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A jam submission

Mannequin of TimeView game page

A puzzle adventure game with an unusual ability!
Submitted by Accatosh — 10 hours, 55 minutes before the deadline
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Mannequin of Time's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Mental Engagement#14.5204.520
Overall#104.0404.040
Overall#153.7333.733
Lasting Impression#233.6803.680
Atmosphere#433.8803.880
Emotional Engagement#443.0003.000
Characterization#603.2803.280

Ranked from 25 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

Quite a clever game, with rather more story than I would have expected from a platform puzzler.

Developer(+1)

Thank you!

Submitted(+1)

The cover art doesn't do justice to this game. I wasn't expecting this amount of polish. The controls are snappy and the puzzles are very well designed. The concept of the mannequin is fantastic and allows many creative puzzles. Would have been nice to continue dialogue with keyboard though. The story about where greed leads to is a classic and works great in the game. Amazing job!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for your kind feedback! I am not very experienced at creating cover arts,  and should have put more time on it haha.

Submitted(+1)

Ah, the controls, my old nemesis - we meet again.



My biggest struggle with this game were actually the controls. They're very responsive, but the key mapping kept throwing me off. I don't know why, but using WASD for movement and spacebar for jumping never clicks for me. And I really missed a key to progress the dialogue. Other than that, absolutely no complaints.

Such a fun game! Really polished. It's obvious that a lot of thought went into it. The puzzles are fun, the learning curve is nice. It never gets fiendishly difficult, but it's not mind-numbingly boring either. Having the mannequin is a clever mechanic and it's fun to play around with. I love that it's climbable. Graphics look great and the music is fitting. The story may not be something to write home about, but that's exactly what I want from this kind of game. It sets the mood perfectly without overstaying its welcome.
Oh, and I was amused by the enemy you-know-where. :)

Overall, a really well-designed game. Fun!

Developer

I appreciate your feedback! I fully agree that the controls could have been better, but I am glad that you had fun! I have added your game to my playlist.

Submitted(+1)

This is a very nice puzzle platformer that feels great to play. The recording mechanic reminds me of The Talos Principle, but with a couple of differences including the short time limit. Overall great fun and I could see it as a full length game.

Developer(+1)

Thank you! I actually did not know about The Talos Principle. What a coincidence about the similar mechanics haha! It looks like a great game. Anyway, I have added your game to my playlist. Looking forward to playing it!

Submitted(+1)

Thanks! Talos Principle is definitely worth a play.

Submitted(+1)

I loved this game, but i really struggled with the controls, but that's just my ability or lack there of.  The story is well made and the introduction of the mechanics feels timely.  Congratulation on making such a cool game.

Developer(+1)

Thank you very much for your kind words! Creating good controls is really difficult haha. I am glad that you liked it anyway

Submitted(+1)

Finally, I had time to test this game and I'd say that I'm pretty impressed. Maybe the story and theme are not really deep or multi-dimensional here but overall gameplay and puzzle design is awesome. Artstyle and story are really consistent with the gameplay and that's what makes a polished and well-designed game.

Developer (1 edit)

Thank you! I am glad that you liked it. With my current writing skills, I do not think it is possible for me to create a good complex story haha

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I think you should've started with rec/time mechanics earlier, for it really is the most fun. Loved the puzzles and design (and the ladders!). Maybe some soft music would create a better mood and add up to fun. I'd recommend cutting the amount of text, 1-2 sentences is quite enough to get what's happening. Overall, very cool game!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing and I appreciate your feedback!

Submitted(+1)

Great game! I'm not the best at puzzle games but both the scaling in difficulty and introducing new mechanics were really smooth. I got stuck at one point with the 3 walls (stuck in between 2 walls) but was able to restart using the menu. The controls and time mechanics is solid. I think the only trouble I had was like climbing down. 

I like the overall dark thematic, the music choice was great, and I like the story progression with the previous adventurer.

Developer

I am happy that you like it! Thank you for your feedback!

Submitted(+1)

Very neat puzzles and interesting gameplay. Enemies felt a little unforgiving, but perseverance made it feel good making it through the stages. Audio and SFX work very well. I desperately wanted to use the keyboard to continue text, requiring the mouse click solely for that felt a little cumbersome. Occasionally seemed a little off using the mannequin, buggy isn't the right word for it. Like sometimes the failure/success of recording actions appropriately was hit or miss. The same recorded action that succeeded would fail occasionally. May have found a bit of a bug on the 2nd trial on the way to immortality. Sometimes the 'switch' that was on the spikes would respawn the box instead of flip the switch. Overall the 'mannequin' design was quite neat and it humored me climbing around on it. I enjoyed the immortality ending. Now you get to be here forever floating aimlessly until some poor soul wanders in. Also the enemy killing you at that last note was unforgivingly hilarious. Cool entry!

Developer (4 edits)

Thank you for your constructive feedback! It is appreciated and I am glad that you liked the game.

