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Oh wow! You are tenacious indeed! So happy i managed to put a "winning" screen, wven as rudimentary.

Wanted to say thanks for seeing it as balanced!
Also, super congratulations on getting there! I didn't playtest a lot, but it must have been super tedious to get there! Great work on finding that was the progression chart, was not very obvious with it hehe. 

loved the style and world building with the snow and darkness vs the fire spirit!The walking in the cold animation was nice! (I got tired of it after the 6+ time, but I assume if you had more time you could have had some other ones. Yet even tired, I kept trying to analyse it, and feel the cold, so I guess it worked as intented in world building.)

I found interesting the narrative path you went for, the cryptic symbols and later rewarding your training for choosing beneficial paths, but after 2 "next areas" I kept spamming the "click next" button without reading much (thank you for including the quick option! I would have given up way earlier!)

amazing game, loved the changing art due to the choices, nice round of "pet, feed, sleep". But yeah, the art was WOW! I kept staring how cool you made everything! 

Tried a few combinations! (Really sad you missed the opportunity to type "eggselent")

the tactile buttons were the highlight for me! Nice usage of "Start >>>" to start hehe
Loved the art in this, the different characters (and ofcourse the buttons!)

Couldn't see all the "RIP +1 Speed +2 Strength", did they add up behind the scenes? Also, I just spammed THUNDER as much as I could when outside of cooldown, that was my OP strategy

thanks for playing Benim! hehe thats how I will market it from now own, "confusing is part of the package"

loved the "knocked-out" animation XD

Came to play tamagotchi, played pokemon instead. Great use of instructions and clear guidance!  

was so funny seeing the Deity asking for an apple XD

Fun game! Played it till the end, great variety of stuff! The zombies with the big clubs just SMACK were my favorite. Once I got access to snipers the game became a lot more streamlined. Also loved the options you offered. I put my little short king to sleep even while he was full hp, got to keep your majesty fresh

very creative mini-games! My favourite was the one you needed to balance on the pole. I also liked the bubbles one.

However, after a while, I just defaulted at spamming things. The training gave the cat points regardless if I trained the skill it advertised it would train, and then I managed to keep playing with 0 and 0 in hunger and happiness. This included the grid game, it didn't really seem meaningful whatever I did.

That being said, its a completely different point than what you made here, which is an amazing feat! I guess "balancing" is what I am commenting on :D I guess the level of amazingness you have created, made me wishing for more meaningful choices.

the SFX were so fun to hear and spam! (especially the "waba-waba-waba")

When the planet changed from one stage to the other it felt so cool! Had to reload a few times to try and play around, the art gets me every time, so cool (+ wabawabawabawaba)

I had no poop to clean in this game however, i guess dropping meteors does have this effect

3:02 was the rumblest time I managed, those fights were sick! I liked how you kept the actions limited, with the automatic feeder vs the hand-dropping of the weight! The changing of the sprites and size was cool to see as well (but those enemies at the end just going ham was cool)

EDIT: Completely forgot about the egg at the start! That was amazing buildup!

I spent so much time playing this! Such a creative approach, such a solid game! The idea of having many windows, resizing them, the automation thingies that helped manage the chaos, and ofcourse the idea to use emojies for everything! Genius

(I agree, that shadow remaining on one side also felt cool for me)

my squashy friend is crying, yet still jumping around.

really cool art and juicy animations! Was so nice to have the little fellow just jumping around (Edit: Its been 2 days and its still jumping, very tenacious fellow)

dragging the bodies and feeding them was the part I mostly liked! Great usage of all the corpses and plants! 
Loved the different progression pathways and the visual/attack changes, you nailed it with the skilltree! (loved the top scoring pet name hehe)

This is a great discussion, thanks both for sharing! My debate as well, glad you went all the way and fully committed to your project! 

And cool how with that mindest you managed to have some Tamagotchi-theme things in there, as well as different pathways to receive the creatures! 

This is so so cool!!! I never thougth to slap them towards the toilet! I thought i had to slap them when they were close to the gate or later tried to escape or something XD

love the depth you had planned there (I would also teleported them there hehe)

Really appreciate you giving such a nice explanation!

