Reviews by manonamora
inkjam
View this member's profilePrevious | 11-20 of 21 | Next | Show All
Blink, don't blink, oh no you blinked at the wrong time!, November 4, 2023This game had a very creative take on the blinking theme, using the player actually blinking to affect the gameplay, via your webcam and facial recognition. While this is super cool and innovative, fast blinkers like me might have a tough time completing a room before the environment is changed. Luckily, the devs included a non-webcam alternative: pressing your spacebar to "pretend" blinking (though you may lose a bit of the immersion/change, unless you blink at the same time).
With this mechanic, you are given a series of puzzle to complete to escape the labyrinth, where the solution often requires you to "blink" to change the environment, so you can get a key inside a block of ice (but now it's melted) or insert it in a keyhole (which didn't fit at first, because it was the wrong door)... The scenarios are quite diverse, so the mechanic never really loses it charm.
However, while the ambiance is heightened by the funky tunes and the animated background*, these soon became distracting (the way the animation moved made me pretty sick, so I couldn't finish the game).
*the author have commented if they update the game, a toggle for animation will be on the list.
Great fun game, with a very cool mechanic. Worth a try at least!
Take a plunge..., November 4, 2023To take on the theme of the jam, the game mixes sci-fi and fantastical elements, which fit pretty well together, giving an eerie feel to Tsumugi environment and state of mind. Through the many early endings, the story pushes you to explore the strange happenstance.
At times, the game seems a tad unfinished and unpolished, which the author can be forgiven for, as it was completed in less than a day. There seems to be achievements and stats aspect in the game, which you are notified when picking certain choices. However, it is unclear how much this affect the story, aside from direct variation (or running into an abrupt ending).
There is something quite interesting to the setting, and how you get to the fantastical element, but it doesn't feel pushed enough or like elements were introduced but abandoned half-way through. It would be interesting to see more of the RP/state play a role further into the story.
One final bit: the illustration on the game page/title card is really lovely!
... or not!, November 4, 2023Told in three parts, with a change in POV in between, the story mashes Christian mythos and horror, through the arrival of the apocalypse. As such, it takes an interesting approach on the theme, by going to the earliest use of the phrase in the blink of an eye, Through this the re-contextualisation of religious themes inside a horror framing, the game discusses religion and faith, change (or lack thereof), and what happens after death.
The writing, being quite flowery and evocative, tries to emulate old English to set the story in late Ancient Times - though only for spoken words, the rest of the text using modern prose. I found it a bit jarring, as little of the setting is framed from being in this time.
Finally, the ambiguous and unchanging ending left me unsatisfied. Your choices, which are recapped at the end, are supposed to give you an answer to why the ending is the way it is, or at least lead you towards your own interpretation. But I don't feel like it quite worked, for any choice I made. I didn't understand why only one of the two, even if both are in this situation, finds solace at the end...
I think quite a bit of the story stands on a prerequisite knowledge of Christian mythos, and assumes that the players has those, to make enough of an impact.
Take a break and watch the forest change., November 4, 2023This was a very cute entry to the inkJam, one of the most sweet and serene of all of them, as you watch a forest going through the different seasons and stages, as its inhabitants change*, adapting to the environment. I am still not sure if you are the forest or another wordly being, but frankly it matters little here.
*in a blink of an eye, get it?
Like the story, the writing is fairly mellow and calm. Depending on the choice you make, you can manage to loop back to the start, and try out a different branch (watching more closely or close your eyes and vibe).
The illustrations, both in the backgrounds (which change with the theme!) and as headers for each "chapter", were quite lovely, adding to the serenity of the story. It was just a shame they wouldn't fit properly one the page...
Chill cute vibes.
Can't not blink..., November 3, 2023This is a tiny horror story about what is and isn't around you, but also not quite. It does not just play with your senses of what you see and feel, but also with your agency as a player.
While it should add to the uneasiness of the setting, it didn't work for me. This felt more like something you'd fin in r/twosentenceshorror.
To mod or not to mod..., November 3, 2023This was a bit of a mind-blowing game. It takes an intriguing take on the themes of agency, control over and expression of one's body, body modification and technological advancement.
The use of an interview mechanic to prove the customer's motivation for a procedure is done quite well, with realistic reactions from them when your probing goes towards an unexpected path or pushes too much. Depending on the tone chosen at the start, you will find subtle variations in the responses. At the end, you will have to choose whether you approve of the procedure or advise against.
It is both uneasy to go through, hard to look away, and pretty well done.
Should I stay or should I go?, November 3, 2023This game had a very interesting sci-fi premise with the whole end of the Universe/of life concept and last effort for hope, clashing with a more blasé outlook of living for the moment while you can, because humanity is doomed anyway. Though it is set in a far future, with a probably impossible setting, the tech doesn't feel too far-fetched and complicated to grasp.
The fast pace start hooks pretty quickly, feeling that anxiety and weight of the importance of the mission. It slows down from the middle point, where you get more concrete exposition* and a sense of dread from the state of your ship and the crew. This culminates to the big choice: continue your mission or give up.
*More lore is available on the game page, as a feelies (downloadable extra).
This was a quirky prototype that ends pretty abruptly (depending on the path taken, pretty quickly too). It is very humoristic, and very chaotic energy vibe: the pets are not your run-of-the-mill cats and dogs, and you might not be able to handle them...
Adding to the chaotic vibe are the illustration, with its funky style. It's a shame the current version is so short (though understandable due to the limitations). So I hope a longer version comes out at some point, and have more shenanigans to handle with those weird pets.
In the meantime, I'm bringing the pets back...
Hope you do well on yout first mission!, November 3, 2023This had huge Aliens/Predator vibes, from the setting of the story to the beasts' descriptions. The whole moving about in the building did remind me a bit of Ripley going through the ship to hunt down the Alien. The gameplay itself is pretty simple: you mainly get binary choices, with some leading you to an early end (being sneaky is not always the smart choice...).
Trying to stay alive, balance your ammos, and keeping everyone sage is trickier than it seemed, but it makes for a fun small adventure/dungeon game.
Buy a planet, watch it grow and die. Don't blink!, November 3, 2023This game has a cool sci-fi concept, where you get to see how a planet transforms before your eyes at lightning speed, before getting small snapshots of different elements. It's pretty eerie, seeing life being reduced to numbers and snapshots for your own enjoyment (and yours alone). I am still not sure whether the generated planet is supposed to be "real" or lines of code in a computer, but the implications either way are a bit creepy.
The planets and its components are also randomly generated, making replays pretty fun (though I was unlucky the first few times). I also liked the simple and muted animated background, giving off that futuristic-corporate vibe that fits with the setting.
It was a neat experiment.
Previous | 11-20 of 21 | Next | Show All