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Game's Take on the Theme
Mechanically I can only argue that the many luck based gambling gimmicks are akin to spinning a roulette. Thematically I incorporated as many spin-related concepts as I could imagine: the main battle system and much of the plot includes drills and the golden rectangle, your damage output is based on your drill's RPM. The library part of the game with the bosses stories was meant to represent "spinning a tale." originally the story was much more confusing because I wanted to make heads spin, but i ended up putting too much logic into it and may have lost that. There are still plenty of unexplained things that I dont plan on explaining either to keep that part of my intent in it. these were my spins on spin as a literary device, rather than a gameplay mechanic.
Did your team make the majority of the art and music during the jam?
100% during the jam
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Comments
This is a super unique take on the Boss Rush jam which I really admire! The art was cool and stylized and I love how you incorporated the theme more into the writing than the gameplay which I believe is a fair way to implement it.
I wasn't sure if I misunderstood a lot of things, but I felt that I didn't know what most of the mechanics did other than charge to increase your RPM and breakthrough to do big damage when the number looks high enough lol. So it was a little hard to think of much strategy in this game.
That being said, I really loved the worldbuilding in this game and I think the way you implemented your take on the spin theme was pretty unique!
Since I was explaining it to myself, the explanations seemed easy enough, but it didn't survive contact with players, I guess.
Shield is simply shield, reduces damage you receive by the amount between (). Contact moves still work as having hit, so it's not very effective against Dracula and Medea, whose abilities trigger when you are hit. It is sure to work, at a small random RPM cost, but can't stop contact skills
3DI is a parry move, the hardest to hit. You have a number from X-Y, and when you use it, you roll a D100. If your result is between X-Y, the parry succeeds, nullifying damage and absorbing the enemy's RPM. (Some enemies are pure DP and low RPM, so it isnt ideal against them, so the risk is not worth it.)
Flow is evasion. You have a % between your (), the enemy rolls a d100 + accuracy value, and if they surpass your evade value, it hits. The same applies to you when the enemy defends with those.
Resonance is preparing for the defense turn, increasing your dodge rate, the range of your parry and giving you a charge to pay for the shield or prepare for your next attack to be stronger. At first it must be hard to choose what to do, but as you get to know enemies and see what their action will be, plus get used to their gimmicks and know what is better not to do, there are about two options depending on your build that makes it easy to cheese every boss. When you get their gimmicks, they're all beatable without any upgrades, I balanced and tested them all to be so. But asking a player to get that engaged with the mechanics is a challenge in itself, so I can understand if it just looks confusing and or frustrating at first. (secret function that the tutorial doesnt tell you and I kinda wanted you to go OOOH when you found out: Resonance nullifies the dance skill of enemies that have them, so the strategy against medea for an example is to use resonance to not let her poison you, then going for an evade to not let her hit you and nerf your skills. she always evades and is a sure hit, but once youve unlocked the actions of other enemies, you can choose to use resonance whenever you get the message theyre evading)
Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad you liked this world, as I came out pretty proud of it when I finished it!
Ahhhh it makes sense, now! Yeah I think one of the hardest things about making these intricate mechanics is communicating that with the players in a concise way. I appreciate you taking the time to give a more detailed explanation! I honestly think it's fine letting the player know explicitly what these stats mean since you can make the discovery about what the bosses can do instead of what the game mechanics are. ;D
I enjoyed the roguelike aspects of the game. The lore and dialogue were great. I found the door tutorial to be pretty hilarious. Great work!
Had I not chosen to make the game so serious and dark in tone, I'd have drawn the door with cartoony eyes and sharp teeth. Secret lore just for you, who enjoyed the gag tutorial.
