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still thinking about this game. nails it, perfectly. can't wait to see what you do next!

AMAZING inspo. the pieces are coming together. i can't wait to see what you put out next!!!!!!!!!

It'll be really hard for me to think where I land... This entry is my second (solo) game ever - and can you believe this is one of the shortest gamejams I've been in? This is also one of the smallest, which made it feel like there was already a community already built into this jam. It felt a little like walking into a room of strangers slapping a laptop saying "I know how to write and program!!!" - what a bit of self-imposed pressure to deal with! I can't help those negative thoughts of "oh god, I barely even made it past the bottom rungs" - but I always need to remind myself we're here because we made something! And I'm proud of mine!! That's all that matters!!! haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

But in turn and in honesty, it was a blast to be able to truly take time to play every entry (as opposed to seeing 2k+ or 200+ entries). There was something in literally every submission that I wish I had thought up of in order to make my own project feel more dynamic, more immersive or captivating. It was even more rewarding to take this gamejam as a chance to work closely with friends for their input before I published my piece, then spend the time to play other's games and share them with those same friends- and THEN go out to chat and meet those very developers I felt so intimidated by throughout this jam! I'm truly happy to have taken part and want to thank the hosts on that part for helping encourage a fun and healthy environment for that. Ah, I forget sometimes how refreshing and inspiring it feels to play and see things your peers are making! It's no wonder gamejams bring people together like this. Can I say the highs of this gamejam was during the voting section...?

I'm such a sucker for the themes and ideas around the main concept of this gamejam. Unfortunately this gave me a bit of scope creep - I think I'll blame it on my first few days of agonizing over the main plot points of my game, which left me a little under a week to actually write and polish the entire thing. But on the other hand, this forced me to give my project certain quirks that I worked into the story. My biggest decision was to remove all character portraits and art entirely in order to keep the color palette that the game now presents. I got a fair ways into it actually, and I really agonized over not having any kind of art, but in the end I'm letting the strength of the writing carry the game for itself, and perhaps give it its own identity. Maybe I may develop an alternate version with character sprites...?

This was a gamejam both a test of skill and experiment with form, and I'm really happy to join and see everyone's wonderful work! I can't wait to see what you all do next, and hope to be back for another :D

LOVE seeing another game based around the sea <3

this game felt like a familiar tale and a new adventure all at once, i was so charmed by how well each character had chemistry of some kind with one another and it was a real romp to pick around and find the different clues about them as the story went on and how different responses gave unique perspectives from the same character; really showed thought into the relationship's development and how the characters are as people!! i loved looking at every piece of this VN. fantastic work!!

there is such a natural feeling to the writing and an elegant but haunting air that surrounds the plot that i couldn't help but dust off my swan lake knowledge in order to help immerse myself in this plot. what a delightful little treat! the strong bird imagery and being constantly reminded of the consequences of odile's situation helped bring this honestly beautiful vn to life, and it was chilling to read the different endings :0 gorgeous work!

SUCH nice details to the menu and GUI that really make this feel like a polished work. loved the robust way the epilogue also offers some incentive to keep finding those endings! the context we learn for the two as it progresses helps paint a bigger history and picture between them that really make the present more meaningful. nice job!!

very very very big sucker for vee. pls route soon.

I was really captivated by the unique personalities and takes each character had on the MC's situation at hand, and the setups for jokes felt natural in both the setting and the story as this takes a more light-hearted view on the theme and incorporates it in a playful way to everyone involved. Loved both the bright colors and dark tones in use, such an eye-catching work!! There's a personal touch to every aspect in this game and it feels like a fun adventure with a friend.

i ended up replaying this one a few times to pick up the details i knew that i was missing... building a fuller picture of how complex this particular heartache feels was a trip that i really loved gnawing on - AHHHHH i'm such a sucker for twisting classic phrases to take on new meanings. turning over the phrase "memento mori" takes on a much more complicated, sharper edge to it in this story. love the polish, the subtle smoke effects, and clean VO work. great stuff!!!

Having characters come to face-to-face with someone entwined in their history is always a fun treat! It felt electric to watch the chemistry between these two as they navigate different layers of displacement and uncertainty in each other and revealing different aspects of the world they inhabit to the player. Playing the "muffled" music truly gave this a heavy-hitting yet peaceful experience. Great job!!

hello fellow ambience enjoyer. i see you at work.

this is definitely one of the few games i've been thoroughly and utterly bamboozled by. kudos for that alone. however, SUCH an impressive soundscape on display and i adore so many visual elements that really make this story feel alive, pulsing, and present. the pause/preference menu made me laugh when i looked closer. there's so much personality jam packed into the short but laser-guided interactions that each choice really felt like it held a tremendous weight, making replaying an absolute joy (darn the clever self-exiting... but what a nice, clean touch)

the absurdity of the situation/presentation mixed with dead serious real-life parallel phrases and mindset is a genius combo that i'm a sucker for. advice from a crab? sign me up. this game was a real treat to a friend watching with a special interest in crabs :)

OMG LOL - thank you tons and tons for playing! It was super fun recording as well :D

Appreciate and delighted hearing this gave such a strong impression, and very tickled to have you take care to check out those little links. Thank so much for taking time to play and write this out!!

i can't get over this... this game is one of my highlights of the jam. there's a lot of care and style on display that i can't stop smiling!! i kind of wish this was longer.. but there wasn't anything i really disliked or had to critique - it was a fun time to play through getting the endings and so bizarre overall to figure out what's happening in this party alongside molly, many moments i streamed that made me or friends laugh just out of awkwardness and charm. i was really impressed with how the order of events was considered in the choicemaking that it affected the dialogue - the trumpet track is a personal favorite.

lots of little thoughts that came up playing this game that culminated into a great experience- fantastic work!

