itch.io

Oh! That's great. 

Yes, I think that would be worth mentioning. Busy-busy, fast moving, modern times and all that; someone might turn off the game and never try again because of the perceived inconvenience of there not being a save.

First time to clear the dungeon! Yos! Earthquake with Absorb (is it always like that?) and building up plenty Might made it not very difficult.

Very good game! Like Powder, but "lite" and without wanting to pull ya hair out.. but also without saving --> oof.

Same for me. Bit strange that there's no definitive message that it's the end; and 57 levels is also not a number that feels conclusive. I'm playing the version that has been made available to Portmaster on some emulation handheld devices, so I really wasn't sure.

The earlier featured videos below also ends the same way though, after level 57.

I've enjoyed playing this very much. 

There's a brief and shallow enough learning curve (and I think that's well designed.) After that, it's a game that lets you fall into its rhythm (and not every designer can nail this kind of flow state, certainly not with very few components). So it's a game to zone-out to (and play for twice as long as you had planned.)

The artwork is cute and agreeable ('chibi' anyway,) and it has a fun UI. Would recommend playing with a colorization option if you can (also for the sake of the UI.)

I really enjoyed this. As mentioned in the description, this one feels a lot like 'Choose your own Adventure' books -there were indeed some that tried their darndest to be scary and even gory- because every attempt of you hunting for the best ending is short and to-the-point. Coming to it from this viewpoint, I have no problem at all with the pacing.

Looking at the screenshots here now, I will give it at least one more go, see what maybe I've missed.

I really enjoyed this; the color palette, the character artwork, and the quality of the writing especially. It's got good pacing, too, which is ever so important in an adventure game.

I played it on emulator. There, I ran into some problems with saving and loading (and also with 'giving up') in game; in this way, I found myself both soft-locked and hard-locked once respectively.

But I liked it enough to start over, use save states, and finish it proper.

These slice-of-life, small, pixel art-focussed, (obviously indie) adventures are an area of interest for me these days.

I really liked 'The Year After', so here we are.

Beautiful game, excellent level design, bittersweet story.

5/5

Here's hoping that you'll keep developing and that your next game will come out soon.

I'm having a great time with this game. 

I really like the stark but upbeat visuals, the addictive gameplay, the distinctly modern chiptune music (sounds similar to VVVVVV, which is certainly a good thing), and the "no tutorial, long intro, filler, fluff; let's go!" pacing.

I'm playing this on a modern emulation handheld (running retroarch for the backend), and have found that it looks great with the 'normal2x' video filter, paired with the CRT scanlines shader, and the preconfigured GBC color palette (shown in the screenshots). I'm also playing with analog stick instead of D-pad, authenticity be damned.

It's great, thanks for making it!

I fully agree with @hawkbyte . The game is playable and complete-able, the vaguely fantasy-like setting is fine, the starting location is intriguing enough, there are some items that are 'common-sense-coherent', but that's really about it. 

The game actually reminds me a little bit of 'The Cave of Magic' which is - in reality - Tutorial A in the Adventuron Text Adventure System.

Now, all is not lost for the creator, but - again agreeing with @hawkbyte - I, too, think they might greatly benefit from migrating to an IF system that integrates standard verbs and more, sensible standard responses.

'Yesternight' is also an interesting name.

Reasons why - IMO - you might, or might not enjoy this game:

( I DID really enjoy it, but it also took me a while to get into it, so...)

- It's a longer game when compared to what's contemporary. 

- You will need to bring a pencil and paper and draw a map.

- It is an adventure game in the literal sense; no psychologically complex story arcs or existentialism here.

The writing is exactly right for this in that it's mostly informative, a bit humorous on the side lines, and never crass.

- Not saying that there aren't plenty interesting puzzles, but there are also some 'staple foods' such as key-hunting and inventory space/item location-management puzzles.

- No tutorial or help page in-game, however the game's itch page has extensive instructions.

TL;DR - Recommended.

Oh, this one is - IMHO - a bit unfortunate: 

Because the writing is solid, good quality (on the technical level: flow and syntax and conciseness and all that) (and with some character, too); well built, implemented, and with good 'flow' from place to place; there's also a good amount of content and a help system...  

it's just a bit dull though. 

E.g. (and without spoilers) 'the fourth room': the exits are hidden behind corners, exciting, it connects to 'the early area', interesting, I'm still feeling apprehensive over my brand new situation.... but there's nothing of note in it.

 Or, the area between the prison and the military complex. That's nice, a bit of surprise, bit of danger, took me '10 seconds' to even get there, and the sediment has its own description, too.... but then nothing in particular happens there. 

After that, we get a brief memory flashback for the character. Maybe we'll learn some more about them later, would be interesting and help the player feel more invested in them...

There are also entire rooms where the description goes out of its way to say that it's bland and basic and featureless, and nothing is to be found there. 

Like, if one wanted a 'hotfix', imagine the character having some interior monologue about why things are this way, what might have happened here before, and what might (have to) happen next. That would IMO go a long way to add suspense (and give the character some more depth). And maybe one more smaller puzzle in areas that otherwise have nothing in them (or cut/ replace some of them)

I liked it, it's well written and the concept well implemented.... but alas it doesn't have so much variety to keep you going. 

But, this could def. still be expanded on.

Gratifying and exciting game. I esp. liked the switch in art style between the intro and the main game.

An usual game: First of all, there is so much background artwork in here. Not breathtaking pieces mind, the opposite: still, gloomy, understated, melancholy (if you wish to step this far.)

Second, it's a text adventure that insists on being terse. Reminds me a bit of the novel 'The Road' by C. McCarthy in that regard: Do not ask so many questions, what you see in front of you, what I describe to you, is all there is, and you must keep walking.

In the same vein, all the puzzles are starkly apparent in it. I don't mean that in a bad way: There is always only the one imminent thing/couple connected things that currently' in your way. Hence you never linger in a place, and I suspect that's intentional.

Lastly, unlike the puzzles, the ending is never in sight: interesting.

An evocative game: Recommend.

Oh, yes of course: It's Windows 10 Home

Just finished the game. Enjoyed it very much. Finished within 4 days.

As a person of moderate puzzle solving skills, heck, moderate smarts really if completely honest, this game had good difficulty: not a cakewalk, but not crushingly hard either.

I also enjoyed that it tutorialized all the features well. In my mind that's just another benchmark test in our times, and things like wall-of-text, or punishing the player with a mean learning curve are big no-noes.

The story is well written and told well; continuously in small bits, not impeding gameplay. Art work: also good, without hammering on the pixel art retro-chic too hard.

Would have enjoyed a more developed endgame, but the ending itself felt rewarding. Many points, will recommend.

Setting changes (audio volume) never actually saved for me between sessions  (despite it saying 'saved'), so had to turn it down every time anew.