This game rocked and was a great start to the judge streams!
The video pitch was really charming and I was smiling throughout the video. The puppets immediately grabbed my attention and the jokes were funny. However, I do think the pitch itself could be a little punchier as I felt a little lost and would have liked at least a small bit more game footage.
As for the game itself, this game feels like a classic retro 3D Platformer and I love it! The little narrative with the ghost is charming and I really felt like how I could dig my teeth into the game’s movement system. Clearing the first tutorial and then getting thrown into the big hub level felt incredible. However, some of the mechanics like getting the gems in the box felt a little unclear and I got very confused on how to proceed. I’m also not sure how I feel about the idea that my little goober can just freely walk around out of the box. I think the game’s inside the box movement is great and should be the core focus.
As for the art and audio direction, I think there is definitely room for improvement in terms of polish, but the core aesthetic is there and really sells the toybox feel. It would be neat if there were more particles and effects for the movement and items. I also think there is definitely a lot of room for UI improvement as the text boxes, character portraits, and fonts are either sized awkwardly or a bit too generic.
Other than that, I had a great time. Could genuinely see this as a full game.