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The Alchemy Between Us's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Playability | #213 | 4.600 | 4.600 |
| Theme | #232 | 4.200 | 4.200 |
| Cleverness | #281 | 4.200 | 4.200 |
| Artistic Style | #317 | 4.800 | 4.800 |
Ranked from 5 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.
- One of the best games I've played so far, love the vibe and atmosphere, the music, the entire design. This is a really standout entry. An incredible entry which communicates emotion and interaction well, even without words. A real contender, in my opinion
- Simple, but expresses a lot of complexity of emotion and building comfort with another person. Beautiful art, relaxing (despite the potential awkwardness), and clever. Fantastic job.
- Beautiful artwork, love the cute theme. Clever idea for a 'short story' game!
- Lovely story of two people finding "alchemy". Mechanics are simple, music is very soft and appropriate, Normally I'd like to see a progress gauge, but I think this game works better without it. Overall well done. Make more games!
- Seriously great art and atmosphere in this game. I would however criticise that alchemy and chemistry are different things. While your game doesn't have that much going on mechanically, it does well with what it has and is reasonably challenging. Really enjoyed playing overall, well done!
Did you include your Game Design Document as a Google Drive link?
Yes
Seriously... did you include your Game Design Document?
Wait, let me check again... still yes! 🙌
Is your game set to Public so we can see it?
Yes
Tell us about your game!
The Alchemy Between Us is a minimalist 5 minute game that tells a tiny story without words about two people that can't keep their eyes off each other.
### How To Play ###
To play the game you need only your mouse. Look at the other character to gain "Alchemy". But watch out, if they look back it turns into "Awkwardness" 🫢 The rules are simple:
- fill up your Alchemy Gauge to increase your alchemy level
- but if your Awkward Gauge is full, you are set back one level
Reach the final level to see how the tiny story unfolds ✨
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Comments
Such a gorgeous little game that packs a lot of punch in a short amount of time. Excellent work!
Thank you <3
This may be my favorite entry I've played so far. Like, the polish in terms of the audio and visuals is off the charts. It's very simple, but so beautiful. It's hard to put it into words how this game made me feel, but it was good, whatever it was.
If I had to nitpick something, it'd be that I didn't see the alchemy/awkwardness bars at first and I was wondering when I'd start gaining alchemy. I just had to look around for a second though. No big deal.
Thank you so much 💖 I was really hoping it will resonate with people in this way!
Fair point, I wanted them to blend in the environment. Maybe I should add some effects when the go up, so they catch a little more attention.
Your take on the shadows theme was actually so similar to our's in terms of mechanics but it was cool to see it in a completely different context! Such a simple game but I felt really compelled to see it until the end. Would love to see how some more story or context could be thrown in if there are future iterations
Thanks for playing! 🙏 Already thinking about making it into a full game, there would be more story & context for sure!
very sweet and atmospheric! the visuals and the music really help to create the perfect love story without using any words, nice playthrough!
Thank you! 🫶
Criticisms first: It was a bit jittery on my admittedly old laptop and I found the controls a bit frustrating as I couldn't look/look away when I wanted, it made me go down a couple levels a few times.
That said, wow you set the mood! The shadows, the sunset, the view! Did you base that off of a real view? The music and the cinematics of it were great! I think there is room for more mechanics for a potential full version - maybe when eye line meets, awkwardness goes up but alchemy accelerates for half a second?
Great work!
Critical feedback is always welcome 🙏 Sorry to hear you had performance issues, and how it impacted your controls. Ran out of time to optimize, of course 😅
I’m so happy though you still like it! No, it’s not based on a real view. I tried out a lot of things. Originally I had planned that they sit directly in a big city. It kind of just evolved. But there was definitely some influence from the vapor-/synthwave aesthetic (big sun, city background, sharp edges).
I am thinking about making a full version. Cool idea with the boost, actually already played with a similar idea when making the game. For a full game I definitely need a more interactive environment, more to do than “just” looking at each other. But I am very fond of the vibe & simplicity of the concept, so I want to keep that a theme.
A very beautiful quick game with a very interesting mechanic! Well done!
Thank you! :)
what a beautiful unexpected take on the theme.. as a very awkward person I love this very much <:
Thank you so much <3 I’m glad you like it!
