Played this game since I play most worthwhile-looking games on the recent section of itch (which also includes updates for games, dk why).
I'll be honest, everything here, from the art, the theming, the music, and gameplay: works pretty well except for the pacing, it's very on-the-nose with what's going on, and while that on it's own is fine, it doesn't work as well as it should feel it would when you know Miss is doing something wrong from the very start.
This is basically a 4.7/5, and if it had extended the transition and reveal a little bit, given the player the time to realize the twist rather than being so obvious about it, it'd probably be a 4.9/5.
The last point simply being the subject matter being a little too taboo for the theme, it doesn't really feel right for the game to tackle this range of topics so closely interspersed with kawaii imagery, it's something that can be mitigated but not solved, just the nature of the game.
The very last thing, a nitpick: Trigger warnings.
I understand why they're here, I understand why they exist and what they're used for, I completely understand where the game is coming from.
But it just really spoils the twist from the very start, for example: DDLC, a game with the similar twist of "Kawaii game turns wuh-oh", didn't have that, because it would spoil the fun of being surprised.
Still, definitely a worthwhile play.
Pretty good work on display.
4.7/5
Best of luck, cheers!
Viewing post in Miss Inconspicuous Maid Cleaning Co.! comments
Thank you for the feedback!!
I completely agree that it's pretty obvious that Miss isn't doing very legal stuff, but that was sort of the point. Like you, I thought that the twist was SUPER obvious, but I think part of the game is waiting for what the twist was, not the fact that there was one (although I was surprised at the amount of people who didn't expect it). The fact that there was blood, that Miss slips something into her pocket (Ellie's too easily distracted to notice what it was though LOL), that there's a cedar door because cedar represents incorruptibility (hence why when Ellie goes through it she is "corrupted"), that an ivy gate was mentioned because ivy represents immortality ("corruption is immortal"), all those little easter eggs build up to the question of why. The game was a bit rushed though, as we only had <48 hours to develop the game since we spent 24+ thinking of an idea :') I think in the initial idea, you find out that you're cleaning up crime scenes in the 2nd minigame, but I don't think Ellie is that dense to fix a broken jewelry case at 2 AM and think everything is fine.
I did also think the subject was a bit taboo. However, playing through like 30-40 other submissions, I didn't find a single one that mentioned the same thing. This game wasn't meant to "solve" anything at all; simply point it out, and show underlying issues within corruption (there is pretty much no way to get rid of it, so why do people try? And how do we try?). I think Miss and Ellies' character designs sort of show it. Like I wrote in a different comment, they are both horrendously hypocritical. I, as their writer, would not want to be friends with them (or maybe I'd be friends with Miss because she's rich).
Miss's job and drive to "save the world" has taken a toll on her to the point where she doesn't even know what she's doing anymore, she's just doing it to have the illusion that she has an impact on the world. And, for all we know, Ellie is only the 2nd person she's taken on ("she took my eye and you took my heart"), so Miss will probably break soon.
Ellie is just... stupid and naive. She thinks the death penalty shouldn't be a thing, but then turns it around when she's dying ("No one should go through this. Except you.").
Regarding trigger warnings, I do agree that they can definitely spoil the story. However, they're something that we as a team take great care of, since we know firsthand how badly lack of TWs can be. DDLC did also have a warning that the game wasn't for the faint-hearted, and it's pretty well-known that it has a twist but doesn't take much away from the experience (in my opinion). The fact that this game is marketed as "horror" is already a giveaway, to be honest :')
Thanks again for taking the time to review MIMCO!! I'm glad you found the game a worthwhile play <3