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Whew! Had a moment to beat the game! There are definitely some issues jam-wise. I only figured out that some slots were exclusive at the fourth gem, so I wasted a ton of resources trying to beef up some characters with armor, only to be confused by why their slots were still empty. Also I really wanted to play lots of characters, but I felt too invested in my 5 person team after they already leveled up their skills and normal levels, so I was pretty much locked into the first random 5 characters. Also of course overwhelming amounts of skills. Since battles were a drain on resources and healing was free, I just always trekked back to the free healing spots, which wasn't very exciting. 

I did find the battles really enjoyable, and I didn't have the capacity to come up with a coherent strategy, but getting crits with my targeted skills was satisfying, as were all the buffs I could use to power up and tank up my crew. I think I was lucky with the Oldhar battle and came in with just the right abilities and items - some aoe barriers and plenty of full party heals. This pulled me through despite him one shotting many team members. 

Aside from the opening scenes and the ending ones, there wasn't much real story, but there's something just so enjoyable about the expansion into the wider RM universe, above and beyond the Haroldverse. It's almost like a cultural satisfaction to recognize these characters (and also want to get to know a few) that are probably meaningless to nearly every living human being on earth.

It's great to see the HBW storyline continue and I'm excited for what next year has in store! TBA!!!!!

The jam game that played like a real game. Somehow you blew the scope so far out of the water, it shattered the multiverse. 

I giggled gleefully when I returned to a very familiar looking world with one of my favorite battle systems (with some notable alterations). I liked the little cutscenes following the HTLM crew's lives, the soundtrack felt just right, the graphics were retro-beautiful. While I am judging for the jam based on the 45 minute limit, I fully intend on playing through the whole thing! I was able to conquer one world before my time ran out. Part of it was my own addiction to grinding. Levels + skill mastery levels are a black hole for me, and I could be found grinding skill levels on non-damaging abilities, even though I do not know if that does anything.

I don't know if you can help yourself, but I'd challenge you to make a legit 45 minute jam game, instead of these awesome games that would take the rest of us a couple of years to complete.

Wow really an excellent game all around. Also the only game that I nearly rage quit out of annoyance (plains area of course). Amazingly, the one thing this game needed was less. Just too many battles, too many rooms, too much frustrating wandering getting tricked by those dang signs. A little bit less would have made this a pretty concentrated piece of artwork. How it stands though, it is still really impressive stuff.

Alright no, I didn't stop playing like I should have. Got to play with the rest of the characters! It's amazing how many strategic variants you came up with. Reid was perhaps a little OP though with his turn one 24 damage attacks. Great story, love the character selections from the various jam games as well as the tefka-verse crossover. This one really hit on all cylinders for me. Awesome entry!

3 characters down! I can't wait to finish the game but I have work tomorrow! Harold's got some major burst damage. Dodging is for nerds! Therese is one of the coolest to play. Setting up her ultimate is really fun (and maddening when I do something stupid and miss my chance). Lucius is very sexy and straightforward. So thrilled he made an appearance! I would have loved to collab on his dialog. He did die to Therese a few times because I played right into her ultimate and just thought she was hella OP. 

More later!

Not the funnest, but it was nice to see Harold on an island at the end. Random battles were a chore, and there wasn't much to combat. Definitely needs some more time invested.

What?!

Excited to see another TTSnim entry, and this one seems to be the most polished and complete one so far, with a welcome return of virix! I liked the short and sweet story, along with the silly personalities of the crew. Gameplay was simple, but enjoyable. I did feel impatient waiting for those laser bridge things, especially in the last world. 

Lastly, I'm confused by the dark screen ending. . . we could have just gotten a return to title and it would have been fine. Did I miss something? I saw one post end comment and that was it.

Hey this was a super fun entry! Seeing a Iron Brew style Harold was awesome, and the puns made me Har-Har plenty of times and never got Har-Old. Perfect scope, punchy storyline with references that I. . . understand. 

I'll bet the part that many will have struggled with is the combat. I died twice at werehouse before I started to understand the timing. Holding the buttons was the first counterintuitive part since I'm used to just pressing the arrows. But even after I knew holding the arrows was how it worked, I wasn't sure when it technically started. Still, after I figured it out, I found it to be a fun challenge. Blocking enemy attacks is hard, but more or less required to beat the final boss, so I could see some people just giving up. Enough about combat - it was well catered to my tastes in gameplay!

 What a mental experience! One of my favorite entries thus far.

It's an entry worth a few laughs. Not the worst jam game I've played! Gigaslime was pretty tough and I was afraid of the other boss going all out, but thanks for sparing me!

Devastated that we didn't see David get his worms! How could you? 

