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Thank you so much for the feedback! I do agree that the game was too chaotic, it being poorly balanced probably didn't help either.  I had a few idea for expanding it as well, but unfortunately didn't have the time due to real life scheduling conflicts. Thanks for hosting these jams as always!

The lack of time is totally understandable! Just something to keep in mind if you expanded on the game later.

As for the crane bug, yes, it only happened once. It was during one of the later levels, I put the first crate down on the pad and went to get the other, but after placing the other on the pad, the minigame didn't complete. I figured it was because I didn't place the first crate on the pad well enough, so I picked up the first crate again and tried to put it in a better spot on the pad. The arm went down, but the crate didn't move with it, so it never let me place it back on the pad. Eventually I tried putting it down on a different spot away from the pad, which worked, and the minigame completed when I placed it on the floor. Hope this helps, and let me know if you need more info!

I totally get the lack of QA. As you mentioned in your post on my submission, it's probably one of biggest issues with these game jams. That's why I try to be thorough when giving feedback. Your workaround was the right choice imo given right choice, I just wish I could have seen an ending xD 

I was pleasantly surprised to hear you played Death and Progress, especially considering how old it is now, and I'll definitely give your game another go when you're done with the new updates! Best of luck!

An omnipotent eldritch HOA is equally hilarious and terrifying! It seems like you're only evaluated once times runs out at the end, so I'm not entirely sure what the increased scrutiny mode halfway through the game does aside from adding more chores to your list. Good work, would like to see more!

The sasquatch is so fluffy and looks like such a dork (in a good way), I love it! Great use of memes in the intro too. Good work!

I like the premise, but I think I got stopped by a bug where navigating to the end of the maze (a light purple area) doesn't take me to the next level. The maze and navigation arrows disappear, though the stat readout are still there and questions still pop up once in a while. Keep up the good work!

Cute little "avoid the wall" game! As some people have mentioned, getting a completely black screen when you touch a wall (or win for that matter) made things a little confusing. Something less intrusive, probably like a semi-transparent screen with text, would be much better. I think it'd be helpful too if you moved the cursor back to the start when you touch the wall too, so the player doesn't have to get hit by the flickering  when trying to navigate back to start. 

Also I think I ran into a bug where part of level three (when you have 3mil viewers) was outside the viewport, though I also found that you can bypass the entire level just by moving the cursor to the exit. You got the foundation of a neat little game here, keep up the good work!

Oh, I was able to figure out that the 2nd NPC in level 4 was standing on an invisible platform so that's not an issue for me! Where I got stuck was the uppermost long  horizontal corridor after jumping across the chasm and reaching the riddle. One of the eyes started watching me as soon as I reached that corridor, and since I couldn't solve the riddle (is that what you mean by getting the relic?), I didn't have the extra brightness and couldn't run down the corridor in time.

Wow okay, the whole game was great... But I couldn't finish the game due to some bugs which was a damn shame cause I loved the whole thing except for that. Playing the "Oh Sweet Release" build in browser, I reached the command core and got the black box, at which point Vera said I was infected (I think she actually said it before picking up the black box). I figured I was supposed to enter the override code (I looked at the override panel before getting the black box) and trigger a self destruct, but couldn't get an option to enter a code (the number of days the captain held out for maybe? I did see that before getting the black box, though I did go back after getting the black box to see the number and still couldn't enter a code). I also tried to force my way back onto the Cairn by following the bioluminescence, but after using the fungal sample on the airlock, nothing happened and I was stuck without getting an ending.

Other bugs (minor maybe) I noticed included:

• Screen went dead sometimes, I didn't right click like paupertim, so I don't know if it's the same bug. It occurred after pressing one of the examination options in the observation deck I think, and I was able to reload the page to continue.
• I think we were supposed to get nitrogen from compressor A in order to access the captain's quarters? I was able to get into the captain's quarter without doing that.
• Entering the hangar and stairwell plays Vera's dialogue about losing visual and these old liners respectively every time I entered those areas.
• Opening the input valve in Compressor B locks me in the choice selection with both open valve and close valve buttons available, and doesn't let me go back to exploring. I was able to get out of that screen by reloading though.

There were a lot of great things that I loved too, including but not limited to:

• The slow burn horror and atmosphere while exploring was great, loved gradually finding out what happened.
• Vera's V.O. did a great job, and I loved her character as a constant companion.
• The minimalistic interface was a great way to get around minimal art assets. It even looked like we were watching readout blips of the player character from Vera's perspective which worked great.
• The drifty controls with momentum worked great to give a weightless feeling from exploring a space derelict.