I am blown away by this! Perfect ten all around. Simple, sweet, short, full of emotion, beautifully ambient, playable and polished. Truly phenomenal entry, brought a tear to my eye :)
Thank you 💖 I’m so happy you got the vibe of the game!
well that was a very sweet and wholesome story :]
Such a unique concept actually, and the idea of a story without words feels really cool, almost surreal.
The art style works really well, kinda has some vaporwave vibes. Very calm and charming atmosphere overall.
Thank you so much! :) Yeah, I am a huge fan of the synth-/retro-/vaporwave aesthetic, so that definitely was one of my influences - glad some people notice!
Incredibly beautiful game! I love how simple and concise it is <3 But why am I so awkward hahaha
Haha, well aren’t we all a little awkward :D Thank you for playing! 🫶
This game struck a cord with me in a way many others don't
I'm not the most socially confident person. I've been in situations where I've looked at people I liked like this. It really is a balancing act of romance and awkwardness. Honestly, I hope to someday find the person who I can look at this game with and say "That's us."
From the calming music to the vaporwave-esque atmosphere, to the simply gameplay whose story transcends words, this was an incredible experience from start to finish.
I think a cool addition to the game might be that looking at certain areas awards more alchemy than others. For example, you can look at the hand pretty safely, since the actual hitbox for looking is small and it doesn't take that much to move away in time. But say, the head, might be worth more points, since it is larger.
Overall, one of my favorite entries so far.
Heartwarming feedback, thank you so much for sharing 🧡 Hope you find that special one :)
I really like the wordless narrative! The animations, especially on the character we don’t control, really sell the feeling of awkwardness.
That said, I don’t think the gameplay mechanics works that well with the theme of the game. Now, I know it’s just the way to quickly gamify it, but it’s kinda boils down to “avoid eye contact”. I think the “awkward” part, when they look at each other, should not punish the player so much. Maybe just reset the gauges on a full Awkward Gauge, and maybe play some sort of animation to show that both characters are embarrassed a little.
In other words, the most heartwarming moment for me was that just as I filled the gauge the characters actually looked at each other. And instead of me needing to look away, they moved closer.
Overall, an impressive entry!
Solid feedback, much appreciated!
To make it more than just “avoid eye contact”, I played with the idea to boost alchemy gain for a short amount of time when they have eye contact, before it gets awkward. Didn’t have enough time though to implement enough visual feedback & animations for it, and without it it felt a bit random. Also felt a bit like rewarding the player for having a slow reaction time, but maybe that wouldn’t even be so bad for this type of game. I might revisit the idea in the future!
In any case, thank you so much for playing and taking the time to give feedback! 🙏
So beautiful!
Thank you <3
Wow! Such a unique idea and concept, I like it! Except of this, the graphics and ambient sound give this game more feelings, such as the alchemy of these two characters.
Good job, 10/10 :)
Thank you 🫶 I’m glad you like it!
very simple and super cute, beautiful looking game, well done
Thanks so much for playing! 🙏
Really pretty looking game! I really felt stress when the awkward slider was rising so quickly, I kept taking less and less risks. Also a really nice touch how the game loops after a win or a loss.
Thank you so much 🙌 There should be a little challenge, but I hope it wasn’t too stressful, though!
Game got stuck on the Unity loading screen. It's too poorly optimized for Webgl.
Oh no, sorry to hear that. It’s around ~150mb to load, but it shouldn’t get stuck. Did you try on desktop or mobile? It’s meant to be played on desktop.
Desktop.
The visual style and ambience of the game are amazing.
Very simple but very cute.
Thank you! 🧡
man! that is incredibly beatifull. I was praying all the time for the silence. One word would spoil the mood. You achieved so much in 5 minutes. That's what I call enriching experience :) kudos :)
That’s so great to hear 🧡 Actually I started out with the gameplay being about dialog, but then realized how strong it would be to tell the story without a single word. Thanks so much for playing!
sure! I've seen on discord that You plan to make it a big and build on this alchemy :)
Hehe, yes I might :) Got so much positive feedback, and love the concept of the game myself, so we’ll see ^^
This game made me so incredibly happy. I love the theme interpretation, very unique. As is the application of the sneak mechanic. Very well done.
That’s so nice, I’m glad you like it 🫶 Thanks for playing!