This entry really hit the right chords from the beginning. The map sprites look great, the first person combat was impressive as well. Mechanics were straightforward, but seeing the different animations for attacks was really enjoyable. I also found myself disappointed not to be able to see how Harold would be received by the king. This is a great seed for a more developed game!

You captured the gameboy aesthetic hard, from the soundtrack to the 5 words-at-a-time resolution. It brought back memories to this old man who had one of those grey bricks. Man, I was confused by combat for about 60% of the game but I think I get it now! I think it was solid and clever and of the right scope for a jam game. 

I do think I ran into a bug in which I foraged or healed too much while fighting Eliza, and couldn't successfully trigger the switch over because she didn't stay blinded perhaps? Regardless, didn't take long to catch up. I also totally missed a cue on the statue part and got myself killed, but that's on me! The items were pretty funny. Wallmeat was my fave.

Lots of really cool visuals. A lot were off in the ways that AI messes up, but those battlers were pretty cool! I liked that neon death guy and the dragon that had its tail and head reversed. 

Combat was not super fun, and battles were way to frequent. A few scripted battles to show all the cool battlers would have sufficed, especially after I had to backtrack a bunch of times. Also the USB gag was worth a chuckle, but not 5 times man! 

This was clearly a joke entry, but it does I think provide a nice test case for AI assisted RM games. I can see someone taking development much more seriously and making a pretty unique looking game. I doubt AI can generate fun game mechanics, story, or fingers, but there are at least some things it can do pretty well.

I think I was not reading carefully since I was focused on the puzzles, which were sometimes a challenge to decipher, and as I worked through them I'd forget what was happening. Crossword made sense, but then the coordinates one I had to read a number of times.

Your constant puzzle misdirection did such weird things with my brain. I think I'm high? but I'm not sure anymore. I love what you bring with these entries!

Felt pretty pumped about the space theme, but I couldn't get the game to work well. I kept killing green ships but they wouldn't disappear and I couldn't seem to progress. Seems like it was at a very early dev stage.

The sheer weirdness of this gets comedy points from me! I was convinced that you violated the rules, but turns out you somehow skirted that line and made a cool entry! The sheer originality of this was so entertaining, though it was probably about the least Harold-y entry so far. No I reread it without doing the puzzles and it is Harold-y! I mean, that ending . . .

As a huge twin-stick shooter fan, I really enjoyed this one! It was rough not using a controller (I assume it would have prompted players if this was possible). This made me feel like I was extra clumsy, and definitely led to some extra hits from enemies, especially those jerk green bats. 

Reid was epic! I enjoyed the different phases. It was classic twin stick level boss. I'm grateful for the many chances to heal amid battle or I don't think I could have made it through. 

Bummer not to see the final cutscenes in game but what I saw was so awesome.

Nice opening cut scenes. Must have been a lot of work with all those battlers, but it was fun to watch! I used the timed attack mode and find that battle sequencing really impressive! That alone has made this worth a play. Having played through twice, it feels like a little bit of combat experimentation. Really, would have been better without the magic option since it doesn't offer much meaningful choice. Nice technical prowess with your combat though!

Impressive amount of non-sequiturs in here! Definitely could not predict one moment to the next. I unfortunately, did not find it funny. I smiled when I checked Alex's prone body and he said "oh god oh god" but I didn't really find the randomness entertaining. 

Points for creative storytelling via the interrogation room. The picture at the end was cool. The rest I can't say is my cup of tea.

Solid romp through some traditional RPG Maker style battles. Found some battle choices interesting and engaging. What did stand out was the custom art and the really good map eventing of battles. The execution of the map scenes I just found quite expertly done.

The final bosses were pretty tough! I was relieved not to have to fight all HTML at the same time, as Harold was a handful on his own.

Heartwarming to see a day in the life of Harold the school teacher. Biggest flaw to me is I'm not sure where nostalgia comes into play. It was a bit brief to have an emotional impact for a game like this. Would have loved about2-4 times the story, and perhaps a stronger arc, but I do not regret my time spent in this world. I just want to see more facets of it.

You've really mastered this Harold game glitch-horror-comedy sub-genre. It could be mistaken for a joke entry, but then the things you do using RM appear frankly impossible. The knowledge to pull off some of the weird things off in game is impressive.

The comedy didn't leave me rolling on the floor, but it did make me chuckle and then think, which is a feat for a Harold Jam rpg maker game. Always look forward to a Gensun jam game for how they push the envelope in subtle and clever ways.

Nothing brings bros together like an old fashioned beach pirate fight! What a super chill sound track and story line. I enjoyed the combat and the strategic choices in equipment choices. Carmina with a bunch of pills is pretty unstoppable, triple wielding pride flags and she's a goddess of slaughter! This combat system was super fun to use, though a flaw is that often characters are totally neglected as one spams their power attack (a lot of choking happening in my run). The good news is that you clearly thought of that in your combat design, and created cool scenarios in which a series of different skills are often necessary. It's somewhat rare that I enjoy a series of turn-based combat in games, but this game stayed fresh all the way throughout.