Very interesting entry!! The art style is beautiful and I loved your use of dithering, how were you able to achieve that look? The hand drawn characters are lovely to look at and I enjoyed how much expression and personality is in each character. I enjoyed exploring this bizarre and surreal world you have envisioned. The aesthetic of this game is wonderful. That being said, the gameplay portion really didn't hit for me. There was far too much text to read through, and the vast majority of it only made me more confused. The tutorial section was throwing random numbers and technical terms at me with reckless abandon, and I found myself more confused after completing it than I was before. I think the premise of drilling down into the Earth's core to reverse its spin and erase the woes of humanity is a really neat idea, but the dialogue gets so lost in the weeds that it doesn't really develop on the idea. I was absolutely clueless in combat and didn't like how sometimes my choice were ???? or ???? A lot of the drill mechanics and RPM stuff seems shoehorned in to fit the theme, and it feels like they exist not develop the plot but to meet theme requirements. I think this entry would have benefitted from a bit more time planning out the story before development and time spent incorporating the theme into the story in a more organic way. That being said, I think your illustrations are wonderful, and I loved how unique your idea was. I hope you continue to make games and grow as a game developer, your ideas have a lot of potential. Nice work and good luck!!
Clip Studio Paint has tone layers, which can be made as such, and there's a function to shift a layer into a tone one, so sometimes I'd just draw it as a tone, while others I'd make a gradient of grays and then turn it into a tone layer, to only fine tune its look afterwards. It's a bit of work and can be awkward to fine tune density and frequency to give it the shade you want, but I really like how the art comes out, so very worth the effort.
Your gripes with the gameplay are understandable, I was aware it was a really weird concept that would be hard to follow even if I eased it in little by little, so I went with a bucket instead of a dripfeed, and hoped for the best. Unprofessional, but I'm fine with not being for everyone.
The development of the ideas comes out through talking with Edrillmond and Sidrillta on the friend events, but it doesn't come to its conclusion in the mainline story because I chose to not put the True End in and risk not finishing art assets. My writing style is intentionally puzzling and asking you to put a lot together by yourself, but with so much to read and so few clues, I can't blame anyone for not seeing the thread. You could say it's one of those "just read 300 chapters to understand it" books, and unapologetic about it.
And about the shoehorning, I'd say it was half-half, in parts the story was shoehorned into the theme/game, and in parts the the theme/game was shoehorned into the story. However, I wouldn't make this game, with this setting, with these mechanics, without the theme of spinning behind it. It does sound forced, but it was borne from the theme, so it is ambivalent (to me). A confusing game and concept, but if you didn't tell me to write about spinning, I really had none of this in mind. Before the theme reveal, my idea was about fighting zodiac themed bosses in a sengoku-like school setting, and when spin came out I almost gave up because I couldn't make it fit. Faced with giving up or forcing my way, I chose to force my way.
I'm happy you could see through my throne of lies partially, but I'm sad I couldn't make you interested enough to pursue the full picture of the story and understand the many confusing elements of it.
Thank you for the great feedback, I don't think anybody else could offer words that would make me get so lenghty about the pre-development stage and my thoughts and feelings on what I composed and wrote here.
I appreciate you taking the time to spell out your thought process and I respect you making the game you want to make. There's a lot I loved about your game: the art is breath taking (5/5 stars), the character designs are excellent, and the premise is very interesting. I hope my criticisms are not discouraging; I see a lot of potential with this game and your approach to games in general. Your ability to self-reflect is a great asset and obvious in your replies to comments. I've followed your profile on here to hopefully see your next project and play it :) Best of luck!
If anything, it is encouraging, as my goal is to be able to connect with you (and people who may share your feelings), and understanding how my messaging is failing to reach is essential to better achieve that. This is my first output, and seeing how it can be taken by others is vital to further my way to express myself. I'm fujimoto the immortal
I'll refine this experience and add the True End to it, and I hope you give it a chance when it is out too. Winning you over after losing you at first is a challenge that is important to me to tackle. And of course I want to win, but if I lose there's still something to learn going forward.
Thank you for all the words and praise, this entire experience has been great to me.
It's so rare that I experience such a profoundly dense and meaningful narrative in the confines of a game jam game. The cyclical nature of suffering is genuinely an ingenious way to interpret the jam's theme, and the lack of an end, the lack of color, and the confined progression all aids this feeling of hollowness. Whether intentional or not this game really exuded this feeling of powerlessness to me, and while there is a nihilism to being powerless to change a world that revolves on suffering as an individual, I still think that it's very valuable for art to explore that amidst a sea of optimism (which I also love). It honestly feels weird rating a game like this for a jam, because it's so atypical but I just found the entire experience so beautiful from the narrative to the atmosphere to the stunning artwork to the integration of theming and battle system. Seriously amazing job
Thank you for the fantastic words, couldn't be more glad to get such a review, as I did partly think I was doing something that people don't normally do in jams. I was saved by it being a month-long jam, as my style and approach (ie using the theme as a literary device central to the plot, rather than a mechanic) isn't something I can do in 48~96h. In 48h at most I finally figured how to tackle it, rather than implement it in any creative way.
