Wow. That was a strange but interesting experience. I jumped when the eyeballs appeared at the beginning. Had a very artsy feel, and while I'm not sure I understood the meaning of what was going on, I enjoyed the experience. Good job!

Feel free to check out our game, [E.(a)T.](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/e-at), if you have a few moments. Thanks very much :slight_smile:.

Thanks for the comment! I'll check your game out tomorrow.

The amount of "actual" meaning goes down as the game progresses... Didn't have time to be as diligent with that for the later parts. The ending is pretty much just thrown together, as I didn't get to add all the segments I originally planned. But everything before the very end at least has an intention/some thought behind the meaning :)

Well that was weird :D Really love the aesthetic, the music is perfect - jarring and creepy. Fun animation style too. I'd love to see this made into a full game!

Very different game - I love the monochrome art style and the music really goes well with it. I was quite absorbed - so would love to see it as a much longer game!

Would have liked some screenshots or videos on the page. Interesting take on the theme.

Well, that was a strange experience :upside_down: But overall I think you did a nice job. I think, this game needs more storyline, because it's not obvious, that you touch upon such topics as depression and anxiety etc in this game. I like the black and white graphics, but the static objects were blurry and that wasn't pleasing to look at.
I think you should try to make a polished project on this basis, overall nice job!

Really fascinating concept, I think this game deserves post-LD development!
Interesting visual style and audio go together well

What a strange experiment...
I don't really understand what happen to me, but I was stuck to this world.
Nice atmosphere you have made, well done.

Interesting look and feel with moody music. It feels like the game is just getting started and could turn into something special but it never really takes off. I'd like to see what else you might have had planned given more time cause I'm definitely intrigued.

What an avant garde game. I like the music and the experimentation. You can like it more or less but it's complete and has the main points to enjoy a videogame experience.

Simple yet deep game, I have a feeling it's about social anxiety? I also enjoyed the music as well.

@gamepopper thanks! Yes, it is about social anxiety. Glad you were able to get that from the game :)

Music and graphics are nice. I also liked the surrealistic mood, but gameplay is a bit too linear and too short.

Exactly what means LudumDare! Something weird without any clear explanation. I liked it - especially the aesthetic and also the jazz background track. The fight against ants was great. Bravo ++

Really strange game and I don't think I 'got it', but I can appreciate it nonetheless.

So the **graphics** are nice, although the blurry background looked more like low resolution instead of... well, being 'blurry', as I think you intended. They work fine though and I like the animation of the main character.

The **audio** is really interesting. Gives the game a surreal atmosphere that I really enjoyed. The sound effects clashed a bit with the music, but they were okay.

The **gameplay** is a bit simple, but that's obviously not what the game is about. Im actually not sure what it is about after playing. I read the comments and that gave me a bit more insight, but the game itself is a bit too 'out there' for me to get anything out of the story.

Overall a very interesting concept. Nice job.

I like the confusing nature of this game. It felt like a mystery and I really wanted to figure out what was going on. The music added to the mood well. I'd be really interested to see what you'd put together for a full game. Nice job!

I really enjoyed this, full marks for mood. I was disappointed it wasn't longer, which isn't something I say about many LD games

i really didn't have much of opinions, didn't know if i really understood complete the experience, not in an negative way, i am just speechless... nice entry

Interesting idea. I loved the monochrome graphics and mood. I had trouble with the controls. I got to the ant scene and couldn't figure out how to jump to avoid them so some help on the controls would be great. Nice entry.

I like the audiovisual approach and your take on the issue very much. The idea that the first stage revolves round social anxiety is clear and well delivered.

That being said, since feedback should be constructive, I have a few issues I'd like to address, mainly regarding symbolism.

The whole idea behind symbolism is that, while being clever, it should also allow the recipient to ** easily associate symbols ** with their cultural meaning, and understand the message you're trying to convey. In this case, good symbols include e.g. light, darkness (you used it well), the tremors representing inner turmoil - also, well done on your side.

But the symbolism of apples, ants and the figure at the end seem too vague. Are you literally trying to 'protect the *fruits* of your labor' [ :) ] from attacks? Are those emotions, picked apart by external forces? I'm really not sure how to interpret it.

Symbolism is actually very problematic for creators - since you spend so much time with your project, it may seem clear as day what something represents, but someone lacking just one cultural association you have could miss the metaphor completely.

So, the whole idea, ** while hinting at coherent symbolism, comes off as more surreal than I expected it to be. ** Surrealism is very interesting, but at the same time usually needs much deeper context to interpret properly - see Salvador Dali as an example (where, without knowing his biography, interpretation is sometimes impossible - like his fear of grasshoppers).

Then again, overall the game creates a good experience. Of course it would be clearer with more work, and LD restrictions make working with serious topics really tough. So I'm glad you accomplished what you could in such short time, and your project would really benefit from further development.

** If you're going for surrealism, it should be more pronounced right from the beginning; if you're aimimg for symbolism, research the symbols and their clarity well. ** For me it looked like symbolism, but lost its clarity.

I hope you'll find my rant helpful :)

I'm leaving my rating, Cheers!

