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Christina Nordlander's games and stats for all events →
| Timestamp | Since previous | Game | Christina Nordlander's comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 17 23:36:00 | 1 | Not really a game so far, but graphics and physics are good (those beach balls look lovely, and the character sprite looks quite good in a simplistic way), and it's a fun take on the theme. | |
| Dec 17 23:50:00 | 14m 00s | Amongst Traitors | This is great! Good use of the theme, excellent music, enjoyable writing, and a generally cool concept. The character art reminds me of "Order of the Stick". I see no downsides to this game. <br/> <br/>I didn't win (I'm pretty bad at whodunits), but I really enjoyed playing. |
| Dec 18 00:07:00 | 17m 00s | Finding Serenity | OK, I'm laughing hard. Might be the funniest LD entry I've ever played. The gameplay isn't anything innovative, but not bad (though I would have liked some sort of visible hitpoints; I got killed quite a few times), but the comedy is excellent. The graphics are simple, but funny: the only thing I'd improve is the walking animation. <br/> <br/>SPOILERS <br/> <br/> <br/>My favourite part was the bit where the game calls our browncoated hero out for going on a killing spree over a TV show. The executives' dialogue was an absolute riot, too. <br/> <br/>Great job! |
| Dec 18 21:58:00 | 21h 51m | The Trials of Chad | I played the first couple of levels and thought "OK, this is a decent puzzle-platformer, buying power-ups is cool, but apart from that it isn't really anything I haven't seen before". Then I got to the "splitting headache" level, and it moved up a couple of notches in terms of originality. <br/> <br/>The graphics are ultra-simplistic (granted, I know that's because of real-world circumstance), but not ugly. The music is good. <br/> <br/>It's hard as heck, though. I haven't finished it yet; might return to it later at some point. The main problem is moving back to the start of a (fairly large) world when you die. Also, this is a minor nitpick, but since coins respawn when you die, you end up with loads of coins long after buying all the power-ups. <br/> <br/>All in all, a nice retro feel and some cool innovations. |
| Dec 18 22:19:00 | 21m 00s | To That Sect | I have no experience with creating a program to create your game, but it's certainly not something you see every day. On that front alone, this gets a lot of points for innovation. The graphics are good, and while the sound isn't original, you use it in a very atmospheric way. The plot is cryptic and interesting. <br/> <br/>The actual gameplay isn't anything new, but the game holds together to the end. <br/> <br/>Very interesting entry and strongly recommended. |
| Dec 18 23:21:00 | 1h 02m | One Hour, One Shot, One Way Out? | Fairly short and simple, but after having made an Inform game for the previous LD, I know how much work it takes. Props for implementing an NPC. The writing isn't flashy, but some of it is very good (especially the description of... *that* zombie). I'm not a big fan of zombie stories, but you've got a nice mood here. I also like the fact that there were several endings of varying happiness. <br/> <br/>I got stuck for a while trying to get in the car. (I don't know about you, but if I were getting in a car in the middle of a zombie apocalypse with my only child, I'd close and lock the car doors first thing I did.) <br/> <br/>Typoes: "a keys"; "gutteral" should be "guttural". <br/> <br/>Other nitpicks: some rooms listed exists that you couldn't actually use (for example, going from the kitchen to the hall, or from the downstairs bathroom to the playroom), and the downstairs bathroom wasn't listed among the exits at all. (Not that it matters, since there was nothing important in there, but still.) <br/> <br/>Other than that, and the difficulty with the car, nice work. Nothing groundbreaking, but an entertaining short horror game. <br/> <br/>Possibly unintentional comedy point: <br/> <br/> <br/>SPOILER <br/> <br/> <br/>The fact that you can talk to Sophie after she's zombiefied, and the generally carefree nature of that conversation. |
| Dec 19 21:29:00 | 22h 08m | That One Load | Didn't The Simpsons predict this game once? <br/> <br/>Silly, but a fun diversion nonetheless. Good graphics, and nice use of public domain music. Difficulty seemed OK (though it would have been nice not to be sent back to the beginning when you died), but having the perspective flip around seemed unfair to the players. <br/> <br/>So yeah, pretty good work. |
