itch.io

This is really AWESOME. The different styles of "play" presented here (2D Platformer, Top-Down, Action) conveyed as these more abstract games makes me realize and appreciate the simple joy of games as a whole. The use of fade-in/out and title cards makes everything feel like a very cohesive package (while still paying homage to memorable games).

btw this itch page and logo is fire

i was having some trouble with that too, but I think it's a 3-hit kind of deal, so having to reach that boss three times without dying i think?

I need to see a video of someone speedrunning this LOL. That said, I do think it's really brilliant that you have people in the foreground (plus clouds in the background) that actually obscure the stress meter--which makes it even more of a challenge to manage it.

(whoops, i posted this comment on the wrong account, please ignore that deleted post)

Wow, this was pretty cool to play through! The atmosphere and soundscape of the games you made so far have been REALLY eye-catching. You're really good with the presentation of a piece (to fit whatever mood you're going for), so I'm excited to see what you'll do for the final project!

I really like the concept and the overall vibes of this! Went through all the levels, a bit tricky but feels good to play. Btw the music is super catchy!

Interesting to see that there's many post-apocalyptic or wilderness choose-your-adventures this time around (you might want to check out squid's Adventure or RS_TRC's apocalypse). I really like the navigation, especially since there's images, as well as the "location" tag on the bottom left. I think adding some sort of ambience in each location would be neat!

Really cool choose-your-own adventure game, I especially like how you use colors to indicate choices, to a point where it feels very intuitive to press 1 or 2. I also like how the treasure in the cave actually changes depending on the kind of personality you decide to use, which gives the moment a sort of magical/mystical aspect to it.

Some of the minimalist / minimal color reminded me of A Dark Room, a game about resource management with a similar dark aesthetic. I'm not sure if collecting shells is going to be the main objective of this game, but the exploration aspect was very fun to go through. 

I do wish the strikethrough text (can't go back) was implemented further, since it gives some suggestion of paths that can no longer be traversed (especially as it pertains to losing/earning shells).

There's definitely a concept here, and I like how the ordinary takes over for a majority of the play experience. It seems you want to keep the character of the apocalypse a mystery, but I do want maybe a little more detail on what kind of "end of the world" is being experienced (like, a zombie/biological one? or alien invasion? or something more fantastical/supernatural?).

I think resting on the idea of "no class. no noise. no people" should take priority before we really kick into the chaos and screaming of this scenario, since that initial part is the most ominous/eerie part of the whole experience.

I really like how you used different text colors to indicate different speakers, and the interactions between the two characters were very cute (and I wasn't expecting the twist!). 

Your decision to make choices either "A" or "B" just reminded me the NES controller, and now I wonder how different this game would feel if you approached a retro/pixel aesthetic. Just a thought.

I agree with this sentiment as well! Your games are already dream-like in nature, but maybe leaning more into that disorientation / surrealness might be a good angle for your next work.

as for the game itself, i really like how the pink text follows your mouse / camera so you can always view it. i also wonder if you want to somehow disable jumping/sprinting, as I currently do not see the use of it (and might distract from the purposes of interacting with this Pink Text, or maybe omit that from the itch description just so players don't get the wrong idea of what this games is really about)

I ended up making a mind map for Mario the Plumber lol. But I really like the cohesiveness of the program, especially to write down various aspects of a narrative. I do wonder if there was perhaps a way to keep the music to endlessly loop, rather than abrupt start/stop when you change screens. 

The readability of the Random Character Mind Map is a bit difficult, but as someone said earlier, changing the font for the "WHO / WHAT / WHERE / etc." might be a good solution if the text is already bolded.

I really like the coziness I feel with this one (even if the cake ending goes wrong). Like I mentioned with a few other projects, it would be nice to implement a restart button whenever you hit an ending, since this is the kind of game that encourages choosing different paths. Music would also be welcome as well.

Something I want to suggest is maybe if could be a "bridge" between the market and the sea? Like if the market actually was selling mermaid meat! Okay, perhaps not the right vibe for this game, but some suggestion of interconnectedness would build the world further.

This is so cute, I love the artstyle aaahhh! I also agree with what others are saying about the possibility of just adding a restart button at the end. I think one aspect you should definitely add is some sort of sound or background music, as I think that'd really boost the vibes this game already has.

yeah if possible, I think you'd have to play around with the "viewport dimensions" option when you're editing the game, and see what works best.

