Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines

trainspotter

60
Posts
8
Topics
232
Followers
64
Following
A member registered May 19, 2023 · View creator page →

Creator of

Recent community posts

I’m assuming this is an analog game, in which case it’s already impressively far along in development! I must admit that I have trouble picturing the game’s feel without playing it or seeing it played, but the interlocking systems of the game seem like a promising source of complexity. I will, however, echo the concern of the person who rated this game previously. That is, it feels like this game treats the human intervention in these spaces as a static fact of the environment — which makes a lot of sense from the perspective of an animal that’s experiencing it, but perhaps misses out on an opportunity to explore the ways that change can be cultivated and grown. It is also an interesting decision to make the game competitive, a decision that can be leveraged to communicate that with decreasing access to space and resources animals are pushed more and more into each other’s territory and what have you, but could also potentially be taken in a collaborative direction if you wanted to include messaging about the collaborative nature of effecting change. Tbh any direction is valid, but I wanted to at least communicate that you have a lot of options to explore!

I think this is a very manageable scope, which is wise for a potential solo dev project. It also did immediately get a chuckle out of me, which is a good sign for a satirical game! As someone else mentioned in the comments, I am left with some questions about the relation to the theme — “plant a seed” evokes in me notions of cultivating something and allowing it to grow, so maybe there are ways to incorporate that narratively in the game through establishing the player character’s motivation to destroy the data center (and what they want to replace it). In any case, I wish you luck in the group search and regardless am looking forward to seeing what direction you take this idea.

Really great art style and really fun application of the theme! The mood board especially gives the impression that y’all have already dedicated a lot of thought to this concept. One thing that does occur to me to ask, though, is if y’all have thought about looking at city builders as reference, rather than tower defense games. In particular, I think frostpunk would be a very worthy comparison thematically, although against the storm might be a better comp mechanically. In any case, this seems like it is primed to be a solid game with a very coherent identity!

Howdy! I think my favorite thing about your game is its messaging — the notion that there are no disconnected events when it comes to our climate is an extremely important one to understand, and this concept communicates that idea concisely. My remaining questions are mostly to do with the particulars of the gameplay. At the moment, I have a tiny bit of trouble telling whether you’re planning on more of a puzzle-like vibe or more of a management-sim type game. But regardless of which direction, the relationship with the theme remains strong!

I’m glad you liked it though! I keep bouncing from project to project but this is one of the ones I’d like to eventually come back to, alongside Poetry Blaster, Get Crackin’, and one game that is still in the drafts

I’m gonna be so honest that’s probably my bad haha

I think there’s a bug in my code where very occasionally an item will get counted twice, or counted not at all

Also glad you liked it :)

(1 edit)

I’m really sorry about the accessibility issues! When I first made this I really didn’t anticipate other people seeing it at all, so I didn’t think enough about how eye-strain inducing it is. If I ever get around to polishing it up, that’s pretty high on my list of things to fix.

And in the meantime I did in fact tell Maya! But she doesn’t tend to like putting her art out into the world until it feels perfect, so I still don’t have a timeline for her releasing any of her music. I’ll definitely post an update here if she does though, given how much interest people have had in it in the comments.

Thanks so much for playing! And for your kind words. Sorry that I deleted my comment, I got very in my own head like “oh no I seem like i’m using their game’s comments to self promote” and ended up being maybe overly self conscious >_<.

This has helped inspire my next project

I think you did a great job of communicating the tempest of emotions that underlies everyday life these days

(3 edits)

Just wanted to shoutout Trash Dungeon, a game that was submitted to the same game jam that my friends and I just participated in (the S.I.C.K. Jam). It came in a well deserved 1st place, but I also figured it should get more eyes on it than just the ones belonging to people who also submitted to S.I.C.K. It is a shockingly polished game for having been made in so short a time-span by a solo dev.

