itch.io

So calm and relaxing asian-style tracks! I really enjoyed listening to all of them! It's definitely a kind of music I'd listen to calm my stress down. Also the production is really good. Nice work!

Thank you ^^ Yeah, the suggestion about a small whoosh for a shift sounds interesting!

Thank you for such a warm feedback!

Sounds experimental and quite progressive! 

Two atmospheric, slow-building, and contemplative tracks. The track “Memories”, in my opinion, has dreamcore and liminal music kind of vibes, while “Echoes” reminded me a bit of Silent Hill. Nice work!

Thanks for the feedback, I'm really glad to hear it! Also thanks for a suggestion about the dynamics, it'd be really nice adjustement that could make a track more interesting!
About the backward notes, it's a kontakt library called mallet flux and it has such sounds) 

A great classical composition with strong James Bond vibes (at least, that’s how I feel). Also, a very original interpretation of the art. I didn’t expect anyone to see such meanings in this artwork, but it turned out to be really interesting. From someone who also often writes orchestral music - my respect.

Thank you for the feedback and for an advice! It sounds as an interesting suggestion and I'll definitely try it out!

Oh, that sound spacing and panning work is incredible! Also it sounds really experimental and atmospheric, I like it! Tha only thing that I'd suggest to make this track even better is to add a bit of action, a slowly introduced beatbox that grow stronger through the track and drop into a full beatbox beat would be really cool for my ear. But even without it, the track is really interesting! 

Thanks a lot for such a feedback! I really glad you've found my music emotional! 

Sounds interesting and very original! For my ear it has some retro-psychedelic vibe, also a bit of progressive elements. I really like the work with panning and sound spacing. It also gave me a bit of Serious Sam OST vibe, i really don't know why :D Maybe it's because of percussion and synths. 

Thanks you for the feedback, glad to hear it :)

The track really fits the theme well! It sounds truly cosmic. I like how the panning works here, and the sound spacing is great too.

Sounds experimental! I definitely can hear 80s vibes here, reminds me a lot of an old arcade soundtrack, pretty nostalgic)

Also here you can check out some of my music

Hi!  My name is Alex. I'm a Game Designer and Game Composer.

I have 2+ years of commercial studio experience and 5+ years of freelance experience as a game/narrative designer.

Successfully shipped 5 studio game projects as a full-time game designer.

Took part in 10+ game projects as a narrative designer on freelance. Also I really like participating in game jams and learning new game tools.

Also I write instrumental music, particularly in soundtrack, orchestral, and post-rock genres, but I never limit myself and enjoy experimenting with new styles.

I have 12+ years of experience in music, including 6 years of classical education. I continually improving my skills through specialized courses and certificates.

Worked as a lead game composer in Portuguese game studio. Produced soundtracks for indie games and advertising music for medium and small businesses.

Would be glad to collaborate on both these fields as a freelancer or on part-time. Just drop me a DM on Discord (alexcoldfire) or Linkedin!

Here you can find my Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oleksandr-zimenko/

And my music portfolio: https://zimenkomusic.carrd.co/#portfolio

Thanks!

Hello everyone!

I’m a versatile game composer looking for projects!

I specialize in instrumental music, particularly in soundtrack, orchestral, and post-rock genres, but I never limit myself and enjoy experimenting with new styles.

I have 12+ years of experience in music, including 6 years of classical education. I continually improving my skills through specialized courses and certificates.

My work includes composing for a game development company, heavy machinery company, ad music for medium and small businesses, and 5+ years as a freelance composer. I collaborated with a game studio Top Sigma Studios (Portugal) as a lead game composer.

I have produced soundtracks for commercials, indie projects, and released over 40 tracks in various genres.

Always open to collaboration - feel free to reach out via DM on Discord (alexcoldfire) ^^

Here is my portfolio: https://zimenkomusic.carrd.co/#portfolio

And here you can hear some of my works.

Based on the demo, I can say that I really enjoyed the game - excellent work! It definitely has potential. I’d like to highlight the strengths of the game, as well as some suggestions on how it could be improved even further.

