itch.io

Haunting Helper has feedback now.
Unreal handles this edge case properly, it seems.
Replying here to tell you, because I'm not sure if Itch notifies all developers on the game page, or just the one who submitted the project.

This game is cuter and more polished than it looks.
The general feel of the game was pleasant.
Just the act of moving flying around trying to explore the house was fun, even ignoring the tasks that  you are supposed to do - this game passes the Nintendo/Mario "movement is fun" test.
Very good job!
:)

Here is a list of some things I would suggest changing or looking into.

1) The "how to play screen" is fine to have in the menu so the player can come back to it; but it should be shown forcibly once at the start - I spent a long time in the attic before I figured out I could move the boxes.

2) When possessing things, it would be good if there was a brief animation and sound to give the player feedback. Something like a "fwip" of being sucked into the object. Without this, the possession effect can feel jarring, and had me wondering if the game had bugged out on the camera angle and movement. It would also helps if there was a reverse animation and sound. I got stuck in the sink as the sponge, and it was not clear if I was still possessing it or not, because both the ghost and the sponge were obscured by the water.

3) The camera would benefit greatly from some "cannot go through walls" functionality. I haven't implemented this myself, but I think Unreal has a built-in "camera on a spring" or something? The idea being that the camera should zoom in on the player as it approaches a wall to avoid clipping the wall and blocking the player's vision.

4) Some clear path to get dishes back on to the counter would be good. I dropped a plate, and  I moved it around a lot before trying to jump up the bin. It seemed like it went in the bin (?) and then respawned on the counter. I suspect this may  have broken something because I couldn't figure out how to finished the dish task. I had 2 dishes in the sink, and the sponge, the big blue bubbles appeared, I moved the sponge around in the sink, and... nothing. Not sure if I missed something, or it was a bug.

5) Going back to the menu - I think the menu only appears if you are *not* possessing something?

6) I would suggest renaming "Ghost power" to "Ghost vision" instead, unless it does something else as well. I actually was thinking I wanted a feature like this, and I was pleasantly surprised when I eventually found it in the how-to-play screen.

7) For reasons I'll address in detail in 8), I recommend changing the stills and videos on the game page. The ghost is very cute, moves well, and is the protagonist - it should feature more prominently. I recommend a little video of it flying around, at a minimum, because it's hard to see in still images due to partial transparency (I only noticed the ghost on the web page *after* I played the game). 

8) To be perfectly honest, while most of the art is completely fine, there is some Uncanny Valley happening with the faces of the people and the dog. Take the still of the dog coming towards the screen with the ball in the foreground. There is something off with the eyes - they look straight ahead,  at the camera, not at the ball, and they are *wide* open with no visible eyelids. The end result is the eyes look dead, like they aren't looking at anything. The reason I recommend changing the web page instead of redoing the art is because (well, it's easier, but also) the uncanny valley look doesn't matter during gameplay, because the player isn't spending time looking at the people's faces. The player quickly runs away from a face. So the issue looks worse in the pictures than it feel in the game, and thus, the web page doesn't do the game justice.

For reference for what I'm talking about with the eyes, compare the eyes of characters in the "Hot Dog Dance" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and the eyes of the same characters in the "Stretch Break" dance from Mickey Mouse Funhouse (link *should* be for 11m30s, but if not then jump to that time), which was made several years later (Clubhouse actually fixed this in season 2; but I can't find any season 2 episodes on youtube).

Okay, more feedback about *this* game now (I only just got to level 4 - how many levels are there???).

On level 3, with the stop signs, some bugs appear when there are too many cars.
They start driving in the middle of lanes, or on top of each other; and they sometimes randomly disappear onscreen.
A quick fix for this would be to hard code a limit on the maximum number of cars in the level, and then refuse to spawn more once you hit that limit.
It wouldn't guarantee that this would never happen, but it would reduce the probability.

Cars also seem to be less respective of the cones sometimes, especially if they are coming from below.
I got hit by a car from below, as it sort of stopped on the cone instead of before it.

