Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD54 → Single Circle
By kanity
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 623 | 3.51 | 63 | |
| Fun | 725 | 3.22 | 61 | |
| Innovation | 785 | 3.07 | 61 | |
| Theme | 600 | 3.59 | 62 | |
| Graphics | 565 | 3.62 | 62 | |
| Audio | 540 | 3.17 | 62 | |
| Humor | 535 | 2.96 | 53 | |
| Mood | 158 | 4.03 | 60 |
Very sweet and cute, It reminds me of picking up a favorite book from ones childhood. It has a very dreamlike quality to the plot, good work :) the audio was nice, but I did miss some longer periods of rest or something to kindda contrast the rest of the song.
@nullval thank you, that is such nice feedback, I am happy to know athmosphere delivers as I hoped ^^ And also thanks for your comment on the music, I will note this!
Game is cute, love the little drawings. However, the game felt strangly linear to me, so I was pretty suprised with the multiple endings. Guess I musta missed a few of the key decisions.
I really enjoyed this! Great writing and visuals. I found it immersive, dreamy, and made me nostalgic for picture books. Side note: I'll actually play it again with my 8 month old baby when she wakes up :) well done!!
It was a sweet story. Very cool to see the creatures you came up with. I like that you click the words to interact with the story instead of pressing normal buttons. A good mix of unsettling (claustrophobia in a foreign land) and adventurously whimsical.
Super cute! I got the unfulfilled normal ending T_T definitely going to try again to get another ending! I was hoping to see more text effects like the "alone" that faded out when you hovered your mouse over it. Maybe there's more in other branches? Great job!
My first ending was the 5 and probably was my favorite, I like your theme use, normally i don't like the story based themes, but in this case I can feel the limited space in the limited actions from the character and have a good mood and theme use.
I like a lot the diary pages images.
Simple, but funny story, I like it! Take a candy :candy:
Adorable writing, gorgeous art. One thing that left me confused was I could choose whether to take snacks, scissors or sloth, but regardless of my choice, all three came into play anyway. But that's just me being nitpicky. Such a meditative game to play, great work!
@jellybeanmill thank you :) I think in general it is kinda linear as you have set interactions, it's just interactions change based on what item you took, and also the choices you make impact a hidden stat (insanity) that also contributes to the ending you get ^^
@simbishy thank you, this is such a sweet feedback!! I am glad the atmosphere delivered ^^ I wonder if your baby liked it hehe :)
@axelrod777 thank you, I really love how you described the atmosphere, this is exactly what I was hoping to achieve ^^
@donutshoes thank you! let me know if you try it again :) you can always check the tips in "how to play" and "questions" sections from the main menu or check the Walthrough pdf ^^ also it's pretty easy to try another choice, just use Back button in your browser :) it was my first time ever working with Twine so I didn't have enough time to research all the options :( maybe in time I can find more ways to make text more interactive, I used this disappearing effect in just a few other places and it would be so nice to make it the other way around (so it actually appears only when you hover your mouse over it) and maybe some other stuff ^^
@hagamosvideojuegos thank you for the candy hehe <3 I am glad you liked the ending you got! And thank you for appreciating the journal pages, many drawings from them are actually taken from my "working the concept out" part of the process, I photographed my journal and edited the pages on laptop ^^
@hyper-ion thank you, that's very sweet ^^ I am a bit concerned now when you said all three items came into play because if you took for example only the sloth, the snacks and scissors should not appear in that playthrough, same with other items. I tested it several times but maybe I missed something?
really cute story and graphics! enjoyed the dreamy music as well. :)
love the graphics!! take me into that story and truly immersive. Lovely!
What a charming and relaxing game. I am usually a bit hesitant about text based games, but this one was really nice and had a very pleasant flow. The art was the perfect touch, adding whimsical touch that I thoroughly enjoyed. Its really nice that you added all the endings as well, greatly increasing the replayability!
Wonderful graphics and music, constructing a mysterious deep-sea world. Fantastic storytelling that is both calming and sparks imagination. I especially loved the part about writing poetry; it felt like a summoning ritual.
