Let me begin by saying this game does seem like a first-time project by someone new to RPG Maker. Therefore, the game uses a lot of out-of-the-box settings and graphics. Having said that, this game has many novel ideas! And it’s an education game about fire safety! Very unique. I especially liked how you can get punished by asking the boy to help you on the job. XD
Here’s a simple breakdown:
PROS
- It’s an education game that teaches fire safety! I do think it’s probably the first RPG Maker game of this kind.
- Some very unique ideas. Such as you can choose different ways of leveling up every night by choosing what kind of food to eat for dinner.
- It’s a relatively easy game that you can go through in about an hour with a little grinding.
CONS
- A beginner project which uses mostly default graphics and settings.
- A little rough with some minor bugs and errors, but nothing game breaking.
- Battle is very basic and straightforward, which is actually a PRO if the gamer is younger.
SOME FIXES
- The beginning tutorial part should probably be more guided with Autorun events as there’s a good chance players might miss some critical event.
- Minerva’s dialogue in fire station that wasn’t translated, even with dictionary.
- Duplicate items (letters, etc.) if you keep talking to quest giver. You can use a Has Item or switch conditional to prevent this.
- The dirty dishes graphic doesn’t have a transparent background
- After getting easy mode Juha (which is a nice feature btw), Juha shouldn’t appear in the fire station anymore.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MAKING RPG MAKER GAMES FOR KIDS
You mentioned that originally you planned to make this game for your 4-year-old godson. I think there’s a few things you can do in RPG Maker to make games more toddler friendly. One, make more use of Play SE. You can play silly sound effects when the character interacts with certain things. Also, instead of displaying text dialogue you can play voice recorded dialogues by you and other family members. While we adults roll our eyes at amateur voice acting, I must say toddlers get a kick out of hearing familiar voices. I’m sure he’ll love hearing your voice act out the lines. The other thing is instead of using the battle system, perhaps you could design the battles like mini games where the player can put out fires on the screen using point and click. Maybe have them match colors or letters to make it more challenging. RPG Maker even works with a touch screen if you have one of those installed. And make more use of the Play Animation on screen to make some funny animations/hidden easter eggs for kids to discover. It can be more interactive storybook like perhaps.
Anyways, just some of my suggestions. Right now the game is quite appropriate for kids a little older. Congratulations on making a kid friendly game!