| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Accessibility | #2 | 4.118 | 4.118 |
| Originality | #4 | 4.412 | 4.412 |
| Overall | #4 | 4.134 | 4.134 |
| Controls | #5 | 4.118 | 4.118 |
| Audio | #6 | 4.118 | 4.118 |
| Fun | #6 | 4.118 | 4.118 |
| Graphics | #19 | 4.235 | 4.235 |
| Theme | #41 | 3.824 | 3.824 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Godot Version
4.3
Wildcards Used
Step away from the screen and make some assets
Game Description
7 AM is a puzzle game where you go though 15 levels in your 7 hour dream. Manage your sparks and energy to burst your way to the sun in each level and to progress further into the dream.
How does your game tie into the theme?
The game revolves around the concept of consuming both the sparks on the map and the energy you store to make it through levels. Additionally, the gameplay ties itself with the story to use different things that can consume a person's mind, like certain memories and the emotions they bring.
Source(s)
N/A
Discord Username(s)
toastymarshmallow105
Participation Level (GWJ Only)
1
Amazing game! The game mechanics and storytelling blend in really well. Although, when I'm playing the game I do sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that I have to keep track on, though I'm aware that the design is intentional. Also, I think the controls could be improved because its easy to accidentally touch the death zones or overshoot/undershoot while dashing. Though I may have struggled a bit trying to solve the puzzles, I still enjoyed the game. The story really resonated with me.
Thank you so much for playing! I'm glad to hear the story resonated with you and that you found the gameplay and story to compliment each other well! I agree that a lot gets thrown at the player in a short amount of time, though, and it wasn't intentional. I probably should have had more levels to introduce mechanics or reduced the complexity of said levels, but by the time I finished sketching out the finished levels, I had no more ideas on how to improve on them. This was the first time I made a puzzle game, so I didn't really have a good gauge of what was just right in difficulty and what was too complicated, though it's something I'll try to keep in mind and improve upon for the future. I also agree that movement can feel kind of weird at times, especially when dashing. I'm not the best with physics in games, so I just increased the speed of the player a lot for a short time when dashing, which is why you stop abruptly or don't dash at all when you stop moving. Nonetheless, I really appreciate the feedback and am glad you still enjoyed the game!
- Really appreciate how personal the story sound
- Love your menu design and visuals in general
- Was very curious about the story but got stuck on a hard-ish puzzle (2 or 3 once food mechanics get introduced)
- Appreciate a lot the presence of a skip puzzle button especially in the context of a gamejam (But was too prideful to use it lol)
I'm really glad to hear the story was a reason for you to keep playing, although I can totally understand not wanting to skip levels as I've felt the exact same way in other games. I was considering making the narrator speak in first person, but I decided to use "You" since I felt it could make the story more impactful to the reader. My thought process was that if the story resonated with the player, they could consider the "You" to be referring to them, whereas if it didn't, they could consider the "You" to be referring to the in-game character, but there were probably better ways at going about this. I agree that the controls are pretty complicated and it was one of my main concerns about the game. However, you actually can swap between viewing your character and viewing the entire level by pressing Tab! This was one of the main reasons why the Consume buttons are tied to a menu though, as sometimes they would cover up bits of the level when viewing the entire level. Thanks for the feedback, I'll try to keep these in mind for the future!
Absolutely beautiful. The message, the gameplay, everything. I did get stuck on the 2nd last level, but I also don’t play this style of puzzle game too often.
Some of the puzzles had gotten that "Aha" moment for me, the puzzles are interesting and i like the visuals, the music and sound effects are particularly really good, i would say my nitpick is how you can easily pick up items accidentally. very well done!
I'm really glad you enjoyed the puzzles and audio, I was really worried about those aspects in particular when developing! I agree that collecting something too early or to late can get frustrating, but I was unable to come up with a way to compensate for that during the jam. Thanks for the feedback!
Loved the art style and the puzzles are really well made. Congrats on the submission!
