it was possible to get a little stuck which for a child could be very frustrating.
But don't let this deter you. For a project you have realistically only worked on for ~14 weeks, some of which in a nationwide lockdown, this is incredibly impressive. Well done!
Comments
Coming from a "Teacher's" perspective, with alterations, I can really see this being used within schools as an extra resource for AEN students, particularly those with Autism/Aspergers.
Fear
This level was definitely one that felt "fearful" as you try to outrun the ghosts. If they catch you, they send you right back to the start. Due to the challenging nature of this level, perhaps you could keep your progress with keys, rather than being sent back to the start with a fresh slate. As this is aimed at children, they can have a short attention span, so as soon as they find a level challenging, it is easy for them to just give up. But if they are shown a sense of progress and achievement, rather than losing all their keys, they can use that as an incentive to keep going and free fear!
Happiness
Doing the three tasks felt nice and purposeful, music was uplifting and really conveyed that sense of happiness. Only nitpick would be the maths section as it felt just a tad out of place with the theme of emotion. Visually, it was engaging, bright and captivating! I can't fault it there.
Envy
Really liked the detail of the blue guys that came over to the platform as every object was placed down. Scenery was very well made and the cut-scenes at the start and end were engaging, conveying the message of "loving yourself". Also, the red herrings placed around was a great touch! Could be nice to see a counter at the top to show the player how many objects they've successfully placed down.
Sadness
The aesthetics of the scenery definitely matched with the theme of sadness. Not too difficult, though going back to the attention span of children I mentioned earlier, the bridges at the end could pop up a little quicker as sometimes I felt they took a little too long to come up out of the water. Nonetheless, this is a lovely level.
Angry
Loved the three challenges of destroying boxes, "whack a wisp", and fighting off the wisps from the well. Metaphorically, the calming down of Anger, going from big to small, was a great touch. It shows the player how anger can manipulate you and turn you into something that you are not. With the help of others, they are able to work together and hone in their anger. However, I will add that the combo of F+space bar was a tiny bit challenging, possibly for those with dyspraxia where they can find button combos difficult to carry out.
Overall, for a children's game it was brilliantly thought out with a clear intention in mind to teach children a better understanding of emotions through a platform which would be more engaging for them in this modern era. The only thing I would point out if I really wanted to be overly nitpicky, would be that emotions could be shown more explicitly rather than taking it out from the scenery alone. Maybe dialogue from each emotion on how being trapped made them feel and even show them expressing that emotion more :)) The opening sequence was lovely for showing each emotion expressed on a face, which is a key resource for those who may have autism.
For a topic and audience, that isn't well represented, I think you all did a fantastic job, especially for your first year of Uni. I absolutely cannot wait to see what you come up with next. I'm very tempted to share this with some teacher friends to see what they think!
I love the concept of this game, with the individual emotions and how this could be used in an educational setting for children to learn more about certain emotions. For example this game could be applied to child psychological therapies, which would be really useful for children with autism to help them learn about what each emotion means. Although some work would need to be done to make sure this targeted the right audience. I agree with previous comments that the controls could be made slightly easier for younger children, with more of a back story for each emotion (to really highlight the meaning of each emotion), however I feel that this game would be suitable for older children who needed help understanding emotions. Whilst this game has educational aspects, it was still great fun to play. I found all levels to be engaging and well thought-out. The characters were interesting and well conceptualised to represent each emotion. Each level felt interactive with lots of different aspects. The design aspects of each level were interesting, I particularly enjoyed the watery aspect of the sadness emotion and the spooky aesthetic for the fear level. The fear level was challenging and really helped me to engage with the game, however for younger children, or children using this game to help with emotions, they may loose their temper rather quickly. A difficulty setting may resolve this issue, especially for different age ranges. I can tell that you have worked exceptionally hard on this game and produced something incredible, especially given the current situation. The concept is refreshingly different with multiple applications. Overall, the game is brilliant, and with some minor tweaks could prove really beneficial for some people, to have fun whilst learning.
So I'm not quite the target audience for this game despite being childlike in nature - however, I do have feedback regardless!
Firstly, this is incredible - the game you've produced here despite worldwide carnage and the walls of reality breaking down like that one season of Doctor Who is seriously impressive, and it's clear that every part of this has been thought out in great detail. The art is consistent, the level design is great, and there's a general sense of cohesiveness in this that I've not even seen in some of the games I've paid money for. The music is great and overall it's a really solid game that you could honestly probably end up selling with some work.