Finally, I realise this would not be as simple as an asset rotation; but it would be a nice touch if the animation for fixing the road was directional.
I assumed I had to fix the holes from below, until I decided to test fixing from above.

Anyway, again, good job!
I revisited the game because I happened to have the tab left open, and my daughter liked the look of it and wanted to watch me play it for a bit.
I'm hoping "children like the artwork" is a compliment in this case, especially because they are brutally honest.
XD

Yeah, it's quite niche` apparently.
Mostly stemming from "TVs are not the same as PC monitors"; but there also seems to be a bit of "integrated laptop GPU is dumber than proper gaming GPU".

I am currently trying to play Haere nga o nga Atua. I'm having the same issue with the screen not fitting on my "monitor", but for more than just the first menu.

I've had this issue with Unity built games before (definitely not just yours), and I am currently engaged in a very interesting discussion with ChatGPT about laptop+TV+Unity screen resolution chaos. It seems like Unity doesn't handle this tricky combination very well by default; but it's such a rare combination that most people don't notice it.

I'll keep pushing until I get it working; but you may have to be patient for that additional feedback.
XD

Hey, no need to apologise!
It's a jam game. There's bound to be something about it that needs improvement.
Seeing people shoot their shot, learning what is hard to do from others, it's all part of the fun.
I reckon this was a classic case of scope creep, where too many ideas got piled on to be finished in the time limit.
Happens all the time. You didn't ruin my day or anything.
I was just explaining  my experience so you have some ideas in case you want to update the game.
:)

Seriously, you at least submitted a working entirely new game for the themed jam.
I took the easy way out, and only spent a couple hours updating an old project.
You accomplished a lot more than I did.

A very nice and well polished little game that showcases a broad variety of skills.
The art is done in a cute consistent style; and the programming is (as far I can tell) bug free.

Some notes:
 - there doesn't seem to be a UI for the number of cones/lives in this version;
 - the main menu screen exploded, and wouldn't fit on my screen, but the actual game fit okay;
 - if you wanted to add a quit button, that could be done via a simple keybind to Esc or similar (you probably wanted to do a whole menu and ran out of time; but some sort of quit button is better than nothing);
 - if you wanted to spend an hour or two browsing the web, you could probably find some free audio assets for music and sfx that would help the experience pop more.

Overall though, great job, and I'm looking forward to more.
:)

I agree with sathalom that the jump needs some sort of visual feedback.
I spent a long time stuck in the bottom area trying to figure out how the jump worked.
It's very different to normal jump mechanics, which makes it interesting, but also means you can't rely on the player's knowledge from past games to figure it out.
I would suggest limiting the charge at some point as well (or lowering the limit if there is one) because I did some confusing bouncing at one point.

I also personally prefer the inverse to the timer setup that you've used (second game in this jam that I say this to).
Instead of counting down as an end condition, I would prefer it if you counted up.
Then your score is not the number of deliveries, but how long you took to get them.
That way slow players like me (2 deliveries, *almost* 3) can still see the whole game in one playthrough, which would let us try and plan better for the next run.

Aside from that, I don't really have much else to say.
This is a solid jam game that feels complete.
A lot of jam games end up feeling unfinished, or broken and buggy to the point where they aren't playable - which this was not.
I see this was your first jam, so you should be very proud of that.
:)

Oh, this last part could be a "me problem"; but the first few times I tried to play your game I couldn't run it.
I got an error talking about Microsoft Visual Studio runtime 2015 not being installed.
I Googled, and tried to install it, but the installer said it was already installed...
Then, I played a different jam game a few days later that had a similar complaint, but the game offered to auto-install for me.
I tried your game again immediately after, but it didn't work at the time; BUT, today it mysteriously worked for seemingly no reason...
I haven't developed in unreal very much; but it might be worth checking if there's a packaging option related to this.
If not, then I don't know... my PC had ghosts this week.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Additional feedback after reading other comments: I also feel like the puzzles lacked "aha" moments and could be mostly brute forced; and I had the opposite end of the plug detach sometimes (I tried to unplug one end, but both ends unplugged - seemed to be related to the bouncy physics).

