itch.io

Thanks so much!

Hey man, thanks for playing! Really appreciate your consistent support. I really wanted to bring Koma back for this jam and I still have more ideas I'd love to execute with her! There's so many different ways you can take dreams as the basis of a story and I'd love to make Koma almost a mascot for myself. If you're willing to deep dig into my catalog, I'd love it if you gave my other Harold Jam games a whirl! They're far more inspired than this one and none of them (except maybe Stuck in the Liminal) will run you more than an hour.

Overall: 3- Happy to see you break into game development with Harold Jam! This is the jam where I found my love for telling stories through games, and I hope you find and nurture that same love too. What you have is a very nice little VN despite its bugs and I'd love to see you keep at it!

Gameplay: 2- It's a VN. Engaging gameplay isn't going to be at the forefront. I do like the way you look around the map and interact with clues though.

Sound: 1- Hate giving out 1s but there isn't any sound.

Story: 3- Very interesting to forgo RPG Maker Harold entirely and have Harold be a lost lynx! Loved the themes of discovery and wildlife conservation. I got the Dead Ending, but I hope there's a better outcome for Harold!

Comedy: 2- Not a lot.

Graphics: 3- Custom art is really nice! There are issues with the guide's sprite not loading in the archeological site and Zone 3 though.

Sorry for forgetting to reply to you! Glad you liked it. Game Boy platformers are kinda tough to make due to the small screen size and admittedly it's pretty stock GB Studio with little modifications. Making actually good platformers is not in my wheelhouse. Maybe I should talk to Lumi.

Overall: 2- An interesting premise stretched way too far. As Nate said, you'd want to compress this for a game jam. There is so much running around, finding dead ends, and fighting basic enemies that I got tired pretty quickly. A jam game should make a strong impression without too much extra fluff. Going forward, I'd suggest not only narrowing the game's scope (which you did fairly well in other Harold Jams IIRC) but finding ways to differentiate your gameplay and combat and make it more memorable.

Gameplay: 2- Really most of the gameplay is running through sprawling maps that should really be half the size at most and hitting dead ends. Battles felt stock and unmodified and I really couldn't tell what enemies were weak to or how much health they had. I also forgot to grab my party members like KV and got mopped for it. Animal spawn rates were way too low to really make the constant running feel justified. I like the idea of being able to return to the home map at any time to buy items, but armor and weapons require so much grinding to afford for even one party member.

Story: 2- Not exactly heavy on it.

Music: 2- RTP. Sound effects also needed some balancing. Ice-type moves are very very loud.

Graphics: 2- RTP.

Comedy: 2- Not a whole lot to be found, but also not in a way that detracts from the game.

Overall: One of the freshest games I've seen come out of a Harold Jam. Didn't beat the final boss but I'll try to come back if I have time.

Gameplay: Dice rolling is simple to understand and combining it with roguelike mechanics gives it a ton of depth. Something tells me this is yet another Buffet Knight prototype.

Music: I like how it never really gets intense until the final boss battle. It complements the gameplay really well.

Story: Almost reminds me of a DnD campaign. A few typos here and there such as "Your received Smokescreen".

Graphics: Amazing across the boards. Love the darker tone  I don't know why Archeia drew Harold with a rack but more power to her.

Comedy: I love how sly the comedic bits are. Most of them barely detract from the narrative.

Thanks for playing Nate! I appreciate the soundtrack love, even if I'd disagree that the music competition is very heavy this year.  I wanted to do some wild gameplay gimmicks but I really didn't have the energy, ideas, and motivation to figure out much. I'm a little worried about my plans to send this in to GBCompo 2025 since it'll probably be lost on some of the entrants.

Overall: 3- A solid little adventure that really makes you put on your thinking cap.

Gameplay: 3- Really loved solving all the puzzles and how every time period parallels and interacts with each other. For example, realizing the shiny tile from 5025 could work in 300 Ka Ma was really satisfying. The time travel sequence was cool but could definitely be abridged after the first time.

