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A jam submission

What The HoleView game page

Recover your memories from the past 24 hours while trying to figure out what happened
Submitted by Mastro2k, IvanDbeltran, EpicJellyfish7, ChezForShire (@chezforshire) — 1 hour, 27 minutes before the deadline
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What The Hole's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Audio#2373.5003.500
Theme#6323.2243.224
Overall#6633.0783.078
Graphics#7233.1213.121
Innovation#7262.9312.931
Game Design#7582.9662.966
Fun#8732.7242.724

Ranked from 58 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

In what way does your game fit the theme?
You have to recover your last 24 hours of memory in the past (rewind the past) and rewind the black holes coming into the scene.

Did you write most of the code yourself and made all the assets from scratch?
Yes, 100% of the code was written from scratch EXCEPT the path finding code.

All the art is custom except the wall around the factory and the blackholes themselves

100% of the sound and music is from scratch

100% of the writing is from scratch.

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Comments

Viewing comments 49 to 30 of 49 · Next page · Last page
Submitted

We proudly present a new Netflix production: What The Hole. The story would fit into a dark ambient science fiction series. The collection of the memory images was a cool element in your game. The graphics of those images had the right characteristic dark mood style. Displaying the names above of the characters was very helpful. Adding the current mission to the UI was a very good decision since it would be caused frustration to find the correct npc's. I believe a pixel art environment would have pushed this game ambient much further. Maybe its an option in the future? 😉

Well done working out this title! 🎆

Developer

Thanks for your feedback! you got to play it after I was able to make the updates it seems! 

Submitted

Hey we love these sorts of games! We made a mystery dialogue game too but we are set in the apocalypse. I got to stage 4 of your game with the light and wires... Martha and Dan the deputy keep telling me to go into the plant. I'm so there, and it looks like i should be able to pick up the red device on  the table but I can't seem to figure it out? I've wandered around th edges and talked to all the NPCs again... not sure how to unlock it.
Love that you were as ambitious as us! How hard are the colisions with the NPCs. We managed to fix the bugs(so we don't walk through them) but we can't impliment till the jams over :) Great game, wish I could have completed it and I do like the music :) 

Developer

Haha, yes lots of dialogue trees and yes they are along the same lines, so nice to see someone else do a story adventure. For that last stage you had to talk to Martha and Dan again. We added a quest tracker and minimap for the next version so people know what to do next.  I'd like to know what tool you used for the dialogue tree. Did you use Dialogue System or something else?

Submitted

Ah yeah a minimap and a quest tracker would be very helpful. We ended up building our own dialogue system just with a sequence of JSON files. It took us a bit of time to get that part going because we implemented the flow ourselves. Would be interested in looking into using some kind of pre built system in the future.

Developer

I found Yard Spinner for dialogs now, it works with Unity.  Check it out: https://yarnspinner.dev/

Developer (1 edit)

Add me on Discord, I was looking for you in Brackeys. @Mastro2k

Submitted

You took on a huge challenge trying to finish a mystery game like this in seven days. What you have managed to complete is very impressive. The audio is a really standout feature for me in terms of creating a spooky ambience. I really think the visuals could be amped up a bit to match the effective audio. A simple vignette, or fog, or some shadows would really lend themselves to the mood. I'm sure you see this yourself, but the order in layer needs to be dynamic, based on the y-value of the object's base, so that the player renders in front of the object at certain values and behind it at others. I hope you continue developing your game, because there really is a lot of potential here.

Developer

Thank you! It was quite an undertaking but we're really proud of what we created and we're working to polish up all the rough areas.

Developer

Took your feedback and added post-processing and fixed some of the layer issues. Not expecting you to play it again, but If you want to see the difference, check it out.

