thanks a bunch for playing unity, i'm really glad to have your perspective on this one. especially the reflection on the gatekeeper name matter... i often worry i'm being too obvious in my messaging and taking all the precious ambiguity out of the equation. but in short games like these, you don't necessarily have a lot of time to attune players to specific ways of communicating, so maybe it pays to be a little unsubtle. so i think you're right, i think naming it gatekeeper was the right call after all.
Yeah, though I understand completely with your thought process, I think I would have also second-guessed the more obvious name. It’s very hard to get all the little pieces right, but I really like how they came together for this game.
I also relate heavily to the discussion about running. Even with a big RPG, if you let the player just run from every encounter, does that not mess with, say, a carefully balanced battle of attrition of resources, etc? I have been tempted to just remove the option, but that also feels bad, haha, so its something I think a lot.
Also props for such dedication to the hour time limit. I don’t think I could do it, I’m way too picky, but you’ve really got some interesting stuff out of the time limit. I like games that make me think about how to go about making games, and these sketches are exactly that :D