Companion

by roburky
Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.63
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.35
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.95
Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.83
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.68
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.07
Humor★★★★★★★★★★1.69
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.11
Community★★★★★★★★★★1.43
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★24%
Arrow keys or WASD to move

There is no goal.
Other than maybe finding a purpose in life. Or at least someone to share it with.

-----

I tend to work by thinking up some kind of interesting interaction first, and only thinking about a challenge or goal to go with it later on. This is very definitely still in the stage of experimenting with interaction.

I do kind of like what I had here, but it does need a lot more feedback for the player to tell what's going on - when you've died, what the companion is doing, and so on. And ultimately, it needs some kind of direction or purpose.

Comments8

FrankieSmileShow20 Dec 2011, 01:10
VERY cool! I love how you interact with the little cube, it seems to have a lot of personality. Is it me or the little square cuddles up with you for a while if it takes damage? I wonder how much of it is intended and how much is just me making it up! All in all, very cool feel to it. Its too bad it doesnt have a goal, Id probably be playing it much longer.
Jilius20 Dec 2011, 18:26
The game would be really good if there were any objectives (which i can see a lot with this), but just wandering around doing nothing just doesn't cut out for me :\.
A restart button (dunno if there's any) after you "die" would be nice too.
The graphics looked nice and fitted the mood.
Aaron21 Dec 2011, 00:50
I really liked this. It had personality and mood in bundles, and I'm glad you experimented.

I think just a bit more feedback/suggested meaning would have gone a long way. I didn't know that I died (or could die), so I was staring confused at my screen for a good 5 seconds. The cube doesn't rotate to movement, making it a bit static until it finally interacts with something--not sure whether that was intentional. And I got into the experience, and definitely enjoyed it, but it didn't really pop because maybe I'm just not somebody who naturally self-imposes stories/meanings to visual interactions. Something more--like tiny hearts that popped up when you're nearby a cube (or maybe that's too bold)--would have really helped me out.

All in all though, pretty awesome experience.
roBurky
roBurkyauthor21 Dec 2011, 01:55
Aaron: Those are all very good criticisms, that I agree with. Dying needs more feedback. The static starting rotation looks a bit weird. It needs some kind of purpose or goal at least as a background to you goofing off playing with the little cube.

FrankieSmileShow: You're not imagining things. :)

Jilius: Yeah, a restart button would have been a good idea.

Thanks for playing and leaving comments, everyone.
Stavu
Stavu21 Dec 2011, 15:06
I think it's a beautiful game. I absolutely loved it. Personally I was happy just to play around with the little cube, and after a while I got so attached to it that I was willing to defend it with my own cube's life. So personally, I didn't feel like I needed a purpose. What I do think is that there should be a bigger variety of creatures and objects to interact with - things that will make this abstract world more explorable and playful for me and my baby cube. Also, I love the art, though I think the game could benefit from some music or background sounds.
Amazing job :)
kato9
kato921 Dec 2011, 17:42
Nice visuals and feeling to it. Seems like it could serve as the basis for a more complete game.
Saxon Douglass
Saxon Douglass23 Dec 2011, 02:54
I love the graphics and interactions... I hope you keep working on this!
matthias_zarzecki1 Jan 2012, 13:52
Love the companion-cube.

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