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A jam submission

Oh My HeartView game page

Entry for SA Game Jam 2020 (48 Hour - Hobbyist Category)
Submitted by David Night (@iamDavidNight) โ€” 1 day, 5 hours before the deadline
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Oh My Heart's itch.io page

Names and Email Addresses of Team Members
David Night (Art / Code / Music-Sound Integration / Story)
iamdavidnight@gmail.com

Categories Your Team is Eligible for
Hobbyist / Best Narrative / Best Audio / Best Art / Overall Winner

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Comments

Submitted

Great colours and music! 

(+1)

Really enjoyed this one, nice work David :) 

Narrative was compelling, loved the colours and animating background effects. Choice of music and sounds paired up well with the game. Controls felt good and responsive, although it did take me a surprising amount of coordination to use the mouse and keyboard effectively haha.

My only critique would be that I did find the chase after learning to wall jump a bit too unforgiving and got stuck there a few times, would have been happy to respawn at the last door/checkpoint.

For a one man game jam effort, great job!

Submitted(+1)

I tried. I really did. I struggled a lot with the wall jumping but then sort of got it but the mouse requirement made it impossible for me to finish the game because I'm a keyboard player and I just couldn't do the final section. I would have preferred that you had to jump and touch the mouse points, rather than need a third hand to linger on them. My sense of frustration was immense and I'm disappointed that I couldn't get to the end.

I really liked the idea of the game - the story and the use of colour, plus the music was well chosen. I also though the struggle mechanic fitted in really well.

Submitted(+2)

Nicely done! There's so much attention to detail in all the effects and animations along the way. I can see a ton of effort has gone into this and I can't say I have any complaints, it's a really well created package.

Developer(+1)

Thanks! Please add on or create a new game with your duck character! It's was really fun running around. I was kinda hoping to find a cave to explore.

Like I've never played as a duck in a game so I feel like you have a unique character there. 

Submitted(+1)

Your command of particle systems is amazing...The rain hitting surfaces, the mouse over "Door Knob things", the dust at your feet...it's all wonderful.  The game also gave me all the feels.  Loved the color pallet changes on the different levels and the sound design was very fitting (whispers are nasty!!).  I did not like the wall jumping mechanic used.  It felt clunky and unresponsive.  Sometimes I wanted to change direction, but would just double jump on the same wall and then slide down again, but it's really just a  nitpicky comment.  The game and premise was lovely and I really enjoyed this.  The comeback mechanic was great too.  Well done!!!

Developer

Shots FanieG! I enjoyed your game too. Felt like I was on a bit of a trip.๐Ÿ˜‚

Host(+1)

Hi! Just a reminder of this rule: " To be eligible to win any of the prizes, your team has to play and give feedback to five other entries by Monday, 5th October 2020".

So if you haven't done it yet, you still have the rest of this weekend and Monday to give your feedback!

Developer

Thanks for the reminder. I have given feedback to everyone's games!

Submitted(+1)

Nice!๐Ÿ˜ฎ amazing game that really manages to tell a gripping emotional story! The wall jump is a bit fiddly and hard to get to work right for me. But your game feel and sound design is pretty spot on for a 48 hr jam! I grew attached to my little rectangle.

Developer

Thanks dude! The wall jumping seems to erk a few people. ๐Ÿ˜… Digged your game too!

Could see if becoming a cool tower defence kinda of game.

Submitted(+1)

Well, dang! This is one of the best ones I've played! The platforming mechanics were all the mechanics I tried to achieve but better and more! The fact that you were able to make a complete story that tackles such serious issues with good gameplay in three days is amazing! Well done!

Submitted(+1)

Very atmospheric! I got a strong "Thomas is Alone" vibe (but I guess that could be said of any rectangle-jumping game, heh)

It's very hard to get an audience to connect emotionally with a simple shape, but this game achieves that!

I will say that I struggled a little with the platforming aspect, especially having to control everything with the left hand. When playing a platformer I prefer to have all the controls on the keyboard, instead of spreading them between mouse and keyboard, which I personally find cumbersome. Seeing as the only mouse control was to hover over the diamond to unlock the door, I feel like this could easily be achieved, but that's just my 2c, not all will agree with me there.