| Dec 19 21:45:00 | 16m 00s | The ruling party | Jag spelade det på svenska! <br/> <br/>Extremely original concept; Twine is perfect for this kind of storytelling, but I've never seen it done before. The writing is good in a low-key way, with some beautiful descriptions and great use of detail (such as the "Frankenstein" bit). By and large, it felt very realistic. <br/> <br/>I like the way you used the music link. <br/> <br/>Good story and fits very well with the theme. Plus, we Swedish Twine users have got to stick together, right? |
| Dec 19 22:19:00 | 34m 00s | Seedling | Original concept, and I ended up getting quite involved in the fate of the tree. It got a bit boring after a while, though. <br/> <br/>It would be interesting if you made a post-compo version with more elaborate follower sprites (and dances). However, I really like what you've done with the daytime and seasonal changes, and the rain cloud is great. |
| Dec 19 23:29:00 | 1h 10m | Disgruntled Employee | As an office worker, I know his pain. <br/> <br/>Damn but this is good! Great graphics, great audio, and the dialogue is hilarious. Probably one of the most polished entries of this LD. My only nitpick is that the AI of the other office workers is a bit dumb. (Also, it would be great to have even more things to use as impromptu weaponry, but that would just be an additional goody; the game is perfectly good as it stands.) <br/> <br/>I haven't beaten it yet, but I'll probably come back to it. Can't let the job creators win. |
| Dec 20 00:02:00 | 33m 00s | Cocaine | You've added quite a lot of nice bells and whistles to Twine here (I like how the image moved depending on which room you went to), and the intro sequence is cool. While the storyline has been done before, it is quite dramatic. I do like that the game gives you a concrete goal early on, before you get too bogged down in the various characters' in-fighting. The amount of writing seems to be pretty much right. <br/> <br/>However, there was nothing to really pull me in. The story introduced me to a large number of characters, but there was nothing to make me care much about them. Having a bit of description rather than just dialogue would probably help a lot. <br/> <br/>Also, while I haven't beaten it yet, there isn't a whole lot of gameplay here. It's pretty much "explore the house and try not to get killed". <br/> <br/>The dialogue is pretty cheesy, with a lot of multiple exclamation marks. I have to admit, however, I got a laugh out of: "He's a gangster! The most powerful man in the city! He must have more than just some hookers and coke!" <br/> <br/>In short, nice mix of Twine with visuals, and the concept isn't bad, but suffers from cheesy writing and no real ability to do much. I might come back and try to beat it later. <br/> <br/>List of typoes and grammar mistakes: <br/> <br/>"powerfull" should be "powerful" <br/> <br/>"she has famouos to be addicted to drugs" should be "she is famous for being addicted to drugs". <br/> <br/>"Enter in the basement" doesn't need "in" <br/> <br/>"this jews is all this motherfucker have here" doesn't really make sense (and it should be "has", not "have"). <br/> <br/>"ganster" should be "gangster" <br/> <br/>"this morons" should be "these morons" <br/> <br/>"John try" should be "tries" <br/> <br/>"Not as much I can find here" sounds like it should be "Not as much as I can find here" <br/> <br/>"Russell shoot in Rodney" should be "Russell shoots Rodney" <br/> <br/>"bodyguards deads" should be "dead bodyguards" <br/> <br/>"se" should be "see" <br/> <br/>"aorund" should be "around" <br/> <br/>"Scott" isn't capitalised at one point (in the "go to the hall" scene). |
| Dec 20 16:10:00 | 16h 08m | PLUNGE | Very nice opening. Once the main plot starts, it's not incredibly original, but that's not really a problem: getting to live an entire life in Choose Your Own Adventure form is a fun and solid idea. The writing is good, and I like what you've done with the background colour. <br/> <br/>I gave it a low Overall score because of its unfinished state (I still haven't found a storyline that ends), but this is good enough to deserve a finished post-compo version. <br/> <br/>Some typoes I found: "being flying" should be just "flying"; "birds feels" should be "birds feel". |
