The Shrining by Hunter Towe

[raw]
made by Hunter Towe for LD 43 (COMPO)

Assist a boy on his quest to save a mysterious girl, in this absurdly bizarre narrative...

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Features:

  • NES-style graphics
  • Shrines which you must offer items to
  • Choices to make
  • Entertaining dialogue and events
  • 4 different ways to end the story

Controls:

  • Arrow Keys: Move
  • Z: Run
  • X: Interact & Read Dialogue
  • L: Increase Window Size (Recommended!)

Credits:

All assets were made by me. The tools I used were FamiTracker, Bfxr, and Adobe Photoshop CS2. The game was made with Unity.

Update Logs:

v1.0.1:

  • Corrected typo on title screen
  • Listed arrow key controls on title screen
  • Fixed minor UI issues

v1.0.2:

  • Corrected a spelling mistake in main ending dialogue
  • UI buttons can now be clicked on in addition to the standard controls

v1.0.3:

  • Fixed more problems with UI
  • (Possibly) Fixed issues with audio

Ratings

Overall 481th 2.545⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 492th 2.239⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 468th 2.37⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 387th 3⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 473th 2.239⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 370th 2.174⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 237th 2.783⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 394th 2.682⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 31🗳️ 14🗨️

Feedback

Ente
06. Dec 2018 · 01:42 UTC
Hey. Tried to play your game but the browser build didn't work. Not sure if it is a general problem or not, so maybe you want to have a look at it. ;)
🎤 Hunter Towe
06. Dec 2018 · 02:23 UTC
@ente What exactly happened? Did it get stuck on the loading screen? If so, try refreshing a time or two.
Ente
06. Dec 2018 · 03:05 UTC
Ok, I just forgot to accept cookies. Once I did everything worked. Sooo. now some feedback, eh? ;)

General thing: the theme of the girl having to be rescued is a bit old. And I don't get the wolf with the afro. (is it a racial stereotype? Why not just a wolf?) Also the whole rescue me stuff felt like a trap from the beginning and I think the stay in bed option is actually the best ending! Or is there another one, when you don't give up your legs? Tried not to but thought it didn't work. Hm. I liked the general style of the game. It could have been nice to actually have to pick up your offerings before or have some other mechanic with them which is not only the choice between 3 which you can try as many times as you want. But as it is it is already a nice foundation for something more. ;) The interactions are nice and clear. I am not writing very consistent here, cause I am tired but I wanted to leave you some feedback.
🎤 Hunter Towe
06. Dec 2018 · 04:16 UTC
@ente There's nothing to the wolf with the afro. It's just something weird I've been obsessed with for a while. I consider the stay in bed ending the worst because of how short and boring it is compared to the others (in my opinion), but I can definitely see why most people would probably consider it the best! I would've liked for the gameplay to be a little more engaging as you mentioned, but with little time I decided to focus more on the dialogue and story. I'm not trying to justify or excuse the flaws of the game. I just wanted to give some clarification.

Thank you very much for the feedback! These are things I'll definitely keep in mind for the future!
qfeys
06. Dec 2018 · 14:14 UTC
I think you had to do too much walking and searching for what you have to do. Otherwise neat concept.
08. Dec 2018 · 00:14 UTC
The pacing is a bit slow, but I liked the short story, I was feeling more and more over the time that something weird would happen!
Thumbs up for having made all of the assets :)

Edit : don't know why it checked "publish anonymously" and I can't change it. I'm @skdf
royur
09. Dec 2018 · 18:46 UTC
is there hidden happy ending? I thought that cloudy people gonna attack i was so scared passing through those wood but nothing happen.
🎤 Hunter Towe
09. Dec 2018 · 19:54 UTC
@royur I didn't feel like a happy ending would fit the theme, so sadly, no. Actually, those "cloudy people" were corpses (piles of blood and skulls). I guess I should've spent a few extra minutes perfecting those sprites, eh? I felt rushed and just went with the first thing I made, so that's on me. But hey, thanks for trying my game!
MyFriendTames
11. Dec 2018 · 01:38 UTC
Funny game, I love the concept :smile:

Very good job, it's an interesting game! :thumbsup:
🎤 Hunter Towe
11. Dec 2018 · 01:58 UTC
@myfriendtames Thank you! Also, thanks for giving my game a try!
Firesplash Entertainment
12. Dec 2018 · 20:35 UTC
Thanks for submitting the game for our stream! Was a pleasure to meet you in the chat even though I did not yet understand the game LOL
acaral
23. Dec 2018 · 20:58 UTC
A real work of author, and a funny writing. It remind me Earthbound in certain aspects. I loved the consequences of the choices.
Shakedimus
24. Dec 2018 · 09:19 UTC
hahaha a pretty romantic story you got there. The story fave me some laughs and the mutilating animations were pretty entertainingly gruesome. The gameplay itself wasn't hard or interesting though but I guess that was not what you were going for. If you would've added some more gameplay elements, not just selecting one of the three options until your right but rather having to really solve something would make it a better experience and all the more upsetting when you reach the end twist.
Shakedimus
24. Dec 2018 · 09:19 UTC
hahaha a pretty romantic story you got there. The story fave me some laughs and the mutilating animations were pretty entertainingly gruesome. The gameplay itself wasn't hard or interesting though but I guess that was not what you were going for. If you would've added some more gameplay elements, not just selecting one of the three options until your right but rather having to really solve something would make it a better experience and all the more upsetting when you reach the end twist.
🎤 Hunter Towe
24. Dec 2018 · 18:35 UTC
@acaral I was going for a slight Earthbound feel, so thanks!

@shakedimus Thank you! I agree-- more gameplay would've really enhanced the overall experience. With only two days to make the game, I wanted to fit in as much story as I could, and unfortunately I ended up almost entirely neglecting the gameplay. That's probably not such a wise thing to do in Ludum Dare, and probably something I won't do next time.
commanderstitch
29. Dec 2018 · 03:09 UTC
Oh. My. I died a glorious death. It was probably my single most awesomesoest thing everyz about this game.s
🎤 Hunter Towe
29. Dec 2018 · 06:48 UTC
@commanderstitch Which death did you get?
LastLeaf
29. Dec 2018 · 16:26 UTC
Great story writing. Pass through 3 endings (I think). The story is interesting and everything goes well with it, except that walking long is a little boring. Nice game!
Izunah
29. Dec 2018 · 20:30 UTC
Interesting game for sure, I enjoyed it the first time through but didn't really want to do all that walking around again in order to try for the other endings. I think the highlight of the game was the story for sure, good job with the game.
🎤 Hunter Towe
29. Dec 2018 · 22:07 UTC
@lastleaf, @izunah I think story has always been more of a priority for me, although I would've liked to add more actual gameplay. I also would've liked to have checkpoints, so walking all over again wouldn't be necessary for getting each ending. With only two days, I guess you could say that some things had to be sacrificed, eh? In all seriousness, thanks very much for trying my game!
kaeveris
30. Dec 2018 · 10:35 UTC
I like how your decisions change the game and how many possibilities you have. Cool concept!
🎤 Hunter Towe
30. Dec 2018 · 16:13 UTC
@kaeveris Thanks!