I'm glad you enjoyed it! About the length though, the game actually turned out far bigger (word count-wise) than I expected it to be - I suppose that's how it is with there being many branching paths, though...
chmron
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I'm glad you enjoyed it! My reasoning behind the seemingly arbitrary point changes was that the score boiled down to Saul's own opinion of himself, rather than to any actual success with Alan (in fact, to pull the curtain back a little, whether Alan enjoys the date or not is actually an entirely different score value - the only thing Saul's perceived score affects is some small dialogue here and there, one split in the middle of the game, and whether the Game Over screen is triggered or not).
I definitely understand how it can be confusing, though - at the end of the day managing to convey all that via the game is quite tricky, and with the power of hindsight I can definitely see places where I could have made it clearer. I suppose that's how it is with game jams, though.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! My reasoning behind the seemingly arbitrary point changes was that the score boiled down to Saul's own opinion of himself, rather than to any actual success with Alan (in fact, to pull the curtain back a little, whether Alan enjoys the date or not is actually an entirely different score value - the only thing Saul's perceived score affects is some small dialogue here and there, one split in the middle of the game, and whether the Game Over screen is triggered or not). For the food choice, I'd even say that the one that lowers the score is (arguably) the better decision.
I definitely understand how it can be confusing, though - at the end of the day managing to convey all that via the game is quite tricky, and with the power of hindsight I can definitely see places where I could have made it clearer. I suppose that's how it is with game jams, though.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
The question of whether to make the date actually 'hard' or not was definitely something I grappled with at first, but I ultimately decided to keep it so that you could reasonably finish it first try - the intention was for the choices / score / rewind ability to represent Saul's own anxiety and constant second-guessing surrounding the date, rather than him actually struggling to get Alan to enjoy his company.
After all - online drama aside, the two are were meant to be quite compatible.
This one's tricky to judge.
On one hand, I think the central idea is fantastic - it's creative, funny, and all-too-relatable for just about anyone - let alone the people who're most likely to be reading it. I think it's got immense amounts of potential, and the level of polish is unmatched - the art's fantastic, the music perfectly fits the scenes, and it's simply an entertaining story to read on a moment to moment basis, what with the slick UI, fun character interactions, and constant barrage of well-timed jokes (also I LOVE how the characters do a little bounce whenever they start speaking, it's absolutely adorable).
On the other hand, I feel as though the story never really manages to tie everything together into a solid conclusion. As others have mentioned before, the VN just suddenly... ends, without leaving much room for the reader to mull over the experience or come to conclusions about the ideas explored throughout it. All the pieces for something incredible are here, but the story simply chooses to discard the pieces at the finish line. Now, this might very well be intentional - there's something to be said about the unsatisfying experience of the final day matching Swift's own unsatisfying con experience, but while I understand that, it doesn't change the experience - the negative consequences it has for the rest of the story, and for how it feels to read it, are there all the same.
Keep in mind, that I absolutely do not think Swift should have succeeded in his goal of getting laid - I think it's far more interesting for him to end the story "failing", and that it's much better for it. The story would be just as (and much more) unsatisfying if it ended with Swift getting what he wanted and nothing more. However, I do feel like the story has a lot of room to further explore the ideas behind what Swift is trying to do, which isn't properly utilized - at the end of the day, there's a lot to dig into with regards to why exactly Swift wants what he wants - both on a personal level, and on a broader societal level (which, to go on a slight tangent, ties back into his opening monologue with regards to the unspoken rules of being a man, given how much the desire to lose one's virginity / get laid ties into existing patterns of toxic masculinity).
At the end of the story, In spite of reading through 16000 words of his perspective, I feel like I still don't *know* Swift. Which is odd, given how much he monologues throughout the story - but most of his internal dialogue feels as though he's lecturing the reader about his experiences, or cracking jokes for the audience's sake, rather than us getting to peek into his head and thoughts (the opening monologue stands out here, with it practically feeling like it was taken from a video essay).
