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Mana Baker's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Community's Voice | #111 | 2.818 | 2.818 |
Ranked from 11 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Creative Vision / Rationale / How Did You Incorporate the Theme
One of the simplest and most profound ways to express generosity is to feed the hungry. The concept of mana is based on the polynesian belief that everything in the world is infused with spiritual power. By giving to others in need energy and color is restored to the island.
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Comments
Really cute little game! I love the style and different ways one can interact with the environment! Great job!!
This was super charming and a very cool experience, I really really love the music and concept behind this game! The only thing I'll note is that the movement around the terrain would be a lot better if the colliders for the trees (or just the stumps/logs of the trees) were turned off so you didn't get stuck on them. Also having some fun little obstacle course for the player to glide through would be awesome as well. Overall, very well done dude! Congrats :)
Thanks for playing! Tthe placement of the trees could use some work. I'll try creating a path that goes between the houses to help guide players into sections where they won't get stuck so easily :)
Has anyone found the secret ending yet? ╰(◕ᗜ◕)╯
Fast movement often feels good, though unfortunate that the character lacks a running animation. The bread is shaded delightfully and may have players staring hungrily at their screens. At one point, a small, circular island containing a single loaf of bread was reached, though it seemed to serve no purpose. Simply a small treat to snack on?
There is always a purpose ;) Unfortunately, building the game broke our animations. But that's a bug we'll have to tackle after the jam sadly. Thanks for playing!
Really fun mechanics! It felt like chibi fortnite if it was peaceful ahahahah, VERY SATISFYING controlsss AHHH
Thank you :) haha Fortnite peaceful mode is one way to put it (´∀`)
This game had me feeling like Kiki's Delivery Service! I enjoyed the movement and gliding around everywhere, thought it was pretty straightforward. The core of the game is fun, could definitely be elevated with story, animations, and more world building. Wish more of the wonderful story idea was explained in the game, that "mana is based on the polynesian belief that everything in the world is infused with spiritual power." The potential for more of this "spiritual power" to be shown in unique ways! If there were some short dialogue to each character, it would feel extra rewarding. Super cutesy, finished the whole game hehe.
Thanks for playing :) Glad you liked it! The blue particles were meant to represent mana created from feeding villagers. Maybe I'll try creating a big burst when they first start to make it more impactful🤔
Dear Mana Team, I enjoyed zipping through your game! weeeeeeee! it felt really fun and left me wanting more! Good work!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)
This is a super cute game! Definitely one of my favorites for this jam! At first I was thrown off by how fast we were, but it quickly made sense and felt really good for the scale of the world. The generosity theme couldn't be more spot on! The gliding felt good and natural and this entire project seemed to take a lot of inspiration from Legend of Zelda Wind Waker which I love to see. Our character (who I assumed is named mana) is super cute and visually interesting. I also loved the placement of the optional loaves. They were extremely "videogame" feeling. It felt really rewarding to look somewhere probable and be right and the ending screen after finding all the loaves made me smile. I thought the color change was going to be all there was (which was still cute) but the ending really made it super special. I think that the dark clouds and little particles make it super clear where the points of interest are and what we should be doing. I also thought the gliding felt really smooth and freeing and I like how the optional loaves push what you are able to accomplish with the glider. It really forces the player to stretch the mechanic to it's limits. I like all the aspects of gameplay, but I would love to see more expression and background. where are we? Why do we have an endless amount of bread? Why are we living on this island as a human girl among these animals? Did they ask us to give them this bread? Obviously a lot of these questions are out of scope for a game jam game, but I think animation, more detailed UI, more detail on the houses or world, or even different animals besides a bunny and bear could have went a super long way to make the world feel more full and alive, even if it was at the detriment to the size of the island. I also thought that although the music was produeced well and felt relaxing, it didn't quite fit the environment. The island is specifically covered mostly in woods/forests and greenery, and based on the description, the island is taking inspiration from Polynesian culture. It would have been super interesting to see visuals and sounds that are influenced by Polynesian architecture or sounds. The current music to me, seemed to loosely mimic the sounds of a kotekan from balinese gamelan (albeit more relaxed) similarly to the Lost Woods from Super Mario Odyssey. The instruments and notes used spoke more to mysteriousness, enchantedness, and sacredness, as opposed to the quaint, cutesy, island-y vibe the visuals of the game had. I think even something that sounded more like animal crossing or even a Hat in Time could have made more sense with the visuals. But despite the few gripes I had, I really really enjoyed my time with the game and thought it was a really solid project! I really hope you continue work on this project! I included some of the bugs I faced/suggestions below in case you do more work with this!
- Walking on the mountains didn't work super well. If the ground is too slanted the parachute opens as opposed to jumping which made mountain traversal a bit of a headache. I know mountain traversal was never necessary in game, but because the player is able to access and walk on the top of them and there are optional loaves that could be anywhere, it might be worth revising.
-anywhere on the island, if you angle the camera downwards and towards the collection of mountains in the center, all of the water becomes invisible
- I think forcing the player to open the parachute in order to go up in an air stream makes more sense than having the parachute automatically open. It took me a second to figure out that I had a parachute because the game let me use the air stream before figuring out how to glide.
Overall fantastic game! Good work to all involved!
Thank you for this insightful comment (´∩。• ᵕ •。∩`) ♡ This is great feedback!
I spoke to a few of the designers at my school and they also recommended I add a bit more of the contextual narrative elements like you're describing. It is a little difficult to tell what is going on haha. And I agree, I think there's more of an expected element of joy in the act of gifting that could shine through here.
Originally, I wanted the game to be split into two phases: baking and delivering. The baking portion was supposed to be a cozy ASMR experience where you interact with each step of the baking process in a relaxing and immersive way. I think that would have given players a more personal connection to the act of giving bread to hungry villagers. The dark clouds are meant to represent a sort of miasma given off by the hunger that clears when you feed them bread! I think it would have helped to have munching sound effects.
But thank you so much for the kind words! And I do think I will continue to work on this one to see what others think about the concept :)
Yes of course! And I think two phases would be super cool! And it would for sure give the player more obligation to deliver this bread they took the time and care to make. And the miasma definitely makes a lot of sense. I thought it was just to facilitate gameplay but the fact that there's an in universe reason makes me like it that much more. The time constraints of a jam definitely come for us all, but what you put together is still really cute, cool, and fun! Keep up the good work!
I just passed the whole thing, I didn't think I could reach the other corner in the mountains flying haha, I found the concept of being able to fly interesting, very beautiful.
Thank you!╭( ・ㅂ・)و I also enjoyed parkouring around the map with the glider :)
I had a lot of fun, I liked the speed at which you moved. I liked the glider mechanic / air currents and your use of particles to show where I needed to deliver bread made it really clear. The song is catchy and fit it well! I also liked the different biomes.
I hope you decide to keep working on this! Maybe add some animations etc. Nice job!
Thanks! I think I'll work on it a bit more after this jam :)
This game is really fun! I love having the wind currents lift me into the air and then I parachute across the island. The protagonist has a super cute design, and overall pretty fun concept. Great work!
Thanks! We worked hard on this one. There are three secrets to collect if you can find them😉