Oh my gosh this is probably the most high-effort feedback I've gotten on anything I can remember doing ever, thanks tons first and foremost! :D
I'd love to go through my entire creative process but the main thing is that I'm so very glad the story reached you. A writer's biggest fear is trying something weird and different without knowing if it will hit the mark or not. Glad the storytelling worked in the strange way I approached it.
Also very glad to hear the combat worked out. I did not set out to make a game with a lot of aggressive battles, but as the nonlinear story began to click with me, it seemed the way to get the feeling I wanted.
Thanks again and again, this overall fell so short of what I imagined in my head that it means a lot to know things did work in their own ways. I mostly just want to make another game and your honest words will help a lot!
I loved the surreal wit of this game! The way there were actual sincere conversations at that one time in the cave and again at the ending really popped for me, when mostly I felt myself questioning my own sanity.
I went back and won against the Orb. I'm not proud. That unbalanced, overpowered fight fit in perfectly in this game by not fitting in, if that makes sense.
You really nailed the atmosphere, the dynamic animation style meant that early on, I was jumping at any bit in the background that moved!
The suspense was also spot-on, I really had no idea what would happen next but I just had to steel my nerves for the ending. No story where you find a skull right away goes in an easy direction...
Thank you so much for this. It felt selfish to ask but I'm past the "visual novel" stage and nearing the place where the RPG elements are functional, I hope I can bring something share-worthy.
I'm choked up a bit after playing this. I kinda wish I had jumped on it sooner, but to me, the themes (other than the hilarious dialogue) of finding a bit of comfort and friendship amid a chaotic world really speaks to me right now.
Best part was how the jokes came fast and landed perfectly. What sounded like witty lines were actually setups to really funny punchlines, and every room had several great moments, surprising me with each smile I cracked, despite trying to play the game legitimately.
Honestly, just an extremely loving tribute to RPGs and the kind of memorable characters that the best ones have. Thanks for making this.
So very impressed at how minimal development led to a complex-feeling game. The unpredictability of battles gave it a high-risk, high-reward feeling that worked well with a horror theme.
Honestly, I was pretty frustrated and died a lot along the way, but I could tell that was part of the experience and I'm glad I pushed through. I had to read a lot of comments here and elsewhere to pick up a hint on what I was missing.
So glad I played this! Though it took me a few tries to figure out how this game worked and I died a few times along the way, it just made me all the more determined to find what was at the end of those long caves full of Knife Wifes. Though the game was playful in nature, the minimalist dungeon designs and the tension from having no save states and limited resources meant that it does function well as a sort of deconstruction.
Pardon the cliche but this game is art. The pacing from the engine gives it a very deliberate feel that lets the tension build until it vents just a little bit, which works because the incident may be over but as the conclusion says, the trauma lives on. I liked the part where brief sexual encounters are described that the protagonist hoped would lead to friendships or relationships. The writing made me feel sympathetic to the other characters, even as they were portrayed as flawed in how they dealt with the oppression they lived under.
This felt like a horror game to me, despite the fetish aspect. The coziest horror I've ever read.
The understated traumas, the soft but melancholy music, and the eerily pastel illustrations all contributed to the feel of the point-of-view characters' gradual loss of will and their eventual surrender to obedience.
If, instead of the common thread being a sadistically cruel lesbian, it was narrated by a deadpan man smoking a cigarette, it would feel like a Twilight Zone episode.
Very cute! Definitely got the vibe of becoming a larger predator with a matching appetite, as prey that was once closer to the player's size eventually can fit in the palm of their hand, and the once-larger prey are now 'unlocked'.
The dialogue is super cute as well, and encouraging in the sense that I wanted to play again to see if there was any cute lines I missed. Also, adding a little timer as a 'score' was another thing that made me want to try again!
This was actually rather adorable, I didn't know what I was expecting but the intentionally dated references did make me crack a smile and the simple concept was pretty fun, I did learn I could grab multiple prey if their sprites overlapped when I clicked them which added some strategy.
