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Hope is Dark's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Artistic Style | #401 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Theme | #653 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Cleverness | #678 | 3.500 | 3.500 |
| Playability | #1432 | 2.500 | 2.500 |
Ranked from 2 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.
- I love the idea of this game! It has a great foundational ideas. It's a very cool interpretation of the theme and is very well executed for the time frame! The explanation for how the game works is very good and informative. Constructive criticism: Clean up the artwork for the main character, the design and ideas behind it are fantastic.
- I enjoyed the premise of the game, however in practice the game wasn't well optimized for browser as the audio and movement felt choppy and unfinished. The Game Design Document was easy to read and the inspirations are easy to understand for the games.
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!
The story is of a youg woman, Hope, who loses her father. The gameplay is a representation of her fight with depression and loss. She pulls herself out of the depression through finding token potions (representative of her memories of her father) to escape the darkness and ultimately embrace the light she has avoided as she learned to cope.
The game can be played via keyboard or gamepad (controls described on gamepage).
Extra Notes
The "death screen" quotes are cliche's the should be avoided when speaking about loss. Both themes have both literal and sybmolic reprentation in our game as described in the GDD.
This is all of our first Jams and it's been a blast. Thank you.
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Comments
A neat looking little puzzle game.
I like the art style and story combination with the theme.
There are a few cases where you can get yourself stuck with the only option being jumping into the light (how poetic that might be), which is a bit annoying to have to do.
Additionally it is sometimes kinda hard to grasp what buttons do when the light it switches is off-screen, maybe add like a wire in the background that runs to it?
Other than that, nice job, well done :)
Thank you for the feedback. While the getting stuck and restarting are a necessary evil on some puzzles i can see how it can be annoying. You're not the first to bring up some sort of feedback on the streelight puzzle. I'm going to look at a way to provide some visual feedback after the judging. Thanks again for playing and leaving the comment!
a neat precision platformer. I liked the art, music, and that you're portraying the fight against depression. My primary problem with the game is the controls. It doesn't feel responsive enough for the precision required in the game, especially when the character continues moving horizontally while jumping.
And can i have a tip ? I'm stuck on the third room and can't figure out how to turn off the last lamp T-T. The switches work like the untimed ones in the second room but they suddenly revert back like the timed switches ?
The last lamp is operated by the switch in the middle of the two lights at the beginning. It's a timed switch but can be done. I've been told the timing is a bit brutal so if you are stuck, you can pause the game with enter after you collect the jump potion then pick 4 to play the next levels. There are two realtively brutally timed components and this is the hardest.
This was a really neat and fun game! I really liked the story and the introduction to new mechanics. The art was great too along with the sounds.
The controls were a bit hard to control and the game was a bit challenging but overall it was really fun! The urgency to complete the level was also neat.
Overall very good job!! :D
Thanks for playing and the feedback. I'd love to know you if you have any advise for how the controls can be improved or how it felt off.
Hi, for sure! I think sometimes when I jumped it would keep moving me forward even when I stopped moving on the keyboard. I think with the level of precision in the game it would be nice to have more control of the character even mid-air.
But still very fun! Thank you so much for creating this. :D
The art style and the character designs are really lovely. Fun idea to be able to use one ability at a time. It was a bit too frustrating at times. I appreciate the level select, so I was able to try each level. I couldn't get past the last light in the Living Room, and on the Down To Size level I couldn't figure out how to get the last street light to turn off. I get that I need to die over and over again to memorize the level, I think the height of the jump and fact that I barely have enough speed to cross safely just made things a little rage inducing for me. You've got a great game loop and a few of the death screen quotes made me chuckle.
Thanks for the amazing feedback.
After the judging, I will revisit the streetlight puzzle to see if I can provide some additional feedback to prevent the need for multiple deaths to solve the puzzle. I will also review the timing of the lamp in the living room.
Really nice little game.
Story just moved me and after finishing I almost cried.
Cool simple visuals. Controls are a bit harsh and I died a lot but I just have to get used to it.
Overall great submission guys!
Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad the story resonated.