I also almost got stuck on the start of the game. The misunderstanding comes from using the same icon for dragging the card during initial deck creation, and "starting game". It's not clear you need to drag the cards to the bottom of the screen, and I instead tried double clicking or clicking and then clicking the arrow. Consider using a different type of element, or an arrow that moves between a selected card and the bottom of the screen.
Happened upon this game as I started analyzing games and game design.
I really enoyed the game! It has simple, yet non-standard card mechanics, and I enjoyed building my deck and fighting the various monsters.
My only criticism is that there was no music during gameplay, and that some cards like the bows were dead weight in a deck without arrows.
Also while the style is pretty interesting, somethimes the cards seem illegible with the white numbers merging with some of the graphics. I've also noticed that the text for the sacrifice event overflows.
All the bugs associated with a prototype aside, one thing I would immediatelly change and look into is the tutorial pacing. You get told how to fight after 2 fights. Consider switching up the tips so that combat is shown when it occurs :D
Since VTube studio supports multiple instances of the software with different models loaded, would TITS also support connecting to multiple instances? I did a quick test and it seems to only want to connect to one instance.
I will be hotswapping avatars in the future and it would be nice to have this feature, along with a list of connected instances by window name ^^
Really cool concept. I don't know if it was intentional, but you could get trees that were in darkness without having to put light there. A bit slow, but deliberate. It was kind of hard to figure out what was and what wasn't a resource
What do you mean by glitchy walls? As far as the limited testing we did, the walls didn't glitch during the teleports.
The maze is not random, and there are landmarks stewn about for orientation purposes. It is true there should be more of them, but as is no part of the maze should be repeatable enought to not be unique.
The scares in the game are meant to be harmless - both due to lack of time and the theme of the game, which is anxiety and everything being "in your head"
This project was a lot of firsts for me - first game jam, first time working with a team, first 3D game. This is my second game overall, done in a quarter of the time of the first one. With that said,
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good: Working with a team of talented individuals was really great. I felt motivated throughout the jam and it was a nuanced feeling that someone cared about the game as much as I did. Taking vacation time to do this project was an excellent idea, as most of my days were consumed just thinking and planning and searching stuff for the game. We paced ourselves well and had hard deadlines set between phases of the game (Concept -> Prototype -> MVP -> Polish), and kept everything neatly in a Trello board to keep track of stuff. I learned a lot of things about Unity, modelling, texturing, animation and mathematics while making the game. It was an experience like none other for me, and something that did help with the otherwise bland year this has been. Getting feedback was new and very welcome, as it helped deepen my understanding of things I took for granted - level and game design, the impact of sound and consistent style, what people pay attention to.
The Bad: Despite our best wishes, not everything got done on time and we have probably overscoped. What seemed like simple ideas took longer than anticipted and we were working and changing things up to the last hours of the original deadline. Life got in the way a lot, and some critical parts of the project got delayed and didn't receive the polish they would require to be fully implemented - as it turns out, it was par for the course in game jams.
The Ugly: We didn't playtest the game on time. Most of the mechanics were made in a vaccum without feedback, and what seemed obvious to a designer was a total mystery to the player. Some of the work we spent time on didn't even get into the game due to performance reasons, and it was a crying shame. While the vision of what the game was supposed to be was mostly there, we didn't have specifics nailed down and just kept throwing stuff in that soudned cool, but was very hit and miss. From a programming side, I noticed my quality degrade as the deadline drew closer - it was important to ship the feature rather than make it extensible or well documented. I was also very anxious about the project and treated the whole thing way too seriously, a challenge to prove myself that I can make games. Only now that the scores are down I feel certain relief and satisfaction from a job well done.
Takeaways and lessons
- For me, this is a hobby, not a job - don't stress over it. - Temper expectations - everyone has their own lives to live and a game jam might not have the same priority for others as it does for me. - Be more firm with timelines - this will come with experience, but plans should be created flexible, not bent and broken later on. - When planning, create 3 groups of items - must have, good to have, nice to have. Implement in that order and make sure your must haves work perfectly - Always get feedback - be it from team members, friends or strangers. Your game needs to be tempered in order to withstand criticism and scrutiny. - Don't be afraid to fail - failure nurtures future success, if you learn from it.
