Thank you for leaving such a comprehensive review! I really appreciate it.
Yeahhhh, I really wanted to get the UI to look nicer but I unfortunately ran out of time. If I do polish the game and do a full release, I would 100% change that to make it easier to read + fix the formatting issues. I definitely have ideas, but still working out how to er, code them LOL.
The endings were definitely not as polished as I would have liked them to be. I was also a little bit worried about it getting too gory/disturbing for the jam's rules, but it was mostly time that resulted in me having to cut the ending significantly (and by significantly, I mean all four endings were supposed to have several choices to make and potentially utilize a paranoia counter that I didn't get to add in). I do hope to make the ending more fulfilling/psychological horror-esque after the jam, though!
Thank you so much! She's one of my older characters, so I'm glad to see folks liking her! And yes, I'd definitely consider doing that! It's not too difficult at the moment, just (spoilers ahead, but they're pretty vague) based on how much/how little certain characters are talked to. There are 4 endings in total right now - I hope to add in some more after the jam's rankings are over, though!
Actually, I think I figured the second one out - I clicked on the in-text hyperlink (originally thought there was no hyperlink to continue since it was in a different place) and it's working just fine now! Was just a bit difficult to spot due to the text to continue/progress being linked in the actual paragraph, as opposed as a separate option.
Ah yeah I feel that - I found myself cutting out parts of my own game due to time restraints. Your game was one of the longest I've read, text-wise, so I definitely understand not being able to finish everything in a month (especially if you're working solo). As for the POV switching, some of it occurred out of the italics which I assumed was either a mistake/formatting problem.
The pod errors persisted regardless of the day I tried to stay in bed - it wasn't giving me the option to continue, and I actually brought up stats a few times in order to progress before it looped me back a few messages. The option it wouldn't let me click on in the stasis area was this: "[[Knock on the door behind which Cenisa locked herself. If you are going to wait, you’d father have a companion.|action][$action = 1][44 -=5]]"
Thank you! They were fun to figure out as sort of a last minute visual aspect of the game, as I unfortunately lacked time to do any proper artwork for the game.
Interesting concept! I did feel myself wishing for a bit more context, however - be it through environmental objects or something else. Definitely fun for a quick play through, though!
Very interesting premise! I love sci-fi, especially with settings that first appear mysterious and involve A.I.s that potentially operate under dubious morality. My favorite part of this story was actually the start, before we meet Jake. I found those sections were the most interesting and provided a good view into life on the ship. Towards the end, however, things felt a bit rushed and I found myself looking for more answers. That said, writing a story of this length in a month is incredibly difficult, and the fact you wrote as much as you did, alongside coding, is incredible! With a little bit of polish, this story could be incredible!
I did also notice that there were some shifts from second person POV to first person POV that were a bit jarring at times, alongside a few formatting errors (like "/" showing up) and issues where I wasn't able to click choices due to errors (notably occurring down the branch of resisting the voice in the pod and the stasis pod area where you check on the woman who works there). Other than those minor issues, loved the game and found the story quite fascinating! Would love to give it a try again if it's updated in the future.
I loved the photo manipulations here! Very nice touch. I also really enjoyed the concept of robot characters and the base plotline here. I do agree with what other folks said, and definitely think this is a story that, if you were interested in continuing, would really benefit from some more world-building around the robots and even a little bit more of a backstory from the MC which, admittedly, would be somewhat difficult to do, but possible. I found the twist ending to be fun, though I definitely think the impact could be played up with a bit more length added to the game. Overall, love the foundations and I'll definitely look into playing the other game you created with Clash!
Very cool concept! I enjoyed reading the entries and getting into the MC's mindset, even if the general ending of the entries was a bit sad. I would have loved to see the wife's perspective, too, as I know that what the MC was going through can have a profound effect on one's family. I'd go into more detail, but I don't want to spoiler anyone - I did find the hidden option to be very satisfying, though. Overall, a fun little game, and my only critiques would be looking into lowering the volume of the game (I had to turn it off because the sounds were pretty loud on my system), doing a little bit of general proofreading (there were several places with dropped commas), and definitely implementing a way to skip over the text being written out if you've already visited the passage.
Wow, what a fun experience! I love sci-fi, and this adventure was a really interesting one. The personality in every line of text really shined through, and I really enjoyed playing through to figure out the puzzles. I didn't particularly find the time limit limiting either, and I think the only minor suggestions/changes I'd love to see would be a bit of audio, larger text (or options for larger text - I did have to zoom in a bit to read sometimes), and the ability to move via arrow keys if possible. Overall, a wonderful little game, and it came out pretty darn polished for being a solo gamejam project!
I must admit I'm a sucker for text message-based games, but that said, I do love what you've done with the medium! The interactions with "Chloe" were fun and definitely unsettling, leading to a very satisfying cliffhanger at the end. The only other thing I'd add would be a bit more banter with the main character's friends - just something to give them a little more character/interest if you felt like adding anything.
Fascinating premise! I would love to see this story develop further and what other perspectives can be found in "The Moon" path. I thought the writing here was nice despite the time restrictions, though I would also agree that more development of the relationship between the main characters would be great to see. That said, I know that's difficult to do in the face of a deadline, and I'm excited to see what comes next for this game!
Loved the setting of this one! I enjoyed the mystery unravelling, and I'd love to see this further fleshed out and updated in the future with more branches/extra lore. I did find the ending a little bit confusing, though it does make sense for a cliffhanger. Would really be interested in seeing a sequel!
So excited to play everyone's games! Congrats to everyone who submitted, and all the folks who got even a little bit of work done on their games - it's difficult to write/code on a deadline, and even a little bit of progress can be a great springboard for future work!
((Oh, and not sure if here's the right place to ask, but are we allowed to edit the image of our game/description after submission? Had to submit mine right as the deadline hit and had a bit of a brain fart.))