Otherwise, I do like how this feels like a Visual Novel, with character portraits, various dialogue choices, and scene changes. I'd be interested to see if you ever expand upon this format in a later game, as the foundation is very solid right now

Regarding that pixelated look, I made a post about that on my BlueSky, but essentially I used a program called FireAlpaca64 (which is free!). If you look up documentation, you can use the "Mosaic" filter and the "Posterization" filter to adjust the image like the ones you see here. Thanks for playing!

thanks for playing! yeah so I handled randomization based on each line (1, 2, 3). each line had 10 unique choices for each screen. Memento is the only screen where all the lines from the previous screens are put into one generator (30 different choices for each line)

I actually wonder if you can expand upon this arcade-style, similar to that one Kirby samurai mini-game (I believe, Super Star / Ultra?). It'd be interesting if there's more feline opponents with even shorter reaction times to fire. Maybe even hiding the "3 2 1" in order to really keep the players on their toes (or should I say, paws?). Really nice job!

The game didn't run for me either, but I remember seeing your post and the baby controller, and I think there's a way to really lean into the satire / farce of the situation. Based on the screenshots, I'd imagine this is supposed to be more comedic and lighthearted than a serious simulation. If that's the case, definitely lean more into the absurdity within the game's presentation (I mean, the controller is literally a baby).

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the narrator was much more involved in the process of telling the story, especially with its comedic undertones. However, I wonder if there was a way to reflect this in the itch.io page / description, as it seemed to be more serious compared to the actual game's tone. 

Maybe it was just me, but I definitely was having a bit trouble making sense of the space, probably because everything was Right or Left and not a specific location

The space background does a lot to establish the scene of the game. One suggestion I have is to maybe change the font color of the "key words" that the player uses to progress the game? I know those words are in bold, but I think additional clarity is always welcome (and who knows, maybe that color can have additional significance?)

I agree, even the use of the changing the text speed does a lot to give a sense of unease / instability. I really love the sense of isolation in this work, purely from the text alone. I do think this is a concept worth finishing, or at least seeing some sort of conclusion eventually.

edit: I read the description and I don't know if you necessarily need items (though I think multiple choices leading to different endings would be interesting). I enjoyed the concept in itself and even if it's just a linear exploration of what it means to pursue light (hanging onto feelings) or letting go.

I REALLY LOVE the aesthetic of this game, and when I saw "dark purple crystals spreading across his body," I immediately thought of ZZZ (and then I saw the reference in the ??? location LOL). But yeah, even though I love the video playback and the overall use of real-life images, I really didn't expect a detective game and murder storyline at all. 

Is there perhaps a way to really lean into the "evening" aesthetic, whether that means changing the font, or darkening some of the photos to be a bit more grittier (then again, I still like the day aesthetic)? Regardless, wonderful concept!

I really love the aesthetic / top-down approach you have with this game, and there's definitely a mood that can be expanded upon, with a person in solitude, trying to sort out their thoughts about what it means to connect with someone on a journal. There's a lot of exploration of the narrator that can be expanded upon this for sure.

One question I have is: how do you imagine expanding upon this form of storytelling? Not to say that it needs to extensive, but I do imagine that being able to explore a couple of entries / days of this diary would be enough to grasp this character we're peering into (and actively writing).

I really like the vibe of this game, and it actually reminded me of Reidar7's Macabre Madhouse, especially with the level of mystery and time-based exploration. I do wonder if there was a way to speed up text (especially for subsequent playthroughs), though I understand that the goal is to have everything in real-time though. The investigatory / Q&A portion is very cool!

This game reminds me of another game I played today. That game also has a similar game mode for the players to create their own stories. This type of game really create more possibility than others.

(edit: someone might've written a comment using my account instead of theirs, I'm not sure who wrote this. Reply to claim this comment if you can!)

this is definitely working within the "social simulation" genre, though I wonder which tone you should lean into. There's a way where the story can be more earnest, but I do like the light comedy and specificity you engage with. There's a unique worldview and presence of the narrator, and I really think leaning into that specificity can really carve out this "totally-accurate" college student simulator from the rest of them.

There's a good direction here, and would revitalize this medieval tale into a more "accessible" platform, via text-based narrative where players can quite literally engage with the text (and determine the story of Gawain). Like what some others mentioned, I'd be down to seeing how the scrolling interaction / paper aesthetic could be further elaborated on!

