itch.io

also congrats on #11 for story! well deserved

hey, thank you for remembering me :-) I was actually in the audience and screaming at the screen that they should just press that dialog option already (they didn't)! it was a moment of strong mixed emotions - but I guess I should focus on it being shown at all ;-)

played through tatarun 1 and 2 after seeing it in the stream - time very well spent! I did stay up too long now though...

it was a high DPI screen issue! and i fixed it. thanks for pointing it out involuntarily ;-)

WOW! that Voice acting though! I was hooked!
Then I tried to shift dimension, clipped through a modern street (probably the other dimension) and fell endlessly into my death). it's a shame

the strange world, bizarre visuals and the suffocating atmosphere were intriguing and made me think of games like planescape torment, the music was also a very good addition. i didn't really understand the gameplay loop, but aimlessly wandering around and being killed by goulish enemies in the end was already memorable.

money quote:
"it's all just plastics and anxiety" 

aren't self-conscious games about finding lost stuff just the best?
I am proud to announce that in the end, I could beat the mind of an 8 year old. but it was a close call and I surely lost some marbles in the process.

the presentation of the "real world" is spot on, with mom standing in the door as a shadowy outline - really good. I found hiding a constantly moving game without a pause button away from my sight was a bit stressful, eventhough I understand, that's the challenge of the game.

I immediately fell in love with that overpowered wall jump and in my humble opinion the game would have been fine with that as the main feature. the dimension-switch was of course on theme, but it was rather frustrating (guessing where a platform might be) and less fun than the wall jump - especially with that random death thing, because you used shadow dimension too much or whatever the reason - that was full on annoying and made me quite the game in the end. I don't try to be mean here, just unfiltered thoughts of my experience, I hope it is somewhat helpful.

your setting is absolutely awesome! and the line-of-code-mechanics is really clever,too! congrats.
I would have loved, if the text was really crisps and undistinguishable from actual code text and then my mind wandered off into crazy town and thought about manipulating the level-code-blocks to change the rules of the game (you know similar to "Baba Is You") - there is so much potential here to do crazy stuff!

but don't get me wrong: the thing you did here was already really, really cool!

I keep hearing about how amazing the level design in that campaign is supposed to be - it's just hard for me to get through all the shooting ;-)

so, is the the fact that platforms and those of the same design keep vanishing when you stand on them a bug or a feature?

edit: sorry, I just read that this is described as the "platform mechanics" - I really didn't know, because it kinda feels like a bug - and it probably shouldn't, right?

there is only one golden rule in game design:

"when you sit in a tank and there are people around - you can run them over and then they don't get up anymore, because of the death condition that was inflicted upon them by the chains of the tank that you are sitting in."

and you sir or ma'am, are a naughty rule breaker...

and here I thought my game would mess with people's depth perception.
I was a fool!
and your camera man is a mad man.
and your DJ is a genius.
and I am too bad a driver to make it past level 2 ;-(

I love the story that explains the gameplay loop. the 2dimension-theme feels a little tacked on, but whatever, you know. it's a pretty cool game. dying on collision with the outer walls seemed extremely punishing to me, but I can respect that.
One thing though: if you use Assets that other people worked hard on and give away for free, please actually credit them with at least their name and why not a link as well. credit where credit is due and so on.

very solid entry. I think adding subtle sounds and atmospheric soundscapes/music could really elevate the atmosphere of your game. also dying in later stages right at the end is super punishing - but I can respect that.

thanks to you too. I actually did the GameDev.tv tutorial on how to implement a dialog system from scratch in unity (with custom unity editor windows and good stuff like that)   while the jam was going on. so maybe that is a course that would be interesting for you to pick for free after the jam ends.
https://www.gamedev.tv/p/rpg-dialogue-quests-intermediate-c-game-coding-course

it is A LOT of work however. took me around 30 hours to get it done. but it's definitely sth I'll keep using

One last thought: I just had a ten minute discussion with chatGPT because I wanted it to identify the REALLY OLD game that yours kinda reminded me of and that I loved as a kid and after some REALLY bad guesses and me shouting at ChatGPT to concentrate it came up with the right name in the end and then ChatGPT made it awkward when I said I COULD kiss it right now and it totally misunderstood, well, what can you do. here's the game I was thinking about:
https://www.playdosgames.com/play/skyroads/
doesn't have the dimension switch, but that feeling of momentum and trying to nail the jump and especially the DIFFICULTY.

