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Starkwater's itch.io pageJudge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- The trigger warnings are well needed, you have succeeded in creating a very disturbing atmosphere. The themes are quite intense in this regard. You have a well laid out GDD showing good preparation. There are some issues with key inputs when you shift focus from the game or try to play in full screen. The text is also often difficult to read. In terms of level design the levels feel visually complete and the intended path is not difficult to follow and feels natural. Narratively the story so far seems well written, while definitely containing mature themes it flows well and is captivating. The ending for act one that I obtained made sense and was disturbing at the same time.
Link to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZS9QpM3ry-aQxZ4XWPLqDcXtbp7z4muHAOxddkZg-9I/edit?usp=sharing
Have you checked that your GDD is publicly accessible ?
Yes
Is your game set to public on itch.io so we can see it?
Yes
Summarise your game!
STARKWATER is a narrative, horror, clue-based puzzle game where you find clues to piece together a person’s story to be able to determine what aspect of your body you must sacrifice as a gift.
Explore the Old West setting of Starkwater, from Crawford farm to Starkwater county. Not everyone is who they say they are. Uncover truths about people while you continuously lose yourself little by little. Whether they use you as a tool or weapon depends on your choices and human nature.
We have a simple control scheme, comprosing of:
Keyboard
WASD - Movement
F - Interact
Q - Exit out of menu
Mouse
Left Mouse Button - UI Navigation
Please explain how your game fits the theme:
‘The Weapon’ Interpretation - The difference between a ‘Weapon’ and a ‘Tool’ is simply the intention of the user. “A tool’s only as honest as the hand behind it. “
Throughout the progression of the plot you have to collect enough clues to piece together a proper conclusion so that it’s clear which aspect to sacrifice. There are no wrong answers, however, for conclusions that don’t fit the context fully, you will watch your gifts be used as weapons.
‘You are the Weapon’ Interpretation - We use our body as a weapon or a tool. We give up these aspects of our body to different characters as the story progresses, with different aspects unlocking unique conclusions to a story act. Whether they choose to use your gift as a weapon or a tool is up to how you piece the story.
Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
We'd like particular attention towards the Narrative structure and the Level Design of the game for thoughts & feedback!
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Comments
Wow this game is so freaking good. The writing is well done and the "gifts" you choose are incredibly well done. Blown away. Sound, music, and art are all incredibly well done.
This does not feel like a 2 week jam game, incredible job y'all.
The look and feel of this entry is insaane! Creepy, the ending of Act 1 even scared me, the UI and design language is fantastic.
I feel the controls could be changed a little. I think the mouse could be hidden to make this a fully keyboard-controlled game. You could use WASD during dialogue to move between dialogue options and Spacebar to accept.
E is in a more natural position than F for interacting, in my opinion.
But this game deserves nothing but praise. Great work!
The Coverart brought me in. I like your UI and Menus, controls are good too. Music Sound and Atmosphere are really good. Graphics too, especially the screen where i have to choose between 4 choices.
Kind of tried to read and interact with everything but still couldn`t figure out the whole story or what really was going on.
Really good entry! well done!
Impressive work! I enjoyed playing and plan to play it again to see the outcomes of choosing other sacrifices. Congrats!
vibes as fuck. insane. had me gripped immediately!!!!!!
This is an extremely impressive submission! The atmosphere is extremely cohesive and effective, the visuals are stunning, and the core mechanic of the game (the sacrifices) creates such an interesting consideration for the player. A continuation would be incredible to see. Thoroughly enjoyed playing!
Cool submission! It’s really polished and you did a great job capturing the horror atmosphere. I find the theme interpretation a bit on the weak side, but that doesn’t take from the quality of the game!
One think I would have liked to see is the ability the pick the order of questions I can ask to NPCs.