itch.io

Hi Daniel,
First of all, LOVE the shader! It's so great to use, and the new vertex lighting is amazing! Using it all throughout my projects!
One issue I have come across is that when I enable Rendering Layers on the Decal in URP, I am unable to project the decals onto the Retro Lit material, even using the Decal material you provide and correctly setting the Rendering Layers for the objects
Switching the object back to a Standard Material seems to allow it to be projected, so I am inclined to think it's an issue with the shader code.
Feel free to file this under a Bug Report and keep on chugging along
Either way, looking forward to what you make next!

Great work! Not too familiar with this type of game, but you managed to setup a good environment and do a small amount of world building to set the scene before starting.

The intro cinematic and the environment design is really pleasing! I like the pixel style and it does well to setup this somewhat unsettling vibe, so a really strong start! 

The mechanics are interesting, but there does seem to be a lack of progression, as you just perform the same tasks twice or even three times with no change in difficulty.
I struggled to initially understand how to use the "Surgical Tool", and likely the saw as well, if I had not already seen footage of the game before. So maybe it would be good to add visual indicators over the top for your first go, sort of like "Hey, here's how to play!" and then after that doing a "Give it a go on your own!" sort of progressions, which could've been nice.

The dark indicators to show where to cut were a great help though, once I figured out what they were for, so that's a good visual indicator once you get going.

I did struggled to put the tools back down, as I would try to align the center of the tool with the box, maybe it would be better to make the box the same size as the tool and make it slot in, so it's clear where to place the tool to put it down.

The "Inspect" tool is nice, but most of the explanations are generic information that we can tell from visually looking at the model. It would've been nice to get more of a description of what's going that we can't see, think maybe the priest in the bedroom having a description of "A young man with a distinct golden cross around his neck. He seems happy to see a new face.", even if it isn't on the drawing, we can get an idea of how the characters are feeling or what makes them distinct. (This helps with not needing to make a new asset for every character)

There also didn't seem to be much going on with the time mechanic, despite it seemingly ticking up to pressure the player to get to the cutting room. As well as this, the woman stated that she upgraded the tools, but I didn't seem to see a difference in the tools when I started the work. Presumably this was due to time issues.

Also, put your names on the game! After getting to the 3rd day, just ending with a grey screen with "Sorry, we didn't finish" is fine, but be proud of what you've done! Do a little credits dialogue to thank everyone who helped and get your names on what you've made! Sadly, not everyone will look in the description after being told that they're finished.

Looking forward to what you guys work on next or seeing this finished off and released!

TL;DR

Good setup: great pixel art, intro cinematic, and unsettling vibe.
Game progression: repeated tasks without adding challenge or variation.
Learning difficulties: “Surgical Tool” (and saw) unclear at first, maybe add first-use visual prompts/tooltips.
Tool indicator: hard to put tools back, use boxes sized to each tool?
Inspect tool: descriptions are too generic, maybe add unseen details (emotions, traits) to add to characters without new assets.
Systems underused: time mechanic and “upgraded tools” don’t change gameplay.
Ending: include in-game credits even if unfinished (Be proud!).

Overall: promising foundation, improve tutorial, add progression, clearer instructions to the player, and polish.

Very fun little game, loving the games you're making in this format. I am not great at fighting games, so I am unable to give feedback on game-play balancing and such, but the graphics and controls are pleasing to use when you get used to it. I like the art style and the overall feel of the game.

Needs more Majima.

Very unique idea! The incorporation of real-world elements into the game gives it a unique layer and experience!
It's a bit short, but fun to mess around with! Would love to see an expansion on the mechanic in some way as the levels progress!
Overall, a great demo! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks so much, Albond! Glad to hear you liked the game! We'll definetlly be looking to make some more content to release!
We want to take it slower now, so we can ensure that it is well polished and fun to play for everyone!
Thanks for the feedback!

Hi Joe! Thanks for playing our game! Thanks for the compliments on the art style, our artist worked very hard to get all these assets done in the two weeks we were given, and we're really chuffed with what we have!

I'm happy to inform you, we do infact have a larger plot in the works over multiple days, and hopefully we'll be able to deliver it for you!

I appreciate the feedback on the cursor, the black-on-black design was not intended, in previous builds a grey background was used to prevent the issue, but after a swap to the black background the cursor seems to have become slightly troublesome. But, rest assured, this will be resolved in future builds!

Thank you for your support and I hope you continue to follow our work!

Very cool! I like the concept of only being able to damage the enemy type of the area you are standing on! It's a fun mechanic that makes your game really unique!
Sometimes it is a bit hard to see the enemies when they are on the same colour, but only on the darker ones, especially blue.
I enjoy the endless mechanic, but found that once you get overwhelmed there isn't really a chance for a comeback, especially when you get more than 20 enemies or so, maybe a limit would be good or even a round based system?
I also found that eventually I was just in the abyss, running around with no colour and no way to find my way back.
Also, please add an audio slider, the music was quite loud.

