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Under the Sea's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Mental Engagement | #2 | 4.400 | 4.400 |
| Overall | #3 | 4.200 | 4.200 |
| Overall | #4 | 4.047 | 4.047 |
| Lasting Impression | #9 | 3.900 | 3.900 |
| Characterization | #11 | 4.020 | 4.020 |
| Atmosphere | #13 | 4.280 | 4.280 |
| Emotional Engagement | #18 | 3.480 | 3.480 |
Ranked from 50 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
I really liked this one. The puzzles were reasonable and felt grounded in the setting. The characterization was great as well, the art was great (love the flashlight effect), and the ending was strong.
I think I may have gotten softlocked during my first playthrough, by taking the cup as Scotty before he went away? At least, I *assumed* I was softlocked, after wandering around without making any progress for a while, so I started a new game and didn't take the cup this time. But then I saw that Scotty comes back eventually, so maybe I wasn't softlocked during the first game (I'm not sure what triggers Scotty coming back, so maybe I technically didn't need the cup yet at the time?). In any case, aside from that I was able to finish the game without issues.
Overall, this was very solid, polished, and fun entry!
Thank you very much for your nice comment.
Scotty may take the cup. It will find its way back to Marla when she needs it, so no game-breaking dead end here. (ek)
Great game, but I eventually got stuck on the password puzzle. I tried translating with the code both ways, neither worked. But besides that not much to say just a great game! Cool art, nice visuals, all the works
I watched your video and have to say that you were very close - you just missed one charachter when typing in that password. There are some playthrough videos on Youtube and you can download a walkthrough PDF on our game page, if you want to know what you missed.
Thank you anyway for playing and commenting. (ek)
Ah ok, I still had fun!
What and end! Totally unexpected.
Pretty good aesthetics, atmosphere, and characterization. When I figured out the recipe puzzle, I thought it wouldn’t work because Scotty took the mug, but then he shows up just to give it back. That sequence was simple, but it felt amazing and kind of relieving (for a few seconds I thought about starting the game all over again).
The first puzzle felt weird because you don’t expect to have to click on the flashlight to change its light direction (for me, it was kind of lucky to figure it out), but it made sense anyway (and it’s an interesting mechanic).
The deciphering puzzle was my favorite (because I love deciphering puzzles). And moving the picture, along with sorting the pills, allowed me to better appreciate Tim’s personality. Speaking of characters, Karen… was so irritating. You guys did a really great job with characterization (it’s a shame I can’t put more stars in that category), and as @Powerhoof wrote, using puzzles to build the characters is a clever way to present them. I felt sad for Sam, even though I did not get to meet him; even though he was a robot.
I had a great time playing your game!
Thank you for your kind words. It's music to our ears.
Very cool game. Loved the unique setting and the music. Switching characters is a cool feature. Amazing accomplishment in two weeks!
Thank you very much. (ek)
The art, audio, atmosphere, and story are all top notch here. The UI, menus, and functionality of everything is great and feels really professional. I really liked the ending graphic and it did feel like a fully fleshed out story.
I must admit I personally found these puzzles very counterintuitive. It felt harsh starting out in the dark, arguing for the flashlight. I immediately became stuck at the power supply, from not realizing the flashlight could be moved over to access the wires. It felt weird that whenever control switched to Scotty automatically, we always had to switch to Marla to accomplish anything. It felt weird to give the collection of assorted pills to the guy who went crazy. Most of these dots would have never connected for me on my own. I don't mean to be insulting or negative, just felt I should relay my experience with the game. I don't play a ton of point and clicks anymore though, so take my criticisms with a grain of salt.
That being said I did really enjoy the decryption puzzle and it felt good figuring that one out, along with the password. The gradual reveal of the story beats hit a good rhythm, and we got a good feel for who each character is through their dialog and place in the narrative. Despite all my complaints, this is an impressive piece of work for a two week jam and you all definitely have some serious skills!
Thank you for your feedback, much appreciated.
You got some valid points there. The start of the game was something we discussed but couldn't fit in the flashlight scene at a later point of the story. And you are right about the character switches. The first switch is to illustrate that you can switch at all, so we felt it was necessary. Later in the game we had to change some puzzle chains to avoid dead ends and that rendered the second switch a bit pointless - but it still feels right to learn about the next goal as Scotty. Regarding the pills - we hadn't much time to fine tune the puzzles and to add more signposting, but if you show the pills to Karen she will tell you that Tim is the one who uses them.
... and we thought that Tim had some kind of OCD symptoms, so it seemed plausible that he was the right man to bring order to the pill chaos.