I like the concept of a time-based narrative adventure, and I can see that the purpose of this game is perhaps to piece a story together through multiple playthroughs (thus, multiple endings). I think the intention of this would be more clear if there was a "play again" button/key of some sort within the game itself. Similarly, I wonder if there's a way to indicate that this was time-based, as I got spooked when the police showed up

I really appreciate the hand design / UI quite literally blocking what is in front of you, for the sake of nostalgia. It's interesting to see how both reassuring the past can be, and as other mentioned, the reflective ending helping to complicate those "best moments" while not necessarily ruining them. You should look into Nicky Case's games (I'll be presenting on Thursday!), since they seem to have that approach of a very distinctive narrative voice, but very nuanced exploration on whatever theme they're tackling. Nice work!

I enjoyed learning about this world and the set up of this predicament to avoid the demon officer. I like the idea of using different keys for different options (with how you also change the color of that specific letter). I managed to find some hidden keys that worked though I wasn't sure if that was intentional or not. I would like if there could be more visible options since it felt like I had to always blow the candle.

This is honestly a very interesting concept / world to think about. I'm not sure what class this was for exactly, but I think this could definitely be expanded into a full game. For instance, I'd love to see how the protagonist/player can be challenged further, as this current build of the game doesn't necessarily give the player a moral dilemma as it is a survey of issues of the future (no way to "run out" of canisters and see the aftermath of those without). I also like how vague the instructions are to giving/denying canisters: are you supposed to give it to those who are struggle to live, or those who have the highest chances of living? Of course, those details probably should be ironed out in an expanded version, but it works well here.

I'm just letting out my thoughts, but I love the art and the small-scale, human lens to a large-scale issue/future!

Very detailed examination and great execution of what you described in your pitch! If there's one thing I would like to see, it's probably just knowing when the paragraphs on each screen "ends".

For instance, sometimes I choose [this option] on the screen

before I realize that there's [another option] on the next paragraph once I click.

I'm not sure if that's intentional to your design, but I think one solution to this is to simply put ellipses to indicate that there's still more to read before to read:

Kinda like this...

 To indicate more is being said...

Then ending it with a solid period when there's nothing left.

Regardless, I enjoyed going through the game!

In its current state, this is a very intriguing prologue! I really enjoy the art and atmosphere, and I had fun voicing it out loud with my sisters watching. My two-cents is that you might want to go back and adjust punctuation / wording on the script, as there were a few moments where I was trying to read it out loud and couldn't exactly find the "rhythm" of the dialogue.

Regardless, I would be really interested in how you approach the initial idea you pitched and I think this is definitely a world expanding upon if you decide to do so in the future. Nice job!

Very late to the party, but this was a very interesting play for sure! It's amazing to see the different environments and the gradual deterioration of the house (and likely mental space) as the game goes on. I will say that the "Dinner with Father" minigame is somewhat tough to play through and makes it somewhat hard to progress through the game. If there's any way to ease the difficulty or task with this in a future update (if ever), that's probably the first thing I'd adjust. Regardless, very cool project with lots of interpret!

Wow, I really like how you were able to keep and maintain expressions of our little blob (?) buddy, even as... (spoiler down below)

it gradually fades and fades into the background. I especially like the cyclical / looping you did at the end. I'm seeing a pattern with a lot of these project 4's (mines included) using repetition, loss, or the use of sleeping/bed to initiate the next chunk of the story! XD

I like the way all the trees jump up and down lol. Very interesting turn of events!

Wow.... what a wild ride. Insanely detailed art and I like how interactable objects/characters are pretty much very clear to the player. (I wish I was aware of the jumpscare lol, though I should've expected it). 

One thing to consider is that the Jacob/Bedroom probably should've connected from the top of the Living Room. It is a bit awkward that you're moving down and then forced to move up once you enter the new room. Similarly, it would be nice if exits (see the living room that has 3-space wide "exits") worked on all tiles to maintain the visual logic of traversal between rooms, but this is a nitpick.

Overall, I didn't expect the ending and I think you captured the unsettling atmosphere through color palette swaps as well as through the music!

I found the special ending where I found bought a burger for $6 (what a steal), but I just wanted to note that I'm not sure if this line was supposed to be in the game:

"*** Run-time problem P10: Since the safe is not allowed the property "locked", it is against the rules to try to use it."

It showed up after the line, "Please enter the code: >5821"

Besides that, I like the narrator's wit / humor sprinkled throughout the environmental descriptions (kinda feels like an evolution of what we all did for Project 1!). I'm not sure if not being able to take / see the keyring or go to the bedside is intentional, cause I've been trying all kinds of words and I can't get the game to do anything.