A Ludic Proof of the Difficulties Inherent in Finding a Proper Skull

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.03
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.63
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.08
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.26
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.67
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.12
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.57
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★69%
Get your academic career going. As an archaeologist, try to make the discovery of a lifetime. And see how far reaching your analyses can be.

(Hint: there is no good ending)

Changelog:
08/27: Fixed a typo (missing word in link) as signaled by player Retl.
09/06: Fixed a typo as signaled by player Dining Philosopher.

screenshot

Comments25

dadman25 Aug 2014, 15:17
Uhm...
I feel like this needs a bit more explanation as to what you're going for before I could enjoy it.
JackDegreeauthor25 Aug 2014, 18:04
Ok, I added some information to the description. :)
pjimmy
pjimmy25 Aug 2014, 18:32
it's certainly uncanny
Mr.Cassels25 Aug 2014, 18:41
took me way to long to realize that I was swapping perspectives, maybe add a note in the description?
DDFranky25 Aug 2014, 18:45
Clever game and really interesting story. Also, a lot of text and branching for a game made in 48h!
Aglavra25 Aug 2014, 18:45
I liked this interactive story. I played it several times, before I noticed your note about "no good ending" :)
JackDegreeauthor26 Aug 2014, 15:48
@Mr.Cassels: I'd rather have people discover it, maybe next time I'll try to make it more evident though.
@pjimmy: I like that adjective, so I'll take that as a compliment?
@DDFRanky & Aglavara : Thanks guys!
Adjotur26 Aug 2014, 20:26
Glad I found this. Always love a text based game. At first I didn't know what was going on but after I figured out what was going on it seemed pretty awesome.
GrooveMan
GrooveMan26 Aug 2014, 20:33
I dig the premise! And I always love me a bit of Twine. The colour choice is definitely appropriate for the concept, but I think subtle changes in BG and font colour (which you can do in Twine on a room-by-room basis) would do wonders for both making the switches between perspectives clearer, and make the changes in scene more immersive. Keep experimenting!
markusfisch
markusfisch26 Aug 2014, 21:38
Interesting game. Took a few plays until I understood. Nice text adventure!
CaptainNakou
CaptainNakou27 Aug 2014, 12:02
Very deep. Very special. I like it. Not the funiest thing i've seen but one of the most interesting concepts.
bobrocks27 Aug 2014, 13:07
I went home thinking of my mediocre career! Nice take on the classic text adventure!
veryfinestlions27 Aug 2014, 15:25
Don't see a lot of these on here! I liked the odd synergy (antergy?) between the researcher's efforts and the hunter's. Clever stuff.
esayitch27 Aug 2014, 15:31
I liked the concept a lot, especially it's originality. The duality was very well-done. It is not something I would normally play, but I can see its merits ;)
Snoother27 Aug 2014, 16:17
Very interesting. Took me a bit to get it, but when I did it became quite impressive. Definitely one of the best entries I've played so far.
Retl
Retl27 Aug 2014, 19:12
"Spear make hunt_choice"
I think I might have broke something just then. :B

Anywho, I found it a neat game. Only played it once through. I didn't even know about Twine until now, so it was neat to see that put to use.
JackDegreeauthor27 Aug 2014, 20:24
@Retl Oh, thanks, I'll look into that right now and see how I can fix it.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments!
madmaw28 Aug 2014, 23:32
I thought this was really well written
eott29 Aug 2014, 16:38
It's good to know that text adventures are still alive and kicking.
Vainglorious30 Aug 2014, 00:55
I do like the swapping of perspectives on this. Very well done.
Dining Philosopher2 Sep 2014, 22:20
Nice, I was afraid I got stuck but it seems you just have to dig around for a few identical days. The dialogue seems very well-written to me, the colors/design could have used some work. I'd like to point out another typo, "meditations meditations" on one page.
Chris15 Sep 2014, 01:37
I found the metaphor created via the perspective shifts effective, although jarring (and alienating) at first. I would have liked to get know to know the main voice first before it gets corrupted. I love the use of 'fictional facts', they give a great sense of character and place. This could also be a great area for expansion, I suggest looking at the way Borges uses these 'so-boring-they-must-be-true' tidbits of information to flesh out the world, and thinking how could your medium do it better. Great stuff.
JackDegreeauthor15 Sep 2014, 13:37
Thanks Chris, I had actually read some Borges in the week before LD, and I'm pretty sure it had some influence on this. I will definitely be trying to do more elaborate/developped stuff in the future.

Other games by @jackdegree

Found a bug?
Tell us on Discord