(Here’s the link again if the one above didn’t work for you: https://vaaasm.itch.io/trash-dungeon)

this is an awesome puzzler that’s SICK as hell and reminds me that i actually live in chicago (clark/division is my stop! i’m there like 3 times a week)

i also totally didn’t spend 20 minutes caaaaaarefully attracting and repelling all three rats in the Sheridan stop to keep two of them on the buttons while the third ever so slowly creeps past the lasers both ways because i didn’t yet realize that dead rats block lasers and press buttons

i am left with two questions tho: 1) is it intentional that the attract/repel is sometimes inverted along one of their axes when there’s a no-rat zone between you and your cursor? and 2) why does everyone clown on the redline i take it all the time and i think it’s great

o wait i just saw that you replied to a similar comment saying you can fullscreen with F, my bad

it’s a perfect 5 stars across the board now

(2 edits)

this is some of the SICKest shit i’ve ever played

the challenge level? excellent. the juice? overflowing. the sounds? bit-crushed and freakin crushing it.

it would have been a perfect 5 stars across the board, but between the mouse not being bounded to the window and there not being an option to full screen, i found that in the most exciting, critical moments where i teetered on the edge of success and death, my mouse would almost always wander off the window and launch some random app as i clicked repeatedly to fire, killing me instantly. If not for this fact, i’m pretty sure i would’ve played this game to completion multiple times over (Edit: I was wrong I can’t get past level 4 even after fullscreening lol — still 5/5 tho), but after dying in this manner five times in a row i decided to put it down for now. but i cannot overstate how good the game is anyway! and i’m sure that’s an easy fix (i dunno what engine you used, but in godot it would be as simple as changing the mouse capture mode).

also hey i recognize you from C.I.G.S.! i presented my game EyeOS there

these Ooze Goons cannot contain me forever

(which is to say you made a game with a compelling level of challenge)

(1 edit)

This is freakin Sick

feels like it would be the poster for a childhood game that would always sit somewhere in the back of my head

(5 edits)

Oh hey a fellow funky car-based game! The crane arm is an absolute delight, and so is the self-righting mechanic that comes with it (it made for a cool / surprising first tutorial instruction). I think one small thing that could potentially go a long way for your game would be having a camera that follows the car at a slight lag and with somewhat dampened movement, because the frantic movement of the vehicle—while wacky and awesome—was a little disconcerting at times when translated to the camera.

But also just wanna reiterate that y’all did a great job making a game that feels wonderfully silly and playful to control! And you tutorialized the mechanics of the game really well

(2 edits)

Thanks for your kind feedback! And yeah, there was a lot of content that didn’t make it in quite yet before the submission period ended, hence our lore-rebrand to “long lost tech demo” haha. Unfortunately, the UI and some of the settings also broke during a git merge error in the last 5 minutes of the jam, but you should still be able to progress dialogue with Enter! Just not with a gamepad.

Oh one last thing! Just wanted to clarify that while there are a few “Big Tag” locations that are static, you can otherwise tag whatever surface you want.

(5 edits)

[ Lore: ]

Come play Randy Raccoon’s Dumpster Drive! This classic Super Indie City Konsole tech-demo was once thought to be lost media after the last-known copy was stolen—and subsequently buried in the woods—by a rabid fan trying to drum up hype for their S.I.C.K. themed ARG. Its demo disk gained a niche following amongst once-and-future game devs, and its staunchest defenders will tell you that it provided the direct inspiration for Kirby Air Ride’s now-iconic City Trial mode. Its biggest detractors, on the other hand, will tell you that it’s an unfinished glorified PSA attempting to teach kids that littering is totally uncool by dressing up its messaging in the aesthetics of grunge culture. And its mysterious developers, the ominously-named 503 DWELLERS, have refused to comment on any of these claims—but occasionally a rumor will surface that their small office’s lights are back on in the wee hours of the night.

Whatever the case, this abandoned game and its legacy are an undeniable presence in the transient history of that ill fated Konsole—and for the first time in over 20 years, it is yours to experience (courtesy of an anonymous donor who insists they were not the one to bury it in the woods).

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and “Paint the town RAD”!!

( https://trainspotter.itch.io/dumpster-drive )

(4 edits)

play it here!

