It was never harder in my life to not complement a girl... :P But yeah great theme idea and fun game :D

I apparently found love, first try rank S with achievements "talk about the traffic then get married)

Really liked the concept, it lacked maybe 2-3 things like an ambient music (which could change during the different phases) , or more choices, but that use time to make this, and we're in a jam. So, gg for what you gave, it's nice and interesting. I wanted more choices, like the opportunity to say "I love your breasts" while she declare her love, but hey, that's just because i'm terribly childish. When she looks worried she's a little scary tho, i wondered a moment if the game weren't going to turn into drama or horror D:

Anyway, alot of little things coulda have been ameliorated to be really awesome, but there's a lotta work there for a jam, and that's pretty original. I liked it alot ! (I suggest to you people to listen to Hatoful Boyfriend's OST while playing this, so you'll be in mood)

Welp this is one of my highest rated games from this edition of Ludum Dare! Actually left me hungry for more and I'm not much of a visual novel fan! But the art style is great and simple enough that I actually found myself imagining the highway being clogged and the traffic jam happening. The dialogue is short and concise not 4-5-7 lines to read at a time! Do you have any more games like this released or was it your first take?


Really really loved this entry, congrats!


Edit: Just checked your itch.io page!

The concept is great. Struggling to keep your thoughts in in such a situation really fits the theme. Got a good ending on my first playthrough and then played again trying to be as socially awkward as possible. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't tried it yet, but one combination of thought-bubble and the serious topic she was talking about at that moment really made me laugh out loud.

The only downside for me was that the speed of the thought-bubbles made it really hard to read the dialogue between the two characters, but atleast partially this is probably intentional. Also some music to go with the emotional state of the girl would be pretty fun I think. But I'm only nitpicking right now.

Overall I really enjoyed it. Great work!

That is a really interesting take on the theme! The game is great. Maybe it lacks a bit of background music and, as a foreigner, the dialogue is a bit too quick at some points but I loved the concept. Kudos!!

That is a really interesting take on the theme! The game is great. Maybe it lacks a bit of background music and, as a foreigner, the dialogue is a bit too quick at some points but I loved the concept. Kudos!!

Really cool usage of the theme; damn those thoughts can be hard to contain. Was very engaging and had you on your feet. It was great!

This is hilarious, I like it! xD

The idea is interesting and fits the theme well.

Great concept, really like this one!

Y-y-your breasts are amazing...

I love the concept, it is really great. You need evolve this idea!

Great concept for the dialog.
I would love to see more games applying this concept of dialog, just in a slower pace.

Awesome concept and a great way to use the theme! Great Job!

Really liked the floating messages! I can only imagine the face guy had with all these thoughts (:
I'm a big visual novel fan, and now i can't resist drawing fanart on these two..

Whoaw pretty cool game, it really gets overwhelming when you get more thoughts. Nice concept and execution. Writing seems decent and there is a lot of options. Graphics are also pleasant to look at. In overall pretty good game that left me hungry for more.

Very interesting system. It works well as a proof-of-concept, but the scenario was a bit too familiar.
The amount of challenge was also well tuned.
Good job.

This idea - this game - I want to see more of this! Well done! (but I want to see it in a slower and easier version to concentrate on the actual dialogue xD)

The best concept so far! The whole gameplay is just amazing! It fits the LD40 sooo well :)
Hope to see more from you soon! Great job

Great idea I think, would have really liked to see this pushed a little further but a short and sweet little game, I'm glad I played it!

Just want to say it ... but may be i shouldn't ...

Arrg, f*ck it: I love this game ! :p

Great job !

One of my personal favourites so far! A very cute design for an awesome idea. I said something inappropriate to her a few times because I tried to grab the text itself instead of the visual indicator. This concept has great potential! Keep it up! :)

Interesting idea and take of the theme.
Maybe it needs more polish to be more invest in the story. Like search between a lot of thinking during dialog, not just put out the vibrant ones and keep the others near dialog box...
Simple dialogs are nice.

@zapakitul Thank you for the comment. I did a similar game a while ago, you can check out the call on my profile along with some other visual novels.

@ehe feel free to do if you want! You actually made me curious now

And thanks to everyone else for the comments, great inputs so far!

Nice game. But responces are draggalbe , in the beggining it is not obvoius! Probable animmate drag as guide. Usually in similar games responce selected by click. Good luck!

I really liked how well you fitted the theme with a kind of dating simulator.

Actually i really appreciate those kind of games.

Helen is a really charismatic, i actually fell in love with her with the game haha

Good entry, good job (:

Damn, that's hard! The words just come flowing out. Fun idea and good link to the theme, nicely done!

That was really interesting and original. And sweet. Felt a little weird from a start but it quickly became really thrilling. Liked it a lot, thank you for this little experience.

(I especially do appreciate this little game since I am married on my old friend myself)

It's a really good game! Very simple concept and nicely executed. I like the gameplay a lot with those options that chose themeselves automatically.

Well done!

I consider myself more of a mechanically-driven person, but I just loved this!
The automatically moving answers seem so simple, yet work so incredibly well, the the writing is great and the art style ties the whole thing together really well.
I always try to come up with some valid criticism, but the only thing that pops into my mind is that it could be a bit longer.

I really like the concept and unusual interpretation of the theme. The dialogue was too fast sometimes tho

I'm a sucker for romance. I'm glad Jack and Helen ended up together in my story. I'm the type of person to hold back from revealing my feelings to people, so I could definitely empathize.