Thank you for such a detailed comment! Really appreciate you leaving this here, but also all around other devs work, it really allows me and i am sure other devs the opportunity to understand in depth your experience with the jam games. 

Glad the lava worked as intended hehe and also the buttons with the keys written on them (good catch)

Thank you also for noticing and commenting about the shapes in the main menu! Square represents solid cat, triangle liquid, and circle gas cat. As the pressure increases through time, the cat changes states (and if you successfully keep its green bar above a threshold) it transforms or goes back to the sludge after reaching each pressure point. This was my sign of progression (alongside the bars ofcourse), trying to signify "how close to the end". In retrospect, I could have made it way clearer, instead of leaving at the main screen, without even an animation to draw the eye there. After reaching the gas (circle) cat once, the pressure increases again, turning the cat solid, but more defined. Then again through all the states, to more defined, reaching the end with a lvl9 fully animated gas cat.

The blue bar, I went for "weight" as the original tamagotchi i think.

regarding the fraction task: 

Blue button tried to represent the "play/work" action of the original. I tried to draw on it an image of balancing scales. You are given 2 fractions, and must say if they are the same (X- green) or different (N -orange). And ofcourse i have equivalent fractions there, which i secretly classify as "the same" that's why the balancing scales.

XD this has to be the most polite and elegant way expressing the situation hehe

Thank you for such a divine comment, and thank you for the warm wishes!

Hey Rico! 100%! I have to improve my communication skills, trying to be cryptic yet always confusing peole is something of a habit of mine hehe

Thanks Dev Pirates! Correction: The kitties dont die, they become one with the sludge (wanted to spend more time making this clearer but oh well, no time hehe)

Thanks for the support!

Hey SQLPY! thanks for playing, sorry for the confusion lol

As usual I want to have some part cryptic in my game, but most of the time I make it just weird 😅

Pasting this here if it helps:

Blue button tried to represent the "play/work" action of the original. I tried to draw on it an image of balancing scales. You are given 2 fractions, and must say if they are the same (X- green) or different (N -orange). And ofcourse i have equivalent fractions there, which i secretly classify as "the same" that's why the balancing scales.

Hello evengy! Thanks for dropping by! Glad you liked it!

Hey crudeforge! Glad i got away with the graphics hihihi

Blue button tried to represent the "play/work" action of the original.  I tried to draw on it an image of balancing scales. You are given 2 fractions, and must say if they are the same (X- green) or different (N -orange). And ofcourse i have equivalent fractions there, which i secretly classify as "the same" that's why the balancing scales.

I tried to follow your suggestion on discord, to take care of the things <3

Thanks p4songer! Glad the UI felt okay!

yeah... i need to study how great games take care of "cryptic" instructions and hit this vague spot. Do share any games you think do it well!

Hehe i did indeed get tricked with the toilets!

I am curious if you have time to explain how you imagined showering and training would work (I thought they would walk out of the cells guarded, stay a bit and come back).

Also, at times my cell-people would have this fresh cloud around them, what was that?

I am going to try and get back at you!

Was the game fun to play

Yes, super fun! The colour choices, with the cute sprites made it feel all so wholesome! I have to say, I actually felt my heart sinking the moment I cracked the egg. Never expected that! What I found extra fascinating was the worldbuilding: rain (but later seeing the clouds), boulders colliding* (but later kicking the ball away), drumsticks (and later torching the birds, which was so cool to see the carcasses breaking down to drumsticks even, and interacting with physics). This loop around activities, the extra touches (the bush, cracking the egg, the interconnected world building, the colliding boulders, the kick) really made this shine! And the cute and wholesome round finishes with a hug, and then a new egg. Masterpiece.

*amazing idea and implementation by the way! How cool was that? And the SFX? Breaking the bones? wow

Did the game include the core elements from the original? 

I would say yes, and I loved the extensions you went for! All themed around the dragon, and the "heat" mechanic was a nice alternative.

The streamlined narrative was a bit different than I expected, but nothing I can complain. 

Having clear guidance on what to do took away a bit of the "maybe deadly consequences" vibe that tamagochi could harbour, but it was definitely fresh and cleanly done!  (now that I mention that, I would have liked a bit more of danger permitted, but I get 100% why you would allow for RETRYing and more support, especially in a game jam where I have killed countless tamagotchis so far, and restarted runs many times.