| Dec 20 16:23:00 | 13m 00s | Jam Panic! | Wow, my life in Twine form... <br/> <br/>Yet another "LD game about making an LD game" entry, and there's not a whole lot of interactivity, but the narrative voice is funny and readable enough to make it well worth a playthrough. And, like I said, I've been there. <br/> <br/>Not sure what was going on with the random sexism around halfway through. It didn't seem ironic or... anything, really. <br/> <br/>All in all, funny and not nearly as bad as you make it out to be. (Though I'd advise you to avoid random woman-hate in future entries.) <br/> <br/>Typoes: "varaibles"; "tought" should be "taught". |
| Dec 20 16:39:00 | 16m 00s | One Life | The story is rather simple, and the writing is kind of... not bad in any way, but not really memorable most of the time. The back story when you're at the Mexican restaurant felt rather verbose. All in all, it felt like a rather standard Twine story. <br/> <br/>SPOILER <br/> <br/> <br/>Then I tried playing it again, and... oh, very nice. I've never seen that done with a Twine game before. You definitely get an extra star on Innovation from me. (I'd still like to go back and see how other choices would have panned out. But heck, such is life.) |
| Dec 20 16:57:00 | 18m 00s | The Lonely Girl | Very interesting idea, this. The gameplay was... weird. It is definitely a game, insofar as there is a solution that leads to victory, as well as sub-optimal branches that lead to failure, but achieving success seems to be a lot more about trial and error than problem-solving. It's frustrating, but it also helps the dreamlike mood, and I felt motivated enough to play through until I got the happy ending. <br/> <br/>On the downside, the writing is very simple and barebones, and there are quite a few typoes, especially early on. <br/> <br/>Difficult to rate, but an interesting idea. |
| Dec 20 17:14:00 | 17m 00s | You only get one arrow | The graphics are a bit basic, but bring me back to the good retro days of platforming. I like the subtle walking animation, and the shattering door animation is great. Jumping is a bit floaty. Good use of the theme, and the game is generally really well put together given the short time limit, with good level design and power-ups. <br/> <br/>There's no way I'll be able to beat that boss, though. You could probably have cut its life bar in half and it would still be a challenge. |
| Dec 20 17:31:00 | 17m 00s | Sensory Deprivation | Firstly, the concept of this game is absolutely brilliant. Wish I'd thought of that. <br/> <br/>Great job in creating puzzles in Twine. It all holds together well. I laughed at the grue joke. <br/> <br/>A nitpick: I can apparently feel the breeze even though I only have the sense of hearing. (That should actually be pretty easy to fix: just change it to "you can hear a slight breeze".) <br/> <br/>Typo: "ith" should be "with". <br/> <br/>A very innovative and clever entry. I had fun solving it, and not so much fun being jealous of you. :-) |
| Dec 20 17:47:00 | 16m 00s | CAN YOU MAKE A HIT MILLION-DOLLAR GAME IN ONLY ONE TRY | As "requisite LD entries about making an LD entry" go, this one was kind of mediocre. Some funny moments, but the ending twist, while original, felt more trollish than funny to me. <br/> <br/>Still, not bad. Four stars on theme. |
| Dec 20 23:05:00 | 5h 18m | Who's the Worst Person in the World? | I liked this a lot. The writing is OK, not really outstanding (a bit too wordy for me), but the descriptions of the string are great. Story-wise, it's very good. The initial plot felt a bit too similar to "Death Note" for me (which you admittedly point out), but I like your story more. You do a good job balancing the various sides of the moral argument. The story itself is pretty linear, but I think the ending provides enough options to make all players satisfied. <br/> <br/>I got a bit creeped out when the story presented me with real-world leaders to kill: for some reason, that feels more disturbing to me than the various LD entries about going on a killing spree in the workplace. But it feels realistic that Mark would think about killing them, and after all, the game doesn't force you into killing. (And it makes sense that the concept of a magical death-string should freak me out.) <br/> <br/>A couple of typoes and other nitpicks: "bizzare" should be "bizarre"; "diagree"; towards the end, you're missing a space between "said" and "half-heartedly". Also, dialogue should end with a comma rather than a full stop when followed by a dialogue tag (e.g. "she said"). <br/> <br/>In the end, I chose... <br/> <br/>SPOILER <br/> <br/> <br/>The person who was going to commit the most murders or rapes later on. If I'm going to get a magical way of killing people, I guess I might as well use it to save some lives. <br/> <br/>In short, a very good and unsettling story. |