my first thought was: "oh, unfortunately I played other games with the same concept already, that looked way cooler" but after getting into it, I realized how freaking hard that game actually was and the simplicity worked in it's favour for that. I feel like, I did get a pretty good hang of it, but the "stairs" in the end of the (only first?) level were just so punishing, that I did loose my patience in the end... but I kept going for it at least 20 times, so you did a good amount of things right here.

well, here's someone who knows their trade. the idea is rather straight forward, but the execution of the idea is one of the most clean and complete I have seen in this jam. your wood based artsyle is lovely, the mechanics work perfectly and when you started to get creative with the mechanics in that maze level I got really excited. I would have kept playing for another 20 levels if you brought fresh ideas like that every couple of levels - but alas! it is of course still a gamejam game, I can't be greedy ;-)

I wouldn't really bring it up usually, but seeing how polished everything is, you might want to know:
I played with my cheap fake xbox controller and the little guys wouldn't stop the running animation, even when standing still - it's very likely a deadzone thing which should be super easy to fix on your end.
thanks for a great game! carry on!

oh no.. there is a talking duck in the game? totally missed that ;-(

cool concept - and I really like the actual file name;-) but may I suggest, that you got a "tiny bit" overambigous with the scope of the game? like... a 3-story house? and another multi-storied house? how many consoles did you want to recreate there?

your game is oozing personality and your artstyle feels refreshing and unique. The character was wickedly charming as she stuffed these little critters into the toilet with a blissful smile on her face. and the wiggling animation of the little sh*theads were the cherry on top. I actually think our games share some DNA as we both explore extraordinary events happening in extremely ordinary environments and we both focus more on exploring the world and its characters and the general mood, than on super tight gameplay loops. i really love this.

yeah, I have a let's play! also: I love your profile pic, would put that face right into the game as a characyer (with a bit of black&white pixel overhaul) ;-)
I must admit though, I thought I made sure that everybody has to play the game at a fixed resolution of 800x800 so I don't have to deal with scaling the UI and stuff like that, but you found a way! good on you, shame on me :-)

it's never too late :-)

the atmosphere is fantastic! gameplay wise its a solid base, but I feel you need 1 more key feature so it is not always "swim-switch-swim-switch"

controls felt pretty good though. now I'm thinking of porting my game to mobile, too. so thanks for the inspiration!

3rd level kinda bugged out on me i think. i couldnt see my little square anymore...

cool idea - it's like sped up memory (without the need to memorize I guess - though it helps to get even faster).
there is a certain trippy quality to it when you really start to get in the zone and the colors (great color choice btw) are switching to their negatives again and again.
the only thing I missed a bit was a feeling of progression, as each stage was basically the same as bfore - or do you displace the matching pieces further from each other with each passing level? I didn't feel any change at least. it should get harder with each next level but not only from havong less time.
oh, and 1 little thing: if you play in fullscreen mode the images become all blurry-pixely and that is so sad, as these sharp black and white shapes are looking great!

obviously, I love the color-scheme...
I like the idea of switching between 2 modes of playing after each point - and the music and the graphics was a good starting point. but was there really nothing you could do to alter the actual gameplay? I feel like that part is missing.
also, you should really switch the colors of the the score texts as well. that should be fairly easy, no? it really rubbed me the wrong way that it stayed the same ;-)

You found a really cool idea to start, even with real-world implication - good stuff. but having actual interactions with the scene that let the player actually feel the limitations of a sidewalk would be way more impactful.

that looks like a really cool idea, unfortunately the camera makes it nearly impossible to play - especially in the narrow pathways between buildings and inside of them. A first person perspective would have worked so much better here... I once entered the matrix, but the time was over so quickly, that I couldn't talk to anyone and I wasn't able to reenter a second time. I can see, that you put in a lot of different mechanics, but it is sad that the player can't really get to these part because of a poorly implemented camera and buggy state handling. managing priorities in order of what's import for the player is probably something you could work on.

very unusual graphics combination - downright weird. the switch between 3D and 2D platformer is a cool concept, but i feel like you could have even pushed it a bit further - switch to an orthographics camera for 2D for example or apply some pixel filter on the world. but that's just how I would do it (and did it ;-)

quite impressive, that you were able to implement a full multiplayer solution for your game. I haven't found someone else to play with, but it looked pretty legit when I created my own lobby. Would you be so kind and share with us, what services you used for that? and was it hard?
the switching between worlds in a top-down-shooter is a pretty cool idea, though I wish the two different dimensions were a bit more dramatic in their dichotomy and not just "shoot"-dimension and "item pick up"-dimension. the gun play could also use some additional work to feel meaty - a slight push back, impact sounds and alternate firing methods like a charged shot comes to mind. I am just vocalizing wishes now. oh yeah, how about customizable characters? muhahahaha.
ok, don't pay attention to me, I'm just fantazising now.