Welcome to play our game and please leave a comment!(〃'▽'〃)
The music is soft, but I don't think it suits the deep ocean atmosphere. I would expect more atmospheric music to give more ambiance. Some deep ocean and deep water sounds would help with the mood. The art is cute, in a personal style, but I had difficulty visualizing it, it didn't seem very clear. And the plot I found very linear, I didn't really see interesting plot options. I found it very monotonous, but at the same time original. I wish I had appreciated it more. Despite understanding that he would be trapped in a small space diving, I didn't feel that in the game. So I don't know if it's appropriate for the topic. But anyway, I liked seeing the possibilities of the narrative game, I just think it wasn't well explored.
Holy frick the art is ridicoulosly amazing. And i loved the writing as well, very well done.
AHHHHHHHHHH I love it it's so cute and presents such a positive outlook on the world while hinting at impending disaster and a much wider world both on the surface and in the player character's head and in, of course, the underwater. The Tiny Tinies and Queen are my favorite <3. The only ending I haven't gotten is the lost marbles ending, which I'm pretty sure has something to do with sanity but I can't seem to make myself go insane >.<").
I can't believe you finished this in 72 hours with audio and ALL the drawings and a very cute story! I tried to learn twine over the weekend and flailed but have been reinvigorated to try again. <3 Thank you!
Cute game, it's really immersive ! Tiny Tinies rules !
I liked it but i though it was a tad to linear maybe ? Good job though
edit: got ending 2 and 4
@takhomasac thank you, I am glad you liked the music ^^
@Dijkstra thanks!! so happy to hear praise for the graphics <3
@Ivan B. thank you for such a sweet review, I am glad you enjoyed the game ^^
@Fiora The Purple thank you, and I am happy you appreciated the poetry mini-game, I am really proud of it ^^
@Lincolnsalles thank you for such a thought out comment! Music is the hardest part for me as I don't have an ear for music, so as long as it's pleasing and not grating, I am happy xD Thank you for the recommendation on the sounds though, that is a great idea! The story overall is kinda linear but the experience differs based on your choices :) I spent all three days of the jam on it and a full day just drawing non-stop so I don't think I would have time to add any branches ^^' The limited space theme comes in two parts: the premise (confined to a bathyscaph) and how you see the world (only through the hole, so you can only see parts of it as space is limited). I totally understand it's impossible for everyone to enjoy the same game, we all have our preferences ^^ Thanks for giving it a try though! :)
@GreenPig Wow thank you for such high praise on art! ^^ I think yours looks cute as well :)
@addaellis ahhh such a kind review, thank you!! I love Tiny Tinies as well, they just be chillin ^^ You can get Lost Marbles by choosing any items other than the sloth (preferrably scissors) because sloth boosts your sanity, then choosing the most insane/boring options during interludes, and finally "do nothing" in the final choice! I put the video on my youtube channel as well so you can just click on the time code of this ending and look through it if you are curious :3 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrWmKdF11KI&t=459s) Loved your game as well, I think you did a fantastic job! I definitely put all these three days into working on the game, didn't do anything else, maybe ate once or twice lol but that's it. Spent a whole day just drawing :')
@Magic_mike thanks! Tiny Tinies are super chill ^^ the outline of the game, like the encounters and everything is kinda linear, the difference is in the experience (the choices you make), the item you take (some events only happen with certain items) and in the hidden stat of insanity that you are raising by making "insanity" choices. This is a complete story but you can influence what happens in it :)
I really liked the world that you created! The colours on each of the sea creatures were so cool. The game felt really chill and friendly until I got stabbed for holding scissors haha. I played again to get the true normal ending though.
Very creative, super nice story, easy to play and a great experience. Fun game, nice job!
Interesting story game, feels cute in some sections and tense in others. I got the 3rd ending on my first playthrough, skipped the poem there by on my 2nd playthrough wrote this:
_The time is flowing like a stream Seastars are blinking back at me Yet there’s nothing I can do And ocean deep is precious blue._
...and happened to get the True Normal Ending somehow :sweat_smile: Thanks for the game and congrats on submission!
First of all, congratulations on playing the entire game alone. Here is my poem: It’s still and dark, like outer space My heart feels different today The dwellers swim beyond the glass The eyes do follow me.
I got ending 3, and I don't know if it's because of the music, the colors, or the story, but I had the feeling of having taken drugs. The game is peaceful, poetic and really immerses us in an atmosphere. The music may be too repetitive.