About the bugs, what I think are the causes: (if you are interested)

I am using timestamps to record the players action, which probably is the reason why the mannequin fails sometimes. The mannequin triggers an action too late because the difference in time between frames is too long. For example, the earlier frame has not meet the time condition, and the later frame does fulfill the condition, but too much time has already passed between the frame and thus the mannequin has already walked past the button it was intended to press.

As for the box bug, I think it is because Unity does not called the OnTriggerExit function when I change the box position with the transform component. Using the Rigidbody component to change position instead of the transform might solve the problem.

Submitted(+1)

Hmm interesting, I wonder if maybe using OnTriggerStay instead of exit might yield some different results. Or maybe you could fudge it a little, quickly move the box gradually away from the player to call the exit function, before setting the transform to the original.

Developer

Interesting suggestions! They sound like they are worth trying.

Submitted(+1)

Solid peace of game. However, I think the theme of the protagonist who starts the game with amnesia is a bit of a cliché. Additionally, I found myself trapped in a puzzle between the walls with no way to proceed - having a reset button would be helpful.

Developer

Thank you for playing!

I am sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with the story. I hope you liked the other aspects of the game.

About the reset button, there is actually one by opening the menu with M or ESC. Though, this is only mentioned in the description and I should have mentioned it inside the game.

Submitted(+1)

But don't get me wrong, I had a great time playing it. I just have a point about the use of amnesia itself. I have the impression that this is the most frequently used theme because it is the simplest way to introduce the player to the game world - to be able to explain to him where he is and who he is.

I missed this reset option, now knowing it I will definitely approach the game again =)

Developer

Thank you for the explanation! I am glad that you liked it!

Submitted(+1)

One of my favorite games from the jam so far, great job!

Developer

Thank you!
I have added your game on my playlist.

Developer

Also, could I perhaps ask you to make a browser version of your game?

Submitted(+1)

Yes I plan to do it in the next few days! :)

Developer

Thank you! I look forward to playing your game.

Submitted(+1)

Wow. Solid art theme the colors the setting and characters the animations all fit together so well and made such complete world. that clone mechanic was really something to see, i am so impressed. DM me if you ever need a secondary artist. oh, and i love the death sprite.

Developer

Thank you for your kind words!
Your game was actually on my playlist and it looks very beautiful! 

I would gladly work with you on a future game!

Submitted(+1)

This is one of the strongest new game mechanics I've experienced, not even within the Adventure Jam, but in recent memory in general. It instantly spawns ideas in my head about interesting strategies, and the game encourages experimentation without punishing the player for doing so. You've also struck the critical balance of making the puzzles difficult enough to light up the brain cells, without becoming demoralizingly difficult. Bravo. Excellent work.

I also have to say the art style is gorgeous. And kudos for the extra flourish of making the embedded HTML5 version of the game perfectly extend into the itch.io page background. Loved that! The storyline was also very fun, and I enjoyed the ending (I took the 'low road') 😨

I hope you continue with this game further, and flesh out an even bigger version. I would love to see more of the mechanic and world!

I actually recorded my playthrough. If you want to see my impressions as I played, you can see it below (timestamp for your game in the description). Hope that can be useful! 

Developer (2 edits) (+1)

Thank you very much for your positive feedback! It was very informative and entertaining to watch you play the game. Many weird bugs appeared too.

The puzzle difficulty was probably the most difficult thing to work on for my game. Although the game received playtesting, it feels like luck was also on my size regarding the difficulty of the puzzles.

Spoiler: if you want to know the other path

The eye stops you from proceeding to the surface and tells you that “you’ve made the wrong choice”. It then kills you.

I am currently unsure of whether I will continue with the game, but I will think deeply about it!

Anyway, I appreciate the feedback.

Submitted(+1)

Holy what a complete polished game. The puzzle is very hard and i loved it! First time experiencing the record ability!

Developer

Thank you, I am happy that you enjoyed it!

Submitted(+1)

The controls are smooth,  the mechanics are interesting and fun. Good job!

Developer

Thank you so much!

Submitted(+1)

Very nice, and very well thought out!

And I don't wanna repeat what people are saying, but the puzzle mechanic and the narrative are very well done!

Developer

Thank you very much!

Submitted(+1)

I know people have already chimed in about the quality of the puzzle platforming and graphics, but I think you did a good job with the narrative as well. Very fun and engrossing.

Developer

Thank you very much for your kind words! Truth be told, I was actually unsure of the quality of the story, but it seems like it was adequate.

Also, I added your game to my playlist. I am looking forward to playing it.

Submitted(+1)

wow this was such a polished game! Graphics was clear and precise.  The mechanics felt good, puzzles were interesting and just the right difficulty and twists. Although the level where you jump on top of your own recording could use a bit more introduction perhaps? Reminds me of braid but with innovation. I really liked it!

Developer

Thank you for playing! I am glad that you liked it. I will remember to introduce mechanics better in my future games.

Submitted(+1)

Amazing game! Controls are so fluid, and loved the mannequin mechanic. This game reminds me a lot to some good old gem games as "Tower of Heaven" or "Deptic1". Is there any way to get a different ending other than dying if going home or transforming into a monster?

Developer

Thank you very much! Unfortunately, there are only two endings.