Hello all! Thank you for trusting me to judge this week's games. I hope my feedback is encouraging and gives everyone fuel for future development. Each one of these projects contains the potential for something quite compelling! You may notice my bias leans toward some insight into the writing of each project, which is certainly due to my tenure as a CYOA game dev. Even if your game does not have writing in the center of your development focus, a few very intentional thoughts placed throughout your project can be what seals your game's existence into the mind of the player. Truly wishing you all the best!
- Coral
My OVERALL FAVORITE:
Project OVERSIGHT - Upon booting Project OVERSIGHT, I was immediately drawn in by its dark, brutalistic, minimal text-interface, which then invited me to be assessed for some foreboding, insidious corporate espionage project. On the surface, the questions are framed to merely gauge if you are the right fit for the job. But like anyone who knows the reality of real-world job-hunting, I knew they were testing me for the "correct" answer, given their specificity in approaches and the high-stakes nature of these "hypothetical" questions. The results screen confirmed my suspicions: a 2/10 meant I was unfit for the position, and implied my memory of the assessment was to be processed in a way favorable to the Project. I had never before considered that a "quiz-game" could have a compelling ludonarrative synergy before this jam, but here we are! All I could ask for here is *more.* Whether there are more assessments, mini-games in the form of assessments, or this assessment is brought into the context of a larger game (I'm thinking of how the text-based intro to Firewatch plays into an otherwise 3D exploration-narrative adventure), MORE is the path forward here!
The rest, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
No Heroes Allowed - I appreciate the humor on display here: a futile attempt of an evil overlord to impose its minions against a force empowered by heroism. No matter how many minions are sent, the overlord loses, so it's a matter of how desperate you are to attempt to thwart the inevitable threat. That said, the rudimentary gameplay leaves much to be desired. I could see this concept being expanded for an idler (one of my favorite genres). Breaking my space bar can only merit so much long-term enjoyment ;)
Sailboat Sim - A fun arcade premise with an environmental theme I admire (has me thinking of The Ocean Cleanup project and their amazingly conscientious boat designs). I struggled to get the boat to move in a way I felt I had total control over, but I think with some tweaking, it would be satisfying to utilize the sail and rudder components to steer your ship against the wind and tides. And at that, obstacles, like sandbars or other boats, might enhance the challenge of the game!
Villian Club Bouncer - A cute and silly take on the "Papers, Please" genre of admission arbitration. The trick to discern villains from heroes could use more development, perhaps in the form of text or subtle visual cues (bonus points for a combination of multiple factors). An expanding narrative throughout new rounds also increases the longevity of this type of game. But hey, $500 in stolen paintings is $500 in stolen paintings (although a dynamic reward would also be welcome!).
Companion Cub - The concept of an AI companion designed to optimize the best aspects of your personality and life ambitions. On the surface, it sounds like a welcome aid in this busy, confusing, and challenging world that we live in. Its existence, however, hints at the dystopian trajectory of endless work and tools, which are willingly employed for now but may be enforced in the future... This reflection came to me by the end of the survey, which was a fun and engaging reflection much like any personality quiz. However, I was drawn in by its grander judgements against my place in our productivity-centric society. Now... whether any of those narrative elements were intentional or not is beyond me, but I think that leaning into those subtle world-building elements can give a lot of mileage out of what is otherwise a simple "quiz-game" premise.
Starfighters - It's clear this project had a lot of ambitious systems work done in the short jam window, which is indeed not a bad path for many jam prototypes. The concept of infinite worlds traversed in a co-op card game sounds like fun; there truly aren't enough co-op card games out there. While the game's concept has a tone of heroic exploration, I'd be curious to see how governmental failure and the tragedy of Earth being left behind influences the mood of the game's writing (the solarpunk genre is a great source of inspiration for this type of story). While AI art and music can only ever be placeholders in my mind, the concepts put forth the air of a graphic novel with boldness and curiosity behind each new card flipped. In the future, I hope I'm able to give this game a go with the rules and mechanics on display!
