Ahhh, thank you SO much Note! Everybody loves that damn walk animation, it’s really delightful. I’m glad you liked the puzzles too! The feedback on them generally is that they were a bit too hard, so I’m glad to hear that it did hit the mark for some people. Also whoa, it’s kind of nutty to hear somebody actually put a play time to the work I’ve done here - I knew with the amount of writing it’d be pretty long, but still wild to see I’ve created something that can demand hours of time.
Also gosh, I appreciate the comments on the writing so much. ;w; I had two big aims for this jam - make a game that was to its bones horny, and to finally center my writing in a way I haven’t in any games previously. I feel like I’ve well achieved both, but to hear somebody appreciate the craftsmanship of it this deeply?? Gosh. Means the world - I’ve been putting off replying to this in part because I wanted to reply a bit more eloquently that “thank you thank you thank you asdwsdefghjk”.
I’m especially glad the depth of lore and backstory really hit, especially in the denser areas such as the plant book! I really wanted the game to build not just on mood, but the actual lore of it giving justification for the story it tells. And I’m glad the more humorous moments hit - I feel like those are especially important in a game like this, which straddles horny and horror pretty finely at points.
Thank you so much again! ;w;
Thank you so much for the in depth comment! It’s appreciated, and the effort to play something that isn’t to your taste kink or gameplay wise is very much seen.
You’re right - this is a kink game at its heart and and the concept is absolutely not for everybody. A direct, reality checked reading of this is damning - consent is non-existent for the majority of endings, and the witch, given real life parameters, is a bad person on multiple fronts; leaving an injured person in the house more or less alone, overriding bodily autonomy, and for the lack of information given on any fronts. If you’re not into these kinks, this is a horror game - and this game goes even further into that with legitimate horror writing at points as well.
But that’s also the point, right? Much in the same way that you’re entertaining a world where dragons and magic are tangible concepts, you’re also entertaining a world where this entire setup is in any way logical or makes moral sense. In a world where you learn everything you stand for is a lie, and the outside world will make you a nameless cog in its machinations, would it not be desirable to stay in a place where pleasure is put forefront, to submit to somebody who is shown to care deeply for her work and possessions, and who perhaps knows more about what you need than you do? That’s the basis the game wants to engage with you on - it’s dark, but it’s also the sort of story you can only truly explore in works of fiction.
[…] there is no real player feedback; you are either right or you are wrong, and there is no way the game can really nudge you towards getting closer to the correct solution short of explicit hints or through brute-force attempts. […] the actual complaint i would have is that even the “you are right or you are wrong” feedback is rather difficult to get to in this game.
Yeah, it’s one part genre, and one part needing to use the most direct solution within the confines of the jam to make sure it got implemented. I do want a bit more feedback for the potions specifically - some sort of warmer/cooler response, probably - but time got away from me. Similarly, Ignus only talks about the potions after the note about them has been read - his help text for it was one of the last things implemented and definitely isn’t signposted as well as it could be.
every run requires clicking through screens and screens of dialog even to just leave the initial room. some sort of skip button for each dialog would be extremely appreciated. you could even make the dialogs mandatory the first time you see them and skippable later, given that there is other state tracked across runs (the ending checklist).
Definitely agree with this - things like the walk down to the pit I’d also like to have skip-able on subsequent play-throughs if the player wants. The custom dialogue system needs a bit of an overhaul to make this work, but it’s on the mind.
the cauldron ingredients are basically impossible to guess even with the botany book picked up.
Intended behavior, and the fact that’s how you phrased it means the nudge worked. The book is extremely important to interactions across the house, especially for the true ending, and also gives some background regarding the world simultaneously - but I’ve always appreciated games that allow you to try, anyway.
for the potion sorting you mention in the comments that ignus can help with a clue, but i definitely didn’t see any dialog options that would help. i’m not gonna lie, i don’t think i would ever figure out this puzzle myself
That puzzle appears to have landed a bit on the harder side with the feedback I’ve gotten; something to keep in mind, I think.
the first time i tried to go to the pit with the bucket i got softlocked–i couldn’t exit through the top of the screen or the bottom. i think this is a bug. i did accidentally open some kind of debug menu but it didn’t seem to help. (got softlocked again when trying to do a true ending run–i wonder if the softlock has something to do with the order you complete the tasks in?)
