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He Watches Me's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Scariness... | #22 | 4.196 | 4.196 |
| Monsterous! | #23 | 4.478 | 4.478 |
| Overall | #35 | 4.052 | 4.052 |
| Halloweeny? | #54 | 4.087 | 4.087 |
| Candy!! | #58 | 3.435 | 3.435 |
| Fun | #66 | 4.065 | 4.065 |
Ranked from 46 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Log Line
Sara only wants a simple life at school but when her classmate Tyler keeps watching her from the back of the room she just can't ignore it. She's tried, but something just, isn’t right...
Content Warnings
Flashing lights
Depictions of stalking, blood, violence, and body horror.
Includes ending cinematic featuring the above.
Team Members
Morphi (Hot-Gothics) - Writer, Sprite, Background, and CG Artist, UI Design, Cinematic Animation
Limniris1 - Programming and In-Game Animation
Henri Tikkala (HenkkaStorm) - Music and Sound Effects
Sebastian Lee - Music and Sound Effects
Maple - Editing Assistant
Inartdel - Background Artist
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Comments
This was amazing!
I really loved that this game had two proper and distinct endings. One that absolutely delivered on the horror, complete with awesome transformation animation, and another where the characters actually talk it out and solve their problems, which was a breath of fresh air. Such a sweet mixture! Great work!
The use of sound effects was also great and really sold the atmosphere. I absolutely adored the animations in this game. Generally, the writing, sprites, UI, everything was so well executed!
Thank you for making this game!
Oh gosh, thank you so much!! I think you're the first person to comment on the gamejam page since we'd added the alternate ending haha
Thank you for playing! ^^
Dang that was spooky! Great game! Can't wait to see more!
Loved this short little kinetic novel. The perfect length for our team's short attention span. Had a feeling something was up from the get-go, but the end definitely caught us off guard. Great work!!
Thank you so much! We're actually planning on having more content in the game later this week. An additional scene in the middle and an alternate ending ^^
I know it won't count for the game jam itself, but wanted to let you know in case you might be interested in seeing the new content. c:
Thanks! Will definitely check out the new version!
This game was really well done! The graphics, writing, story, animation - EVERYTHING. I don't want to talk about the story and leave spoilers, but it was a great, short visual novel.
Good visual novel! short and gripping, nice creepy ending too, cursing the fact that i have a good sound system though, made my skin crawl with the sounds
My heart still feels like it's suspended in my chest! The story was very short and... maybe not sweet, but effective! It packed in just enough information about the characters and the world to make the end all the more shocking!
I really enjoyed the attention to detail on the visual effects--they really helped elevate the suspense and made for a great cinematic presentation alongside the music and SFX. I also enjoy the UI choices made for the game, with the "static" effect and font usage making everything very tone-appropriate and cohesive.
Also, I love a good concept art gallery! It's so cool to see how the visuals were made.
This was an awesome story!! Congrats to the team on a job well done :)
Oh dang! After the cute potion-making game I wasn't expecting this one to go so hard! Incredibly effective storytelling--the breathe in, breathe out motif works really well. Great use of text effects and screen effects (but not so much that they're distracting), evocative art, and THAT SPECTACULAR TRANSFORMATION ANIMATION. And it's just a good story--the character's perspective and unreliable narration works powerfully. You're batting 1000 in my book.
I might just shorten the conversation with Jessica a lot, since she doesn't turn out to be important, but that's really the only thing I would change.
It's so fun to see a comment from someone who played my first game and see their reaction with the differences to this one! haha
Thanks so much for playing and goodness for all the compliments 💕 You're so kind. I'm so glad that all the elements came together for a good experience to play~
A really well done short VN! The art was good and the extra polish with the ending and post-completion content was a nice touch. Like others have said I wish Jessica had a bit more of a role to play in the long run but the way the characters were used here was really good given the playtime.
From my playthroughs so far, this visual novel easily has the best writing I've seen. It's not uncommon for game jams to forgo proofreaders and for you to catch typos and syntax errors. I really enjoyed the metaphors especially! They helped really capture the vibe of what you were aiming for.
The art is loveable and the animations on the second half were very well done. I especially liked the sound fx and the dreary tune that plays throughout the game. It does well to set the mood, as well as conceal the twist.
As for said twist, I do believe it could've had a bit more build up to it. I knew that she had "episodes", however I think a few clues about the dangers of said episodes could've been expanded upon. Obviously the mystery needs to be a mystery, however proper build up and subtle hints make it all the more satisfying. That said, I'm not particularly good at solving mysteries...
Also, I'm not one to bring up excess assets, but I wish Jessica had more of a role. SHe was there for one scene and that's it. You could easily have tied her in to the end somehow, mainly leaving clues for the audience. Even though we knew she didn't know of her problems, there's a lot of potential for utilizing her to up the ante.