Story: 2- The exposition felt a little abrupt and I was a little lost as to what was happening at first. The character writing works its 9-5 and goes home, but it could have definitely used a lot more character to really stand out. Otherwise it works.

Music: 3- Tunes fit well, although I don't think the two-songs-playing-at-once effect in the fairground worked as well as it sounded in theory. I appreciate you including a music player and crediting all the composers! Nice to see KV putting his musical chops to work in this one, even if just for 5025.

Graphics: 3- Elevated RTP with some great custom graphics that break up the grid. Some looked a little scaled-up though. Really nice looking parallax mapping too. I wish it were easier to see through the trees like in 5025 to make navigation easier, but that didn't bug me as much as the rest.

Comedy: 3- A few sensible chuckles here and there. I'd give this a 2.5 since it kinda treads the line, but that does round up to 3.

Overall: 3- A solid little adventure that really makes you put on your thinking cap.

Gameplay: 3- Really loved solving all the puzzles and how every time period parallels and interacts with each other. For example, realizing the shiny tile from 5025 could work in 300 Ka Ma was really satisfying. The time travel sequence was cool but could definitely be abridged after the first time.

Story: 2- The exposition felt a little abrupt and I was a little lost as to what was happening at first. The character writing works its 9-5 and goes home, but it could have definitely used a lot more character to really stand out.

Music: 3- Tunes fit well, although I don't think the two-songs-playing-at-once effect in the fairground worked as well as it sounded in theory. I appreciate you including a music player and crediting all the composers! Nice to see KV putting his musical chops to work in this one, even if just for 5025.

Graphics: 3- Elevated RTP with some great custom graphics that break up the grid. Some looked a little scaled-up though. Really nice looking parallax mapping too. I wish it were easier to see through the trees like in 5025 to make navigation easier, but that didn't bug me as much as the rest.

Comedy: 3- A few sensible chuckles here and there. I'd give this a 2.5 since it kinda treads the line, but that does round up to 3.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks for playing! I'll address your feedback by criteria.

• Graphics: Makes a lot of sense. A lot of the new graphics I made are for what is essentially a more grounded and realistic take on Pokemon set in the Midwestern US. I also used a lot of Pokemon and Earthbound tilesets as reference.
• Sound: I do a lot of chiptune so it was light work. This is made to run on a Game Boy so both the graphics and sound are more than just a stylistic touch.
• Gameplay: Narrative-driven walking sim was my goal. Getting all the apples was supposed to trigger different endings but time got the better of me. I'll probably spice that up in the post-jam build.
• Story: A strong story was my goal for this Harold Jam for a while, but ironically enough the original The Dream Is Dead satisfied that niche. Koma was in fact played pretty seriously in the original game, but I've always liked the idea of her being a little looser and sillier when she's not locked in and giving dream therapy. Tryharding with the story again would have been neat, but Harold Jam isn't exactly a serious jam to begin with and my passion for jams in general is kinda fading so I didn't really care this time. I also didn't exactly enjoy this jam either so that infectious level of fun and whimsy probably isn't shining through either. Maybe if I play Alundra that'll motivate me to give Koma some more time in the sun!
• Comedy: "Campy" is a first for me! If you really want Cavid to click, check out Harold & The Curse of Teebeyae! This game does make a little more sense if you're a Harold Jam veteran.

Really appreciate that dude, and I believe you can get there!

Overall: 2- It is a damn crying shame you couldn't get this thing done in time. The sci-fi theme and deviations to the canon were killer. Next Harold Jam you enter, really try to zero in on what's preventing you from finishing those entries and work around that. What you've shown off is very unique and a finished, polished entry from you could be a highlight.

Gameplay: 2- It's a walking simulator. Simple but serviceable. Extremely minor nitpick; "Thank you" should be at the bottom of menus like the "No" option in most RPGs. Muscle memory speaking.

