LOVE!! Super charming game, thoroughly enjoyed my time playing! The music in particular was a standout part of the experience :) I gotta find a way to listen to it by itself, or else I'm gonna be keeping this tab open just for the noises :P
LOVEEE!! Super fun :) Loved all the teensy details like the sticky note crumbling, and the terrarium is so well decorated <3 Wish I could freely look around it
Thank you! And there's an option to slow down the timer in the options menu under "typing"! Accessible both from the title screen and through the [?] in the top-right corner during gameplay. I hope this helps :)
Yeah, the default typing speed is approximately 40 words per minute, which is apparently the average typing speed, so it's not unexpected that some players need to turn it down.
The gameplay is definitely very typing heavy, though honestly, I'm fine with it this way. Most of the visual novel genre can be summed up to "you click buttons and read", so I think it's almost expected from one that most of the entertainment comes from experiencing the story. I do understand how this can be jarring to someone expecting a more gameplay heavy experience though.
I noticed that occasionally nothing would happen if I had not finished typing before the timer went out.
A very valid point I didn't quite think about! I was thinking sometimes something happening would spice it up, but it DOES play as sometimes nothing happening. Post jam version should make sure something happens on each timeout.
I also think there could be more of a consequence for not completing the words and sentences in time.
Perhaps a good change would be to decrease the threshold of slow responses to get a bad ending, maybe from 50% to 30%? I didn't want to be too harsh since I believe it's usually better to be more generous to the player when in doubt, but I'll consider it. More points of failure-by-slow response could also be good, though I'd need to alter some dialogue to accommodate it, and I don't feel like doing that.
And perhaps an optional use of the numpad (and the dot there) to write numbers
I wasn't aware it didn't work, thanks for that! I don't have a number pad, so I'll have to figure out some way to test it.
with the audit popup that when I clicked zoom, the timer stopped indefinitely
I fear you may have caught a bug with the audit popup freezing, I'll look into it! I thought I tested it, but perhaps I should have been more thorough.
Huh, interesting feedback. 3/4s of the characters do something when you don't finish typing in time, whether that's telling you to be faster or not letting you finish, but I guess you didn't notice this for 2 of them? I'll have to check with playtesters on this topic specifically when I update the game post-jam, it's not at all a problem I expected players to have. Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for playing!! There actually is a bit of a reward/punishment system as you describe it, though it's only in one place, so you have a point. There's a spot at which if you've been too slow to reply for at least half of the preceding answers, you get a game over screen (you can check the story guide if you want the exact location). Bump up the the typing speed in the options if you think the game's too easy for this to be a threat :P
WOAHHH, a really awesome game with a fun concept!! Love the background moving with the mouse, it's a small detail but it makes me happy. The music is also sick. Died on stage 9 on my second playthrough (got to stage 3? on my first) though, so I somewhat wish there was a checkpoint system.
A really cute game in concept, especially with the art, the voice acting (!!), the sound design, and the storyline. Unfortunately, the actual gameplay was frustrating to me. The player felt extremely slow horizontally, which I think is fine on its own, but the ice physics made it difficult to actually control, and it didn't feel like obstacle hitboxes were smaller to compensate for this. Platform edges also felt extremely unforgiving in a negative way, and it felt like I was falling/clipping though platforms if I even got close to the edge. Regardless, I enjoyed the storyline and am glad I played through the last level for that reveal :)
Pretty interesting puzzles and good ambiance! I also couldn't figure out how to beat level 3, but the level design as a whole is pretty interesting. It would be nice to have an indicator showing where you can and can't move each stone on the minimap since that had me confused for a little while. Player movement also did feel sluggish. Neat game as a whole though :)
Loved it!! The core concept is extremely fun and unique---well done :) Collision felt buggy, but that's to be expected seeing as you had less than half of the time for this jam.
This game has a LOT of potential, but the lack of a tutorial and card effect explanations really hinders it. I found myself sometimes turning my laptop upside down to try reading my opponent's cards, which obviously isn't possible on a desktop computer. Even so, some of the text was also just really small and hard to read. The art and music were a fun vibe, but I'd have a lot more fun if I knew what I was doing. The music also doesn't seem to loop, which is disappointing because it was super enjoyable to listen to while it lasted.
I alternate between Safari and Chrome, so it was one of those two for the original playthrough. I just now launched the game in both, and both options seem to work for me.
This game could have been a lot better, but as it stands, it was mostly a drag.
The sensitivity is a bit high, and though I was able to get used to it, an options slider for it would have been nice.
Using WASD to move around while holding down E to carry a block was very inconvenient and made dealing with the enemy...not enjoyable. It would have been a lot better to only need to click E once to pick up an item, then either E again to drop it gently or F to throw it. Maybe I wasn't far away enough, but even when I managed to throw the block in the direction of the enemy, it seemed to just bounce off and I couldn't tell if I had dealt damage. I ended up accidentally glitching the enemy by holding a block while it approached me; it just disappeared when I did that, so I moved on.
I also didn't like the implementation stacking blocks mechanic. It was way too easy to knock things over and only enjoyable to stack things maybe 2-3 blocks high because of that, and it began to get annoying rather than challenging. In the process of attempting to make small adjustment to my staircase, I ended up accidentally finding another glitch where I could basically fly by holding a block underneath me while next to a wall and jumping. I felt bad, but the prospect of putting together a 6 block high staircase felt like tedium, so I used the glitch instead, and it felt much more fun this way.
I think the tall staircases would have been acceptable if controlling the blocks was easier. Currently, it's easy to rotate them accidentally and difficult to rotate them on purpose, so it's annoying to position them precisely. Maybe the experience would be nicer if they were to somehow snap into place (Minecraft 1 block at a time April Fools Update style?) or not rotate at all?
