Adorable game! ♥ I didn't expect music and sounds after gaining ears and to see the world after gaining eyes, although it seems obvious. I like that it's a complete story, but the biggest flaw of the game in my opinion is that it's too short! Of course there was a time limit, but I hope you will develop this project in the future! ♥ Good job!
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Hollow Tree's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Overall | #536 | 3.863 | 3.863 |
Creativity | #566 | 3.971 | 3.971 |
Enjoyment | #655 | 3.706 | 3.706 |
Style | #918 | 3.912 | 3.912 |
Ranked from 34 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?
The theme reflects the progressive growth of the main character. They "scale up" by regaining their body parts. This expands the player's capabilities.
Development Time
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
Music used: "Whisper" by PeriTune, which is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Color palette "Fanasy 24" by Gabriel C
Font "DePixel" by ingoFonts
Comments
This game is impressive for a number of reasons. The level and gameplay design is terrific. The presentation, whether it's the minimalist early game or the more fleshed-out late game, is stunning and evocative. If I had to nitpick even a little, I'd say that the platforming controls could use some refinement.
Completely shocked by how much I enjoyed this. I was so tired of seeing (more or less) the same platformers with maybe one or two changes... but this was so much fun and it surprised me every step of the way.
First of all.... it took me way too long to figure out I had to go left first to get legs and be able to jump (still recovering from the embarrassment). Secondly... wow. Just wow. From the ears needed to hear the music, to the eyes needed to see the actual world around me... I loved the mechanics of this game so much. It was so creative and left me hungry for more. I really, really encourage you to turn this into a game published on Steam because I truly think it's so good, and it could be so much better. It's really unfair you dont have more ratings.
I will add some things that I think you could improve on, other than the obvious - making the game longer:
- about making the game longer though, this would work very well as a story based game, where it takes you way longer to get body parts - maybe a couple of levels
- the artstyle - I dont mean to say the artstyle wasn't good, in fact I really loved the one where we didnt have eyes. I loved the melasma so so much too. I feel like after we got the eyes it was perhaps a bit cluttered, and didnt have the same feeling of magic anymore.
- mooore body parts!! - perhaps lungs so you can hold your breath underwater (idk how much sense that makes though)... or you get one leg and one arm at a time or... idk. This idea was so so good and it could be explored more.
Anyway, extremely fun game and I hope you take it further! If you do, you have to let us know!!
Hi. At first I read the instructions and you said we needed to turn on the audio. I did, but still couldn't hear anything. Then I thought maybe I have to adjust volume in the settings, but then there's no stettings or options. So I started playing and found a very smart surprise to know that I had to collect ears and then I could hear. A very smart game! Congratulations.
Wow, i have no words. I didn't expect that type of game when i started playing. I thought it would be a simple metroidvania (but a good one) and then i started finding body parts and i really really wanted to know what was going to happen next until until i find my heart. Once i went throught the red path i was so sad that it stops.. It was very very cool to play !
This is a beautiful, beautiful game! The aesthetic is gorgeous - and how the map reveals itself and changes completely as you progress works so well. This was really a standout submission for the jam, you should be proud! Well done!
Being very confused as to what was going on without eyes and ears made it very satisfying when gaining those abilities. The invisible platforms and keys were a very smart/annoying additions in that regard. Well done! Made me think about what I take for granted. Thank you for this experience. :)
I like how getting different bodyparts adds audio and visuals, that's very clever, tho i don't see how it fits the theme...
Also, i was so curious to see what was at the other side of the miasma!!! maybe i'm not getting the point of the game...
Thank you for playing and your feedback!
As for the theme, "Built to Scale", I took a more figurative approach. The idea was to reflect the main character's growth from a minimal state to a complete being. The player's capacity to experience the world also scales up when you collect different body parts through both gameplay mechanics and sensory feedback (the eyes and the ears).
The story was meant to be ambiguous to a degree. It is about a girl who has lost parts of her inner self due to a traumatic event. As the player, you help her recover from this trauma. The miasma represents the feelings and memories tied to the event. Gaining the heart symbolizes courage, allowing her to face what once scared her. At the end, the player not following her signifies that the girl has gained the strength to fend for herself.
I hope this helps clarify the concept and the direction I aimed for. I am not much of a story writer, but I hope that you still enjoyed it. Thank you again for playing!
This was awesome! I loved how the world changed when getting the eyes, and using the ears as a key was very clever!
I was like: WHAT? does everithing look like this??? Good game!
What a nice game! this is a refreshing take on this theme :D! The upgrades felt quite significant in terms of making the world change, congratulation for making all this :D, I enjoyed the game and was sad it was over x)
take some time to get into, but amazing game! hopw it will get top 100!
This was absolutely magical! I've played dozens and dozens of games in this jam and this is easily the one i've enjoyed the most. Great & original concept. Lovely art. Feels nice to play. All around great vibes. If there's any justice I'll be seeing this in the top 100 games
As the previous comment said, the moment it got very cool was very very cool! Good ideas and a great concept!
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