Music: 2- No music and RTP sounds, but honestly the lack of music kinda helps the sci-fi vibe! Almost reminds me of the future area in Live A Live.

Story: 2- Not gonna lie, the way you set it up at the beginning was really cool and had a lot of potential. It's just a shame it ended so abruptly. 

Graphics: 3- My usual 2 for RTP gets bumped up by that RM Fes-style Harold sprite which blends in really well!

Comedy: 2- Not a ton to be found, but it doesn't detract from the experience as a whole.

Love your format! I'll reply the same way.

1. Appreciate it. I didn't have a lot of time and energy for the soundtrack this time around so I'm glad it still comes across. It's a lot more traditional than the punchy European-style chiptune I did for Teebeyae, which I attribute to hUGE Tracker being a little tougher to pull off that style with and the deliberate choice to do something a little more holistically Game Boy.
2. I wanted to do something dumbass simple this jam since I knew I'd have to balance it with full-time work. My initial idea was some sort of Harold Nikki which is ultimately what this game became!
3. I didn't want it to be too callback heavy but I feel like it works. I'm a little bummed I had to scrap one dungeon which was gonna be based on a future project, although snippets did make it into Marsha's.

And now for the cons:

1. Mostly stock GBStudio platforming mechanics with some little tweaks to the acceleration and deceleration. I was running out of time so I wasn't trying to sweat things too much. Completely stock platforming is nearly unplayable IMO.
2. This was kind of a dumb oversight. Most likely gonna fix it post-jam since it's so minor.
3. I wasn't sure how long this game would last at first; it was originally going to be much longer. I don't regret the save system as I think it was a good challenge for getting used to GB Studio, but the run button is tempting.

As for the flashing text during character name changes, unfortunately that's what GBStudio refers to as instant speed. There's probably a better way to handle this behavior.

Thanks so much Aaron! Really means a lot to me that people are still finding this soundtrack four years later. I'd love to see you play the game as well! It was the game that made me realize a passion for storytelling I never kindled beforehand.

I have to give a special shoutout to Signals Music Studio for getting me educated on those diminished chords in Bound By Fate. The framework of that song was the way Signals describes diminished chords as "portals", easily allowing me to pivot between key signatures. I combined that with some Nobuo Uematsu influence and cooked up a retro battle theme with a unique identity.

The cover was made by myself using a custom map made in RPG Maker and either Photoshop or GIMP for all the text. The actual ingame graphics were made by my good friend and Haroldverse coach Sawyer Friend.

I normally don't consider my soundtracks open-source music packs, but for a class project I'm chill with it. Just be sure to credit me (callmeDJ) and the name of the song(s) you used. Good luck with your project!

Thanks!

I'm planning on making a GB Studio game for another game jam which runs during the month of July. Since this is well within the limits of GB Compo, I'm wondering if it's possible for to enter my game in both jams or even submit a post-jam version after getting feedback from the jam before. Is this allowed?

The Dream Is Dead Original Soundtrack is out now as a downloadable soundtrack on Itch and SoundCloud! I also have a full soundtrack breakdown where I go over how Lumi and I wrote each song! I also aim to upload the soundtrack to YouTube soon, so stay tuned!

Shocked to have won Best Music with Lumi, who is uncredited as a composer but did write two tracks and wrote and "sung" the "lyrics" to the memorable final dungeon theme. There were so many composers entering this jam that I figured I'd get swamped. Lumi and I both agree what got us the win was daring to be different and doing something really out there. Once again very honored to claim this prize, and I'll be posting the soundtrack and a behind-the-scenes devlog by the end of the week!

I'm gonna take this magical moment to plug Buffet Knight: Decadent Full Course by 20th placer Nowis-337. Nowis was the runner-up for the last RPG Maker jam with an early version of this game, and he's fleshed it out into one of the best playing RPG Maker games out there. He also needed an original soundtrack made of 34 genre-transcending Game Boy bangers for it and yeah I think you know where this is going. It's been flying under the radar, so please give it a spin and leave a positive review if you like it! Seeing Buffet Knight blow up would honestly mean way more to me than winning this jam.