@kanity !! Thank you for the youtube link! I love how you explain intentions and references and go into greater detail about how things happen in the narrative. It was incredibly insightful to hear you narrate the story and then talk through the game and art and your design process!! <333333
Nice idea. I got the first ending. Art was interesting, only thing I would change for this is to make the UI more "gamey", felt like I was browsing a page from the 2000s, especially with the music :sweat_smile: .
@boxedmeatrevolution lol xD yeah scissors are bit tricky as they give you the bad ending but also give you a GIF from ray-ladies-in-waiting if you use them there :) I am glad you liked the world! And congrats on reaching the true ending <3
@t-c Thank you ^_^
@zanagi beautiful poem, I love this combination :3 I am happy you tried for a few endings and you got my fav one, the 3rd <3 and the true one, that's lucky! ^^ and, thank you! :)
@meinewn thank you! great poem combination, very atmospheric ^^ and that part of your comment about drugs - is probably the best feedback I could hope to get tbh xD nothing can beat this :)) and I'll note about the music, thanks!
@addaellis oh gosh I am happy to hear you liked the video! I really enjoyed making it and glad to know it is appreciated ^^ I think I forgot to mention in the video that throughout the development proccess I also found inspiration in David Bowie's song Space Oddity ^^
@devez thank you ^^ 1st ending is one of my favourites, chill and safe :) tbh your comparison with page from 2000s made me kinda happy because I like these vibes as they make me feel nostalgic xD but maybe in the future when I get more experience with coding/programming I will be able to make more elaborate UIs :)
This is so cool! It feels like so much content is here, like it could branch even though it doesn't, really. So many pictures and they're all good. Good music. I can't believe how much work this must have been. And the entire time I couldn't wait to see what came next. Thanks so much!
Loved the game! Really felt like I was the character. I think it would be cool for it to save images from a diff run in its own caterogy, but thats a minor thing. Overall Really solid!
@jason-shapiro yeah I didn't really have time to make branches, so it's more about customizing your experience in this limited space, so to say :) And yeah, I did spent a looot of time drawing ^^" glad you liked the pictures :) Thank you!
@teejio thank you! even on CGs I tried to make character more neutral so it would be easier to associate, so I am glad to hear this kind of feedback :) If you mean a Gallery - I didn't have time to figure out if it's possible to save all the images and make them stay in the gallery, as the variables are activated when you get the image, and when you go back/start over the variable becomes false again :(
Hello, this game is the kind where it's the same route but different choices let to different details. It has the inconvenient to quickly seem repetitive, but it can be a choice. Different images for different branches gives the impression of agency, and a single path is more "etched in stone", which in not uncompatible with the overall move.
But it would have been nice to have images to distinguish endings apart other than the "end picture", and maybe it would have been preferable to have less images in the main route. It's a colourful succession of creatures, but unfortunately you only pay attention to them at the first run, and then you tend to skip, especially when they have no choice attached to them (for example the artist jellyfish). I wonder if you planned different interactions but didn't have the time to implement them all? Well, overall, it would have been more impactful to have less creatures and more alternative states of a same creature, to better mark a different choice instead of indicating in text-only (for example I did not immediately notice that the final choice with the queen was different when you are not insane).
The music is nice. Sure, it does not really convey a "deep and mysterious ocean" impression, but it's whimsical and sweet (like an "Under the sea" but calmer), which is appropriate to the fairy-tale-like creatures. However, I was bothered by how it never changes. For this game, it's less a problem compared to others since you never depart from the dreamy mood, but maybe it would have been better to have a different tune for the end?
When you make a short game with alternative routes, it's important to keep in mind that people are going to replay it with less attention to what they have already seen (or believe to have already seen).
And other thing to avoid a repetitive sensation: the insanity has an impact on the story, so let the player knows something is happening when they pick this kind of option. Not by a ugly score, of course, but by small hints, maybe the screen going darker or vivid colours speckeling. (I write all of it but I'm not even sure if you can do this in Twine).
About the theme: it's interesting to have the small bathyscaph with a small window, but I think it could have been more claustrophobic. Maybe by keeping the image small because to me it seems really big for a small circle? And with how the content was displayed (fully), I did not have the feeling of "you are limited in your view". There was the Big Eye scene, sure, butfor the guard you I'm not sure you should be able to examine details like that.
