This is really wonderful. I love how this one uses different vibes to get at something similar to your other games in a really striking way.
Like, the contrast between the gorgeous view of the pink sunset and the dark enclosure of the computer room, as well as the lack of mechanical detail in the work being done makes it so the inhumane nature of that work stands out that much more. This is really well done and really hits its themes very well, imo!
Broke my heart, I loved it. The writing here is impeccable all the way through, I especially love the log entries, and the way you can feel mira's frustrated anger in her dialogue. And the fact this is like... jumping off with a certain understanding of consciousness and digital recreations and "copies" rather than trying to explain that stuff is like... it prolly makes it less accessible but for me at least it meant that it could hit emotionally really precisely without needing to explain itself until it became blunt. Great job with this, seriously!!!
I... don't know how to react to this, but the dialogue in various parts just made me stop and stare for a second to process how hard it had hit, and the end sequence was just. So powerful, somehow. The buildup had my heart racing, and at some point my jaw went slack, and i just rode the wave of emotions it caused.
I don't feel like i know what this is, but it felt like playing a poem, and i'll probably think about it for a long time. thank you for making this!!
(edit: I loved it to be clear!!! I know I focused on confused feelings but they're very good confused feelings im happy to sit on- it hit.)
Hello! I want to be upfront saying that I really, really, really loved this demo, I am SO looking forward to where the full game goes, and I really appreciate the kinds of themes that are being explored and set up here as well as the tone of the whole thing. There's a lot of really heavy subjects that are being dealt with seriously but also with space for heart and fun, in a way that is really especially nice to see in a media landscape where it feels like when stories are told about people who face hardship, they often take away the possibility for joy for these people despite it being a part of their lives that matters just as much. So I really appreciate what is being done here a lot!
That said, I wanted to point something out- the prologue feels like it has for the most part very good content warnings about the main plot people will see in the demo, but in the beginning there is a section where, after going inside of the dream, you can reminisce about a past patient of Omar's. The content here really came as a surprise I was not ready for at all, even having read all of the content warnings, even though just the simple descriptions in the text felt strong enough to be potentially triggering, especially in the context of a game that is already setting the kind of serious tone this has at the beginning. I think it would be really good to have warnings about that content, even if it may seem minor, to this page or at least the prologue, or at least to think of a way to warn about it in the full game? Sorry for the rambling and the suggestion, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Thank you, and good luck with the rest of the game, very much looking forward to it!
I played thru a few of your games today after getting really excited by one of them and I just, fell in love! I absolutely love the whole vibe, I think they have really great mechanical hooks and the way that while playing them you sort of feel your way through learning what everything does until by the end you feel like you have a really solid grasp on all of the systems is just fantastic!
The atmosphere also does a lot, not just the aesthetics and the ways tension is built but also the general conceit of your player character being a very small part of a bleak wider world that has pushed them into a kind of cornered position where learning and mastering these systems is their way of trying to earn back some control is just. Stellar!! Great job with all of these, seriously!
This game was so much fun!!! You found a lot of ways to build tension while still giving plenty of room to beat the game without needing a do-over, and I honestly love where the story went, everything after the very first dialogue box felt like it kept taking me by surprise in a great way lol.
Also the character design is really great! Seriously love both the main characters and most of the other designs, they're rlly well made!
This was rad!!!! I really love the vibes, I found myself reading a lot of the dialogue and rlly enjoying quite a lot of it, especially all the slightly surreal stuff about the hell divers, that stuff was great!!!
It's also wild that it takes so long until (what I assume is) the main hook of the gun + dashes combo of gameplay gets introduced, yet I didn't find myself being impatient for it at all, I was just having so much fun exploring and checking the environments out. Great job! Hope u can keep it up cause it was a rlly great experience so far!
I loved this so much! The puzzle of it all is both rlly fun to figure out and also like, I think you nailed the pacing on exactly how much you tell the player to let them figure it out on their own. The unique art style also adds a lot and has made the game rlly stick in my mind. Really great job w everything here!
love thicc rabbit mom btw
this game is rlly rlly cool! Love the haunted vibes, the atmosphere of a place that used to be populated being so barren is rlly effective, and I also love that there wasn't an attempt to sand down the broken gameyness a game like this would have to add to the atmosphere, I think it works perfectly with both the silly-looking powers and the creepy vibes! Great job
This is fucking rad!!!
Seriously, the way the prose here weaves in aspects of mechanical and biological imagery, with like, a loving, unnerving, and sometimes almost sexual tone, is just fucking sublime. And the visuals do a great job of adding to the vibes and helping to guide your imagination. Great job with this frfr
This game is so well written! It's incredible, with how short it is, how well realized the characters really are. In your time with them they're rlly fleshed out in a way that makes it clear the author understands what makes them tick very well, and not only that, but the way the characters interact with each other shows they're capable of a similar understanding too.
This feels like a story about three broken people each trying to "fix" the others in their own way, and all of the main characters' flaws and worldviews shine through so well in every little moment the game peels back the facade of their toy house. The fact I felt so strongly for all of them, tearing up multiple times, is a testament to how powerful the writing here is, especially coming together with the wonderful art to make these characters feel expressive and alive!
And at the end of the day, the game didn't feel gratuitous or mean about its violence or the characters' flaws at all. It felt earnest and like it was almost as kind as it COULD be, when telling such a sad story.
This was wonderful, thank you so much to karmic punishment for making it! Also oh god Wisker pls he's so tragic
This game is just fcking wonderful.
There was a reveal later on and a new mechanic that like, really took me by surprise and was a delight to have, but even before that, when I thought this game was only going to include the first small zone you're in, I already thought it was a wonderful thing that I was glad to exist.
The use of strong sillhouettes to build the world through the little you can see outside of the play area, plus the use of the retro aesthetics and rain, already make for a really great atmosphere. But the main idea of the game, the garbage that just keeps falling, with no end in sight, is what sticks in my memory.
I took a little long on the first zone, enough to let a lot of garbage build in while I tried to fill the container. To the point where, eventually, it got a little more difficult to actually walk around the area because of just how MUCH garbage there was. And the slowly building dread that you get as more and more and more garbage keeps pouring in, way overpowering your ability to toss them in, to the point of hindering your ability to even move, made it feel like I was being swallowed by the piles of garbage, and made the desire to escape that much more real. It got me feeling anxious in a way that felt really, really special. I really loved this game, so, so much. Thank you for making it!