Appreciate you streaming it Waldorf!

Thanks for the shoutout legend

I have a partner as of now but I will keep you in mind if something should happen.

Heyo! I'm DJ and I think writing Game Boy music is really fun. I've been composing music for 18 years and currently compose for indie games and also Toontown Rewritten. (Listen to my TTR music!) I compose chiptune with Furnace Tracker and GBStudio's music editor and can write in a wide variety of a styles with a punchy tone inspired by European composers like Alberto Gonzalez. I've also made my own games in the past, although I do not intend to create my own entry for this jam. Instead, I would be honored to give your game an original soundtrack and contribute and bounce around any ideas to liven it up! Feel free to reply to this thread or DM me on Discord at callmedj if you're interested!

I entered the last GB Jam as part of a team where I learned how to use GBStudio's built-in music editor. Even though the team considered Motel Nebras a bust, I really enjoyed it and I'd love to do more tunes for this GB Jam! Feel free to give the Motel Nebras soundtrack a listen!

I've also been writing Game Boy-style soundtracks in Furnace Tracker, which can both export to WAV and VGM and convert to GBS for GBStudio using a special utility! My soundtrack for Harold & The Curse of Teebeyae, my Harold Jam 2024 entry, won Best Music over both 25 other Harold Jam entries and 85 other Feedback Quest 12 entries! Harold & The Curse of Teebeyae: The Bonafide Album is very much in line with the kind of music I can provide for your GB Jam entry.

I am currently writing an original soundtrack for Buffet Knight in Furnace. Buffet Knight a Kirby-meets-Zelda adventure game that placed 2nd in the Touch The Stars game jam and is being expanded into a full game. While the soundtrack is not officially available, you can find snippets of an adventurous world map theme and a sugary-sweet tune for a candy village in cotton candy clouds on Twitter!

Thanks Moog, always the homie. I think the battle system is a strong foundation but needs a serious overhaul. I ideally want to add many more types of attacks and find a way to replace hints with visual cues.

Thanks for playing! Glad you jived with it. The abrupt ending was out of neccesity, as I came up against the deadline and had to cut some corners to get it over the finish line. The original plan for the ending was to cut to Fred and Eliza being blasted out of the cave and into the water before ending with Harold, Marsha, and David talking about their time as heroes and their retirement before going back into the shack. If I ever do one final update for this game, I'll add that in along with some final bug fixes.

Managed to catch the tail end of your playthrough and I'm planning to watch the rest later. I'll be honest and say I was a little frustrated putting a whole week into bug fixes for FQ7 over other priorities with so little return on investment, but seeing your live reaction was so worth it. Glad you liked it!

Appreciate it! This game was made for a game jam in another community so there's a ton of in-jokes that may be lost on FQ7 testers. I do have my doubts about the story structure as a whole, but I'll leave it there.

Note: Please download the FQ7 build when playing this game! This fixes some serious bugs in the original version which included softlocks that are very easy to trigger! I'm still testing the FQ7 version, so let me know if you run into any bugs. I also think this game could be a foundation for something bigger and would appreciate feedback on what to improve!

The recommended voting criteria advises to save your 5-star rating for the best in each category. Now that voting has ended, which entries got your 5? Did multiple win one category? Did none win at all?

Overall: This was a tight eleventh-hour race. While it ultimately went to Harolds In Time for the sheer amount of love, detail, and effort put into it, Harold In just barely trailed behind for most of the same reasons. They excelled in every category and offered great characters, story, and even custom art!

Gameplay: My favorite-playing game of the RPG Maker-themed game jam was not a RPG. Harold Voidskipper just felt really good to play! I played with a keyboard and mouse which definitely influenced my vote, as having one hand on WASD to move with the other on my mouse to aim, slash, and throw sparks was very comfortable and easy to get the hang of. In addition, the game is very simple from a foundational standpoint, but lay on those enemies thick and make that final boss one crazy mofo and it practically turns into a bullet hell. I mentioned in my review it's a great blend of difficulty and forgiveness.

