Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
Tags
(2 edits) (+1)

Well, thanks for the game! I think most people don't realize how much time it takes to make a game of this quality, so publishing it for free is something to honor.

I didn't even know it was based on a particular game family, so I guess your design choices make sense. However, keep in mind that implementing such a game from scratch is a great opportunity for you to add your own touch and features that weren't possible or weren't thought of at the time. I'm pretty sure adding things that make it more comfortable for the player wouldn't damage the nostalgia trip (considering how everything else is well set up).

About the time things, if you tested and came up with these values, then I think I can't argue much about it. But in my opinion, there are two different "too easy" for the player. The first "too easy" would be if the player completes a puzzle by chance or if the puzzles are too obvious to figure out, this one, of course, you want to keep it away. The second "too easy" is when a player figured out a hard puzzle or found the solution to a hard problem, and then isn't struggling to achieve it "mechanically" (clicking something that is too small, too fast, navigating in a slow UI etc...), that kind of "easy" is something you want. Not having it would only be great for action games in my opinion. It felt a bit weird to have to do "come and go" to pass time by 30 minutes instead of just clicking a button. If it was intended to have to figure out the "move, freeze, come back", maybe design a puzzle specifically to have to do something like this (e.g. you can't stay on a tile or you would die from quicksands or something...). Because once the player figured this out, if he has to repeat this task multiple times at other places, you will bore him (pushed to the extreme, that would be like having to cross the desert manually everytime, but you identified that it would be boring and implemented the second kind of "making it easy"). Also, I would undoubtedly prefer a "choose the time spell" with a very long animation over a fast "6 hours forward", this way I would only be able to easily do what makes sense and won't "bruteforce" the solutions. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you have your reasons to design it this way, but just sharing some ideas here.

I haven't played any of the games you mentioned. I've played all the monkey islands, runaways, day of tentacle and this particular king's quest I talked about (also some other indie games). I'd say I'm an experienced gamer and game designer in general, but not particularly in those kind of games.

I saw you made another game of this kind, I felt more attracted to the universe of this one, but I might try the other someday ;)

Also, I edited my other comment and added 2 more things. See ya!

(+1)

"However, keep in mind that implementing such a game from scratch is a great opportunity for you to add your own touch and features that weren't possible or weren't thought of at the time. I'm pretty sure adding things that make it more comfortable for the player wouldn't damage the nostalgia trip"

Oh don't worry, there is plenty of comfort updates and modern touches in our games. I just wanted to make sure to capture the essence of the originals as much as possible.

Again, some more great points clearly coming from a place of experience. Especially about the types of "too easy". Thanks for sharing, but yes, we did in fact have our reasons for doing it the way we did.

I HIGHLY recommend Shadowgate, as it's a genuine masterpiece and the gold standard in this specific sub-genre of game. Deja Vu and Uninvited are also fantastic. Make sure you play the NES Ports, which are the definitive versions and what our games are gameplay and graphically based on. You can actually get the 3 NES games bundled together on PS4, XB1 or STEAM as the "8-Bit Adventure Anthology: Volume I". Of course an NES cartridge for Shadowgate is dirt cheap if you're an original hardware person like me ;) 

Also, thanks for the OPEN TORN NOTE crash, fixing that now! 

(+1)

I'll make sure to try your recommendations whenever I feel like playing this genre. If you got inspiration from those for Spectacle, then they surely must be great!