Small detail, but about the written observations. I had too much the sensation of you the creator making the pages for your game, and less of a scientist writing sciencey information. This kind of additional documents are meant to enhance the immersion, not to break you from it.
To conclude, you hinted well the state of the surface world. Strangely you learn more that than whatever is going on with how why the heirloom, not that it's a problem.
Quite the different experience from most games on the jam. It brought up memories about playing old text based games, but with added descriptive drawings to it. Very awesome style to it and it worked well with the music to create a mysterious mood to the game. On the UI/game grip, perhaps when hovering over "items" it could just show what it is as a small tooltip, instead of clicking and then "back again. Otherwise was quite the nice journey, well done! :thumbsup:
I've been looking for some other text-based games in this jam (since my entry is also text-based) - this is the first one I've come across, so really nice to see. I'm really very impressed with how much you managed to write AND draw in the time you had - I've just learnt that writing an entire dialogue tree in three days is a lot more work than you might think! (And don't get me started on visuals, I can't do art to save my soul but your game is fully illustrated!)
Actually, my only criticism (and it's a minor nitpicky one, nothing serious) is on the music - I agree with some of @lincolnsalles comments, the music feels a bit too upbeat and doesn't quite evoke as much of a sense of mystery and wonder as you might expect for the atmosphere of the story.
Overall very impressive and absolutely looking forward to seeing what else you do in the future.
Very cute, I liked the music (though as others have said, needs a bit more of a lead out silence before looping, just a minor thing though) and the graphics, they both really gave the game a cozy vibe. I hope you don't mind me saying, but I thought the game felt more like the adventures of a young child's imagination of what it's like to be in a submersible rather than like I was actually in one, but regardless of interpretation it fits the theme very strongly and has a wonderful mood.
I think my only gripe with your story was noticing that my starting choice put me on an ending track, when I made it without having more context about the rest of the game. While I picked the sloth the first time and enjoyed the image of holding onto it looking out the porthole as the hints of the invisible sanity system loomed around me (and I ended up with Ending 3). The second time, playing with a friend to show them the game, we picked snacks as our first option and then ended up with Ending 6. Calling it Normal felt a bit deflating, and it felt like an inferior ending despite the cute scene exchanging food with the tinies. While both playthroughs were enjoyable and different in what other choices we made along the way, it still felt as though the biggest choice I made was in the beginning. Maybe it's just the emphasis of your game on having and displaying different endings, though, and how that's a double edged sword of both inviting replayability and showing players the extent to which different choices do or don't matter in the end. If I didn't know there were 6 (and a half) endings, but just that it was a "choices matter" game, I might not have seen or minded the importance of starting item so much. As it was though, I got a sense of how most or all the endings would play out after just two, which may have defeated the point of having six.
That's really my only issue with the game though, sorry for a long paragraph about it, I think I was still trying to figure it out in my head as I wrote it :sweat_smile: . As I say, it was very cute and enjoyable to play.
(And I've never specifically asked someone to play my game before, but as a fellow Twine developer, I'd be honored if you'd give my game a play :pray: . It's nowhere near as polished in terms of graphics and sound, but has a slightly longer story with more small choice branches, though still some big ones too. And if not, I understand, it feels weird to ask, but I'd really appreciate hearing the thoughts of another Twine dev.)
This was a lot of fun! The story was very intruiging and all the decisions felt meaningfull. It really felt like there was a whole world down there, even if we did not get to see all of it. A lot of the world building was mysterious and vague, which to me made it feel like there was a lot of depth (pun intended :P) to the story.
The art was also beautiful and fitted really nicely with the atmosphere of the story. The music was great too, but got a little repetitive for me after a while. First time I got the safe ending, but I feel that one did not really count XD Second time I got the normal ending, so I guess my choices were not terrible. I really do wonder what those gemstones meant though.
All in all you made a really beautiful experience with this game! Really well done! I enjoyed it a lot :D
@aaln Thank you so much for such a thorough and thoughtful comment! I have received a lot of comments about the linearity of the game. As you said correctly, I only had time to implement as much as I did, as I worked through whole 3 days on this game and it was my first time using Twine, so I was a bit overwhelmed even with the amount I did; however, I have to say I spent one whole day of three solely on drawing and it did take a lot of time; initially I wanted to make GIFs of creatures flowing by/moving but only had time for one very simplified GIF of dancing sting rays.
