Thank you very much for the feedback. Admittedly this game started out as a POC for different aspects of the underlying text engine. I completely see how the puzzles can seem the way you described. If you give the hard mode a shot the only difference is that the first door is locked and there is a new area to explore which has its own puzzle, completely different than the others, to find that key. Regarding the water, it can be necessary if you go wandering around in the desert. Water is in the game but you have to find it and a kind of secret location with its own mini-narrative. It was fun writing Ramens dialogue, that was the best part for me.
Viewing post in Adventure in the Crypt (TALP 2026) jam comments
Oh, so there is a secret hidden in the desert. Now you have hooked me again. I will definitely give it another try today.
What I realized now is that the puzzles themselves are actually fun. What bothered me yesterday was more the input method. Rotating things would feel much smoother if the last command could be repeated with the up arrow key.
I also really enjoyed the Sherpa’s dialogue. You can tell that you put a lot of effort and care into the writing.
I will definitely try it again later tonight.