itch.io

Just to be clear: can we enter a game we started working on before the submission period started?

... I'm happy to see a game jam where the rules treat adolescent sexuality/affection sensibly and sensitively instead of just having some blanket ban like "no relationships between characters below 18, period." Sexualisation of children is a serious problem, but so often, content hosts seem to fight it by taking the safe option of just banning anything that implies that people under age 18 are capable of sexual or romantic feelings. I wish it weren't so unusual to find a place that's willing to grapple with the complex, messy reality of what being a teen is like.

Don't think I'll make anything for this jam (don't really have any ideas that would work with your theme), but I want to thank you for your sensitivity in stating the rules, and fully support this theme.

The game doesn't have to be set in Heaven just because "Heaven" is the theme.

Nice simple game, kept my attention. Only major issue is that the writing on the ending screen is messy, making it impossible to see your score. Other than that, fine game for the time limit.

I'm a big fan of the genre, so I have a lot to choose from. A question: does this only cover games from the "classic" era, or are modern text adventures made in classic formats okay?

If the first: the original Adventure (aka Colossal Cave) by Crowther and Wood, definitely. Yes, it can be overly unfair and hard, but it was the first! The atmosphere and writing are still darn good, and it has some fine puzzles.

If modern text adventures (late 90s and beyond) are included: like I said, a difficult choice, but one of my top picks would be Metamorphoses by Emily Short. It's short-ish, but very well coded, with a system for transforming or re-sizing objects that enables a great scope for different puzzle solutions. Plus, it may have the finest writing in any text adventure I've played.

I just saw it. Great theme, will see if I come up with something.

For the organiser: Please be aware that the jam has started, but the phobia has not yet been announced.

Please continue to the game page for a link to an online version, as well as more detailed instructions, walkthrough link etc.

Thank you very much for playing, I'm delighted whenever people enjoy my stuff. I see what you mean about the "climb" command, it didn't occur to me until now that it might be confusing. (That said, "down" works too in that situation.)

A hint if you want one:

SPOILER

If you have already lifted your curse, the dragon's wings will be useful for getting home. See if there's anything you can use to cut them off.

I wish I'd started playing this earlier, since it's clearly a very big game. As it is, I can only really rate what I've played. It's a nice J-RPG, though it gets a bit samey after a while. It's also quite difficult: your party starts out very weak, and I can sense it would take a lot of grinding before I can beat the goblin cave. Buying food that improves various stats instead of levelling up is an original mechanic.

I always find it difficult to rate RPG Maker games, since I can't know which assets were created by the developer, but suffice it to say, the graphics and music are very pretty. I like the hero sprites, and you have some beautiful towns/castles/dungeons. The plot is a bit cheesy (maybe it develops into something bigger later on), but at least there is one. The dialogue feels a bit generic, but there are some good and funny lines.

Some things that you might want to improve if you're planning to release future versions: the SFX are very loud compared to the music, and the text in fight scenes is a bit dark (might be hard to pick one that looks good on all backgrounds, though). Green is a bit of a weird colour choice for the names of dead heroes.

All this is nitpicking: I may not have got very far, but from what I've seen this is a very big RPG with a lot of solid mechanics. Great work.

This game seems pretty massive. I'm going to have to come back to it tomorrow and play more before I can rate it, but what I've seen of it is quite good.

Okay, that's very cool! Thank you for replying.

Is there a win condition, or failing that, something to keep track of how far you got before you died?

I'm a fan of everything else about it: the graphics are very pretty, the bullet-hell elements are well implemented, and it's nicely satisfying when stuff gets blown up. I just want to know whether I'm missing any content before I rate it.

I totally get it; I don't like being reduced to using walkthroughs myself. You do what you feel like.

Very flattered to hear; thank you for rating!

If you'd like a hint, there's a link to the walkthrough on the game page.

Now this is darn good for a jam game! Fun, solid concept, cool implementation of the powers (I'm particularly impressed by Fishboy's one), very well-designed level, and even destructible terrain. You could definitely take this concept and characters and use them for a full-length platformer.

No real downsides, just some minor things I didn't like so much. I found some of the sprites a bit ugly with their broad heads and big noses, and the menu is rather basic-looking, but that's just a taste thing. Also, Electulence's power was a bit juvenile for my taste (and is there a typo in his/her name in the menu?). On the upside, I loved being able to play as a slime monster, even though that playthrough was a bit frustrating (more about that below). Would have been nice if dying made you reset automatically, without having to press R. Unlocking new heroes seems a bit random, but that just adds to the fun in experimentation.

OozBoy's playthrough had me stumped for a while. SPOILERS BELOW

maybe I was just obtuse, but it took me a while to figure out that the ladder in the cave was climbable by jumping.

END SPOILERS

Like I said, those are all minor negatives, and I wouldn't nitpick if I didn't think the game was good enough to be worth it. I haven't played all contest entries yet, but this one is a high-water mark. I haven't found all the heroes yet; might be back with more feedback when I do.

Nice idea, with clean graphics (I like the little symbols ticking off whenever you use a resource). I always enjoy a good resource management game. Some nice coding, like the hexes that you can move to lighting up, and the virus spreading. All in all, I'm impressed by the randomisation. My only complaint is that like the previous reviewer, I think it could simply do with more stuff: maybe some mobile enemies, that sort of thing. But what you have is solid.

