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Breached's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Use of Themes | #15 | 3.550 | 3.550 |
| Aesthetics | #15 | 3.550 | 3.550 |
| Polish & Release | #22 | 2.750 | 2.750 |
| Gameplay & Mechanics | #22 | 2.700 | 2.700 |
| Overall | #22 | 3.050 | 3.050 |
| Writing | #23 | 2.700 | 2.700 |
Ranked from 20 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Artistic Statement / Use of Theme
Our project explores the fragile bond within an orca pod, emphasizing how both natural and unnatural disasters can disrupt their tight-knit community. We hope our game highlights the vulnerability of these intelligent creatures as they face environmental challenges, such as stranding caused by storms and human-driven threats like pollution and overfishing. We started this project by focusing on the perspective of a single orca to create an intimate, empathetic experience for the player. Through simple mechanics like swimming, hunting seals, and escaping from dangers, players gradually understand the orca’s struggle for survival while feeling its longing to remain connected to the pod. Thematically, the game is a reflection on how disasters, whether nature’s own or caused by humanity, force living beings to adapt, endure, and sometimes face isolation.
Development Summary
Our team started with five members, but we lost our audio engineer after the first sprint and one of our developers had to step back during the production phase due to other commitments. The original concept was more complex and featured a more advanced survival system. We planned to incorporate stamina management, temperature regulation (splashing water to stay cool), pressure mechanics that limited survival time out of water, and the hurricane to directly impact the orca's sonar abilities.
Due to time constraints and our reduced team size, we had to simplify these systems and focus more on the core experience. The biggest cuts were the environmental survival mechanics. We partially implemented stamina but temperature and pressure were removed entirely. We also added an underwater maze to Level 1 so that players could experience the fun of navigating as a whale before facing the disaster scenario.
Release Plan
The current build functions as a short but complete demo, offering players a glimpse into the life of an orca and the immediate threats it faces. If we were to expand it, we would refine the hunting system for smoother gameplay and introduce varying difficulty levels. We’d also like to add a new narrative-driven segment where the orca, after becoming separated, must find its way back to the pod, deepening both the emotional and thematic impact. While the concept has room for growth, we don’t plan to continue full development in the near future as some team members will be focusing on job hunting and other commitments. However, the project remains a meaningful exploration of its theme and could serve as a foundation for future iterations or similar works.
Topic Tags
Hurricane, Ocean Life, Climate Change
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Comments
I love the underwater environment and, of course, the whale. The movement controller is well defined. Love your concept. Simple yet beautiful.
This is a very cool concept for a game, and I like the different minigames for each level. Right now it plays very well, and I didn't have many problems. My only recommendations would be to polish the game up a little more in menus, text, and UI, and maybe make swimming with A and D smoother as the sharp movements hurt my eyes a little bit. Overall great work and I hope you keep it up in the future!
Cool concept. I think working on it would solidify the gameplay mechanics a bit more.
Very cool concept! I think the animation for the orca was pretty neat. I think some of the text was a little hard to read, but other than that, was a fun game to play!
Interesting idea! I had quite a few problems with collision (and obviously making proper collision on a large scale game is hard given the short time you have for the jam - definitely an in-progress title) but I see the potential for an interesting game in the future! And yes I agree, maybe zoom the camera out a bit more.
The tail tipping to change directions but not the whale threw me off a bit, haha
Fun and cute game. I really liked the mechanics; I thought they were very unique and fun to use. I think this game would benefit from a different camera angle of the player; it was easy to get lost and confused about where to go next, but the echo location helped. I think if the camera were above the player and a little more zoomed out, it would allow the player to see more in the area. I liked the Breaching mechanic, and if you continue to develop this game, I can see it becoming a very fun mechanic to explore.
I see a lot of potential for this game, it gives me echo the dolphin vibes. Particularly the atmosphere has a kind of cold desolate vibe which I liked. If the team is gonna continue working on it I'd love to see it lean into that aspect, a modern equivalent of echo the dolphin would be very intriguing. A critique I do have is I felt very lost in the game and the green streak I was following was very inconsistent. I also felt that the movement was a bit clunky, like for instance I couldn't move up and down at the same time as moving forward, which didn't feel great. I thought the models were good and the general idea was also good, as I said before I feel there is much potential here. I would love to see this completed fully at some point.
Using the orca to highlight the impact of hurricanes was a very strategic choice. The varity of game mechanics was fun, but I the later 2 levels need more polish/stakes as they seem quite easy.
Some minor things:
- The cutscenes in the upper left corner are quite small and hard to read. Try moving them ot center of the screen or make it larger for more readability
- The hurricane stock image could easily be replaced with some art or animation. If you plan on returning to this game, more original art would make this game's graphics pop.
- When I accidentally press S, I had a minor glitch where I was spinning in a circle for a minute in level 1, it corrected itself after a minute, but just a small error.
Great job coming up with a fun concept and fun gameplay. Its refreshing to see orca's being treated with this much kindness in media instead of the "killer whale" stereotype.
You guys have come so far!! I really like the art you added and the concept of the game. Honing in on one specific species, the Orca, was a good way to limit the scope of the game. I do understand how the scope was hard to really feel out. If you guys are planning on moving forward with this project, I would suggest allowing the player to zoom out of the camera. Just due to its proximity, it was hard to see anything.
Good Job!! :)