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A jam submission

patronView game page

tend a bar of lonely patrons
Submitted by PsychoWren — 7 hours, 41 minutes before the deadline
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patron's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Innovation#1193.5123.512
Audio#1203.5123.512
Game Design#1753.4883.488
Overall#1763.4393.439
Theme#2473.4633.463
Graphics#2563.5373.537
Fun#3133.1223.122

Ranked from 41 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does you game fit the theme?
the game is about soothing lonely bar patrons' emotions, letting them know they're not alone

Did you write all the code and made all the assets from scratch?
Yes - just a couple of copyright free sound effects (majority of sound effects personally made for game)

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Comments

Viewing comments 41 to 22 of 41 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

(I am now in a rush to test as many games as possible to help, so please do not mind the cursory reviewing style.)

Semi-on-the-fly remarks:

From the first screen and concept, this reminds me just a bit of the ‘Alchemy’ subgame from "The Time Warp of Dr. Brain", which does also take care of colour (for the potion). :)

"drag and shake" -> great idea! XD

Weird, time flies, and the day does not start, then I catch a glimpse of the bar, then it states that day 0 repeats itself! Is this normal, or the issue the game page talks about depending on hardware? (Seeing then how day 0 repeats itself at the end of a real first attempt, I think this was definitely a bug where I did not get to play.)

I like the (literally and somewhat figurative) shady visuals. The style feels personal, and using silhouettes is clever.

Trouble getting how to use the various stuff at the beginning, despite having carefully read the instruction screen! :o Getting it during the second client. I think some tutorial phase or additional explanations about how the concept works would help, this is really not obvious to get right away.

Great that the pause menu gives the instructions back! :)

I think this is many feelings at the same time right from the beginning (around five?)! :o Since we are timed, I would advise making the difficulty curve less steep; letting the player get into the game.

The ‘patience’ bar above the clients’ heads is so reminiscent of the ‘casual’ ‘time management’ games where you operate some shop! XD

Some colours are not easy to make out!

Wow, the patience bar is WAY too fast!!! :O

Bug: serving a client towards the end of his patience bar then applied a second serving effect (to the next client, or double to him?) (a 0).

FINALLY managed to pass level/day 0! XD With $15 minus the (obligatory?) $10 penalty.

Getting better at it, but I still think the game begins too hard.

Wow, had a (small) $3 positive balance sheet at the end of day 1, but the penalty now gets up to $15! <:o Is it automatic or does it depend on our actions?

By the way, the game is clearly oriented towards native English speakers; I am not, and thought some words were a bit tricky/ambiguous sometimes (but still fared fine!).

Day 1 with $34! Minus $15 again, so this is definitely automatic. What is the contextual explanation for these penalties?? Taxes go higher? XD

FIRST positive client, during day 2! I had noticed the game page mentioned them, but not seen any before; do they come up only since level 2?

3/3! Oh, he stays here. Then: 1/3; WHAT, -$41?! :O

Day 2 ends with -$1 (before the $22 penalty), thanks to Mr Special Positive Guy. XD This is the end of the bar ride for me, glad to have seen what a positive client is. I hope I am not missing any additional mechanics; please tell me if I do!


Takeaway: original, interesting, and atmospheric through a cunning simple setting, BUT allowing a smoother difficulty progression would help, including some tutorial or additional explanations. So, my main criticism about difficulty is an easy one to take care of (tweaking parameters! ;)), and the secondary one (a tutorial / explanations) is also manageable, at least in written form on the game page (you can still do it now, actually!).

Thank you for the order! ;)

Submitted(+1)

Nice game, the idea in general is very cool! Great job!

Submitted(+1)

Those sound effects make rubbing the bottles therapeutic :3 the grain effect also made the visuals feel cosy and nice along with the easy going gameplay, then some ungrateful sod stole $181 cus he didn't like the lemon juice -_-

Submitted(+1)

Amazing game, really atmospheric
Felt it was a bit difficult to distinguish between aqua and light blue, especially which bottle was which, but after trial and error i figured out and completed it

Submitted(+1)

Interesting mechanics combined with the visuals! Fun and challenging gameplay. Good job! 

Submitted(+1)

I really like the gameplay and atmosphere. I always went below zero $, because I didn't realize which drinks I was supposed to match, but I had fun!

Submitted(+1)

great idea and design, it was a bit hard for me to follow and remember what they wanted in the drink so maybe at the beginning it should be slower.

Submitted(+1)

Love the audio here super atmospheric and the bottle sounds are really nice! The overall thematics of the game are great well done.

I had a bit of trouble realizing which ingredients the customer wanted since there were multiple colored words on screen through me off for the first bit of the play through. 

Submitted(+1)

Very atmospheric game, I liked it! Great job!

Submitted(+1)

Beautiful!

Submitted(+1)

Unique experience, the art is great, fits the theme well.

Submitted(+1)

Loved it! Especially the attention to detail in the sound. You can hear bottles clinking in the background, meanwhile I didn't even get to properly add footsteps into my game!

If you don't mind, could you play and review my game? I need some constructive criticism lol.

https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-8/rate/1680927

(+1)

What a unique game! The audio for the glasses and bottles (all that clink clink) fit the environment quite well. Well done!!!

Submitted(+1)

I really enjoyed playing. I thought the difficulty level was very well tuned, and just a really fun game overall. I did think the music was a little out of place for some reason. I kind of expected some jump scare in the beginning because of the creepy music and graphics but the game turned out to be quite wholesome.

Submitted(+1)

Really nice interpretation of theme and execution on a bartending sim! :)  I liked how the negative emotions dictated the drinks you had to make. Great atmosphere and attention to detail on things like the clock, different bottle sounds, and unique characters that change up the rules. I enjoyed playing this, great job! :) 

Submitted(+1)

very cool art style, I love the glow a lot!

Submitted(+1)

Nice game :) Fun interpretation of the theme.

Submitted(+1)

i thought this was a really interesting take on the theme, plus i love the idea of emotions -> specific drinks. makes me so curious about the little universe you've made <3

Submitted(+1)

Great UI. I like the darker take on this genre!

Viewing comments 41 to 22 of 41 · Next page · Last page