Haha! That was funny to kill those ant! The atmosphere is weird... But it works, I think it was what you want!
Nice game btw, maybe a little too short.

@takusan awesome write up, thank you so much for your thoughts! I would say that I started aiming more for surrealism but found myself trending back in the direction of symbolism as time went on in the competition. And then, towards the ends, I transitioned into not having much time to think about meaning/intent at all :)

It seems like the elements for which I was able to spend time thinking about meaning/intent were successful, which is great to hear. The things that felt vague to you never had much intent behind them to begin with, so that makes a lot of sense that you would see them that way. In particular, the "angel figure" is my one real regret about this version of this game.

There is obviously a boat-load of potential built in symbolism with an angelic figure, none of which is particularly relevant to my intent with the game as a whole. If I could do that part over, I think I would have just had the bird fly in on its own. But in the originally planned, fully "intentioned" version of the game I came up with, the game wouldn't end after that segment anyway. I just ran into the situation of needing some kind of ending that I could make within the time constraint and wanted it to contain some new element that "felt meaningful". What I came up with doesn't fit very well, but I'm okay with that due to the time constraints :)

I'm going to be working on this game more, and your comments will be very helpful in doing that! It will be nice to have a bit more freedom to explore the direction I want to take it in regarding symbolism and/or surrealism, without the time pressures of the competition. Thanks again for taking the time!

Music and monochrome visuals set a very thick mood, which is something I always enjoy in jam games more than anything else. A very enjoyable experience overall, although I wish there'd be a a few more scenes to give the player more room for interpretation of the overall idea behind the game. But wishing a game was longer I think is the best compliment one can give ;)
By the way, this reminds me of The Cat Lady a lot!

I liked this game, mainly because of the music and the sound fx integrated with it, which I always love. Some animations and sounds were a bit confusing: while fighting ants I wasn't sure if I was dodging them or being hit (btw I also couldn't figure out how to avoid them). Even the death of the character wasn't very clear. At first I thought a day had passed and he simply had fallen asleep. Even if finding a meaning to it wasn't my goal, I completely agree with @takusan, the game could have more control on its symbols thus gaining more control on player's experience too.

I enjoyed this experience, as odd and short as it was. The sound fit perfectly, and up until closer to the end, I kind of feel I got some of the meaning. Although everything is silhouettes, the amount of blurriness/pixelation changes. It looks somewhat intentional, but also really messy. If you wanted the background blurry, making the trees blurry, but the ground a bit sharper would make it fit better. Alternatively, it could become more blurry as you reached that shakey end part. Either might help, but as it is, it looks more like it was sloppy than intentional as I feel it was.

This was a very strange experience. The art style was good, and the music was good, and both together definitely set a mood. Beyond that I'm not really sure what was happening, though.

wtf .... good game :D

I completely do not understand what it is about it :P

(ps. sory for my bad english)

It was cool in a way – I hope the end was the bit with the angel, and it wasn't just a random game freeze :D

As some people already pointed out, the pixel blurriness was distracting, I think you should have had vector graphics or something, so it would all look smooth and coherent. Nice little game overall.

The intro startled me a lot. The game felt really abstract, and I didn't quite get the story. But it set a really great mood.

The audio really made it feel strange, in a good way. The effects, like screen shaking, also added to the game.

I'm sure you've already heard this, but vector graphics would help a ton. The blurriness was a bit distracting.

Good job.

I think "strange" is the best word for this entry. Not in a bad way, but strange. A memorable entry.

Great atmosphere!!! Well done!

Good idea! Great job!

Woah. I knew I was in for a treat when I saw the screen shot. I didn't read any of the comments or even the description, I just jumped right in. I love it so much more since I experienced it that way. I didn't understand the first part until I read someone else's interpretation of it. Wow... excellent job!

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK HAVE I JUST PLAYED??? It was kind of fun but I have no idea why were things happening :smiley: good game though I guess :smiley:

I really LOVED this one. :grin:

The graphics and sound are just great and really fit to the atmosphere. The solution of the puzzles are unique and require thinking outside the box. (That's the part I liked at most.)
The message is lovely and a great reminder for everyone how's having a hard time. Oh and I think we both had the same strange basic idea for this LD xD
One of the reasons why I sympathize with this entry so much^^

Great experience @fueelin I appreciate your brave for this experimental concept, keep it up! :smile:

This is really interesting. I think it's a pity it's so short, because it doesn't really develop very much. From a gameplay perspective, the ants bit is the most engaging, but the earlier portion is much better in every other way that matters. In terms of establishing a mood, though, Headspace does a very good job, especially given Compo constraints. The music is very appropriate. Also, the aesthetic initially reminded me of the XKCD strips [Time](https://xkcd.com/1190/) and [Click and Drag](https://xkcd.com/1110/). Which is cool, even if it's not really _that_ similar (I think it's the trees).

Also, everything @takusan said. I try to find meaningful, helpful things to say about every entry, but, damn.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're planning on developing it further!

@philomory thanks for the comments! You're very right about those XKCDs! I can't look at them without thinking of my game :)

Interesting story! I included it in my Ludum Dare 38 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGAiipylkqo