Okay, I'd like to start out by saying that overall I really did love this. the art style and atmosphere was an absolute 10/10 for me.
I really liked the concept too. it's simple and not overly challenging, and the concepts that you reminisce about are pretty on point.
where this has a slight hiccup, and, for a moment, I actually thought was an intentional stroke of brilliance, was with the way the pattern connection is handled mechanically. the vast majority of these star patterns are able to be done in single line clicks. from left to right, right to left, or clockwise/counterclockwise, depending on how you approached it.
childhood.
you get childhood. and this pattern system seems to just fall apart. it fails. I can't connect the lines. I know the constellation. I can see it right there? why can't I make it work? it's so obviously right there.
I fail. I go again. okay. we got this.
I come upon childhood again. shoot. okay. maybe I need to click in a very specific order? nope. that wasn't it.
oh, what? childhood is first this time?? fail.
that's when I think, oh my god, childhood is broken. this entity cannot get over the immeasurable sadness of their own childhood.
I found that very deep and moving.
but being as stubborn as I am, I decide maybe I'm overthinking. I give it another attempt or two, and come upon desire, which also requires the same input style as childhood. and that's when it clicks. it's not really made apparent by any means that it's okay to click through on stars you've already 'set'/aligned to create a new line.
so, to anyone stuck:
after connecting a line, the game will default to the point you last clicked as your 'origin' point, however, you can click a point that has already been aligned first, and then click a second point to create a separate line. I don't know what would be a better way to convey this, other than maybe having a start start shimmering a little brighter or something.
I hope this doesn't come off as arrogant or a harsh criticism, I am just trying to convey my play experience, which I did deeply enjoy for how short it was. thank-you for making this emotionally moving little game, and it's incredibly impressive that it was made for Ludum Dare. I went through and played through some of your previous works, and they were all very enjoyable.
thanks for sharing your art with the itch community! looking forward to anything else you put out in the future.