Gerald

yeahjey 2022-04-05 08:09

You should've written controls at least on the game page, it took the half of the first day to understand them. I also didn't find an option to sell the crops I've harvested or to do anything with them, in fact. Also there were minor UI bugs: a "Go to store" message stuck on a screen and unclosable inventory with lots of empty slots. If not for everything forementioned, the game would've given the feeling of the inevitable really well. Fixing these problems and adding things for a more comfortable playthrough is a way to make this game really worthwhile.

michaell 2022-04-05 11:17

@YeahJey Thanks so much!

I definitely goofed a bit on the build haha published it minutes before the deadline and forgot to reset some of the scriptable objects, I made a tiny little touch up to fixed that and added controls to the opening text and in the description!

Also yes, I didn't have time to implement selling of items but that was never the main intent for the game, if you have grown and edible items in your inventory at the end of the day then you'll get bonus dialog before going to sleep, as well as an alternate ending if you manage to grow a special item.

Again, thank you so much for the review!!

timetravelhamster 2022-04-05 14:52

Base is strong maybe don't give up and try to make it feel better, that way you will learn for future jams.

ftl-sloth 2022-04-08 00:07

Very interesting, i liked the sparse visuals added to the theme. The game was simple but it was an interesting experience. I didn't find a way to sell crops, so not sure how that would have effected the ending, a control tutorial splash page would have been a great addition.

dob 2022-04-08 07:51

Really neat art and music, and a fun laid-back atmosphere. Once I went to the store, I could not for the life of me get the shop menu (seeds with prices) to go away, and it kept coming back again and again, which meant my ability to do anything else was very limited.

reeceyboi 2022-04-10 01:41

This was really cool! I haven't seen a game try to do a super serious take on the theme yet, which is surprising given that it's a rather existential theme. Love the name Gerald, and how slow he is because he's old, and how that works with the pacing/timer in the game really well anyway.

There's lots of improvement that could be made but that's mostly just polish stuff that doesn't need to be in a jam anyway. There was only two things that got in my way and annoyed me: (1) z & enter were supposed to do the same thing, but there was at least one spot where enter didn't work but z did, and that made me want to press both on everything. (2) At the start of the game the timer was already going down while I was trying to read and still making sense of what's going on, made me feel really rushed to read through it but I also wanted to make sure I got everything so I'd be able to keep playing properly without missing anything.

Cool game anyways, RIP Gerald :(

skyeward 2022-04-11 01:46

Genuinely affecting, and well done for knocking it out in 18 hours. Games like this are carried by the little details, loved Gerald's musings, being able to gaze out of the window, and just this little look into something you don't often think about. Well done :)

slecornu 2022-04-12 20:55

I like the art style and great use of the inventory system, my only problem is that the character moves too slow for m. I'm quite and impatient person haha.