In hindsight all the reloading I did might have broke something and blocked me from getting an ending. You mentioned working on a post-results build to fix bugs, and I hope my report here helps with that and I'd love to get an ending with it. If you need more information, let me know and I'll see if I can help! Oh and one more thing, please let us press space or something to click the buttons when examining stuff! The entire rest of the game could be controlled with keyboard only, and having to use the mouse just to click buttons kinda broke immersion at times. Great work, and looking forward to the final version!

Great little work sim! The art was good and the mini games broke things up nicely (though the crane game bugged out for me once and wouldn't drop the box). I understand the generic people not having a huge impact, but I would have liked to see the named/special people having a bigger impact in the story. For example, I was doing the mini game and didn't get to one of the ambassadors in time, but nothing about that showed up in the news story at the end of day (though I did take a big hit to relations). I didn't even realize I had missed the ambassador till I remembered that I didn't see them that day. I still got the best ending I think (the heart shaped world with mixed bio/mech elements), so it wasn't too difficult. All in all, great job!

Neat puzzle platformer! I'm not good with ciphers and the like so I couldn't solve any of the puzzles beyond the first one, and got stuck on level four at the last corridor because of that, but I like the concept. Maybe instead of using ciphers that rely on external tools to help solve the riddles, the npcs could give hints to the riddles or parts of the answer? Good work!

Thanks for the feedback! I agree that this game was definitely poorly balanced, and my playtester pool was too small. Regarding the fantasy of being an OP superpower that could do whatever they wanted... I didn't want to glorify being a dictator, especially when there isn't even the option of being a beneficial dictator like in the Tropico series. Since this game is satire, I feel like being able to crack down on your population without worrying about outrage after you win (losing disables all actions) strikes an acceptable balance. Thanks again!

Thanks for the feedback! I did have other plans for the game, such as splitting up the international community into a blue and red bloc for the player to interact with and balance against each other, but unfortunately ran out of time. If I do come back to this game extending the game is definitely something on the list. Thanks again!

Thanks for playing! Being dark/morbid was part of the point, and I do agree that the game isn't very well balanced and winning can be difficult. Though I like to think that it's a ray of hope by suggesting that dictators actually succeeding isn't guaranteed. Thanks again!

Took a quick look at the page and it looks great so far! I'll give it a try when I get the chance. Great work!

Cute little game! Somehow the rolling character felt therapeutic, so this really felt like the opposite of those climbing rage games. While playing I felt like I wanted a check point of some kind (and thought the camp might have been ones), but I reached the end shortly after so I guess it all works out. Good job!

A simple but still pretty neat game. I think it'd fit the theme better if there were fewer upgrades, but they carried over between deaths so you gradually got stronger with each death (though I get that you were going for "death is an opportunity to kill the boss that screwed you"). Still, I had fun with it. Good job!

I think the art really elevated my game beyond what it would otherwise be too! Thanks for playing, I checked out your game too!

This was a great little puzzle game with charming art, and the use previous bodies to create platforms is an excellent use of the theme! The only thing I didn't care for was the CRT effect which was a bit too much imo, to the point where the text was difficult to read at times. Fortunately there isn't a lot of reading necessary to play. Great work!

Not a bad idea, thank you! And for playing my game too!

Love the use of the theme, changing up your skillset/abilities upon death. I definitely had a skill issue in the second level (where you run down a corridor while trying to dodge shots), but that's a me thing xD The after death shooting is great too! Good job!

Ohhhh fighting the monsters in the final dungeon heals you afterwards... I wish I had known that since I just phased past them because I was so low on HP xD Thanks for letting me know, I was able to finish the game after a few tries! Being able to save during the dialogue really helped me too, though I'm not sure if that was intended since saving was disabled in the menu. The ending was great! I won't get into it to avoid spoiling too much for others, but I was expecting a multiple ending thing based on whether you finished the costume and other factors. Now I think this game is more of a prequel for a future game, which I hope to see!

Regarding the puzzle, looks like I completely misunderstood it and thought it was something like the number of people in the stories, and the order would be smaller > largest number of people... which now that I looked again, wouldn't be right anyways xD A line like "following the life of this young woman" would help clear things up I think. 

Once again, great work! Hope to see more of your work!

First of all, I'm amazed you were able to put this together in 5 days, it's really well made! The life sim bit, the rpg parts, and the horror (both real and surreal) were all extremely well made, even though there were still a few bugs (completely understandable given the short time it was made, and nothing was game breaking).  And of course, music and art were top notch, Alice is absolutely adorable! Also it's nice to see another RPG Maker dev show off what the engine can do, it gets so much unwarranted hate. Great work!

I did unfortunately soft lock myself with a combination of not leveling up (I was trying for a no-kill run), and while I did spend all my stat points at the mad hatter, it wasn't enough since I went into the boss fight at about half HP since I didn't get healed between days/adventures. I'll see if I can give it another go later, but I just wanted to leave my thoughts here while it's still fresh. 

