First off, I must say- great minds think alike! Our entry also utilized a very physics-based approach to the brewing section with specific recipes to follow to produce certain results, and it's a lot of fun to screw around, throwing peppers and other objects all over the place.
One thing that I found quite difficulty to play around however, was the lack of non-physics storage in the game. That is, places to put items that didn't make them pile up and flood the countertop. I quickly found myself having to sort through piles of peppers every time I wanted to brew something, and the money adding on definitely didn't help, and I never found myself needing to spend it because I was able to simply grow the secondary and tertiary peppers instead of cross-breeding. My one recommendation in that regard would be to make money be more of a UI element where it just subtracts from it when you make purchases, and make some kind of storage system that is independent of the physics system (look at how our ingredients were stored for reference)
I absolutely loved the bit of humor in the letters you would receive, like how the organization got extra adjectives added to its name every time, but they too I wish could be stored/trashed without relying on a secret mechanic (which I actually found out about while writing this. I saw the letter that hinted at burning them and even tried the candles during day, but had entirely not noticed they became lit at night, even if it makes sense in hindsight). The sound effects and music were also very well done.
Other things that could be done just as a quality of life thing would be to make it possible to "bookmark" a recipe so that it can be viewed without opening the book again, as I found myself reopening it every couple peppers to ensure I had the steps in the correct order (although this wasn't an issue for yours as an incorrect potion would just spit the ingredients back out. Although, the problem WAS exaggerated when my items started to pile up too much, causing ejected items to fall back into the cauldron immediately), and allow players to skip to any point in the day by clicking that point specifically. I found the game would lag greatly to the point of freezing if I tried to spam click the calendar, so waiting it out and then clicking again got tedious after a bit.
All said, I'd honestly call it a solid 9/10 game! Only quality of life issues to account for, but a really good entry.
Play game
Pepper Hermit's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Artistic Style | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Cleverness | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Theme | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Playability | #205 | 4.667 | 4.667 |
Ranked from 3 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.
- The physics got in the way of an otherwise compelling game. The UI should be a little less crowded (UI being the store front). Love the music. Love the art.
- Loved the game! It was a nice, relaxing break from a hectic day! It tickles the ADHD part of my brain with the addition of physics and organization, I had trouble pulling myself away from the game and might have spent a bit too long on it. The art style is charming, though it could use a bit of polish here and there. I understand the cute and charming aesthetic fully and you could leave it at that, but a little bit of shading and a bit of an upgrade to the outside of the world would be nice. For example, instead of a wide open field, as a hermit myself, I'd feel more comfortable in a place surrounded by trees. It would also be nice to have some more organization, for example, a crate you can eventually buy that allows you to put the peppers away into, it could tickle the part of people's brains that enjoy seeing numbers go up. I loved the music and the option to turn it off was really nice! All in all, really good work! I do hope you keep working on the project, I would love to see where it goes!
Did you include your Game Design Document as a Google Drive link?
Yes
Seriously... did you include your Game Design Document?
YES
Is your game set to Public so we can see it?
Yes
Tell us about your game!
You play a researcher developing recipes for a secret shadow cabal of chili sauce connoisseurs, tasked with rediscovering the recipe for the Philosopher's Hot Sauce.
Click and drag objects to move them around.
Drop peppers onto plots to start to grow them. Drop peppers into cauldron to start to brew them into sauces.
Click on the calendar to progress time.
Be sure to right click around any posters, documents, or papers in the room! They act as in universe tutorials.
If you have too many letters cluttering up, you can burn them via the candles when they turn on at night.
Buy peppers and sell sauces through the market by tapping the bell on the windowsill.
Story is presented through letters every 3 days.
Research points are granted every time you make a pepper. Get 25 research points to unlock the ultimate sauce recipe.
Click the cassette player to toggle music.
Extra Notes
In the interest of saving time for judges, please read the Tips section in the game page's description! It'll help speed things along if you want to 'beat' the game. The game should take 10-20 minutes.
Have fun!
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