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Called Home's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| SCARIEST GAME | #33 | 2.579 | 2.579 |
| BEST GAME | #35 | 2.895 | 2.895 |
Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Nice job! I agree with the others about the visuals - they definitely add to the atmosphere of the game, plus the slightly janky low-poly style definitely makes the game feel more uncanny and spooky.
The second half of the game felt really interesting, aesthetically - it felt like the player character had stumbled into a different world, which felt unnerving.
It'd be great to see this expanded - I want to know more about the world! It was slightly frustrating having to restart from the beginning each time, but you let the player skip through quickly, so it wasn't a huge problem. The ending where you stay in the lighthouse was a cool idea, and I think it would've been great with a slightly slower pace.
Overall this was really cool - I think there's something inherently creepy about CYOA games, and you definitely ramped the creepiness factor up to 11. Well done!
(the captcha told me to select all images with bridges when I was submitting this... too soon 😨)
I love a classic CYOA! The imagery and sound effects really added to the experience. It wasn't terribly long, but you also worked in several endings and branches, so that's understandable. I particularly loved the line about it listening for sounds and not words.
I love the visuals, reminiscent of ps1 silent hill. The sfx are a nice a touch and everything sets the mood well. I did enjoy the trial and error of figuring out what kills you. Also the ocean death scene was beautiful.
Nice game! The minimalist visuals and audio gave the game a creepy mood. Good work!
As others have said, the visual style of this choose-your-own-adventure VN is very interesting and engaging. I'd love to know what effects you used to distort the images to create a very abstract, eerie feel. The 3D models capture the PS1-era graphics that are in vogue for horror games right now too. Were the 3D environments created fully or screencaps of 3D models that were edited afterwards?
The writing was generally consistent and the few typos weren't too noticeable. One recommendation is to consider using italicised text to differentiate a character's inner monologue and distinguish it from said dialogue or general description. This can give an additional layer of depth to how the game presents the actions and motivations of the main character.
The surreal misadventure of the main character is a good approach for a short horror story. Placing a character into an unfamiliar environment and using things like an empty bridge, fog or water to conjure dread is a great narrative tactic. I think the conclusion about the lighthouse and how it fit with the other elements of the story was a little confusing - maybe with more time it could be explored?
Thanks for submitting Called Home to the SCREAM MACHINE game jam!
- SCREAM CATALOGUE
I posed all the scenes in Unity and used the Camera filter pack that is on the unity store, I stacked the VHS filter with a pixelation filter and fog filter.
Thanks for all the feedback means a lot and head a great time
I really enjoyed the visuals in this game and just would love too see more to the game. Good game !
I really liked the visual style of this game! It sort of reminded me of Myst? Also the sound work was wonderful, and put me on edge (in a good way).
I would work on having a consistent tense for the narrator, as it shifted quite a bit. Here is an example:
"After a short walk down the road you come across the old bridge, it's schedule to be demolished next month but it should be fine to cross since your not in a car."
I would make all of this past tense / clean it up a little bit like so:
After a short walk down the road, you came across the old bridge, which is scheduled to be demolished next month. But it should be fine to cross by foot.
I think there were a few places where you flipped between ending with a period and ending without. I would try and be consistent.
Enjoyed my playthrough and thank you for sharing!
I like the visual style, would have loved to see this fleshed out more!
I like the sound effects and story!