That said, this might be a skill issue on my part. I don't doubt that a lot of thought was put into how Swift is written, but I just personally feel like it's kind of hard to tell, as a reader. Likewise, I feel as though this same idea applies for the other themes of the story - instead of focusing squarely on Swift trying to get laid, or the experience of being at a furry convention, or on current day political issues, it bounces back and forth, while never really stopping to fully explore any given one of these ideas. The con isn't focused much on because Swift's search takes him outside of it, but the search is interrupted multiple times in order to start exploring current day politics - all three of these things are perfectly valid things to explore in the story, and even just existing as a queer person is political so it especially makes sense to explore the latter, but the way the story jumps between the three always feels somewhat jarring and disorienting to read through.
Day 2 stands out especially here, given the sheer whiplash of the story jumping from Swift looking to buy an Amicus dildo, to discussing the Pulse club shooting in less than 300 words. In general, the way the story discusses political topics feels somewhat one-note - Diesel is obviously a horrendous person, and Hammer is obviously a fantastic person, but they both feel like caricatures of political views rather than real people. This especially goes for Hammer, who the story tries to expand beyond this role, but who just ends up feeling like a dash of wish-fulfillment in an otherwise quite grounded story - the hot, nice, confident punk who singles you out from the group and is super into you. Obviously things don't work out between Swift and him, but it's for a "safe" reason - it's not due to a personal flaw of his, it's because of poor timing, and Swift's own hesitation (but not outright unwillingness) at being with someone who's in an open relationship.
While all of this is happening, there's the matter of Blake. And... I fucking love them, honestly - their scenes are hilarious, and I loved the gag of them commenting on Swift's 'escapades' and how they contrasted with their own - they're simultaneously a very charming and entertaining character, and a fantastic foil to Swift, someone who's having the con experience he's been dreaming of (mainly, sex). That said, they're quite underused in this role - they show up in a very limited amount of scenes, in spite of them being the 'novembuck' of the jam - and they're entirely absent from the climax of the story.
This is a massive shame, given just how much potential their character has - both in the sense that they will undoubtedly have a *ton* to say about what happened with Osgood (whether good or bad), and in the sense that I think that a frank conversation between them and Swift after it all ends could go a long way towards exploring the many ideas that the story touches on, but ultimately doesn't go far with. Their role in the story as the foil to Swift has so much potential, and the fact that the story doesn't properly make use of that potential is probably the biggest part of why I left it feeling so dissatisfied.
And, really, potential is the word I want to focus on here. I've been quite harsh at times, but it's ultimately because I feel as though this story has so much potential - it feels like many of its flaws are just the consequence of having been written on a time crunch for a game jam, while at the same time not having the proper scope for such a project. I feel like, if the story had shifted its focus mostly to just one of the three main 'ideas' I mentioned previously instead of bouncing between them seemingly at random, it could have been fantastic - but as it stands, it feels quite flawed and unsatisfying, in spite of still being a very entertaining experience.
That said, I'm really looking forwards to seeing if there'll be post-jam updates to the story - I feel like, given more room to breathe, and some additional scenes here and there, all three of these ideas *can* be properly fleshed out and coexist with each other - while still not compromising on the game's vision, and on the desire for the story to still feel somewhat "unsatisfying" by the end.
Oh man, how do I even begin talking about this one?
For one, the art is absolutely incredible. I already knew to expect fantastic stuff from the art given what I've seen of the author's previous work, but it still managed to blow me away - the sprites are wonderfully dynamic and expressive (especially Wolf! I was consistently blown away by just how expressive his sprites are!), and in general it feels like this visual novel has a really solid and consistent visual style - it's a perfect blend of detail and abstraction that really helped pull me into the story.
As for the story... I'm definitely gonna have to give this a reread once the full version is out - both to see the other ending, and to try and better understand what goes on, because damn this story can get confusing at times. This isn't necessarily bad, though - there's a fantastic matter-of-factness to many of the details in the story that helps solidify a sense of place, in spite of how fantastical the VN's setting is.
