Journey to solve a series of visions. Use the mouse to play.
This game is abstract. There is a way to complete all 18 levels, but you will have to experiment to figure out how. The level titles are hints.
Post-Compo Version - Please just rate the original version Adds extra hints, increases player and object speeds, switches the first level with an easier one, and some graphic changes. Try it out if you'd like, it is more user friendly. Now updated with easier object movement, a hint button, and some more graphic changes.
Thanks for the feedback, Nerlin! I agree, I need to work on how to give more hints and feedback to the player. 10 seconds should be plenty for some levels and just enough for others, but maybe a little too close.
lordjosephdeburg you need to move the rock to the right on the other side of the pond. The idea is that it blocks the wind from making the water ripples.
This is a pretty neat game, though I felt like the theme was working against you - I wish I had more time to figure things out. I liked the abstract nature of the game, but felt like it was a double edged sword because it could become frustrating at times. Still, not bad work!
Very atmospheric, experimental game. I sort of liked it, but it got a little frustrating when I couldn't figure out what to do. The controls didn't really help... it's not totally clear when you can push objects and when you can't.
I thought the game is almost under a sort of guise, like it's almost trying a bit too hard to be something it's not. That something I would think it's trying to be is cerebral, meaningful, maybe enlightening. But it doesn't really hit any of those marks properly to me.
Here's where I think the game took a bit of an odd route for how you labeled it. It essentially boils down to similar issues some point and click games tend to have, and that issue is completely relying on player trial and error to solve the puzzles the game presents. Now the game is supposed to be abstract, but I think in reality it's pretty far from that. The gameplay isn't very abstract at all, it has very concrete ways of solving the puzzles and there's no other way to go about it. Dressing up the game with surreal art doesn't make the game itself abstract.
Now, all that picky word selection stuff aside, the game just isn't ultimately very rewarding as an experience. There's either a very obvious solution or there isn't. And when there isn't an obvious solution it quickly becomes a frustrating affair figuring out what to do.
As a plus though the art and music weren't bad and provided the nice sort of surreal/ambient thing I think you were going for. My main suggestion is trying to get the way you play the game similar to the way you experience the other parts of the experience. Best of luck to you in your future projects!
Thanks for all the comments! I have created a post-compo version of the game which adds extra hints, increases player and object speeds, switches the first level with an easier one, and some graphic changes. Try it out if you'd like, it is more user friendly.
hogjed, I certainly see what you mean about it not hitting the marks properly. It was supposed to be like dreams that require some interpretation, or a recurring dream that you do differently each time and finally "solve". The titles were hints but ultimately too vague to help as much as I thought.
I understand that the gameplay isn't abstract in that there is a definite solution to the puzzle. It was supposed to be abstract in that you have to think about what you are seeing in a somewhat abstract way to solve the puzzle. For example, you see closed flowers and a moon, and the level is titled "Bloom". You might first think to click on the flowers to make them bloom or try moving the moon to touch the flowers, but you in fact have to raise the moon because the flowers bloom at the moon's rise. In the post-compo version that level's title has been changed to "Moonrise" with the added hint below of "Shine light on the flowers." I wonder if this makes it easier to play but takes away some of the abstract thinking and interpretation you had to do before.
Thank you all for taking the time to provide feedback as it helps me to understand what the game feels like from an outside perspective.
nice graphics and music but I couldn't make sense of the controls - for example on the eclipse level I just wanted to move the moon towards the sun - but sometimes it went straight up off the top of the screen, sometimes it went to the middle and stopped for no reason, sometimes it went straight down... and I felt like I wasn't choosing any of those actions
I made it to the end of the compo version without hints, although the controls on some levels seem weird or difficult to use. I liked some puzzles like the "bloom" one.
I agree with ramoncb, some levels NEED hints (the color change on the pillars is too subtle - especially for me, as I have slight colorblindness) but having each level spell out the exact goal felt insulting. Maybe you could offer a hint on a button press, or after x tries, or just on the levels that need them.
I played through the post-compo version, and got as far as the pulse level (which never responded in the way I expected, in either version) on the compo version.
