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Congrats on winning Best Overall in the game jam! I can see why they picked it, you nailed the theme.

habba lub gooba huh! :D

(Translation: I love this game!)

First playthrough time was a sub-10 minute run. I'm a prolific speedrunner yaay!

Physics-based games are fun and I love flinging myself into the air, but it was a bit frustrating sometimes. I liked the other elements of the game! Music was popping and the character designs were sick yo! 

Perhaps there could be some AI grapplers that are also swinging around so there is other movement going on besides your own. The collectables could've stood out more too imo. 

I'll check out your game! I just played a 3D game with a grappling mechanic (The Giving Well), might interest you. 

Thanks for the feedback and praise! There's always room to improve, and I'll work on telling a clearer story in the way it was meant to be told. 

I was able to finish the experience. The tower bit was pretty cool! I loved the music and forest scenery, and for a 3D game I felt it was the perfect size environment. Serene is the proper word to describe how I felt playing this. 

Some of the physics were rough around the edges, and I only found one spirit despite seeing more than one. I also felt the story could be developed with the intention of finding more than the "item in need" at the end of each level. Perhaps I have more to learn from this game, but time is running out. Well done!

Did you reach the soup pot? 

Sorry you ran out of time! You'll understand how the ending relates to that concept. I hope you have a chance to experience it someday!

After you press F to finish, walk back to the house and press E. You should try to reach the last day, the ending is worth it!

Walk back to the house and press E to end the day. I have added a guidance arrow in the next build. 

If you have 10 minutes to spare, you can make it to the last day!

A game that shows its hand immediately. There's so much to see! Probably too much...

The card designs and effects show a lot of complexity, and it's unfortunate that it's not shown gradually. I do enjoy reading about what each card does. I don't understand the progression loop with winning and losing. It seems to not make much of a difference since the cards you give are seemingly random, and I can't see it paying off in the long run. Being able to select which card is given can improve your deck significantly though. 

A game with this level of decision making needs to pace itself. Build up the cards. Build up the music. Build up a story. Let it pull people in! There's a lot you can do with this card game!

A large, colorful and ambitious world. A character with the ability to explore at high velocity. An open-ended story to discover as time allows it. 

These are the ingredients that make a 3D exploration game fun and memorable. However, I found the experience was not very cohesive. The AI voice was rather antagonizing, which felt incongruent with the aesthetics. The humans were stationary holograms unable to show their problems in a natural way. The pacing felt off, and I ended up bouncing around not sure where to go after about 10 minutes. The lack of music also discouraged further exploration, and there was no sense of progression other than surveying the land. 

I would look at Vela and Venue from this jam as strong examples of 3D exploration games to take inspiration from. They both do an excellent job presenting cohesive and progressive gameplay elements. Vela has the followers and light charges, while Venue has cubes and artifacts to collect in each area. Both are standout entries.

I hope my feedback has been constructive, and I encourage you to keep working on this! Learn from example and keep practicing your craft!

Didn't expect this to be a fast platformer with spooky vibes. I noticed a canvas panel was misaligned when I finished the second level (part of the image was shown in the upper right corner). I inevitably died in the third level and was left in pitch black with a pink square. 

I'm not sure what to make of the experience, but I enjoyed wall jumping and lunging myself into the darkness!

A beautiful game will an excellent flow to it. I love how you added links in the end credits! 

There is much potential for this to grow, so I'll add a few suggestions:

• More interactions and improved dialogue with the other mermaids. I love the character designs but thought the writing could be more developed and varied with pacing. Use pauses when necessary. 
• Some diversity in music. It works thematically but I found it got a little bit repetitive. 
• More nuanced requests. Allow the garden to be shaped in ways that require more creativity and complexity. 
• Moving NPCs. Fish, mermaids with pathing, big sea creatures. Give them the ability to interact with your garden. Maybe some of them are dangerous or disruptive to add a sense of tension that is missing. 
• Cutscenes with dynamic camera transitions to highlight character interactions. Helps change perspective from being top-down 100% of the time. 