I won't spoil it, but I've planned an ending (and there are a few setups to in the game already) that brings an end to the cycle and gives a close to the nihilistic cycle of endless suffering. I almost wanted to implement it, but my time management demanded I started working on the stories for the library and the art assets, so I had to leave it for a full release.
You could say it is begrudgingly a roguelike currently, but the narrative is meant to have an ending that gives it closure.
I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed everything I put in it in such a profound manner. My intent is always to try to connect with others through storytelling, and your message really makes me feel like I achieved that, so my biggest desire as an author has been fulfilled.
I'd absolutely love to see what ending you had in mind but to be honest there's this metatextual beauty in the jam limit not giving you enough time to have an ending. Reminiscent to works like Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix or Satoshi Kon's OPUS which are two manga series that try to get at the core of humanity and art respectively, and the fact that they remain incomplete to this day I think says more about humanity and art than any ending ever could
Very well said. I also like Kafka's The Castle for incomplete works whose incompleteness is somewhat meta, as the story itself did go in an insane circle where nothing ever gets resolved, and then it abruptly ends, midsentence. Leaving something incomplete can be a woe to reader and writer alike, but sometimes "being unable to" complete something itself is a message a writer can send to a reader.
An issue I sometimes find in my work and in the work of others occasionally, is when you're trying to make a statement through a character, answer a question to the human condition perhaps, but you can't find what the character has to say, because you don't have that answer yourself. Some of these incomplete works of late authors, or modern works that are in a hiatus for decades often seem that way to me.
You could just write words to complete the work, but there's no beauty in a work without the truth to it. You can't throw away what you believe in for the result of finishing it, and I think that's the ultimate struggle of an author trying to argue for something much larger than themselves. And even if there's a sadness to see them depart not ever finding that answer, there's an even greater beauty to it, and that's what I like to see in it.
I can see the literary take on the spin theme, its definitely quite a read, and it does certainly make you go on a loop around the ideas conveyed in the game. I do think the black and white and textures while I loved the art and style of it can make it a bit too intense to be reading at the same time. So I got a bit of eye fatigue, but its definitely one of the most creative takes on this jam. I think you used RPG maker right? I think this is the type of game that could benefit from like the pc-98 and pc-88 era of anime text novel games. With your art and style, you could set like a border cabinet and have the gameplay inside it. Maybe using Godot might be good, this way you could have a bit more control over things, for example in the spinning a tale concept you could definitely create road maps of how this or a users iteration of the story is spinning into its end.
Sorta making it a bit more neater as a visual novel/game. Though I understand it can be a bit of an overtaking, I do think with your writing and art its something worth looking into as it lends itself well for this type of style. And I will try to keep a watch on what you make since I find this take to be so original and out of the norm. I am a sucker for stories.
I for a while considered using a different engine (Godot, in fact, so we indeed are aligned in mind), but the time I'd waste having to learn how to do it and coding a more programming-heavy engine would take me too much time, so I went with RPG Maker that, while simple in presentation, could let me focus on the content I wanted to deliver. For better or for worse, I'm more interested in having people seeing the contents of what I'm creating, than the wrapping (though I do admit that looking pretty can be a hook to get them to open the box to begin with, so it's a compromise I'm making rather than a statement of my philosophies.)
This is my second game which was published first due to the jam starting before I finished my first first game, but that first game is full on VN, and my goal is being more a writer than anything else. If this is a half VN half RPG, and my other game is a full VN, the next one I'm thinking of is probably a CRPG VN. I was thinking of being fully VN dev, but this game opened my eyes on how to make a story more interactive and engaging in some ways, so the path of my future projects probably have been altered by it.
