Ah, if you’re using Chrome, you have to have 3rd party cookies enabled because itch serves game files from a different host

It’s part of the game (probably, depending on what you’re talking about)

Thanks Gabriel! The first rule of showbiz is: always leave them wanting more :D

The engine issue was fixed a month or so ago and I'm not seeing any problems since then so I'm calling this one fixed. Thanks for your help in reporting it, marnen.

Thank you Lucas 🙇‍♂️

Thank you plazatin!

Thanks a lot Ron! Really hugely fun to watch you play the game and I'm super happy you liked the music. The PUSH BACK level is a hard one. I may go back and may some more changes to make it easier. In case you didn't figure it out, you don't need to click on this level. It depends on which side of the square you cross when you roll the mouse over it. 

The screen being pushed down at the start is a weird engine/itch glitch that I'm hoping will get solved soon.

I pretend to be a musician when I make games so I’m sure you can too. Best of luck!

Good to know, thanks.

Sure, any time!

Thanks. Weird about chrome mac having this problem because that's what I've been testing in. Resolution might make a difference though. Thanks for the info, I will pass it along.

Edit: by the way, if the issue prevented you from playing the game, I believe it will work if you hit the full-screen button in the bottom right of the game window. You may need to hit the escape key to reveal the real mouse cursor.

Hi marnen, thanks for letting me know. Could you send me a screenshot and let me know what browser/operating system you're  using?

There has been an issue in the game engine I'm using related to some changes to the way that itch.io embeds browser games. It seems to be mostly fixed now but clearly there's at least one case where the problem still exists.

Thanks a lot Ryn!

Thank you Sunny! I'm glad you liked it.

I'm hoping for an update to the game engine that can lock up the mouse completely and prevent it from butting up against the edges of the game window. As soon as that happens, I'll be rushing out a new version. Mouse issues are amplified if you play in Safari (possibly also other browsers) but seem to be not too bad in chrome and the desktop versions - of course, hardware might also make a difference.

Good observation about the win screen. I will see what I can do for that. I like your suggestions.

Sounds really add an awful lot to the experience of playing a game, even short ones. You can see it in a lot of the games in this jam, where the dev has added some fast paced music that makes you want to play the game more quickly and gets you feeling more tension as the twenty seconds rush by.

I enjoyed playing this a lot. It took me several goes to feel comfortable with and a few more to be able to win. The challenge is still there so it is a definitely game that rewards multiple plays.

The graphics and audio combine really well to create a superb atmosphere. I think I would be happy to spend extended periods in this little universe you've created. I would like to know more about it.

Top work!

Really nice! The highlight for me is the pencil rendering along with the charm and absurdity of the scenario. The gameplay is simple and well executed. I did get a level where no sun-ray appeared.

I can easily see this being extended into a full children's storybook game stuffed with charming little mini-games like this. Is that in the plan?

Thanks a lot! 

Like everything you do, this looks amazing, the atmosphere is sublime and it seems you have a talent for music now so it sounds great too. I wasn't able to win it - I couldn't get past the final ghost but I'm sure I will once I get the hang of the combos. I would love to see the extended version of the game.

Thank you for your message. Our automated random support response unit said:

Due to an ongoing shortage of easy, some parts of this game may contain hard. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Brilliant and very highly accomplished. It looks great, sounds good and plays very well. It fits very nicely into the 20 second constraint because the rounds are naturally brutal and short without feeling like they're being cut down to fit the time limit.

Maybe adding music for the start and end of each round and something playing in the background while you navigate menus would give it a touch more of a GB vibe? Not that it really feels like it's lacking.

Aside from that, the game is pretty near perfect. Great work.

Thanks SoyKhaler! That's great to hear.

Thanks a lot Jaden! Glad you liked it.

Really nice use of the constraint to make an unconventional point-and-click game. I like that it was simple enough for me to figure out quickly and I enjoyed the simple drawings too. I would happily sit down and play a 2 hour version if you ever decide to expand on the idea.

Thank you Mykyta!

Thanks! The game deliberately sets up a false expectation and wants the players to figure out the surprises by themselves. Getting the difficulty balance right for all players in a 20 second game is probably the biggest challenge here. I do plan on making some tweaks to this game over time to be more aggressive with the hints.

I got Good Enough! I like that the game blends together some unexpected kinds of gameplay and that's something to be applauded.

It did take a few goes for me to get the idea of what to do and I'm not sure that I actually changed the green square into a red square. Maybe some small change to the description would help dummies like me :D

I had fun playing it and I would be interested to see if you plan to do more with it now that the jam is over. 

Really stressful, just like real life! Good stuff.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to finish it before my real life boss fired me D:

Pretty good fun PapaPolski! I learned a good lesson from this game. Returning to base before the time runs out forces the player to effectively manage their time. That's a very good idea that demands a different skill from the player and makes the gameplay richer. Nice work.

I really like this. Pong type games are a current fascination for me so I'm really happy to see a game that takes the idea and changes just enough to make it absurdly fun. I don't think this game _needs_ anything because it's pretty well perfectly formed and it fits the 20 second format very nicely because you kept it simple. If someone put a gun to my head and forced me to suggest something, it would be a some light but fast paced background music to help add a little pressure.

Hint: your mouse is (probably) not bugged. If your problem starts on the level labelled SLIDE BACK!, try moving the mouse in the direction indicated by the arrow instead of the direction you think it should move in 😉.

Another hint: on the levels PUSH! and PUSH BACK!, the instructions do not say CLICK! or DRAG!. How could you PUSH something using your mouse cursor?

The unexpected level of difficulty in these levels is due to human error in our state-of-the-art game production factory. Rest assured that the human responsible has been disposed of.

Hi! Here is the result: everybody won! 

This is an unranked jam so we don't have scores for games. If you would like to get some extra feedback on your game, the best thing you can do is go play the other games and leave helpful feedback.

Actually, it's not true. I did also play it with a Wacom and that was just plain weird.

Thanks steff!

Ahh. Nice way to incorporate the time pressure into the game mechanic. I'm having a hard time finding my target but I think the trackpad is the issue more than the game :D Graphically very pleasing too! Could definitely be improved with some tense music and a wind sfx that intensifies when the wind is high.

Nice! A good simple game that works well for the 20 second time limit. If you were looking for a way to improve it you could try adding sound effects and music. That can really make a game feel more fun.

This is quite a brave game. On my first few tries I found it quite unsatisfying because my brain and my reflexes were slow but I enjoyed it a lot more after I got into the swing of it. Because the same answers come up a lot, it does become easier each time you play. I do think that this would be suitable for a slightly longer play time than 20 seconds. Maybe 60 to 90 seconds? But I do applaud you for for it and the game itself functions great.

This is a really neat little idea. Really hard on my trackpad, of course, but that's not the game's fault :D. I'm pretty sure this would work as the core mechanic to a larger game. Good job. 

Hi! I didn't see your message because it wasn't in reply to mine. 

If you're  suggesting to change the game so the player dies after 20 seconds of gameplay, and then the game ends, yes that would make it a 20 second game.

If you do make changes so that the game meets the rules, please reply to one of my messages so I will see the notification.

Nice thought, thanks for the suggestion!