very unique entry - a great combination of ideas, gameplay mechanics and wonderful graphics. is the thematical idea, that the player only sees people as two-dimesional pieces of paper and with only 2 personalty dimensions? subtle but cool. 
unfortunately I was fired on my third day, eventhough I felt I did good enough observations... Especially animals coming back the next day asking for another job (that they are not really suitable for) was a bit confusing.
The slowly revealing lore of the world was great though. and the desk gameplay mechanics. and the handdrawn graphics. well I'm repeating myself...

having done my own dialog system from scratch for this gamejam as well - I think I can understand the work that goes in - so good on you. (I followed the GameDev.TV Unity Dialog&Quest Tutorial)
 A pitty you couldn't have gone further, I do enjoy a slice-of-life story now and then. 

wow, that was really impressive. it looks like a cute pixelart rpg, but the whole "camp" feels more like a nazi concentration camp or a prisoner of war camp and the story of two people trying to make sense of that and the wall that seperates them while only being able to communicate in a very limited way - these are some hefty topics, but handled really mature, imo. I liked that the settings was kept rather vague and as a player you start to fill out the blanks yourself. to that extend the limited graphics and dialog made a lot of sense and the music of course *chefskisses*.

here are some little suggestions if you are interested:
- I get that you wanted the minimal pixel-art-grey-block-world to appear a little more atmospheric by using these shadows/shades, but it kinda broke the art style by showing round circles everywhere. you could try downscaling these to the same resolution as the rest of the game, maybe add some dithering to it?! or smoother shading, that doesn't make the circles as visible? as it is right now I really found it distracting
- the sneaking felt a bit unfair at times and forced you to do trail and error, because you couldn't see where guards are coming from or where there were going. maybe some subtle foot-prints that players could pick up on to understand the route?
- was the girl basically in the same situation as the boy, only in a different area? that would rob the wall the function of define inside and outside and would lesser the feeling of being caged in by it. I think it would be more impactful, if the other side of the wall actually symbolizes freedom and the girl is just concerned and helpful while you are basically a prisoner. or the other way around.

ok, that were my 2 cents. again: great work!

I DID IT!
that last level was brutal. very cool concept and a tight implementation.
gamepad support would be great.

but THAT color-scheme, am I right? you gonna love it!

you guys, what a great experience! I loved how you gave the descision when to enter "the other dimension" to the player and have it playing in the same scene while you are still able to run around - that adds so much to the immersion and the believabilty of playing a game inside a game... you probably know what I mean. also: the running around in "real" world, but also the platforming in gameboy world felt spot-on! I even enjoyed the jumping puzzles.

some small little pet-peeves:
- the two-tone-color-scheme on the gameboy were a bit strange to me. like: the actual world looked more like a gameboy game than the gameboy game (color-wise). but maybe that was on purpose?!
- it would have been great to have an indicator of progression when looking for these orbs. some people really have bad memory.
- I wouldn't have found the red orb in gameboy world in a million years if not for the video walkthrough
- it would be great, if the effect the both worlds have on each other would be felt when triggered. like the gameboy plays a sound when you trigger some gamboy thing in the real world - maybe even kind of muffeled when you have put it away
- the main story is kinda confusing, and the fact that the "real world" looks like a 3D gameboy world already does add to that. there is not the sensation, that the gameboy world is slowly creeping into the real world, but that they already kinda feel connected and since we never saw his original house, we don't really know what's wrong... 

please don't think I'm sh*ing on your game or anything - I enjoyed it so much, that I hope I can give some constructive criticism...

very, very fun brain-wiggeling experience for single player. it would probably too easy for coop, but it's still cool, that you put the option in. I got some flashbacks to playing "Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons" which is one of my all-time favourite games.
The music is called  "Space Jazz" by Kevin MacLeod. I know this, because I used the same track in my last years gamedev.tv gamejam entry - which felt really bizarre when I heard it in your game again ;-)
if you'd like to have a similar experience, here it is: 
 https://kindman.itch.io/life-after-death

gives me strong 1989 prince of persia vibes! the maze was brutal though. I wandered around for what felt like hours, then fell to my death (when I was trying the cool catch-the-wall-shortly-before-the-floor-quick-descent-technique). and how did you get a lego figurines inside your game?
unique entry though!

You definitely know how to pick stylish furniture. could you maybe share with us, where to find them? I love these chairs!