Version 1.21

New Features:
-Player can now run holding shift
-Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map
-Mini-Map has been added
-Quest Tracker has been added
-Added Post-Processing Effects

Bugs Fixed:
-Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed
-Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses.
-Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk
-Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing
-Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape

Submitted

I really liked the game and would've loved to play it full. But, sadly I didn't know what to do and it was confusing as to where to go and all. Maybe add a objectives panel to let players know what the should do? I really like the concept where you're trying to recover your memory. Everything was thought out well and I loved the dialogues with NPCs. The audio made me instantly realize this was a mystery game XD. 

Pretty Cool Game.

Developer

Thanks for that feedback. We incorporated changes when the ratings are over to provide more info, a quest tracker and a minimap!

Developer

Not expecting you to play it again, but I did incorporate the feedback in the latest version, incase you wanted to finish it.

Version 1.21

New Features: 

  • -Player can now run holding shift
  • -Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map 
  • -Mini-Map has been added 
  • -Quest Tracker has been added 
  • -Added Post-Processing Effects

Bugs Fixed: 

  • -Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed 
  • -Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses. 
  • -Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk 
  • -Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing 
  • -Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape
Submitted

I really enjoyed this game! I love the story and the art and the sound, very impressive for a week. Like most others, I did get lost a lot and didn't know what I was doing but I'm pleased to hear you're adding a mini-map and quest tracker because despite being lost, I still wanted to keep playing! Looking forward to the post-jam updates :)

Developer

Awe thanks for your input! Yes next version will make it easier to follow the main story line! Rated your game as well, great job.

Developer

Not expecting you to play it again, but I did incorporate the feedback in the latest version, incase you wanted to finish it.

Version 1.21

New Features: 

  • Player can now run holding shift
  • Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map 
  • Mini-Map has been added 
  • Quest Tracker has been added 
  • Added Post-Processing Effects

Bugs Fixed: 

  • Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed 
  • Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses. 
  • Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk 
  • Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing 
  • Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape
Submitted

It is clear that a lot of effort went into making this game: there is a story, there are many unique characters with dialogue and the sound are put there with care. I feel like what it lacks is the final polish: the rendering order appear to be fixed, so that you are always in front or behind a sprite, and it makes for some awkward visuals sometimes. Also, there seems to be gaps in the tilemap, so I think you should try using a pixel perfect camera

Developer

Thanks for that input and yes I discovered the pixel perfect camera along the way. Then figured out it was the tiles themselves!! threw me down a path I couldn't come back from in time before the deadline haha. We've added a mini-map and quest tracker for the next update too.

Developer

Not expecting you to play it again, but I did incorporate the feedback in the latest version, incase you wanted to finish it.

Version 1.21

New Features: 

  • Player can now run holding shift
  • Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map 
  • Mini-Map has been added 
  • Quest Tracker has been added 
  • Added Post-Processing Effects

Bugs Fixed: 

  • Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed 
  • Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses. 
  • Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk 
  • Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing 
  • Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape
Submitted

You have a few issues with hitboxes and the render order.
But other than that it is a nice game.

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! I'm working on fixing those and giving clearer direction.

Submitted

Sensible use of the theme! Loved how you created different characters for this game. The scenario and the use of colors are great! The only recommendation is to apprimorate the mechanics of the game.

Amazing job! Loved this one~

Developer

Thanks for the feedback. We plan to update the game when it opens again based on all the feedback. Rated your game as well. Great job.

Submitted

I like the idea of going back to try to recover your memory, the story was very nice and thought out. It was very original and I thought the audio was very well done.

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! Rated your game as well.

Submitted

Really liked the visuals and audio in this one! Good job doing all that from scratch.

Could you please play and rate my game too?

https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-4/rate/723414

Developer

Thanks for the feedback. I rated your game as well.

Submitted (1 edit)

Great game, the story and the audio is so well designed. But sometimes I felt lost. I don't because of the map being too big, or missing some indicators in a minimap where to go.  But great entry, nice job!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the input! Minimap and some other features coming in the next release after we're allowed to update.

Developer

Not expecting you to play it again, but I did incorporate the feedback in the latest version, incase you wanted to finish it.

