An interesting little loop, of a very Lucas Pope-esque slant. I'm glad I stuck around for the turn on day 4, but ultimately by the third day I was confused as to what I needed the money for or why I bothered doing a good job or not.
Great atmosphere. I had barely figured out what I was supposed to do when the twist came. Good thing I won't have to worry about all the debt I was in, I guess. I really liked the colors and the minimalist aesthetic. Was thrown off in the last scene that if you touch the walls the room disappears. I thought maybe I had found a way out.
Man, I really loved your art style and the minimalistic gameplay. The floor-mopping puzzle you created is very smart and simple. And the window view is a nice, immersive, melancholic touch.
I know it's supposed to be a minimalistic game, but you should consider giving a purpose to the in-game currency. The point of the game is to show how meaningless empty work can be, however, giving an illusory award to the player (such as a bigger bucket or stuff you can decorate your cabin with) might make people stick to the game for a longer time. And it will all still be for nothing at the end.
Taking into account it's supposed to be a conceptual game, I'd also cut the "moral of the story" text at the end. In my opinion, the concept is pretty clear by itself and literally delivering the message at the end, as explaining a joke, makes it a little less special.
Overall, even though I've seen a bunch of games associating the workplace with the "stuck on a loop" theme, this is one of my favourite games of this jam so far. Someone on the comments mentioned that the game is depressive as if it's a bad thing. I really dig it and was really drawn into it. Kudos.
I'm always amazed when someone pulls off something like this. A few pixels, a few audio clips and a few lines of code, and what you get is something so much greater than the sum of its parts. When I grow up, I wanna be able to do something like this. :v:
Agree with PixelMoose, really moody game. I especially liked the art style, it works for both the mood and the goal of the game. Gameplay was also simple enough to figure out quickly ( the hallways acting as a nice tutorial ). Overall, neat game!
Really love your idea and game! I'm strongly touched. What I felt is not only meaningless of work, but also lonely, especially when I gradually lost my control when the room filled with water.....
That was excellent. The atmosphere (sound+graphics) is engrossing, and the gameplay is interesting enough to keep going until the end (brilliant twist). I'd love to see more games with this aesthetic; would work really well for horror.
May I ask where I can also get 1000 dollars for cleaning floors? :D I loved this game a lot - from the simple but brilliant graphics to the story. But most importantly - I really liked cleaning the floors. :D
Wow, the art for this game is honestly beautiful! As others have said, particularly love the window view. Also the concept + incorporation of the theme was unique and very well done.
Perfect little game! Excellent mood, very cool graphics, nice choice of music, easy controls with clear gameplay, and all this nicely blends to convey the message.
loved the atmosphere you created for this, enjoyed the playthrough, although in the first day didn't know what I was doing and double cleaned all the floors I think because I turned right at the beginning and not left. But afterward I got it and it was great, congrats on a job well done!
"Cleaner's log, day 14: I have been doing an amazing job for two weeks now, and that inconsiderate SoB still has only two ways to describe my work. On the bright side, I can afford my own ship now."
Really a gorgeous game. Especially the early 20th century feel in the intro message, and the window view.
Btw, I didn't manage to submit in time for LD, but if you feel like giving my (browser based) game a try, you can find the link on my profile description.
Such a strange game. Nailed the feeling of lonelyness, mundane tasks, and trying to make the floor really clean. I wanted my flooooors to be so blue. oh so blue. ;-) :D
Nice game. I was just thinking that the puzzles where a bit easy and repetetive when disaster struck, It´s always nice with a thoughtfull ending. Great done.
Very cool take on the theme, one of the best I've seen. The mood was excellent, with good minimalistic graphics and nice audio. The gameplay was very intuitive and the level design was pretty good. Overall, a great experience!
Thanks for all the incredible feedback. Feels really good to have people see and enjoy what I've made. I also put together a little behind the scenes devlog thing if you want to check it out on my youtube. Thanks so much everyone https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsHE5OvwMiarwMqA3Vhsqlw
Liked it a lot, but was it meant to end at Day 4? Other people seem to be calling that the end, but it just went on to the next day for me at some point. Was a bit confused about what had happened there. Graphics and mood were all great though, good job!
Great game! I feel like I felt right into your trap: just like my character, I was trying to perfect my insignificant and repetitive job when BAM you hit me with that crazy ending and ask me "Was it really worth it?".
Wow, that was strangely surrealistic. I stopped after figuring out the best paths, on day 3, thinking, is this just going to repeat forever? But the comment section made me play it to the end, and wow. That's really cool. Probably the most...personal entry I've played this LD. Only negative point for me would be the fonts were a bit unclear.
Very mooody and dark, perfect to play during wet/rainy evening. Very simple graphics elevating the character of the gameplay, which is a very interesting puzzle game on its own. Ending is a message on it's own... Nicely done and good job!
Overall, it was a pretty fun game! I like the aesthetic, and the tutorial hallway was great. I wish I'd known sooner that going over a tile twice was bad (maybe I missed that instruction). The visuals were a bit hard on the eyes at times, especially in the giant 5x5 room, but I definitely think the mood was well kept.
