itch.io

Thank you for playing! You've nailed it perfectly, our game is actually secretly a super serious and realistic shitty job simulator. Its educational purpose is to show people the dangers of overwork and following the work quota blindly. We thought that these themes are criminally underrepresented in our popular media and educational curricula. Work kills people in real life every day, you know!

Your feedback is most helpful, thanks again for playing! And good luck to you with your project too, you've made a hell of a fun game :)

Thank you for the comment! 

You absolutely should be able to perform each task more than once a day! There is a small chance that, when you are working on the conveyor belt, it can break, thus preventing you from doing this job until you fix it, but other than that, you should be able to work at each station multiple times a day. And also, you don't have to do it perfectly each time; in fact, doing it so-so might be more beneficial in terms of time-to-energy ratio. As for the energy, there are ways to replenish it, like a couch or talking to some of the coworkers.

With that said, your comment indicates to me that the balance may be a bit off and we should give the player more time to learn the ropes. Much to consider.

I don't really like platformers, but I liked the gliding mechanic and how it allowed me to make really big sweeping jumps. Not my cup of tea, but definitely an interesting game. Hope you'll continue developing it and realize your full vision!

Very fun game, I loved smashing boxes around and destroying walls. Great vibes with this one!

I tried it again, and the sounds were on! They are quite good; you DID put a lot of thought into your music and sound design! 

I'm glad that you've liked our game, and deeply sorry that you starved before being able to unionize. I hope this game has taught you some valuable lessons so that this situation will never happen to you in real life!

Thank you for your kind words!

Lovely game! An interesting view of the cynical world of fruitnews. I liked all the ads and reporters' personalities, it was cool to find efficient approaches to handling each story based on the limited information you have and your intuitions regarding different stakeholders' preferences. 

I'm not sure what I've just played, but it was incredibly addictive and very sad. Sort of like that bittersweet feeling you have when you stay overtime in the office to finish that task you've been itching to do,  even thought you know that what you're doing is not right and you have loved ones waiting for you at home. Makes you think, if maybe in workplace environment your attention and your passion can be weaponized against you to intensify your exploitation and alienate you from your closest social bounds...

P.S.: For whatever reason, I didn't have any sounds in this game. Maybe it was a glitch on my part, or maybe you just didn't have time for audio design. Any way, this doesn't detract from my appreciation of this excellently crafted game!

Very impressive game! Cool pen spinning mechanic, I enjoyed smashing buttons to get my score higher. And I'm amazed at how you've managed to create another game within the game. Also, I just loved the writing and visual presentation; it all just blends in a nice way to create this sort of funny, whimsical atmosphere.

Nice work!

Nice game! I like bullet-heaven games (meaning I like Vampire Survivors, haha), and this game has scratched that itch for me. Interesting mechanic with placing sectors on the wheel, although ultimately I'm not sure if my placement had any meaningful impact on the gameplay. 

Good job!

Amazingly silly. This game made me giggle more than once, which does not happen often when I play games, so kudos for that! Also, the hands are just sooo funny... Great work!

Poor Pjotr, those stupid villagers don't know what a treasure of a man you are. 

The world deserves to know all about Pjotr and his struggles, and we're lucky that this game does a damn great job of highlighting them! The core mechanic is really fun and addictive, and the upgrade system feels nice too. With that said, I absolutely adore all the small flourishes around the main gameplay loop, like closeups on Pjotr's beautiful face or a crow flying by; they're the juice that makes this game so much fun and charming. All in service of telling the story of this criminally underrated athlete! 

My only problem was with the sound; for some reason, the sounds were scrappy, as if the audio was lagging or something (or maybe it was intended?). 

Other than that - fantastic game, bravo!

That was fun, if a bit cruel. It felt like rockets were moving too slowly and for too short a distance, but maybe this is just my personal preference.

Wow, that was genuinely amazing!

This game is way underrated; it's so well crafted and has some really cool ideas! The presentation is just top-notch, every action oozes juice, the art style is great, and I absolutely loved the double-shooting mechanic (although it took me some time to realize that I have to shoot at my own heart to heal myself). The variety of bullets is very impressive. I like how different they are mechanically and how nicely they are drawn.

Wonderful work, bravo!

Oh, Mom, why are you doing this to me? I'm just a little child; you can't seriously expect me to catch up with an adult like you, all while pushing this giant and clumsy shopping cart full of fruits!! Mom, please stop and wait for me, I don't want to lose my 3DS privileges! I'm doing my best, I swear! Mom? Mom???

... sorry, this was a bit of a traumatic flashback I had after playing this freakishly hard game. To be so cute and cruel at the same time, it's simply amazing...

Finally, the secret behind the [redacted] production is revealed. I was so surprised to see that [redacted] turned out to be the boss! Who would have thought the third season of Severance would turn out so cutesey...

Seriously, though, this game is very cool! I'm surprised by how much effort went into it and how polished the result is. Great work!