Will start by saying all the character busts were solid! I especially loved Lucius and Harold's designs. The enemies were pretty cool to behold as well. I found the random combat to lack incentives to not just run away from. There were no rewards (that I found), no levels. So it was just a loss of resources and time to not just run. 

I also thought there were too many skills, and when there were few skills, it was really just about AoE or Single target. Aside from Lucius buffs, there wasn't much thought I had to put into the game.

The story was perfectly scoped and had a nice hook and resolution. A couple jokes, but nothing that made it seem like comedy was a focus of this entry.

Really so glad you enjoyed it! I typically laugh at my own entries quite heartily so it is a relief that at least one other person had the same reaction.

I can help with your dilemma! The satisfaction I would gain from winning the jam with an entry like this is nearly limitless compared to others who dev for personal growth, friendship, blah blah blah, so a 5* rating is an ethical requirement. 

Just to clarify and because everyone is wondering, Investment Banker Harold benefits (others) from the economic system in place without necessarily endorsing all of it as a whole. He's even considered the relative efficacy of spending his profits to promote economic reforms aimed to make his own pursuits unnecessary, though as of yet he considers most radical changes too utopian.

So great to see Harold able to embrace ethical polyamory! I have been waiting for this for so long. There was also an army of crocodiles which made me laugh. I believe I explored every single choice! My favorite is the one where Harold eats pea flakes and falls asleep. I was struggling with text speed and missed a beginning scene but I found the speed option and increased it to 10, which fixed all problems. Instant text would have been even Harold-er. Great sequel!

Glad to help Ronald!

Thank you so much for the in depth look at this game. That long unreadable scroll was definitely on my list of things worth fixing but alas, I lack the dev talent to make any changes whatsoever to improve the player experience. I do sincerely hope the house on an island qualifies my entry, because even if one doesn't see it, isn't an island still an island? And you got both endings! Truly a completionist. Lastly, I don't do shitposts! I inspire others to smile and think through life's deepest issues with brief, low effort performance art.

Thanks for playing and I look forward to playing your entry!

Thank you! I have unlocked it!

Aw yeah that was great! All I ever wanted was a competent Harold Shmup and you delivered! Lucius rocked it. He's the best despite his short range.

I thought the premise here was so subtle and clever, with nice little allusions (all the poisonous plant stuff  for example). Gameplay was about as good as harvest moon, which is to say fun and exciting for a little, then pretty redundant. Cutting a few days off some plant growth would be nice. I know they are more advanced crops, which makes sense to take longer in a fully developed game, but in a jam game like this with no real time pressure, it just felt like extra busy work. 

Unfinished, but so many real fun parts. 

Fun to run and jump around as a cat for a little. I admit I'm terrible at mazes, so thanks for not letting me go to a previous map. That would have been disastrous. Having a general direction that the exit is supposed to be might have helped it feel less arbitrary. A little more variation in game play could have helped too.

My favorite thing was the cute cat sprite, with the monsters following second. Finally, I'm not convinced that cats are not evil! Could it be that the enforcement was right all along?

Nice and short! Combat was about as good as Dragon Quest's! I did grind to level 3, and this didn't feel like a chore, so the length was perfect for a game with random encounters and mazes. Despite the short length, getting those level ups and ultimate flail felt good.

I typically don't like games like this, but this one was pretty fun! The progression is not too difficult, though I admit I am currently stuck. I'm confident a good 5 minutes or less of exploration would get me the answer. May come back to this one, but gotta check out more games!

Writing could use a little fixing, as the grammar sometimes detracted from the story. The bloodstains, random skeletons, and mansion setting were all well done. Puzzles were also pretty clever overall.

Humorous and very quick little game. Any writer that accidentally summons a demon must be quite talented.

Great creepy setting and story hook. Voice acting was a real nice touch too. Had some nice jump scare moments in there, and the health bar, while not that important, at least made it feel like there were real repercussions to being bad at dodging knives. The creature was sufficiently creepy, though sometimes it would linger in sight, which took away a tiny bit of the terror factor. I completed the game, but in a panic I ran to the final room and missed important dialog. Might be nice to keep terrified players from missing that stuff by default.

Overall I had a great time with this game, and I did scream a couple times.

Just like in years past (2022, 2021)  here's my post covering my thoughts about the execution of the jam, results, mistakes, and more. This is also a helpful record for us to review if/when Harold Jam gets planned for next year.

