Post by SquishypuffDave in Orphanarium jam comments

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SquishypuffDave2 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

As a platform puzzler this was solidly designed! The gradual shift from prey to predator was wonderful.

You might be interested to hear that our last jam had two constraints: it had to contain little to no text, and it had to use the narrative mechanic of anagnorisis, meaning self-revelation. I think had you submitted this to that jam, you may have won it.

What was especially good about this is that you trusted the player to piece the story together themselves. I enjoyed putting two and two together myself, and you even foreshadowed the ending (at least the one I got) so that the conclusion felt both surprising and inevitable.

Also this made me very nostalgic about all the Flash games I used to play on Newgrounds, so extra points there.

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Veins2 years ago

Your comment made my day :)

I'm glad that the game and the story had no issues. You implied that you played the game just once, which makes me curious... which ending did you get? If you got one of the "early" endings (which is more likely) and you liked it this much, then a second playthrough should make you like the story even more. Still though, you give me the impression that you experienced a satisfying story, and that's all I could hope for!

This game would have been a perfect fit for your previous jam and it is very uplifting to think that I could have won there. Thanks for sharing!

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SquishypuffDave2 years ago(+1)

I got Satan powers and scared my friends away. I'm keen to give it another playthrough though.

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Veins2 years ago

Indeed you got the earliest intended ending.

I saw your game too. It has a religious theme like Orphanarium which is a neat coincidence! But your game seems to go more into the light side of things! It is also very interesting that you made it back in 1993. But I didn't play it because I avoid installing games on my PC. Which is why i didn't comment on it. I wish itch.io had some form of private messages at times.

I wonder if you are part of the jam team, since your name is in the jam page.

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SquishypuffDave2 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

I'm sure you'll get to see it played on the Twitch stream at some point! I will clarify that the game's description is... unreliable to say the least. And yeah I did the logo on the jam page. :)

Played through yours a second time, had a great time with all the extra content I discovered. There was one glitch I found, where if you go down the well after getting the cross, you lose the cross and two different music tracks are playing. I also ultimately gave up that platforming challenge at the end with all the moving ghosts, I couldn't get past it or figure out any kind of strategy. Could just be my lack of platforming ability but I did find that part frustrating.

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Veins2 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Oh, wow you are a life saver! Indeed there is a bug in the underground level after you get the cross! I will fix it ASAP.

I assume that by "moving ghosts" you mean the white ghosts. Yes they can get tough, so you have to time your jumps. Thanks!

Edit: I fixed it, although I couldn't replicate the double music glitch. I assume that the cross-dissapearing glitch occurred when you tried to exit the watery caves, and not when you entered the well.

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