Nothing about the maze is random - it's very much static with 1 way teleporters stewn about :) After getting a lot of feedback, I do see how this can be confusing - I could have sprinkled a few more breadcrumbs here and there, and I deffinetly made some teleports too punishing and confusing.
Glad you managed to get a bit of enjoyment out of it regardless ^^
Glad you liked it! Yeah, I realised only now that some of the mechanics aren't exactly that intuitive ^^ Instead of a brain teaser it turned into a frustrating experience xP
Yes, Lost in Vivo was an inspiration for this ^^ Sorry about the crows - they are slower than the player and dissapear if you break line of sight for long enough. Unfortunately the game was designed for regular mouse and keyboard, so sorry for that xP
This being a game jam game, we didn't have enough time to do cool things with it, unfortunately.
Thanks for playing the game! Too bad you didn't manage to finish the game :) The trick to the section you got lost in, and all the sections where teleportation is involved - you have to turn around and enter them backwards :)
Yes, the game has an end, and it does rely on you creting a mental map of the layout - the teleports are static and mostly one-way. There are 3 zones overall. The theme was around anxiety and everything being in your head, so the scares don't actually do anything (except the crownado restarting you, that one is correct)
I see, and I also use teleports in my game :D Maybe consider making the playing field bigger then, so that the player can move around comfortably while experiencin the spook. Keeping them hostage in place while they view a spooky situation doesn't sound the best to me - they can't run away or react in a "in the moment" way, ruining immersion
Theme: Horror theme is there, and the style/lighting contributes to it well
Fun: A bit of a walking simulator, it didn't feel quite tense due to some walking effect sound issues. Also I wasn't clear on the game mechanics (hiding in bathtub doesn't save you from getting caught), and restarts felt punishing. Due to the timer, I assume this is a speedrunner game, so I wasn't part of the core audience.
Game Design: The pixel art was really good and the overall environment was great. Some of the issues mentioned dragged down the experience for me, and I quit after failing the game several times (last time with the bathtub). Some of the secions felt a bit too tight (running away from monster gave you no leeway in standing there, if you didn't run immediatelly you were screwed)
Overall, a good game with some minor issues that could be a nice speedrun challenge
Theme: Deffinetly spooky horror, with a nice variety of set pieces
Fun: While I liked the horror theme park experience, I was annoyed by the slow walk speed and having to stop every time I wanted to check where the car was. It made the experience uneccessarily long, and in case of crashes or getting stuck due to bugs (After 3 tries I just gave up) it takes a while to redo progress.
Game Design: I can't say for the whole game, but deffinetly make the game "shorter" by allowing the player more freedom of movement. There are some nice set pieces that make your hairs stand on end, and it's not bad to be a shorter game. Just moving at a snail's pace does two things for me: 1. I can't run away, so there is no tension of anything actually being a threat, because I don't have the means to mitigate it 2. Makes it feel like a drag to go a few steps in total darkness (the light only helps minially), stop, click, whoosh mouse around in search of the car and continue the trek
Also a tiny bug I noticed - in the start room, if you look down and move around, you can see the shadows of the items you can use - the punch card and something else I think. Don't make them cast shadows ;)
Overall, liked it, couldn't finish due to bugs and crashes (sometimes couldn't move after the little girl stopped me to turn around)
Theme: Kind of spooky, but the effect was muddled by lack of ghost animations and camera clipping issues.
Fun: Find and bring items while being chased is a good core mechanic. The sprint should be more noticeable, and you should be able to outpace the ghosts or have some other means of escape. Ghosts having colliders and bodyblocking you from leaving rooms and/or ramming you into corners for a quick restart wasn't too fun. Having some way to scare the spooks away or being able to tell that they are coming with sufficient time to hide could also help
Game Design: Overall, a good idea that has some performance and gameplay issues. There are probably too many dynamic light sources in the game scene, as the menu scene (level select) works like a charm. You should remove colliders from some objects that you can pick up, as dropping them and stepping on them can launch you. The camera clipping could be an issue with the near clipping plane (I don't know UE that well to tell), but it deffinetly hinders the experience near walls or the ceiling. I also had a problem between the "use" and "pick up" keys (at first I was confused why I couldn't get the flashlight) - try and have as few controls and possible, merge some if neccessary.