Oh whoa, thats the first time I’ve heard of a softlock! If there’s any way to recreate it I’d appreciate it, but I’m definitely kicking myself now for not adding an “unstuck” button.
anyway, sorry for all the complaining. i do think people who enjoy riddle-type puzzles more will probably get more out of the puzzles. i do think it’s maybe worth seeing where the points of confusion are though, which is why i mentioned what i came up with for the puzzles.
Nah, I appreciate it - the people who enjoy riddles seem to have gotten a kick out of it, but your feedback’s been really helpful for seeing how somebody less inclined towards them feels about them.
I appreciate the positive feedback as well, to! People seem to appreciate the scale of the narrative work which is really nice - I didn’t realise how far I’d gone until I’d finished the jam. I was worried about the interaction system being awkward feeling, so I’m glad that isn’t the case for you. I’m also quite proud of the character designs and background work so it’s nice to hear that appreciated!
Thanks again for the in-depth thoughts!
Thank you so much! Yeah, it’s definitely a game that asks for a bit more of a headspace/frame of mind than most of the other entries - not that you’d guess at first from the walk cycle, hah! Really glad the black and white art landed for you as well, and the pit is definitely my favorite writing passage in the game!
With the cauldron puzzle, did you end up grabbing the Botany Guide in the same room? The text for the cauldron puzzle changes pretty significantly when you do!
Thanks for alerting me to those placeholders, I’ll grab them in the next update. Will definitely add in skipping reading the note at the same time - that definitely makes sense!
Thank you so much! Definitely feels like stepping out of a fugue state realising just how much I ended up shoving into this over the course of a month. I really did mean to replace that walk sprite, but it’s the one thing people have consistently commented on/loved - funny how that happens.
Really glad that both the writing and puzzles landed well with you too, especially since writing is so important to your own entry as well - and I’m glad to see some love for Ignus, he’s one of my favorite parts of the entry!
An intriguing bit of world building, where you’re really made to feel for the main character. A bit more contrast with the background would have been nice, and I’m unsure where the horny would have come in with such little demo to go off. A nice starting point for the future, should you choose to continue it!
So glad the feedback was appreciated and this made you giggly happy! ;w; Hypnosis is one of my favourite kinks, so it’s super dear to me to that I could give you some meaningful feedback/chat about it a bit!
I think I can feel the places where those expansions could be done, which is probably why that’s so noticeable on a replay. Think the nature of a jam is inevitably running out of time for stuff like that though, hah!
Bless, that hint was enough for me to come back and finish the game. Hoo, totally worth it - the writing is fantastic all the way through, but the writing from the surgeon’s office and after you get the IN HEAT card is so, so fucking good. It also makes the narrative arch work so much better - that descent into the breeding frenzy works so much better when you see how far you fall. This is definitely one of the games I enjoyed playing the most!
Yeah, don’t have any shame in listing out those requirements, both in terms of communication and what minimum product you expect for the work. Of course things happen and not every person/team will be able to submit - life happens, and a lot can change in a month - but it really is the most respectful thing of your time and work.
(And it makes me sad that communication was that much of a sticking point in a year when you weren’t even supposed to be present. I hope the situations that caused this to be a down year have or will resolve! 💗)
Super charming game! Love how intimate and soft the cock fusion is written to be, and the little face alongside Papaya as you go through the rest of the story is just the sweetest.
The art is truly top tier; I agree with another comment that a few of the conversations were a bit long for my liking, but all oozed personality and made me sad not everybody was able to be chatted with. The various different voices are also a delight - Purrl’s is probably my favorite!
I did come across a bug(?) where if you enable the skip text in the inital Cerise text conversation, you can’t toggle it off again when you get to the walking segment; it’ll only allow you to toggle it once more when you’re given a choice by somebody you’re chatting to. Also wish there was some way of seeing what endings were available, or even how many there are.
Well polished, and that was a down to the wire submission time!
