Alright so I haven't finished the game but this feels like one of those games that's going to take me a while (in a good way!) so I'll just post my thoughts so far:

The quality of the game is just fantastic; the art style is unique while also feeling familiar (I get PaRappa the Rapper/Mega Man Legends vibes). The concept is wholesome and refreshing. Like Animal Crossing mixed with Stardew Valley; very slice of life!

The music was spot on; calming when out and about but very lively when cooking in the kitchen.

Story-wise, it was simple but effective. You're backstory is straightforward and your goals are easy to understand. Open a business on a boat in the hopes of paying off student debt. A modern tale for the ages!

The mechanics are a little daunting at first but once you take it all in, it becomes very intuitive! Is the refrigerator the only way to check your inventory?

Overall, it fits the theme of the Jam like a velvet glove! It has the right amount of flair without going overboard (bad pun intended!).

My only nitpicks are as follows: the controls were... counter-intuitive at first. Movement was binded to qa/dx for some reason, so I re-assigned them and then made the interaction key E instead of Enter. In addition, some Touch events that were intended to stop the player and have them move back the way they came were a little delayed. In one instance I turned around before the event triggered and kept going in the previous direction. Finally the collision on the deck of the boat is finicky; I got stuck in place in one area and because I didn't know where to interact with the Octopus I ended up outside the boat and couldn't get back in 😅.

However, this was made in a short amount of time for the Jam and I can't fault you for not anticipating every little thing that could go wrong. Your game is a great example of the heights Paper Maker can achieve in such a short amount of time!

First thing that happens when you graduate? Your mom kicks you out of the house. Points for realism. You owe money to a literal loan-shark-mermaid. Points for originality. 

This is an excellent interpretation of the theme "Keeping it afloat." The cuteness makes up for the occasional errors, bugs, and collision mishaps. I’m looking forward to seeing more work on this!