In addition that, I don't think the confusion kept me from seeing and engaging with the main themes of the work (or, what I saw as the main themes of the work) - while the specifics of what happens in the story get murky at times, the feelings of the characters are very much felt, and this story was absolutely a rollercoaster in that department.
I'm waiting on the full version of the VN to be released before I feel like a reread is definitely going to clear some things up, but there's already so many interesting ideas explored here - in particular, the comparison of indulging in the sand with 'perversion' (in particular of the furry kind), and how it shows itself in all the characters. It's interesting that the 'My Wolf' of the game is the most perverted of the bunch, and the one who engages the most heavily with fetishistic ideas (and in musk, no less - a fetish which is particularly prevalent in furry spaces.). On the opposite end of things, you have the owl, who uses the sand (via the artistic medium of the torch) in order to present as her preferred gender, and as her only means of properly communicating with others - it really goes to show both how it can both be used for ill and for good.
Fantastic job! I can't wait for the full version to come out!
Thank you for the feedback! I definitely agree that some of the exposition near the start could have been improved - it definitely comes off as a bit blunt at times, and balancing the desire for ambiguity and for people to know what the hell is going on is a tricky task that I've got room to improve in.
Still, I'm glad you enjoyed the story in spite of that! I'm especially glad the details and stylization of the art stood out, since that was something I put a lot of effort into!
Thank you! I really enjoyed getting to take risks with the presentation and style of the art for this jam, and I'm glad it resonated with you! Honestly the paper outline was a choice I was also not too sure about, but I ultimately decided to keep it in because I liked the idea of having the paper deteriorate over the course of the story.
Thank you for the review - I'm glad you enjoyed it!
As for the allegory, I'd say my goal here was ultimately to present the importance of routine and a sense of normalcy in the face of looming disaster - climate change is certainly something I had in mind while working on this, but in reality, there's no shortage of things looming in the future to be scared of these days...
Something I also tried to convey was that, in spite of it all, life does go on, in one way or another - the infected are still 'conscious' in one way or another, and though even I don't know what's in store for the characters after the ending, what's for sure is that they're going to face it together.
It's easy to give up in the face of these looming threats and decide that there's no point in going on, that the looming disaster is far more than you could ever take - Birch and Judah both face those exact feelings in the story - but ultimately I wanted the story to show that there's value in going on, and that even when the worst does happen, it isn't necessarily the end - life goes on, after all.
Copying my comment from the jam page:
I respect the shit out of this game, but it's not really for me, unfortunately (and that's alright!).
The fact that the VN has a functional maze and sliding puzzle system within it in spite of being made in renpy is incredibly cool and a very impressive feat, but I think there's definitely some jank that comes across as a result of how it's made - especially when it comes to the maze minigame. Even after gaining the ability to keep track of rooms I've already been in (which, let me just say - absolutely diabolical move to hide that in the middle of the first maze instead of just handing it out at the start), the mazes were too difficult for me - the rooms are all too similar to each other, especially in the first maze, and the fact that Gabe's perspective is accounted for when you turn back around (meaning that controls are reversed) is definitely cool, but it led to me getting lost significantly more than I would have were it consistent. Because of that, I had to give up on the mazes partway through - even if I gave each of them a try at first.
Unfortunately, this also meant that I missed a lot of the plot, making it feel way more disconnected than I assume it would otherwise be. This fits perfectly with the game's plot, given how Gabe's memories are scrambled and how hard he has to work to gain them, so I'm not complaining - but it is a bit of a bummer, as someone who enjoyed what I saw of the plot but couldn't really do the maze puzzles.
On some level, I wonder if making this game in an engine that's more fit for games with 3d graphics, or adding an optional map or other form of "easy mode" could have made it more approachable and let me enjoy it more, but at the same time I understand that this game just isn't really for me, and that's alright - ultimately game jams are great precisely because they encourage this sort of experimentation, and I think this game is incredibly impressive as a result of its otherwise uncompromising nature and how difficult to approach it is for someone like me with awful spatial awareness.
