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Midnight Fisherman's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Graphics | #45 | 4.387 | 4.387 |
| Gameboy Soul | #122 | 3.806 | 3.806 |
| Gameplay | #126 | 3.258 | 3.258 |
| Interpretation of the Secondary Theme | #179 | 3.645 | 3.645 |
| Overall | #192 | 3.297 | 3.297 |
| Soundtrack/SFX | #319 | 1.387 | 1.387 |
Ranked from 31 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game meet GBJam's theme?
You're fishing in the dead of night and it's quiet and dark and spooky and the fish have these creepy glowing eyes and half the townspeople are kinda insane.
There were going to be sound effects and music that amplify the spookiness factor, but I didn't have enough time to implement them.
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Comments
That was fun! I was quite satisfied when I figured out how to catch the anglerfish. I made it all the way to the grim conclusion. The art is creepy, and the mechanics are fun. Although, it was definitely a little easier once I got my controller out; good job on the gamepad support!
Great work!
Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you liked it! :)
The fishing mechanic are pretty solid if you play on Analog stick (gave me some mario party worrying feelings haha)
The fishing minigame is nearly impossible on keyboard. On a d-pad, probably doable with placing your thumb inthe center and rocking in a circle, though I didn't try. The game looks amazing, though, which made the fact the most basic fish was barely catchable for me all the more painful.
My knuckles are cracking when I straighten my fingers right after playing this.
Somehow it's harder than Stardew Valley's fishing system /lh
Sorry for your knuckles 😅
I really should have implemented that "easy reel" option I talked about. And also put a "controller recommended" note on the game page.
Glad you liked the graphics. ❤️
The art was excellent. The concept was cool, but it reeling in killed my hand. I think if I had been playing with a controller it would have been better. I was only able to reel in the tiny fish, but the art made me want those other fish reel (!) bad. :D
Other than the difficulty of playing with a keyboard, this game was great. It's very polished. Well done!
I love the idea. The controls for reeling the fishing line are awkward. Since fishing is the main part of gameplay, the controls shouldn't just be holding a button, but I certainly think there is a way to streamline the input/controls without dumbing down the interaction.
Yeah, especially on keyboard it's literally painful. Maybe I should have put a "Controller highly recommended" prompt. :D
Even still, it depends on the controller itself how good the reeling will feel. On mine the entire D-pad is one solid platform, so "rotating" it takes some force, but it's doable. Still way harder than the joystick, which is the best experience in my opinion. Not very gameboy-ish though, since that thing didn't have a joystick. :D
Beautiful map with spooky themes! I love the way that game unlocks the story.
The atmosphere is already excellent, this really needs some music. Took some time to get used to keyboard controls, but really solid game. Excellent presentation, congrats!
Nice game, though the controls are awful if you dont use a gamepad. It's a shame there is absolutely no sound at all, would help to build up the atmosphere. I certainly didn't expect a fishing game with the current theme, so good job at surprising me :D
I'm exhausted...fun mechanic though!
I love the art style, wish I could play it on a gameboy!
Beautiful world. It was spooky, but also peaceful. I could live in this village.
But they wouldn't want to give me a job as a fisherman. My fingers couldn't keep up with the buttons.
nice and simple, definitely a finger work out... love the overall look and vibe, game was dead silent though, but if that was wut u were aiming for good job. (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)
Submitted: Frankenstein Reborn
There is something fulfilling about fishing games indeed. I had to stop playing at some point, but it was addictive to say the least. Interesting gameplay, and beautiful graphics. No undead, but spooky enough. No sound though. At all.
Another note, why did you pack the keys so close together? And, please, do not say the arrows are available too. d-pad is on the left, buttons on the right.
I don't know, I guess I always bind things around the WASD when I play games, so I went with what I would use. I actually intended to have a settings menu where you could rebind keys, but I didn't have time for that and I expected most people to use a controller for games in this jam :D
And yeah, no time for sound either :(
It was supposed to be quiet but not that quiet.
Beautiful Sprite work, very Spooky :D I am really bad at fishing though xD
Fish!
I really liked this entry, the overall artstyle blende well with the GB vibe, and is quite fun to explore and look for new fishing holes. Only issue I found was that some spots were spawning in unreachable places, and the reeling mechanic is a bit frantic to play with, I still haven't fished the anglerfish yet.
Great work!
Thank you for the kind words! :)
I actually didn't have time to code in a spawning method for the fish schools, so they are hand-placed. I also didn't have time to check if all of them are accessible... oops :D
They have quite the generous collision shape though, so even if you fish around them, you might hit them.
It was really tough to balance the reeling mechanic. On one hand, doing it with the keyboard is REALLY hard (I got good at it eventually, but it's a quick shortcut to carpal tunnel syndrome). On the other hand, if you do it with a controller, it's too easy - especially if you're using a joystick and not the D-pad. So if you're having trouble, grab a controller for easymode.
I actually wanted to implement an "easy reel" mechanic for people who found it too hard that would just use Up and Down to control the hook, but I couldn't get around to it. That's why the options menu is nonfunctional :D
Hmm true in a controller or a GB D-pad the reeling mechanic it would be more smoother, I haven't tought about that. What I think it could work too for keyboard is using only three buttons for the movement, much easier that pressing all four directions.
I really like the little sprites, so cutie!
Nothing more sinister than fishing at night, Amazing Job with the Art! Love the challenging gameplay as well.