For the library sequences I wasn't sure if I should make a full black BG or put the dithered one I used, since I don't know how easy it'd be on the eyes for everyone, so I'm glad you mentioned it did still cause fatigue, as that was a concern. I'll think and study further ways to make it easier on the eyes, as there is a lot of text to go through.
And if you don't mind me asking, was there a particular story in the library or character that you liked? Personally, while the library was a quest to complete in time, what I ended up enjoying writing the most were the Candy conversations, silly as they were (which is why I put one in the screenshots, because to me Edrillmond is too sweet).
Respect for solo development! 🌟 The art style is super impressive—reminds me a bit of Junji Ito’s work, which is really cool.
A couple of small suggestions: the sound effect for action selection feels a little out of place compared to the rest of the game’s vibe. It could be worth experimenting with a different sound that blends more naturally. Also, it would be awesome to see the interface positioned more centrally to make navigation smoother.
I noticed the full-screen button for the browser version might not be enabled—turning that on would be a great touch for an even better experience!
Overall, you’ve done an amazing job—keep it up!
I sleep so much on such design aspects that I didn't even think of the select SFX, it's probably the default one! Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention!
I was unsure on where to put the interface for most of development, so feedback on that is also very welcome. I'll probably try some more positions and eventually ask around where it feels more natural to players, as by myself I'd really just leave it where it is. There is an option to fill in what other resolutions the game can be in, but I did completely forget to fill it in.
Your feedback really is a bunch of things I'm numb on and do need the help with, thank you so much for being thorough on analyzing the UI and UX.
(The Spiral gimmick is completely Junji Ito inspired, so if you suspected that you're absolutely right.)
It's impressive that you make this game solo! Hats off! I love the unique idea of a text adventure game, and it works perfectly with the theme. We need more!
I came in ready to be disqualified for not fitting the theme right, but seeing others' works and getting such words really make me feel like I didn't forget to engage with the theme.
Thank you very much!
Very pretty game with a lot of story behind it for a game Jam! Impressive! I don't normally play games and I found the lack of active UI made my actions feel a bit less impactful. But the game feels very polished and clean. I'm amazed by the amount of art and text options you would have had to make for the jam.
UI is something I'm not very mindful about, so thank you for telling me!
And I'll be honest with you, you said the thing I wanted to hear the most. I'm surprised myself that I managed to fit so much writing in this timeframe, while the art I had to make a compromise, because I wanted enemy attacks to be illustrated too. But seeing the time I had left, I decided to just draw all enemies and friends you find on the way, and be happy with achieving that. (Still ended up drawing a few additional unplanned things, but thought were important for the mood, but not as varied and numerous as the bosses' attacks)
did you make this solo? That's pretty impressive what you managed to fit in. This feels like it would be a full game from the 90s/2000 which for doing all that in 1 month is awesome. You def should be proud of it!
yes, it's a solo game
i'd like your post 10 times if i could, thats how happy it made me
This feels like a work of art, I love the theme and the style direction but even with the exposition it's difficult to understand what the stats and gameplay abilities actually do and it suffers from that old JRPG quirk of having huge numbers that just make things even more confusing. Maybe some kind of HUD that shows your RPM/Health and enemy health might help?
It's left me feeling like I think I'm having fun but have no idea what I'm doing and just picking abilities at random.
Thank you for the feedback, I didn't think there'd be a need to see how HP/RPM is doing post the Turn Start display but even without a HUD for it, there should be at least an option to take a look at it again. RPM x DP based damage didn't look that good on smaller numbers, originally it started at a 1000 HP, but testing things that increase your/the enemy's DP, RPM absorption and stuff were quite hard to balance on that tier, and mostly favored the enemy. It's the same technically, but a 15 increase is more intuitive than a 1.5 increase to me, so I went with larger numbers to make the smaller ones more sensible.
At first it intentionally feels that way, but as it's a cycling game, you unlock the enemy's stats and their actions the more you fight them. I wanted it to mean getting used to them, at first you don't know how much life they got left, nor what they're planning, but as you become used to it in-game, you can know when they're attacking or not attacking to charge on their turn. (didn't implement that for the final bosses because itd be too cruel, though).
