A Virtual Friend

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.61
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.11
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.00
Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.98
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.16
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.44
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.75
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.81
A perfectly ordinary virtual pet. Nothing out of the ordinary here! Care for it and watch it grow 🐛

virtualfriend.png

Controls

Click the buttons at the bottom of the screen to interact with your pet.

Press M to mute sound 🔊

Debug Shortcuts

Keys 1-4 change the game speed. Try 4 for genuine Tamagotchi long play experience!!⏱️

Enter skips to the next growth phase.

Game Mechanics (spoilers)

Baby needs feeding🍴 and love💕 (left most buttons) to help them grow up strong. They will periodically poop💩 and sleep💤 - clear up poop to keep them happy (button second from right) and make sure you don't disturb them when they sleep. If you don't look after them they will get angry⚡. Press the right most button to appease their anger.... please don't let them get angry....please....

Updates

24th April - Made some minor graphics, animation and sound bug fixes.
15th May - Minor graphics and sound improvements, including basic end states.
Original compo entry available on Google Drive link for reference if you want to give a fair rating

screenshot
Tools: Unity

Comments48

AfBu23 Apr 2018, 01:50
Your links for Playable version and Source code are switched ;)
Billeclipse
Billeclipse23 Apr 2018, 02:02
Cool idea and although i should have i see it coming... I didn't xD
Bruce
Bruce23 Apr 2018, 02:12
Awesome!

Brings back memories...
I missed a jumpscare in the end, hahaha.
Stralor
Stralor23 Apr 2018, 06:37
This is exactly what I want out of any v-pet game. Astounding work of art, not even considering the jam setting / time limit.

I N C R E D I B L E

Only wish it didn't end so soon (make this into a bigger project)
Temmy
Temmy23 Apr 2018, 09:33
Love it. I like the fact it was just a perfectly ordinary virtual pet.
tyen23 Apr 2018, 11:51
I love how well you've recreated the look! Brings back so many memories
Schuster23 Apr 2018, 11:56
Ahh, been a looong time since I had a Tamagotchi. I don't think mine had quite the...dietary variety. Visual style is spot on.
Baski
Baski23 Apr 2018, 14:03
Great game :) Keep it up :)
Chaseplays
Chaseplays23 Apr 2018, 17:38
Huh... I'm not exactly sure what I just played... and I'm pretty sure that's a compliment! While the base game isn't the *most* compelling experience, the... er... *other* aspect of it made it incredibly interesting throughout. Also, the sounds and graphics both complimented each other incredibly well. Amazing work!

By the way, is there a real ending, or just an "end state" where, no matter what you do, the game will continue with two buttons?
Jimbly
Jimbly23 Apr 2018, 18:17
I was sad I was unable to give my pet "love" after he turned all cute -_-.

Liked it, great aesthetic. For some reason my hands are getting cold and blue...
frostdragonliz
frostdragonlizauthor23 Apr 2018, 21:34
@Chaseplays Thanks:) There was other stuff planned for the end state but I didn't get time to implement it fully. If I have time things might have got even ... less usual ... at the end, particularly if you didn't keep the little critter fed. But that's game jams for your!

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone
Lemons
Lemons24 Apr 2018, 03:10
Wow that was an experience. I loved it!
dalbinblue
dalbinblue24 Apr 2018, 03:18
So very cute! The aesthetics were excellent, especially with the dead pixels and line glitches that could happen on a basic LCD panel. The game rather repetitive, but I understand that this wasn't really about game play so much as the "story" you were going for, so it makes complete sense it worked the way it does.
wramp24 Apr 2018, 05:20
very nice game, i love it. Reminds me old times =)
figrita24 Apr 2018, 05:24
Cool graphics and concept, played until the end. I love the cosmic horror vibe
HomoLudens24 Apr 2018, 06:01
I love my ordinary pet.
elHombreBanana
elHombreBanana24 Apr 2018, 09:28
Okay, at the end I felt very uncomfortable with my son behaviour. I'm a failure as a father.