The ambition of this open world artistic expression is moving, but the gameplay and lack of interactable elements is less moving. I clicked too fast and missed the opening narrated scene, so my first gameplay experience was directionless. There is a lot of poetic expression, and I think it should be narrated with the words below the center of the screen. I also lost the sound ambiance (perhaps it didn't loop?)

I don't mind the absence of guidance as you roam freely, but I would encourage you to find moments to express meaning beyond words. I want to fly in this world. I want to see movement. A world this colorful needs to be alive (or it needs to show where it isn't). I want to see how I made a difference going from place to place. 

The complete antithesis of my game, haha. 

It took forever to load in the browser, and I eventually encountered a fatal javascript bug. Both contribute to this game's interpretation of the theme, which is excellent and hilarious.

Generosity can often be overstimulating, especially in moments of grief. The saturation of color and detail in items, rooms, and dialogue contributes to what is, indeed, a casserole. It begins to stack up and distract from the nuanced condolences of family members and neighbors. An important lesson: less is more. 

Marvelous work, you have created an artistic masterpiece!

The amount of cleverness in this puzzle platformer is fantastic, especially with the light stuff. Astounding level design and aesthetics! I get Animal Well, Ori, and Celeste vibes from playing this. 

There was some occasional backtracking, but otherwise the gameplay was smooth and I felt like progress was being made at every step. A good choice to make it relatively easy and accessible, as even the failures were quick to backtrack. The music was also calm and inquisitive, fitting the dim yet vibrant atmosphere. 

This is one of the most complete, fun experiences in this event, and I could certainly see it being a prize winner. 

This game has been in development since 2020 with a demo, kickstarter, youtube channel, and website. It received multiple nominations in 2022/2023 from several indie organizations.

While I admire its accomplishments and representation of the theme of generosity, this is not meant for a gamejam in 2025. 

I aspire to make art and music as beautiful as this, but there were some gameplay quirks I found disruptive. The camera jitters in certain places and the music cuts off in others. The flight mechanic was also difficult to use vertically with multiple W keypresses and shift being required. If it were distance-based instead of time-based, it would be easier to handle the inconsistencies. 

This is a contender for best visual design IMO, and with more polish and seamlessness in gameplay, it can showcase its strengths even better. Also I love games with cats. 

Thank you for your detailed feedback! The fireplace is supposed to be lit on Day 4, but I accidentally messed up the villager's routine by making him follow a faster villager before going to light the fire. This is fixed in the next build. 

I will admit that days 3-5 did not have developed villager routines because I added them 6 hours before the deadline. There are several moments I could've added to make them stand out, but I chose to put more time into polishing the ending and the general gameplay loop. I also wanted to add a day 6 but decided it would make the experience too slow. Glad you stuck it out till the end!

A few minutes of blissful storytelling with nothing but lines and a guitar. 

I may have broken it by exploring a previous tree and making my character invisible in the next sequence, then I ran out of new dialogue but also learned about the different fruit zones. I am not sure how large the trees can grow, as my last three were of similar size and didn't extend to any new zones. If someone has a big ol' tree I'd like to see it!

Happy little doodle game! Reminds me of a couple of other entries I made for gamejams. 

The title and lack of screenshots made me overlook this initially, but it's a fun platformer! The music and camera transitions are smooth, and it adheres to the theme. There should be more games featuring stick figure protagonists!

Concept is unique for a bullet hell, and the music is popping! The gameplay itself was a bit slow especially during the night hours. I didn't understand the premise at first, but it felt like helping the townsfolk didn't result in much difference. Maybe this goes against the theme, but I would recommend income be tied to getting people where they need to be instead of passively making $2 a day. That would help incentivize fast gameplay at the risk of getting hit more often. 

The premise is solid (or liquid, haha), the description of each level is poetic, and the rest of the game flows like music. However, I found the difficulty went up considerably at level 4-5, as it felt like I had to be perfect with the platforming or else I failed. Moving from left to right took longer than I felt comfortable with, and there was one level with an up arrow that I could not figure out how to finish. I played the web version and there was no cursor. Let me know if I missed something!

