So much for getting through multiple Novembucks tonight...
So. Uh. This was rad as hell?
I do have some complaints here and there, mostly about the fucking safe code, but yeah for the most part I absolutely adored this and it's one of my favorite submissions so far.
Spoilers and such herein.
Touching on presentation first, yeah, stellar, crushed it. Minimal visuals but what was there really worked and I'm glad this one stuck to the images in the top left panel rather than going for "cursed game" style jumpscares that filled the whole screen. The soundscape and custom UI were great additions that really sold the 80s text adventure aesthetic, and this is all a ridiculous amount of effort to put into something on such a short timeframe - really impressive.
Writing was generally solid across the board too, with minimal proofreading errors throughout and even some fun snippets of humor thrown in there (e.g., tug wood). The ReadMe was a nice touch of lore building as well, and yes we said the grue thing so everyone can be happy now. Last point here is that I love the test option for SFX in the menu - it seems like such a little thing but I really love that as a QoL feature.
Moving into the gameplay, I was a bit nervous on how this would play out judging from the description, but I think it's actually fairly streamlined once you get a feel for it. Once you've done a lap or two, there are actually fairly few locations around the map, so I didn't have much of an issue getting lost, but this kind of thing is also somewhat up my alley, so I can understand others' experiences varying. I also thought various signifiers added to the movement directions, like towards creaking, wind blowing, or different types of walls helped with that.
There were a few things that I didn't quite figure out though, like what the uses for the shovel and axe were, the last choice on the path for the forest totem (avoid the ivy and daffodils yes, but how do you choose between the pond and anthill?), and the placement for the totems during the ritual. The latter two were easily resolved with trial and error, but I felt like I was missing something. I also wish that the notes didn't specifically state the ritual was meant to banish the deer god - I spent too long searching around for other ways to get out (because I did not want to kill the deer god) before realizing there was nowhere else to go, and I think it would be better to have that "banish" thing be a twist upon completing the ritual anyway.
Judging from other comments, I think you're already aware that the safe puzzle is a pain in the ass, but I'm going to reiterate that the safe puzzle was a pain in the ass. I made the connection pretty quickly that it had something to do with the dates and number of stars in each constellation, but I think there could have been another hint somewhere to nudge the player in how to put those together because I was going about it the wrong way for a while. Also, maybe a comment the first time the player looks up that maybe they should keep a note of moon phases and constellations because they might be important? While I didn't get lost often, getting around to go back and look at the different sky locations was pretty tedious.
Last points here, I'm guessing there's some kind of bad end if you piss off the deer god, but if there is, I didn't go for that. Had enough of a time just getting through the nice guy routes, but I thought the three endings I encountered were all solid in their own ways, with the best by far being the Flirt ending (because of course it was). The voiced "what." after choosing that option literally made me laugh out loud. (Though I questioned the logic of the line "you realise his head is a SKULL, right?!?" Dude, have you seen the amount of SCP 1471/MalO R34 out there? This is light work)
Overall, I recognize that this isn't for everyone, and it could have used some tuning up here and there, but I had an absolute blast with this one and the effort involved was remarkable. Really impressive work.