Version 1.21

New Features: 

  • Player can now run holding shift
  • Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map 
  • Mini-Map has been added 
  • Quest Tracker has been added 
  • Added Post-Processing Effects
  • Made the map smaller

Bugs Fixed: 

  • Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed 
  • Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses. 
  • Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk 
  • Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing 
  • Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape
Submitted

The story is interesting, visuals and sound play well. The only problem is the map, it's a little bit tedious task to travel through it. Maybe some kind of mini-map would be great. Othere than that it a nice adventure game, congratulations!

Developer

Thanks for your feedback, mini-map and character quest log is actually coming in next release! Rated your game as well.

Developer

Not expecting you to play it again, but I did incorporate the feedback in the latest version, incase you wanted to finish it.

Version 1.21

New Features: 

  • Player can now run holding shift
  • Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map 
  • Mini-Map has been added 
  • Quest Tracker has been added 
  • Added Post-Processing Effects
  • Made the map smaller

Bugs Fixed: 

  • Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed 
  • Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses. 
  • Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk 
  • Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing 
  • Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape
Submitted

I had to put it on hold but I wanted to give you review first! I didn't closed the tab haha Nice game and I really like when it has a good story, and this one does! The art style is nice! I would like to see it with more time to work on it! Good game!

I would really appreciate your opinion on mine as well if you have a moment.

Developer

Thanks for the input. I plan to clean it up after the rating is over. I rated yours as well, it's awesome.

Submitted

The Good:

  • Story and dialogue - I like games with stories and this one definitely made the game more immersive, while supporting the theme of the jam. It was also nice that there was a lot of different dialogue that changed with the situation
  • Art and sound - good job on making everything from scratch. I especially liked the variety of characters
  • Theme - the story and the gameplay supported the theme, and it was clear the game was created for this jam

Could Improve:

  • Polish - the game didn't feel very complete to me. The collision boxes were too big, the player could appear on top of and behind different objects in a weird manner, and the movement of the characters was all over the place
  • Clarity - most of the time I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I think that adding clear objectives the player can follow (e.g. look for the truck) and making interactive objects distinguishable from everything else would've gone a long way to make the game more enjoyable
  • Map size - the map was just too big, and there was a lot of aimless walking. A big chunk of it was just unnecessary. There's a lot of things you could change to improve it:
    • Simply remove some of the map
    • Increase movement speed or add a sprint key
    • Zoom out the camera a bit

Overall:

It seems a lot of hard work was poured into this game. It was a big project, so it's understandable some parts weren't polished. It was a cool experience, but I'd recommend cutting down on the unnecessary playtime when the player is just aimlessly wandering about, trying to interact with objects that aren't interactive.

Developer

Awesome feedback thank you. I'm glad you could tell we did put a lot of work into such a simple game. 50hrs of development alone, not counting art, story and sound time.

I plan to address your concerns. I've already added for the next version, a quest task on the screen and adding a mini-map as well. The artist is working on walking sprites for all the npcs as well and I plan to address the collision objects like you pointed out. Along with your other feedback. Thank you!

Developer

Not expecting you to play it again, but I did incorporate the feedback in the latest version, incase you wanted to finish it.

Version 1.21

New Features: 

  • Player can now run holding shift
  • Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map 
  • Mini-Map has been added 
  • Quest Tracker has been added 
  • Added Post-Processing Effects
  • Made the map smaller

Bugs Fixed: 

  • Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed 
  • Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses. 
  • Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk 
  • Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing 
  • Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape
Submitted

I played it, managed to get to the end with ease this time without any walk-throughs. The game feels a lot better to play now, although felt a lot shorter too, simply because a lot of the inflated play time was removed (which is good).

However, the game is still not absent of issues. For example, the player can't walk up in front of objects. Try walking towards a lamp post from below. Realistically, the player should be able to walk really close to the lamp post, and obstruct some of its view. However, right now the player can't walk up as soon as their head touches the lamp sprite. 

