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Dead Pools's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Best Overall | #1 | n/a | n/a |
| Best use of: Apocalypse | #2 | n/a | n/a |
| Best use of: Post-Apocalyptic Desert Madness | #3 | n/a | n/a |
| Best use of: Transhumanism | #3 | n/a | n/a |
| Best use of chosen theme(s) | #8 | 2.907 | 3.250 |
| Submitter's Choice Award (top game overall) | #13 | 2.236 | 2.500 |
Ranked from 4 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Use of themes
The game is set in a devastated and dystopian far future world where little survives outside the control of a corporation. In a lake that's become a toxic desert, a creepy and lethal secret resides.
Content warnings
Death; Mutation
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Comments
Congrats on winning Best Overall!
Please contact me about your prizes. apocalypsegamejam@gmail.com
Thank you! Sent you an email :)
I guess there are more endings. Mine wasn't quite giving me the "one more go" feeling :)
But I liked the atmosphere and the story. And the emptiness and vast space. A bit tidious to replay I guess ... maybe a "continue mode" would fit ... from last action or so?
But overall a nice entry to the jam!
Thank you for the review! We will definitely add a save game feature in any future expansion. Thanks for playing!
I don't think I ever played a game like this before! It definitely has a lot of space which really shifts the gameplay feeling in an interesting way. I like the mysterious atmosphere a lot, and I think that the writing is one of games biggest strengths, because it really sucked me in and caught my attention!
I got to two endings in total (one was the standard ending of fixing the pipe normally, another one was where I offered the shadow as a tribute to the statue) - and it feels like there is still much more that I could do, but the fact that I would have to redo everything is kind of disheartening. I could imagine that at each point where you make a decision or get/trade an item, you could make a checkpoint, and once you die, you can scroll back to your checkpoints and continue on from one of them. Just an idea though, to encourage players to get all endings / see all lore!
One incredibly tiny nitpick, and something that bothered me more than it should have - the fact that the diagonal walking does not exactly diagonally walk through a tile square on the ground really drove me crazy at some points! xD
Thank you for the kind words! We're glad that you've enjoyed the small experience we've prepared.
It's definitely a writing-and-walking heavy game, so we're happy to hear that you rate those aspects! Movement by mouse click is definitely something we wanted to do, and probably will if we decide to continue working on the game. So no it's not nitpicky at all!
State saving is an interesting point. It's definitely not in our original design and we have some thoughts as to why it should not be. However, it might be a good optional toggle to include if the player wants to experience the game that way. Definitely something to take into consideration.
Cheers!
Hey VoidGeht! Didn't see you on Discord, or else I would've messaged you there.
Like I already said, I really respect the way your game turned out, I really loved the atmosphere and the cold style of the storytelling.
If you need music for your game heading forward, consider me as a composer! Here's my portfolio https://soundcloud.com/dolphinflavoredicecream and here's my website https://michaeleatoncomposer.weebly.com/
Thanks!
I really enjoyed this game. I didnt find the gameplay boring per se, it was more meditative. The long walks really get you thinking about the world you're in, and the narrative is really intriguing. I was interested in the main character. It felt rewarding to experience the story upon reaching each objective. The ending was great.
Some nitpicks: could've been nice to move the map at the bottom left to a different corner to see that part of the screen. Also being able to lead the player with your mouse click instead of WASD would also help with navigation a bit.
Otherwise, amazing, I would love to see this game fleshed out, with a longer story and maybe some mini-games for each task except for a click-and-read. It reminds me a lot of Darkwood!
Thank you for the kind words!
Mouse navigation is definitely a thing we wanted to do but didn't budget enough time for. So we went with a WASD scheme which was easier. We will consider the placement of the map/radar as well - not a lot of thought went into that yet :)
We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the objectives and the ending (perhaps endings? if you have found them). Hopefully we can deliver a full experience at some point in the future.
Cheers!
It definitely tackles the theme, but the gameplay feels like a chore with not much happening. The wasteland is barren but like.. very barren, to the point where you're just staring at the same times scrolling past your screen.
The ending left me wondering "Is that it?", it surprised me a bit.
That said though, I think the task itself to fix the pipe was pretty interesting, but I was expecting something else to happen while doing it or right after doing it.
Thank you for the feedback!
The game is definitely intended as somewhat of a isometric walking sim. That said, we still have a lot of work to do to make the walking and exploring feels more inviting and less of a chore.
There are a few different endings that should give you some knowledge about the world. My guess is that perhaps you've stumbled on our first one, which is pretty straight forward by design.
Cheers!