Knowing you got immersed is one of the highest compliments for me to hear!! :) Thank you so very much for playing!

Always a treat to hear thoughts about how certain decisions turned out :D quite happy with how the dialogue-only writing was noticed! Thank you so much for playing!!

love love love it, can't wait to see what you all do next!!!

just need to lie on the floor after reading this. ough that was heavy. oh. OH please tell me i did NOT just do all that next to a freddy fazbear plush

i liked:

• very pleasing animation and character art; music and voice acting were definite highlights. FANTASTIC reads + musical mood in the second half... my heart...
• great GUI design and runs perfectly. able to view history and make different choices with ease. very delighted to dig through the files to find some goodies and also as a gameplay element. great touch!!!
• grounded writing, very down to earth and taken seriously. great attention to character's inner thoughts. 100% felt like talking to a friend i know.

i disliked:

• the themes covered in this are ultimately very sensitive, and played with a very respectable realism. with that comes a special handling of its plot and what you can "do", so i personally felt the overall gamejam theme was lost in trying to put both of these together. i viewed this is a game about death, how it's handled, and how others process it, first and foremost, rather than gamejam themes of possible displacement or short feeling of uncomfortableness (rather than a lifelong one)
• the order of events/timeline regarding the recording confused me and friends i streamed to enough that we left our first playthrough quite sour due to this grave misinterpretation on our side, that could have been structured better narratively or hinted at in more obvious ways to not be simultaneously vague (in the first half) and then in-your-face (literally enacted in the second)

This was a tough one to do and I genuinely can't get over the amount of polish that went into what's here. Absolutely blown away by every aspect of the audio, and can't get over the charm of Than's tattoo. The story is heartbreaking and yes, I want to match tattoos. Stellar work!

Amazing job to you both!! :D

i liked:

• charming cast of characters! fun banter and attention to sprites. very cute to notice blushing :)
• great to hear the changing scenes and have different music tracks. liked seeing all the scene art - so cool!
• smooth transitions, few display mishaps but no gamebreaking bugs
• LOOOOOVED the idea of an author in their own little made up world. literally. great idea

i disliked:

• overall weak + rushed narrative - very short focus on characters, didn't care much for the flirting since it was framed as uncomfortable, "escape" just felt very bad- no!!!! let us see the conflict!!! that's why we're here!!! to read about it!!! please let us hear the characters figure it out!!!!!!

This felt like a game you definitely wanted more time on - I'd encourage you to work on it more! This definitely has some real potential to be a great polished work. I'm very impressed how solid this is as a first VN, REGARDLESS of any of my critique. Great job!

WOW - great work!

i liked:

• writing realistic social dynamics between all the chatters; baki......... my fren....
• amazing detail to GUI, working buttons - notif sound changes depending on viewing or not, very nice!
• theme is incorporated into each scene + main idea of someone just raiding all day 😭

i disliked:

• difficult to rollback/view history, buggy and played loud ping sounds
• only one music track playing; never muted for drama either
• while serving its purpose, the dialogue was difficult to read and understand to a non-mmo player

This hit close to home. Great and realistic even if slightly cringey build-up, very impressed with the interface and immersion. Very clever usage of interfaces. A highlight so far! Amazing job!

Haunting work. Like stepping into purgatory.

Oh man!! We'll have to see if we can make it more intuitive in an update. Thanks so much for playing and the feedback! :D

Thank you so much!!! Happy to give little surprises :D

Thank you for such a kind comment and taking time to play :D it means a ton!

I loved your game!! I hope comments readers take a chance to play it too :)

edit 0.0.10 - fixed dialog/vo, various items layers

Great, clean, intriguing, compelling work. Nice job!

Definitely played more of this than I care to admit - they got me :')

This game is so clean, presenting us with a perfectly green terminal and inviting the player to just poke a great big button to play pretty lights nice noises, then win. Finally! Atmospheric music, appealing sounds, pleasing look... A gamer's dream come true.

But mindlessly clicking through, reading the little comments and super fun facts, then trying to ignore a horrible feeling in my gut after realizing there's much more darker take to this whole idea of "gambling", especially as it's compared to gaming - it was a great twist to the gameplay loop, and made me much more self-aware of how "mindlessly" I wanted to participate in the game. Now this is a deceptive little strategy - well done!

It runs perfectly, and I loved the detail to incorporate lots of ideas in your GDD. I desperately want there to be more mechanics like your team wished you could have implemented, but how can I complain about a working prototype? Clean work, and I'm looking forward to see the ideas you come up with in the future.

Great job and hope you all had fun in the gamejam!

(Loved learning a new word today, thank you!!)

good god.

i catch myself thinking about this game now and then, far after i've played it. great work, haunting and intense.

thank you for the writeup, loved hearing your thoughts about the game both inside and out

i rly said "oh puppy!" then proceeded to cry for the rest of the game. such lovely work, i can't wait to see more.

god, i hope you can cook for someone you can hug tight.

ahh thank you for playing and replaying!!! a small hint is conversation choices helps determine ending in addition to placing items :>

thank you so very much!! this means the world to me!

incredible! sharp! striking! provoking! lovely!? what an amazing little experience, i adored the battle system and figuring out each character little by little. great work!!!!

another banger

amazing work on this, good luck to you going forward!