Music: This one was surprisingly close, but I had to abandon my gripes about 8-bit music in a RTP setting and give it to Crueldown. Sawyer got my 5 with a completely original soundtrack that told a story and created a multiverse. I've been saying Sawyer can just write a really damn good song regardless of constraints. Check out his BandCamp album Heroic Return, featuring both the music of Crueldown and his amazing final boss theme from Harold Voidskipper!

 Story: The best story of the jam is... nothing?! I ended up not giving a 5 to any game in this category. Heroes Come and Go would have easily taken it, but the story ends mid-climax and couldn't receive my 5 for that reason. Harold In and Harolds In Time both exceeded 45 minutes, so I unfortunately had to judge based on the glimpse of the story I got.

Graphics: Once again big Nate comes through with Harold Voidskipper. What sold me was how clear and expressive his sprites are despite the low resolution. This is something I've been dying to achieve with my own game, so this was awesome to see. Honorable mention goes to Harold In for nearly snatching the 5 with its original sprites and distinctly RPG Maker style.

Comedy: POO WINS COMEDY? Brew wins comedy with Mental Gear Solid: The Twin Japes! It was a very tight race between this and Loriesquare's IN-sane eventing, but MGS barely edged it out because it stuck in my head longer. Classic Brew puns and japes everywhere, but the highlight was definitely the timed Snake Eater sequence as Harold climbs the ladder. I also know lightning and air manipulation.

Overall: Beat one boss and hit 47 minutes, but I kinda want to keep going! A certified Moogle classic with all the classic HBW hallmarks and a deckbuilding twist. So glad you and Padr could push through and get this sucker done.

Gameplay: It's a Moogle game; it is going to be good. Didn't really indulge myself in the deckbuilding aspect but I respect it nonetheless. Loving the skill mastery; you're contemplating making me add it to my own game! I just wasn't a fan of items blowing an entire turn rather than letting the rest of your party act.

Music: Some great tunes I recognize from the other HBW games. I don't know if I heard anything original but I hope some of Padr's music made it in. Unfortunately I did not get to do a single song for this game like I promised early on and (Stuck in the) Past Harold did not have Divided by Destiny blasting at max volume during his fight so you get ZERO stars from me. Sorry fellas!

Story: Stuck in the Past anyway I really love the care and details put into the story. The little teeny changes to Reid's village that barely hint at the plot alone bump this to a 4.

Graphics: Wonderful sprites and tiles from the immaculate Padr81. Very convincing 8-bit vibe!

Comedy: Not a core part of the game, but I loved the way you used "Kept you waiting, huh?"

Overall: Tight gameplay, simple mechanics that build in intensity, great graphics and sound; what's not to love?

Gameplay: Felt really good with the combination keyboard/mouse layout. Gameplay mechanics were easy to remember, but all the enemies turned it into a bullet hell near the end. Really great balance of convenience and challenge, a benchmark I think many other devs should strive to reach (myself included).

Music: Great selection of 8-bit tunes and I loved the Sawyer banger at the end.

Story: Not a lot. I also couldn't see how the game ended because Godot gave me a black screen after I beat the final boss. I could still hear everything that happened though.

Graphics: Sprites are really clean and have a lot of character despite their resolution. Loved the CGs during cutscenes as well. It should come as no surprise your art is among the best of the jam and very possibly my 5-star.

Comedy: Not a lot but that's not a big deal.

Overall: Beautiful graphics and a well-written story make this entry a Harold Jam highlight!

Gameplay: Separating MP and sword skills into two separate meters was an interesting choice.

Music: Served the game well and the extra sound effects helped up the atmosphere.

Story:  One of the better stories of the jam, and very eloquently written too! The big issue is it ends too early. I would have loved to see a proper resolution with the tension you built up at the very end.