“I wake up to the taste of metal and rage” is the hardest opening in the jam.
One of the entries for this jam I am the saddest isn’t an experience I can spend more time with. The world building doesn’t hold your hand and trusts that you’ll be able to keep up with what it’s throwing - that doesn’t always work, but it really does here. I love the shaders you used for the main game, I’m so curious how you achieved that effect! The reveal of the muzzle and the dog-like tendencies of the main character is really alluring, and the fact standing up changes the frame? Amazing.
And boy - that “heel” hits like a truck after you build up the atmosphere you do.
Wish there was even just a touch more variation in the dialogue options; I was sad on a replay that all roads lead to the same ending. The profile image for “Her” also does the job, but the straight on profile seems like a weaker choice compared to the protagonist’s own. Also agree the ending cut to the menu is a touch too fast.
Considering this is but a meager slice of the larger project you were wanting to do, I’m both sad we didn’t get to see that, but also so thankful you submitted this - it really vibes with me!
Such a cool idea! I love the idea behind the workflow, creating slime pets to produce the ingredients you need to complete orders is such a fun idea. Combining the water and slime to create lube was such a fun lightbulb moment.
I did struggle after that though; no other combinations really inspired that same “Aha!” moment. With two points of “mixing” available, it was also difficult to tell whether I should be experimenting with the slime girl herself or combinations. I really was aching for more guidance on what sort of slime girl combinations were possible, and what sort of concoctions I could mix. It also wasn’t intuitive to put things by the door to complete the order; I only thought to try it after I tried buying something and the item showed up there.
The controls also need a bit of fine tuning - collision boxes were off (moving close enough to the first slot in the cauldron to place a bottle was difficult), and interacting with things could be a bit of a nightmare (trying to collect the bottle of slime caught me in a 30 second loop of picking up the slime girl, then clicking on the note, then picking up the slime girl again).
(Didn’t encounter the clipping or shop $null issues others are reporting on!)
Would be so curious to see what future iterations of this idea look like, and a interesting use of the jam’s theme!
There’s an impressive amount of text in this! I wasn’t expecting the atmosphere of the game to be so oppressive, but you definitely succeed in building the atmosphere you wanted. I liked finding the extra notes around the place, and was very pleased to finally find the blue curtain on one of the final days - I’d been wondering up until that point if I was just blind and missing it entirely.
Agree with another comment that the anti-sex/anti-sexwork sentiment that is the main theme of the game is a bit jarring to find not warned for in any capacity, especially as an entry into a jam centered on porn and kink. I also never found any use for the mana potion or masturbating, and I was a bit hesitant on spending money at first since it’s unclear if you need to save for something in the future.
Solid foundation and a great amount of work for a month!
You were a joy to work with last year (I was tempted to approach you this year, but ended up not doing so since you didn’t explicitly advertise) so I was delighted to see you had done some work this year!
…Until I read the descriptions. So sorry that your music went largely unappreciated due to cancelled projects, that really sucks. The one that did make it out was fantastic though; it fitted seamlessly into the world of Rubber Wizard and was a super chill experience for that point-and-click style game. Taffangora is my favorite of the bunch listening through now; the bell-like melody line is really pleasing on the ears.
Hope you’re doing well and congrats on submitting even if its not as large a collection as normal; I hope to see more of you in future Strawberry jams!
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when getting into this, but a xenobiology lecture featuring needleplay and a pop quiz was definitely not it. The art is super sweet, and there’s a soft intimacy to the written scenes that really draws you in.
Unfortunately the font choice really pulled me out of it - I couldn’t immerse myself as well as I would of liked because I was struggling against the text. The cursor not lining up with the buttons was also distracting.
Catplant/10
Real cute game! As a long time con goer, it’s quite fun to do things from the vendor side for once. The NPC designs were super cute and the animations delightful, and the little written sequences were very charming.
