I really love the art style and atmosphere of your game; it conveys a sense of oppression and fear. If you could add more background, I believe this game could have a compelling backstory. The sound design also fits the content of the game perfectly. If possible, it would be great to add some text to reflect the hidden meanings within the game.
I really like the hand drawing style for the game assets, they really fits well with the dark/sad theme of the game. Some nitpicking thoughts: maybe the character could move slightly slower, the movement feels a little fast for a kid, and could also fits the sad theme better. A little more instruction on the interaction/wayfinding would be nice too. Overall great game!
Your art style has always been very colorful. It's beautifully done from the opening to the end. I think the narrative part is well thought out and has a well developed backstory. But in a way I as a player don't feel your narrative. My suggestion is that maybe besides talking to NPCs, you could add some NPC actions or trigger some extra events instead of just picking up stuff and taking medicine. Also how you balance your music material is important, players who are constantly startled by sudden sound effects may not be able to immerse themselves in the game.
Very moving story, very sad to play. I think it would be interesting to lean into the unfairness a little more; while some areas are briefly dangerous, most of the map still feels relatively chill to roam around in. More stealth sections I think would make sense here.
The references throughout the game to the boat and the ocean as goalposts felt quite foreboding. Knowing the tragic fate of many refugee families who try to flee oppression by boat, I did expect an unhappy ending here.
I love the fact that you have an intro and that you also have the option to skip it makes the game feel complete in a way! I think that the music you chose also feels very fitting to the theme. I did find my self getting a little lost in the map but perhaps this exploratory vibe was what you were going for. Maybe some more signaling would have been good to have.
AMAZING soundtrack! amazing tech know-how and execution. Even though I understand that the third level did not fit the plot, I still wish you had kept it. If I were to add anything, it would be a map of the game's top view, which could also be used for navigation. Additionally, I was unsure of how to respond to some interactions because they were not as intuitive as others.
Great design and sound design. Playing it is emotionally impactful. I understand there is sometimes no map in real-life escape settings during war, but I do think this would be helpful to add to your game. I found myself getting really lost and having to navigate a huge playing field to try to find my way out and interact with NPCs to have an answer.
I said this during a previous round of playtests, but it could also help to clarify the boundaries of the game so that the player knows where they can walk or where they will be blocked. Maybe in addition to/instead of the map, you could have text call-outs that explain to the player where they should go next. For instance in the scene where you blow the horn (also can't remember if there was a horn sound effect?), it could say something "The soldiers stationed above are coming your way! Make your way to the port before they make their way to you."
Finally, the game could close on the arrival of the person at a refugee camp/border patrol rather than just ending on the boat. This will drive your point that the person is traumatized and will face further hardships home.
I remember playtesting this game during one of your first playtests and was able to get through your game without much hassle. I'm glad that your group made the conditions to beat the game more airtight to keep the player within the narrative at hand because from my past experience with your game I was able to skim some of the story.
One of the things I would recommend to improve for a future build is to maybe see if you can update some of the UI textboxes. Maybe for stuff like dialogue and picking up important items there can be sound effects that can go with them so the player knows that these elements are ones that they should pay attention to.
Really like where it is! I like that you have a full narrative/game loop in your game.
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I really love the art style and atmosphere of your game; it conveys a sense of oppression and fear. If you could add more background, I believe this game could have a compelling backstory. The sound design also fits the content of the game perfectly. If possible, it would be great to add some text to reflect the hidden meanings within the game.
I really like the hand drawing style for the game assets, they really fits well with the dark/sad theme of the game. Some nitpicking thoughts: maybe the character could move slightly slower, the movement feels a little fast for a kid, and could also fits the sad theme better. A little more instruction on the interaction/wayfinding would be nice too. Overall great game!
Your art style has always been very colorful. It's beautifully done from the opening to the end. I think the narrative part is well thought out and has a well developed backstory. But in a way I as a player don't feel your narrative. My suggestion is that maybe besides talking to NPCs, you could add some NPC actions or trigger some extra events instead of just picking up stuff and taking medicine. Also how you balance your music material is important, players who are constantly startled by sudden sound effects may not be able to immerse themselves in the game.
Very moving story, very sad to play. I think it would be interesting to lean into the unfairness a little more; while some areas are briefly dangerous, most of the map still feels relatively chill to roam around in. More stealth sections I think would make sense here.
The references throughout the game to the boat and the ocean as goalposts felt quite foreboding. Knowing the tragic fate of many refugee families who try to flee oppression by boat, I did expect an unhappy ending here.
I love the fact that you have an intro and that you also have the option to skip it makes the game feel complete in a way! I think that the music you chose also feels very fitting to the theme. I did find my self getting a little lost in the map but perhaps this exploratory vibe was what you were going for. Maybe some more signaling would have been good to have.
AMAZING soundtrack! amazing tech know-how and execution. Even though I understand that the third level did not fit the plot, I still wish you had kept it. If I were to add anything, it would be a map of the game's top view, which could also be used for navigation. Additionally, I was unsure of how to respond to some interactions because they were not as intuitive as others.
Great design and sound design. Playing it is emotionally impactful. I understand there is sometimes no map in real-life escape settings during war, but I do think this would be helpful to add to your game. I found myself getting really lost and having to navigate a huge playing field to try to find my way out and interact with NPCs to have an answer.
I said this during a previous round of playtests, but it could also help to clarify the boundaries of the game so that the player knows where they can walk or where they will be blocked. Maybe in addition to/instead of the map, you could have text call-outs that explain to the player where they should go next. For instance in the scene where you blow the horn (also can't remember if there was a horn sound effect?), it could say something "The soldiers stationed above are coming your way! Make your way to the port before they make their way to you."
Finally, the game could close on the arrival of the person at a refugee camp/border patrol rather than just ending on the boat. This will drive your point that the person is traumatized and will face further hardships home.
I remember playtesting this game during one of your first playtests and was able to get through your game without much hassle. I'm glad that your group made the conditions to beat the game more airtight to keep the player within the narrative at hand because from my past experience with your game I was able to skim some of the story.
One of the things I would recommend to improve for a future build is to maybe see if you can update some of the UI textboxes. Maybe for stuff like dialogue and picking up important items there can be sound effects that can go with them so the player knows that these elements are ones that they should pay attention to.
Really like where it is! I like that you have a full narrative/game loop in your game.