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Keep calm (even if you don't feel like it)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #13 | 2.654 | 3.250 |
| Graphics / Visuals | #16 | 3.062 | 3.750 |
| Does it follow the theme? | #27 | 2.858 | 3.500 |
| Gameplay / Fun | #29 | 2.041 | 2.500 |
Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Any pre-made assets?
all music and sfx
How did you interpret the theme?
I went the opposite direction and made a game where you and on vacation and have to keep calm despite beeing on the presure of never ending messages from work, family and others
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Comments
I like the calm and slow phase take on the theme, definitely, the only game I play with this calming and relaxing atmosphere in this jam.
The art and music are also top-notch, and the daily-life style narrative approach is a very good angle to talk about the pressure that comes from daily life.
Thank you so much for kind words!)
I played this game. This game seems to deal with the subject of your mental health and/or living a good life while also dealing with the responsibility of dealing with other people's messages and such. Really in a better world, one shouldn't have to deal with this, and people just communicate as they want and decide to (except in cases that don't apply perhaps). Anyway, the game could improve by a way to figure out which is the better option. Sometimes it seems as though no matter which you choose, it always is a bad option, ignoring may almost always be bad if not always, and it wasn't fully clear. Maybe what you could do is show some kind of visual feedback that makes the right choice clearer. Maybe you're supposed to keep track of that, but it could be something slight like a shade of a color or very small flashing.
It does need balancing and I will do that in the after-Jam update)
ignoring is made in such a way that if you choose to ignore, it's rather hard at first, just like you'd feel in real life, but with every new level it gets easier and easier (if you won't betray your desigion to ignore, of course) and that tactic will never worry you at the full capacity, so you get the special ending with that. but I'm not sure you could get that right now due to some bugs..
But ignoring AND reacting will make ignoring rather random. I made it this way because I wanted to create a different background story with that. the easy example is with the brother - in the bad scenario he may be writing to her every day, begging for other kinds of help and she's rather tired of that so there'll be only mild discomfort, or he haven't written to her in months and that's the different story) but it does feels uncomplete to me too, I'll think of something to make it more managable and predictable :)
thank you so much for playing and sharing your feedback!
Great work, little tips for the future tho:
-Gameplay feels very repetitive just the same thing over and over again, based on seemingly chance.
-Also you left the slider (assumingly stressbar), interactable on (make sure you disable it when displaying values). It confused the shit out of me cause, i tought, i was meant to interact and move it. After a while i discovered it wasnt broken, but just to display. (i believe so)
thank you for feedback! especially about the slider one - I didn't even thought about it and I spoiled your game expericnce with that..
the repetitive gameplay is actually a part of the experience :) it's more like a visual novel to my mind and they are rather repetitive. I prefer slow paced games, narrative based games and puzzles myself, so I guess it's much easier and comfortable for me during game jams to come up with the idea that accents the visual and narrative part of the game. because my game design skills are not that strong :)
I know the game feels a bit blank at the moment, though. especially for people who don't usually play narrative based games that much. but the solution here is balacing the weight of the each message a bit more. i believe it wouldn't feel repetitive that much if you felt a bit more under pressure and more in control of the consequences of your decisions
Nah it didnt spoil the experience at all, was a funny moment. But all is very understandable, more a fast paced guy myself, nonetheless. I can apreciate the game and your approach/ mindset. Best of luck & keept it going ! <3
This game reflects real life too closely for me, which means it was very effective xD. I definitely felt under pressure on this one. Great visuals! great job!
thank you!) I'm glad the game touched you and, I hope, in a good way :)
I've made it for my sister and myself, because we're always can't rest while on vacation :*) to remind us that piece and balance is very important) but it's really cool that the game touches other people, like youlself <3
That was actually unique experience. Literally the only thing you can do is ignore or react, and you have to balance it.. I guess I did well? It said that I managed to balance or something. Also the music is really good.
thank you, that means a lot!) unique experience is the one I aimed for :D and I've spend a good amount of time picking up music, so thank you for appreciating that.
I'm really glad that you were able to play the game till the end, because currently it's not always possible.. I'm going to fix some bugs after gameJam and the game will be way more balanced as well. because there're three possible endings to this game, but at least one of them is unreachable right now due to bugs :|