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Interesting Times
Interesting Times
By frank-gevaerts
View on ldjam.com
| Category | Rank | Score | Count |
|
|---|
| Overall | 255 | 3.33 | 23 | |
| Fun | 182 | 3.38 | 23 | |
| Innovation | 209 | 3.20 | 24 | |
| Theme | 396 | 2.88 | 23 | |
| Humor | 116 | 3.23 | 23 | |
| Mood | 243 | 3.14 | 23 | |
Comments
zanyg
2019-04-29 03:40
It's a unique concept, using a variety of objects and characters to remember things about your life, and something I haven't seen anything quite like before. The small town and simple locations combine with the commonplace stories to give it a quaint feel, which sets the mood and tone well, and the simple writing also fits. Even just as a small demo, it is interesting and allows you to quickly play through the entire game - even though the puzzles are simple and limited to examining every object then picking the most logical options, it doesn't feel like a chore, as I was playing for the story. My only query is about the theme: it feels like it would have belonged more if 'limited memory' had won. How does this relate to currency?
@zanyg thanks for the feedback! The way I saw the currency is that you do get something in exchange for the stories, but I agree that what ended up being there in the end ("Have a drink on me!") doesn't really convey that.
rombus
2019-05-01 18:53
Ohhhhhh, I see. Pretty clever idea. I'm digging it. Need more time after work to try to complete it, but once it clicked on me the mechanic I think this will be really fun!
Congrats on the entry Frank!
rombus
2019-05-01 19:13
Screenshot from 2019-05-01 16-12-55.png Nice! couldn't help it and played it through. I like that the navigation is minimal, otherwise the mental map you'd have to do would be too big.
Nice work completing the project, even when being under the weather. I enjoyed gathering my 'memories' to have the story options to provide; trading my 'life' experiences for valuable rewards.
incd021
2019-05-02 06:39
Nice idea. Haven't played that many text-based games, but like that, you had to find clues to be able to tell the full stories.. Very nicely done. :)
@rombus, @redhermit, @incd021 thanks!
I always love seeing text adventure in LD! This was especially good. Great job!
dina
2019-05-03 19:06
Pretty interesting, but not enought interactive.
lmb
2019-05-03 22:59
Long time I haven't player a text adventure! :slight_smile:
Your interpretation of the theme was very nice, maybe the most creative I saw so far. If you think that an interactive fiction author is by nature a storyteller, a story about using stories as currency has a beauty I didn't see in any other game I tried so far. :thumbsup:
The game itself felt a bit short and simplistic for my taste, tough -- which is understandable, especially given that you were not feeling well and didn't have much time to work on it. I enjoyed playing it anyway, thanks for making it!
Cool Game and interesting funny Stories.
I liked the overall game mechanic and I believe if you think a bit longer about it, there are cool ways to make a bigger game out of it.
Good Job, Keep doing stuff :)
Oh and I loved the EasterEggs XD Unicorns Forever
@fashionbatman thanks! I'm very happy with how it turned out given how much time I effectively had.
@dina thanks for playing! Do you mean there wasn't enough variation? If so, yes, I would have liked to put in more, but I wasn't able to spend more time on it.
@lmb thanks for playing! I would really have liked to make it a bit more varied, with more different ways to get the story bits, more personality for the npcs, ... but yes, I really got tired fairly early both days (not that I can guarantee I would have done better otherwise,of course)
@deathstorm Thanks for playing this on your stream!
Really interesting and fresh take on the theme! This was a really cute and effective way of doing the storytelling, but you managed to keep everything easy to manage and understand by giving enough structure and guidance, and keeping the size limited. That's important especially for this genre where it's easy to feel lost when faced with a text parser. Really nicely done!
I just have one question, because it wasn't quite clear from the game: _what did you think of the theme?_
fnkee
2019-05-04 15:57
The Mayor never bought me a drink! Loved this little text-based adventure, and especially how amazed everyone were by the otherwise magnificent stories. Great job on this, it really took me back.
@baby-dino-herd sorry, I'm not going to comment on the theme here :) Thanks for the nice words!
@fnkee that's mayors for you! Thanks for playing it.
jlv
2019-05-08 23:34
I love seeing narrative games in Ludum Dare ! Interactive fiction can often be disorienting for uninitiated people, but you managed to keep your game really accessible.
Pros : - Easy navigation : the structure of the game is clear - Minimal, fun gameplay - The few story tidbits make you want to finish the game - The help menu !
Cons : - Some dialogues are a bit cumbersome (train dialogue vs going to work)
Overall, great job !
I've never played a text adventure game, just saw a few old ones of the 8-bit era. i think it's a very interesting and cool concept. The stories are funny, but it took me too long to realize that i also can examine the persons :D Good job
@jlv thanks for the detailed comments! The dialogues were meant to be entirely uninteresting, but maybe I overdid it...
@philipprapp95 thanks for playing! Yes, examining the npcs seems to be one of the main things people get stuck on. I did mention it in the intro and in the help, but I guess it wasn't clear enough.
Finally a text adventure I managed to finish :) Had a grand old time with all the references, thank you so much! https://youtu.be/lVCsQbSi-js