Strengths:

• Atmosphere: The game has a strong retro vibe, which is really cool! Every element, from the menu and art to the gameplay, supports the retro style. Playing the game made me feel nostalgic, as it reminded me of old console games (in a good way).
• Tutorial: The game has a clear tutorial and exposition. This is not always common in indie projects, and it’s definitely a plus. The player gets a brief introduction to the story and the hero, and learns how to move, fight, and interact with objects.
• Variety: The game features dungeons, towns, different enemies, and artifacts. The entity of the Hand is also presented in an interesting way. All of this makes the game world feel alive.
• Sound: The game has very good sound design. There are many sounds that accompany different gameplay actions. The sounds complement the atmosphere, are high quality, and play at the right moments. Overall, the sound felt a bit loud to me, but this can easily be adjusted in the settings.

Suggestions:

• UI: The UI feels appropriate in style, but the menu and buttons seem a bit too large and bulky. I would try resizing them to lighten the interface.
• English text: It would be good to proofread the English text. Some sentences don’t sound very natural. Perhaps it was translated from another language? This doesn’t ruin the game, but proofreading would definitely improve it.
• Tutorial guidance: At the point in the tutorial where you need to enter the first dungeon, I got a bit confused. Maybe it would help to explicitly mention that the player needs to go to the ground and press the “Enter” button? It might seem obvious, but I didn’t notice it right away.
• Level design: I would tweak the level design of some dungeons. For example, sometimes spikes appear that don’t actually affect the hero because they can’t physically touch them. I also encountered a few minor bugs, like one dog running at me while more participated in battle. Overall, though, I liked the dungeons!

Overall, I can say that your game is really stylish! I enjoyed playing it and I’m confident it will find its audience. I wish the project all the best and hope it will be very successful.

Thanks!

This is an interesting and romantic story that includes a mystery hook - I really like it!

I’d like to go through different aspects of the game and share my thoughts:

• Art: It’s simple but eye-catching. The game definitely has its own style, and it suits it well. The art reminded me of cartoons on Jetix, which gave me a nostalgic feeling 😊. There’s surprisingly a lot of art! During the game, I noticed scene changes and many CGs, which is not very common in indie visual novels and that's nice!

• Story and Characters: The story is in the slice-of-life genre, which is classic for visual novels. But I like that there’s conflict and a mystery involving mutations. This mix of everyday life and monsters strongly reminded me of Coffee Talk. Perhaps this game inspired the visual novel?

  Regarding the characters - all four monsters are unique and have their own traits. It’s great when each character represents a different archetype, as it allows players to have varied experiences during playthroughs. I really liked the character Celia - she’s an active and engaging companion to spend time with. I’m not an extrovert myself, but extroverted characters add liveliness to the story and push the main character forward.

  Speaking of the monsters, I liked Victor. He has a great design and personality. Overall, I appreciate how the character designs match their personalities. For example, Victor is dark and gray, a quiet introvert; Ravi is represented as a peacock, an extrovert who craves attention - and so on. This is a fantastic detail!

• Sound: The music isn’t outstanding, but it perfectly fits the mood and it's good. There’s enough variety in tracks so that the music doesn’t get repetitive. There are also plenty of sound effects accompanying various game actions, which adds to the game’s immersion.

Overall, I can say the project is interesting! It definitely has a compelling concept.

I played the game and I can say that I really enjoyed it!

Starting with the positives:

• The game has an interesting style. It reminded me of Spy Kids for some reason 😊. It looks quite engaging.

• There are different characters with different combat styles, which adds variety to the gameplay.

• The game has multiple modes, which also increases replayability. I can say this definitely benefits the project!

Now a few suggestions to make the game even better:

• The loading time is quite long. It could help to indicate this on the screen so players are prepared.

• The text in the windows at the beginning of the game, in pixel font, is a bit hard to read. I’d suggest using a calmer, more readable style.

• Sometimes, when hovering over fighters in the menu, their sprites don’t appear on the left side of the selection menu. But I assume this is just a beta build issue.

Overall, I really liked the game — keep up the good work!

