Hmm I can't recreate the problem on my end--when I test the game on Chrome on my Windows machine, it works fine. If you don't have the correct ingredients, it'll just reset the room ingredients, so it sounds like it's triggering the "incorrect" response for you every time, no matter what you add?
I love Watermelon style games, I always end up playing them longer than I meant. This was pretty fun, and the music choice was great. Thanks for sharing this!
Oh wow, this is such detailed feedback, thank you so much! My primary goal of this game was to create an atmospheric 3D scene, so thank you for your comment about the visuals and music. That's what I was hoping for!
And I'm so pleased that the lore and conversations were enjoyable enough on their own, even without "winning/losing" the game. I put a lot of time into writing content for the game and fleshing out the whole backstory, and it's so good to hear that the efforts are appreciated!
Thank you again for leaving such a nice comment and playing the game!
That was really fun! I left it running and amassed tens of thousands of currency... I ran out of room to put tables! I love the grumpy looking demon-employees too, very cute.
Oh that's so strange, it works on Firefox on my end (on a PC)! If you don't mind, what kind of device are you on? I know that some mobile devices (tablets and phones) struggled to render the visuals because of the 3D lighting effect I used (so the game works, but the light doesn't and everything appears dark).
Regardless, thanks for giving the game a try anyways, I appreciate the feedback!
Oh wow thanks for this thoughtful feedback! I worked really hard on the lighting effect so it makes me very happy to hear that people liked it. I agree on the camera needing some improvement--I fiddled with it a lot but you're right, honestly maybe some "settings" would have been helpful so people can set their own camera.
And I'm glad you appreciated the dragging mechanic--it was one of the earliest things I had in mind for the game, I really wanted the act of a conversation to be "physical", like you said--forcing yourself to speak, literally putting topics out there, etc. I had a dream of making it so you could play the entire game with using one word, but I quickly realized what an overwhelming amount of content that would have been to create, so I scrapped it. I'm glad that the variety of content was still enough to keep it interesting! Also In the Forest is mysterious and folksy, so lovely.
Thank you so much for following and for leaving this comment, I really appreciate it
Ah it's probably because you're on mobile--the 3D lighting seems to struggle on mobile browsers. In theory the game works, but nothing is lit properly so you can't see the scene.
Wishlisted! The werewolf in the trailer is giving me some Nightmare Creatures vibes... and I was too scared to finish that game as a kid ha. Looking forward to a chance to redeem myself here!
Ah that's a neat idea! Finding a way to make each run start a little "further ahead" than the last run might make things a lot easier, actually. Even if I can't do it here, that could be a good thing to bring into my future games that have multiple endings.
Thank you for playing and I'm glad you had fun anyways! And thanks for your feedback
Thank you so much for playing! I enjoy making unusual horror puzzle games, so I will definitely make more--and you can check out my other games too in the meantime!
Well, I can't imagine the Elder is too happy you escaped! But hey, redemption always comes with a cost, right?
This is an amazing amount of feedback, thank you so much! The fact that you played the game and shared your thoughts with me is such a kind gift.
I'm really glad to hear that the aesthetic of the game was appealing--my main goal of this project was actually to create a moody, atmospheric 3D scene, since I don't have any prior experience in 3D games. I put a lot of thought into the style and setting (and even agonizing over the camera angle towards the NPC, which you noticed too!), so it's nice to hear that my efforts are appreciated.
My original idea for an NPC was to create a true believer, someone fervent and rigid, and you would have to verbally duel them with logic to prove that their cultish beliefs were wrong. But it was so... unconvincing and dull. Then I had the idea of writing this NPC, who's actually an outsider among outsiders, even outsiders as strange as a remote group of cannibals. And the idea of having a personal, emotional conversation with this person who isn't really happy in their situation just lit a spark for the writing the dialogue. I really tried to make him seem like a reasonable, sympathetic person, so I'm flattered that you really enjoyed engaging with the person that I created!
And I'm so happy to hear that just immersing yourself in the conversation is fun. That was exactly what I hoped for and had in mind--an interactive, immersive fiction experience. Which is also why the game is so hard--there's not a lot of logical clues to "deduce" the correct ending. You sort of just roll with it, and hopefully it's an interesting ride.
Thank you again for playing and leaving such a well-thought out piece of feedback, I really appreciate it. :)
Ah yes, that would make it very hard to reveal more keywords! I'm glad you stuck with it though and had fun, that is awesome. And it's nice to hear that my attempts at writing a sympathetic cannibal worked at least a little! Thanks for the feedback!
Haha I know, but I tried to make receiving the hints a little spooky too! I love hint systems and catch-up mechanics, I feel like they keep the momentum going in a game.
Thanks for checking out this little spooky-cute game, and I'm pleased to hear you've been recruited to the coven! :)
That's amazing, I am so happy that you enjoyed the game enough to keep trying! And I'm glad it paid off in the good ending. Thank you so much for playing, and for opening an account to leave me feedback! That's so kind. :)
That's so impressive! Each word has multiple possible "conversation dialogue snippets" that it can draw from, so that's the "luck" part, but you still have to follow your instincts when it comes to forming a connection with this strange outsider among outsiders. So, nicely done!
This is tricky because there's no guaranteed "path" that beats the game, since the conversations are a little dynamically generated. I can tell you that you need 4 words, and one of those words is "hope" at the beginning (to get you started). If you play a correct word, you'll get a little popup of the player character talking to themselves, for example, "We have rapport. How can I get him to think of us as old friends?" That's a clue for another winning keyword. If you turn on EASIER mode, then the right words will be highlighted as you manage to discover them, which will help a little.
It's definitely harder than I intended, but thank you for trying it out anyways! I appreciate your time. :)
I am both flattered and very apologetic ha! I loved watching this, it was so helpful and interesting--thank you for sharing it with me and recording it. Watching you sift through this weird little esoteric game and learn more each time you played was very cool, and exactly the experience I was hoping to create for players. You are so close to winning! It's a difficult game for sure--honestly, I think too difficult, because it's not really explicitly "logical". The introspection popups give you a gentle clue about the next correct word, but there's no real way to "deduce" the correct answer. I created it more as an interactive, atmospheric fiction experience that just happens to have a "good" ending as a bonus.
My other games are also "spooky puzzlers", but have very clear hint systems, so even if you get stuck, the hints will kick in and basically tell you the right answer. With this game, because of the way it's designed--the conversations are dynamically generated--it's not as easy to give the player helpful pushes. The best I could do was add the EASIER mode (as you noted too) which highlights the right words for you, if you manage to uncover them. But you still have to uncover them yourself. You're looking for 4 correct words, and one of the words is the opening word "hope" (to get you started, it's kind of a freebie). I also updated the game again and added a replay button at the end so you don't have to refresh.
Finally, apologies that the game is a bit laggy for you! I shipped it to be as compatible as possible with as many desktop browsers as possible, but I definitely did not catch everything. Especially since this game is dynamically loading files and the lighting/fire is running on the CPU, the performance can be hit/miss. In the future, maybe I'll add an .exe that people can download too, thanks to your feedback.
Thank you again for your in-depth feedback and I am glad you enjoyed the game enough to keep trying!
Thank you for making this video and sharing it with me, that's amazing! I always enjoy watching people play the game, it's a very cool experience! And thanks for giving my game a try. :)
No worries at all, the game is definitely a little esoteric. The green bar represents the cattle-stunner being charged. Each time you play a word from your word inventory, the stunner charge bar goes up 1. There are 15 bars, e.g., you have 15 "turns" to try and escape. So you want to escape before the bar fills up!