I was impressive by the subtlety with which the wires can cross or not.
Very realistic physics where you are trying to thread the needle.
I was expected much larger and harder to handle collision volumes, but this is sleek.

Two things I would suggest changing:

1) More tutorial info (or more obvious if I missed it) explaining the rules of the game, and the meaning of the colour of the wire. I was stuck on the 2nd room (I think) with 3 holes and 1 cable - couldn't figure out how to "plug all the holes", didn't realise cables weren't allowed to touch the ground, and didn't realise what the red was trying to tell me until later. I thought the red was just a stylistic colouring. I brute forced the room very quickly; and I didn't see the red moving until a couple rooms later.

2) Music with a longer loop and/or no high pitch noises? I found the sound of what I thought was a record scratch or whistle to be immersion breaking, and I also think it was the loop point. This can be a problem for any genre; but puzzle games in particular need to have music that doesn't distract the player while they are thinking.

Overall, you've done a terrifyingly good job.
I would not be surprised if you said that you took the full 2 weeks to develop this.
 

1:48

I fullscreened at just the wrong moment on my first play through, and missed the text explaining how to bounce off the walls - leaving me stuck in the tutorial, and very confused about the game.
XD

I *greatly* appreciate that boosting is forgiving enough to wait until you have finished spinning to activate; and, in general the bias towards pointing the player forward is really helpful with such bouncy physics.
Plenty of times I was about to get annoyed about how hard the car was to control, only for the game to guide it back onto the right path for me - circumventing the potential rage quit.

I also couldn't break the game for the same reasons as above.
I was always put gently back on the track whenever I thought I'd managed to fly out of bounds.
I was actually very impressed by all this physics safety in a jam game - I'm more used to slipping outside the map and having to restart the game.
So, really, very good job on this.
:)

I found the AI too hard to beat; and, while they were named differently, it wasn't obvious to me as a player that they were different in any way.
These could both just be due to the fact that I don't really like/play racing games in general.
So, take that with a pinch of salt.

Thank you for playing, and thank you very much for the kind words!
:)

I didn't even think of colours!
I'd need to be careful not to overdo it, but that could be a great addition if handled properly.
I'm planning to (eventually...) port the game from Python to Godot so that I can put up a web build.
(Amusingly, the "basic terminal" is actually kind of hard to do in 3D engines, because it's assumed you aren't doing that).
I'm adding "coloured text" to my to-do list.
If I can add it in Python, I will.
Otherwise, I'll add it in the Godot version.

Don't stress *too* much about having kids.
The moral of the game is something like "it gets easier; the start is harder; 2 is way harder than 1".
I emphasised the stress and chaos for comedic effect; but there are a lot of cute moments too.
:)

Another jam entry with an insane amount of polish.
The ease of play, as discussed by others, is flawless.
So much is communicated without words; and I saw no bugs.
Just about the only thing that makes this feel like an unreleased game is the lack of audio.
Very well done.
:)

I will say, though, that I agree with Lukas regarding the nature of the puzzles.
I never really had to "think" to try to solve a level.
I just had to look around for the few things that I could actually physically do (having a smaller room hurts here), and try something at random until everything fell into place.
I wouldn't be able to refer to the levels as "oh, that's the one where you need to do X to solve it".
As a result, I (personally) got bored; and I almost quit at the start of level 10 before thinking "this might be the last level" and pushing through.

Although, as Lukas said, this might be an issue with pure Sokoban games in general.
Personally, I prefer Sokoban as *a mechanic* rather than as *the genre*.
So, keep that context in mind while considering my feedback.

Oh, also on level 5, I spent ages trying to get down to the box on the pillar without falling below the pillar.
I failed like 10 times, thought it musn't be possible, poked the rest of the level, and then came back before pulling it off.
This could be fixed by adding some sort of debounce to the down action.
Personally, I would be happy with just "you can't hold down to go through multiple platforms - you must press down every time"; but you could apply the same logic with some sort of timer or distance threshold between platforms if you wanted to have your cake and eat it too.

While on mechanics, I would also suggest making "throwing upwards" more forgiving.
I often just dropped the world/crate in midair, instead of throwing it.

