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Out of the Stacks's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay | #1 | 4.308 | 4.308 |
| Presentation | #2 | 4.538 | 4.538 |
| Story | #4 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Overall | #7 | 3.795 | 3.795 |
| Creativity | #10 | 3.846 | 3.846 |
| Theme | #11 | 3.692 | 3.692 |
| Horror | #25 | 2.385 | 2.385 |
Ranked from 13 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: Among the Stars in your game?
The final scenes of the game take place among the stars, and there are small hints at the theme in earlier scenes. I hope you enjoy it!
I created all of the art, animations, music, sound effects, code and the typeface for this game. I drew on programming tutorials for some functionality, and credited sources in-line.
Did you implement any of the optional Bonus Challenges, and if so, which ones?
There is a constellation platforming section.
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Comments
Pixel art, music and animations are too good. But the controls are a bit difficult for me. The game was very cool and really enjoyed it. Great entry for this game.
very cute game, even has detailed animations!
A very solid project. Everything works as intended. Good job!
I really loved your pixel art and animations and the music! Unfortunately a lot of the platforming can be a little too hard, at least for me, so I haven't gotten to the ending. But I will try and play until then soon as judging by the other comments here, it's surely good!
It took me a while to get to the end but the increasing level of challenge was definitely motivating. Clean mechanics and excellent aesthetics. Perfect music, great work.
The elevator in the beginning caught me by surprise. The music really sets it up to be a chill platformer.
I think the platforming worked well, it feels very celest-like. Also pretty dense levels with different enemies, not too much reuse. Although I think the game needs controller support, I remapped it with joy2key.
The puzzles are ok, but it feels a little strange in-universe that the player stops in front of a bookshelf and re-arranges books in an arbitrary order!
The pixel art is well made and the ending was unsettling, although not horror levels of unsettling (tbh I’m starting to get quite nostalgic over schoolwork, even with the bad parts :) ).
Thank you for this helpful feedback and thanks so much for playing, I appreciate it! The keying of the game turned out to be a very common issue -- could I ask what keys you used when you remapped it? Thanks again!
I use a xbox 360 controller
Jump - A
Dash - X
Grab wall - RB
If I remember correctly this is what it also was like in Celeste I think its ok with jump and dash on keyboard, but when you also need to press an extra button, and hold it, that gets extra complicated on keyboard imho.
I think a alternative keyboard mapping could be based on FPS controls, like Move - WASD, Jump - Space, Dash - Shift, Grab - Ctrl. Or grab on shift and dash on ctrl or right click.
Yeah, I honestly can't say enough good things about this. My jaw actually dropped a bit when the intro started playing -- it immediately just looked and felt so far beyond "jam quality". A really good game -- just like everyone else said, great visuals, great controls, and I really liked the level designs. I'm super impressed. Everything felt really cohesive, visual/audio/gameplay-wise, including the little book organization puzzles (which is really something, because they seem like they should be out of place in a platformer, but they fit great).
I definitely got a sort of "huh, seems horror, but I'm probably dreaming, so let's go check it out!" vibe while playing, and then the ending came, and... aha! Also, the wizard's speech was a little too real... ;-;
If I had one issue, it would be that the controls were super weird to me; I know it sounds silly, but for some reason my hand kept getting the jump/dash buttons switched up, I guess out of habit from other games, which made the last parts kinda difficult. Having them be rebindable would've been nice.
Thanks so much for your kind words and for the suggested improvements, I appreciate it! I will have to look into the other most popular options for keying jump-dash-grab, probably one that allows the user to use their left hand for WASD directions. Thanks again!
Above all else I have to commend you for the amazing animations. Everything looked so fluid and responsive. That "The End" animation was so polished! The presentation was done very well and the checkpoints were thankfully not too far back.
The one issue I had was with the platforming. It got frustrating to me in two places, the first one at the beginning where if you didn't make the jump you'd have to jump + boost your way up 3 or 4 ledges. Maybe it's because I'm not used to the arrow key controls +z,x,c, but this took me a lot longer to get than I'd expected. The second place was at the final constellation room. I feel like it must have taken me 40 tries to get. I feel like controller support could have fixed most of these problems but for a game jam, it's probably not the top of your priorities.
I thought the book puzzles were excellent and they were done in just the right way to challenge me but also to make me feel smart for having completed it.
All in all, great job with this!
Thank you for playing the game and for taking the time to give me this feedback -- I appreciate it! I spent an outsized share of my time on animations, so I'm happy to hear you liked them. And yes, I think it actually would have worked better to make the jump with the 3/4 ledges be a jump over spikes so that if you don't make it, you're immediately back at a checkpoint at the top. Great feedback. Thanks again!
This game is excellent. I found the platforming to be challenging, but not too frustrating. The logic puzzles were fun and weren't so difficult as to slow down the core gameplay. The art direction is fantastic and the animations are amazing. The enemies were fun, although I wish that we got to see a few more levels with them. Especially the chomping books that fall to the ground when you look at them. There was a section where it was possible to skip some platforms, but it wasn't game breaking. The theme was implemented in a creative manner and avoided obvious interpretations. The narrative was short and simple, perfect for a game of this variety.
Thank you for playing, and thank you so much for this feedback! Yes, it took me a long time to get the chomping book mechanism work, and then they really only make a cameo -- it would have been good to design further puzzle-platforming around them. Thanks again!
Lovely visual design. Pleasant color palette and smooth animation (with some great negative motion--love the skirt and hair). Jaunty music. Nice, sharp controls, a must for a twitchy platformer.
I must admit that found the game quite difficult. This is basically Ninja Gaiden, but with algebra thrown in. :) I made it to the Observatory, but after that, the constellations beat me up over and over again.
As a minor point, I must say that I didn't get much of a "horror" feel. I can imagine that getting stuck at work overnight with enchanted books and furniture would be threatening in real life, but the audiovisual design is cute, rather than threatening.
Thank you for these thoughtful comments and for playing the game -- I appreciate it and they're very helpful. You were in the final section of gameplay before the end! Gauging difficulty is always a challenge, but your comments and others are helpful for that. I *have* played the NES Ninja Gaiden, maybe it stuck with me :). Thanks again!