| Dec 21 00:09:00 | 1h 04m | Alone/Awake | Once I got into this story, I enjoyed it a lot. Space exploration (and space marooning) has always held a lot of power for me; stories about mental disorders likewise. The plot was interesting enough for me to replay it for all the choices. <br/> <br/>However, the story confused me a bit, and I'm still not sure I get all of it. This may have been the result of me playing the "Awake" version before the "Alone" one. I'm still not entirely sure whether the protagonist of all the storylines is the same person. <br/> <br/>The only thing I didn't like about the graphics was the flickering at the start. (Unfortunately, I don't know enough about Twine to suggest a fix.) The other graphics are good enough for me, and I'm impressed with the way you did animation. On the other hand, sitting through the animations gets a bit much when you replay the game many times in a row, even if they're not all that long. <br/> <br/>Typoes I caught: "coms" should be "comms"; "as gravity would bare" should be "bear"; "ponding" should be "pounding". <br/> <br/>A very involving story, and an interesting way to combine Twine with graphics. I think you rose to the challenge. |
| Dec 21 20:37:00 | 20h 28m | Dragon Child | Probably the best text-based entry I've played so far this LD. The writing is excellent (I was taken aback by "trying to hear the voice inside you that already knows", and the story is original and powerful. I really like the Twine layout, too, and the white-on-black text adds to the sense of claustrophobia. <br/> <br/>If I have a complaint, it's that the plot is very linear. That said, it's appropriate for this story. I just tend to expect more branching plots in Twine games. <br/> <br/>I feel a bit depressed now. Can't decide whether it's because of the darkness of the story or because I'm jealous of your writing skill. <br/> <br/>Found a typo: "recogonise". <br/> <br/>SPOILER <br/> <br/> <br/>So there's no way to get a happier ending? Harsh. Clever, though. |
| Dec 22 17:15:00 | 20h 38m | My Old Kentucky Home | Very well-written, with a lot of realistic detail. Very nice use of music. On the downside, the story has been done before, and the plot is very slow-moving at the start. Those are minor nitpicks, though. <br/> <br/>I might play again later to see if I can get a different path. <br/> <br/>A couple of typoes: "remnats"; "prys" should be "pries"; "her Mamaws" needs an apostrophe. Also, the title of the game is spelled "Olde" in-game, but not on this page. |
| Dec 22 18:38:00 | 1h 23m | An ordinary story about death | Not sure how to rate something so personal. <br/> <br/>The Twine text looks very good. The writing is very simple, but this is a story where flashy stylistics would be out of place. Some beautiful phrases. <br/> <br/>Powerful. |
| Dec 22 18:53:00 | 15m 00s | Burial | I'm pretty amazed with what you've done with Twine here: real-time events, cycling links, the weird symbols looking like glitches, the works. The art is very professional and evocative. All in all, extremely interesting and well done, with immense amounts of mood. The concept is intriguing. <br/> <br/>However, there doesn't seem to be much to do in the game, unless there's a way of getting off the station that I haven't found yet. <br/> <br/>I'm impressed, and will definitely read the story at some point. <br/> <br/>Typoes: "You are sitting a jet black bench" is missing an "on"; "infront" should be two words; "enscription" should be "inscription". |
| Dec 22 20:46:00 | 1h 53m | Moments of Paranoia | This has been on my "to play" list ever since I saw those graphics: I love the classic adventure game vibe. The only thing I don't like is that the characters' breathing animation is a bit too pronounced, but that's a minor nitpick. I love how they visibly slump as the gas keeps entering the air. <br/> <br/>The concept is great. The more general backstory has been done before, but is still powerful and tense. <br/> <br/>Audio is excellent, among the best soundtracks so far this LD. <br/> <br/>You've mentioned that you're going to add the ability to click ahead in dialogue, and I think it would also be good to be able to click out of one character's dialogue menu without selecting anything. <br/> <br/>More of a story experience than a gameplay one, but it's a good story. One of the more memorable entries I've played. And like I said, the graphics and audio are made of gold. <br/> <br/>Grammar nitpick: "intoxicate" really should be "poison". <br/> <br/>SPOILER <br/> <br/> <br/>So there's no right or wrong solution, eh? Mean, but feels appropriate to the situation. <br/> <br/>Would have been fun to have the option to shoot yourself, just for completeness's sake. |