Graphics: Beautiful work across the board. Love the four-color silhouette drawings interspersed with the gameplay. Having first-person battlers be represented by the player's hands was a really smart choice that looks excellent here. I also love how Harold's sprite changes in the chasm.

Comedy: Enough sprinklings to freshen the otherwise dark and serious story.

Overall: Gameplay-wise, pretty fun. Story-wise, may not exactly be my thing. There's something for everyone at least.

Gameplay: Pretty much only battles, but I think this works for a jam. The FP system worked well enough and encounters were straightforward, although the clouds that absorbed Spark and the bats with counters shook things up a bit. I really wish CPR at least got you to half health. It's pretty pointless when you have 1 HP and have to blow two FP on Healing Water in addition. Lastly, I wasn't even aware that my party learned new skills until the final battle. At least I got to give Harold a pride flag to superpower his spark. Sorry, storyline; he is definitely gay.

Music: Worked well enough. Is it me or did I hear Gerudo Valley at one point?

Story: This strangely reminds me of my own game from Harold Jam 2021; MC ends up in a strange world and finds out there's a McGuffin up in the Local Dungeon that can get him out.

For a game that's half VN, I wish there was more story in between fights than just "Enemy approached!" That would have made introducing CPR feel a little more appropriate than David randomly dying out of nowhere, for one. I also get hella Set Character syndrome where every character has one trait and voice quirk they stick to throughout the entire game. In a longer jam entry like this, it starts to get noticeable. David's traumatic backstory is out of nowhere and has zero effect on the rest of the story or the player.

Graphics: Love the effort put into the hand-drawn art. Battlers look great too.

Comedy: This game falls into the pitfall of "I made this joke, I think it's funny, I will now make it fifteen thousand more times because surely it can't get less funny, right?" It should not have taken precedence over actual story IMO.

Overall: Very ambitious to take on a Soulslike in full 3D! It was a little laggy on my laptop and I didn't beat Ogre David, but I still respect the effort put into this entry.

Gameplay: Haven't played Dark Souls or many soulslikes so I was a little unfamiliar. Camera movement felt odd to me and the lag didn't help.

Music: Fitting tunes for the base of the mountain and the Ogre David fight. Also props to the sound design with David's big meaty thwacks and Unhinged's voice acting.

Story: A little light. Go up the mountain and slay the ogre.

Graphics: This is where the game shines. It's not often we get a Harold Jam game in full 3D! The custom Harold model looked very convincing.

Comedy: Barely any, but not a bad thing.

Overall: Not a bad entry, albeit on the short side.

Gameplay: Pretty straightforward. Played through P mode and managed to keep my MP up throughout.

Music: RTP.

Story: Haven't actually watched DBZ so I wasn't fully in tune with the story. Forgive me, father, for I have sinned.

Graphics: Low's battlers work well here and you pulled some cool action sequencing.

Comedy: Little sprinkles here and there.

The Metal Gear is no different than a Coconut or Rock; all it does is apply Bonked. It's less about the specific items you use and more about the effects they have.

Overall: A hilarious little romp with all the chaotic comedy I could expect from a Snim entry, but could do with some tightening up in the gameplay department.

Gameplay: Walking sim with a twist. Unfortunately the items had weird collisions from time to time. Having to walk over the fairy to talk to her in the forest also tripped me up.

Music: Loved ViRiX/Dave's original music throughout, some really great ambient tunes that are among the better I've heard this jam. Dave being able to play any song in your house was a really nice touch. How perfect is it that your own composer fulfilled one of the jam requirements?

Story: A delightful little tale that catered well to the game's comedic tone. Unfortunately there were quite a few typos and one point where the text went out of the text box, but that's not a total game breaker for me.

Graphics: RTP.

Comedy: Harold meeting Snim is like fire and nitroglycerin. I genuinely can't believe FayDHD is more than a one-line gag.

Thanks KV! Glad I'm delivering well on all fronts, but I really wish I had more time to prototype and test the battle system. Still kicking myself for that.