Played the first 5 levels so far (15 is so many for a jam game!).
This is the most novel mechanic I've seen in a while.
Moving the block to shake the world feels awesome, and I suspect the mechanic could have a lot of future potential beyond what is in the game already (unless the 10 levels I haven't seen yet exhaust all possible interesting uses of it; but I doubt that).

Two things I didn't like:
1) while the music was generally nice, occasionally it would get randomly louder and higher pitched, which I found to be an annoying interruption, especially in a puzzle game - like "shut up music, I'm trying to think!";
2) I was disappointed that level 5 didn't actually require the main mechanic to solve, and it seemed like it was less about being clever and more about just having a lot of steps to complete.

Overall great job though!
This and the turtle game both shocked me with the level of polish.

Main comment from me is that I couldn't get to the end because of the combat.
Now, to be fair, my potato laptop with integrated graphics was occasionally giving me some lag with camera movement (for the camera I was controlling via a touchpad...).
However, unless I missed something, by the time you're getting swarmed by enemies in the castle, you've only been taught a simple smack that's good enough for boxes.
I tried some buttons at random; but I couldn't find something like a dodge or dash that would let me avoid damage.

However, given the focus was the pick up and carrying of items, I would call this good progress and a success for the jam.
The combat felt a little clunky; but the pick up, put down, and switches all felt very smooth.

Only suggested change is what others have said: something to make the controls more forgiving.
Aside from that, it's a perfect little jam game that delivers exactly what it promises.
(Brutal to play on a touchpad instead of a real mouse: score 17...).

I couldn't figure out how to reliably use or move items.
This lack of understanding of the core mechanic made my experience feel frustrating.
I lost once, and I "won" once (with zero score?); but both felt like random chance.

Trying to figure out what an item is, while trying to figure out what to move, where to move it, while stuff is constantly popping into the bag in random spots, and *something* important is happening off the right as the player moves (no time to look closely) -  it's just too much all at once.

Given how fast paced the movement is, I think it would be better to just let a single click on an item in the bag be the action for using the item.
If all items can be used easily, then the focus is on figuring out (quickly) which item to use when; and, if that's all you need to, the game becomes a lot more manageable.

I've thought about this more, and I had a similar-ish idea.
Instead of showing all of Mr. Manager in one go, how about partial reveals?

Like, it's all black, and *someone* is talking to you, but you can't see who.
Then maybe some eyes in the dark are visible.
After a little while, you swear you saw one eye change colour.
Then the light are on (but he's not swapping assets yet), so he looks offputting, but maybe he's got injuries in the backstory?
Then, finally, all the moving bits and assets swaps are going for the last part of the dialogue, adding the climax to the transformation.

You'd need to have the dialouge and background music match the tension level of the visuals; but that would be my suggestion for making Mr. Manager more impactful at the start of the game.
At the moment I find him less scary, and more just gross and confusing; but I think that's because of the missing tension I've just tried to explain.
A reference interaction for the sort of feeling I'm describing would be the opening conversation with Flowey in UnderTale; but with more layers.

A complete little game, perfect for a game jam.
The art, the preview feature, and the writing in the water give the game a really polished feel (did you work the full 2 weeks on this?!).
:)

A reset button would be nice; but you already know that, and most of the games don't seem to have one.
Aside from that the only improvement I can suggest is adding more levels.
Since you must empty the hub, you can do all sort of combinations of different amounts of objects to (hopefully) keep it feeling fresh for a bit longer.
Can we fit 20 trees on there, for example?
You could also add a couple easier tutorial-style levels where the turtle doesn't get so full.

Ok, now I've read the other comments, I am back!

I sort of disagree with Crimson on the "manage the chaos".
That is a valid straegy (see my game, or the "Too much to carry" game); but I don't think that's the vibe you are going for.
This is closer to a chill idle game, which relies less on chaos and more on progression as I suggested (and, I now see, you were already thinking of).
You could do one or the other properly; but I don't recommend trying to put both in the same game.

I tried to "play" with the kittens; but it didn't seem to do anything, so I assumed mama could only play with the toys.
Maybe I was unlucky.

