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Things better left unknown's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Artistic Style | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Theme | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Playability | #258 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Cleverness | #282 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- Well presented! The world building just from the first book alone, is great. It would be helpful to see the keybinds move into the game itself, allowing players to discover how to close books / open journal / open inventory, simply by playing rather than referencing the game page on itch.io The way the journal works is great, I like that it's the pathway to options menu and other things. Movement felt unusual to me, but that's a creative decision you've made. I haven't played Inscyption but you've mentioned in the GDD that it inspired the movement. Perhaps consider how they introduce new players to the movement style - does Inscryption explain it in a tutorial before you jump into the game? It's clear how you're approaching the theme of shadows and alchemy. Well done!
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!
Things Better Left Unknown is a 3D horror puzzle escape-room style game.
You play the role of a naive alchimist that is determined to uncover the darkest secrets of this art. Through the help of a devious book you'll need to find out clues and combine peculiar ingredients to achieve what - at least people believe - no other alchimist has ever been able to.
You can move around the space in an "Inscryption-like" manner, and use the mouse to interact with objects around you. There are also other keys that are described in game and on the game page.
Extra Notes
Link to the GDD is at the bottom of the game description.
The game can be laggy at the beginning, but it should run smoothly shortly after starting. If that's not the case, it's best to refresh the page.
Hope you'll have fun!
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Comments
Super hard game haha but cool atmosphere!
Thank you! And yeah, we're talking about potentially implementing a "hint" mechanic after the jam :)
Amazing game! It took a while to figure out, but I really liked the puzzles and the alchemy/combination mechanic. Like the other commenter, I got stuck at first because I couldn't find the key, but once I read your comment (and cheated a little...) I was able to figure things out. I'm not sure if there was a hint to make the vinegar, I couldn't find anything, but I ended up brute forcing that one. With more polish/levels, I could definitely see this being a full release!
One minor soft-lock I found: when I first started the game, I somehow got one of the books from the bookshelf stuck open and that prevented me from clicking anything else on the screen, so I was forced to restart everything.
Thank you for your kind comment! The hint for the Vinegar is the first part of the poem in the Sulfur book in the library ;)
I'm really curious about your bug report.. Can you remember if you tried to close the book with Q / right click?
This game has great art, style, and theme! The movement and gameplay revolving around finding items and mixing them up was fun, except there is a massive lack of logic with what to do, or it's bugged/unfinished.
I don't want to spoil it for anyone who reads this and hasn't played yet so to speak in code, I have the essence and the pile, and 5 other items. I have tried every single possible combination of items on the circle with every single rune, and there are only 2 things that can be combined in the pestle, where the fire only has 1 item that can be used and nothing else after that.. Maybe i'm missing something, but it's been over an hour of clicking on random stuff and re-reading everything and it is either broken, unfinished, or extremely hidden! Either way, even if i don't get to see the end, for the 2 week timeline i think that this has the best style of gameplay out of any of the other's i've seen in this jam!
Thank your for the very nice comment! It sounds like maybe you didn't manage to open the chest? :P
That's correct, i didn't see any way to interact with it. I clicked on every square inch of it and dragged every item i had on it multiple times but nothing worked. And the same with the crucible in the fire, i sat there with a friend for over an hour and no combination worked, maybe we are just stupid though lol
I think we made the key too hard to spot .-. it's located...
(spoiler below)
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... below the Alembic, on the desk (better seen if you're focusing on the table).