To be honest, I actually expected people to only play through the game once, and simply wanted the experience for everyone to be a bit more unique; seems like I was very wrong! I think because of the amount of endings I created the expectation of bigger replayability and more branches while it is, in fact, mostly different for only 2 runs through making different choices; but if I get back to working on this game or create a new one similar to this, I will keep all this feedback in mind.
I am very happy to hear that music is enjoyable as I don't have an ear for music and it's hard for me to judge myself if it is even pleasant to listen to. It is a good idea to make a different track for the end, but overall I will definitely note that music becomes repetitive.
I am not sure if I can make visual effects in Twine, but thank you for that idea about showing insanity growing, I will think on it and on the ways to show it to the player. It won't be hard to change the size of the circle, of course, but I assume you mean the way we see the creatures whole- I will take this into account, maybe the presentation could be changed somewhat.
And on the journal: you are unfortunately right, I thought it would be fun to use my pages from the design/creating concept proccess for the journal; I rearranged the pictures and added a few new details but it seems it wasn't enough to hide the true identity of these pages :) It was kinda a last minute idea, to be honest; maybe I will try to redo it in the future.
I did try to add some hints for the heirloom, but maybe it was too vague. In short, the idea is that all creatures came from the ocean initially, and in ancient times there were still ties not severed; so this heirloom is very very old and was in scientist's family for generations; it shows their connection to the underwater world, and it showed to the Queen that it is her "child"; it was also implied the initial heirloom also came from a forehead of a Seastar like that. The scientist learned about the Queen after touching her gem, and earned their ancestor's blessing; I added a few hints on scientist's interest in cosmos as well, and so with this blessing, we can assume, our main character is going to go explore the Space next. They wanted to run away from their life, from the horrible state of earth, and they got the blessing from their past to go forward into the future.
I don't like stating things outright as I want a player to decide/imagine things for themselves, to have their own interpretation, but maybe I left it a bit too mysterious here? ^^''
@svenerik I'll take a "different experience" as a compliment :) I am glad you liked it! I'd love to show info about the items right on the page where they are mentioned, I will definitely look more into twine guides to figure out how to do this ^^
@destroyertech I think I did come across a few text-based ones! I will check yours out as well :) And it's so nice to see a person who knows how long it takes to do this stuff! Especially drawing, yeah, it takes a looot of time, I'd say with all my projects drawing takes a HUGE chunk of time. It's curious to see some players think the music is "upbeat" because for me it is not (I actually called this track "calming" when I created it ^^'') but I don't have an ear for music at all so it's the hardest part for me in game-making >_<
@oter Thank you! ^^ I don't mind it felt more childish, as I do enjoy childrens' books a lot, so it doesn't feel like a con for me. And I didn't have much time to research more realistic stuff about bathyscaphs unfortunately so yeah it is just my imagination (only I am 30 not 3 lol). I am glad you liked the atmosphere nonetheless! However, about the items - I'd say only the Sloth sets you up with a specific ending, and even then, if you get your insanity high, you will be left with 2 insane ending options, so taking the Sloth initially, you still can get 3 different endings (plus a bonus if you give your gem to seastar). Of course, Sloth gives you leeway with insanity, but you can still get insane by choosing all the "insane" options. Other items don't really impact the endings at all (if we count the Death ending, yes it can be received only with Scissors, but you can just not use them and go forward until the actual endings). They simply give you more interactions with the dwellers. You can check the Walkthrough for more information on what impacts the ending you get ^^ And the long paragraph is totally OK, ofc I am happy to see more feedback on the game! :) And it's so sweet you showed my game to your friend, it makes me feel happy as well ^^ And ofc I'll check out your game, I actually play the games of everyone who comments on mine lol xD just can be not right away as I have lots of work ~_~
@wuppos Thank you! I am glad you had fun, that's the most important part :) And happy to know you enjoyed the vagueness and the art ^^
I did answer about gemstones in another comment, so if you'll excuse me, I'll just copy that part: "I did try to add some hints for the heirloom, but maybe it was too vague. In short, the idea is that all creatures came from the ocean initially, and in ancient times there were still ties not severed; so this heirloom is very very old and was in scientist’s family for generations; it shows their connection to the underwater world, and it showed to the Queen that it is her “child”; it was also implied the initial heirloom also came from a forehead of a Seastar like that. The scientist learned about the Queen after touching her gem, and earned their ancestor’s blessing; I added a few hints on scientist’s interest in cosmos as well, and so with this blessing, we can assume, our main character is going to go explore the Space next. They wanted to run away from their life, from the horrible state of earth, and they got the blessing from their past to go forward into the future."
