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(+2)

A text-based game ? That's a risky bet. I remember Radical Dreamer, the sequel to Chrono Trigger that eventually inspired Chrono Cross ; not the most comfortable game to play.

It's good to have warned about the content before the start of the game. The introduction is indeed very hard.

Exploring tiny interior worlds of memories and feelings is an original way to follow the theme. The story is well written, but there's a lot to read for non-native English speakers. On the other hand, I was about to say that more pictures would add value, but no, it's better to let the player-reader imagine for oneself.

And the music and the ambient sounds are here to help the reader to imagine. They're light, setting the mood of each location. Good job on this.

It's not the most fun game to play, but there's an audience for this kind of games.

(+2)

Thank you @Taztempest!

TL;DR: Yes, you have hit the nail on the head! 

Interactive novels have quite a niche audience.  Our decision behind the decision was due to the commitment risks of team members, skills requirements, and workload balancing. This was our first time using Twine, and I admit, we learned A LOT about the challenges regarding this genre such as story and sensory communication    over the dependency of technology.

You also mentioned a key design element -limited artwork-. Initially we thought about artwork for every page, but decided to only do artwork for main environment changes to quickly guide the player and reduce cognitive fatigue caused by all the reading in poetry-like style. This allows the player to formulate their own mental image when approach the detailed areas, and this also contributed to the decision of using an    impressionistic art style.  

The use of ambient sounds was critical to set the tone of an environment, such as   when moving in the World of Grief.  For example, the footsteps, the crows, and the leaves and tree in the wind   sfx really help subconsciously.