> You are a witchling and there are very important exams ahead of you.
> Will you be able to convince a Deity to help you out?
First-person interactive story where each choice matters.
* Time: +- 24 h 50 min * Software: Ren'Py (code), Notepad++ (code), Photoshop (art + design), SketchUp (perspective)
This is our first LD challenge + first game ever! It was really challenging and most of it was trial-and-error, but I hope it's playable and maybe even a little bit fun. We would be really grateful for any feedback to learn from this experience as much as possible.
*2018/12/05:* I added an "Extra" screen to show unlocked endings. For anyone interested, they are in an updated version of the game.
*2019/09/22:* It can be played in the browser now. :)
It's short yes, but every second is great ! The art is very cute, your color palette is beautiful. The game work very well, and for a first game it's pretty amazing. ;) Congratulations, I'm sure you will make beautiful things in the future.
i really like it! the concept was refreshing and the lines were quirky and sweet. the palette and graphics were pretty cool as well, giving a datesim vibe despite it being far from it.
wish there was more to this game but i guess thats to be expected from a gamejam.
*Thank you, @ everyone who took their time to provide feedback!*
*And even if you didn't comment, thank you for testing our game.*
@unplugred Thank you so much! I did originally imagine it as 3x3 choices + 3 endings and expanding if there's time left, and yet in the end I even had to shorten the last choice. It seems the length is a common "complaint", but in a way I'm glad, if it was a terrible game, I guess people would be happy it's over.
Congratulations on your first game! It was really short (I reached all endings in less than 5 minutes) but I really enjoyed the time I spent with it. The art was really nice and the writing is good. It's awesome that you managed to do it in 24 hours! I'm sure if you spend more time you can make a full visual novel game that would be really fun!
@eatatjoes Thank you for your feedback, and for saying so nice things!! I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed it. :) As for the good ending, do you mean it was unnecessarily hard to achieve? I would be interested in hearing more about your choices that lead/didn't lead to it, as to me – as the creator – the paths and point system are really hard to evaluate from outside perspective! And the game may not be completely transparent in showing what's the best choice each time... anyways, thanks again!
@matank Thank you! ;; Also, woah. 5 minutes? I hoped it would take at least a little bit longer, but also well done on choosing well enough to get all the options so fast! It's really sweet of you to say, very encouraging. :)
@maruki Thank you! :) I'm glad you were happy with it, you did well, after all!
*
On a side note, neither of us is a native speaker; we *were* worried people would yell at us over some glaring mistakes. As long as it didn't distract from the experience, it should be okay... but if anyone spots some mistake (awkward wording, grammar, typos... anything), please do feel free to point it out, it would help us a lot!
This concept is cool, and it feels a really polished game overall. The graphic is well made and the game let you choose a good amount of different option. Texts are well written and I think the game fits the theme 100%. So very nice work guys, keep it up! :)
This was fun, I really enjoyed playing it. I liked the different endings, and got the blessed ending pretty quickly. I replied it a couple of times to see the different endings.
This is very good for your first game. I had fun trying out different combinations until I got the lucky clover. It was challenging but not too difficult, and every time I lost I felt compelled to try just one more combination. The graphics and sound work well together. Nice work.
Awwwww, I was hoping for another otherworldly dating game like ours. ;)
This is pretty nice, though! Doing a visual novel for a game jam seems pretty ambitious, but I liked the style you went for with the writing.
After sacrificing keys: > ...Why did you do that?
Hilarious.
It would have been nice to know the tangible consequences to each of the actions I took though. Currently it just felt kind of arbitrary. I got the "Blessed" ending on my first try, but the only thing that the deity reacted to was the fidget spinner I put down at the very end. Upon experimenting with other stuff, I found multiple things that could be "vanished" by the deity, and still ended by putting the fidget spinner down, but then that time I got a "you tried" ending and didn't understand why. :(
Still though, this was a funny concept, and I liked the style of the art as well. Great job here!
@coleslaughter Thank you so much for such a detailed feedback!!
We tried to hint through the messages what was well received, but I did not want to make it as a "visible score". If I imagine myself in the situation, it felt like there should be some guessing involved. If you don't mind me spoiling it, each choice gave you (or took away) points; the main 3-choice offerings had one great (+2), one good (+1) and one bad (-2) choice. That's why most not-quite-good but not-outright-rude choices would lead to the "neutral" ending. :) There was also another score the game kept track of, so if you chose the wrong option x times, you would get locked out of the best ending. That seemed fair; it was a choice the Deity outright disliked, so they would not want to reward you.
Nice job on your first LD and game! I enjoyed the art and the writing.