The actual gameplay loop was a bit obtuse - there wasn’t enough feedback on what was selling to figure out if I should be buying minimal inventory or maxxing out all storage, and whether diversifying or commiting to one or two types of product was better. The storage system was also a little confusing - both only having so much room in your car, but also being able to pick up stored stock from the post office seemed a bit obtuse. It also seems like you can spend more on stock than you can actually bring currently. The stress mechanic also feels a bit difficult to quantify; my first run was doing two cons, realising I was at 110% stress, and then sleeping until deadline lmao.
Placing down the stock was really fun, though doing it one at a time feels tedious in a bad way. A “place all” or a mouse drag and drop would have gone a long way. Despite playing the fixed version I also go a bug that when starting a new game, when getting to the place items part it would seemingly have lost all my product!
This is the sort of game where I want to nitpick it because I know I could spend aaaaaages lost in a finished product; I’d love to see it if you end up expanding this concept!
There’s a really in depth combat system here! The fact you can get different moves via pinning is great, and I liked the implied strategy that comes from choosing what way to end your turn. The evolving icons for both players as they got more and more turned on was great.
Agree with the other comments that the text passages were a touch too long when you’re here for the combat, that the lack of feedback made it difficult to tell what was effective and what wasn’t, and it would of been nice to have some feedback on the enemy’s turn to make it more tangible.
Thank you so much! I’m glad my writing style resonated with you, it’s something I take a lot of pride in. Care was definitely taken to make each block of text at least roughly fit, but making it exactly fit was a polish thing that I didn’t want to prioritise in the jam over the actual content itself. Definitely paid off if it feels like everything has its place and the world has narrative scale!
I did have some background music and sound effects bookmarked, but just couldn’t quite get them in on deadline. Agree on the skipping seen text thing as well; it’ll require a bit of overhaul of the dialogue system, but it would make for a better play experience.
This is one of the first games I played in the jam (hypnosis! my beloved!) but I knew I wanted to wait to rate it until I could do another run alone, where I could properly concentrate on the hypnosis sequences included.
Definitely worth coming back to! I’m not affected by written trance usually, but the second trigger worked a charm; this is one of the few entries that’s truly got me heated under the collar. The trigger warnings and undo sequence being easily accessible is absolutely part of that; good hypnosis runs on trust, and this lays its cards bare in the best way.
As somebody not into sci-fi the ‘technical’ language of the mission target statement had me a little apprehensive, but the first couple of scenes/swaps quickly gained me back. The tactile, eroticism laden text drags you into the world and its rules wonderfully, and I love how the personalities of each person you hop into influence how you experience it. The bootblacking scene was an absolute joy to read - that’s a kink I wish I could body hop to experience the mental state about, and I got to go on quite the delighted ramble about it as a result of it coming up - and the shapeshifter’s headspace was an absolute joy to experience too.
Definitely was surprised on a re-play that the route is so linear; I was expecting more branching endings, especially with the warning to not jump too quickly. I kind of wish there was the option to turn off the blurred text as well; I adore it as an aesthetic choice, but it does add a little bit of friction when encouraging the trance headspace.
These are minor comments really; this is one of my favorite narrative entries in the jam. Definitely hope to see more from you!
I’m not usually one for sci-fi settings and went into this with not super high expectations as a result - damn. You absolutely won me over; this is one of the jam entries I had the most fun with! Love the lighthearted attitude of everybody on board, and the progression of the main mechanic felt so natural to iterate on. Love the variety of body types present too - the chef and their scars especially were delightful!
I loved how tight the QTEs were - the game quickly felt fair but intense in a really engaging way, especially with the building complexity. While I can understand why people wouldn’t like the chest/nipple and inner/outer thigh distinctions, I really liked how it added that extra needed complexity at that stage of the game! It took a second to succeed on that first action (being able to click on body parts without selecting an action first led to some false positives) but after that the only confusion was figuring out exactly what a “probe” was.
Absolutely agree that the ‘worst’ part was needing to be so present for the fucking that I couldn’t admire the art itself (which was great quality). Either having a gallery, the ability to replay the fucking screens without the QTEs, or a “climax” scene as a reward for running though the sex would have been very appreciated.
The writing was also great - I love games that have fun dialogue in even the most ‘boring’ of places, and the main character was quite charming (I loved the responses to the nurse uniform, the monster in the crate, and the fourth wall break on that one crate).
