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Hi! Just wanted to drop my two cents here since I really enjoyed your game and thought it was one of the standouts of the jam, I’d say for its presentation if anything. I’ll try to make my points brief but relatively in depth. And do keep in mind that I enjoy game design discussion but am in no way a professional so take my comments with a grain of salt:

• Audio / Visual: I think your game was one of the games with the most charming visual style. I think any low ratings in these two category are mostly due to the fact that most of the game takes place in the menus, which are visually clear for gameplay, but otherwise not too fancy. In terms of audio, I think the music was nice, but since the music really only changes between the management menu and shop menu, I can see why some voters might rate lowly just because the audio didn’t stand out to them, or maybe got boring after a while. The management menu music in particular did kind of drone on, especially considering that’s where you spend most of the game. Having varied music per day may have helped in this regard (although again game jams are very time limited so I can totally understand why this wasn’t a concern during development).

• Creativity / Theme Use: These were the highest ratings, and I can see why. The concept of a Muppets inspired game is unique in general, and really unique in the context of the jam. I also think the theme comes through pretty well since everything in the game is very TV related, from the premise to the terminology like popularity and ratings. I have no major notes here, and I doubt anyone rated this category poorly unless it wasn’t in good faith.

• Entertainment: I think this is probably the main area for improvement. I think a lot of people didn’t really know exactly how to quantify “Entertainment”, so this category became a “rate low if the game was frustrating” thing, and I think a lot of people probably got frustrated by the gameplay loop, not because it’s bad, but because the design is inherently complex. You have to spend some time failing and experimenting to figure out what strategies work, which can be disheartening since the game has 10 days and restarts to day 1 upon failure. Furthermore, I think the winning strategy here is deceptively unintuitive. Many people (myself included) probably wanted to keep their best synergies, and weren’t aware at first how much score you’ll miss out on by reusing tired Buppets, so they lost fairly early and probably thought they needed to try different Buppet synergies instead of swapping out tired Buppets. This is a gameplay quirk that can be worked around or even embraced as a feature, but in a game jam where people really want to play and beat the game in 20-30 minutes tops, many players may chalk the failures up to poor game design or imbalance. Honestly, I think for a game jam, the best way to fix an issue like this is to give players an out if they get too frustrated, either via a hint system, checkpoints, toggleable infinite lives / god mode / easy mode, or just designing your game to be easier without sacrificing any complexities you still want your game to have. Of course, some low ratings here are bound to just be due to some players simply not vibing with the gameplay loop or genre, but I wouldn’t worry about that since that’s bound to happen. I myself enjoyed the gameplay a fair bit, and while there’s always room to improve a game, I don’t think your game was particularly unfair or broken, just maybe a little too difficult.

• Duck: I wouldn’t really worry about this rating. It’s kinda superfluous and doesn’t mean much. People probably rated lowly on this because they may not have seen the duck Buppet in their playthrough and just gave it 1 star since they didn’t see a duck anywhere.

TLDR:

• Visual style was cool but the menus didn’t show it off enough
• Audio was nice but droned on after a while due to lack of variance
• Creativity was good; the Muppets theming was unique and fun
• Theme Use was also good; the TV theming was present throughout
• Entertainment was probably low because people got frustrated with the difficulty and confused on why they lost
• Duck was low probably because some players didn’t see the duck Buppet

At the very least, this is by interpretation of what I think players could have thought when playing your game. So again, take it with a grain of salt, but hope you can get something out of this feedback. Again, I really enjoyed your game in many aspects, so thanks for participating!

Thanks and kudos to everyone who organized / participated! It was awesome to see everyone’s unique ideas and amazing games. I had lots of fun, and cheers to next year’s jam!

Thanks for playing! I did really want the final product to feel polished and fully-formed (at least for the timescale of a game jam) so I’m glad it felt complete to you!

Thank you so much! I’m so happy you were entertained with so many aspects of the game! It’s nice to hear how you felt about the plug solutions specifically since I was probably the most worried about those, but it’s awesome to hear that you enjoyed those parts. And I’m overjoyed that the humor of the last game got through, since that might be my favorite joke in the game. Again, thank you so much for the kind words and for playing my game!

Thanks for playing! I’m glad you enjoyed solving the puzzles, and I hope the “aha” moments outnumbered any frustrating moments!

