itch.io

Hi! I honestly don't know how to describe how excited I was when I read your comment.

Your interpretation didn't just match what I was trying to do—it actually went beyond what I could have put into words myself.

The biggest creative risk I took in this jam was asking a simple question: how long would someone be willing to stay inside what appears to be a cheap, fully automated AI-generated Flappy Bird clone? I deliberately filled the game with details that look superficially believable from a distance, yet become increasingly strange the more attention you give them.

What made me so happy wasn't just that you noticed those details, but that you started connecting them together, inferring the author's intent, and reconstructing the larger narrative behind them. Reading your thought process felt surreal because... yes, your conclusions are essentially correct.

The opening screen really is carrying the weight of a much larger story. It's effectively "Chapter 0" of a ten-chapter narrative, so it had to be both satirical on its own and quietly consistent with everything that comes later.

I genuinely hope you'll continue through the rest of the game someday. It's much closer to a story-driven visual novel than a traditional arcade game, and many of the things you noticed on the screen become meaningful again later. Meeting someone willing to spend this much time understanding why each design choice exists honestly feels like finding a kindred spirit.

One thing that amazed me is that I don't think I ever explained the design philosophy behind the leaderboard anywhere. Everything you wrote came purely from your own observations, and some of your descriptions were honestly clearer than anything I could have written myself.

To me, your comment has become one of the most meaningful gifts I received from this entire Game Jam. Thank you for taking the time to truly look at the game instead of only playing it.

And thank you as well for the incredibly detailed bug report—especially for including the window heights and testing it multiple times.

I tried reproducing it with a browser viewport around 1000px tall, then compared it with 800px, but so far I haven't been able to trigger the instant 0-point death. I also checked the relevant collision and sizing logic, and I couldn't find an obvious height-dependent cause yet.

That said, I absolutely don't want to dismiss your report. Since it was completely reproducible on your setup, I've already made one improvement to the opening sequence to make the start more robust and forgiving. The bird now waits at its starting position with a gentle idle animation—no timer, no pipes, and no score begin until the player's very first click. Even if this turns out to be a different issue, I think it's simply a better experience and helps prevent players from being frustrated before the game truly begins.

If you happen to remember your browser, zoom level, screen resolution, or whether you played embedded or fullscreen, that would help me narrow it down a lot. A screenshot or short recording would also be incredibly helpful—but only if it's convenient for you.

I've already committed these improvements locally, but I'll wait until the Game Jam has officially ended before publishing the updated version, in order to respect the rules and keep the judging fair. So please keep your original rating exactly as it is—I want it to reflect the version you actually played.

Thank you again, not only for helping me improve the game, but also for understanding it so deeply. Your comment genuinely means more to me than I can properly express.