Welcome to Wing, a simple game for your simple pleasures. In a world of snappy, responsive platformers with pixel-perfect parkour gameplay, why don’t you take a load off with Wing? Every platform is a respawn point; every moment of stillness an opportunity to glean new information; every fall a gentle descent. My goal was to encourage the player to take their time and relax into the gameplay, and allow them a moment’s reprieve from a fast-moving world.

i don’t know if there are words appropriate to the task of responding to and expressing appreciation for feelings this deeply felt, but at the very least i can say that i’m sure you could make art like this—like, in the first place, this game probably is what it is because i didn’t go into it expecting anyone to see it. which is to say maybe you already have made art like this, and just haven’t shared it yet. or maybe not, and you’ll just have to make it later. either way, art is cool and games are cool. queer art and queer games doubly so.

at the moment my friend has said she doesn’t want to put it on any kind of streaming service, but i’ll do a devlog if she ever does

(2 edits)

i like this comment, feels like a good goalpost

because bodies are pretty spooky

(1 edit)

thanks! i think your game has a lot of charm too—it was a surprising delight when i realized it was a creature collector in addition to a cleverly framed narrative.

you and me both, friend

this recalled to mind memories of a softer world I didn’t realize I’d forgotten

also what is this font! very into it

(1 edit)

Come one, come all—come on up and blast the deconstructed remains of my poetry from the sky to convert it into poetry of your own! Don’t like my poetry? Well it’s your poetry now, buster! Don’t like poetry in general? THEN BLAST IT OUT OF THE GOSHDARNED SKY, BUCKAROO. It’s free, it’s easy, it’s endlessly replayable (hopefully, eventually)—I should be paying you not to play it so I don’t have the rest of your life on my conscience. But instead I put your life in your own hands—hands you can use for BLASTING.

Find it here (if you dare): https://trainspotter.itch.io/poetry-blaster

Fine print: this game is still very early in development, please be patient while it develops to its full blastiferous potential. If you’re mean I might cry and then the poetry will be about you, buddy.

Hello one and all! If you’re like us, you have trouble putting down your phone at night (it keeps the monsters away and the thoughts at bay, amirite)—well no longer! For we have developed a game that juuust skirts the line between engaging-enough-that-you-don’t-switch-to-social-media and boring-enough-that-you-can-put-it-down-when-you’re-sleepy. It’s called Lullaby, and we hope you’ll be its friend.

Find it here: https://trainspotter.itch.io/lullaby

oh oops is this not a thing, I just assumed based on the language of the jam page

The title basically says it all. I’m thinking of submitting a game I made in the first week of June, and at the time I made it I was 24, but I have since turned 25. I was wondering whether that game would still be eligible to be submitted to the 24 and under group, and if so whether a game I have made since turning 25 at the end of June would no longer be eligible. I know this is an edge case but just wanted to check before submitting. Thanks!

i feel like silliness is my favorite path towards seriousness

thanks :)

I’m honored :)

I wanted to respond to your comment because it was the first (but not the last!) to make me tear up when I read it. I didn’t feel confident that I even knew how to talk about some of the feelings I was trying to capture in this game, so it means a lot that it moved you (and apparently a few others >_<) to the point of wanting to make your thoughts about it known! It means even more that it will linger in your thoughts. I hope I can keep making things that lead people to feel the way you felt about this.

They’re both kind of about queer kids disappearing into the internet, although they approach it from pretty different angles! But I had fallen deep down the En Abime rabbit hole right before making this, so I have to imagine that’s part of what lent me this idea.

heck yeah heck yeah heck yeah

I really really like this! When I was a little kid I had a deep fascination with reading epitaphs, and this game gives some of that same feeling.

I spoke to my friend about this and she said she does not actually intend on sharing the song publicly, but was happy for it to be in my game. So for the moment, this might be the only place to find it! I’m glad y’all enjoy the song though, and I’ll be sure to tell her how appreciated her music is.

(1 edit)

Nice :) I’m glad you enjoyed