Really loved this, great job!
Finally got it working thanks to the comments on here - really cute game, love the sheer variety of options you can find. Elements like the radio, sticky notes, and the background character just working away make it really homely and cute.
Agree with other comments that lack of hints is a main sticking point - you get to times where it’s less exploration and more systematically working through until something works. Extra rough when a large number of options are hidden behind blocks that aren’t intuitive to unlock (“trait” is a big one) - if I hadn’t had access to the cheat sheet you’d uploaded, I wouldn’t have stuck it out to 100%.
For specific interactions, marine being available from the beginning but having no combinations was a bit feels-bad. Tying genitals/chest to gender also didn’t feel great - this game has a really great setup to make those traits separated from the concept of gender entirely!
Will be interesting to see this fleshed out more!
Thank you so much! I really wanted to make a game that centered my narrative ability first, since it was the biggest regret I had for both of my previous jam entries. The pendulum swung a bit too far the other way in some ways - I do wish I’d had times for even just ending illustrations, or some basic music/SFX work beyond the typing - but I don’t regret finally committing to a story-first game like this.
Definitely agree with the cumbersome nature of interaction - there’s a slightly awkward edge to it that I could never quite find the source of. With it being the first “walk around and interact” game I’ve done it’s hard to tell whether it’s because I’m redirecting the player’s focus in a way that isn’t usual for the genre (the blue orb rather than the item highlighting in some way) or because of something deeper. It’s something to tinker with, for sure - making good better, rather than un-functional functional.
I’m glad the idea of an art pass is that interesting to you! I might have to consider it when the crunch of it all’s worn off; with that narrative being that engaging though my main goal’s succeeded on. Appreciate the comment!
Damn! Damn! Insane that you got this out in a month - that classic colouring? The procgen map? It has me feeling nostalgia for a type of game I really haven’t played much at all. The campiness of the concept and writing is really quite charming, and the goblin designs and the player armour icons to the right are real standouts.
I was definitely hurting for some sort of “bring up full map” button, since its large enough that I got turned around a few times even with the minimap. Also echoing that bronze keys and gold keys look just a bit too similar; even just a prompt saying “Requires Gold Key” would have stopped me mashing away at a keyhole that was never going to work. Ditto on enemies losining their hitboxes when defeated, since that was my other big pain point playing through.
The ambition in this project can really be felt - I saw you mention in another comment that you don’t know how long there’ll be web access to your games. This is a hell of a love letter both to creating horny games and this genre, and I wish you all the best getting this to be the horniest, most fun realisation of the idea you can find!
(Also seeing you submitted 2 minutes before deadline - HOO. You must of been sweating!)
What a cute concept! Love the evolving storyline as you try new combinations, and the sprite’s neediness growing along with it is really charming. Your writing style is super pleasant to read - taste isn’t always the most straightforward sense to capture, and this did it well. It would of been neat to have a little reference card of combinations you’ve already tried, but the game’s quick enough to restart that isn’t really a problem.
Well paced and a great use of the theme!
I had SO much fun with this! I’m surprised you consider this a “buggy mess” since I had a really smooth run - the closest I came to bugs was the “guard” command dropping off often and the fuck scenes/end slideshows not covering the entire screen. Both were minimally impactful!
It took me a second to click with how the bug spawning worked since the top right egg button blends in with the environment but it was a real lightbulb moment to get it. I did wish the spawn timer for the bugs was a little faster, but that was because it was so fun just swooping in with an entire army of the little guys. Insane, insane work getting this system alone up and running in a month!
Also man - the worldbuilding? Genuinely so fucking cool. I’m always down for a good hive mind, and the way that the lore built on itself from the initial slideshow to the first character interactions to everything through the main game was really well done. Each of the sex scenes was really well done (that last one was so soft and sad!) and that ending slide show was so cute. Also the references to the “jam” did make me laugh a lot.
This feels like a step up from your game last year, and I loved seeing the aliens from that game in this one - definitely understand why you’d leave this project as is after burning the candle at both ends, but if you ever return to it I’d love to see it.