This was adorable and fun to play! Loved how it tied in the previous entries, and I did like navigating the tunnels and figuring out the logic of how the different rooms were connected. Great use of text-based graphics, like how the mayor was a longworm. :)
Oh gosh, this gave me chills! I love how every page plays a little bit with the format, sometimes playing it straight with a page of prose and a choice, but sometimes giving a false choice or revealing things at a deliberate pace.
The way the characters were developed did a great job of making everyone feel real, even if they were just briefly mentioned, and the main characters sympathetic, even if neither one is perfect (except in the other's eyes, maybe).
Played through a few times trying to see the results of other choices.
I did enjoy the way the storyline zig-zagged from being a silly satire about pixelated fish but also a sincere examination of war and how it leaves the ones who had to fight it.
The map design worked, because even though it wasn't always clear where I could go I did feel like that meant I was exploring a more 3D space, as a fish under water would have a harder time finding spaces to swim through as opposed to just walking on the horizontal surfaces.
I did get bogged down in the grinding, though. Only looking back at the text walkthrough made me realize what I was missing!
Well, I'm glad you submitted it after all! :) I went through and played every game in the jam, so maybe I wouldn't have found your game otherwise but the whole journey was fun, too. Thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind since I do want to make more games!
Loved this! Reminded me of escape room games in Flash I have played, like the original Crimson Room. The puzzle was simple at the end but I honestly had no idea where it was going through most of the game, and hunted a lot of the pixels trying to find clues. The loop with the sailboat painting was a nice touch, made the 'room' seem more intriguing, even if it wasn't a hit. Makes me want to try something similar next time, but I don't know if I could be as clever! :)
Very cute! I had to try again because I wasn't expecting this 'comic' to become a puzzle. :) The handwriting worked for the pixelated style and you got personality for each character into a small canvas, loved it!
I liked this one! Though I first thought it was a trial-and-error thing, I did go back and try to 'solve' the other puzzles to get all the hints legitimately. :) It was a neat little maze game all along!
This might be one of my favorite Flickgames! I found the friendly spider, and I liked how the two main paths looped differently. And the art is some of the most gorgeous pixelated stuff I've ever seen! :)
Surprising, I wasn't expecting that kind of game to get a demake! :) Really nailed the 8-bit feel, I did use an old Macintosh with a blocky, greyscale screen a few decades ago, got that feel nailed down.
I like it! I thought at first it would be like teleporting between stars and planets in space, but after a few tries it felt more like an interactive art exhibit, like a picture that changes when you touch it.
What a cute little adventure, and the false endings had a silly sense of humor that did make me smile, even as I had to start over. I got Burned to Death first click!
It's simple, but I did have fun going through each frame. :) The choice of showing each being's symbol first, and then revealing a portrait, played with my expectations, since I tried to think of what they might look like but of course I had no way of knowing. The way that there's no set order made me think of a kind of minimalist interactive story, which I suppose it is - an introduction into more details about you.
Short and sweet, makes me think of a kind of visual poem. Using those lyrics and the artstyle reminds me of flyers for an indie music show I'd love to go to!
Still love the idea of getting the same story from two points of view. I can read very little Japanese, so I didn't really suspect what the other point of view was going to be like (although there were hints). A small plot arc, but it did work within the limited panels!
Such an amazing idea, using two languages to tell the story from two points of view at the same time! I only know enough to read a few of the Japanese characters, but the feel of trying to navigate a first date came through very well.
Such an elegantly simple puzzle! Having to learn the 'language' of the clues was just challenging enough, though I cheated and took notes the whole time. Naturally, the way FlickGame works lent itself well to a color-based puzzle. And the ending frames were a fun reward!
That ending felt emotionally moving! Combining a little battle puzzle with a sincerely touching frame definitely got the Fire Emblem feel across. Clever to get a sort of puzzle game within the Flickgame tool, I must admit, I got caught up in the moment and got a Game Over the first time.
