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Adventure Jam 2023

Hosted by Cassie Benter, Stacy Davidson, Cheeseness · #AdvJam2023

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A jam submission

Office of the ReturnedView game page

A game made for Adventure Jam 2023

Submitted by durinde (@durindeplays) — 12 hours, 14 minutes before the deadline

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Office of the Returned's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Emotional Engagement	#53	2.923	2.923
Characterization	#57	3.308	3.308
Overall	#89	3.013	3.013
Overall	#97	3.000	3.000
Mental Engagement	#97	2.615	2.615
Atmosphere	#98	3.385	3.385
Lasting Impression	#103	2.846	2.846

Ranked from 13 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

JavierSubmitted307 days ago(+1)

I loved the art and the story!! I was really sad that the game ended when I used the car keys with the car that I tried that several times to see if I could progress a little more. Congratulations, this game has a lot of potential, and the biggest step you have already done which is putting things together and make them work.

I would recommend a less sad music, since this is an adventure and you want some suspense and adventurous spirit going on. Also, some additional music for the cutscene from the start of the game would give the right mood to the player.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience from what you got. Thanks for the submission! I'll keep close to see the progress, I'm interested in this :-)

Submitted

Dark Light (Game Jam)

durindeDeveloper307 days ago

Thanks for the feedback! Did the game crash after you used the car keys, or were you just confused on what to do next when it brought you back to the office after using the car keys on the car? The game shouldn't dead end you like that so I'm curious as if I need to bump up the signposting in this section for future releases.

JavierSubmitted307 days ago

Yeah, it just took me back to the office when I used the key on the car. Didn't crash, so I tried over and over again until I understood that was my price to pay as a zombie office guy :-P

durindeDeveloper307 days ago

Ok, looks like a signposting issue or you may not have been able to spot all available hotspots due to a design error on my part. Here are a few hints for progression. I'm not sure what you have or haven't done so I'll be general. I'm greatly expanding this part of the game so I don't mind giving away spoilers for this "proof of concept" version. Hope add a "to do list" function in later builds. I've already expanded the hotspots to make things easier for players to find, but to be fair we have to stick with the released Jam build for now.

With so many games on the Jam, I understand if you don't want to go back and finish things up, but on the off chance you do:

You need to confirm the identity of the returned of the graveyard, if you haven't done that, you'll have to go north from the carpark. The answer lies further into the graveyard. I messed up a little on the location of the hotspots in relation to where the inventory box drops down so it may be a little tricky to hit. Same issue with interacting with the graves.

If you have confirmed her identity, you need to talk to her. Her actions give you a hint about what to do next.

She seems to be focused on music. Perhaps there's some sort of portable music device back in the office building that might snap her out of her stupor.

Thanks the feedback either way! Hope to release a more complete demo over the next couple of months, and then begin working on a full, multi-hour experience after that.

JavierSubmitted307 days ago

Yayyy! I made it, yeah! Agree, the inventory is a bit confusing. I didn't realize I could go further north in the parking lot screen. It all makes sense now!

Also, I thought the parking lot was outside the office. But no, it is a different spot. That I didn't understand very well sorry.

Anyway, thanks for the reply, I did beat the game now hehe. Good stuff, congratulations again, it is a nice submission!

KrokantSubmitted307 days ago(+1)

When I looked at the screenshots, I wasn't expecting a point&click adventure. Nice! The premise (working zombie) and the music made the game seem a bit like "Zombie Society: Dead Detective" on. Not a bad thing. (Personally I would prefer another song though. Have heard this one a bit too often.)

A few things that stood out to me: The transition from the office to the cemetery car park felt a bit abrupt. But maybe I just missed a line of dialogue/text. The exit of the cemetery could use a bigger hotspot. Had to search for it a bit. And the walking speed is really slow.

It's quite short, but an interesting introduction to this world. The dialogue is great. I especially liked the realisation that you could have used your smartphone. ^^

A very entertaining teaser. Looking forward to more :)

Submitted

MostlyDecentGamesSubmitted307 days ago(+1)

Great game, I like the RPG/Point&Click hybrid style, and playing as a zombie with a job is a fun concept. My one gripe would be the character walks a bit too slow, but that’s just a very minor thing, and it was good fun overall.

Submitted

The Alignment Paradox

ARDSKAPESubmitted308 days ago(+1)

Ok, a bit desperate (due the office), but interesting lore. So, it's a pilot/teaser to the game series? Anyway, the base is set, I'd love to see where the actual story is going. You've got the mood.

Submitted

durindeDeveloper308 days ago(+1)

Thanks, yes I'm building an more expansive version of the game now that the jam is over. Thank you for your review and rating.

Steven DonSubmitted316 days ago(+1)

Quite the intriguing concept. The grave markers were a bit too high up to reach them comfortably without triggering the inventory.

Submitted

a Royal Midnight Snack

Marco GiorginiSubmitted325 days ago(+1)

Nice. It's just a small piece of a bigger game I guess - but it's nice and well done. Not a fan of RPG Maker but this point-n-click UI is good.

Got some problems with graveyards hotspot - but I could use them anyway so that's not a real problem

Submitted

Twisted Times in Twinsmouth

hankworxSubmitted326 days ago(+1)

Funny and fun premise. Interesting submission! I'd be pretty intrigued to see where else this project could go. The voice acting and dialog are great. I especially liked the line "You should be a human in order to go to HR."

It'd be nice if the dialog boxes continued when the voice overs ended, instead of requiring a mouse click. Also I believe the tutorial after the intro had the instructions backwards? I noticed a slight inconsistency in the item descriptions, the TV says '2 years' but interacting in the MC's office says '5 years.' I also had a bit of a tough time finding the hotspots in the cemetery due to the inventory and I seemed to have a hard time finding the 'return to parking lot' spot. As some others said, the movement speed feels a little sluggish, but I did enjoy the simple wiggling during the walking animation.

Submitted

The Enigma of Mr. X

durindeDeveloper326 days ago

Thanks for the extensive feedback! I'm going to be working on an extended version over the next few weeks which should hopefully address many of these issues.

SurffingBirdSubmitted327 days ago(+1)

Really compelling story. Liked the pixel-art too! The dialogue and voice acting were fantastic. Excellent job!

Submitted

SpaceshipWrecked

SadeqSubmitted328 days ago(+1)

I loved the concept, if you complete this it would be really interesting. Good job!

Submitted

Raw Egg DevelopmentSubmitted329 days ago(+1)

Nice concept, loved the voice acting. I wish the character movement was faster, walking across the room felt way too long.

Not a big deal or anything, but you could totally put those different folders for linux/windows into different download files. Also, the windows folder has a zipped copy of the game inside of it.

Submitted

Doctor Eisenbarth: Traveling Physician

Gugames.euSubmitted329 days ago(+1)

Very nice premise, I can see this concept being the base of a full interesting game, with both chances of serious and humorous developments.

The pacing was a bit too slow (mostly due to the character speed) and I had a hard time reaching the cemetery hotspot because it kept being hidden by the inventory, but apart from that it was a nice experience.

Submitted

No Rest for the Wicked

JOS87Submitted330 days ago(+1)

Nice voice acting and a pretty cool concept, I enjoyed myself!

Submitted

ZenoSubmitted333 days ago(+1)

I got to the part where I have to search for the returned’s graveyard, but I don’t know how to proceed.

It’s a good game overall, it’s just that the music felt a bit too repetitive.

Submitted

durindeDeveloper333 days ago

Follow the path north to the main graveyard and examine the graves. The hotspot is a little tricky since show up just before your inventory would pop up at the top of the screen (you have to click on the grass in front of the graves instead of the gravestones)