It's honestly the most complete game I have played in this game jam yet. Some levels needed some thought, but I managed to finish it. Nice difficulty progression !
I will just point out a very small detail that I am unsure if it was intended: In the 6:30 level, you can cheese the bottom of the level by grabbing one of the memory energies in the bottom right corner without getting out of the purple zone, thus not spending any extra energy and getting to the darkness with exactly the right amount to pass.
Thank you so much! This is my first game jam, so I'm really glad that you enjoyed your time with it! As for the 6:30 detail... yeah, that wasn't intentional. Near the end of development I decided to increase the size of all the sparks to make the hitboxes more fair, so I didn't catch that you were able to collect the memory spark while still in darkness. Nonetheless, I like the idea of each level having multiple solutions, intentional or not, and I'm impressed you found that!
Very good! Controls and plays nicely, the levels are well designed. The only mechanic I didn't like is that you bursts consume all the sparks, it's quite easy to accidentally pick up more then needed then it's back to the start of the level.
Otherwise, great one. Love that you are not afraid to explore hard topics!
Hey, thanks for commenting! I initially designed the levels around the idea that you had to look ahead to see if you needed all the sparks in your current area to progress, but I can understand the frustration that comes with it. There were times when I play tested the game where I would accidently collect something too early or too late so I agree that mistakes like that can be pretty unforgiving, especially when you're well into a level. Glad you enjoyed the game!
The puzzles were great! The level progression felt smooth, each level being more challenging than the last without jumping too high in difficulty. Several times I had to stop and think about the best way to complete a level, but I never felt lost or unable to continue. Your hint system was really well done, providing direction without giving away the answer, and the inclusion of a colorblind mode and the ability to reread tutorials was a lovely touch.
The one thing I would suggest would be possibly adding a trigger warning about depression on the game page. The story was really well done, but I did find myself tearing up a couple of times because the emotions were hitting close to home and had to take a couple of moments to center myself before continuing.
All in all, this was a really solid game and you did a great job with it.
Sorry, I'm not really good at knowing what warrants a trigger warning or not so I'm sorry if the story went a route you weren't expecting. Thanks for pointing that out. I added a warning and I'll try to be more mindful of that in the future. I'm happy you liked the story but I'm also really sorry for making you feel that way when playing. I'm glad you enjoyed the level design and found the hints useful. The hints were written literally the night before I submitted so I was worried that they wouldn't actually be that helpful. Thank you so much for commenting!
It can sometimes be difficult to tell what things do and don't warrant a trigger warning, so please don't feel bad about not having one to start. I appreciate that you added one now.
Also, please don't feel bad that it invoked such an emotional response for me. Good story telling often leaves an emotional impact, which is exactly how I felt while I was playing. I wasn't expecting it, which a warning beforehand would have helped with, but I'm glad I played, and I'm glad you did such a good job telling the story you you did.
This is a great puzzle game! I really enjoyed all the different mechanics at play and how each new mechanic was explained quite well through text and level design. I especially appreciate all the accessibility/quality-of-life features such as the option to add labels to the colored items and the ability to reread tutorials at any point. Puzzle games especially benefit from features like that!
Really nice work!
I really like the game, only feedback would be it was slightly annoying to have to use the mouse to consume food items. A couple levels focusing on one new mechanic would be nice--it felt like new ideas were being introduced relatively quickly. Really nice job though.
Thanks for the feedback! I do agree that new things were being added really fast and that there's a lot to keep track of. This was my first time making a puzzle game, so I wasn't sure of how many mechanics and levels I should've added to the game, leading to a lot being thrown at the player. I'll definitely keep pacing and controls in mind for the future!
Very good puzzle game, forcing you to think your way out of various situations where the answer is not always clear. All the mechanincs work great with each other and the difficulty scaling is very good as well, which I believe is really important in puzzle games. The artstyle as well fits well with the concept. Great work!
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