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(+1)

there’s an uneasy vibe to this game’s audiovisuals, which contrasts nicely with the writing. it comes together to form an intriguing liminal experience, that unfortunately suffers from the same problem as most other point-and-click games: obscurity.

the guide was appreciated, I needed it to figure out what to do with the router. the rest was not too hard to figure out with some trial-and-error, I just have some thoughts about the UI:

  • having to press E to interact is a bit awkward, as everything else is handled with the mouse.
  • the small text box that pops up in the top-left corner is not great, maybe it should appear near the interactive thing instead, where the player’s focus is.
  • the text message view should scroll to the bottom when new messages appear.
  • the entire mushroom puzzle UI could be overhauled by not requiring discarding — instead, focus on which mushrooms to keep, and build the UI around that. if I picked the 3 correct mushrooms, why do I also have to discard the 3 wrong ones? it’s implied.

in conclusion, great mood and interesting writing, somewhat held back by a lack of clarity and some UI issues. and I gotta say, I really dig that wonky house.

(+1)

Appreciate the criticism, you make a lot of valuable points which are totally reasonable. and very salient coming from the designer of geometric dreams.

Right mouse click for interaction is like deeply logical actually and easily the strongest criticism about input design.
Oh yeah and scrolling is a known issue, that a was a product of running out of time and shipping it, thats why speech bubbles are a fixed size too lol.

I don't think what you said about textboxes is incorrect, it is probably objectively correct and the correct way to design in the modern. However, it's probably not gonna change in the final cut, mostly cause I like it - feels like nostalgia for old-ass poorly designed RPGs and keeps the space pristine.

The mushroom puzzle is the way it is to force full interaction and sacrifices realistic behaviour. I think it's too easy to game otherwise; just keep all the mushrooms and you pass the check. and the addition of some rejection mechanic ends up in a very similar loop (although I agree there is some room for simplification there (persistent check).

(As a disclaimer, no need to reply, mostly responding as i would to any reviewer comments on my work!). Thanks for playing, I appreciate the feedback and commentary!

(+1)

about the text box in the corner, that nostalgia is a great reason to not change it. the main problem I had with it is that it’s easy to miss if my focus is elsewhere. you could consider showing a little exclamation symbol near the player character as a clue for when the text box appears, to make sure players don’t miss it. it’s not strictly necessary though, so do what you feel like.

for the mushroom puzzle, that could be solved by only passing the check if you have 3 correct and 0 incorrect. I don’t get your point about “forcing full interaction” — seems a bit contrived to me. but that’s sometimes the charm with games like this, so again, do what you feel like!