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Happy Family's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Scariest Game | #15 | 2.500 | 2.500 |
Best Game | #17 | 2.500 | 2.500 |
Ranked from 6 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Can't download - keeps throwing an error :( [cannot read property build of undefined]
This was an interesting game, I liked being able to explore as the different characters. Although I was a bit disappointed at the length of the mother's chapter. It did have probably the scariest part in it, though, so I guess that evens out. Some of the movement/collision was strange for me, but nothing bad enough to prevent me from progressing.
Good job! This is a really dark and morbid narrative that harnesses an interesting idea - using parallel perspectives to interpret the same environment in different ways. There are some really innovative ideas underlying the story and letting the player progressively build an understanding of the terrible things that have gone on in the house. Adding some elements to the environment to paint the picture and also use mixed media such as newspaper clippings was a fun idea too. As has been said, with some work on the sprites and collision, some of the inconveniences when playing could be resolved. I think thematically, especially when dealing with serious themes such as familial violence, it's really important to consider things like emotional impacts, intentions, and reasons for conflict when writing. Exploring these sort of things might be rewarding in future to flesh out some of the characterisation. This is nonetheless a really bold approach to storytelling and I think you should feel accomplished tackling something so heavy for a first horror game.
Thanks for submitting HAPPY FAMILY to the SCREAM SOLSTICE jam!
- SCREAM CATALOGUE
The setting looks promising, and I already got a taste of terror after reading the first story elements (I picked the daughter first, though I misinterpreted the doors as "diverse", "male" and "female"). Sadly, the glitchy and slow movement quickly broke the immersion for me. It seems like the different sprites for "walking sideways" and "walking up/down" have a mismatching offset. Can be observed the best with the daughter.
I don't know if I've seen everything, but father and especially mother had a very short part. To improve the story you could add in some interaction between the characters. Although a lot of tension and suspense can be invoked by just hinting that there is a danger but you don't know for sure, I think it would improve immersion and plausibility if you showed (some) of what happend. Let the play do/experience the "happiness".