I’m so glad to hear you wanna do more - I’ll def be following to see!!! Momentum post jam can always be a pain, but I know I’d really love to see a larger scale version of this come to (and self discovery is a great motivator).
And I’m nice about the art bc its well deserved - it takes a great artist to serve the aesthetic and intention of their application well, and you’ve absolutely succeeded in that.
I really loved this! The double entendre of the setup is so delightful; I definitely had a few moments of “Wait- wait-”. The minimal presentation really plays to the fiction’s strengths, and the typing was SO good. And the story! Super cute, with a genuine loving sweetness at the end - I wasn’t expecting it to end on such a feel-good note with the warnings at the beginning, but I got my warm and fuzzies from it all the same.
This really feels like a complete, polished project!
Bonzi Buddy being in Strawberry jam is slightly insane??
Kind of nuts this works as well as it does! Love that the first move is highlighted so you’re not punished off the bat, and the wide range of end bosses keeps things interesting - love you can also disable bosses you’ve defeated as well so you aren’t stuck re-rolling for the right ones. The relaxation scenes are super cute too, and I like the range of characters you can come across and the illustrations.
This definitely feels more like “a game with sex” than “a sex/porn game”; you could very easily remove any allusions to sex/kink and just have a very solid rogue like. I did have an issue with the Love Letter boss where the “fuck no” button spawned off screen, which made dying on that boss feel a bit bad. I did also wish the levels were a touch shorter - but that’s mainly because I want to gun to the end to see all the new boss mechanics!
This feels super polished for a game jam game, and definitely one of the most complete entries - the amount of people asking for a downloadable version really should point to how successful a game this is.
WORMS! WORMS! WORMS! WORMS!
I actually bounced off Cultist Sim when I tried it, so I’m quite delighted I enjoyed this game as much as I did. It took at bit of tinkering to learn how the game wanted to be interacted with - it was about halfway into my first serious run that I noticed a worm’s icon would change when it was “spent”, and the mood cards being time based makes executing them in the correct order a bit frustrating.
Card type icons/colour coding being on the different spaces would be a lifesaver for understanding what goes where, since the fact two spaces in the same area will take different card types isn’t intuitive. I also wish I had a bit more guidance on what “it wants more than you currently have” when you get deeper into the library means - the current new item I have access to (the aphrodisiac) doesn’t seem to have any relevance I can find to the current situation despite me plonking it everywhere I could.
I am hooked enough on this that, if a walkthrough guide existed, I would have definitely sought it out so I could continue playing more of this!
Being able to hold two peoples hands and then have everybody come devastatingly was fucking hysterical, 11/10
The bones for a solid game are definitely here - the loop once you get into it is great, the capacity for little random events and the pursuit mechanic gives things a great vibe. Definitely agree that the horny fades quickly, and that the grind that replaces it is very fun - the little snips of interactions that did have sketches was great! The sheer variety of interactions was incredible - seeing the fact that hands had different verbs than feet and mouths was really cool! Also love gender being so fluid in the game, both with the main character as well as the individuals you can fuck.
There were definitely times that I hoped for a bit more explanation of mechanics - the x2 being clickable, that the debuffs from the king can be toggled off as well as on, where to check the goals that are important for the end game state. - The game definitely breaks in some quite wild ways currently too - the “erase all data” button doesn’t actually seem to erase everything, the error screen consistently displayed as a background in regular playthroughs, and occasionally on the web version it’ll be completely unable to load a saved game and therefore force a restart. The most bizarre was one where my character went from the male model to the female one mid game!
Much like the main character’s goals, it’s a seriously ambitious project. It makes me sad to see you so deprecating of your efforts, since there’s a lot to be proud of here.
Your game already breaks the 4th wall in a couple of places, so I’m surprised that you were worried about doing that here!
Definitely figured the smaller form not being present was a “Shit, we ran out of time” situation since you already had the sprite - delighted that a map also fell into that category!
Really hope that larger version comes to fruition, I’ll be excited to play it!
