Play experiment
Alien Hermeneutics's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Sound | #11 | 3.875 | 3.875 |
| Mechanics | #11 | 3.813 | 3.813 |
| Theme | #13 | 4.188 | 4.188 |
| Fun | #17 | 3.813 | 3.813 |
| Overall | #22 | 3.688 | 3.688 |
| Aesthetics | #24 | 4.125 | 4.125 |
| Story | #28 | 3.438 | 3.438 |
| Music | #136 | 2.625 | 2.625 |
Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How many people worked on this game in total?
Only me
Did you use any existing assets? If so, list them below.
3D MODELS: KayKit : Halloween Bits, Grant Abbitt; FONTS: Lunar Escape by Sronstudio, RetroByte by HipFonts; SOUNDS: TV static noise by yourugor, Bubbles from the Deep by SoundReality, Sonar by VoiceBosch, Shoot Underwater Sound Reverb by 8doxo, bubbles by soundshmyak, Underwater Movement and Underwater Ambience by Tim_Verberne
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Comments
Very creative gameplay and storytelling.
Really love that feeling of being watched/studied. Great atmosphere!
Thank you for the comment!
Bold move. Willing to limit gameplay to convey a different message. It’s interesting that you’re an alien and yet feel alienated by humanoid televisions. But why a squid?
Good question! No good answer, though. I thought of it back when I was developing a tabletop prototype for this game, something about squid's jet movement felt very interesting to me, maybe because adapting it to gameplay provides player with small tactical choices each time they move (fast but short bursts vs. slow but long bursts).
Anyway, thank you for the review!
A really cool interpretation of the theme, a unique movement mechanic, very interesting concept, decent SFX and overall fun time. Thanks for making this. Good work!
Thank you for the kind words :)
Interesting game. The atmosphere was good, the TV-screens creepy. Nice submission
Thanks! Glad you've liked the game :)
I love this game. The concept behind it is so neat, and combining it with elements of psychological horror makes it even better. I am not going to lie, the eye of the watcher will haunt my dreams for a while.
“Prove your worth” was the main thought in my head while playing. It is sad how this idea can dominate almost everything in modern life, which made me relate to the poor alien squid even more. I loved that the watcher speaks in gibberish, which really adds to the confusing and tense atmosphere you created.
I noticed that you have to avoid the red orbs to get a better answer, and with the great controls, avoiding them gave me a mixed feeling of anxiety from an unwanted outcome and satisfaction from the responsive gameplay. The art style and overall atmosphere of the game are wonderful. I just wished the experience had lasted a bit longer.
Wonderful work.
It is feedback like yours that makes me so excited about making games and art in general. Thank you, my man, you've made my day :)
Several people have mentioned that this game makes them think about society's expectations of an individual. This was not the thing I had in mind while making this game, but it only makes it more interesting, because I think that this idea totally fits the game, and it is wild to me how I could not have thought about it before. Thank you for bringing it up, and thank you for playing my game! I'm very happy that you've enjoyed it!
P.S.: sorry for the nightmares, I hope my twitchy eye will not haunt you too much :)
What a neat concept! The jolting graphics got my attention as I was browsing through various entries in the game jam. Very unique take on incorporating the game jam's visual theme of TV into this game!
Thanks! I'm glad my freaky gifs were able to attaract your attention :)
I'm a mac user, so I wasn't able to try it. Looks very interesting, though! 🦑
Ah, that's a shame :( Unfortunately, I don't have a mac so I could not test a mac version even if I build one. But maybe I will build it and leave it for the people to try, why not.
Anyway, thank you for coming by and leaving a comment! Your interest and attention are highly appreciated :)
Really liked the concept — the buoyancy and tentacle-movement mechanics gave it a distinct feel, and the underwater vibe is unusual for a Halloween jam, which makes it stand out. I noticed some performance issues (especially in the web build) which might be limiting the experience, but the core idea is strong and memorable. Great work!
If you’ve got a moment, I’d love for you to check out my jam game too:
🎮 Hush Boy, Hush — https://itch.io/jam/gamedevtv-halloween-jam-2025/rate/3971977
Thanks for the feedback, friend!
I'm glad you liked the movement mechanics and the underwater theme. These aspects were some of the main focal points of my project, so I'm really glad people are finding them enjoyable.
Many have commented already about the performance issues, so dealing with this is first on my priorities list after the voting is over. Thank you for highlighting it once more, and sorry for the inconveniences that might have spoiled your experience.
And I will absolutely try out your game, you don't even need to ask :)
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that! 😊 I’m glad the underwater movement and atmosphere stood out — it’s such a unique idea and you pulled it off really well. Totally understand how performance can be tricky, especially under jam time pressure, but it’s awesome that you’re already planning to polish it up after voting. Thanks a ton for the kind words and for checking out my game too — means a lot! 🎃
If you get a moment, here’s the link again just in case: https://itch.io/jam/gamedevtv-halloween-jam-2025/rate/3971977
👻
Finally played the game as it was intended using desktop build.
