I don’t understand why the cutoff is at the median. No matter the game jam, 50% of submissions will always receive a score penalty. That number might be reasonable for something with 1000s of entries where score manipulation issues may be harder to deal with, but I don’t see why such a large range of submissions should always be pushed down just because they weren’t ranked enough times. Maybe it could be lowered to a 25th percentile for smaller jams - or better yet, selected by the jam host beforehand.
Hehe, I definitely agree with you on the net being more satisfying if you could throw it! I had a few different ideas of how it could work, but I went with one that wouldn’t step over the time constraints. Thank you for your review!
Thank you! It is indeed a very personal story, even though my experiences are not the same as those of the characters. And I’m glad that I managed to convey those feelings that I couldn’t outside of a story like this.
It was made with a lot of stress and hyper-focusing, lmao. Although, having so many different tasks to manage helped me jump between them, so I was never stuck not doing something.
It’s a nice sim game, and impressive for a month worth of work! I liked the AI, although it feels like all of the goblins try to do the same thing at the same time even when there are multiple tasks. I tried to get the vore action to happen just because there isn’t much to do, but even restarting the game several times to reroll for goblins with the required trait, it didn’t look like much was happening. I wish there was more to do, although I guess the hardest part of the framework is already implemented.
Very cute, the artwork is super lovely and I really like the interactivity! I had some trouble with the movement as well as finding out how to move between areas, but I eventually managed to find my way around. Lovely game!
Oh wow, what an unique idea! I was excited to try this one out, I really like what you’ve come up with!
The controls can be a bit wonky and it’s hard at moments to know when you’re making progress, but since it’s a short game, it wasn’t too much of an issue. Great job with this.
An interesting premise, and a lot of work was clearly put into making this! I like the atmosphere, and this can definitely turn into a great game with more polish.
Very impressive even with the headstart! A fun and sweet game that doesn’t end up feeling too difficult! I had some trouble navigating through dialogues and options with a keyboard, since half of the stuff required me to press E, and the other half space. I also had issues with some continuous attacks that kept going right after the parry, meaning I got hit when the bosses started moving again. Still, I managed to adjust myself to it, and it’s extremely fun!
I like the concept and the artwork, and the gameplay is quick to grasp onto! I wish there were more ways to strategize by holding onto cards (especially since you rely a lot on RNG for the last date).
An excellent Sokoban game on its own, only made better with its own kinky spin! Only complaint was that blocks and walls could be more distinct, and blocks would completely cover white spots (although maybe that was intentional), but even that feels very minor.
A simple and fun game! Other than the issues others commented (hard to eat smaller creatures, impossible to get away from larger creatures), I also think that zooming in to see the X-ray didn’t work very well, mainly because it makes you see less of your surroundings, making your creature even more vulnerable to larger ones. I dunno, maybe it’s supposed to be a risk-reward balance?
I’ve had the same issue as InvisibleBit, but after completing the 3rd expedition and unlocking the 4th. Still, I managed to get deep enough into the game (after several failed tries in the 1st expedition, trying to get a hang of the mechanics) and it’s quite enjoyable and challenging! Very fun with great visuals and music!
Thank you! That’s a very well-put comment, and I appreciate you taking the time to make it! The story could’ve been more centered into specific themes, although I wouldn’t say they are necessarily universal. I’ve seen many games that tackle similar questions about death and trauma, but I’ve tried to unravel my own thoughts regarding nihilism and dealing with borderline personality disorder, in an earnest way that I haven’t really seen in other media before. Maybe they exist and are really popular as you said, I just haven’t been exposed to them.
On the other hand, I completely agree that Marco’s attraction to Bard doesn’t feel realistic, and I opted for the suspension of disbelief even if it hurts the general coherence. The thing with the other three souls (which aren’t actually souls, but manifestations of Bard’s insecurities) also seems to be a problem with my writing, since others were confused by it as well.
I don’t think I want to go back and change the story. It could’ve been much better, as you said, but I’m satisfied with it, and I would rather learn from these mistakes to write better stuff in the future. Still, thanks again for the invaluable criticism!
It was quite a challenge, and I was ecstatic when I finally beat the final boss! I think the difficulty should’ve been toned down (like decreasing every boss’s HP by at least 20%), and it was hard to manage both A and S buttons throughout the entirety of the last fight. I’ve had to take multiple breaks from my hand hurting - maybe make the shooting automatic so we only have to worry about pressing A? Still, the graphics are simple but fun, I had some trouble reading the location of the eyes on the last phase (sometimes they spawned under other eyes, or on top of the clouds), it was fun to figure out the strategy for each boss while getting used to the Flappy Bird-like movement.
I can’t speak much for the hypnosis, but I guess the repetitiveness of the game and the slow wording work towards that. Although perhaps it’d work better with actual narration than text, I think it was impressive that you made this on PICO-8. The graphics and sound were great! Definitely an interesting experience.
I couldn’t figure out how to satisfy the horny need without the sleep need also appearing, and for a pet simulator game it was quite fast-paced. Some of the stuff wasn’t clear at first, but eventually I got the hang of it. It was a short and fun experience, with nice graphics and a nice vibe. Overall a pretty good game!
I haven’t beaten it but I found it incredibly fun! The graphics are very nostalgic and the game over cutscenes are interesting. A very fun experience that has had a lot of effort put into!
Fuck the police. Very fun game! Figuring out the correct spot to transition between areas was a bit annoying, but I liked how the rest of the simple mechanics worked together so well! There were even moments where I had to balance risk-reward and call it early to avoid getting killed, that was quite fun!
I liked the visuals and sounds, but like others have said, the font works against the game. At least for me personally, making the story dependent on this timed minigame made the story itself harder to follow than a regular narrative game. I think that advancing through the story should feel rewarding, but getting a new block of text only felt punishing. I’m used to writing a lot, but even so, my wrists started hurting and I couldn’t get very far into the game.
EDIT: Perhaps it could still work as a typing game if there was less typing involved. Like using random keys (as the commenter above suggests), or having less of the typing mechanic, by either adjusting the writing or making less of the essay having to be typed out.
Not much I can say that hasn’t been said about the puzzle mechanics, but this is still quite a fun game. Peak switch energy! I really like the artstyle and I think it meshes perfectly with the UI and sound. The achievements were a great addition!
Really interesting and unique mechanics, I’m a big fan of them! I liked how climaxing is used both as an obstacle and as a solution, that was pretty cool! One bug that I found is that the “mute” option doesn’t actually silence anything other than a humming background noise.
EDIT: I do want to say that I really like the ledge grabbing mechanic! It works great and adds a lot of depth to the gameplay.
Interesting game! Although I got stuck with an enemy repeatedly locking me into their minigame, and navigation is a bit hard. I can definitely see this getting improved and released as a finished title!
