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Super fun game loop! The wind mechanic is awesome. Was there a progression system for the debris that shows up? From my playthrough, it seemed like bigger types of debris (the rocks) showed up only after a while. If that's the case, that's super cool! Only being able to carry 7 people makes a lot of sense, and works perfectly to keep the game interesting.

Nicely done! The writing works well to make the player curious to learn more about what's going on. I did get stuck on the dock in the fishing area for a bit, but I was able to try moving in a bunch of directions until I could keep going. I made it to the turtle before I wasn't sure how to proceed (I saw the black screen with a bottle made out of shapes, I presure that's meant to be a minigame?). The environment and waves look gorgeous! I agree with the other commenter that the player looks a bit out of place (this didn't have any negative impact on my experience playing the game though).

This is a unique and relevant take on the theme of Natural and unNatural Disasters. The character dialogue is well-written and does a good job at making the player curious about learning more about geoengineering. 

Great job with this! I agree that it does function very well as a fun arcade game. The music is great. I had fun playing this for a while even though I don't play these types of games much, because planting seeds made it easy to regain health. The axe enemies are a nice addition to the game, and they tie the theme together. I also really like how doing the area attack pushes the axe enemies away. I would've liked to see a little more of an explanation of the vulnerable tree species in-game, perhaps as cutscenes between waves of enemies? If you were to work on this further, it would be super cool to have multiple waves of enemies, slowly introducing different tree types or other attacks. Really nice work overall!!

I love the concept, and I think this project fits perfectly within the theme of Natural and unNatural Disasters! The multiplayer experience seems well-thought-out, and the game seems both educational and fun to play. I recall seeing a video showcasing the driving mechanics when the game was submitted in sprint 3, and that was looking promising. Looking forward to the single player demo so that I can give it a try!

Edit: I just realized that the gameplay video is still downloadable so I rewatched it! The environment is looking really nice. I'd love to see a bit more on the instructions/directions each player gets, to get a better idea of how the player is being educated.

I really, really like this game! The "florida man" character is especially well-written, and the interactions with all of the characters do a good job at emphasizing the importance of community while dealing with disasters. Florida is a great choice for the setting of the game, and a flooded Disney World is a humourous yet memorable location in the game. The artwork is great as well, and I like how the backgrounds get more colourful after making certain choices. Looking forward to playing the completed game!

The art and ambiance of the game is great! The main menu is designed well, and I appreciate the options to adjust amiance, SFX, and music separately. I tried the PC build, and I unfortunately couldn't get super far in the game because the mouse sensitivity was super high. Just the slightest adjustment would make me overshoot past the object I was trying to look at. A mouse sensistivity slider could be a good addition to the settings! I also found it a bit difficult to move around the scene, as the movement felt super slippery to me. The player would keep moving even after I stopped holding down the WASD keys. I would often slide through the objects in the scene, instead of stopping in front of them. Even though I wasn't able to play through all of the tasks, I'm excited to see what the game is like at the end of the jam!

Also I just realized that I set the wrong leaf to be clickable in the second level; it should be the leaf circled in blue but for now you'll be able to progress by clicking the leaf circled in red!

Two of the five planned levels are playable in our submission for the production sprint. Over the next few days, we will finish illustrating and implementing the remaining scenes, as well as adding in voiced dialogue. We will also be adding information about relevant organizations and ways that players can support climate relief efforts in low-lying island nations. You can see the planned progression through levels in the third screenshot included.

Also, please note that the second playable level (about resilience methods) will be more zoomed in during the final submission, with the player being able to move the camera around the scene. This just has not been implemented yet, but hopefully it isn't too difficult to view the objects in this level in our current build.

Just wanted to note that we ran into some scheduling issues during prototyping so all of the art in the prototype is placeholder art! This prototype is just a proof-of-concept for the mechanics of a hidden object scene. The "next" button that appears once you click on all of the objects doesn't do anything yet.

We are currently in the process of integrating sound, replacing placeholder art, adding in voiced dialogue, and adding in the "newspaper" scenes that will play before and after each hidden object scene. We are also in the process of scheduling interviews with people from Kiribati to ensure that their stories are accurately represented and that our call-to-actions are genuinely helpful.

So please keep in mind that there are key elements of the game missing from the prototype.

Thanks for the comment! I completely agree about the power of a scene like the one you mentioned about the stuffed animal. I'm hopeful that this game will be immersive, and provide factual and emotional content that leads to reflection.

Interestingly, the overarching plan has changed under the current administration.

Anote Tong, who served as president from 2003 to 2016, focused on raising international awareness of the threat of climate change to Kiribati and advocated for "migration with dignity" as a potential adaptation strategy

When Taneti Maamau became president in 2016, he criticized Tong’s emphasis on migration, calling it a “misleading and pessimistic scenario of a sinking nation”. Maamau doesn’t deny climate change, but believes the common sentiment that the safety of their island is in God’s hands. Maamau plans to combat rising sea levels by raising Kiribati’s islands by 2 meters through dredging. This would be an expensive project, requiring billions of dollars of funds as well as technical skills from foreign allies.

One of the more divisive changes that Maamau implemented was severing Kiribati’s former alliance with Taiwan to work with China instead (in 2019). Since then, Kiribati has received funds for resilience efforts from China, but other countries such as Australia and the US have become concerned about the extent of China’s involvement.

We would really like to interview some locals to better understand what they think about sea levels rising so we can tailor our call to actions accordingly. I do believe it should be easier for people to emigrate to safer countries if climate change leads to unsafe living conditions in their country, so we're advocating for that in general. However, I also think it's important to focus on Kiribati’s climate resilience efforts that can provide them temporary or long-term relief from the rising tides without needing to emigrate.

super fun game!!