| Dec 23 23:41:00 | 26h 55m | Dinosaur Ranger Interview: Burrito Challenge SUPREME | The setup of this game is pretty great, and it's professionally done, but at the end of the day it's a typing game. Requiring skill, certainly, but not really something I'd personally do for fun. <br/> <br/>Props for very funny text, and I thought the music was good. Nice graphics, too. It could have done without the text appearing onscreen one letter at a time, but that might be a personal thing. <br/> <br/>So yeah, professional, well-written and funny. Just not my kind of gameplay. |
| Dec 24 18:43:00 | 19h 02m | Bomberanian | Took me a few tries to figure out how to do it, but I did manage to win. (It felt a bit weird not to be able to move the bomberanians before you fire the grenade, but I guess that would make it too easy). Cute idea, with good graphics and audio, and I like how you've made randomly generated levels. Not really my kind of game, but I won't hold that against it. |
| Dec 24 19:04:00 | 21m 00s | Pellet Run | Very good and innovative. Quite hard, too, but I made it to the end. <br/> <br/>Excellent work. |
| Dec 24 22:02:00 | 2h 58m | One Jump | A lot better than you give yourself credit for. The idea is innovative, and the gameplay is pretty challenging without being unfair or broken. The levels look well-designed to me. <br/> <br/>My only issue is that it's a bit hard to control your character (I had to retry the level where you move the brown block quite a few times, just because it was so easy to slide over the edge). Also, once I got to the level with the disappearing floor, I couldn't progress any further: I couldn't go to the right, but if I jumped down the pit I just bobbed up and down without dying or progressing. Not sure whether that was a bug or there were no more levels. <br/> <br/>Still, quite an entertaining game. |
| Dec 25 16:29:00 | 18h 27m | Incomplete | I like the setup: very original use of the theme. The game itself is kind of a standard adventure game, but with solid puzzles. It would have been cool if your lack of limbs played a larger part in the puzzles, though (I did get a bit of "I can't do that with only one arm" in the first level, but that's about it). The graphics are pretty good, with nice swirly star effects. The writing is funny. <br/> <br/>The difficulty feels about right. Would have been nice to have a better interface and a more natural way to progress (without having to, say, click on "way" to finish a level), but all that would probably have been hard to implement within the timeframe. Having a way to skip through cutscene dialogue would be good as well. <br/> <br/>Typo: "therefor" should be "therefore" <br/> <br/>SPOILER <br/> <br/> <br/>I like how you allowed "good" and "evil" solutions for some of the levels. That shows an extra level of polish. |
| Dec 26 23:28:00 | 30h 59m | 8bit Rebellion | Now that's an original idea! The graphics are great. The music annoyed me a bit, but that's pretty appropriate for a lot of game music of the era. <br/> <br/>On the downside, the gameplay gets a bit repetitive (even though you introduce quite a bit of variety), and it's not always easy to know where you're putting your finger down. Still, a solid game, and very impressive for your first LD. |
| Dec 27 21:45:00 | 22h 17m | Lost in Space | Looks very professional. I like the concept, though the plot is a bit too silly (unless "Bob" has a more sinister reason for marooning you in space). As far as I can tell, space fights aren't needed: just exploring space and trading for fuel is tense enough for me. <br/> <br/>However, as far as I can tell, there's no way of figuring out how to get to Earth, so I can't rate the game very highly. However, it would be cool if you made a post-compo version with more stuff implemented. |
