I love the art style! The old-school retro vibe is really cool :)) I wish there was a tutorial cause i dont really understand what is happening and what im meant to do. Maybe some dialogue pop-ups to give the player hints would be ideal. Otherwise, i thought it was really cute and very impressive!
Play game
Shut-In Angel (Gamejam-Version)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Enjoyment | #4 | 3.706 | 3.706 |
| Concept | #5 | 3.824 | 3.824 |
| Overall | #7 | 3.471 | 3.471 |
| Use of the Limitation | #17 | 2.882 | 2.882 |
| Presentation | #17 | 3.471 | 3.471 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Team members
Belderchal - Everything, Box - Sketchbook
Software used
Godot 3.5, Aseprite, Clip Studio Paint, Jummbox, sfxr
Use of the limitation
Angels, who usually are unable to die, should be free from the possibility of death right? I decided to take it in a direction where an angel could "die" in a way. There are also some destructable objects which, once destroyed, never come back.
Cookies eaten
Exactly 4. I have good cookie memory. Credits to my (Belderchal's) little brother for baking.
Comments
Thanks!! I know it would be better as a game if I explained what to do, but for the artistic direction and meaning of the game I think I have to keep things fairly ambiguous. It's also a trait of old games to refrain from telling the player too much. When I play games I also dislike it when I am always told what to do, but it's just preference!
I'm glad I read your comment about how to get the ending. Once I understood that that I was unlocking and refilling hearts it helped me grasp the gameplay loop better.
I think this game is really special. It's incredibly cute and charming despite the dark subject matter. My favorite part was changing outfits; I especially like the little ribbon on the halo in one of them. The attention to detail with little touches like that are great.
The fact that getting into a routine of doing chores and keeping busy was key to feeling better rings true. I felt happy to see them recover bit by bit over the days. It was worth it to go back and see it through to the end.
Submitted
Paradise EndReally enjoyed this game you made here. I spoilerd myself a bit by reading your answer to ilPrinnis comment. This though led me to have a goal for playing it. Open the door. You obviously tell this the player too, but I believe it is easy to think that reaching full hearts it the goal here and therefore overlooking the real goal, to get healthy and back into the world again (atleast that was my goal).
I enjoyed solving the puzzle of how to wake up each morning and end the day that my character can wake up better next morning. Big steps were for example finding out that I shouldn't cut myself. I did this often because I wanted to end the day with the most happiness, but by doing this I hurt myself in the long term.
I really enjoyed finally seeing my plant starting to live and growing each day :D
The music feels perfectly integrated into the game and is a good fit for it.
Great journey, nice art and just all in all a great game.
Submitted
SoulkeeperSuch a awesome entry, I think its awesome to see games that are genuinely thoughtful made in such a short time. I couldn't find a way to """win""" but I would honestly believe that there is no way to prevent the ending. Its a very sad game, with such lovely pixel art too. Fantastic work.
I really cant think of anything that can improve on this that isn't alot more work then the time would allow. But If time wasn't a thing in the jam, it would have been awesome to see the game go for a few days or so, maybe, increasing the amount of "locked" hearts each day to kinda help people with less experience with what its like to have a sense of hopelessness and being shut it, create that sense that things are only getting worse. I think it might make the game a bit more tedious, but that might be good for the themeing, part of what makes being shut it so mentally draining is how easy it is for life to start feeling horrifically tedious. But again, adding a day system and dragging content out isnt realistic of for a jam time limit haha.
What you made here is damn fantastic, covering pretty damn relatable feelings especially with the pandemic. Amazing pixel art, and even a outfit selector. 10/10
Fantastic work! (and if you ever need to talk dont hesitate to ask!)
Submitted
Orb: Jam VersionThanks so much for the in-depth reply!
You actually can reach the good ending, but I may have made it too hard to figure out. You have to start the day at full hearts and immediately open the door; My thought process behind this was that they don't have the courage to go outside by themselves, but with the person knocking it provides them enough willpower to actually open it.
I like your idea of the locked hearts increasing over time! If I can find some way to work something like that in, I will. I am very happy with how this game turned out so I want to spend some time polishing it.
Glad you liked the outfits! As Pari is gender-ambiguous, I wanted to make outfits representing various gender-identities. Also, it wasn't hard to add different outfits due to working in a 16x16 sprite resolution so I thought I might as well!
Thanks for the offer to talk, I have to say I'm doing well these days! I made this project mainly thinking about my partner who struggles with depression, and also thinking about Needy Girl Overdose.
And I'll say it again, really blown away by your entry. If you ever add more to it I'll definitely play.
Such a nice game, the theme is a bit sad but I really liked it, I tried really hard to keep the little angel healthy and happy. The pixel art is very cute though it is hard to recognise some of the items at first glance. Overall it is a nice game :)
Submitted
a cat café called heavenThanks! Yeah the clarity does need some work that's for sure! I didn't realize it would be so hard to make things stand out with a small pixel resoultion. Maybe I can improve that somehow when I work on the game more.
It really is hard to keep Pari happy, poor thing. But it's ok, because they do make it outside eventually!
I really love it!! The pixel art its very cute, the game feels really unique. I get the bad ending in my first play and get on a straight silence for a minutes... i really dint expected a game for a jam having a tone like that
Also a really like the outfits and all the little details!
Submitted
Crystal CreaturesI'm glad you like it! and that it felt impactful for you. Yeah I tried to go with a tone that was likely to feel unique in this jam; My first idea was to go with some kind of action game, and I figured a lot of people would go with that as well so I wanted to make a more slow and emotional style of game to stand out a bit.
I really love this kind of game and I found it to be beautiful. there have been times in my life when I’ve lived as a shut-in leaving the house once a week for groceries, and this simple, quiet game really captures the essence of how challenging it can be to remember to do the simple tasks of staying alive like eating, sleeping, cleaning, taking meds, hobbies, etc. without being obsessive or resorting to harmful coping mechanisms. I’m not sure I would call this game “fun” – instead I’d call it thoughtful, sad, and lovely. great work. my favorite game of the jam so far.
Submitted
War is Heaven (game jam version)
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