Walden: Thoreau It All Away by bearcabin
This game is either a Stressed Life Simulator or a journey of fulfillment and personal growth.
Twitter @bear_cabin
CONTROLS
Left/right: move
Up: interact, select
KEY FEATURES
-Your own desk
-Days that will slip away from you
-Yearning for more
-At least you have a job you ungrateful millennial
-There is an ending, I promise
CREDITS
Most things by me except:
-a couple sounds by the great folks contributing to freesound.org, like thearxx08
-music composed by WA Mozart
TOOLS USED
-Pixen (graphics)
-Audacity (sound)
-CFXR (sound)
-Garageband (music)
-fromtexttospeech.com (voices)
-Gamemaker: Studio
Twitter @bear_cabin
CONTROLS
Left/right: move
Up: interact, select
KEY FEATURES
-Your own desk
-Days that will slip away from you
-Yearning for more
-At least you have a job you ungrateful millennial
-There is an ending, I promise
CREDITS
Most things by me except:
-a couple sounds by the great folks contributing to freesound.org, like thearxx08
-music composed by WA Mozart
TOOLS USED
-Pixen (graphics)
-Audacity (sound)
-CFXR (sound)
-Garageband (music)
-fromtexttospeech.com (voices)
-Gamemaker: Studio
| Windows | http://bearcabin.itch.io/walden-thoreau-it-all-away |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=44554 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 46% | 1507 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.63 | 231 |
| Audio(Jam) | 3.59 | 194 |
| Fun(Jam) | 3.33 | 371 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 3.71 | 366 |
| Humor(Jam) | 3.68 | 104 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 3.48 | 265 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.50 | 286 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.46 | 704 |
Gameplay wise, I had little input on my actions except for the time passing (kudos for the day/night cycle, by the way :)) and the heart depleting/filling up. For example, I could go to work at 1 AM and it made no difference. I'm unsure if that was intentional as a metaphor of modern life or I just lost my patience too soon and there was more to it.
However, as I said before, I really appreciate the idea and aesthetics, well done!
You've got the aesthetic nailed down pat. The game looks great - the art is wonderful, and the little details (from the time of day to the way that the skyline slides away as you walk to the cabin, as well as the background audio) make the whole thing fit together in a nice way. The world of the game is engaging, but the game itself just isn't.
*spoilers*
I feel like working has no effect, I could arrive at any time at work or stay at home, coworkers were not even caring. Also not sleeping for days is apparently ok. Not sure if intentional.
But the conclusion is nice, creating is good :)
Too bad I didn't reach it.
The graphics are pretty nice. I like the fact that you can customise your character. Sounds are good as well. Not much in terms of gameplay, but as a simulator, it worked really well. Some of the simulation features may have been a bit simplified (for example, it might have been nice if staying up very late resulted in you waking up later the next morning), but that's kind of a necessity in this type of game.
So yeah, I enjoyed this a lot. It gave me a break from life and maybe made me think about new things.
Spoilers below:
I felt a real thrill once I realised that I could go right from my house; very immersive. And once I was nearing the end on my masterpiece, I stayed up way past "bedtime" to finish it. Again, felt very much like something I'd do in real life.