Another game that proves the old adage, "The best ideas are simple ones."
Being immediately confronted as a resource-grinding game design, it came off as slightly tedious in the beginning knowing the game loop that coming up (pre-judging by the cooldown timer of the candles). But once it was learned that completing the easiest pentagrams would lead to other cauldrons which could significantly increase the amount of resources one could gain at a single time, it became very empowering and fun.
Was initially amazed that the environment expanded out too. I presumed the entire game would take place in one room.
One of the things I feel people think is the easiest / most fun coming into game dev, but then eventually learn is extremely complex and difficult to get right, is coming up with rewarding and / or original game designs, and making metrics work in conjunction with each other towards a playthrough that's neither too short, nor too long. I felt Mystic Maggie's Magic Mansion had a particularly fulfilling design, and the term I used before, "empowering," is exactly how I felt throughout most of the gameplay. Became very interested to unlock all the pentagrams and get to whatever the end goal was, that I was willing to stick it out no matter how long it took.
The game is very functional programming-wise, and I noticed no bugs. Was quite impressed that the objects would carry without issue across the many tight collisions of the environment, and I chalk that up to excellent coding.
Some very tiny nitpicks (for the sake of post-jam refinement, if desired):
- Definitely enable "resizable" in the settings. I would've loved to have played this game full-screen (I downloaded the Windows executable).
- The volume of the BGM in the credits seems unusually louder than the rest of the game. Could also use an escape key here.
- For all the candles and the fireplace, the environment might be too linearly lit. More limited lighting / selective darkness might be something to consider, to give the environment a sense that this mansion is out of normal civilization, or older than present times.
- It didn't matter in my playthrough, because you (thankfully) stuck to a traditional control scheme (and I realize it's in the Itch description), but plastering the inputs in-game somewhere (like a "Press E to drop a candle in the cauldron" in the first room) could be a small UX improvement. Perfect controls, however.
- Like that the game ends on a cinematic, but a tad-bit empty and anticlimactic. This would be where to put a large bow on the story, if even just in extended captions.
Obviously, in enthusing about the game design, I'm glossing over all of the other high points of MMMM (or 4M, as we've begun to call it in French Canada). The pixelized 3D art, UI graphics + fonts, fantastic main menu + escape menu, and overall aesthetic are wonderful, and were complimented perfectly by the soothing + thoughtful soundwork and audio direction. It was apparent that there was some real artistic and musical talent here.
There's so much heart and love put into this game, and in a space that's oftentimes flooded with lazy / last-minute efforts, it's incredible to see the passion of the developers shine through to a wholly consistent and polished end-product. I usually delete jam games after I play them, but this is one I'm holding onto on my hard drive. I feel it's the one to play whenever I'm mentally empty on game design and in need of inspiration.
Amazing work. What a homerun.