The attention to detail is amazing, these are some standout things I noticed:
- Little icon in the taskbar as the game's running
- Walking sound changes places on surface you walk on (ie metal, stone etc)
- Little animations for things like lifting an object, diving through a portal
- The builders hammering away in Happiness
There are some things to be improved of course:
I agree with Charlie here on the control feedback, to a certain extent. Standard WASD controls might be too much for some kids, but it could also serve as a really good gateway into getting kids used to general keyboard and mouse controls. Weirdly enough, I tested the game with an Xbox 360 controller and it worked, but the sprint button was also bound to the punch button, and I found no explanation on controls for a joystick anywhere. Was this intended or are joysticks just a side effect of how your input system is set up?
General Feedback per level
Envy
A nice level, with a few flaws. It could be an idea to have a counter for how many objects you have left to place on the pedestal. The little blue guys that float around the level also seem to cause a lot of issues in terms of collisions, I got stuck on them a few times. Also, some kind of audible/visual feedback for how close you are to an item could be good.
Fear
Unfortunately this is my least favorite level of the lot, but it's still good. This is incredibly unforgiving (the dark souls of TDEMO games) for reasons I'm not really sure of. The ghost's spotlight movement was very unpredictable and unforgiving in terms of moving through the levels - I often found myself using the hide button to hide from the outer circle, but i would also be moving too slowly to outrun the inner circle. Having to completely restart when you get caught feels a bit much for a kid's game personally, and having to traverse the maze 3 separate times to collect all the keys could make this very stressful for a kid. Perhaps they could collect more than 1 key at a time, or when they get caught any keys they've already used remain used?
It's not all bad for this level though - in my opinion this has the most distinct visual style
Happiness
This is my favorite level of all of them. The visual consistency is on point here, and the level design thrives. The world in this level really feels alive.
Is the maze at the start necessary? It doesn't feel integral to the experience in my opinion. You could make it more a central set piece by having the maze be the way that players navigate between the different tasks, with the cage at the center.
I had some issues finding the apples for the same reasons listed in the Envy section, but this is probably due to me having played it at 4am like a weirdo.
The math part felt a little bit out of place if I'm honest - the game seems marketed as one to teach kids about emotion, so unless you're trying to teach them how to be confused, angry or just sad maths at this scale doesn't seem to fit in.
Also the main point of this level seems to be that collecting objects (keys) and doing tasks for others in hope of a reward brings happiness? This is me being really nitpicky, but that's only because I love this level a lot.
Angry
A really fun little level, hard to fault this one. The box smashing challenge gave me real Kingdom Hearts Coliseum trauma so thanks for bringing up those repressed memories.
The section where you have to hit the wisps at the end feels a little mean and out of character - maybe instead of hitting them, you have to pick them up and place them into a box of some kind? It feels unnecessarily violent, even if the levels of violence are minuscule anyway.
Sad
A short level, that I really liked regardless. One thing I noticed is that the platforming sections were a bit difficult due to the way your jumps work, and the lack of some kind of clear shadow under the character. In the final key section, when you drop the key in the water it seems to just respawn at another key point. Considering how long some of the bridge segments take to appear, this could be frustrating for some kids. Maybe you could have it just reappear on the same floor tile the player is on?
Overall this is incredible guys - the portraits at the end credits are really nice and you guys have obviously worked super duper hard to make this game. Some of the design in terms of the theme of teaching kids about emotions needs refining but I appreciate that none of you are child psychologists and if this was a real project you would have gotten a specialist in to help properly frame these themes. It's a targeting market you've taken on and I think you've done well!
I hope I haven't been too harsh in my feedback and I'm happy to elaborate further on any points should you need!
This is pretty fantastic. A very visually appealing and technically competent piece. Level design was well done and the overall theming is pretty good. A variety of good puzzles all topped with a great level of polish. You should be very proud of this!
But, no game is perfect. It is clearly evident that the game is intended for a younger audience. However your gameplay conflicts with this, for context these are your controls:
WASD - Move
E - Interact
Spacebar - Jump
CTRL - Crouch
F - Punch
Spacebar + F - Ground Pound
What is making me pause for thought is the sort of audience the themes and writing are intended for would struggle with some of these controls and your puzzles which at times can be a little unforgiving. In addition, I think that the theming and narrative of this game could have been improved since you had a very interesting challenge and premise, which is the discussion of emotions to a child who may not fully understand them. For example, Envy was a good example that, with tweaking, could have been an excellent point of reflection for the user in regards to their own behaviour, but at times some of these explorations are either very surface level or entirely absent. Finally, in some of the levels it was possible to get a little stuck which for a child could be very frustrating.
But don't let this deter you. For a project you have realistically only worked on for ~14 weeks, some of which in a nationwide lockdown, this is incredibly impressive. Well done!