An interesting and atmospheric detective game in a pirate setting – I like it!
First of all, I’ve always loved pirates and pirate-themed stories. I don’t know why there aren’t that many pirate games out there, and I think that’s just unfair))

The game has a pretty solid intro that sets up the story. That’s really important for an indie game, since developers often skip straight to the gameplay without giving players any context. But here, everything works perfectly – we can talk to the skeleton, ask him questions, and learn where we are and what we’re doing.

The art style is minimalistic yet very pleasant, and it fits the theme perfectly.

The sound doesn’t shoot for the stars, but it complements the atmosphere nicely. Still, I’d recommend strengthening the soundtrack overall.

I really enjoyed the gameplay. It reminded me of the classic point-and-click adventures. Investigating the case was fun, but what I loved most about this game was the humor. The dialogues are written in a lively and witty way, adding even more pirate spirit to the experience.

Thanks for the game!

Thank you for the game, it was really interesting!
This is quite a stylish deckbuilder – kind of like Hearthstone with an anime twist. I genuinely enjoyed playing it.

Strengths:

• Art: The artwork is quite nice. The anime theme fits the project very well, and the character and spell cards share a consistent style.

• Sound: The sound effects are pleasant, with every action supported by fitting audio.

• Gameplay: The game feels pretty well balanced. As a game designer myself, I know how hard it is to balance a deckbuilder, but here it really works.

Suggestions for improvement:

• For some reason, in the web version I noticed small resolution issues, as if the window looked a bit pixelated.

• I’d suggest adding more story elements to increase player engagement.

Overall, this is a fun and enjoyable project. Keep it up!

This is a small but enjoyable fortune-telling game!

It reminded me of the browser games from my childhood.

Strengths:

Art: The artwork is quite nice, especially the cards. They are diverse, as are their meanings.

Replayability: There are many card combinations, and it’s pretty fun to see what outcome you’ll get.

Original idea: The concept of a tarot reader is quite unusual and original. It definitely feels like the project’s signature feature.

Suggestions to make the game even better:

The soundtrack could be improved. Right now it fits, but it’s quite minimalistic. I think a more complete composition would really emphasize the game’s style.

A “prediction chest” could be added, where previous fortune results are stored.

Overall, this is a small but enjoyable project. Nicely done!

Based on the demo, I can say that I really enjoyed the game - excellent work! It definitely has potential. I’d like to highlight the strengths of the game, as well as some suggestions on how it could be improved even further.

Strengths:

• Atmosphere: The game has a strong retro vibe, which is really cool! Every element, from the menu and art to the gameplay, supports the retro style. Playing the game made me feel nostalgic, as it reminded me of old console games (in a good way).

• Tutorial: The game has a clear tutorial and exposition. This is not always common in indie projects, and it’s definitely a plus. The player gets a brief introduction to the story and the hero, and learns how to move, fight, and interact with objects.

• Variety: The game features dungeons, towns, different enemies, and artifacts. The entity of the Hand is also presented in an interesting way. All of this makes the game world feel alive.

• Sound: The game has very good sound design. There are many sounds that accompany different gameplay actions. The sounds complement the atmosphere, are high quality, and play at the right moments. Overall, the sound felt a bit loud to me, but this can easily be adjusted in the settings.

Suggestions:

• UI: The UI feels appropriate in style, but the menu and buttons seem a bit too large and bulky. I would try resizing them to lighten the interface.

• English text: It would be good to proofread the English text. Some sentences don’t sound very natural. Perhaps it was translated from another language? This doesn’t ruin the game, but proofreading would definitely improve it.

• Tutorial guidance: At the point in the tutorial where you need to enter the first dungeon, I got a bit confused. Maybe it would help to explicitly mention that the player needs to go to the ground and press the “Enter” button? It might seem obvious, but I didn’t notice it right away.

• Level design: I would tweak the level design of some dungeons. For example, sometimes spikes appear that don’t actually affect the hero because they can’t physically touch them. I also encountered a few minor bugs, like one dog running at me while more participated in battle. Overall, though, I liked the dungeons!

Overall, I can say that your game is really stylish! I enjoyed playing it and I’m confident it will find its audience. I wish the project all the best and hope it will be very successful.