| Dec 28 15:27:00 | 17h 42m | Mama is Sick | Wow, that's a powerful experience. You should definitely be proud of it. It looks professional, and most of the graphics are great. Excellent writing: the family members get quite a bit of personality, even the father. I like how you put in random events (at least I assume they were randomly generated; I only played a couple of times). I can see this game being used in debate/education about poverty. <br/> <br/>On the downside, it took a while to learn what all the meters meant, and I'm still not sure I've figured it all out. But that's my problem, not yours. <br/> <br/>A good gaming experience, without sugarcoating the unpleasant reality. I'll come back and see if I can do better next time. |
| Dec 28 19:29:00 | 4h 02m | One Small Step | Really professional entry: nicely animated sprite, well-designed levels. The jump sound effect is good, though some music would have been nice. <br/> <br/>Unfortunately, jumping could be better, and getting sent back to the beginning every time you die feels a bit harsh. I might come back to it later, but right now, it just seems too hard for me. |
| Dec 29 14:33:00 | 19h 04m | Channel | Gah, I feel sorry for the poor guy. <br/> <br/>Very good graphics and nice elevator music. Figuring out how to gain points was fun, but there wasn't really enough challenge or reward to keep me going for long. Still, very well made. |
| Dec 29 15:13:00 | 40m 00s | Hospital Trash | I love this game, and I didn't like "Cookie Clicker" in the least. However, the time limit is an original touch and makes it a lot more tense. <br/> <br/>This is all around great. Great graphics, excellent powerups, and the news headlines are absolutely hilarious. <br/> <br/>I still haven't beaten it, but I'll definitely be coming back to this one. <br/> <br/>One of the best and most professional LD entries I've played. |
| Dec 29 18:51:00 | 3h 38m | FowL Play | (Note: review is for the compo version of the game.) <br/> <br/>Awesome graphics, sketchy and personal, and being able to swivel my gun around made me feel like a badass Hong Kong action movie chicken. Very challenging, but I kept going till the end. Very impressive. |
| Dec 29 22:34:00 | 3h 43m | The purge of Sombrilla | First of all: "lose" is spelled with one O. <br/> <br/>The graphics here are stunning: I'm really impressed with the character sprite's animation (including multiple death animations, and the one where you yank the bullet out of an enemy), and the backgrounds are good. The music is good and conveys a lot of mood. Funny concept and great title. <br/> <br/>Unfortunately, I found the controls so unresponsive that the game just got too hard to play: firing your gun takes too long, and jumping can be problematic as well, especially when you have a monster after you. In combination with being sent back to the beginning when you die, that made it too hard. <br/> <br/>So yeah, great on looks and mood (especially those animations), but needs better controls to be really playable. It would definitely be worth the effort. |
| Dec 30 21:31:00 | 22h 57m | A realistic depiction of the modern educational society, Part I | Very lightweight, but the music is excellent. <br/> <br/>Also, I'm annoyed now. I want to go back and try again! |
| Dec 30 21:38:00 | 7m 00s | One Shot at a Time | Very simplistic, but a decent game anyway, and the squares you can shoot add a nice bit of variation. The only thing I didn't like was the numbers in the middle of the screen: some kind of life bars at the top and bottom would be more attractive. <br/> <br/>Basic, but not bad in any way. |
| Dec 30 23:09:00 | 1h 31m | You Are Disabled | This is definitely one of the best games I've played this LD. Extremely challenging, but good enough to keep me going till the end (playing as illiterate, at least). And then, that ending... <br/> <br/> <br/>SPOILER <br/> <br/>Until the ending, I didn't think this game had anything more to say about disability than "being disabled is hard, yo". (Sure, some people may still need to learn that lesson.) Then I got to the cowled figure telling me that maybe I could read if only I tried hard enough, and the theme hit me right in the gut. <br/> <br/>You take no prisoners with this game. Excellent work. |
| Dec 31 22:30:00 | 23h 21m | #YOGO | I didn't figure out how to start playing, but looking at the source and idea, this is really cool. Some great lines and ideas, and five stars on innovation. |
