Return The Stars

by banjaxe
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.77
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.29
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.34
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.70
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.01
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.67
Mood★★★★★★★★★★4.18
Title says it all: Return the stars to the empty void in the center.

The only input is mouse movement, no other controls!​

​First time submitting something for a gamejam. I've done jams before but never finished in time.
Let me know if you find any bugs.

Requires a browser with WebGL 2.0 support (Firefox/Chrome). If you have audio issues try the windows download!

Windows 64bit download also available at: https://banjaxe.itch.io/return-the-stars

Comments34

Jolett7 Oct 2019, 13:09
Amazing game! I like the concept of being surrounded by nothingness until you find a star or enemy, it really dials in the mood, feel, and theme of the game. Great work and congraulations!
Kisann
Kisann7 Oct 2019, 16:07
Looks awesome. But... is the sound broken? It turns off after 5 sec
RetroBarbare
RetroBarbare7 Oct 2019, 16:35
The game was great , the theme was respected and i love the soundtrack you feel the emptyness of the cosmos
BanJaxeauthor7 Oct 2019, 17:55
@kisann Oh damn. No idea why. What browser/platform did you play on?

Thanks everyone for playing and feedback.
Ericbolseiro7 Oct 2019, 23:55
Man, it's amazing! Very good job!
GeneralBeans8 Oct 2019, 04:29
WOW!
Such a great art style, the visual aesthetic alone would make me think I paid $5 dollar on Steam!
If this game had more enemy types, and more levels, you could ship it tomorrow!
Very solid, super cool experience, and it was fun hooting and hollering at those snakes CAUSE THEY CHASED ME!
Thanks for the fun!
RaisetheDead8 Oct 2019, 12:38
Hey there ! Very nice little game, once I figured out the goal it was quite challenging ! I don't know if there is an issue with the audio, but I thought that all the saturation was a bit too much after a game of a few minutes ... Great entry anyway !
Philarmon8 Oct 2019, 16:10
I really like the minimalistic style and the visuls. I've had problems with the audio though - all I head are some cracking noises unless I switch to another Tab (Chrome). And how do you defeat these red baddies?
BanJaxeauthor8 Oct 2019, 16:17
@philarmon Unfortunately there's an audio issue with the web version for some people, but I think it all works in the windows version. Sorry about that.

You can't defeat the enemies, you just have to outrun and outmaneuver them! Thanks for playing.
Ventz8 Oct 2019, 17:41
Very well done, simple in nature but still feels fun to play! Had a good bit of fun trying to get a few of the stars out of the tricky spots :)
Asue
Asue8 Oct 2019, 18:35
I loved the atmosphere of the game. Graphics, sounds, everything goes very well together. Good job =D
gamedesignguy8 Oct 2019, 20:19
So atmospheric and explorative, I really enjoyed the sense of discovering the world. The little triangle snakes were soothing to watch and it was really cool when more than one stacked together to look like a bigger one.

Definitely the most visually stunning / immersive jam game I've played so far, if the game was longer, I would have kept playing. Great job!
Emmatw8 Oct 2019, 20:31
Very beautiful game! I loved the mysterious audio and the animation when a star was returned to the void.
AdamCYounis
AdamCYounis9 Oct 2019, 05:29
Really nice game. I wish there was a "UX" or "Mechanical Feel" category so I could give it full marks for those. The mood, graphics and audio were also excellent. You should be really proud of what you made! Thanks for letting us play it :)
JengaMang9 Oct 2019, 09:08
Your game is really beautiful! The general atmosphere and tone is really impressive, specifically i liked the visual progression as you gained more stars and the damage visual effect is really pretty and intuitive. Well Done!
congusbongus
congusbongus9 Oct 2019, 09:15
Great mood established by this game, I love the use of dynamic audio cues, it really makes the world come alive. There was a little too much going on at the end and the game was very laggy, but on a powerful computer this would have been great.
sztobar
sztobar9 Oct 2019, 18:13
The visuals and sounds were amazing, it's a shame that getting start won't give you additionals mechanics other that arrows which shows you directions for last missing ones (althought I was really happy with them). The gameplay becomes a little boring at the end.
BanJaxeauthor9 Oct 2019, 18:37
@sztobar I did have more enemies planned but I ran out of time unfortunately. Thanks for playing it to the end anyway! :)
MattWagar
MattWagar9 Oct 2019, 22:17
This game is gorgeous! The concept was simple enough to understand without needing any instructions. And the music and audio really added to the mood. You took something pretty simple, and added so much juice to it to really make dangerous moments feel stressful, and the safe center to feel comforting. I liked that it was non-linear, but I will admit at first I went to the hardest section and died very quickly. All in all, bravo! Super juicy game!
Wevel
Wevel10 Oct 2019, 11:14
I love the atmosphere created by the music, and the graphics work really well. It would be nice if there was some way of finding where stars are.
Gehad10 Oct 2019, 13:03
Beautiful , simple and fun , Great job :thumbsup:
Brandon Anderson
Brandon Anderson10 Oct 2019, 14:22
Great aesthetic and feel with this game! I love the ambience of the soundtrack and the first time I was chased by an enemy was very exciting. Great work!
Space Wumpus10 Oct 2019, 14:49
Great job, very atmospheric. Loved the style of the whole thing. The only thing I found slightly annoying is that you take damage just from going close to something and it can be hard to judge where the boundary is. Mostly this just means need need to avoid going too close, but in one section there is little room to move and it wasn't that easy to tell whether some regions were passable or not. But that's a minor criticism. Overall I really like this one.
Taylor Reynolds11 Oct 2019, 02:22
Oh wow, the sound and visual design for this is stunning! it reminds me of interstellar!! love this game and mood
Goldenglade11 Oct 2019, 07:38
Excellent visuals and excellent audio make for an excellent mood. The game makes great use of contrast with its visuals and audio, such as the void vs. the outer cosmos, the empty void vs. the full void, safety vs. danger, etc. It was nice to add markers to the remaining stars at a certain point so the player wouldn't feel stuck. Though the game does give sufficient feedback for when you are in danger, the boundaries of the hazards are somewhat unclear, and this is apparent during the maze sections. Overall, amazing work.
Team-on
Team-on11 Oct 2019, 09:19
Good job on vilual and music, its really help feel emptiness of void. A little big laggy on web, but still playable
Ryano11 Oct 2019, 11:11
Great job, really enjoyed playing this. The music and visuals combined nicely to create an eerie, otherworldly feeling. The gameplay was interesting enough to keep me going to the end. Nice work!
AlphaDen
AlphaDen11 Oct 2019, 17:02
Great job on graphics, visuals and sound track. I really calms us. Would like and update with the bug fixes.
gasgiant
gasgiant11 Oct 2019, 23:53
The visuals and sound design are completely mesmerizing!
Alexascher12 Oct 2019, 12:54
Very pleasing graphics and music. Combleted the game with great pleasure.
DrEvilBrain
DrEvilBrain13 Oct 2019, 05:31
I need a speedrun strat on those mazes
silkworm_sweatshop
silkworm_sweatshop16 Oct 2019, 18:51
Simple but really enjoyable thanks to the visuals and amazing sound. Somehow both relaxing and tense at the same time.
Found a bug?
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