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A jam submission

THICK is the BLOODView project page

A gnostic horror.
Submitted by squinch — 4 seconds before the deadline
Rated by 13 people so far

Play trifold adventure.

THICK is the BLOOD's itch.io page

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Comments

Submitted

Art: Well-illustrated and aside from the stat boxes, one of the more readable examples of typography I've seen this jam. Could use maybe a little more color or, if sticking to black and white, some larger swathes of black to create visual structure. That said, it is thoughtful even in its minimalism and avoids looking like a basic Word doc, which is usually the danger when people opt for black-on-white throughout. Wrapping the text around the headers was an effective choice although "REUBEN MOSS" is a bit too long for that and maybe could be just "REUBEN" there.

Writing: I get the strong impression that there was a time crunch. As someone who edits for a living, this looks to me like a talented writer who was rushing and didn't edit themselves. There are typos as others have mentioned, and some places where the information has some structure but others where it's a bit steam-of-consciousness. That said, I think there's an interesting story here and the style of writing is effective at establishing vibes. I think with some restructuring and careful editing it would end up a 5/5, but right now there are too many parts that read like preparatory notes, not a final draft.

Game Design: This is probably too ambitious for a trifold, mainly because the way the plot is designed, exploration of the facility is the central activity, but you envision five floors each with multiple locations. I do like the thought you gave to fleshing out the NPCs and potential plot arcs.

Theme: Full marks. Very mythology and very Mothership, and those two thematic axes are well-integrated throughout.

Layout: Mostly effective. I think some things could use a bit more padding and the sections of text that are in point form, like Joseph's story beats, should probably have bullets. As with the writing, I get the impression that you know how to do layout, but were probably operating under deadline panic, because there are some things that are done well and other things that aren't done at all. Finally, I know that people read pamphlets in different orders, but personally I go cover, flap, spread, back, so when the introductory overview is on the back, I end up confused and trying to piece things together as I go. I think the inner flap or left panel of the spread are the safest places for that stuff, because you're physically compelled to see them before fully opening and getting to the spread.

Utility: I have to give low marks here because of the combination of unfinished aspects and too sprawling a concept to fit effectively into a trifold. Unless the Warden is extremely good at environmental ad-libbing, you're asking them to sketch five level plans for themselves among other prep.

Favorability: Full marks here. I think it's thematically great and I appreciate ambition even if it didn't really come to fruition under space and deadline constraints.

Submitted(+1)
  • Art 4 - Very good overall, but the white text on the red panels is a bit hard for me to read. The non-selectable text is also a small issue for on-screen accessibility. 
  • Writing 3 - some typos like 'Revalation' and 'eanxiety' should have been caught with spellcheck. 
  • Game design 3 - I feel like I need more clarity and detail on what each stage of the Revelations consist of and what thresholds players need to cross to get to them. through exposure to the Ichor. 
  • Utility 3 - I feel like if the players are investigating/stealthing into a location like the Bio-Syn lab, I would want a lot more information on how many people are present, the layout, etc.
Submitted(+1)

The style in this submission is beyond reproach. From the title logo to the character art all the way to the background texturing, the color contrasts do a ton of work.
The writing sparks in me a desire to read more, and I wish this had 12 pages to flesh out the power dynamics, how the PCs can tilt them, and knock-on effects of the ichor exposure from a mechanics standpoint (GIMME THE REVELATIONS). A couple of possible misspellings and the understanding this made it 4 seconds under the deadline does not in any way diminish the rich narrative soil presented in this trifold.

(+1)

4 seconds before the deadline, lets go!!!