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A jam submission

Icebound MachinesView game page

Finding community in a frozen hellscape
Submitted by futur_null — 13 days, 16 hours before the deadline
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Icebound Machines's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Fun#163.5003.500
Gameplay/Design#183.5003.500
Audio#283.0003.000
Graphics#303.0003.000

Ranked from 4 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

What would you like feedback on?
Mostly I'm interested to hear if the writing holds together. Does the story make sense? How di dyou like the characters? Do you like the worldbuilding that's there, and would you be interested in learning more about the world?

What did you update?
Lots of bugfixes across the board, as well as slight improvements with the graphics and the audio. A few plot details have also been changed for coherence.

Name of updated upload (if downloadable)
ice_win_v1c.zip, ice_lnx_v1c.zip, ice_mac_v1c.zip

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Comments

Submitted (1 edit)

Probably the most polished game on this jam.

Pretty good writing and concept. Despite the fact that I'm not really the biggest fan of visual novels, I was pretty attracted by the story. Gotta admit tho, that it didn't hook me up immediately. I like how different characters speak, that they all have their own personality. And I love that you can literally see their personality from their lines. The art seems simple but very well balanced, so the game doesn't look bad. Sound design is amazing. Overall, great job.

Submitted(+1)

This is awesome! 

While the art and audio are adequate it's the writing and world building that makes this game so compelling. The  themes of loss and healing come through clearly. The characters are well written and I would definitely want to explore more of the world you've created. 

Having made my own attempt at a (very) short sci-fi interactive fiction piece (with similar themes) I can really appreciate how much effort (and skill) this requires. 

Overall a great game and I look forward to future updates :)

(+1)

I saw the Post Jam Jam on Discord and made an account just to comment on this game. Wow!

The game is polished, and the audio and art are good. What stood out was the writing. You've created a compelling world in such a short experience and the setting, the style, the dialogue show a great talent for writing. I finished the game in one sitting.

My only suggestion is rather than worldbuilding as a reward for finding an ending, maybe it could be something the player can find during the game? Like the part about souls being reborn, or Laura's motivation (all we know before the ending was she disappeared and we don't know why). I probably would have made different choices if I knew these things.

I'm excited to see you take this story and world further.

Developer

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you liked the game. This was originally designed for a Visual Novel jam, so the writing was the focus here - I'm happy the ideas got across well.

Your point about the worldbuilding is right, I think. Most of the really weird lore happens towards the end, and it could be distributed a little more evenly, even if it's a mystery game. That's something I'll keep in mind. I do plan to expand on the setting in a larger game, so I'm glad you found it interesting.

Thanks again for checking it out!

Submitted(+1)

The art is simple and the audio is not standout, but your obvious talent as a writer makes me want to push through and see it all. Your game has that magical ingredient x that I can't quite put my finger on. Let me know what you think of mine ;)

Developer

Thank you! I'm glad the game drew you in. Art and music aren't my strength, so that's something I'll give extra attention in the future.

I left a comment on your game too - you definitely have more of a knack for audio and art, haha.