One final thing I remembered: have you tested if the kittens ever wake up if they aren't put in the bed?
The start screen said they "rest faster"; but I left one out to test how long it takes, and it didn't seem to ever wake up.

Very cute, and very clean, well scoped, bug-free jam game.
Suits the theme well too.

If you want to extend this, I would suggest some sort of progression system.
Like, maybe, being able to spend points to buy new toys or unlock new play areas for the kittens, or something.
It's nice as is, but after a few minutes you've seen everything, so there's not much motivation to hang around.

Also, I couldn't figure out how to quit the game using in-game controls.
I don't always expect to be able to from jam games; but I checked the Credits first, and I had to exit and re-open the application to actually play the game.
Was there a back button I missed?
It doesn't super matter, because it was worth the restart anyway.
:)

Thank you for you comment!
:)

Haha!
I've been wondering since last year if that reference was too obscure, but no one has said anything until now. The PCYC my actual kids go to is Police Citizens Youth Club. They have a gym, and all sorts of activities associated with helping keep teens employed and out of crime; but, for toddlers, they just get to run around, play, and do amateur gymnastics for 45 minutes. I didn't explicitly give a cannon answer in the game though, so feel free to continue under the assumption that the toddler is part of yacht club.
XD

This was actually pretty amazing, despite your self-deprecating declaration on the itch page.
I got all (?) 6 strawberries; and I was consistently impressed at how much depth you managed to squeeze out of a very simple mechanic.
Every level had a different little trick or hook to it, so it felt almost like a puzzle platformer with a unique glide twist.
I didn't mind the sharp twists and turns because falling has no penalty, and I considered it part of the "puzzle" of figuring out where to go.

Four things that I would recommend working on:
1) might have just been me; but the resolution for the title screen would not fit on my monitor for either web or Windows - it simply refused to be reasonable until I actually started the game;
2) it was not clear to me that a level transition was happening until I made it back to the hub world the first time - I thought I was just bouncing around a buggy collision-iffy jam game;
3) some more distinct visual landmarks would be nice - I didn't mind the leaps of faith, but I was annoyed when I couldn't figure out which direction the leap was in because all the rocks look the same;
4) related to 3), a more consistent respawn would have be nice - I would like to respawn always in the same position, facing the same direction, with speed=0.

Overall, I had a really good time!
I also feel a sense of satisfaction, like I actually finished a complete  (though admittedly small) game, rather than feeling like I tested an incomplete prototype.

This Patreon jam allowed for continuation of an existing project.
I only had about 4 hours to spend on the jam this time , so it was easier to update this than to try and make a whole new game.

Glad you enjoyed it!
The game is written in Python, and the PyGame library is doing the audio.
:)

Main thoughts:
1) I, personally did not like the introduction man. He's a bit creepy and off putting, which I'm guessing is the point, but he also doesn't seem to match the art style of the rest of the game which looks kind of like a cutesy RPG. I was expected a horror game based on the opening scene.
2) Invisible walls made it hard for me to tell where I could/should go (you're probably already aware of this).
3) The tutorial dude for the mouse and keyboard says that 'z' is for throwing, but 'z' is for a dash, and 'x' is for throwing. That took me a while to figure out.

It's obviously not close to finished; but I enjoyed the vibe.
The visuals for the setting, the art for main character, and the music really put me in a "chill and explore" kinda mood.
I wanted to keep exploring the world and chatting to grey blobs; but, unfortunately, I fell through the floor past the locked gate, multiple times (i.e. multiple floors), before eventually ending up in a white void that I assume is for testing only.

Oh! Also, if you die and restart, your health continues to show 0/7 until the next time you are hit.

Similar to LukasWho, I found it frustratingly hard to get anywhere (couldn't really), and I wasn't sure what I was meant to do.
My guess was to avoid dropping the boxes with reckless driving, while dodging (or hitting?) the red thing in the distance; but I could never get close enough.

I also encountered what I think is a bug where, after playing a few times, I was unable to play anywhere because as soon as I started to drive I would instantly fail.
No box fell off, and the time limit was nowhere near empty - literally just started.