Participants: 62
(Last year: 51)

Entries at end of submission period: 36
(Last year - 35)

Entries by end of judgment: 33
(Last year - 35)

By the end of the jam there were:

• 32 valid entries
• 4 disqualifications
•  2 honorary forum post entries

- Infinity Beatdown (but with Lucius) was disqualified for simply copying a previous game (this was a joke on my part). - Downfall of Heroes by Izzy didn’t make the cutoff, so it was allowed to join to get feedback, but disqualified before ratings period ended - Harold and the Proto Dog Demo thing was disqualified for not fulfilling the required elements - Haroldian Civilization was disqualified because it received votes from accounts that were participating in voting manipulation.

2 bonus entries posted in the message board. One was a late entry (Legends of Haroldia by Mopsikus) and one was a MoRPG with limited server up-time (Hrld Friendzy by Lochraleon).

Votes: 510
(Last year - 683)

Initially this was 725, but itch.io automatically removed 25 votes, and a review of the votes by itch.io led to 190 more votes being removed.

Average ratings per game: 16.5
(Last year - 19.5)

Distribution: Max 29, Min 12
(Last year - Max 24, Min 15)

Return participants: 17
(Last year: 20)

New participants: 10
(Last year: 11)

Dual Submissions: 6
(Last year: 4)

Ratings by submitters: 447
Outside ratings: 63

Extra special thanks to super raters! These special folks played and rated all the games. 

Berry

Sawyer

Aesica

Gensun

Successes:

Perhaps feedback will indicate differently, but the jam rules, beginning and end, ratings degrees, and general execution seemed to go on without any real problems. There was also no lingering TBA, no issues with submissions being allowed after they were supposed to, so we seemed to have fixed past issues. 

10 new people made up more than a third of jam participants! It’s nice to continue getting new developers submitting. It often feels like a totally insular, cultish server activity, so getting some penetration and interest from the wider community, or from members of the server who hadn’t taken the plunge before was a big positive.

This year we encouraged participants to emphasize characters other than Harold, which I consider a welcome and fruitful change. Being the fourth Harold Jam, I think it may be time to open things up to more variety, while maintaining the classic feel of jam, and I think that could be possible moving forward. 

Mistakes:

Overall, I think there’s always so much room for more promotions. My general lack of time and focus in other areas made it hard to dedicate the hours necessary to squeezing out those handful of participants or raters. 

Next issue is that I announced my sabbatical, without sharing any date, so it seemed like I was departing the community immediately. Got some farewells and nice comments, and now months after some final goodbyes, I awkwardly remain.

I did fully intend to have the submission time extend through the entirety of March, but I forgot that March 31st at midnight leaves 23 hours and 59 minutes in the month. Luckily I don’t think this messed up too many people aside from myself. 

I can’t end this section without mentioning the problems with the ratings. Results took a minute to post and 25 ratings were removed from itch.io’s algorithm. A surprise entry took 1st place in 5 out of 6 areas, and few games had a huge amount of 1 star ratings. We suspected and confirmed that voting manipulation occurred, and itch.io support removed another 190 votes. All in all, it took more than two weeks for us to get our final results, which made celebrating the winners less satisfying.

I do want to thank everyone for their patience and maturity. There was not mudslinging or venomous speculation. There was acceptance a lot of acceptance and understanding, and the voting manipulation was totally thwarted, and unfairly boosted submission removed. In my view this was a fair proportionate response, and I am so grateful to everyone for keeping the pitchforks and torches to themselves. I admit my pitchfork was sharpened and my torch was blazing, but everyone else being magnanimous helped me be more mature as well.

Cheating in public voting jams is always a risk, but we will be wise to consider this possibility going forward and see if there are preventative steps to take going forward.

I'm always astounded by the time and energy put into this, and these jams have been the most fun I've had in the community. They remind me why I've stuck around for so long, and why I know I'll be back. Whatever thoughts, comments, complaints, suggestions you all have, please drop them in our feedback form below and help the next Harold Jam be as awesome as possible.

https://forms.gle/awAbk8AKKLJiqAdq7

Final results are in! Itch.io support removed votes intended to manipulate scores. It does look like the ratings distribution still reflects the original, so it may not be accurate, but the rankings ought to be.

Congratulations to MoogleRampage for being the overall winner with the mindblowing A Harold Between Worlds 2: Reid Shift!

Congratulations also to our other category winners!

• Gameplay: Rage Against the Dying by Sawyer Friend
• Music: Stuck in the Liminal by callmeDJ
• Comedy: Paragon by Human
• Graphics: Milk Quest by Gensun
• Story: Rage Against the Dying by Sawyer Friend

The prizes have either been sent or will be sent soon! Thank you all again for your amazing jam efforts and for your inhuman patience as we dealt with these novel challenges.

We'll be sending a post-mortem and a survey out soon to get feedback for next jam!