Was there a clear path of progression
The "eons" and "centuries" definitely seem like progression! Jokes aside, the changing sprite in the menu, the clear results after each action visually communicated to the player, were all great stuff! 

!

How good was the audio and sound fx

All felt great! But as I mentioned the SFX above, the colliding boulders and the crunchy bones really were the highlight for me.

How well implemented was the UI

The UI was very clearly communicating everything, with the icons and supporting text, yet fitting with the clean world you created.

I am curious to hear why you decided to place the buttons where you did, e.g., laying egg down on the right, then all the others a bit random (would love to hear your choices and what plans you had basically. It felt so polished and deliberate, I only wonder what would feature creep was whispering to you)

very cool to see myself chained alongside royalty! XD

In the beginning I was confused as to how to bring up the menu, but then it felt naturally, as part of the game. Cleaning Benim became a common thing, but the I would scroll all the way to my cell to find me crying for hamburgers! 

I was happy to see some of my guys sleeping in, until I opened the files and saw DECEASED... oops!

In the end I had just 2 to juggle, before they gave up as well :(

I couldn;t make the shower and exercise option work, but I liked the rooms you had made there. But when I saw how you could use the mop to clean and the hand to slap, that was really cool to see (brought a smile to my face). Of course after a few days of cleaning I really appreciated all those potty-trained offenders that had fights in parking lots hehe

VIP prison guards staying there without any sleep! Loved the idea of needing to time the sleeping for everyone.

(I saw your responses below that perhaps it became to much, super cool what you have achieved! GDKO can get so hectic at times, I have lost so much sleep and hours hehe)

The dystopian music kept me great company while begging shamelessly in the streets. After killing that many spiders from a panicked combination of candies (when sad) and medicine (when sick), I wonder sitting there with my hat extended at the sunset buildings, was Crunkle's plan a covert begging scheme all along?

I hear the children distorted laughter as I bag more coin, yet my spider dies as a teen once again.

(Loved the atmosphere, the system with the shop was a genius twist! My latest strategy is gaining as much coin as I can in the early game, and trying to sleep on time [low-key you have made me self-reflect on my existance]) 

Love how you foreshadow the solution from the get go! 

I agree with GameFavorites, the mini games really shined! The screechy audio added a lot to the experience and guidance! Was expecting to feed and bathe etc, but realised it was the games the way to move forward (which I didn't mind at all actually! Great adaptation!) 
I read your instructions and played it a few extra times, I have to say, the music you managed to produce using the Egg obstacles was amazing!
And in the lamb feeding game, I definitely saw a bit of the creepy undertones you mentioned (don't even know what I was feeding the lamb with...) 

The cute dog jumping around was so beautifully animated, every time it landed brought a smile to my face.

Congratulations for pulling such an amazing game off even while sick! I was seeing some of your screenshots on discord and couldn't wait to play! (the duck emoji is my favourite)

"full grown guy just likes to die I guess" this is indeed true, a faithful adaptation XD

Same with me! The buttons on the debug screen really helped. Such a cool system by the way, giving access to the behind the scenes and workarounds! 

XD 
help my screen has gone red and I keep hearing "MUSHROOM MUSHROOM"

OWL's death thrall was the best, 10/10 would commit vomit again.

You had given me warning this was going to happen, but never expected this level of chaos XD

XD 
help my screen has gone red and I keep hearing "MUSHROOM MUSHROOM"

OWL's death thrall was the best, 10/10 would commit vomit again.

You had given me warning this was going to happen, but never expected this level of chaos XD

Such a cool experience! Took me a few rounds to figure out the strategies, but really appreciate the different starting Legends! The SFX were fun to listen to, the constant drip of the cave was also nice with the music!

The elephant dude was my favourite hehe

for the "game task" (pressing B) you need to say if fractions are the same (Green, X) or different (Yellow, N). I have played with equivalent fractions to try and confuse you!

Thank you! The video is in your discord DMs

great transition to QTE but adding a more direct enemy! Had a lovely time playing! 

Sorry I couldn't stream it,but I will send the recording to you soon!