This game is GREAT! Sometimes the simplest games are the best, and this is proof of that
Jammin
Jammin24 Apr 2018, 09:30
I love the mashup between lovecraft and tamagotchi. Really good work !
CliffordSix
CliffordSix24 Apr 2018, 09:30
Lovely. I sure do love raising my virtual pet :D
Nehvis24 Apr 2018, 09:31
Very cute, also nice art ^^
Drazhaar24 Apr 2018, 09:31
Funny idea, brings me back a few years ago :)
dankar24 Apr 2018, 09:36
Wow! Well done!
Ryan Michaels
Ryan Michaels24 Apr 2018, 09:59
Cool! Gets a little creepy there... ha! The art style and gameplay are great, good work!
Hanra24 Apr 2018, 10:10
Very cute, have left it running in the other tab for the real tamagotchi experience. I'm sure nothing bad will happen....
jk5000
jk500024 Apr 2018, 10:10
The graphic, sounds and the game idea is good. The only complain is that I see absolutely no consequences if I do nothing, and that is a bit strange.
Tmvant24 Apr 2018, 10:12
Nicely done! Didn't know feeding such a cutie would be so...shockingly rewarding :). Even after it didn't need my love anymore I still couldn't stop giving it babies to hug.

Best aspects:
- The perfectly normalness of it.
- Eye for detail, had a very good tamagitcho feel to it (dead pixels, etc.)

Tips/Suggestions:
- The delay in buttons compared to the degration rate of the meters made it slightly stressful to play. While it might be a more enjoyable experience to not worry about timing to much and just see you lil' one grow.

All in all a fun, simple and surprising game.
bombjack
bombjack24 Apr 2018, 11:18
nice little game
mahalis
mahalis24 Apr 2018, 15:15
This is cute! Great pixel art. I like it much better than the original.
IronyGames
IronyGames24 Apr 2018, 17:05
Haha, that was fun! Never played an eldritch tamagochi before. Nice little game! Nailed the aesthetics too.
biobazard24 Apr 2018, 19:36
Well done dude! The atmosphere with the graphics was cool!!!
Oivin F
Oivin F24 Apr 2018, 23:54
I agree with some of the other commentors in that there is no actual "game" here, as your inputs actually don't affect the outcome. Also there is no win(fail?) state as far as I found. All that aside, this was amazingly detailed and unexpected. It felt like a tamagotchi and boy was the artwork both fateful and eerie. I was half hoping the little thing would explode into eldritch horror and lovecraftian goop that would spill into the "real" world (the world in which the tamagotchi exists , that is).

Full game when? :smiley:
steve25 Apr 2018, 14:25
Awesome interpretation of the theme, perfectly delivered. You're going to put this into a real Tamagotchi and donate it to a second hand store right? ;)
Toulou
Toulou28 Apr 2018, 10:13
I'm into Lovecraft novels, so I really liked your game ! The presentation is very great, you managed to recretate the Tamagotchi aspect quite well.
The only problem is the lack of ending. At the end I tried to starve him without getting him angry, then don't do anything and I was kind of disappointed to see my actions has little consequences. But overall eveything else work so I guess this is a problem of time during this LD. So, good job ! I'd love to see what you'll do with the concept in the future.
frostdragonliz
frostdragonlizauthor29 Apr 2018, 10:33
@Sophie Oh dear I don't think that was supposed to happen! Will have to look at the code - it looks like the "evil" value has gotten turned up somehow.

@Jupiter_Hadley Yay thank you
Relsqui
Relsqui2 May 2018, 06:11
This is 110% my shit and I love it. I agree with the folks who wanted game decisions to have more impact (and a more climactic finale), but it's clear you were putting your limited time into other things, and it shows in the interface and the pet graphics.

By the way, I didn't read the description before playing (yeah I'm that guy, I admit it) and so had some fun speculating about what the far-right meter was. My best guess was "containment" which ... was pretty well borne out, honestly. Thought that might amuse you. :P
Rombus
Rombus3 May 2018, 03:43
Love the eldritch abomination tamagotchi :P !!
monika8 May 2018, 03:32
You really captured the whole look and feel! Good work!

Fun fact - in the original Tamagotchi, if you never played with your tamagotchi and only gave it candy to keep it happy, it would eventually turn into the "secret character", a lazy adult human head on stick legs.
bldr15 May 2018, 12:49
it thing needs sacrifice, black magic and no need to love. SCARY!
Ellian
Ellian15 May 2018, 19:14
Ahah I wish there had been an ending, but it's so good and SO well made! Such polish into this thing, it's impressive. Congrats, that was a very good moment :D

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