Regardless, this is a very presentable game and after a few fixes I'd love to revisit it and play it through.
Theme: Not horror per se, but adhering to the horrific creatures trope
Fun: There is an interesting idea in here, but it's not well explained and the game is probably not finished fully. For what it's worth, feeding tiny monsters meat is a fun concept. I don't know why I died (probably the red one was eating me), so some feedback like a healthbar would go a long way.
Game Design: The game could use a bunch of sounds, maybe some ambiance. Main character didn't have animations, but the creepy crawlies' ones were pretty cute. This is a neat concept and I'd like to see it more realised, as I'm a fan of taking care of pets in games like these. The monsters changing in unpredictable ways is a great mechanic - being able to dispose of the undesirables would make this more interesting and give players a choice between keeping his tiny horrors alive and keeping himself alive.
I have deleted my comment in lieu of something more constructive:
The core gameplay loop is simple but works - collect items, get out of there. It's possible to cheese the monster by moving backwards and not looking at him at all. Maybe instead of static objects they could be moving, presenting a challenge - or an in-game timer could entice speedrunners to compete playing the game the fastest.
Even though you claim the art isn't there, I very much enjoyed the minimalism - to me, this is a slime club, and maybe you could lean into the theme. That could relate to horror a bit btter - a bunch of slimes were on a night out, one of them left their slime wallet (full of adventurer bones used for currency), but there is one dude out there that knows your scent and wants to grab you.
I liked the music, but the sound effect for looking at the monster blends into it too well. For my first few tries I was certain the sound cue was part of the soundtrack. Maybe make it a bit more distinct, like a static sound that makes the music more hushed.
As far as I understand this is your first game, so good job on that! Please keep making more :)
I deleted my comment due to two reasons: 1. It wasn't constructive feedback 2. The game updated since I played
Theme: Not exactly adhering to what I'd call horror, but themed around the subject of demons and horrific entities
Fun: Very linear experience with a story to tell. The player isn't given any wiggle room to fight enemies or make choices, and there is nothing to explore with. The game could benefit with some points of interests or pickups, maybe even something like life potions. A way to win the game without submitting to the demon, rewarding player ingenuity or planning, would make this a lot better
Game Design: The pixel art was really nice. The movement felt very sluggish and choppy, like the inputs were checked only once in a while. Allow for checking for input more frequently - when I pressed an arrow key, it didn't respond roughly half the time. Other than that, the story could be less linear and could have a secret (good) ending. Other than that, it was an okay, enjoyable experience
Theme: Couldn't see the horror in this - maybe the slice of gameplay was too short?
Fun: Really nice spritework, but the game was super choppy (low framerate). There was a beginning of a story there, and an oddly placed cooking/crafting mechanic. Overall, can't say much due to the very small portion of story presented.
Game Design: Pretty good layout, if it wasn't for the framerate issues it'd be a solid entry.
Theme: Not really a horror game, but a good maze crawler
Fun: Wasn't a fan of the cryptic story, but the maze was alright. Liked how it became more and more crooked over time. The fighting mechanic felt more gimmicky, as the enemies weren't much of a threat for the entire game. Maybe make more use of the flashlight/lightbeam detection you had - like, you can see only the parts of the maze you lit, and have it like a flashlight.
Game Design: Good work, liked the maze crawl. Can't say about the poem, as it's not to my taste.
Short walking simulator with a few jumpscares. It got me once, but otherwise didn't do anything that required player input. If this was meant as a theme park experience, maybe a bit more tension would work - more sounds, shadows creeping in, some lighting play. The end scene I'm not sure about - did the character get dragged or suffered a heart attack?
A complete game is a complete game, but it has massive room for improvement.