Thanks for playing! Glad you liked some of the music!

Thanks! And thanks for playing!

Really cute game concept! I thought the modelling was really well done, and the idea of playing as a small duck and setting up a much larger TV set and console is a really unique implementation of the theme! Even though it had to be scaled back for the jam (which is honestly a super common thing especially given the time limit) I thought the game had some great ideas and came together pretty well. Nice job!

Amazing game! It really takes the theme and goes far with it, from the presentation to the mechanics. Each microgame feels extremely well integrated into the retro TV theme and has great references to both Vinesauce and old TV commercials. The whole thing feels extremely well polished and uniquely innovative, even for the tried and true microgame genre. Incredible stuff! Well done!

Really awesome game! I have a lot of nostalgia for those worm-type games where you hunt enemies on the surface for points and dive down into the ground, and this game really nails that style of game. I also thought the story and artwork were really charming. Very unique and fun take on the theme of the jam. Excellent work!

Really incredible game with a lot of polish! The presentation is amazing, and not only are the aesthetics really beautiful, but they also help to incorporate the theme nicely into the gameplay with the scanlines. The gameplay loop is also really addicting and a ton of fun, especially with the variety of playable birds and weapons. Awesome work!

Nice work! I think despite how short the game is, I had a lot of fun with the little bits of humor like the duck png in the freezer and the “Michael Wave”. Good job!

Really fun game with a cool concept! I like how the 3 channels were foreshadowed at the beginning before the game drops you into the TV world. The Vinesauce references and the humor on the third channel were also really well done and very funny. Awesome job!

As an aside, I played on the current web build and had no major problems, so I think any memory issues have been fixed, at least on my end.

Really well done! The game feels super polished, and the concept of a golf-styled game with more player control through the float mechanic was really novel to me! Great work!

Thank you! I’m really happy you liked both the spooks and the ending! I was going for both horror and comedy at once, so I’m glad both of those elements got their spot in the limelight!

Thanks for playing! Glad that you enjoyed the puzzle aspects so much!

This is a cool short game. I liked the sprite art and music a lot! If you felt like it, I think it would be worth it to try and complete this game post jam, since it seems you have a good base game here at this point. Nice work!

Really neat 3D platformer! I think the most impressive mechanic on a technical level is the fact that the entire world is interconnected, including the levels and hub, and have smooth transitions between each other through any TV. On the web build, these transitions and loading them do take some time and lag the game a little, but I think the effect of hopping through the TV is well worth it, and feels very fun. Excellent implementation of the theme, and great work!

Really fun take on a kid’s show themed horror game! I like how the build up to the scary parts was handled, and I think your interpretation and implementation of the theme was very unique compared to other games in this jam. Really great work!

Really awesome implementation and theme for a microgame styled game! I really liked the references to all those old video game commercials, and I thought it was a neat way to add flavor and theming to the microgames. Very solid stuff!

Really cute game! I think you nailed the home-movie / campy slasher film aesthetic with this one perfectly! The voice acting and environments were also really well done, and the whole concept is super unique, not just for this jam but in general! Amazing work!

I do also want to report that I am having similar issues to other people when it comes to the current web build. When recording any footage, the recording appears completely black instead of showing what the camera is recording, and it causes my browser to quickly eat up memory until it maxes out and the game is no longer playable. I have not played the Windows build, but based on other people’s experience, I think this is purely a web build issue.

To be honest, I can understand if you decide not to fix this, since this might just be a WebGL issue with how the engine handles this video recording and playback and not easily solvable, especially for a game jam. But I thought I’d let you know since I saw there was previous discussion of this issue. Regardless, excellent work with this game!

Really makes you think. 🦆

Extremely funny and charming game! I love the audio splicing for the dialogue, and all the little gags are well done, such as the optional coin flipping. The models are also very cute. Excellent work!

Thanks for playing! Glad you enjoyed the coconut game’s theme, cause yeah I love it a lot too. Also very glad the hint system was helpful. I figured it can be annoying to get stuck on a puzzle, especially for a single jam entry, and one with multiple little games inside too, so I thought having a dedicated hint system was really important to help players experience the whole game, and I’m very happy that you got use out of it!

