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A jam submission

Investi-gatorView game page

Join the clues together to uncover the culprit!
Submitted by Hussain, kajamortier, Jhira — 3 minutes, 40 seconds before the deadline
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Investi-gator's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Originality#13953.4114.364
Presentation#16313.1984.091
Overall#17853.1033.970
Fun#23432.7013.455

Ranked from 11 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
Join the clues together to uncover the culprit!

Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?

Yes

We created the vast majority of the art during the game jam

Did your team create the vast majority of the music during the 48 hours?

No

We used pre-existing audio

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Comments

Submitted (2 edits) (+1)

Easily one of the most creative games in this Jam that I've tried. I'd love a full detective game with this mechanic! 

The beginning was a little confusing, and it took me a while to make my first connection because i kept trying to connect the group image with the person who didn't attend, so maybe a little nudge at the start would've been helpful, or maybe if you started out with less items. Everything after went pretty well, though.

The issues I've had are similar to what others have mentioned, the biggest one being the time limit, which I had to cheese by storing the watch in the folder. Doing that made the game way more enjoyable because I could crack the case at my own pace without feeling rushed and speed-reading the text. Speaking of text, I wish it was easier to read and had black outlines, as I found myself not paying attention to it most of the time. Also, some long texts end up being too big and going off screen after 4 lines. 

One idea I really liked is organizing the desk with the limited space you have, it added a fun layer to the game and it made me feel like a conspiracy theorist, so I see that as a plus rather than a negative. Although I do wish the desk was at least big enough so you could have enough space to look at everything connected at the end without having some evidence blocking others. Maybe a feature that lets the camera move around a larger area would help? I also found myself not really using the folder, mainly because you can't put things you've already connected inside, and I didn't want to put something that needed to be connected in there, because I didn't know what I would need and what I wouldn't.

Despite these complaints, I enjoyed my time with this a lot, I just wanna see it improved upon because I see a lot of potential. Thanks for the fun!

Submitted (1 edit) (+2)

The flavoring and aesthetics of the game were very good, The game and concept are really neat.

Submitted(+2)

The game and concept are really neat, and a good way to use the theme, I'd say! The flavoring and aesthetics of the game were very good, too! It was fun working out the "mystery" and linking different things together. I did have issue, though, with my screen *very* quickly becoming overwhelmed with an abundance of stuff, making it extremely difficult to find what I needed, connect what I wanted, or even read things at times since the lines always overlapped most things! That, and the time limit seemed a bit off placed in this style of mystery game. With some touching up in the puzzle logic department (as at times it seemed a bit out there, haha) and some quality of life things, I could see this really going somewhere! Good job!

(+2)

I like the idea and execution is pretty good, but the layout can be a bit cluttered (and I am idiot at puzzle games)

Submitted(+2)

This is the first game this Jam that I've seen this kind of interpretation, and I like it.

Like Baked Orange mentioned, there didn't seem to much of a point with a timer, so that went into the archive pretty quick.

One QoL feature would be to move whichever item you grab to the front layer, or perhaps a layer under the thread for the aesthetic. Maybe having the evidence be smaller, but letting you zoom into them? This could also be achieved with a larger board (which Baked Orange once again brought up).

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, and I do like me some puns.

Submitted(+2)

A fun game but the timer is way too tight. Loosen that up and it'd definitely help. Very fun concept though, I enjoyed it!

Submitted(+1)

I really liked the idea of this game, and love the interpretation of the theme. It was really fun figuring out what would link together, and each time you hear that little "ba bum bum dum" it's so satisfying. I liked how the board gets more chaotic, like I'm actually going crazy and investigating this. I really enjoyed playing this one.


Here are my problems with the game:


The board gets super unorganized and cluttered really quickly. I think I should be able to zoom in and out with the scroll wheel so that I have more room to put things away. The fact that evidence is locked when you link it compounds this issue, I have all these links and evidence that contribute nothing any more. It results in me not being able to tell what's linked to what, me clicking on things I don't want to click, and not being able to see if new evidence appeared.

And thank the heavens I looked at the game page and found the bug feature. I honestly really don't see the point of putting a lose state in this game, the fun is figuring it out, not racing the clock. It'd be nice if the timer was just there to show how long it took me, but the timer is so short and isn't fun to play against. What ends up happening is I just kept replaying the first part and speedrunning it so I can get back to where I was, and now I don't feel like an investigator, I feel like I'm just going through the motions.


I noticed that my writing for the negatives are a lot bigger than the positives, but I wanna emphasize that the positives really do outweigh the negatives. I finished the game and found the culprit, and it was really fun piecing it together and I liked the cute art with the animals. If you update the game, I'd say get rid of the timer and lose state entirely. The game is REALLY fun and interesting just piecing it all together.


Good job!

Developer

Thanks for playing! And thank you for your insights, we're thinking about tying up these loose ends and this helps us get a better idea of which parts of the game to prioritise

(+2)

The game was very cool. I really enjoyed it. There are some little things which could be improved like the timer.  I am wondering if you'd got a little extra time, the product would be sooo cool!  

Submitted(+2)

would be cool if there was an option to get hints. im really not good at theese games. 

Developer(+1)

Yeah good idea! Since we can't add it in game I'll look for a way to add a little walkthrough with some tips on this page. I'm thinking of using the DevLog so it doesn't spoil it for people

Submitted(+2)

It was pretty enjoyable, however there are two major issues: First, when you finish a clue, it should mark whether you need it or not. The biggest challenge is figuring out what connects, and knowing that something still has a connection to be made would be nice. Secondly, you should be able to put connected items into the folder, as later into the game it's hard to keep the board organized at all. Of course that is if you continue the game; it was entertaining, but the timer was too short (I'm not sure why it was there at all), but otherwise it was good.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the constructive criticism! As a workaround if you put the timer in the File Away Folder then it seems to stop counting, that's a bug but it makes the game more enjoyable for now :D

Submitted(+2)

I actually think that's a really interesting way around it; time only moves if you're paying attention to it.