A Good Gardener by C.Lodwick

[raw]
made by C.Lodwick for LD32 (JAM)
"A Good Gardener" is a wartime garden simulator. You are a prisoner spending your days in relative solitude growing strange plants that are used in the war effort. You're only human contact is with your "supervisor", who makes trips out from the nearby factory.

NOTE: A BUG IN THIS BUILD MAKES A SCENE REPEAT INFINITELY ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH. SORRY! HOPEFULLY BY THEN YOU'LL HAVE GOTTEN THE GIST.

Ratings

Coolness 40% 1667
Overall(Jam) 3.33 423
Audio(Jam) 3.55 168
Fun(Jam) 2.65 788
Graphics(Jam) 4.42 56
Innovation(Jam) 3.21 432
Mood(Jam) 4.00 52
Theme(Jam) 2.91 803

Feedback

jk5000
21. Apr 2015 · 08:43 UTC
The mouse cursor should probably have been locked. Otherwise a great game.
Mouch
21. Apr 2015 · 08:43 UTC
The supervisor will haunt me in my dreams!
I don't know if the supervisor comes again or is something else happens, because the game crashed.
rogberth
21. Apr 2015 · 09:52 UTC
I think the player should move much faster, it makes the game to slow this way. Great graphic design btw
tripleVisionGames
22. Apr 2015 · 13:42 UTC
Very moody and sedate piece. Really love the art style.
RoryD
23. Apr 2015 · 15:44 UTC
Very zen! I liked it for how different it is. Get rid of the mouse cursor and add a small reticule dot so that throwing the seeds and watering them isn't so hit and miss.

The spooky question I keep asking myself is, who comes into my room at night and takes the watering can and puts it back onto the table?
hadesfury
23. Apr 2015 · 15:56 UTC
Great mood and graphics, I got to the end I guess, with the cadet. Nice experience!
F. Wiktora
23. Apr 2015 · 16:01 UTC
Great design, nice idea, but I didn't figure out the goal of the game.
DrPrettyPatty
23. Apr 2015 · 16:04 UTC
Woah. To anyone else who hasn't played it yet, it's definitely worth playing through, but it takes a good 20-30 mins. I played through to the end (I'm assuming? The last 'scene' seemed to loop), and this is my favorite entry so far!! At first I thought this was a "tweak my Grow theme idea" kind of thing, but I was wrong! Beautiful graphics and sound; the music reminded me of Animal Crossing, in a nice and relaxing way, and the graphics are really appealing. I especially liked the details, like how the foreman guy looks back at you when you get close. As far as criticism I agree with the others about the movement being a little slow (remedied by being able to hold shift to move faster?), and the mouse cursor is distracting when you're not in the seed box (you can just toggle Cursor.visible on entry/exit). But overall and in several categories, I'm giving you 5 stars, which I don't do often. Loved it!
Ogniok
23. Apr 2015 · 16:13 UTC
For sure it's one of the most calming games in the jam
Detocroix
23. Apr 2015 · 16:17 UTC
Supervisor has some crazy eyes when you approach him from "behind".Very pretty game! :)
Rialgar
26. Apr 2015 · 20:30 UTC
I made a Let's Play of your game (45min! It took ages to upload): http://youtu.be/_RM816nxeNI

This game is gorgeous in visuals and music. The vibe is soothing and relaxing, just like gardening should be. Yet the underlying story makes me feel just barely uneasy and a tad guilty. I wonder what this war is about. Why do they have concrete buildings but use swords, maces, spears and lances? Why am I in this Prison? Am I a political prisoner? Was I a rebel? What will happen to that senior cadet? Who are the parties in this war? This small room builds up an enormous story with the simple planting and growing mechanic and minimalistic dia... well actually monologue. I. Love. It.
Steven Colling
04. May 2015 · 10:29 UTC
Very solid entry. I liked the art style and the calm experience. The movement and camera feels a bit off, but anyway, it's a great and moody experience! Especially how everything builds up (in a figurative sense ;D).