Great visuals, loved the ending, and it was a well polished game! I am really glad there was a walkthrough, there's been at least a couple games on here I haven't been able to finish because I couldn't figure out what to do next. I also liked how there was a progressing story with the player finding more out about the dead guy as you progressed through the puzzles. I could see this being a top 10 game in this jam.
Thank you for these kind words! We are glad you liked it. ^^
well written, great puzzles no too tricky like last submission.
Really great job as usual!
Thank you very much. (ek)
I like the story and all the characters you brought to it. The puzzles were great, not too easy and not to hard: I was stuck at some point, and when I checked the walkthrough... it was all my fault :D
The music fits very well to the atmosphere of the game.
Overall, I enjoyed very much playing your game, one of my best point-and-click adventure games of the jam so far!
Thank you for your nice detailed review. (ek)
really good game, i love the main menu it's so simple and clean, the art style of the game is also really cool, I just wish the area of the flashlight should have been a little wider so we can see more of the room, other than that awesome game.
Thank you for your nice comment. Regarding the flashlight: it used to be even narrower when I first created it, so it seems to have been a good idea that I scaled it up a bit. ;-) (ek)
Great game! I really liked the music, setting, puzzles like the password and the power panel, and switching characters to pass things around. Very well done.
Thank you for playing our game. Glad you liked it. (ek)
I really like playing under the sea. Drama and humour in the right quantity and compelling characters. Love the ending. Good job, Argonauts.
Thank you for your kind review. (ek)
Very impressive entry! Beautiful art and animation, cool setting and story, multiple playable characters, and challenging but fair puzzles. The only thing that could improve it is voice acting IMO. Excellent game overall!
Thank you very much for this kind review. If you have read the other comments, you know that voice acting just didn't make it into the game due to time constraints. We also would have loved to hear the crew talk. (ek)
Really good game with good graphics and nice puzzles to solve.
Good Job.
Thank you for your nice comment. (ek)
Reminded me a lot of the early Daedalic games (Whispered World, A New Beginning). Good puzzle design and very nice art, and you managed to tell an interesting story in very little time. Bravo!
That it high praise. Thank you so much!
Very polished game with interesting story and puzzles. I love graphics.
But I didn't finish it because of a bug (probably). I picked up the cup with algae drink Sam instead of Maria and now I can't use them or give it to Maria.
Damn. Indeed, we forgot to add an interaction for that (... or better stop Scotty from taking the cup with the drink. It's no tea, so it won't be to his taste anyway.).
Thanks for telling us and sorry you can't proceed any further.
Top notch p'n'click! Reminded me of the golden days of these kind of adventures, big fan. Loved the setting and the puzzles. Maybe wished for more humor in the dialogues, but I'm spoiled by Monkey Island. Anyway, it's cool and polished, really think you should go all in and do voice acting, and, maybe a total classics is on the way;). Saved your game and followed the profile - for more.
Thank you so much for your kind words.
We would have loved to have voiceacting, but we were writing the dialogue until the last minutes of the jam...
I understand, therefore I wish for you to consider making a game without facing any jam deadlines, and write the total narrative script even before the next production (or the update and expanding the content of the existing one). It's nice to have most of the game on paper, so that there's just stylish edit and cool out of the blue ideas happening at the final stages of development.
This is incredible! The art, characters and story are all very well done. This jam has quite a few games where you get to play as multiple characters and I'm really enjoying it! In yours, I particularly like the fact that the characters can interact with each other to solve puzzles.
My favorite part of the game was the puzzles. You added a lot of variety which made puzzle solving a delight. I felt engaged throughout the game.
I'm trying to think of how you could make an improvement, but honestly can't think of anything. It was pretty much perfect for me. Well done!
Thank you so much for this very nice review.
Talking of puzzles, I heard your game has something to offer in that regard, too. I will surely give it a go. (ek)
Very well made! I liked the art and the writing was very good. The cipher puzzle was great!
Thank you. Glad you had fun.
That is an excellent game, folks! All the puzzles work great. The story leaves a pleasant aftertaste of a good-old-days sci-fi novel.
It’s incredible how items work when a player needs to use the same thing in different states, like with a cup. Finding the correct password gives a distinctive aha! feeling after the first time you do it in the wrong way.
The art is very consistent and, together with everything else, provides a flawless experience.
PS: the evil professor must be alive, isn’t he? He must be somewhere near watching and planning his next move…
If Dr. K. Is still alive, I'm sure Sam will take care of him. But we'll never know for sure.
Thank you for your nice review. (ek)