Really fun and spooky puzzle game! I think this really nailed the feeling of a one-room escape room. The aesthetic and atmosphere was creepy enough to be unsettling without being overbearing, and the visual effects were really cool, especially the scene transition to the ending screen. Great job!

Really awesome game with cool mechanics! Using the scan lines as platforms is a really inspired and unique way to incorporate the theme into your gameplay loop! Great job!

Cute visual novel! I really liked the implementation of a VN with 3D models and environments, and the characters have fun dialogue. It could be cool to see this narrative expanded on post jam with more branching paths and character interactions. Good work!

Really fun game with great aesthetics! The host’s design as well as the general art style is really great, although the pixelization filter at times made the host’s dialogue difficult to read. I played on the web build, so I don’t know if the effect is supposed to be that intense or if it just looks that way on the web build, but I think lowering that effect a bit would be nice, at least during the host interludes. Integrating the minigames into the game show is a really cool way to incorporate the theme into your gameplay loop. Overall, really great job!

Really solid game! I think you really captured the aesthetic of 90s physical game shows, which is a really unique way to express the theme of this jam. The experience felt very streamlined, and none of the objectives were frustratingly difficult in my opinion; the environments were condensed enough that you wouldn’t spend an eternity looking for all the duck parts and crag buttons. Really great work!

Interesting game concept! I really liked the mechanics inside the TV where you hide from the virus by timing your invisibility to the vignette overlay. I definitely also had some issues at the beginning with trying to insert the tape, but after a restart I was able to insert it correctly. Nice work!

Thanks for playing! Yeah, that’s fair to think that some of the puzzles were too easy. I also personally felt that way too, but I wanted to lean more towards the game being beatable for most players of any skill level, and I especially wanted it to be reasonably streamable without being too mentally taxing. That mindset (alongside just plain old running out of time) encouraged me to not make the puzzles too hard, although with more time I would have loved to make more complex solutions and tweak the difficulty balancing. If I ever decide to revisit or expand this concept, I would definitely want to delve into that complexity more. Anyways, thanks so much, and I’m glad you enjoyed!

Really funny and engaging rpg! I love all the creepypasta and analog horror references, especially with the party members and their artwork. I really liked the humor and flavor text. Overall a great game with a really unique implementation of the theme! Nice work!

Really addicting take on Wheel of Fortune! I like the mechanic of upgrading the wheel as you progress, although for a game like this I do feel like the bankrupt wedge is maybe a little too punishing; later into the game it essentially ends your run if you get it halfway or more through your spins. Otherwise, really solid game! Great work!

Awesome game dood! Really enjoyed the writing and artwork. The gameplay loop was simple but it was a lot of fun wandering around the house and reading flavor text, and I really appreciate sending the player right back with all of their items after getting an ending so that they can easily see another ending afterwards without losing any progress. Amazing work!

Really fun game mechanics! I like the concept of a microgame-style game loop, but your progress is saved between games and you switch between them rather than restarting a new game every swap. I would love to see an expanded version that adds more classic games to the roster and adds sound effects. Excellent work!

Incredible polish on this game! Amazing presentation and a really fun concept and gameplay loop! I could definitely see this idea being pushed further, either into a more horror-themed expansion or something that continues to capture the humorous tone of some of the anomalies. Either way, fantastic job!

Amazing work! This game feels extremely well polished and fully formed! I really enjoyed everything about this, from the visuals to the music to the gameplay, which was challenging but not too frustrating thanks to the plentiful checkpoints. Incredible job making a game that feels so complete within the jam’s short timeframe!

Really cool concept! I’ve always thought a game that controls through Unix style terminal commands would be a super unique and interesting concept, and this game really nails the feeling of navigating the terminal. I do think adding clearer hints on how to find the secrets would be beneficial, since I think most players would already be having a hard time getting used to command line controls. Otherwise, I think this really encapsulates the aesthetic it was going for, and is a really original take on the jam’s theme. Great work!

Absolutely charming and wonderful visual style! This really delivered on fun microgames with cute artwork and tons of Vinesauce references. The whole aesthetic of the game is just incredible! Awesome job!

Spectacular game! The movement felt incredibly intuitive and fun to control, and the dialogue, voice acting, and music were all top=notch! Really incredible that this is such a polished and tight platformer. Awesome work!