I think your use of a series of very simple puzzles / games is PERFECT for Ludum Dare! Although, I do agree with what Morusque said about the controls. For instance, I have to attempt the eclipse level a few times but it doesn't feel like it was my fault for not getting it the first couple of times, so as a player, I feel like I'm being punished unfairly.
I appreciate the changes you made post-compo and I'm VERY impressed with what you finished during the jam! Overall - AWESOME!
I've updated the post-compo version to include easier object movement and a hint button.
Jedi, thank you for your detailed feedback. I added a glow to the pillars so that the color isn't as important now. I think you're right about the hints being too obvious sometimes, so I moved the hints to a hint button that you can press if you're wondering what to do. With the updated controls, you should now be able to simply drag the moon to the sun in the eclipse level.
majestic. awesome art and concept. lots of variety in gameplay. only trouble is finding the borders of active zones. other then that one of the most polished game experiences I've seen in this jam.
Nice atmosphere. I got stuck on "Pulse". I solved "Pillars" and one other one (I forget which) without really knowing what was going on. Everything else has been said.
Very intresting idea and moody game. I think that in the post-compo the hints are too explicit, they should help you figure out the puzzle instead of telling exactly what to do.
Comments26
lordjosephdeburg you need to move the rock to the right on the other side of the pond. The idea is that it blocks the wind from making the water ripples.
Here's where I think the game took a bit of an odd route for how you labeled it. It essentially boils down to similar issues some point and click games tend to have, and that issue is completely relying on player trial and error to solve the puzzles the game presents. Now the game is supposed to be abstract, but I think in reality it's pretty far from that. The gameplay isn't very abstract at all, it has very concrete ways of solving the puzzles and there's no other way to go about it. Dressing up the game with surreal art doesn't make the game itself abstract.
Now, all that picky word selection stuff aside, the game just isn't ultimately very rewarding as an experience. There's either a very obvious solution or there isn't. And when there isn't an obvious solution it quickly becomes a frustrating affair figuring out what to do.
As a plus though the art and music weren't bad and provided the nice sort of surreal/ambient thing I think you were going for. My main suggestion is trying to get the way you play the game similar to the way you experience the other parts of the experience. Best of luck to you in your future projects!
hogjed, I certainly see what you mean about it not hitting the marks properly. It was supposed to be like dreams that require some interpretation, or a recurring dream that you do differently each time and finally "solve". The titles were hints but ultimately too vague to help as much as I thought.
I understand that the gameplay isn't abstract in that there is a definite solution to the puzzle. It was supposed to be abstract in that you have to think about what you are seeing in a somewhat abstract way to solve the puzzle. For example, you see closed flowers and a moon, and the level is titled "Bloom". You might first think to click on the flowers to make them bloom or try moving the moon to touch the flowers, but you in fact have to raise the moon because the flowers bloom at the moon's rise. In the post-compo version that level's title has been changed to "Moonrise" with the added hint below of "Shine light on the flowers." I wonder if this makes it easier to play but takes away some of the abstract thinking and interpretation you had to do before.
Thank you all for taking the time to provide feedback as it helps me to understand what the game feels like from an outside perspective.
I like the way the game was made
plus, have a mysterious atmosphere
(sorry my bad english)
I played through the post-compo version, and got as far as the pulse level (which never responded in the way I expected, in either version) on the compo version.
I think your use of a series of very simple puzzles / games is PERFECT for Ludum Dare! Although, I do agree with what Morusque said about the controls.
For instance, I have to attempt the eclipse level a few times but it doesn't feel like it was my fault for not getting it the first couple of times, so as a player, I feel like I'm being punished unfairly.
I appreciate the changes you made post-compo and I'm VERY impressed with what you finished during the jam!
Overall - AWESOME!
I've updated the post-compo version to include easier object movement and a hint button.
Jedi, thank you for your detailed feedback. I added a glow to the pillars so that the color isn't as important now. I think you're right about the hints being too obvious sometimes, so I moved the hints to a hint button that you can press if you're wondering what to do. With the updated controls, you should now be able to simply drag the moon to the sun in the eclipse level.
only trouble is finding the borders of active zones. other then that one of the most polished game experiences I've seen in this jam.