Mixing potions in a slime girl is a really brilliant idea! The amount of combinations is truly staggering, and it feels really good to interact with. Each new day was a fun rush of figuring out what all the new potion varieties and transformations did, which was really neat. I only found the potion storage late into the game but that was a brilliant addition; it really does make it feel like you’re able to stock up inventory like a real shopkeeper. Having this alerted to the player earlier would be really ideal, since its not immediately obvious.
I did find the days slightly too long, with customers not coming along quite enough to enforce any sort of pressure on the player - I also found in my run through that they overwhelmingly asked for potions from the first two days, which meant curiosity was the only reason to mix up some of the new potions.
Solid gameplay loop, and great transformation kink content!
Cute game! I love me some kobold content, and the models for these little guys were super cute. The rooms felt a little big for me personally and I wish I had slightly better control over the throwing, but it was really fun doing a pipe puzzle like this in 3D. It’s a really easy to iterate on concept, if you ever want to continue this post jam.
Also ran into some serious issues with fullscreen like has been mentioned - I had to play windowed to not run into it, so hopefully that can be tidied up in the future!
Being able to kegel planetary objects in half was not on my list of things I’d ever achieve, but here we are.
This was a game I was really excited to get my hands on, and I’m so glad I got to experience it! The controls don’t take much to get a hang of, and the gameplay innovates without being too imposing. Hole 8 was brutal (I scored 36 on there, oof) but even hitting that wall I didn’t stop having fun. Usually I find Pico-8 games a bit clunky, but I really didn’t run into that here!
I agree with the other comments that this game seems to really walk the line between satire and political commentary - especially not having much experience with the religion this game concerns itself with, it left me at points not quite sure if I should be laughing. Did VERY much appreciate the “ignore the transphobes” message, and the intro fact cards for characters introduced was incredible.
It doesn’t feel like this is a game for me, but I am glad I spent time with it and think the jam is better off for it having existed.
Firstly - thank you SO much for the in-depth comment! Knowing this game found an audience over the jam means a lot, especially with it being both more time intensive and containing some more intense kinks. Those RPG “walk and puzzle” games were definitely what I was trying to invoke, so delightful that it comes across. I’m also glad the botanical worldbuilding landed; I’ve always been fond of indirect world building avenues, and I’ve wanted to do that via botany for years. Didn’t think it’d happen via porn game, but here we are.
Definitely agree on both pain points; they were things I was aware of over the development process, but didn’t really have the time to delve into before submission.
The second cauldron clue I actually had a bit of writer’s block about and had to leave in the placeholder clue; I wanted something that both pointed to that effect of the ingredient, as well as hinted at the use for witches specifically (which it shares with the first ingredient, and I was hoping would help make it less of a 50/50). There’ll be a clue I can add in that handles those parameters with a bit more finesse now the jam period’s over, though I’m blanking on it currently.
The paranoia completely makes sense - between bad ends being present at all and the general darker tone of the game usually this would be a cut and dry “lose to see sex” sort of game. …Buuuut I really wanted to develop something where the kink content was suffused through it instead of needing players to fail to see it. Definitely makes sense the end result is being unsure if this particular sexual act will be “acceptable” - I feel like I might be able to signpost those ones better in the game? The ones surrounding the final ending especially I don’t want the players to hesitant to engage with, since the intention is finding those in the first place should be the main friction.
(Intro skipping is already in the game via the options menu! I wanted it to enable automatically once somebody achieved at least one ending, but that felt a bit dangerous to implement in the last 12 hours of the jam, hah!)
Also yep, 100% a time constraint that resulted in no additional illustrations - the ability to display images alongside the text is actually fully implemented, and the intention was to not only have images for all endings, but also key items the player would investigate (all the potion ingredients, the outfits both in the dresser and on the player, the current transformation state in the mirror that hints towards their current ending…) and other sex scenes if I had time. Turns out writing takes up like, a fuck load of time. ESPECIALLY when you’re solo deving it. I was writing endings up until an hour before I submitted! So yeah, you’re tapped into what I was trying to do and just didn’t have the time to execute.
(I’m glad the art as it exists currently feels strong enough that it would further enhance the writing though!)
Thanks again. :D
