What a sweet game. I was very impressed you to took into account all the different routes you could take. I don't think I saw any text that looked out of place, and I enjoyed them adding context and guidance to the other routes.
There were a lot of really nice bits of writing, particularly watching the horror movie in the bar. That certainly resonated with me and felt quite real :)
I don't quite know how best to put it, but this game has an incredibly dense and raw feeling of a small American town. At least it captures the kind of imagination about a small American town I am accustomed to since I've never really been to the USA. I don't really know what does it to me: either a very particular kind of boring automobile-centric city planning, or its history, or the kind of warmth and communal spirit, emanating from its residents. But it's just there, and it kinda fascinates me.
That said, the way this game tells its story through encouraging exploration and light puzzle solving is just beautiful. I played through it three times to see the consequences of picking different spots, and it always found ways to pleasantly surprise me. This game has so much heart and human warmth, shining through each character and location. My favorite was the auto mechanic, who I expected to be some kind of important character in one of the stories, but it seemed like she was just there. And each time I visited her, she made me smile.
Oh, wow. I'm so grateful for this post. Literally the most I'd hope to get from making something like this.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Claire, the auto mechanic, can actually be your euchre partner to get the time capsule back from the bar owner if you bury the capsule behind your house in the first part of the game. You can also take her to get pizza or go to the diner once she's "in your party." Some people might get Fernando from the pizza shop before knowing that Claire is an option.
I originally wanted to have several different people around the town who could come along with you for various paths, but the scope of the game was getting too big.
Seriously, thank you so much for the comments. Made my day!
I knew it! Thanks for explaining the situation with Claire. Still, I think it is a cool person to hang out with, with puzzle-solving purpose or without.
Also, glad you've liked my comment! It was all sincere.
This is incredibly cool! I love how much the initial choice can impact the story, and how real it makes the town feel. It makes it satisfying to replay and see how things change, and it's all so tightly implemented!
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it. This is the first time I've used conditional lists for dialogue in Bitsy. I actually don't think that existed when I made my last few games. Haha. I love seeing how much is possible with such simple tools.
this is so lovely!! it's a really cool mechanic, having the player choose where to bury the capsule and that then affecting the path their descendant goes on to find it. the town feels really alive, especially on multiple playthroughs, where you have to talk to multiple people - lives layered across lives, history across history. thank you for making it!
That's amazing to hear! Exactly what I was going for <3 Thanks for playing and telling me about it. I look forward to playing your game soon. I'm aiming to do a whole run-through of the submissions soon!
Love it. Layering on all these potential narratives within one space was such a clever idea, and a great use of a sprawling town without needing to chain all the locations together for one complete solution.
Oh, thank you so much!! I still haven't play-tested half the stuff so I'm so glad to hear it worked well enough to enjoy it haha.
Yeah, when I add some polish I intend to have more diverging aspects. Especially the ability to interact with more characters regardless of the place you originally buried the time capsule so that you can see how your interactions with them change depending on their importance to you finding it later.
I think the one thing that felt off to me was that during the Adelma route, the folks at the diner will tell you all about Joselyn during your return visit when really you're just there to grab a quick slice and you should know about her by then. The idea of more interactions expanding is good though. Everyone will want an excuse to hang out with Claire!
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What a sweet game. I was very impressed you to took into account all the different routes you could take. I don't think I saw any text that looked out of place, and I enjoyed them adding context and guidance to the other routes.
There were a lot of really nice bits of writing, particularly watching the horror movie in the bar. That certainly resonated with me and felt quite real :)
Ah, thank you so much!! I don't consider myself a writer, so I always just pull from my own experiences and hope for the best.
I just played your skeleton game for the bitsy jam. Very fun use of Bitsy. My giraffe was so broken. lol
Thank you for my playing my game! And I love hearing about all the broken, weird skeletons :)
I don't quite know how best to put it, but this game has an incredibly dense and raw feeling of a small American town. At least it captures the kind of imagination about a small American town I am accustomed to since I've never really been to the USA. I don't really know what does it to me: either a very particular kind of boring automobile-centric city planning, or its history, or the kind of warmth and communal spirit, emanating from its residents. But it's just there, and it kinda fascinates me.
That said, the way this game tells its story through encouraging exploration and light puzzle solving is just beautiful. I played through it three times to see the consequences of picking different spots, and it always found ways to pleasantly surprise me. This game has so much heart and human warmth, shining through each character and location. My favorite was the auto mechanic, who I expected to be some kind of important character in one of the stories, but it seemed like she was just there. And each time I visited her, she made me smile.
Great stuff!
Oh, wow. I'm so grateful for this post. Literally the most I'd hope to get from making something like this.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Claire, the auto mechanic, can actually be your euchre partner to get the time capsule back from the bar owner if you bury the capsule behind your house in the first part of the game. You can also take her to get pizza or go to the diner once she's "in your party." Some people might get Fernando from the pizza shop before knowing that Claire is an option.
I originally wanted to have several different people around the town who could come along with you for various paths, but the scope of the game was getting too big.
Seriously, thank you so much for the comments. Made my day!
I knew it! Thanks for explaining the situation with Claire. Still, I think it is a cool person to hang out with, with puzzle-solving purpose or without.
Also, glad you've liked my comment! It was all sincere.
The slight changes to the town based on your choice is cool, so many things that can be done with bitsy.
yeah! It was tricky to juggle all of the variables but bitsy always surprises me on how robust it is. Such a cool tool.
This is incredibly cool! I love how much the initial choice can impact the story, and how real it makes the town feel. It makes it satisfying to replay and see how things change, and it's all so tightly implemented!
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it. This is the first time I've used conditional lists for dialogue in Bitsy. I actually don't think that existed when I made my last few games. Haha. I love seeing how much is possible with such simple tools.
this is so lovely!! it's a really cool mechanic, having the player choose where to bury the capsule and that then affecting the path their descendant goes on to find it. the town feels really alive, especially on multiple playthroughs, where you have to talk to multiple people - lives layered across lives, history across history. thank you for making it!
That's amazing to hear! Exactly what I was going for <3 Thanks for playing and telling me about it. I look forward to playing your game soon. I'm aiming to do a whole run-through of the submissions soon!
Love it. Layering on all these potential narratives within one space was such a clever idea, and a great use of a sprawling town without needing to chain all the locations together for one complete solution.
Oh, thank you so much!! I still haven't play-tested half the stuff so I'm so glad to hear it worked well enough to enjoy it haha.
Yeah, when I add some polish I intend to have more diverging aspects. Especially the ability to interact with more characters regardless of the place you originally buried the time capsule so that you can see how your interactions with them change depending on their importance to you finding it later.
I think the one thing that felt off to me was that during the Adelma route, the folks at the diner will tell you all about Joselyn during your return visit when really you're just there to grab a quick slice and you should know about her by then. The idea of more interactions expanding is good though. Everyone will want an excuse to hang out with Claire!
Oh, thanks! Definitely a bug in my list of options. I intended for it to not re-iterate that stuff. I'll try to fix that as well.
Yes!! Claire is definitely the character I want to give more to haha