Thanks for the game! I liked it, but I got tired of the looping when I wasn't sure of the order of the injuries, and it got annoying having to start over from the very beginning each time (I had to do it many times since it only gave a hint for the first thing I healed each time). I was so relieved when I got to the final section and I could restart from after the fall.
I particularly enjoyed the stripped-back visual style, and it was easy enough to get to grips with which surgical instrument to use where. The use of the candle to make a discovery was ingenious, and I did like the fact that once I knew what was there, I didn't have to go back with the candle to reveal it every time.
That being said, I struggled with the order of the injuries. Eventually I managed to figure out three in the first set, but while trying to figure out the fourth, the results screen would often only show two of the three I had already verified as correct. With this happening, it felt impossible even to brute force the first stage to progress to the next part.
I felt like I had no information to work with, which was a real shame as I wanted to get into the story and figure out what had actually happened to Ifu. For instance, it didn't really make sense to me that a plane crash severe enough to cause broken ribs wouldn't also result in broken bones elsewhere; I didn't feel I could safely make that assumption. A more minor annoyance was that I couldn't save my progress and had to return to the very beginning of the loop each time I guessed incorrectly (and it was guessing, because I didn't have enough to go on to make any well-reasoned deductions). Perhaps the later two sections didn't suffer from the same problem, but I sadly wasn't able to reach them and find out.
The reason I'm leaving this comment is that I genuinely feel invested in the story and would love to be able to play through it properly. If you do end up reworking the game at all, I'd be very interested to play it again! Congratulations on submitting to the jam!
Thanks, that's a lot of really helpful feedback. I have some ideas that ought to provide better guide posts and help with deduction. I'll poke at it a bit and hopefully have a post-jam build up this weekend.
Itch was down for me yesterday so I just posted the update and a postmortem for it this morning. I think I was able to incorporate all of your feedback into the update, so it should hopefully be a smoother experience. Even though I tried to improve it, the game may still have issues with information and player deduction, particularly toward the end. But if you're still interested, give it a shot and let me know how it goes.
i like the loop concept, it’s a nice game using the right tools for the surgery. at the end of every loop, there’s a screen with question marks, and i can’t interact with them or write anything down, unless i’m supposed to click on the dialogue when it pops up which i didn’t do. i get that it’s a memory game and finding out the story behind it, but the gameplay doesn’t feel like puzzle/deduction gameplay. all in all, good job!
The question marks will fill themselves in as you heal wounds in the correct order. I'd intended that process of figuring out events and the timing of different injuries to be the deduction element of the game, but it looks like I missed the mark on that. It was my first attempt at making a deduction/puzzle game - super tough and I can see there's a lot I could have done better, but I a lot learned all the same.
I was enjoying playing doctor (thank god I am not a medical professional in real life), but I fixed all the wounds but it still just said "Ah!" and started over. Is that what's supposed to happen?
Yes, the game is structured as a loop. The first time it'll say "Ah!" no matter what, even if you fix all the wounds. After that the response should change to "No!" (or something noticeably different from either of those). Each time, more info is revealed about the task at hand, as well as hints to help you complete it. For example, by starting the process again, you should immediately see a difference.
I knew I was taking a risk dropping players in with little to no hand holding. It's something I've seen and liked in past jams, but when making a looping game, maybe I should have been more explicit about what was going on at the first restart point.
And if you do see the "Ah!" screen more than once and can't progress past it, that would be a bug, so let me know.
Thanks for taking the time to play and give feedback.
Comments
Thanks for the game! I liked it, but I got tired of the looping when I wasn't sure of the order of the injuries, and it got annoying having to start over from the very beginning each time (I had to do it many times since it only gave a hint for the first thing I healed each time). I was so relieved when I got to the final section and I could restart from after the fall.
I particularly enjoyed the stripped-back visual style, and it was easy enough to get to grips with which surgical instrument to use where. The use of the candle to make a discovery was ingenious, and I did like the fact that once I knew what was there, I didn't have to go back with the candle to reveal it every time.
That being said, I struggled with the order of the injuries. Eventually I managed to figure out three in the first set, but while trying to figure out the fourth, the results screen would often only show two of the three I had already verified as correct. With this happening, it felt impossible even to brute force the first stage to progress to the next part.
I felt like I had no information to work with, which was a real shame as I wanted to get into the story and figure out what had actually happened to Ifu. For instance, it didn't really make sense to me that a plane crash severe enough to cause broken ribs wouldn't also result in broken bones elsewhere; I didn't feel I could safely make that assumption. A more minor annoyance was that I couldn't save my progress and had to return to the very beginning of the loop each time I guessed incorrectly (and it was guessing, because I didn't have enough to go on to make any well-reasoned deductions). Perhaps the later two sections didn't suffer from the same problem, but I sadly wasn't able to reach them and find out.
The reason I'm leaving this comment is that I genuinely feel invested in the story and would love to be able to play through it properly. If you do end up reworking the game at all, I'd be very interested to play it again! Congratulations on submitting to the jam!
Thanks, that's a lot of really helpful feedback. I have some ideas that ought to provide better guide posts and help with deduction. I'll poke at it a bit and hopefully have a post-jam build up this weekend.
Itch was down for me yesterday so I just posted the update and a postmortem for it this morning. I think I was able to incorporate all of your feedback into the update, so it should hopefully be a smoother experience. Even though I tried to improve it, the game may still have issues with information and player deduction, particularly toward the end. But if you're still interested, give it a shot and let me know how it goes.
I just added a clarifying note to the game's page based on both your comments, thanks again.
i like the loop concept, it’s a nice game using the right tools for the surgery. at the end of every loop, there’s a screen with question marks, and i can’t interact with them or write anything down, unless i’m supposed to click on the dialogue when it pops up which i didn’t do. i get that it’s a memory game and finding out the story behind it, but the gameplay doesn’t feel like puzzle/deduction gameplay. all in all, good job!
Thanks for the feedback!
The question marks will fill themselves in as you heal wounds in the correct order. I'd intended that process of figuring out events and the timing of different injuries to be the deduction element of the game, but it looks like I missed the mark on that. It was my first attempt at making a deduction/puzzle game - super tough and I can see there's a lot I could have done better, but I a lot learned all the same.
I was enjoying playing doctor (thank god I am not a medical professional in real life), but I fixed all the wounds but it still just said "Ah!" and started over. Is that what's supposed to happen?
Yes, the game is structured as a loop. The first time it'll say "Ah!" no matter what, even if you fix all the wounds. After that the response should change to "No!" (or something noticeably different from either of those). Each time, more info is revealed about the task at hand, as well as hints to help you complete it. For example, by starting the process again, you should immediately see a difference.
I knew I was taking a risk dropping players in with little to no hand holding. It's something I've seen and liked in past jams, but when making a looping game, maybe I should have been more explicit about what was going on at the first restart point.
And if you do see the "Ah!" screen more than once and can't progress past it, that would be a bug, so let me know.
Thanks for taking the time to play and give feedback.
Oh, yeah, that was definitely not clear to me. I thought "Ah!" just meant you lost.