Don't know how I missed this one! This was fun, it's been a while since I've done substitution ciphers. The 'true' ending was a little frustrating, but I think I like it in the end. I'm not a programmer, so something went over my head (maybe I missed the unlock that explains it). Why does a slightly large, but not really large, integer cause the overflow that helps you?
Also: poor Frank. ;)
As a loop style game I think this works really well. I've played it a few times and seen the loop a lot and the scene changes are still a gut punch. The minimal descriptions and viewpoint delineations (even if they're complicated) are evocative, and as a former DOS kiddo the layout design was a lot of fun - I wouldn't have expected it to work, but everything does manage to come together effectively.
I don't think I'm the only person who kept thinking there was a way to escape the loop, that's almost always how these kinds of games work. As a package it's fine but it's probably a natural reaction for some players to think "oh I bet there's a trick to it..." (I'll be honest, I keep thinking this)
This was a really nice package, you blended style, choice, and surprises really well. There's also enough mystery about the world that you want to keep playing to learn more. Thanks for making it!
(Did you update it at some point? I thought I played a version that didn't have the condition you find on some of the specimens.)
Wow, there's so much slick art for such a short game! I feel like you really loaded it up with a lot of customized art that most VNs would re-use for hours worth of content. It really does feel like a slice of a much larger game and honestly I would be down with that: the world is intruiging, the characters are good, the popup glossary gets you up to speed, you get to do cool stuff. And there's puzzles. And music!
Two things stood out (and I only bring these up since the rest is so good): I'd add some content about what the 'spirits' did that was so harmful; you're told that but the player should have some reason to believe (and later, understand why other people still believe) the spirits are bad news. The other thing was that the Archbishop's heel turn comes off as a little easy, he becomes a sneering villain really quickly. He's a good bad guy, but he should be trying to convince you that even if what you've learned is true, progress is still worth it. Or something similar... something that makes me think he's still a person underneath and not a cardboard cutout.
Please tell me you're making an expanded version!
I'll echo the rest of the folks here and say this was super cute. I wouldn't mind a whole series of goblin gardening adventures.
I feel like I should note that there is such a thing as organic pesticides, I use neem oil when I get aphids. I could rely on ladybugs where I lived before but there's hardly any where I live now. :(
This was a lot of fun, thanks for making it. The use of player resources was well-done too (I didn't really see it in many other entries) and it's telling that all you have are 'time' and 'tobacco'. I played it again recently and noticed that the game rarely tells you anything about locations or actions, just the speaking characters filling in enough details. Supplemented by the sounds of extreme violence.
I liked the footstep sounds, I'm not a fan of unnecessary pauses but it sold the idea of wandering between these locations/memories. I thought it worked!
This was super clever, and really packed some content into a jam-sized package. Great ending, too. (That reminds me, I should try the other ones.) I agree about the sound effects, especially ambiance, since moving between the surreal locations would be sold better that way.
You aren't related to Nord and Bert, are you?
I really liked parts of this, I think you have a great sense for world-building and investing the player directly, rather than like lore entries and stuff like that.
With that said, I didn't enjoy the sections that felt like self-pity. Like, I've felt just like this but it isn't something I want to read. Reading the drafts on the shelf was more effective at establishing the mood than the whole arguing-with-yourself scene.
I don't mean to be down on it; honestly it came off as one of the stronger entries (at least, it's the kind of game I want to play more of) because the scenes are so interesting - not quite real, not quite imaginary, but nevertheless important to the player. Really hope it gets expanded.
Wow, this was big for a jam entry! I really enjoyed it, I haven't played the related games but got a sense of the characters right away. I loved exploring the house, the little details really put the mechanics and main story in proper context; adventure games without details like that are so hard to get invested in. The nested puzzle boxes were cool, then annoying, so I'm glad the final solution was incredible violence. The only bug I hit seemed to be when the scene style changed and would persist after loading, but I could recover from that pretty easily. Given the density of scene types in the game I'm impressed Narrat handled everything so well!
I agree with the other comments, this was some done-well spooky. I felt a bit like a blind person in a slow-burn horror movie. I think the length is right as well, too much weirdness gets exhausting (I also don't mind larger chunks of text). Given the game's whole vibe, you might be able to really supplement it with some context-less chunks of photography (sky segments, something blurred to unrecognizability, etc.). Just a thought.
The checks did feel a little random, but I'm not sure if you just wanted to try the feature (which is fine) or if there are other effects, maybe the flavor of the ending. It wasn't bad, maybe a little distracting, like I kept wondering what it affected.
I played this game with my 5-year-old nephew, and we both really liked it. I read it to him, and, uh, fudged only a little of the text. He picked Finley in the dance competition which I think was the objectively correct choice anyway. I said the next game is about an invisible wizard and asked him how one can find an invisible wizard and he said that the first person to find him wins. Maybe that will help you out. Thank for making this cool game!
So I got through the game but I'm a little confused - I think I had some bugs. I got to the final room but there was nothing to do there, and the description (given the rest of the game) seemed oddly plain. I thought something had happened, but I went back to the orchard and got the ending there. Salandre said she would ask me a question, I clicked to proceed, and she acted as if I had answered negatively though I didn't see anyplace where I had an option. The presentation came off a little clunky as well, I had some black boxes obscure the upper or lower sections of text, sometimes the text overlapped, and the beginning of the game was stuck in a loop until I clicked the optional text.
The game itself is pretty opaque, so stuff like this bugged me a bit since I don't know whether it's intentional or not (I never did anything with the timepiece or the clockwork skull). I like the game itself, and the presentation is really cool when it works.
