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A jam submission

Mind PalaceView game page

A Journey Within
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Mind Palace's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Creativity#15.0005.000
Mood#15.0005.000
Overall#84.5004.500
Fun#154.0004.000
Presentation#354.0004.000

Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous.

  • I REALLY liked the combination of maze and dialogue, this is not something I have ever seen before. Visually very cohesive, wish there was music! I also had some problems on my screen with text being cut off. It is a bit confusing at first but I think that's part of the experience; I like how you piece together the character's story as you navigate forward. The narrative overall is one that feels very personal and strong. --- 33/40

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

This game communicated its story in a beautiful and poignant manner. Slowly uncovering the whole story is an intriguing experience and I felt like I was able to empathize with the main character through the game. There was a visual bug where the girl was glitching about one tile ahead midway through the game, and some text UI issues. Overall, wonderful job combining the story with the mechanics of the game, it was an amazing experience.

Submitted

Everyone: Press RIGHT to start the game!

I won't say too much because I don't want to cause spoilers for everyone else. This is a deeply intimate and personal narrative about one woman's personal issues and how they are linked to a painful past. The visual elements were powerfully done as well.

My only complaint is that in the very last level, the person speaking had blank speech bubbles. I could tell there was a conversation going on, based on my available responses, but the other person in the conversation's speech bubbles were blank. So it was a little confusing.

The ending was so powerful, I was surprised by my emotional reaction to it. It was like watching Inside Out (Pixar).

The absence of sound effects and music causes the player to reflect inward--at least that's the effect it had on me. I don't know if that was intentional, but it was a good effect. I think sound effects and music would have enhanced the playing experience from moment to moment during the game, for example, by heightening the suspense. But that would have detracted from that self-reflection.

Thank you for sharing this powerful narrative.

Submitted(+1)

I liked the black and while style of the game and the circular nature of the conversations - a question could also be an answer, like the reverse poetry genre. One thing that would have helped as a player was having two speech bubbles when there are two options, instead of four speech bubbles every time with some of them being unplayable.

Submitted(+1)

I really liked it! I enjoyed how you dropped the players in the dark and then slowly drip-fed them clues about the past. The monochromatic aesthetic is really neat, and the metaphor of therapy as navigating a maze is super cool. 

I did notice that sometimes when walking my character would sometimes teleport forward/backward for one frame. I also experienced some ui text bugs, where I couldn't read some of the text.

But yeah. I really liked it! Great concept, great execution.

(+3)

Really nice work!

Despite some minor issues, the game is working and the storytelling style is unique. I like how my choice is associated with the game control.

I really like the 4th part! 

<3

Submitted(+3)

Nice work guys really creative choice 

I loved the fact that you can't tell who your talking and you have to figure it out the Unisex name is a smart choice 

though some of the text was outside the speech bubbles and I couldn't read it :( must be some UI scaling issue

I'm curious about the black and white art what made you go with that if you're trying to go for a future themed game?

oh also I spotted some grammar mistakes (small stuff) but kinda important in a text-heavy game 


all in all loved the game and really can see something like that on steam someday keep up the good work

(3 edits) (+2)

I really love this game even though I know I might be opinionated.  

I felt lost at the very beginning of the game, not knowing who am I or what am I supposed to do. However, later on, I started to figure out some clues about myself through exploring the world of my own mind. Yes, I *am* actually lost and I seek help from a seemingly professional. It's almost like the game is designed this way on purpose so that I could be dropped into an unknown scenario and let me survive. Some of my personalities and beliefs are not well suited in the cynical society, some of my past are frowned upon by even the most intimate people. As a player, I could sympathize with the protagonist's experience from the narratives.

While progressing more and more into the game, I sense that maybe the conversation is actually between me and myself. It turns out to be true. I am the only one who could help me out of my own fallen castle deep down the ocean of the humiliating past. To me, this part is the most moving and stunning part of the story. All of these are expressed without explicit mentioning of anything but through the nuances of conversations only. I almost cried a bit during the later part.

Till this point, I know that in order to help myself to become better, I need to actually defeat and reconcile with the inner demon inside my memories. I have to let go of my past and restore faith in myself and others just like me.

The ending is not something unexpected, but the delicate and exquisite emotions are well conveyed through the conversations themselves, which is no small feat, in my opinion.

The game is not perfect of course, given how little time the game was completed in and the current quality, I hope this game could surely be expanded and refined into its true final form. with better environments, arts, interactions, and user experience because I think the game deserves them. At the core, what I value the most is the story and the flow of the storytelling. More importantly, the game itself discusses a commonly overlooked social problem among young females on body-shaming, slut-shaming as well as toxic and abusive parents. These experiences in the earlier years of someone may have hurt or divert the life forever afterward, but due to their intimate nature and the conservative social norm in some areas, they are lesser know to others who are privileged enough that haven't had such bad experiences. I hope this game could let people know that these things truly exist, and they could happen to the closest people around us, and they do more harm than one could imagine. As someone who hasn't experienced such things myself, through this game, I find the game makes me better sympathize with people who might have been through this terrible nightmare.

Thank you.