Harold and the Curse of Teebeyae is a delightful throwback to the classic Gameboy era, featuring a charming pixel art style and captivating chiptune soundtrack that together create a nostalgic and immersive gaming experience. The visual aesthetics are meticulously crafted, evoking the simplicity and charm of early handheld gaming, while the music complements the retro visuals perfectly, enhancing the overall atmosphere of the game.

The story is engaging enough to keep players invested from start to finish. It provides a solid framework for the gameplay and is well-paced, ensuring that there is always a sense of progression and purpose. The narrative is straightforward but effective, driving the player forward through a series of challenges and adventures.

I felt that the game’s mechanics were explained well, especially once I caught on that it gives you clues on which items will be effective in battle against the enemy you’re battling. The battle system is simple but it perfectly lends itself to feeling like you’re playing an early Gameboy RPG.

Unfortunately, the game’s seamless flow hits a significant roadblock at the final boss battle. This climactic encounter is frustratingly difficult, and despite trying various strategies, I found myself unable to defeat the boss. The battle seemed to drag on interminably, with no clear indication of how to emerge victorious. I have a feeling that I either used or lost the item I needed to defeat him and would have to go back and replay most of the game to do so. If I am correct, that is a big misstep in the game’s design.

It’s a shame because up until that point, Harold and the Curse of Teebeyae was shaping up to be one of the standout entries in this year’s Harold Game Jam. The well-crafted pixel art, catchy chiptunes, and engaging story had me thoroughly entertained, and I was eager to see how the tale would conclude. The frustrating final boss battle, however, left me feeling stuck and uncertain about what I was missing.

Despite this issue, Harold and the Curse of Teebeyae remains a commendable entry in the Harold Game Jam. Its nostalgic charm, solid mechanics, and engaging story make it a game worth experiencing, even if the final hurdle proves to be a bit too challenging. With a bit of tweaking to the final boss encounter, this game could easily be a top contender.

In summary, Harold and the Curse of Teebeyae is a great homage to classic Gameboy RPGs, offering a visually and aurally pleasing experience with a good story to boot.

Your work on the graphics and soundtrack is superb! Gameplay could be confusing at times, but I appreciated the creativity behind it.

The battle system here takes some getting used to and (as I pointed out on Discord) has some flaws, but I felt like it held up well enough through its run. Excellent Game Boy-styled graphics and top-notch music return in your signature style, topped off with a bit of humor. It's a charming entry, and I'm glad you made it!

You captured the gameboy aesthetic hard, from the soundtrack to the 5 words-at-a-time resolution. It brought back memories to this old man who had one of those grey bricks. Man, I was confused by combat for about 60% of the game but I think I get it now! I think it was solid and clever and of the right scope for a jam game. 

I do think I ran into a bug in which I foraged or healed too much while fighting Eliza, and couldn't successfully trigger the switch over because she didn't stay blinded perhaps? Regardless, didn't take long to catch up. I also totally missed a cue on the statue part and got myself killed, but that's on me! The items were pretty funny. Wallmeat was my fave.

Really SOLID entry ;) haha. Super nostalgic, you absolutely nailed a GB vibe. The art was perfect for the theme and the music was excellent. Well done.

I have to tell DJ this again but, no, any bugs people may have found don't remove the fact this is one of the best games in this jam, period. It has my 5 Overall, at least.

Really funny, really cute, amazing sounds that highlight the story, unique and inventive combat that's surprisingly balanced. The game doesn't overstay its welcome, doesn't waste your time, isn't too trivial nor too hard. I have nitpicks but no complaints.

I have one complaint actually: I wanted more.

Didn't finish because the combat was like a cryptic puzzle, but the price of failure was a game over. I liked the story and everything, but the combat was just meh in my eyes. It was innovative, but poorly executed.

Gameplay - I’ll be honest I didn’t really like it. The keys were the most interesting part but it was otherwise mostly just “use the item type the game 4tells you to or scavenge if you don’t have it and hope you get it” Having your method of dealing states just be skills instead of items, and making the hints a bit more subtle would’ve improved it I think.

Music - was fine. I’m not a big chiptune guy generally, I can appreciate it when it’s done exceptionally well, but this was honestly just kind of okay. Nothing I can see myself jamming out to, or getting stuck in my head. It wasn’t bad though.

Story - Ended before it really got started. There was a building suspense and intrigue but it just ends with Fred and Eliza getting exploded without any further elaboration or aftermath, or really much of an actual resolution at all. A very “wait that’s it?” ending.

Graphics - This was the high point for me. Stuck to an aesthetic and executed it well, nothing bad to say about it.

Comedy - egh. I don’t think I laughed at a single one of the jokes. Really not my sense of humour.

Overall - It was okay, but not much more than that. 3/5

Hot jams, good sprite work, an interesting puzzle/battle mechanic, and a silly story with lots of gags - pretty well-rounded and solid entry, here. I think the story was the weakest link but it was by no means bad, though I thought the motivations of the bad guys felt tonally a bit off versus the cute aesthetic and otherwise goofy vibe. In a longer entry I would've liked to see that explored more, but it was fine.

I wasn't keen on the statue fights locking out forage because if your item management & RNG didn't cooperate you could just waste a few turns. Otherwise the battles felt intuitive and had a nice variety of patterns. I personally did not see any bugs but was grateful for the frequent save prompts regardless.

Excellent gameboy aesthetic + music! Very cute battle mechanic which is more a puzzle to work out which item to use. Love all the pixel art you worked on!

This was a very good entry! You know me, I'm a sucker for Game Boy shit, and I think compared to RATD you completely beat me at my own game! This FEELS very aggressively Game Boy, you nailed it.

Music is obviously best in jam, I think I miiiight contend against it with Crueldown but it's a close one. The battle theme was very good, final boss theme was a nice use of Theme6 as always!

The story was... fine? Admittedly it didn't really do much for me, but it worked well enough and I thought David showing up at the end was a surprisingly funny payoff for the setup earlier.

The jokes... also mostly didn't land but you and I have different sense of humour. I did GREATLY appreciate the little effects you pulled though like character names updating in real time as you learn more about them.

The gameplay was pretty hard for me to feel out at first, it wasn't clear to me that this was basically an elaborate puzzle game (the tutorial made me think it was more of some sort of combo mechanic, like blinding enemies would make them easier to hit with coconuts or something) but I was able to figure it out more or less by the end so it worked out okay.

Overall, fantastic entry! It's not my number 1 fav but it's definitely in the upper echelons, and I'm a little jealous how well you pulled off the GB vibe here. This genuinely felt like it could have been emulated on a Game Boy! Bravo, homie!

Nice game! Love the reference to Metal Gear Solid here and there. 

From the discord, I thought this game was made in GB Studio, turns out it's RMMV. Good job on creating all those GB tilesets and characters! 

I can't seems to beat Fred. I'm on the phase when Fred can only be damaged by stick (burns). The game told me to "Hit him when he's not looking!" but when I throw sand on Fred there was no effect. I don't know if this a bug or I just suck.

Anyway, good job with the game! I enjoy it.