Temporal Messenger

by papaya
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.61
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.15
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.15
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.32
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.43
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.11
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.74
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.79
A short story about sending messages to your past self.

Controls: Mouse or space/enter to continue dialog.

Tools used: 1BITDragon + audacity for music. Aseprite for art. Unity game engine.

Other: Characters drawn using Guildmaker7 sprite template: https://despairparty.itch.io/guildmaker7-templates Everything else from scratch.

I spent way too much time writing and rewriting the plots for this entry. There may be numerous grammar mistakes or visual bugs. But hopefully I was able to *deliver* the feelings I was aiming to achieve!

If the embed html doesn't work, please play on itch!

Also, please no spoilers in the comments! Thanks and hope you enjoy the game.

Comments17

Elementary1 May 2023, 08:02
Interesting story, you could have used slightly more unique sprites for the dad and son. I kept mistaking the dad for the son near the end.
Emily-TTG
Emily-TTG1 May 2023, 14:30
Pretty good, though it's more of a visual novel than anything. Looks great, the dialogue is quite on the nose which is a little off-putting but not the end of the world. Great concept and use of the theme. Weird gripe - font is kind of discontiguous with the pixel-y aesthetic but pretty overlookable so nbd.
kykypy3o8
kykypy3o81 May 2023, 15:28
I realy like this story) It would be cool to see a full-game about correcting mistakes in your youth, i agree with @elementary? there need more unique sprites for some characters
LDJam user 299757
LDJam user 2997571 May 2023, 16:42
God damn it you made me feel something. That wasn’t much of a game, more a visual novel, but none the less that was great! The story was wonderful and I love the interpretation of the theme! Overall, fantastic game!
HoldMeImScared
HoldMeImScared1 May 2023, 16:45
Oh cool story! I like your use of the theme. Neat little visual novel game.
sdelay
sdelay1 May 2023, 20:28
That is nice story (bit sad but ok)
I love the fact that all characters have the same face, that is a good use of assets!
Yeah love the story.
robobarbie
robobarbie2 May 2023, 00:32
went into this game expecting to get my gf back, instead got a chance at my gf and a REALLY GOOD RELATIONSHIP W MY DAD.... 10/10...... MACHINE NOISES.....
LDJam user 280509
LDJam user 2805092 May 2023, 01:58
A very solid story! Great twist on the theme using the classic concept of delivering words to the past.

The scar on the face was a nice visual narration. I got to steal this idea and send it to past myself... \*\*MACHINE NOISES \*\*…..
MatthewDrake
MatthewDrake2 May 2023, 19:45
Really sweet story, that was really great!
Fnkee2 May 2023, 22:26
Such a sweet story :u: You've taken on a challenging theme, yet managed to write it so well! Great job for creating a branched visual novel, with sprites and everything, in only 48 hours! Super impressive

And the fact that the grand-dad came up with such a modern joke!!! Could he have used the service too? :eyes:
justslavic
justslavic2 May 2023, 22:50
To be honest I am just happy that it was a happy ending at the end. I really wish I could do something to fix all my mistakes...
Great job, it was touching.
Papayaauthor3 May 2023, 14:44
Thanks everyone for playing! Your feedback means a lot to me and I'll use them to improve my games going forward.

@sdelay @elementary @kykypy3o8 The sprites should definitely be more distinct from one another. I spent way too much time on portraits and plots that I overlooked this aspect. Thanks for the feedback

@fnkee The setting is in the future so grand-dad probably knows a thing or two about wifi LOL

@emily-ttg This is my first attempt in making a story/visual novel game, I can definitely improve my writing and narration. Also, you are right about the UI. Next time I'll make sure the UI style matches the rest of game design to make it more consistant! Thanks for the feedback
Aloya3 May 2023, 16:02
I love this pixel art)))
Zefphyer4 May 2023, 01:02
Very sweet story! I loved the ending. I think all of us wish we could have sent messages to our past selves. And the art style is great.
The English could use some review, and it didn't seem like the ending changed based on which selection I made (or maybe I misclicked?). But those are minor nitpicks.
I'm amused by the comment about his past self looking so different when they look almost the same.
deformhead
deformhead5 May 2023, 12:47
Really good! So much work done here with a lot of text, a strong depth with the scenario, the mood totally caught me, great job! :clap:
Hakro
Hakro8 May 2023, 09:22
Lovely little game. I got hooked by the story line and dialogs. I like the mood and art style as well.
Great entry.
Jimbly
Jimbly10 May 2023, 00:55
I enjoyed that, nice writing =). I can't tell if my decisions actually had any effect or not though, it felt a bit just like watching a story than playing a game, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Other games by @papaya

Found a bug?
Tell us on Discord