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A Date With Carnelian [DEMO]'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #2 | 4.400 | 4.400 |
| Story | #3 | 3.900 | 3.900 |
| Presentation | #4 | 4.400 | 4.400 |
| Overall | #6 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Creativity | #9 | 3.700 | 3.700 |
| Gameplay | #10 | 3.300 | 3.300 |
| Horror | #18 | 2.300 | 2.300 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How did you choose to implement the Theme: Thirst for Blood in your game?
We decided to take the game very literally and focused on blood-drinking and vampirism themes. We wrote the game in a manner that implies you are possibly the dating option prey and in reasonable peril (despite the MC's oblivious nature for comedic effect) and ensured the vampire character was drinking blood consistently throughout the game. We also made sure to strongly insinuate the human main character was not, ensuring he was only drinking wine.
There are also instances of unexpected anger coming from the vampire character, and more subtle plays on bloodthirsty with choices of positive dialogue for violent theater characters. This wasn't as strong of a choice for the jam, but still notable.
Though we did not complete the full scope we came up with, we believe the demo version should still fit the bill decently and appreciate the opportunity to push ourselves. Thank you for hosting the jam, it was a blast!
Did you implement any of the optional Bonus Challenges, and if so, which ones?
We took the vampire challenge very blatantly and literally, making it a central theme, having the dating option be a vampire, and insinuating the dating app and lounge are for vampires. It is also suggested the MC's friends are vampires.
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Comments
I don't really know if this counts as a horror, sounds like it's just a sweet dude honestly. I'm curious if given more time how that would go down, as the writing is pretty good. Nothing felt redundant and it's a nice concept to make a small VN out of. The only real complaint I have is maybe the color palette. Things seem quite literally too dark on that end. Maybe some extra bloom off the candles can give more color without sacrificing anything cause otherwise it looks a bit stale to me.
Cozy mood for a date with a vampire. Somehow it works pretty well with the music and superb art. You have integrated well the theme in a very original way. Kudos!
Thank you so much for the kind words and review!
We don't usually enjoy games like this that have a lot of reading. Nevertheless, it didn't feel excessive and you did include a lot of dialog options to keep us engaged. The animations were pretty good too. Surprisingly, my son really enjoyed your game. So, good job!
Thank you for the kind words and reviews! We'll consider the excessive winking note from your son's review and appreciate the feedback on it feeling engaging. I wanted to make sure it felt like a proper interactive experience, so hearing that makes my day!
Per my son, "I don't like that he winks so much. Do you really have something in your eye? I could see the story behind 'bite her' get it? And seeing the ending of the demo, it seemed like the vampire is really going to bite her. End of chapter.'"
Loved the character design and the writing. Very charming.
.... unfortunately we really didn't hit it off. It feels a little RUDE for my fantasy dates to also have no chemistry but I won't let that affect how I rate the game.
Glad you enjoyed! I hope the lack of chemistry between you two was more fun than anything negative, we intend on having more diverse personalities in future dating sims so there'd be someone for everyone. Thank you for the review!
The writing was hilarious, especially being able to scream twice in a row, or choose Sports Ball. In particular, I loved that I could get him to walk out on me, even if his motives were likely less interested in how compatible we were intellectually. It would have been fun to choose my food from a couple options and have him react differently to each. The back button was a great touch to be able to explore new paths mid-play instead of starting all over. The art was fantastic. I would love to play the full version!
Thank you so much for the kind words and additional recommendation!
I enjoyed the writing style especially pre Carnelians arrival with the internal dialogue. And would of enjoyed some more decision making in this phase to bring me more into the character. You showed more than told in your writing style which was nice, and although I'm not your target audience both in games I play and age (I would assume) I would definitely finish my date and reach a conclusion.
I liked the art style especially the hands they were really well done and the jazzy background music.
Pleasure to play.
Thank you for the in-depth detail into what you enjoyed about the game, I'll definitely bring up with the team about possibly making more points to help players feel more in sync with the MC at the start for the full version. This is really helpful input, thank you so much!
*inhales* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
-Me 2023
*inhales* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Thank you for the comment, glad you enjoyed as well!
Thank you for the comment, we're glad you liked him!
Definitely the highlight of the night when I played this. My friends and I were laughing after realizing it was an option. The game has fairly good and believable dialogue and the art and music makes the scenario very cozy.
I personally thought that Carnelian was slightly forthcoming, but that's probably cause I don't swing in the direction of buff suave vampires. Otherwise it was a very entertaining VN!
You KILLED it with the art on this! Also, was very charmed by the flickering candle flames. Would love to see a finished version.
Thank you so much for the review and kind words, we're hoping to finish the game within the next few months. Thank you again for playing!