Thank you for streaming my game! 
I'm glad you found it interesting!

Thank you for the feedback!

I like the game and the concept! 
- the game really has a solid retro vibe which is really nice!
- The story has meaning. I like the topic that game describes. The question of creating life.
And here's my suggestion which could help make the game even better:
It'd be cool to add some small tutorial.
Also the music is quiete loud, but overall it really fits the game!
Thank you for the game, keep going!

Hey there! I've just played your game and want to share my thoughts!

First of all, it's an atmospheric retro piece with a nice, fitting soundtrack! It has a strong 90s–00s vibe, which I really like!

When I started the game, I found out it has a short but nice onboarding. The controls and story introduction were clear. For me, as someone new to retro JRPGs, it was a big plus.

At the very beginning, the game set up a short exposition about the heroine and the plot. Then I got my first quest goal, and after that I was busy exploring the nearby area :D I really liked the fact that you can interact with many NPCs. The interactions are short, of course, but I was curious about what EVERY NPC would say, so I clicked on them all :D

The game has many cool references and humor, and that's really great! I like this type of RPG that doesn’t try to be super serious or push the weight of the world’s problems on your shoulders in the first 5 minutes :)

The battle system is pretty clear, even considering I'm not a JRPG player myself. The battles felt good!

The UI is very fitting and underlines the style of the game.

And here are some of my suggestions that could help make the game even better (just my opinion, of course):

• I would add a UI section for quests to clarify the current goal.
• Some battles started really spontaneously. I don’t know if it’s a feature of the genre or not. If yes — not a problem at all. If no — I’d suggest making this moment a bit clearer.

Overall, it’s a really nice retro-style game! I wish you all the best with it!

Hey there! I've just played your game and want to share my thoughts!

First of all, it's an atmospheric retro piece with a nice, fitting soundtrack! It has a strong 90s–00s vibe, which I really like!

When I started the game, I found out it has a short but nice onboarding. The controls and story introduction were clear. For me, as someone new to retro JRPGs, it was a big plus.

At the very beginning, the game set up a short exposition about the heroine and the plot. Then I got my first quest goal, and after that I was busy exploring the nearby area :D I really liked the fact that you can interact with many NPCs. The interactions are short, of course, but I was curious about what EVERY NPC would say, so I clicked on them all :D

The game has many cool references and humor, and that's really great! I like this type of RPG that doesn’t try to be super serious or push the weight of the world’s problems on your shoulders in the first 5 minutes :)

The battle system is pretty clear, even considering I'm not a JRPG player myself. The battles felt good!

The UI is very fitting and underlines the style of the game.

And here are some of my suggestions that could help make the game even better (just my opinion, of course):

• I would add a UI section for quests to clarify the current goal.

• Some battles started really spontaneously. I don’t know if it’s a feature of the genre or not. If yes — not a problem at all. If no — I’d suggest making this moment a bit clearer.

Overall, it’s a really nice retro-style game! I wish you all the best with it!

Hi! Thank you so much for giving my story a chance and playing through the whole game! I watched the entire stream, and I can honestly say that in your interpretation the story gained new layers and meanings.

It means a lot to me that you enjoyed it and found it personal and emotional. This story is very important to me, since much of it was inspired by my real experience as a Ukrainian refugee after the war began.

Also, thank you for your suggestions on improvements! I completely agree — while watching the stream I noticed that the pacing is a bit slow, and it would be good to balance the inner monologues with more external events.

As for proofreading — thank you for pointing that out! English isn’t my native language, and the text definitely needs some polishing. And I really liked your idea about adding sound feedback to the sliders in the menu! Also, a small tip if you play other Ren’Py games: the engine allows you to skip already read parts of the text. You just need to press the Skip button at the bottom of the text box. The skip will automatically stop at choices and at moments you haven’t read yet!

I’m truly grateful for your stream! It means a lot to me — both as a developer, and simply as a person who wanted to share his story. I wish you good luck and thank you for the feedback!

Thank you so much for streaming my game and for sharing my story! I watched the whole playthrough and it was super nice! You created such a great atmosphere on the stream, and your voiceover was smooth and emotional. Through the stream, I relived this story one more time, and your interpretation gave it even more layers!