| Dec 31 22:50:00 | 20m 00s | Bomb has been defused | I like how you worked in both this and the last LD's themes. <br/> <br/>Simple game, but well implemented and bug-free the time limit makes it nicely challenging. Not a whole lot of replay value once you've won, though. |
| Jan 1 21:20:00 | 22h 30m | Super Steve | Very short, and I kind of wish there were more of a challenge to it, but all that can be put down to the time limit. The graphics are absolutely brilliant and lovable, five stars on that. The writing is very funny, and Steve is an excellent hero. I like the hacking. <br/> <br/>By all means keep making games. This is great. |
| Jan 1 22:05:00 | 45m 00s | You Only Have One Egg | I like text adventures, but this one really needs more commands. For one thing, you should be able to look at, touch, perhaps listen to the egg. Also, if the dog is present at the scene, it should be mentioned right away, not only once you type help. <br/> <br/>Well coded and fits the theme, but needs more substance. |
| Jan 1 22:42:00 | 37m 00s | One Word | Interesting idea, and well coded, but I prefer more descriptions and mood in text adventures. The one-word system felt like an obstacle to imagining the world (though it was a very interesting interpretation of the theme). <br/> <br/>Still, a decent game, good set-up, and I felt happy when I won. |
| Jan 2 23:17:00 | 24h 35m | 60 Seconds | Are you a fan of "I Wanna Be the Guy", by any chance? <br/> <br/>Good game, with a solid and simple hook. It's very hard, but the platforming is well-constructed, not just the kind of "let's throw a million near-impossible jumps at the player and see what happens" that many people come up with when trying to make a hard platformer. The graphics are good, though I would have liked a bit more character animation (still, that's a lot to ask for 48 hours). <br/> <br/>My main problem is that the trampolines were very hard to use. I figured out that I should walk onto them instead of jumping, but a lot of the time they just didn't work. Also, a bug: when I died from running out of time, I would restart with 0 seconds. <br/> <br/>Apart from those problems, it is a very enjoyable entry. |
| Jan 3 22:44:00 | 23h 27m | Eldritch Racing | Great mood. Graphics are a bit basic, but not bad. The audio is where this really stands out, though: probably the most unsettling sound I've heard in a long while. <br/> <br/>I didn't progress very far, but I might come back to it later. |
| Jan 3 23:10:00 | 26m 00s | The Grid | This game has tons of mood; the whirring of the grinders made me viscerally afraid of what would happen if I fell into one, and I'm not usually that easy to frighten. The graphics are good, with good use of colour to indicate danger or goals, and the music has a nice sci-fi vibe. The concept is great. <br/> <br/>On the downside, the first few levels are very easy: you can blunder your way to the exit with little challenge (though that changes soon enough). Also, I got annoyed at how my character apparently can't travel through spaces that look wide enough for a human. <br/> <br/>I could use the top-down view anywhere I wanted at the map, not just in the yellow area. A bug? <br/> <br/>Nitpicks aside, an immersive game, and very polished given the time frame. |
| Jan 4 20:40:00 | 21h 30m | Wilhelm's Escape | The graphics are excellent, the animation is outstanding, and I love the audio: perfect and very atmospheric. Once I realised what the scream was, I laughed out loud. The blackout death scenes appealed to my sense of humour, and I love the death messages. <br/> <br/>It would have been nice to have more commands (such as interacting with things without using an object), but that might be a lot to ask given the time frame. <br/> <br/>Unfortunately, some of the puzzles are very unintuitive. This bugs me because 1) it makes the game needlessly hard, and 2) I'm a big fan of adventure games, and I get annoyed when non-fans wrongly characterise adventure games as "just a bunch of nonsensical object puzzles". Good adventure games have puzzles that make sense. Some of the puzzles here make sense, but others I just don't get (for example, how you get the lever). <br/> <br/>Also, I found several typoes and grammar problems (for example, "misterious" should be "mysterious"). Using an English-speaking proofreader might be a good idea in the future. <br/> <br/>Those nitpicks aside, this is a very polished and hilarious entry. |
