This was such a relaxing and wholesome experience, and I like how you made this about our wholesome GWJ community. Nice to make the dog such a part of your gameplay, instead of just being pettable ^^. Having the different interactables like a rope, a weapon and a light also made the gameplay more varied/interesting.
The part in the cave was pretty long, and I toggled my flashlight off and on after which it didn't feel as bright anymore. I'm not sure if that's on me though.
Thank you for the kind words! Yeah I really wanted to do something different this time around, and I wanted to incorporate the anniversary as well. Had a crazy idea to make a short meta-story of sorts that payed homage to the jam, as well as worked with the in-game setting.
Regarding the dog, I wanted to incorporate more mechanics with it but, just wasn't enough time. The dog was... Well I took the time to model it, so I was going to use it for something other than just a wildcard haha.
I think the dog worked out pretty well... My biggest concern was that the dog would somehow break, and leave the player stranded... It has a somewhat complex (and rushed) state machine, combined with navigation... You often see how bad AI can be in video games, I DID NOT want the dog to do that lol. However she turned out to be a pretty good doggo :)
About the cave, there are triggers that actually adjust the lighting of the scene in real time. The flashlight's energy remains untouched. Most likely you turned it off then hit a trigger which made it get darker, and turned it back on, only to discover it didn't seem as bright. I don't think it's the best mechanic but I really wanted to toy with the players expectations a bit, and create a very dynamic ending.