Overall, a solid entry with a touching story. The color shifting and cinematic bits were all spot on! Well done!

Developer

Thanks Miltage! Really digged you game.

It felt like it was the only fully complete game.

Not sure how to describe it.. like we all kinda of made prototypes where your feels like you could drop it into an arcade machine and start making penny's. ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ

Submitted(+1)

Super-cool. I really like the aesthetic in this, particularly the black & white bits. 

Like others have said, there's a lot of polish and good feel to this. What stood out most for me was the sound design. Hovering over those doors and hearing that charging sound is energising and quite empoweing, which is a stark contrast to how the avatar is feeling. The subtle whispers / voices also add a lot imo.

Loved the struggle mechanic, felt super original and right in line with the overall jam theme and theme for this game.

Speaking of theme, I personally feel that depression is a really difficult topic to explore creatively. There's lots of risk in sharing one's own experience, being sensitive the the expeirence of others. Really admire your courage to explore it.

Wicked jam.

Developer

Thanks Ashashza! Really enjoyed your game too.

Played it a bit more and got to see your comeback mechanic. Clever use of the theme. I feel like you were on point. ๐Ÿ‘

Submitted(+1)

Loved this, you really taught me some things about connecting emotionally with the player. A lot of feel packed into a really small package. The gaining self-love kind of theme was really great and reminded me a lot of scott pilgrim vs the world which was also super cool!!

On the gameplay front I struggled a bit. I found it very challenging, frustratingly challenging, but I'm not much of a platformer guy. I did appreciate that the respawn points didn't set me too far back but ultimately I couldn't finish it.... Until I loaded it up again and tried again cuz it was so damn cool!@!

The comeback mechanic was great but the timing of dying in the pit felt random which added to the frustration of how challenging it was for me. Maybe a progress slider or a sinking effect to show the player how close he is to dying when he falls in the doom pits and is struggling to escape.

Submitted(+1)

Wow wow wow wow wow. Such polish, so much juice, all them feelings. Well fucking done! 

I would describe this as Thomas Was Alone meets Super Meat Boy. The visuals nd particle effects and narrative and sound effects and music and level design all come together so beautifully. The one thing I must criticize as game design teacher, is the controls. For most purposes arrow keys and spacebar worked fine but you cannot complete the last section without an extra hand for the mouse. The only way I could complete was to switch to WASD and mouse for jump and have my boyfriend play :D

I would personally change it so that JUMP is on W and ARROW UP to not have to stretch my hand and brain that much while PANICKING because of all that exciting ATMOSPHERE! As you can see, I still have not recovered. This gonna win something.

Submitted(+1)

I remember a talk by someone once who said that you should always try to make the player feel the same as the character they are using. I could feel that a lot of the time. Your lighting and story added, and the sound design felt on point.

I'd be super interested to see how far you could take it and what you would change (graphics-wise) with more time...

Nice!

(+1)

What an awesome game! Loved playing it. The game was pretty hard, but not too hard, a really good challenge, which I love in a platformer. Love the gameplay mechanics, especially the struggle mechanic, bringing yourself back from the brink of death is awesome. 

Cool background story too. It's very difficult to address emotional issues like depression/grief in a game and I think you did it very well.

Congrats Dave!

Submitted(+2)

Seriously enjoyed this, well done!

Love how the gameplay and the transforming environment reflects the story beats. Like deeper, honest themes,. Very human and relatable. Know how difficult it can be to pour your heart out in a creative work.

Also, very nice sound design :)

You managed to pack a lot of potency into a small package, which means you judged your scope accurately.  I was very ambitious with my entry and my story suffered quite a bit for it. 

The game turned out to be quite challenging in terms of gameplay.  Liked the 'struggle ' mechanic. 

Some critical points:

Some puzzles are actually easier using the 'struggle' jump instead of actually facing the puzzle (the teleporting platform in my case). 

Also, the game has a real sudden rise in challenge (where hands really start chasing you).  Couldn't finish it, which was a bit disappointing as I really wanted to see the conclusion of the story. That being said, I've always been terrible at platformers lol! 

All in all,  very polished and captivating game. 

P.S. Sick intro :)