My least favorite part of the experience was probably the invisible voice. It was just...grating in the wrong ways and irritating to listen to. I understand that it's supposed to be condescending and above you, but potentially due to the fact that it's AI generated, it's just...not enjoyable. Even before I realized it sounds like AI.
I did like the drawn control instructions on the wall and built in tutorial though, they add an integrated way to make sure you learn to play. I always like environmental tutorials like this.
I liked the atmosphere created by the sound design, and the puzzles were pretty neat. The ending just felt pretty abrupt, and I only felt appreciation for the symbolism of the puzzles after reading the out-of-game story. Ideally everything would be explained in-game so that the final product doesn't need extra material to stand on its own.
Pretty okay game, I just didn't find it that fun to play and didn't see anything unique. The magnet's movement felt sluggish in a bad way, and I found myself constantly surprised by when the fish would turn around, so it felt a lot like luck.
The fullscreen problem can be solved by checking the "fullscreen button" checkbox under Frame Options in your game's editing page.
Neat story, and I liked the sound effects, styling for the papers, and the way the text moved upwards. The story was a little abstract for my tastes and it was hard to connect with the protagonist once they started remembering things (felt a little out of nowhere), but I think that's what you were going for. How the text jumped up and down a few pixels with every line also bugged me a little.
Really like the concept!! Both halves of the game felt very cohesive on the side of the visuals, and I like the twist in the tone. Some words indeed were hard to read, but I kind of like that.
However, this game lacks responsiveness, and that really hurts it. There were several times I wasn't sure if the game had crashed or if I just wasn't doing what I should be to progress. Music or some sort of ambient sound would have helped convey that the game has not crashed (and aided the emotional impact of it all), and some sort of sound effect or more consistent visual cue upon clicking and/or hovering would have made the game feel a lot better to play.
Took a couple rereads of the instructions, but it's a pretty simple idea, so it was pretty easy to pick up. It's oddly stressful, haha. The game crashed on me when I died without getting any hits, but I had no other issues.
Funnily enough, the style of the graphics were actually inspired by the game Knight Lore, but when they were all done, I too had a moment of realization that they were reminiscent of Undertale, haha (never played or seen clips of Deltarune gameplay, so can't comment on that). Glad you enjoyed it!! <3
LOVE LOVE LOVE. AUGUHHHHH, so fun :)) I love the logic in the puzzles, it makes a lot of sense when you figure it out!! The visuals and vibe were also SO good <33 Gotta figure out how to get the last ending tomorrow, haha
LOVED the art, the sounds, and the overall vibes. You've nailed that part. The way you've designed your menus is also super neat, typing the first letter is a super easy and intuitive way to navigate. The gameplay was also pretty cool (typing felt super satisfying!), though I do have a couple things I didn't like as much, mostly centered around what words are accepted for each object.
It felt like a lot of the descriptors I tried that theoretically fit the flower just weren't accepted even though similar ones were (the pink flowers are called pink flowers, but the dahlia doesn't accept "maroon flower"). After my first run where I really didn't figure that much out, I decided to go all in on using the help command and had more fun treating it like a memory game rather a "figure out what x object is" game.
Additionally, sometimes I added a space on the end or syllable break of a word ("dalia " or"holly hock"), and the game didn't accept that. It was a little annoying to need to retype. Not a major thing, but it happened often enough for me to notice
Finally, I would have really loved it if the "camera" and "photo proof" commands were written down for you so that it wasn't necessary to memorize them from the tutorial before even starting to play. Especially "photo proof", which I assume is a common camera term, but I've not ever really heard in this context before
Overall though, I really loved this game!! Played several times, had a lot of fun :)
When I hear top-down perspective I tend to expect the perspective where you see the top and front of objects, so the true top-down perspective was a good surprise! And the story is certainly intriguing, I love a good mystery :) You'll do great things with this concept!!
When I hear top-down perspective I tend to expect the perspective where you see the top and front of objects, so the true top-down perspective was a good surprise! And the story is certainly intriguing, I love a good mystery :) You'll do great things with this concept!!
Eyestrain on the game page is relaxed with the larger images surroundeed by more black space in the actual game.
Originally I had plans to have a low contrast option that got cut due to time, this makes me want to bring that option back when I do my post-jam-voting update. Good to know your thoughts!
On that note, I have mixed responses to being called “Computer” for basic admin tasks I’ve been paid for in the real world (before inaccurate AI replace people who could move paper files around, troubleshoot printers, and argue about redaction).
It was my friend Madeleine rather than myself who wrote the story, so take everything I say about the story with a grain of salt. :)
I also dislike the trend of replacing people with AI. Even ignoring other issues, its nondeterministic nature is especially icky to me in the context of the job market, you can't just expect it to work. That's part of why I like how this game doesn't really have a good ending, just endings where the computer sometimes listens to the human characters and doesn't listen other times. I hope some element of the message "you (human characters) can't rely on GenAI" is felt.
The fantastical premise creates some helpful emotional distance from the dehumanizing horror of the situation, but still, replacing the bot characterization with a less realistic demon or sprite might have prevent built-up frustration (to maybe real trauma) coming into play.
Interestingly enough, my worry with the story was that it was humanizing the computer rather than dehumanizing the player. Really fascinating to me that you had this interpretation although it sounds like it wasn't a positive experience...I'll have to think on this.
Anyway, a clearer indication of the player’s role might help as a content warning.
I've updated the description to clearly state you play as a computer---thanks for that suggestion, I didn't think enough about adding content warnings. I'm not great at tagging things, so let me know if there's anything else specific I should do :)