Being my intent doesn't mean it's good and should be forgiven though, but I wanted you to understand why it is the way it is.
I'll try to improve things when I'm working on it again, thank you for feedback on the experience. I'd love for you to have fun with it and be able to truly say so, instead of being unsure of your feelings.
You have a really nice art style. Good work!
Thank you! I wasn't confident in it, but everyone's praise really makes me happy!
Ooohh the art, although text based games are not my type, good job!
Thank you for the appreciation even if it wasn't your type of game!
After the intro/tutorial there's only one encounter that gives you small upgrades between battles and has a bit of a conversation, but you can ignore all the text in the library and just fight the enemies for a run, though. I put more time into the battles being playable than in the writing (in a 15 days programming 12 days writing way), so even people who don't want to read it could enjoy an RPG with a bit of a weird gimmick to the turn-based combat. If you're also not into that kind of combat then it really is a dead end for me here, but I'd love it if you tried playing just the battles a little to see what you think. It'd mean a lot to me, as a metric to see how it reaches people who don't get invested into writing that much.
Got it!! Let me play again.
I did a run without reading any texts, I got to the fight - but I really didn't understand when to hit, block, so I just kinda picked whatever option felt cool.
There's a depth to it, which I know I will be rewarded for if I invested a little time into reading to see what's going on. It has a vibe. The music really fits, I haven't seen anyone else's game that made me feel like the music was such coherent, intentional part of it, so spot on and tailored to the world/setting of the game. The juice is priceless, really - I'd die defending that.
I don't think I'm the audience this one deserves since only turn-based I ever got hooked to was Balatro. BTW IM SO HAPPY TO SEE THE RIGHT PEOPLE FINDING YOUR GAME IN THE COMMENTS. I don't qualify to judge or rate the game I think.
Thank you very much for giving it that shot!
Seeing you comment about the music really makes me happy, I couldn't compose as much as I wanted, but made sure to create the essential tracks I need for a few moments, so it means the world to me that you caught onto that. For me it's the track change when you break through the door during the intro, without that the project wouldn't be the same to me.
I don't think there's such a thing as qualifications to rate or judge, your feelings are king to you and you should put them as you feel, and I'd be happy to have your input, whatever the way you enjoyed it was. But I can't force your hand, of course, so feel free to do as you think is best.
Thank you for everything; what you've done, said and for being happy that people have found it and appreciated it! I'm glad to have met someone so kind through publishing a game.
I'm also glad I got to know you. I'm dropping you a follow to see what you will be doing in the future. Also, give mine a shot as well! I want to hear what you think about it, I'm curious to see your thoughts on the "moldy worldbuilding" I went for. I tried to convey the little bits of story I had through their animations and the world's art.
very nice little text adventure action game. I like the dithering effect and the characters are quite funny.
Thank you for calling them funny. After you stare at a script for so long you can't tell what's funny anymore, so knowing a joke landed really puts me at ease.
And thank you for playing too!
Intresting game for someone who like to read
I'll consider making this my profile's description eventually
I'd love to be known as someone who makes interesting games for people who like to read.
I'm aware you didn't say you are someone who likes to read, so I don't know if you liked it or not, but thank you for playing and the comment!
This is a work of art! Congratulations on the aesthetic.
Thank you for the praise!
It means a lot to me since I'm very little confident on the things I make!
Don't be!! The art and the general style of the game are really good and polished!!
Very loose take on the theme, only really keeping the theme of spin in text only, it feels quite rough around the edges. Music and art were good though.
As I worked on it, I also noticed how the spinning was only conceptual and not a game mechanic, but I've always wondered how embracing a theme in the literature of the work rather than the gameplay would be accepted in a game jam (you could say I undertook it as a writing contest theme), and it's not about winning to me, so even if I were disqualified for not doing it right, just seeing someone played it to tell it wasn't fitting would still make me happy enough.
Rough edges I have no excuse for, I'm just bad at many things and thus it turns out like that.
Thank you for appreciating the art and music, I have no confidence in myself, so I live thinking people will laugh at me, so getting praise for it really motivates me to continue existing.
Thank you for playing! So so much!