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Polterheist's itch.io pageJudge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- Simple concept, simple, yet effective art style and the music, as well as the interaction sounds give me a sense of nostalgia. They all fit the style of the game really well! The idea is also quite clever, having to work around pulling around objects and possessing people. The game is a little buggy, I ended up having my ghost stuck in a wall and getting the dog stuck in a corner and was unable to get it out from there. After which, it got straight up stuck inside of the wall, so I ended up soft-locking myself out of the game. For the gameplay, I think an in-game tutorial level would greatly benefit the playability and immersion into the game and also give you a good way of being able to tell the story of what happened. Why is the ghost looking for the dog? All in all, really well done and I look forward to seeing you in the next jam!
Link to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rXGwpNAmTGtcSv7SdS5pFRdUqZDGokdpe7CAOTd4FiA/edit?usp=sharing
Have you checked that your GDD is publicly accessible ?
Yes - Anyone on the Internet with the link can view
Is your game set to public on itch.io so we can see it?
Yes
Summarise your game!
Polterheist - Puzzle Mechanics, Story, and Controls
Mechanics:
In Polterheist, you play as a ghost with the ability to possess NPCs to solve puzzles and escape with your heist target. As a ghost, you can float over gaps but cannot interact with levers, barrels, or pressure plates. The Strong NPC can push barrels onto pressure plates to keep doors open. The Agile NPC moves faster than others. Both NPCs can activate levers. Levers open doors when flipped, while pressure plates can either keep doors open while pressed or open them for a limited time. The goal is to navigate levels using possession mechanics and escape with your heist target—your old pet dog. You must possess him and guide him to the exit while avoiding traps.
Story:
You are a ghost thief infiltrating various heist locations, but your ultimate goal isn’t gold—it’s rescuing your long-lost pet! Once possessed, the pet triggers lockdown mode, activating traps and forcing you to navigate it safely to the exit without getting hit. If the pet is destroyed or time runs out, the heist fails.
Controls
WASD - Move
E - Possess/Interact/Pull Barrel
F - Exit Possession
Please explain how your game fits the theme:
In this concept, instead of a physical object or tool, the player themselves become the weapon through their unique ability to possess and control enemies.
The player, as a ghost, has no direct offensive or destructive power. Instead, their possession ability allows them to weaponize the enemies they encounter, turning these entities into tools for solving puzzles and overcoming obstacles.
Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
My first ever game jam!
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Comments
Aww cute little game. Art style and music were great. I think think something that might help with this game is to introduce "grid like" movement. It was really easy to get stuck on walls and to push the barrels just past the threshold of a doorway. Overall I thought the puzzles were clever. It kinda stunk having to redo everything though if I moved a millimeter over the spikes as the dog. So maybe adding a checkpoint system after possessing the dog could be helpful for players.
Cute game.
Thanks for playing ! I really appreciate the feedback.
I totally get what you mean about getting stuck on walls and pushing barrels just a bit too far, I'll look into ways to refine that!
As for the checkpoint system after possessing the dog, that's a fantastic idea. I agree that having to redo everything from the start after a small mistake can be frustrating. Adding a checkpoint at that stage would help balance the challenge. Definitely something worth implementing!
Glad you enjoyed the puzzles and the art style. Thanks again for your thoughts!
I like your game ! Congratulation for your work !
Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed!
Only feedback I have is that I wish there were volume settings! Also you can phase through walls lol but it fits the flavour of the game, could even be designed around. Great job!
Thanks for playing! Sound was very much added at the last minute and I agree that you should be able to at least mute it should you wish. Thank you very much for pointing out that you could clip through walls, this is very much a mistake but as you say there is some potential to leverage this into something interesting.
Hey, I just finished both levels. I liked the level design, not too hard and not too easy. It took me a few or more tries for each level but it was never a grueling experience. I would only want a reset button as I almost softlocked myself when trying to bring the barrel onto the pressure plate in the top right room of the first level. Also, I'm not sure if this was intentional but the ghost can phase into the walls if you hug the left side of a wall and dismount. This allows the ghost to traverse inside the walls like a maze but does not let them exit unless there is someone nearby to repossess. Otherwise, overall great job and good luck!
Hi, glad you enjoyed playing! Thank you so much for the insightful feedback, I agree that a reset button would be helpful. I was thinking of adding a checkpoint when you get to the escape phase as I can understand bigger and longer puzzles would be frustrating to complete again and again if the escape phase is hard. With the barrels, I had the same issue so I made it so you can pull them while holding 'E' though I think the general feedback has shown that some of these mechanics are not as obvious as they should be and a clearer tutorial or controls section would be beneficial. Thanks again for playing!
Good job on the level design!
Thanks for playing! Level design was a big focus, so I’m happy it landed well with you!
These puzzles are pretty challenging! I like how there are two phases to each level, a puzzle/exploration phase and then an escape phase. Nice job!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm really glad you enjoyed the puzzle and escape structure. It means a lot to hear that the challenge and design resonated with you. Thanks for playing and for your feedback!
Clever idea for a puzzle game. Kind of reminds me of a sokobon style game. I think the ghost should be able to just move through walls. I ended up going through the maze in level 2 as the agile dude only to find a locked door and would have had to walk all the way back out. Being able to assess the situation in ghost mode would have helped figure out what I should be focusing on next.
Thank you for playing and sharing your thoughts! I agree that being able to assess the level would make things much clearer. While allowing the ghost to move through walls could help players see more of the level, it might also let them skip key puzzles. For instance, a player could ghost through a wall to pull a lever that was meant to be reached through solving a puzzle. I would like to implement something like a zoomed-out map view, which would allow players to plan their heist without bypassing the intended challenges.