EDIT: Congrats for being #1 in the community vote!

A wonderful game that, while simple in appearance, teaches the complexities of modern society and how generosity is received. I appreciate the contrast of humor and thoughtfulness shown in the dialogue. The super ultra gigachad boyfriend bit was particularly funny XD

We should appreciate the individual with the most karma going out of their way to find and share these gems. JewelSelective gets the Kittyking101 seal of approval!

A few more entries I found interesting:

Little Soup -  A soup experience different from my own. Colorful and charming with little critters that need a home to stay!

Miracularium - If generosity was dispersed through roguelike puzzle mechanics and card modifiers. Very fun and unique gameplay!

Cat Sanctuary - This game was inspired from helping a real-life cat recover from an injury. The kitty king decrees you play this!

Common Grounds - Another game based on real experiences in a cafe. Decorating someone's drink order is an authentic expression of generosity. 

Choice - A game that was not playable in the first two weeks. It deserves recognition for the persistence of its developer who, like the player, has climbed that mountain and reached the summit. 

I was drawn to this game's title and concept, but it feels rather incomplete. I wandered the forest for about 15 minutes and encountered 2 groups of enemies, but I could not make any progress after attempting to heal them. 

Perhaps with a little more direction and time, the vision this game presents could stand out. 

Your experience in game development speaks here, and the theme of generosity is fully showcased in this game. The multi-layered scenery, the sound effects, the moments of pause between interactions and dialogue, the carefully considered gameplay challenges. Even the single bug I found added to the experience, as I was moonwalking like a boss!

Moreso, you managed to tell a real, powerful, human-driven story. Despite the frustration of repeating the jumping puzzles multiple times, it was all worth it for the ending. I would not be surprised if this won best overall. 

As my own grannie used say to me: "Know that you are loved."

I have not played your game let, will do that right now!

Thanks for the response and for playing Soup! If I do more videos I'll be sure to edit out the slow parts. I'm considering streaming w/ OBS so I'd like it to feel more natural as a one-take w/o edits. I'm aware that I sound repetitive with some of my vocabulary (kind of, basically, you know). I'll keep practicing :D

Thanks again to thatgamecompany and COREBLAZER for making this event happen. I played some wonderful games and met some wonderful people! I look forward to future collaborations after this game jam finishes.

Feel free to post your games here if I have not reviewed them yet. And of course, try my Soup!

Hmm, I did send it... maybe it was flagged as spam? No worries, I'll add you on LinkedIn.

Thank you for trying my soup! I'll admit I need to work on my understanding of shaders before I can improve anything there. You were right in that the soup thoughts were supposed to be related to needs, but I didn't have time to implement that logic so I just made it pick a random ingredient in the pot. 

Thanks again for your feedback. Let me know if you'd like to collab or talk about games! I sent you an email :)

I will admit, I was able to speedrun this in about 30 seconds once I understood all the interactions. 

The scenery and music are beautiful, but the player can easily undermine that. Games like this need to add time to pause and reflect upon the small things that happen, whether that is with dialogue, a long transition, a cutscene, or a detailed animation.  Making the player wait helps them watch events unfold as they interact with the world. 

IMO, point and click games should also give you the ability to solve puzzles, make measurable progress, and explore. I feel that is missing here to some degree.

So, if you do plan to develop this further I would suggest the following:

• Create a pause between actions in a way that fits this aesthetic (nothing too flashy)
• Add more days with a consistent routine (herd sheep, wash panels, monitor solar levels, finish the day), then choose your moments. 
• Add some gameplay elements related to managing solar power. Maybe a battery percentage grows every day (unless it's cloudy) and maybe there are actions that require using some of that power, or perhaps a weekly goal
• Add the ability to go in/out of the facility. Could be tied to new gameplay elements. Maybe a sheep got loose and you need to go out and check on it. Maybe a panel got damaged. Stuff like that. 