Also, thank you so much for your comments and suggestions, both throughout the story and at the end of the stream! They will really help me make the game better. The note about the light during the storm was a very good observation, as well as your thoughts on the art details (e.g. Alma’s eyes), which add to the feeling that “something is not quite right.”

The idea of making Alma’s side story is a really good one, thank you! I had thought about it before but wasn’t sure if it would fit. Now I feel inspired to make it!

I’m also glad you found the sound design and music good. That’s important to me as a musician as well.

Additionally, thank you for noticing some of the small grammar mistakes. English is not my first language, and the text really does need some proofreading — that’s true :)

About the stranger lady — I hadn’t planned to bring her back, but now I’m thinking about it :D

Also, I’d really appreciate it if you could copy-paste your review on the itch.io page itself, so it can stay there even after the jam. It would also be nice for others to find your content on the page and watch your interpretation of this story — though of course it’s entirely up to you and your wish.

Overall, thank you so much once again! Your stream really warmed my heart and brought me a lot of emotions! Wish you good jamming!

Also I`ve subscribed on your Youtube channel, looking forward to see next streams!

Thank you for your stream! I watched all 3 hours of the game and it was really exciting! I like that you make many related comments — it makes the stream vivid and personal! So far, your stream has the most comments, and I really like that!

I’m glad you liked the story and found it emotional. It’s really important for me to share my feelings and experiences.
Also, thank you for the kind words about the sound — it really warmed my heart as a musician!
About the fullscreen mode — hmm, maybe you have an unusual screen resolution? Like extra wide or something? I’ll check that out, thank you for noticing!
I’m also glad you liked the writing, considering English is not my first language. I was a bit worried that the text might sound “non-native” and make it worse, but I’m glad I managed to avoid that feeling.
Overall, many thanks for your stream, comments, and time! And thank you for giving my game so much screen time — I really appreciate it!
Have a nice jam! I’m going to check out your game as well

Thank you so much for streaming my game and for sharing my story!
I watched the whole playthrough and it was super nice! You created such a great atmosphere on the stream, and your voiceover was smooth and emotional. Through the stream, I relived this story one more time, and your interpretation gave it even more layers!

Also, thank you so much for your comments and suggestions, both throughout the story and at the end of the stream! They will really help me make the game better. The note about the light during the storm was a very good observation, as well as your thoughts on the art details (e.g. Alma’s eyes), which add to the feeling that “something is not quite right.”

The idea of making Alma’s side story is a really good one, thank you! I had thought about it before but wasn’t sure if it would fit. Now I feel inspired to make it!

I’m also glad you found the sound design and music good. That’s important to me as a musician as well.

Additionally, thank you for noticing some of the small grammar mistakes. English is not my first language, and the text really does need some proofreading — that’s true :)

About the stranger lady — I hadn’t planned to bring her back, but now I’m thinking about it :D

Also, I’d really appreciate it if you could copy-paste your review on the itch.io page itself, so it can stay there even after the jam. It would also be nice for others to find your content on the page and watch your interpretation of this story — though of course it’s entirely up to you and your wish.

Overall, thank you so much once again! Your stream really warmed my heart and brought me a lot of emotions!
Wish you good jamming!

I watched the whole VOD, and thank you so much for giving the game a try! Thank you for the feedback as well, I'm glad you found my story interesting, it really motivates me to continue creating! 
Wish you a good jam!

A true triumph, I like it!

Great tune and really nice vocals! It reminds me a lot of Alice Madness Returns

Cool panoraming and delay, nice tune!

Thank you for giving the game a try, hope you like it! Would be glad to hear your thoughts about the game.
It's true, all the comments make me happier as a developer and as a person, so I reread them from time to time :) 
I really didn't expect the game to recieve any feedback or donation. It's just a personal story I wanted to share as a refugee due to the russian invasion. I'm really happy that this game got some recognition. And the first sell really blew my mind :D

Some good orchestration right here! Also it fits the theme really well. The first part reminds me a lot of Bella Ciao though)