Interesting choice of game. This is the first text adventure I've gone on in Ludum Dare. Great job with the art.
i thought the sloth i brought with me was a real one, i was so sad when i read "plush sloth toy" hahaha
i got the stowaway ending on my first run!
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this game was peaceful and eerie at the same time. your writing is good, and the art is really original (one of the most original i've seen this jam. sometimes i was wondering if you used only digital painting or also watercolor).
the succession of creatures coming at my window was really cool, but i felt like i hadn't that many choices to make. i know it would have take way more longer for you to make it, but if there were like 2x more choices, i'd have more the impression of personification than now, where i was feeling a bit more passive sometimes. however, little things like the journal illustrations or the combinatory poem were keeping me inside your story so that's cool!
Great and cute art and story. One of the "moodiest" entry I played!
It felt a bit too linear. At times it felt more like a novel than a game. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, as non-linear text based games tend to be too short.
Very easy to describe:
:heart:
No other comment.
@jeremy-klassen thank you ^^
@amarokczukay haha sorry yeah that's only a plushie xD probably real sloth wouldn't appreciate this kinda trip though :) I am glad you got my favourite ending! and thank you so much for the compliments, the art is fully digital (except for the journal pages which are photos of my album drawings by hand (pen)) but I used textured brush for the creatures' bodies and did lineart with dots to make them look more unique/otherworldly ^^ Glad you liked the writing and atmosphere as well! <3 I see a lot of comments about linearity, as I understood it mostly people expected a few completely different branches. It's interesting you see it more as a lack of choices, I'll note that as well. thank you! :)
@thetatautau yeah, if I did multiple branches, it would for sure be shorter, and I wouldn't maybe be able to tell the story I wanted to the end. I think it is more like an interactive story, like a visual novel, but I will note all the comments talking about linearity :) thank you for your feedback! :3
@xparker ^^
Very nice artistic game. I loved the little creatures' and the overall art-style. I'm Glad that I stuck around, and not quit when I saw that this is a text-based game. Clever use of the text, I like that you need to read it through, and click on the highlighted words. IT WAS REALLY PRETTY, and cutesy, and to think that it was done by a single person is impressive on it's own. I had fun, and my favourite was the stowaway one :D. kép_2023-10-11_130959150.png
great art style!
Super cute game you made for this jam! The music, albeit minimal, really fits the atmosphere of the game, just like your dreamlike illustrations of the sea creatures. I think the journal was my favorite moment!
That was nice! I like the artstyle, and the writing was nice too -- it felt like there was quite a lot of branching available. I got ending 3 :). I love that I got to take a sloth with me, haha.
An interesting novel. Great job.
Such a cute game! I'm not a fan of this kind of games but I liked this one, only the music was a little annoying, the rest was great))
I quite enjoyed the game. The art is very nice and creates a mysterious, underwater mood effectively. It feels like I do have influence on the story, which is what one looks for in a visual novel (otherwise, it feels more like a book than a game). I don't really have any improvement suggestions - it's a cool jam piece. Very nicely done!
Apparently, I'm a danger to society (my husband says he always knew it :grin:)
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And here is my poem:
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@prutty thank you, I am glad you gave my game a try even if you don't like text games ^^ Happy to hear you love the art, I put a lot of time and effort into it! and 3rd ending is my fav also <3
@qzg thank you ^^
@saskle thank you, I am glad you liked the journal! it was a last-moment idea and I was hoping it will make the experience a bit more diverse :)
@tygrak thank you, that's very sweet ^^
@fatemperor thanks!