| Jan 4 22:22:00 | 1h 42m | The Curse of Mellon | A standard but very solid Metroidvania. The fact that doors stay open when you restart is a nice touch. (I thought it was odd that you still have to pick up items again, but since you get a time boost when you do, I'm not going to complain.) <br/> <br/>The graphics felt a bit too basic for me, though that's a taste thing. The music is pleasant, if a bit repetitive. <br/> <br/>A complaint: if I press Enter and get the "Return? yes/no" menu, I get sent back to the start of the game no matter what I pick. Apart from that, I didn't find any bugs. <br/> <br/>I haven't finished it yet (couldn't figure out where to go after I got the Ring of Power), but it's a very nice little game, and very big and deep for 48 hours. |
| Jan 4 22:43:00 | 21m 00s | One Button Metroidvania | At first I thought this was a joke game, but once I got a couple of powerups I realised that this is a pretty cool idea. It is incredibly hard, but I can't tell whether that's bad game design or just me being stupid. <br/> <br/>Graphics are a bit basic, and some sounds would be fun, but it's a very cool concept. High scores on innovation and theme. I might come back to it later to see whether I can get any further. |
| Jan 5 21:23:00 | 22h 40m | Only One | I read it aloud, sitting alone in a room with nothing lit except my monitor. That was pretty darn ambient. <br/> <br/>A simple but intense story that fits the theme well. It's definitely a situation I never hope to be in. Pretty long and deep for 48 hours. The writing is pretty good: a couple of sentences felt a bit melodramatic or clumsy, but the majority of this game is well-written. I like the font choice. <br/> <br/>Typoes: at one point, you have "dam" instead of "damn"; "asI" should be two words; "beasts claws" should be "beast's claws". <br/> <br/>I don't really have any other nitpicks. There's a nice balance between powerlessness and choice, and the entire thing is very powerful. <br/> <br/> <br/>SPOILER <br/> <br/>I like how the ending credits gave the option of seeing the other ending without having to replace the entire thing. |
| Jan 5 22:05:00 | 42m 00s | Ghost Run | For starters, I think this game needs a bit more instructions. The introduction says to use the "action key" to gather data, but it took me several random tries to find out that meant the Shift key (on my computer, at least). Likewise, it doesn't say anywhere that you need to use the Space bar to turn on the flashlight. <br/> <br/>That aside, I really like the graphics, and the sound is incredibly atmospheric. I like the concept, and the game is positively dripping with mood. <br/> <br/>A couple of nitpicks after the spoiler space. <br/> <br/> <br/>SPOILERS <br/> <br/>I got a bit disappointed that I didn't find out more about what had happened aboard the ship. The only information we get is vague stuff about an "incident". Also, while the monster shadows were unsettling enough, it felt a bit silly to see that they were just Xenomorphs: creating your own alien design would be less mood-breaking. <br/> <br/>Apart from that, this is a solid, creepy game, just the way I like them. |
| Jan 5 22:38:00 | 33m 00s | ONE - Obscured Nonphysical Expanse | Looks good, in a creepy way (the whitespaces at the end of my vision were a bit distracting, but I don't know whether there's a way to fix that), but it felt a bit empty, and I just solved it through trial and error. <br/> <br/>I'm not very good at mapping areas in my head, so the non-Euclidean nature of the maze might be lost on me. <br/> <br/>Very good audio. <br/> <br/>Not really my kind of game, but still very good for the time frame. |
| Jan 5 23:01:00 | 23m 00s | Fountain | I saw this in a recommendation, and, what can I say? Every word is true. Great graphics (remind me of early Zelda), beautiful music. I like how you've shown the character's aging: not only in the character sprite, but also in landscape colour washing out and the music going away. The speeded-up aging makes a lot of sense and is a nice challenge. I can't really say much about it, it would dilute the experience. <br/> <br/>I have no idea whether it's winnable, but I'll be coming back to this one after voting has ended. <br/> <br/>I think I'll wrap up my voting here and end this LD on a high note. |
| Jan 6 23:43:00 | 24h 42m | Doubt | Beautiful graphics, audio and mood. Gameplay felt a bit lacking, but reading the hints other people posted, I realise that there were indeed puzzles, so that's down to my own obtuseness. <br/> <br/>All in all, it didn't really gel with me, but it is beautiful and artistically produced. Kudos. |