I think the stove is okay, actually.
I could keep an eye on the colour of the meat while playing.
It was just the sparkles on the fridge that was missing.
I actually guessed that it might be the fridge; but then I thought it wasn't because I didn't see the sparkles.

Also, don't worry about playing my game.
I just made a minor balance and content update to my GMTK jam game from last year.
I'm used to people not being able to play it because it's Windows only; but I didn't have the time to port it to web.
The general vibe is extremely similar to yours (laundry features prominently in both!), so I don't think you're missing anything.

Fair enough.
You have thought about this a lot more than I have (which makes sense)!
XD

Don't worry about the grid.
You've got some sort of vision in mind, so go for it!
I just thought of it as an easy option to make playing the prototype easier to do; but I admit that I have a bias towards grids anyway.

A short but accurate representation of the chaotic multitasking required to parent 2 children simultaneously.
Well suited to the theme as well.
I really like the little touch that the kids want to be held basically all the time.
Sometimes they need something sure; but otherwise they'd rather just be held and stop you from doing other things. 
This is my current home life, so that really resonated with me...

The only thing I couldn't quite figure out was what to do with the steaks after cooking.
They sometimes disappear when placed (on the bench or fridge?), sometimes don't (on the floor?), and there don't seem to be sparkles to guide a cooked or burnt steak.

I like the idea a decent amount.
I've played a game before where you need to preload your actions before executing N-turns, but it was a medieval combat thing so it didn't make much sense.
Pre-programming a rover makes a lot more sense for this mechanic.

I think it would be easier to both develop and play if the map used a grid system.
Picking directions to move and spots to investigate are tricky if you have to pre-plan everything.
It would be easier to remove the angles, just have cardinal movement, and just investigate whatever space you happen to be on at the time.

I'm also curious to see how you make all those unimplemented interruptions feel fair or... preventable? Solvable?
With a system like this, I find it easy to imagine that the plans are so fragile that any interruption at any point just tanks the whole thing.

I am captivated by the premise, and the little world you have made.
The art has a certain charm that helps to draw you in as well.
I actually really want to see where this is going; to learn about the lore and the main character.
How did the protagonist get here? How did the WORLD get here?
I want to know.

Not sure if you were already planning to do this, but I think it would be good to map the different interaction types to hot keys to save having to keep going back to the bottom left of the screen.

I played alone, and it was very nice!
More fun than I thought it would be, to be honest.
I liked the little touches, like how the music stops when you stop; and how the carriage warps humorously as you stuff up.

Things I would change:

1) some sort of score system or lose condition - it feels like there is no reward for playing well;
2) centre the action more with some look ahead - playing right at the edge of the screen feels awkward; and
3) smoother up/down camera movement when going over hills.

Good job overall, though!
:)

Haha, sorry about that.
I wanted the tutorial to have a slightly different vibe to the rest of the game; to "feel" like a tutorial.
By all means, feel free to grab a copy of the source code, and add that option in.
:P

Thank you very much!
I'm glad that you enjoyed the game and the talk.
You made my day with this comment.
:)

Please don't be afraid to ask me any questions if you think of something later

This is good news! I am especially keen for the 3rd major change.
Congrats on the new job as well!
:)

Please make sure to post when the updates are done.
I need the continued motivation from everyone updating their jam games to help me believe that I'll eventually move my planned patches from "notes on phone" to "code in game".
XD

Sorry, I meant to ask this earlier, but I forgot: why release an android build if the game already works in the browser?
Can't android people just play it online?
Or is it not showing up properly, or something?

Thank you very much!
Yeah, I pushing my artist skills to the limit with the single piece of ascii art.
XD

"WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN, MASON?!"
This game really needs a tutorial.
It doesn't have to be in the game; just a paragraph on the itch page to explain the UI and goal.

Save the world from aliens by driving in circles in your car.
I feel like the devs were drunk when they came up with this idea; but, in a good way.
XD

Only thing I would have wanted is hints about where the 5 beacons were.
I wasted a lot of time driving around getting lost/stuck in the houses.