The problem is that, unlike other objects, the player's collider covers their entire body, when it should only cover a part of their legs. This is tricky to solve because you'd need to change the player's sprite render order dynamically, so you might want to leave it be if you do not plan to expand this project.

I also found a bug where the player is still rendered in front of people when behind them. There are also some areas still lacking polish, such as UI scaling, being able to play during an event (when you get an image displayed on your screen), and sound of text playing when you skip the dialogue.

Developer

Thanks for that feedback and for trying it out again! I might look into tweaking that collision! Much appreciated!

Submitted

Nice entry,

I was very lost at first and kind of frustrated since I dint know what to do. I think the game needs a simpler explanation at the begining before throwing the player into the large map. Keeping the player at the begining is very important.

Congrats on the entry. 

Rem 

Developer

Yeah thanks for that feedback. I've already added a quest task and adding a mini-map now for the next version. Appreciate you playing my game and welcome the feedback.

Developer

Not expecting you to play it again, but I did incorporate the feedback in the latest version, incase you wanted to finish it.

Version 1.21

New Features: 

  • Player can now run holding shift
  • Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map 
  • Mini-Map has been added 
  • Quest Tracker has been added 
  • Added Post-Processing Effects
  • Made the map smaller

Bugs Fixed: 

  • Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed 
  • Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses. 
  • Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk 
  • Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing 
  • Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape
Submitted

Great game, it was addictive and had a nice story. Some collisions were a bit weird and at the beginning I was a bit lost (maybe just my fault lol) but overall really good! Would be nice if you could rate mine :)

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback. I plan to fix those. Your game was fun too, I think you did the best with the theme.

Submitted

Thanks!

Submitted

Nice Game :)

Submitted

The idea is nice I think it can be improved, I notice some little issue: Tiles didn't match perfectly and also you didn't show in from on back the object. you can work on the Y position and the positionlayer to show this in a good way.. 

Developer

Thanks for the feedback. I'm working on trying to fix this for the next update. That middle picture looks hilarious when you take a screen shot like that lol.  I'm going to try what you said. Thank you.

Developer

Not expecting you to play it again, but I did incorporate the feedback in the latest version, incase you wanted to finish it.

Version 1.21

New Features: 

  • Player can now run holding shift
  • Camera has been zoomed out a bit to see more of the map 
  • Mini-Map has been added 
  • Quest Tracker has been added 
  • Added Post-Processing Effects
  • Made the map smaller

Bugs Fixed: 

  • Sidewalk and street tile edges have been fixed 
  • Better collision layer, so player walks behind poles, trees, and houses. 
  • Player now facing the correct direction when stopping, and stopping to talk 
  • Device particles now come out form the direction based on which way the player is facing 
  • Fixed Victory Screen and talking to the Tape
Submitted

Now I see that the quality has improved and you have polished it a lot.

I didn't play all the game but I can give you a more couple of suggestions.

The you go to the left you see the black border.. I suggest to put a limit on the camera movements.. when you go near the border the player moves but the camera stops and you cannot see the borders.. (similar you can do when you go  down).


For the rest I think if you animate a little bit the other player will improve it .. also you can add a little shadow to the player (you can add a spriet with negative scale Y and a color black with low alpha )..

Developer

Thanks for that feedback and for trying it out again! I might look into those things! The shadow sprite is a good idea! Simple.

Submitted

Loved the aesthetic of your game. But the speed of NPC dialogues could have been increased. Also the collision was a bit odd. Overall , nice game

Checkout my game at https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-4/rate/724912 . I would love your feedback.

Developer

Thanks for the feedback. I plan to make those improvements. Rated your game as well, nice job.

Submitted

great job, the mistery keep me playing. but the collision is kind odd.

Developer

Thanks for the input. Yes, I ran out of time to make sure the ending had a victory screen :p I have it ready to go. I plan to do an update and clear up the objectives. 

Viewing comments 49 to 30 of 49 · Next page · Last page