Good luck with your jam project!
Thank you for such a detailed comment and goodness, all the compliments 💕 Especially about the writing. I actually haven't written much over the past few years until earlier this year when I'd tackled my very first game jam so I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed how the game is written so much.
One of our stretch goals was to actually give more screen time to Jessica. As it is, her scene is in there to give a somewhat "normal" scene amidst all the unsettling paranoia as well as a personal excuse to include a little splash of gay, haha. Plus I wanted to show how, even with her best friend and crush sitting right next to her, Sara's attention is still drawn to Tyler - further showing her paranoia. I definitely had a bit more planned for Jessica but ultimately wasn't able to include it before the deadline. We're currently planning some small updates, maybe we'll be able to get that extra part for Jessica in there later?
I loved the animations and the backgrounds, the story was short but intriguing!
I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for playing ^^
This was amazing. The whole lead-up to the twist tied with the growing fear and paranoia we experience from Sara makes this short game an exhilarating rush. I do wish the game was a bit longer, or that there would be an option, should the devs revisit this game, to put in an "extra" route where we experience the game from Tyler's perspective for spoiler reasons after the game is finished. Other than that, this was a well-done short game that definitely makes for a great game!
That was actually within our stretch goals for this game; an Epilogue where we see Tyler's POV. haha
Thank you so much for the comment! I'm so pleased to see how everything builds together from the player's experience. ^^
Amazing art as always, short and sweet, well executed double twist at the end that fits the theme, also lovely dialogue between the PC and her friend overall lovely game.
Thank youuu!~
The rating system is a bit weird with "Candy!!" being a choice to rate. Overall the narrative was quite engaging and the climax was a fun little twist. The art style was phenomenal with the staring and visual effects adding a bit of atmosphere to everything. There were a few stutters in my playthrough but I still enjoyed going through the game. Definitely a solid game and hopefully if this team works again they can improve their next project.
Haha, yeah - I didn't know that these were going to be the rating options. They're kinda funny lol
Thank you so much for playing! I'm so glad to hear the game was engaging and that everyone's enjoying the twist and climax~
What were the stutters btw? Maybe we can fix them in an update.
Tyler has a killer stare. <o> _<o>
👁 Д 👁
5/5 for candy
That snack must've been quite delicious XD
So full that dinner might have to be skipped! haha
Well, I didn't see that one coming!
A well-written little horror short with a simple but well-executed concept. Great use of atmospheric sound and animated visuals which add a sense of style while also nicely capturing the feeling of rising anxiety. Strong use of similes and metaphors!
If I have one minor nitpick, it's that you have to dig into the extras after the end of the game to get the full picture of what exactly happened. Early in the story an "incident" is mentioned, but it's never really brought up again. I think it would be a stronger narrative if the protag's "incident" is alluded to a little more throughout the story - obviously not in a direct spoilerish way, but in a way that leaves breadcrumbs leading you to believe one thing, when in retrospect after finishing the game, you realize the breadcrumbs were leading to a whole other, more horrifying conclusion. (Sorry if that's too vague to be helpful, I'm happy to explain more in detail in a PM if you'd like!)
Thank you so much for playing!! I'm glad you liked it. And thank you for all the specific statements in your comment 💕
Your critique is totally valid and looking back, I agree. I did have a couple more moments where she mentions not wanting to have an "episode" a couple more times and at the end of the 3rd scene where Sara is walking home she specifically mentions something that alludes to the spoilery stuff. But I can see how that might not be enough to remind the player about the "incident" as I didn't use that word again. haha
Yeah when I read "episode" I think of something that happens chronically/regularly like a panic attack (or other spoilery condition 😉), whereas "incident" makes me think of a specific moment in the past which was the catalyst for the protag's family moving away. I think it would be interesting to flesh out the "incident" a bit, maybe hinting that the protag had an issue with a past stalker and suggesting that this is the reason she moved away?
Oh yeah, that was definitely the intention haha
If you look in the extras there's a little bit more information on the "incident" from 3 years prior in Sara's bio. But I intentionally left it without details so the player could fill in details themselves. One of the greatest tools in horror is to not reveal all the details. ☆ ～('▽^人)
Oh yeah I got that, I'm just saying I feel the narrative would benefit from those details being alluded to a bit more within the narrative itself instead of in a bonus "extras" thing that not everyone might read.
Definitely maintain the mystery and let players fill in the blanks, like you said, but I think it would help to leave a bit more of a bread crumb trail - maybe even just an extra throwaway line that alludes to the "incident" where Sarah expresses her fear that another "incident" is going to happen just like the last one. Again, leave the details open to interpretation, but give the readers a bit more to work with 😉
Keep in mind this is just my opinion and in no way objective or factual!