And what an amazing game this one is! Experience, or as the author say - experiment, genuinely makes you feel unsettled, in danger, desperately trying to prove your self.
This is I believe a perfect metaphor on the life in modern society, if not on life in a society in general - act as they expect you to act or be thrown outside, if not utilized.
The game reminded me of the “Kaspar” - play by Peter Handke, except the “Alien Hermeneutics” places you right to the place of the main character, is way more surreal and thus provide stronger emotional feedback.
Thank you very much for making and sharing this game!
Wow, thank you so much for the amazing feedback!
I never heard about the Handke play, but I know the story of Kaspar Hauser and it is very interesting that you've brought him up, because I did not think about him at all while working on this game, but you are totally right, it does have strong thematic resonances with it and is kind of a metaphor of how society treats individual, constantly interpreting their actions and judging them based on them.
Thank you for bringing this aspect of the game into the light, it gives me something to think about! And also, I'm just very glad you liked my game :)
Damn! Really cool! Innovative idea for a great indie game. I would like to see it complete.
Thank you for your encouraging comment! I'm glad you liked my game :)
Too bad it crashes during gameplay! But really cool!
Hey, thank you for commenting!
Did it crash on the Windows version for you?
Yes for Windows! It's also true that I have old hardware.
Gotcha, thank you for letting me know. I should have definitely spent more time on optimizing the game :(
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Don't worry! Unfortunately, optimization is a tricky thing. 😵💫
Wow great game you really created a unique experience, in browser it wouldn't go full screen (just stayed the same size) and like others mentioned mine crashed on the level where red was introduced after a while swimming about.
That game was special - great job !
Thank you for the nice comment!
Sorry for the crashes. Web build optimization is still an unexplored territory for me. If you are still interested in the game, I would recommend downloading the Windows version and giving it a try.
Loved the concept, the movement and the gameplay. I was hooked. I enjoyed just swimming around.
The game crashed while I was playing.
Really solid game. I'd love to play it all the way through.
I'm glad to hear you liked my game!
Sorry for the crashy web build. Unfortunately, I did not have time to properly test it before submitting. If you are still interested in the game, I would encourage you to try the Windows version, as it is much more stable.
Well done. Enjoyed the game :)
Thank you! <3
Very interesting take on the theme! Visuals are cool as well.
Unfortunately had an issue that looks like a memory leak.
I’m on Windows 11, Chrome, i7-14650HX, RTX-4060, 16 GB of RAM.
Here is my console output:
Thanks, man, and sorry for the inconvenience. I have no idea how to interpret most of your crash report, but I'll look into it. For now, I've removed the web version from the game page entirely, so if you are still interested in my game, you can download the Windows version and give it a try.
Sure thing, going to try it out once again! The concept is one of a kind!
Once I figured out how to use the movement mechanic, I was hooked - very cool. I want to know how to do that physics effect on the tentacles! Unfortunately, my game (in the browser) crashed, so I will try it again with the download.
Hey, thanks for the comment!
Due to many complaints about the web version being crashy, I decided to remove it temporarily from the game page. But I left the Windows version still available. After the voting is over, I'll get back and hopefully deal with those nasty crashes. Thank you for notifying me and sorry for the inconveniences!
You can check the procedural animation tutorial I used here. It's pretty easy to implement, actually, and have many different uses (for example, the seaweed is made by using the same technique).
Awesome. Thanks!
very cool idea and the physics on the tentacles were satisfying, but sadly it has severe performance issues, at least in the web version
Thanks for the comment! Seems like web version performance is a real issue to many people, I'll look into it and try to figure something out.
Meanwhile, if you are interested in the game, I would encourage you to try the windows version, as it is much more stable.
Liked the aquarium sounds and player's tentacles! Becomes unplayable due to optimization problems really quick... Atmosphere is great, floating mechanic done really nice. Would like to see these tentacles interact with aquarium floor and walls, lay flat on them rather then clipping through.
Thank you for playing my game and leaving the review!
Sorry for the laggy web build, I really should have put more time into optimizing it. If you are still interested in the game, I would encourage you to try windows version, as it is much more stable.
As for the tentacles, I don't know, man, making them procedurally animated already was quite an achievement for me (thanks to this tutoiral, in case you are interested in doing it yourself), making them interact with surfaces feels like next level entirely. But I am curious if I can manage it, so challenge accepted! :)
The idea seems really cool, but the game becomes unplayable once a single symbiote is on the screen, it makes the fps drop to like 0, hopefully you fix this, still got some time to make a better optomized build.
Notify me once if and when you fix it so I can try to play it again!
Thank you for playing!
Sorry for the unoptimized web build, I was unable to make it run more efficiently due to my laptop lacking CPU power. But from what I can tell, Windows build is pretty stable and runs well, so if you are still interested in the game, I would encourage you to give it a shot.
Anyways, thanks again for giving attention to my project and for leaving a review!