Stray Kitten and the Magical Lantern
by slimmeiske2
Hey there slimmeiske, thanks for submitting a project to the 2022 IGMC. I was asked to judge your game in round two of the IGMC 2022 game jam. Here's some feedback about your project.
The idea of playing as a cat reminds me of that game Stray.
I like the opening music.
The tilesets and sprites used for this game are absolutely adorable and I love them.
The humans talking in windings is a nice touch. I'm assuming that you actually wrote dialog for this but put it in wingdings. I've seen enough wingdings to recognize words.
I'm happy that you've decided to include a lighting engine. It really makes games ten times more immersive.
There is nothing wrong with the resolution of the game, but have you considered making a game in a 16:9 resolution? It might add a bit more depth seeing as most people have 'widescreen' monitors with a 16:9 resolution.
I thought it was funny that if you pick the default name of "Stray" for the main character the 'no spoilers' says "Hmn, not very creative are you?" :sjoy:
Thank you for giving the cat multiple lives, I am bad at QTE and puzzle games.
I like the HUD, it doesn't take up too much space, but I do feel like it can still be improved. I don't think it needs a border and you can space things to the corners more. Also maybe the Stray icon doesn't need to be there.
It's not immediately clear which QTEs will damage you and which won't. Maybe I'm missing something.
I'm not sure if it's just random or if you are slowing down the QTEs when they're failed. If you are purposefully making that happen, then keep doing that. I think it's probably just going to improve the experience for your players.
Customizing the sound effects and adding some new ones in different events might make it feel more fun, depending on the ones you pick of course.
The Hansel and Gretal thing was cute.
The items that you pick up are missing descriptions.
I like the paintings and effort that went into the artwork.
It doesn't quite make sense how the cat can jump through the bookcase and then it just disappears.
The game isn't clear on what will damage you but I guess since you give multiple lives that's okay. It just makes it a trial and error type of play style.
Good luck getting through the fog if you didn't get all the orbs and learn Nightvision. You might want to give the player Nightvision no matter what.
I find that the music selection for this game was really good, but the sound design could still be improved quite a bit.
I didn't really notice any bugs, just some design things that could be improved. I think you did a fantastic job.
What a cute little game you made, I liked it! The ending was a little subtle and unexpected, but it's a game jam game and it's okay if the game is really short.
Thanks for submitting a project to the 2022 IGMC, I look forward to your next project! :)
-Drifty