But overall, a fun and well made game! Keep it up!

Great game! I had a lot of fun figuring out what encryption was used, but I was a bit lost at first. I managed to get to the ending, and it was a nice little experience!
The text was a bit hard to read with some backgrounds, but I managed to read it in the end!

It was a fun experience! Keep it up! Make games!

This is a lovely game! I had a great time listening to the ambience and the voice acting! It's an amazing gem that I'm glad I found!
I've never really been musically inclined, but it was great fun to give it a go here! Even if I did "Let go a little early" every single time...

I was only able to play the first day, since the blindfold I was using began to irritate my eyes, and it wasn't the same experience reading the text.

You guys did a great job with this! I'd love to see it get played by more people, it's great! Absolutely love it! I wish you guys the best!

I like it! It's a fun resource management game with summoning and resource gathering! I really like the cloudy background, with the parallax mountains, it really gives great depth to the scene!
The scattered bones are a nice touch as well, making sure the lane doesn't look to repetitive to the player.

I would've liked to have seen the mining resources to respawn, since I quickly mined it and was left with many creatures that couldn't be reassigned to battle shifting, ending up just standing there and waiting.

The music was a nice touch, if not slightly loud, with no option to change that? It would've been nice to have the fighting sounds, like you described in your document, but with the time constraints, I think you did great! Well done!

Also, chuck in some credits for yourself! Be proud of what you made!

I love the turn of the genre, making you into the guard of all of the stealth games we play! The flashlight mechanic is fun and the collecting reports is another interesting collectible mechanic!
It would be fun to see if things change with every round you do, almost like The Exit 8, and the game would be to spot what the "intruder" is doing before they complete their mission!

Overall, a great start and a very bold development roadmap! Hoping you all the best! Can't wait to see what you do!

I love the usage of the different elements! I had fun using them both seperately and in combination! It was great for a bit of problem solving!

I did experience a few bugs, when I lit the torch in the field before seeing the hint from the guard, my player got stuck in place, leading to me having to restart.

Checkpoints would be a nice addition, since running around and waiting for the loading builds up if the player keeps getting caught.

I really liked how you did the dynamic lighting with the torches for the guards inside and at the doors, it gave you a real sense of depth in the scene! Not as easy in 2D.

I did get caught by a firepit at one point after lighting it? That was a weird fail, but funny nonetheless.

Put some credits in! Get your name on your work, you deserve it!
Overall, great fun and a cool usage of the theme! Would love to see more!

First of all, congrats on your first game! It's a small step in your journey, but it's one of the most important!
I liked the mirroring mechanic, and the different worlds, forcing the player to navigate two characters at once! It reminded me a lot of Fireboy and Watergirl!
The potion throwing mechanic seems a bit buggy, as others have said, being unable to throw the bottle, or damage the spider?

But overall, I like the art style and the movement! You did a great job! Keep on making!

Wow! This is a really well polished game! I love how you teach the mechanics both through the text and through level design! Towards the end I felt really comfortable with the movement system, and the double jump felt great to use!
I appreciate the use of a coyote jump, it made the platforming a lot nicer!

The final boss was a bit of a jump, I felt as though after spending the game trying to avoid the creatures, going towards them and attacking them was a bit jarring at first. However, the arrow indicator was a great help!

The art style is very well done! The creature design and animations are great! I would've liked to have a visual indicator in the difference between the standing and roaming creatures, as they have different vision lines, but you introduced them in such a way that made me instinctively check their vision before approaching.

A redesign of the vision display wouldn't be unwelcome, as the solid line feels a bit odd, maybe a typical vision cone would be nicer? But it gets the job done!

The music was a nice touch, giving a dark forest kind of vibe, setting the atmosphere well, and wasn't too repetitive. A+!

I did spend an embarassingly long time trying to reach the platform at the start of the game, even treking all the way back after getting the double jump, much to my dissapointment. Was hoping for an easter egg.

But overall, lovely game! It was fun to play and I enjoyed sneaking about as a little cheeky lad. Can't wait to see more!

Love it! It's very reminiscent of Tetris for me! The character movement style isn't something I've seen before, but is really well suited to the vertical style of the level.
There is a nice progression of difficulty as you take more time and the potions build up!
I think there is a nice skill to develop in regards to player development, but I feel like I was randomly placing 'Toniks' into the cauldrons, instead of strategically creating things to help me clear my board.

Overall, great and fun lil' game! The art is very cute and the music is fun!

Thanks so much! We have a very talented artist working with us, and hopefully we can bring you some more amazing art!

Thank you so much! We had great fun making it and our artist was an amazing help with the art!
I'm glad you like the investigation mode!  We want to add more fun interactions like that as we move forward too!
Thanks for playing!