Excellent job overall with the game! Loved the 'shoot + not yet' mechanic, super fun way to up the ante! The illustrations are very well done and assist the theme and tone of the game wonderfully.
The sanity mechanic is real nice to have, but i would love to see you push it a bit more. For instance, in my first run (I so plan on doing more) my sanity dropped quickly and got really low towards the end. I would love to see some sort of attribute tied to low sanity levels, ie a sanity below 30 causes you to hallucinate or have to reexamine a scenario, while a sanity above 80 makes you brave and gives an advantage. I think that would also make it much more impactful, instead of just a counter of sorts.
Another way to add illustrations would be to illustrate some of the items you pick up! The descriptions are super cool, but I'd love to see that bunny plush (at all stages haha) in your style! Great job!
Viability and Engagement: The mechanic in your game is classic, yet fun. It seems that your "sanity" bar is missing a narrative element, however. Typically, there are narrative notifications or visuals to indicate changes happening to your sanity. It almost felt it was there for show and not for any mechanical reasons. I was tempted to go back and replay to see what could be changed, but it didn't seem like there was any incentive too because of the lack of clarity.
Theme: I would also love to see you push your descriptions a bit more. There is too many repeating phrases such as "black sludge" and "smelly". Consider using synonyms or stronger descriptions like, "the other-worldly substance" and "pungent". Other than the issues with description, your world building came around really well, especially with the help of the visuals. The space felt very interesting and almost unique in some sorts- there were multiple locations with strange interactive events.
Presentation: Your illustrations are strong! There is a variety of texture and I appreciate it. However, I would suggest pushing the perspective on some of the shots and adding more visuals to impactful moments such as "collection" moments where a new item is added to your inventory. I would love to feel the claustrophobia in the abandoned house, or even highlight the monster with a more "show not tell" approach. Introducing it in some of your images to the point where it's almost not visible to really make the audience question what they're about to get in to.
Overall, you seem very passionate about this due to the quality and length put into this. I enjoyed playing through this- I hope to see you push it a bit more! It'll really highlight some of the best parts of your piece, that being the unique adventurous quality. Great work!
First, your illustrations are great, I love the style you used, really think you captured the essence of your story/narrative.
I think you also did a great job with the sanity and health system, maybe it could be cool to see some more text styles or transitions depending on how low the health/sanity levels are. You used them a few times towards the end, but I noticed that you can lose quite a bit of sanity before even seeing the sludge monster. Could be interesting to try out!
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Excellent job overall with the game! Loved the 'shoot + not yet' mechanic, super fun way to up the ante! The illustrations are very well done and assist the theme and tone of the game wonderfully.
The sanity mechanic is real nice to have, but i would love to see you push it a bit more. For instance, in my first run (I so plan on doing more) my sanity dropped quickly and got really low towards the end. I would love to see some sort of attribute tied to low sanity levels, ie a sanity below 30 causes you to hallucinate or have to reexamine a scenario, while a sanity above 80 makes you brave and gives an advantage. I think that would also make it much more impactful, instead of just a counter of sorts.
Another way to add illustrations would be to illustrate some of the items you pick up! The descriptions are super cool, but I'd love to see that bunny plush (at all stages haha) in your style! Great job!
Viability and Engagement: The mechanic in your game is classic, yet fun. It seems that your "sanity" bar is missing a narrative element, however. Typically, there are narrative notifications or visuals to indicate changes happening to your sanity. It almost felt it was there for show and not for any mechanical reasons. I was tempted to go back and replay to see what could be changed, but it didn't seem like there was any incentive too because of the lack of clarity.
Theme: I would also love to see you push your descriptions a bit more. There is too many repeating phrases such as "black sludge" and "smelly". Consider using synonyms or stronger descriptions like, "the other-worldly substance" and "pungent". Other than the issues with description, your world building came around really well, especially with the help of the visuals. The space felt very interesting and almost unique in some sorts- there were multiple locations with strange interactive events.
Presentation: Your illustrations are strong! There is a variety of texture and I appreciate it. However, I would suggest pushing the perspective on some of the shots and adding more visuals to impactful moments such as "collection" moments where a new item is added to your inventory. I would love to feel the claustrophobia in the abandoned house, or even highlight the monster with a more "show not tell" approach. Introducing it in some of your images to the point where it's almost not visible to really make the audience question what they're about to get in to.
Overall, you seem very passionate about this due to the quality and length put into this. I enjoyed playing through this- I hope to see you push it a bit more! It'll really highlight some of the best parts of your piece, that being the unique adventurous quality. Great work!
First, your illustrations are great, I love the style you used, really think you captured the essence of your story/narrative.
I think you also did a great job with the sanity and health system, maybe it could be cool to see some more text styles or transitions depending on how low the health/sanity levels are. You used them a few times towards the end, but I noticed that you can lose quite a bit of sanity before even seeing the sludge monster. Could be interesting to try out!
Really awesome work! :)