I played through a couple times and got the failed, tried, and good endings. For me, I guess the deity really needed a spoon and fidget spinner haha. Some interesting thoughts - if you know what pleases the deity - does that mean life will be easier (not having to study, etc). But if the situation arises where someone asks you about that subject, and you don't actually know because you relied on the deity, than what happens? And if multiple people rely on different deities to get what they want, but don't actually know how to do things, then how does society function? Anyway, nice job, keep up the good work!
@aeveis The spoon is actually a reference of sorts we did not expect many people to understand, but it was important for us to include. :) Thank you for playing several times and congrats on reaching all the endings!
These are interesting thoughts indeed. You could say that if you are making a request like this, it's entirely your responsibility to ask well; so for example, the thing you mentioned is an obvious downside and the teacher asking about something later could ruin the whole plan. But if you asked for whispered hints until you passed all of your classes, maybe it would work better! So it's up to the person to word it carefully and really think through the possible outcomes, perhaps.
Comments29
the palette and graphics were pretty cool as well, giving a datesim vibe despite it being far from it.
wish there was more to this game but i guess thats to be expected from a gamejam.
*And even if you didn't comment, thank you for testing our game.*
@unplugred Thank you so much!
I did originally imagine it as 3x3 choices + 3 endings and expanding if there's time left, and yet in the end I even had to shorten the last choice. It seems the length is a common "complaint", but in a way I'm glad, if it was a terrible game, I guess people would be happy it's over.
@thecritterscove Thank you! And you chose very well, then. c:
Like, goodness gracious I LOVE the washed out beige-y pinks with the rich purples. Gorgeous color palette.
The good ending feels a bit too narrow to get to, but its a jam game, so thats forgiveable.
Really liked your take on the theme.
very cool.
As for the good ending, do you mean it was unnecessarily hard to achieve? I would be interested in hearing more about your choices that lead/didn't lead to it, as to me – as the creator – the paths and point system are really hard to evaluate from outside perspective! And the game may not be completely transparent in showing what's the best choice each time... anyways, thanks again!
@maruki Thank you! :) I'm glad you were happy with it, you did well, after all!
*
On a side note, neither of us is a native speaker; we *were* worried people would yell at us over some glaring mistakes. As long as it didn't distract from the experience, it should be okay... but if anyone spots some mistake (awkward wording, grammar, typos... anything), please do feel free to point it out, it would help us a lot!
The graphic is well made and the game let you choose a good amount of different option.
Texts are well written and I think the game fits the theme 100%. So very nice work guys, keep it up! :)
Nice job!
This is pretty nice, though! Doing a visual novel for a game jam seems pretty ambitious, but I liked the style you went for with the writing.
After sacrificing keys:
> ...Why did you do that?
Hilarious.
It would have been nice to know the tangible consequences to each of the actions I took though. Currently it just felt kind of arbitrary. I got the "Blessed" ending on my first try, but the only thing that the deity reacted to was the fidget spinner I put down at the very end. Upon experimenting with other stuff, I found multiple things that could be "vanished" by the deity, and still ended by putting the fidget spinner down, but then that time I got a "you tried" ending and didn't understand why. :(
Still though, this was a funny concept, and I liked the style of the art as well. Great job here!
We tried to hint through the messages what was well received, but I did not want to make it as a "visible score". If I imagine myself in the situation, it felt like there should be some guessing involved. If you don't mind me spoiling it, each choice gave you (or took away) points; the main 3-choice offerings had one great (+2), one good (+1) and one bad (-2) choice. That's why most not-quite-good but not-outright-rude choices would lead to the "neutral" ending. :)
There was also another score the game kept track of, so if you chose the wrong option x times, you would get locked out of the best ending. That seemed fair; it was a choice the Deity outright disliked, so they would not want to reward you.
I hope it makes a little more sense now!
@ghost-in-the-toast @dreafskii Thank you!
I played through a couple times and got the failed, tried, and good endings. For me, I guess the deity really needed a spoon and fidget spinner haha. Some interesting thoughts - if you know what pleases the deity - does that mean life will be easier (not having to study, etc). But if the situation arises where someone asks you about that subject, and you don't actually know because you relied on the deity, than what happens? And if multiple people rely on different deities to get what they want, but don't actually know how to do things, then how does society function? Anyway, nice job, keep up the good work!
These are interesting thoughts indeed. You could say that if you are making a request like this, it's entirely your responsibility to ask well; so for example, the thing you mentioned is an obvious downside and the teacher asking about something later could ruin the whole plan. But if you asked for whispered hints until you passed all of your classes, maybe it would work better! So it's up to the person to word it carefully and really think through the possible outcomes, perhaps.