I respect the shit out of this game, but it's not really for me, unfortunately (and that's alright!).
The fact that the VN has a functional maze and sliding puzzle system within it in spite of being made in renpy is incredibly cool and a very impressive feat, but I think there's definitely some jank that comes across as a result of how it's made - especially when it comes to the maze minigame. Even after gaining the ability to keep track of rooms I've already been in (which, let me just say - absolutely diabolical move to hide that in the middle of the first maze instead of just handing it out at the start), the mazes were too difficult for me - the rooms are all too similar to each other, especially in the first maze, and the fact that Gabe's perspective is accounted for when you turn back around (meaning that controls are reversed) is definitely cool, but it led to me getting lost significantly more than I would have were it consistent. Because of that, I had to give up on the mazes partway through - even if I gave each of them a try at first.
Unfortunately, this also meant that I missed a lot of the plot, making it feel way more disconnected than I assume it would otherwise be. This fits perfectly with the game's plot, given how Gabe's memories are scrambled and how hard he has to work to gain them, so I'm not complaining - but it is a bit of a bummer, as someone who enjoyed what I saw of the plot but couldn't really do the maze puzzles.
On some level, I wonder if making this game in an engine that's more fit for games with 3d graphics, or adding an optional map or other form of "easy mode" could have made it more approachable and let me enjoy it more, but at the same time I understand that this game just isn't really for me, and that's alright - ultimately game jams are great precisely because they encourage this sort of experimentation, and I think this game is incredibly impressive as a result of its otherwise uncompromising nature and how difficult to approach it is for someone like me with awful spatial awareness.
Man this was an incredible experience. Even if these are just 5 short snippets from the past, and they aren't even necessarily sad per se, they give off such a strong nostalgic and melancholic feeling!
The unique aesthetic and form factor of it all really elevated the experience - hell, I even had a ton of fun just browsing the menus and seeing the full extent to which the computer desktop was recreated here!
Great job! This was a really fun and creative read!
I feel like visual novels frequently treat the presentation as an afterthought - they focus on having aesthetically appealing sprites but have them stay still the whole time, or they simply focus on writing, but I feel like the presentation here really took things up a notch! It's rare to see a visual novel feel properly animated, even if (most of) the sprites didn't actually move around - they were just so incredibly expressive and dynamic, which made this a joy to get through!
Great job! This was a really fun and creative read!
I feel like visual novels frequently treat the presentation as an afterthought - they focus on having aesthetically appealing sprites but have them stay still the whole time, or they simply focus on writing, but I feel like the presentation here really took things up a notch! It's rare to see a visual novel feel properlyanimated, even if (most of) the sprites didn't actually move around - they were just so incredibly expressive and dynamic, which made this a joy to get through!
Dang, this story's cool. I love how abstract it is - everything about it gives this sort of otherworldly feeling that perfectly encapsulates... some sort of feeling. That of working at a shitty, demeaning job that slowly eats at your sanity, probably. To be honest, I feel like I haven't fully parsed what it's about yet - but that certainly doesn't mean that I didn't feel it while reading, and I'd say that's what matters most.
I'll also shout out the sprites and the general style of the story - you wouldn't think the sprites fit with the bgs, but I think they work together to emphasize that dream-like feeling which is so present in this story and which gives it those all-too-important vibes.
Good job, this was a fun one to read!
Thank you! Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to be a bit of a tease here - In spite of the characters occasionally getting up to steamy stuff, I'm currently not planning on including anything beyond a fade to black here and there.
They definitely have their place in some stories, but full blown sex scenes are less of a fit for my current vision for Solstice Eve 😅
EDIT: Well nevermind lmao. After thinking about it, I've expanded the ending for day 7 in build 2, adding a proper sex scene lol.