Very nice game! I was frustrated by the unusual control scheme at first, but when I got it, it all fell into place. I like how this game is about finding the rhythm and following it, rather than trying to precisely control movement. And a variety of enemies was a pleasant surprise too. My only suggestion would be to maybe make upgrades more varied and interesting, as of now, they feel pretty dull.

Also, the visual presentation and music are just so classy! Loved it.

Great idea, thank you for creating this thread! 

Please play our game and rate it, it's interesting and kind of cruel, but in a cool and meaningful kind of way (I hope)

https://itch.io/jam/theveryseriousjuniperdevgamejam/rate/4716999#post-16504828

Hey, thank you so much for the comment! I'm happy to hear that you've liked our game - especially talking to coworkers, which was the part that we dedicated a lot of time and effort to. I'm glad it worked out for you in the end!

Cool game! I liked the mood and atmosphere, which is strange, considering how minimalistic the presentation is. But the combination of colors, shaders, and music created a very particular mood, that I can only describe as... serious?

Beautiful game, reminded me of Audiosurf. Very cool!

Who would have thought that saving companies from bankruptcy is so easy... and trippy! If I had known it before playing this game, I would have done it all day long! This game can teach you about the benefits of gambling in corporate business management. That's some serious educational value!

That was cool! I like color matching games, and this one scratched my itch. Interesting mixing of the genres, and also a very competent presentation. Nice work!

Unforgettable gaming experience, fully immersive interactive journey. 10/10 cat rolls

This game has serious style. I like its restrained presentation, very classy! And the gameplay loop is cool too - at least when I am not failing at it hopelessly.

With that said, the balance felt a bit too hard to my taste; I was never able to get a "good day" and always got game over on the second round. It may have something to do with how the game lagged a little bit in my browser, though.

That... hit too close to home, man. 

The sheer amount of mechanics that are hellbent on making you feel frustrated at first, and then more and more miserable... I was so proud that I've got enough money to repair my tablet, but then I realised how much the paint costs... When the color started fading out, I literally gasped. I could not have imagined that the game could get even more cruel, but then the light started to fade...

As a person who worked in one form of precarity or another most of my adult life, I can attest that this game, while being a cool game on its own, captures something important about the nature of modern labor relations. Absolutely brilliant. 

Thanks for the feedback! Although it might sound weird, I'm glad that you found the game hard and failed because that was kinda the point we were trying to make. The actual solution to the situation is to go and talk to your coworkers, but each of them requires a very specific approach; straightforward agitation for the union might not work for most of them. 

With that said, I agree that there is a space for improvement on the balance side; making stamina and the pay system less punishing at the start could have given more time for the player to adjust to the system and understand the ropes before the real challenge begins. Definitely something to look after in the future.

Thank you for playing our game and for the feedback!

I'm glad you've enjoyed chatting with coworkers! The couch was a late addition to the game, but I'm glad that more and more people are enjoying interacting with it.

As for the work minigame, I see what you're saying. We were trying to make it more varied by changing rotation rhythm, speed, and sector area, but apparently that wasn't enough. On the other hand, the work WAS meant to be uninteresting, in contrast to the interactions with coworkers; this is one of the main points of the game. So weirdly I kinda see your feedback as validating our core design philosophy :)

Lovely game, took me some time to understand the controls, but eventually I got there. My only problem was that WASD and Q / E buttons seemed to not work, only arrows did, so I never understood how to rotate the shape : (

Cool game! I liked the spin on the classic platformer setup. The yo-yo mechanics felt smooth and responsive, it took me some time to get used to how it works, but after that it was a lot of fun :)

Thank you for the feedback! I'm delighted to hear that you've liked the coworkers; they were very important for us to pin down correctly, since the game is all about building connections with people and overcoming workplace individualization.

No worries! I assume my case may be a fringe one, since I play on a very old laptop. Thanks for replying and being in touch!

Cool mechanic, very chaotic and responsive controls, super cutesy art style! 5/5

It worked! I had to spin the point veeeery slowly, though, like, one spin in 4-5 seconds or something. I only managed to make 50+ spins before the timer ran out :(

Gotcha, thanks for the explanation! I assume that the spinning stopped because I started spinning the cursor too intensely, or breaking the circle. And then the sound felt not as an indication that I am starting to get dizzy, but as feedback that I made a mistake and ruined the rhythm somehow. Which, assuming from what you've written, was not the case. Anyways, I agree that clearer feedback could help make the game flow more straightforward and smooth.

Definitely more than 10 times, I've rotated it at least for a couple of minutes. To be clear, the points got higher, but not at every spin, and the amount of money never increased. It felt as if the game just didn't register my every movement as a spin, for whatever reason...

Very cute! I enjoyed the progression curve and the playfulness of the physics. Camera movement felt a bit wiggly sometimes, but that was not enough to diminish my fun :)

Very cute! I liked how charmingly clunky this game is :)