Hi. I liked the game. Looking out the window was a good touch and could be expanded into a game on it's own. I wasn't sure what I was meant to be doing with the mop and bucket, but it was fun covering the floor. Love the graphics. Very nostalgic.
Not much more to say that others haven't covered but wow, so simple and elegant an idea pulled off with near-perfect execution. Visuals are unique and minimalist while still providing ample mood and texture. Just superb. Audio set the scene perfectly too.
@jam373 That's so nice to hear as the creator. This is what I always want to achieve, what I always want people to feel. It feels so good to hear that I'm on the right track in conveying an experience through games, this is what I want to continue to do. I can't thank you enough as well as everyone else here for giving it a try
The mood of the game is just on point. I realy felt the boring aspect of everydays life and wish there was some recognition for it. I enjoyed your game from a stroytelling point of view and love the experimental trait that it brings with it. And it raises the question for me - how can you show the boring aspects of life within a game without sacrificing gameplay. Thanks for the experience and the philosophy that your game raised :D
@ryan-paton Hey! Might I ask what happened to you? You should not be able to leave the room but it should transition into an end game message. This is a bug I haven't been able to reproduce but some people have had it
The mood and that gorgeous well crated Atari feel! Well done you have made quite the gem here. As someone who else attempted the Atari feel I know how hard it is to pull off. Great work.
This game has a good atmosphere and a minimalist aesthetic to it. The game play isn't overly exciting, but I suppose that's the point with the monotony of being a janitor. I did enjoy figuring out which paths were the best though, it reminded me of a Pokemon gym. It does a very good job of setting the tone.
Very neat puzzle game, I wish there was a longer variety of puzzles though. I also did not expect the way it ends but it was a nice surprise. Great job!
While this is definitely not the first game in the jam I've played with the theme of work being repetitive, this might be the first one to actually succeed in making it fun -- for some time. The mechanic of not allowing you to fix your mistakes gives you something to look forward to in the next night. However, after you manage to do everything perfectly once, the repetitiveness starts taking its toll. The little flooding interlude was a welcome surprise that kept me going for a while longer.
I love the mood you managed to set with just the intro sequence, the ambient white noise of the sea and lo-fi graphics. I do have to mention, though, the way you downscaled the text is often difficult to read, and, in the case of the opening letter, hideous. I had that issue with my LD46 entry, it's not a game-ruining thing, but definitely something to watch out for in future games.
The game has amazing atmosphere, I love it! Simple graphics and idea, nothing out of the ordinary there. I like that you made this into a little story game! There isn't much of a "gameplay" here and might be a little confusing at first... but it's not the main point of the game. The story it tells is.
Wow, well done! The first time I played Day 4 glitched and I got to do unlimited days, once I hit Day 10 I figured out what should have happened and replayed. The message at the end is very nice, and I like the nice simple graphics. You really need to add a warning about the extreme language on Day 4 though, people of all ages play and develop on ldjam.com.
![7 Days [mouse only]](https://pics.ldj.am/cover/16/166945-94359b03.webp)
Comments78
I know it's supposed to be a minimalistic game, but you should consider giving a purpose to the in-game currency. The point of the game is to show how meaningless empty work can be, however, giving an illusory award to the player (such as a bigger bucket or stuff you can decorate your cabin with) might make people stick to the game for a longer time. And it will all still be for nothing at the end.
Taking into account it's supposed to be a conceptual game, I'd also cut the "moral of the story" text at the end. In my opinion, the concept is pretty clear by itself and literally delivering the message at the end, as explaining a joke, makes it a little less special.
Overall, even though I've seen a bunch of games associating the workplace with the "stuck on a loop" theme, this is one of my favourite games of this jam so far. Someone on the comments mentioned that the game is depressive as if it's a bad thing. I really dig it and was really drawn into it. Kudos.
job well done
Remind me the boringness of my student job, except that I prefer the moody piano than what I had to listen.
I'd love to see more games with this aesthetic; would work really well for horror.
Also the concept + incorporation of the theme was unique and very well done.
"There were puddles all over" lol
It made the delivery of the message that much more impactful.
I hope you'll make more of these in the future!
Really a gorgeous game. Especially the early 20th century feel in the intro message, and the window view.
Btw, I didn't manage to submit in time for LD, but if you feel like giving my (browser based) game a try, you can find the link on my profile description.
also the game delievers an important message.
Well done! :)
a short game that fits the theme very well
I was a little confused at first by the graphics, the water bucket between hallways looked like part of the floor.
Nice entry!
Probably the most...personal entry I've played this LD. Only negative point for me would be the fonts were a bit unclear.
The little flooding interlude was a welcome surprise that kept me going for a while longer.
I love the mood you managed to set with just the intro sequence, the ambient white noise of the sea and lo-fi graphics. I do have to mention, though, the way you downscaled the text is often difficult to read, and, in the case of the opening letter, hideous. I had that issue with my LD46 entry, it's not a game-ruining thing, but definitely something to watch out for in future games.
Good job overall.
The game has amazing atmosphere, I love it! Simple graphics and idea, nothing out of the ordinary there. I like that you made this into a little story game! There isn't much of a "gameplay" here and might be a little confusing at first... but it's not the main point of the game. The story it tells is.
Well done, nice job!