As a short, slice of life experience with human generosity on full display, this is exceptional. I hope my feedback is useful for you guys! Don't let my fast clicking undermine the experience :P

The friendly black kitties have all received their gifts, and I in return have received a home and a beautiful cat ending. :D

Other than me rapidly hitting the clock tower in a frenzied state, everything about this experience was calm and patient. The sound/particle effects were charming, and the dark, grey world was soothing and pleasant on the eyes. You made color an important game element in progressing the story, as it works well with the dim-lit, colorless backdrop. The note scraps foreshadowing the end puzzle was also well presented. 

It goes without saying that you are a natural artist and designer. I could learn a lot from you! 

thatvelagame :)

Glad I got to experience this world and reach the finish! I got a little lost towards the end when I used my last star on a wall, but otherwise the feel of moving through the map was, dare I say, "stellar" ;)

Sound design was spectacular with the character interactions (the musical jumps and star launching were marvelous). 

Hooray for soup!!!

The art is fantastic and the story is incredibly wholesome, so I was surprised this received so little reviews. Unfortunately there's a pretty sour bug with clicking on items and adding them to the soup. I was unable to add fish to the fish soup, and whenever I tried to reset it would eat all the ingredients I put in. I restarted the game a couple times before I hoarded ingredients, but the clicking/interact noise was getting repetitive so I took a break. 

With a few bug fixes and polished interactions, this is a game I would love to keep playing. You made some pretty good soup here!  

I was able to win in 4 rounds by exploding my duplicated, piety-swapped, faith wielding believers with the power of rejection.

...that didn't sound too generous did it? XD

I think this is a strong contender for best gameplay. This definitely works as a puzzle game, but the RNG make it extra replayable and fun! The villager movement and miracle choices each round are hard to predict, but it adds to the improv experience, and the music and sound effects are perfect for getting into that mindset. 

Simple and effective with a well executed artistic vision. If I were to add a touch of anything, it would be creature sounds to add a sense of playful interaction and make the forest dwellers stand out more (otherwise the jingles get repetitive). Animations for hugs and hand-holding would also be exceptional if time allowed it (something I would've added in my own game too). 

The only minor immersion-breaking bug is when the creatures walk into me after I help them, then disappear.  Otherwise this experience is smooth with no faults. 

Thanks for the encouragement and the attention to detail! 

I was able to fix these issues plus a few more immersion-breaking bugs, and I plan to continue working on this game after the jam finishes. I got about 90% of what I wanted implemented here, but there's certainly a lot of room for this to grow!

I was able to play the version that included all the files, so here's my feedback!

This game definitely fits the theme of generosity. It is short and sweet, and I was able to get both endings in about 10 minutes. Yes, it could use more elements (sounds/music) to make it a complete experience. I also had an issue with the dialogue, as it overlaps with itself and disappears before I can finish reading it (also a bit shaky while moving, but that's a simple fix) The side scrolling movement and pixel art were actually very well done. 

I hope you continue to work on games! 

Hooray, it looks good! I'm able to play it! I'll give some feedback in a little bit. 

Curiosity... compelled this cat to investigate Venue. 

While I don't believe the game aligns with the theme of generosity in any obvious way, its developer gave all they could to create something that transcends a typical gaming experience. The inclusion of cubes, artifacts, and stamps provides a well-crafted gameplay loop for an exploratory game, and the diversity of areas and music creates a wonderful sense of mystery and intrigue. The designer understands the amount of surrealness to show in this avant-garde world of art and dialogue to keep the player immersed without scaring them off. Even in moments where I was lost, I was not discouraged from trying to find what I missed because of all the small things I could inquire about (like the wandering mouse in the school). There were so many red herrings too, like the party room and the "string instrument" that I ended up playing randomly in different areas.

This was an hour well spent, and I'm glad I was able to finish. I suppose it did get me in the end, haha. 

As I said in a previous post, sometimes the best moments are the ones we give ourselves to be original. JewelSelective has done that here. 

Thanks for creating this world! I hope to explore it again someday.