It's possible to spawn right next to the lab, which is kind of unintentionally hilarious.

The cover image is beautiful.

Be aware that the game can be played online here. Check the game's page for a link to the walkthrough and other information.

It still works well. And believe me, endings are hard to do.

Cool, thank you.

Hi, I have a question. Are text-based games (Inform, Twine, Quest etc.) allowed, if they otherwise conform to the requirements for the roguelike genre?

Seems threatening to me. Does that mean that all contestants who make bad roguelikes will be executed? :-)

That was great! The animated train graphic at the top and bottom of the screen are very well done, and you've managed some very good (and disturbing) effects with the Bitsy graphics, especially with your use of fade-ins. A pretty nice puzzle as well (the repeating room). A very good, creepy horror story; I'm grateful that I got to play it.

In terms of constructive criticism: the writing in the poem is a bit clunky at times; not awful at all, but not brilliant either. That said, writing a story in verse isn't easy, and I wouldn't be able to do any better. (The dialogue, on the other hand, is well-written, I have no complaints there.) Also

SPOILERS

I was expecting a bit more plot in the ending: some sort of explanation of what was going to happen with the passengers, maybe. Instead it just ended with a jumpscare. A good image, but still just a jumpscare.

Anyway, these are minor nitpicks. An appropriately disturbing game with great graphics and a very creepy set-up. I'm impressed.

Very good points.

You made Li'l Onion Detective? I haven't played it yet, but I saw it on a list of Bitsy recommendations. I'll play it at some point when I have the time.

Didn't mean to put it down, it's a better Bitsy game than I could make. :-)

Pretty funny story. A couple of jokes felt like they'd been done before, and the dialogue at the end was a bit long, but generally the comedy worked well, and I don't feel I wasted my time playing it. Both characters have distinct personalities. I like the ripple effect, and the graphics are nice and clear.

Sorry, my mistake. Try this link.

I'd like to thank you for hosting this jam. First of all, I'm just happy that I finally got the impetus to finish my entry, and I'm pretty proud of it. I got to play some very good games as well, even if I sadly wasn't able to play them all.

I like "finish it" style game jams in general, because... let's be honest here, I'm lousy at hitting deadlines while still creating a good product.
Thank you for hosting, and thank to the developers for their entries!

Thank you very much! I'm happy you enjoyed what you played. And yes, text adventures are one of my favourite genres.

There's a link to a walkthrough on the game's page, if you'd like a hint.

Forgot to mention: while I like the message animation, I would have preferred less of a delay before the text appears.

This is really slick and professionally produced (the message animation is very nice-looking). Good writing in the intro, made me chuckle a few times. Not really my type of game, but the difficulty hit the right spot of challenging me without being frustrating. The length feels about right: I would probably have enjoyed a couple more levels, but at least it didn't outstay its welcome.

Very nice interpretation of the "two buttons" theme.

This is very polished and promising. Nice palette and good graphics. Some of it is very impressive (the giant hands), and there is some very good trippy imagery in the boss battle. Melody's jump feels a bit difficult to control, but everything else feels good to me. A bit of storyline as well, with some snappy lines, and both Melody and the bad guy are memorable characters. The music isn't insanely memorable, but it's not bad, and I enjoyed the boss music.

Unfortunately, I still haven't beaten the boss fight. In between the boss being ludicrously durable and difficult to hit, and the rather precise platforming, I don't seem able to do more than make a dent in his health bar. Unless there is some puzzly way of defeating him, I don't think I'm going to get further. Which is a shame, because I wouldn't mind seeing more of this game.

I appreciate that falling into the pit isn't insta-death, and that you respawn at the start of the boss battle when you die. However, given how hard it is, I think refilling the player's health bar upon entering the fight would be a merciful touch.

Nitpicking aside, I had fun playing this, and I keep coming back to how good-looking and all over well done it is. Best of luck continuing to expand it.

Thank you very much for taking the time to play and comment!
First of all, I didn't create the interpreter program, so I can't take credit for any of the cosmetics. There is also a link on the game's page to a site where it can be played online. (And a walkthrough, if you get stuck. You're on the right track... think about what you would do with the cheese to lure something out.)

I agree that parser-based text adventures are an acquired taste. I always feel a bit self-conscious about posting them in game jams that aren't specifically text-focused, because I know that a lot of people will find them pretty insurmountable. And that's not a slam against those people; I have genres I find equally challenging.

To see the room description again, you just need to type "look."

Hopefully this was helpful.

I (Swedish) know it. Traumatised me as a kid. I've seen some references to it in Anglo-Saxon media as well.

Cool, thank you for your reply.

First of all, really love this jam, it's a great concept. Do contributions have to be tabletop RPGs, or are computer games allowed?

Very nice graphics (especially the castle in the background), and good sound effects. Most importantly for this genre, gameplay is addictive and the mechanic is original enough not to feel like a clone of any other Tetris-alike that I've played. I found the music a bit dull, but it's not bad, certainly better than anything I could compose. I'll probably keep coming back to this one a few times and see how far I can get.

Thank you very much for playing! I realise it wasn't much of a game, but frankly I'm just proud to have something even faintly playable within the size limits of the jam.