Also also, here are some bugs I ran into in case you wanted to fix them. I always appreciate people reporting bugs and thought maybe you would too. 

• Making hair says you need cosplay foam, but actually needs basic wig
• Back button (x) doesn't always go back, I mainly saw this during while picking an relax option
• Paying rent doesn't update the money count in the UI
• The wakeup message (e.g. "Alice is fresh and ready to face the day!")
• Being able to walk over stuff you're not supposed to, such as tables and walls, mainly happens in the manor
• Not sure if this is a bug, but I did figure out the correct order in the puzzle with the book, but apparently it was supposed to be entered in reverse (I thought it'd be smallest to largest). I could just have completely misunderstood or missed something though.

Once again, amazing work! Looking forward to what else you make!

RNG can really work against you too (something I need to tweak), better luck next time! Thank you for the feedback, and I'm glad to hear you liked my game!

Art is adorable, and the whimsical music is a great choice! The gameplay loop is nice too, though it took me a moment to figure out some of the minigames (I didn't realized you had to open the grate in the oven at first!), and I wish the game paused when you opened the notebook so I can take my time reading it. Great work!

You might have gotten hit with bad RNG, balancing the game was one of the main things I had difficulty with xD Thanks for playing my game!

Love the premise and the oppressive atmosphere, though I have to say it gets quite tedious having to redo the first few levels every time you die. I know that's part of the point and setting, but from a gameplay standpoint, I think a shortcut every few levels that you can unlock for future runs would make the trial/error aspect a whole lot more bearable, especially if you're going to have instant kills like the trapdoor spider alien and the vines (at least, I think the vines are instant kill). I don't think I saw any hint of the vine either, which made it extra unfair imo. On a side note, you seem to have "always run" on by default, which is probably a result of your config.save being uploaded alongside the project. Since stamina is an important resource, I think it should be something that players can more easily control instead of having to hold down shift to walk. All in all, good work still!

Thank you so much for your feedback! Bob's addition was a bit rushed but I'm glad to hear you liked his dialogues, and yes RNG can be really annoying at times. The essence carrying over is an UI bug (the backend variables are reset, but the UI didn't reflect it), but has now been patched. Thanks again for playing my game!

The cat is utterly adorable and the noir vibes are great. Good job!

Thank you so much! ^^

Love the story of faking your death for a heist, and the twist at the end was just the icing on top! The enemies in the jewelry store and museum were a bit ineffectual (the dogs didn't do anything except bark as far as I could tell), but it was still fun. Good job!

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

The art is amazing, and you nailed the paperwork gameplay loop! I think I might be misunderstanding the rules though, since I keep getting penalized for incorrectly processing people. I thought the religion in their passport would be the one whose criteria needs to be met (e.g. if their passport shows the eternal tea, you check their behaviour against the eternal tea's rules), and anything relating to other religions (such as if they're wearing a shirt with a different symbol or mentions other religion in their lifestyle) doesn't matter, but I'm probably missing something. Thankfully meeting the quota still pays pretty well, so I can keep going xD

Other than that, I think you could ease in the number of rules a bit slower so there aren't as many to start, and I ran into a few bugs (text overflow in the rulesbook, and people briefly appearing during the change of day transition). Minor issues all in all, just thought I'd report them. Great work!

Thank you! I played your game and saw you went for a more serious route with more focus on the paperwork aspect, cool! I do like how the same idea can have so many different interpretations. 

The same person who makes money burying people also controls where the life-saving doctors/exorcists go? Talk about a conflict of interest! Jokes aside, this was a fun game, though it kind of felt like a fight against inevitable entropy since the city seemed to decay even if I do take care of the disease and undead (fitting for the setting though!). I lasted till everyone in the city died after ~70 years, and was kind of hoping for a twist where you were secretly a necromancer and take over the city. 

A few other things that I wasn't sure about was the use for ingredients. I thought they'd be the currency used for the apothecary, but they took gold instead. Perhaps it was a cut feature? There's definitely potential there! Also, some events (specifically the ones that add ingredients/corpses) don't seem to work as intended, as I don't always see the corpses/ingredients show up. Still had fun though, good job! 

Thank you!

Got hit right in the nostalgia with the retro DOOM vibes. Good job!

I love the premise of death vs deathless, and using a bullet hell game to represent that works well! The main part that I found a bit weak was the connection to the theme, perhaps if you got a little stronger with each death? Either way, good work!

Neat concept and appropriately ominous visuals for the setting (the condemn guy really gives me the creeps with his mouth open like that)! I thought it was a bit short and would have liked to see more, then I saw that you built this in 9 hours and understood why. If you want to expand on this, more people to judge and perhaps some randomness as to who showed up would be a good addition, and maybe a "purgatory" or "repent" middle ground (though I wonder if that'd defeat the purpose?). Great work!