Thanks for this game, Maggie. The haiku and the Flickgame are evocative. I find myself trying to understand the story, and not sure that I fully understand, but it makes me think of lots of things, like a good poem does. To me it feels like it is somehow about going home (the plane ticket), and seeing the same stars from another place?
It seems that it is always the same sequence of images. Did you consider adding another pathway, or a different ending? Or soem unexpected things that you find by clicking in certain areas? I would be interested in seeing a version of this that pushed further into that playful dimension of interaction.
This is really nice work, Raf. Fantastic artwork within the constraints, and a wonderfully playful experience, even with the tight limitations of Flickgame. You can't just click randomly: you have to think about what you need to do, go through the steps, and do things in the right order.
My favorite screen was probably "Cold Oil?" -> that's where you realize, as a player, that hey, this is actually a game! A gentle nudge with a question mark that says a lot.
I also really like the little details like "who turned the lights off?" if you click around a bit.
Could you imagine this as a longer/bigger game, if you had more frames available? Or do you see it as just right for what you had in mind?
Nice work, Jimmy. Really nice pixel art made within the tight Flickgame constraints. My favorite moment here is when you see the city from inside the train, after seeing it from outside the train--a really nice change of perspective on the same object.
Are you happy with this as it is, or would your ideal version of this game poem be slightly more involved? If you were going to add another two or three frames, or another path of interaction, what would it be?
Small point: I think you should add a clear ending to the game, or else make it loop around.
Nice work, Serena. Even though the game is linear as far as I can tell, this was a really fun and playful experience. What am I looking at? What is this dream about? Where do I click? What will happen next?
The most striking frame, to me, was the "we are friends" -- partly because it feels like this special moment of two subjects meeting--but also partly because you have to hunt carefully on the previous frame to find where to click.
Di you consider make a version of this that had different pathways, or different endings? It could be really fun to explore more possibilities...
Nice work, Taira. Really beautiful artwork withint he constraints of Flicksy. The most impactful moment for me was when the cat opened its eyes. Until that moment, I wasn't quite sure what I was looking at, and then I realized it was a cat sprawled out in the box--and it suddenly struck me as a lovely and also humorous image.
From what I can tell, this is a linear experience: always the same sequence of images. I would love to see a version that plays a little bit with the interaction--perhaps there is a branching path, or the cat reacts in different ways depending on how/where the player touches it?
Really nice work, Lisa. I love how you've embraced the constraints and the simple aesthetics of Flickgame to focus on a simple but striking moment of choice, and moment of truth, if you will. Very relatable and affective. (And a good exmaple of a kind of simple but impactful moment that could be effectively inserted into a larger game project.)
I particularly like the way you've used the "erasure" effect, and the way the game keeps looping around forever. There are several striking frames here, but I found the moment of choice (TRUTH ; LIE) to be particularly impactful. The sudden zoom in and the large bold text and color scheme work very well.
A couple of questions: did you consider allowing the player to find a way out of the cycle? Perhaps a kind of secret exit out of the toxic environment that only some players find? And what do you think the effect of expanding this game would be? Would you add more frames and more detail if you could, or do you feel it is strongest just the way it is?
Nice work on this, Jess. Very relatable. I like the contrast of the vibrant outdoor scene with the drab room and computer screen. I also like how this cycles around perpetually.
Did you consider giving the player the option of a different path? For example, being able to get out of this cycle somehow, or thinking that they might get out... whether by actually doing the work, or by finding perhaps a secret way to escape into the outdoor scene, whether in "reality" or a dream of some kind?
Nice work on this, Echo. Beautiful imagery, and I like how this connects to classic Haiku thems like nature and spring. I like the table at the beginning, with just diagonal lines -> the question of, "what am I looking at here?" And then when you click forward, you start to understand what you are seeing. Much how many poems unfold. The most striking moment for me is probably the moment when the book opens, and you start to understand more what you are looking at -> seeing familiar things in a new way.
A question to think about: is there any way that you could make this game slightly non-linear, so that there are multiple options or pathways for the player to encounter? How do you think that would affect the experience?
Nicely done. I like how, thanks to Flickgame's blocky pixels, I tell what the images are, but also have to kind of work to make out what I'm seeing. The most striking image for me is the feet in the water, which comes as a nice change/surprise after the walk. I also quite like the contrast of the computer screen at the end--home and technology juxtaposed with the outdoors. I think it might be nice to have a clear ending screen. ("The end" or something.)
Question: could you make the walk work without the purple arrows? Better or worse, what difference would that make?
Very nice work, Mason. I love the use of Flickgame's constraints here: the fact that the text is so pixelated and hard to read, so you have to work at it, think about it. And the way that causes the player to reflect on the author: somebody carved this out. Why this particular text? Why this particular image? -> the player is encouraged to consider meaning and intentionality much as with a poem. The most striking frame for me was "I don't know what I look like."
A thoght to consider: what happens if, instead of discreet colored items, the colors in this piece were more chaotic or mixed? Would it make the piece easier or harder to read and interact with? Would that be a good or a bad thing?
Very nice and effective use of the Flickgame constraints, Issy. The artwork is pixelated, but striking. The most striking moment, for me, was the first close-up of the face. Makes the game feel suddenly very personal, as it evokes the idea of a self-portrait.
I lik the repetition of "turn off the tap," and the juxtaposition of the personal/subjective with the daily mundane. Really nice.
One thing you might consider is: would it be possible to make this game work without the explicit green arrows. And what would change as a result?
I know this was a simple training game, but it's actually quite fun and playful. I think it works well as a prototype. The question for me is: what am I interacting with here, what do these circles represent? I think pulling the frame back at the end of the game... so we suddenly see that these are bubbles in a drink, or stars in the sky, or...? And so we get a new perspective on something.
Slow paced, meditative, beautiful. Focusing the experience around the player's own creative energies is quite interesting for the way it really turns the contemplation inwards. A mirror sort of game -- I really like it! Thanks so much for submitting!
I really like the concept of this piece -- exploring via game mechanics how different spaces lend themselves (or not) to human interaction. Thanks for submitting!
Thanks for the lovely contribution! I love how thoughtful and thought-provoking this piece manages to be, despite the extreme minimalism. Really nice use of early console/arcade aesthetics!
Thanks fo rthe wonderful contribution -- a neat and tidy use of bare javascript around a neat and tidy concept! Having moved around a lot, I resonate with this a lot. The predictable but unknowable question of what will be in the next room. The disorienting feeling of trying to go back to a previous room, and finding it different from what you remembered.
Thanks for this wonderful contribution, E.T.C.Lundberg -- I really like this game a lot!
My favorite part of this one is how much it plays with the actual poetics of gameplay (its definitely a game), while defamiliarizing familiar gameplay elements/mechanics.
Hey, I know this is an old topic, but... is this launcher able to launch HTML5 games that need to run via a web server for OS security reasons? (e.g. most Phaser games, etc.)
Oh, that's cool! What university are you at? Sorry about the sound. Not sure why other Pico-8 games would be working for you, but not this one. Maybe try another browser? I'll try to look into this when I get a chance!