@didiiii thanks, I will note about the music :)
@fabula-rasa thank you, I am glad you enjoyed the game! ^_^ hehe, you can take that danger to society part as a compliment, I am sure :) And thank you for sharing your poem, it is beautiful :3
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Aww what a cute charming game!! Really made me appreciate Twine more as a story telling tool, hadn't played a game made with it before and it's very cool how such simple mechanics can still immerse you in a world. The story feels like one of those surreal childrens' books someone would have read to you when you were a kid, from which you would remember few but very specific details, not knowing if it was a real book or if you imagined it. I wasn't a big fan of the music, but I really liked the art style and writing style. Really clever use of the theme, to utilize a submarine's window as a limited space through which you see the world, small glimpses into a completely different reality that you can't really interact with outside of your own imagination. Really adorable and clever!
I got the true normal ending, the "not volunteer" ending, and the "go insane" ending and I loved that one in particular because I didn't see it coming JKDSKJDS. I could have gotten more but it's a pretty long game to replay.
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Anyway, here are my drawings, I made 2 because could not choose between the serious artist jellyfish with eyes, and the starfish queen, they both slay.
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@fupi oh my gosh, these drawings are so cute!!! I like the Star even better than my version xD she looks so happy and energetic :) thank you so much, I love this!! <3 and thanks for sharing your poem as well ^^ I am glad you enjoyed the game, and yeah, music is definitely my weakest side :") and hehe I am happy you liked the insane ending, some comments said they'd hoped the insanity stat was visible, but I kinda like it being hidden & more of a surprise... and I totally understand, it would take quite a bit of time to get all the endings! That's also why I recorded a video with timestamps so ppl can check out other endings if they are just curious ^^ But I am happy to hear you replayed it yourself to see another outcome, hope it was fun! :) thank you for playing <3 and thank you again for that beautiful fanart! :3
@kanity Wow that's a lot of smilies KDKSKD. You've got the skill, music is just a matter of practice, just like everything else. Keep doing what you do!! Hope to see you next jam ^^
@fupi haha yeah I like smilies x) thank you, and excited to see you next jam as well ^^
That was a very enjoyable entry. Normally I do not like reading as much but this game made it very easy. The presentation was very good and made it easy to focus for me. The encounters combined with the small minigames really made sure time passed as if it was nothing. I even liked the poem the game wrote for me: > The time is flowing like a stream > I see the promise of unknown > Yet there’s nothing I can do > And ocean deep is precious blue.
The last line reminded me of a line by Mikhail Lermontov: 'Earth sleeps in the radiant blue…'. A good submission, well done!
@hare-software thank you, I am glad you enjoyed the game even though you are not a fan of reading! I did mostly keep each block of text short, because I think nobody wants to just see a wall of text in the game ^^'' And I am happy to hear that mini-games did add a bit of variety as I hoped; and you constructed a wonderful poem, these lines do go together perfectly ^^ And thank you for reminding me of one of the beautiful poems of Lermontov, I reread it after seeing your comment :) Such a nice feeling to know my lines reminded you of this ^^
A really poignant story about interacting with otherworldly creatures. I don't consider this a horror story, it's more like a slice-of-life modern fantasy story.
@moonlightbomber thank you ^^ I agree, it's not scary really so it's not a horror game :)
*The time is flowing like a stream, my heart feels different today, yet there’s nothing I can do; the water drowns all the thoughts.*
Very atmospheric game with very pretty art! c: Not quite sure what to make of some of what I read and saw! But it's impressive how much you were able to fit in and I like how the format varies with regular text, galleries and so on. Interesting how what I expected to be some relaxing journey expressed a fair amount of anxiety, also in the slightly discordant music. The poems definitely add to that. The different paths are cool. Poor speckle being put in a tiny bowl instead of back into the sea tho :(((
@ava-skoog thank you for playing and sharing your poem, I hope you enjoyed the game, and I am glad to know you like the atmosphere ^^ I totally understand your feelings about Speckle, the thing is here it's kinda showing the other way around - you, a human, went into a small "aquarium" to his world, and now he comes back to experience yours in his own little sphere. The game implies Speckle is very sentient and your character will try to find ways to communicate with them, so I assume when they do, if Speckle expresses desire for going back to sea floor/bigger aquarium/travel, it will be satisfied ^^
> It’s still and dark, like outer space
> I see the promise of unknown
> Yet there’s nothing I can do
> One step will lead me through.
@thebooksnail thank you for sharing your poem! <3 It turned out beautifully and lines work great together; also that's the first time I see this last line being used, it makes me happy :)
@kanity: Ohh, somehow that parallel went over my head, that's interesting!