Great concept and game. Didn't like the options but of course this wouldn't be a problem for people who can relate more to Jack.

Very well done! You were able to achieve a great mood with simple mechanics and art. I loved it!

I really like the concept and general idea, also enjoyed the first playthrough.
Despite beeing no native speaker, I had no problem keeping up to the text speed, too.
Only thing, which is a bit.. stupid? (that sounds meaner than it is meant to be ) about the story:
Why I get a gameover, if I tell the thougts and feelings, but if she does the first step everything is fine?

Cute story, and her breasts are indeed amazing :3

Funny death mechanic! Some thoughts were out of place when they stayed and could be used, totally out context but leading to normal replies from the girl, such as the sorry and the traffic one. But I seriously enjoyed the powerless ending :D

Interesting concept! I like it))
Dialogues was fast sometimes and It was hard to choose right answer, but it was cool exp anyway)
Good entry

It started like your usual visual novel, with choices and stuff, but then the thoughts begin to move and I was like "oh shit!" and it was a pure emotional rollercoaster from here till the happy end.

Thank you for such a nice game!

It really gives me some feelings that I've experienced long ago. Thank you for a good personal story and emotions the game gave me.

I don't really want to find any cons. Thanks again.

I found love on my second try. The concept is great, I really enjoyed it. The only part that slightly frustrated me was when I'd left click an option and it would get stuck to the cursor. Overall, great entry!

Really liked the graphics, mood and dialogue, but would have liked more choices -- the end game was completely scripted. Some music would have been nice as well. But overall, different and interesting. Well done.

Ow man, the game is making me struggling all over the time, and it reminds me the day i've my first love, i love the concept! Eventhough the feature of selecting the word is quite annoying, maybe you can looking for a better experience to archieve your design?

The game about problems in ones' heads. I definitely like it! The idea about some thoughts rushing to be told out loud is brilliant, sometimes it happens to me IRL just like in your game. =) Also, I found this mouse-only interface very comfortable.

Hmm... Wonder if it's playable with touchpad.

Great mood set, never really played interactive novels but this really had a nice tone. Well done dev, great game!

It's a great take on the theme and I love how engaging the dialogue system is for the player. You made a really great game!

I was really moved.
Maybe because it's my whole life 100%. Unfortunately sad ending ... friendship zone * 7

Good game ;-; *chlip chli* 5/5

Hi, I really like the ideas of dialogue game and the style, would be great we know Jack and Helen a bit better before start the game.

I really liked the concept even though it was a bit hard to play with a trackpad, the sketched art and the dialogue were pretty smooth and set a nice mood.

With only words and still images, I'm impressed at how interactive this game is, with the multiple choices popping all over the place with some of them trying their best to be chosen on their own. Having to drag them away (with even more pushing themselves as the game goes) was a great way to implement the theme.

I want to take this paragraph to praise for the simple-yet-impactful visuals. You can feel the nervousness from the character's thought by something as simple as the small shaking. Those small details are the things that, at times, make up the whole experience.

All in all, this is a short, but very refreshing visual novel. No need for flashy action or fast paced quantum destruction when good writing paired with effective mechanics can make up for such a memorable experience. [In behalf of my team](twitter.com/whalesandgames), we congratulate you on such a superb experience. Good job! :whale:

Im not crying ;_;

Really cool mechanics and the drawing style transports the emotions really good.
Well done.

Such a perfect way to use the narrative game genre + jam theme to convey this feeling! It was really interesting and creative. Great job!

My playthrough:

https://youtu.be/o0ZkgRdwguU

The mechanics where the instinctive thoughts automatically move towards the speech bubble was a very nice idea. You've even allowed people to accidentally choose the wrong decisions early on without it affecting the ending just so people have an idea on the mechanics. Nice!

Hard to say which parts needed improvement. It was a pleasant experience all along. Maybe a background music depicting the situation would've been nice. Say when it was pleasant, the song is peaceful. And when he starts getting panicky the song changes to fast-paced and panicky. But I guess you've already thought of that.

I really like your take on visual novels and implementation. I am very impressed how good you managed to create the mood and atmosphere just with simple graphics and dialog. I think it would have been even greater if there was some background music. Also sometimes I had the feeling that the drag and drop was not working 100% properly. All in all great job, I really enjoyed playing your game.

D'awww, game really pulled my heart strings. After my first playthrough, I went back to make the wrong choices and immediately went from pulling my heartstrings to tearing my heart out, which is just Fantastic. Really loved the feeling that the jittery texts illustrated and the sense of panic of trying to hold back what your instincts are trying to say and compose yourself to say the right thing. Awesome work! Was really sweet.

SFX were a little annoying. Bubble-like sounds and filtered white noise sometimes can work for those types of sfx.
Example:
http://www.superflashbros.net/as3sfxr/
LD site doesnt allow wav or sfs uploads, but if you copy the below and paste on the page it should automatically setup the sound for you.
1,,0.0581,,0.13,0.7221,,-0.5529,,,,,,,,,,,1,,,,,0.5

I really liked the game! Very nice concept, clever use of the theme, and certainly a good simulation of the awkward conversations when you have just so many things in your head and have trouble deciding what's the best thing to say. I think most of us have been there at some point!

If it was a lot longer and a little bit more slower paced, I could definitely see this as a full-fledged game.