I like the leaf gathering aspect and having to manually place them into the scrapbook. I think keyboard navigation or a bookmark that jumps to specific pages within the scrapbook would be helpful, especially towards the end when there's only a couple of leaves/notes left.
The duplicate leaf issue was a problem when on the last leaf, as you need to get the correct type in addition to a new colour for the scrapbook. I grew frustrated when attempting to find a chestnut leaf, and upon doing so, learned that I already have that specific colour and having to find another leaf. A potential improvement to mitigate duplicates is to include more colour variations than are actually necessary for scrapbook and reduce the frequency completed leaves are given. This is so that even when there's one space left for a leaf type, there's still a decent chance of getting a new leaf colour.
For example:
- currently, there's exactly 8 leaves for the scrapbook's 8 spaces. When you get to the last space for that leaf type, you have a 1-in-8 chance of getting a new colour. Factor in getting the correct leaf type (there are 8 types; the notes seem to remove themselves from the pool once all are found), then the chance of getting a new colour for the correct leaf type is 1-in-64 or 1-in-64 kicked trees
- if you have 12 potential leaves for the scrapbook's 8 spaces, then on the final space, you will have a 5-in-12 chance of getting a new colour. Factor in leaf types, then getting a new colour of the correct leaf type is 5-in-96 or about 1-in-20 kicked trees
The overall difference doesn't appear much, but it goes from having to kick 64 trees to find the last leaf to only kicking 20 trees.
I like the near circular nature of the forest layout. It made it easier to cycle between trees and leaf piles. The unique points of interest like the dead end with the red trees, and the small island by the river made me want to explore more of this forest.
The artstyle and music were very good.
A leisurely game about filling out your scrapbook during an autumn walk.
Edit: corrected 1-in-66 to 1-in-64 kicked trees. Not sure why I wrote 66