LudumData

Love's a Mystery by Bamallama

[raw]
made by Bamallama for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

Love's a Mystery!

Our first visual novel and 3rd Jam game. A game about love, mysterious ongoings, and couples therapy!

You play a couples therapist taking on a client with a secret.

There were a lot of firsts in this game for our team. This was my first time using Ren'Py and drawing art, @icyysilver first time drawing characters, and a few more. We also didn't have a whole ton of time due to work, so we're all pretty amazed we were able to get this done on time!

Please let us know what you think and how we can improve. I look forward to hearing everyone's feedback and hope everyone has an amazing jam!

Link https://bamallama.itch.io/loves-a-mystery
Link https://bamallama.itch.io/loves-a-mystery
Link https://bamallama.itch.io/loves-a-mystery
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/loves-a-mystery

Ratings

Overall 1596th 3.049⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1518th 2.91⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1625th 2.647⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1600th 2.98⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1303th 3.308⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Audio 1013th 3.039⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Humor 560th 3.128⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1319th 3.185⭐ 48🧑‍⚖️
Given 59🗳️ 77🗨️

Feedback

tomz_best
27. Apr 2021 · 21:01 UTC
I like the style and graphics, story is fun and reach with events but the story can use a little bit more dynamics
nyanpierre
28. Apr 2021 · 15:47 UTC
Nice graphic, good job
LDJam user 247994
28. Apr 2021 · 15:49 UTC
Graphics are nice, however I feel if there were some more interactive elements where the player really had control it would have been nicer as in my opinion these story games get boring pretty fast.
Pikatchum
28. Apr 2021 · 15:59 UTC
It was really fun to play! I like the music it goes really well with the story. Good job! ^^
Osterzone
28. Apr 2021 · 16:24 UTC
I love visual novels so I'm glad you made one, and I didn't know ren'py worked on web now so that's cool. I liked how so many of the rooms that we only see very briefly have full art. Is the game supposed to end when you open the note? I went for a few routes and it always seemed to end there, so it feels very short and unfinished
🎤 Bamallama
28. Apr 2021 · 16:28 UTC
@osterzone Yeah, I wish we could have done a touch more with the story (or at least put in a proper "to be continued", but unfortunately we ran out of time.
thesambassador
29. Apr 2021 · 04:03 UTC
Overall solid start. Art was charming! Story was intriguing, was a little confused at the cliffhanger ending and thought that the game had broken.
tanatb
29. Apr 2021 · 04:49 UTC
Oh my god I'm so hooked! I really just wanna know what's up with Elise!!! I also somehow managed to get Maxwell dead, was hoping for some secret good ending somewhere
MacDoom
29. Apr 2021 · 07:09 UTC
Nice visual novel. I only wanted Madeline to be happy. Everything was fine till the gunshots started. Such action!
MarcoMing
29. Apr 2021 · 09:14 UTC
I really like visual novel so this entry was a nice surpise! good work!
Sanemsky
29. Apr 2021 · 10:57 UTC
Cool game. Great thinking with the deeper and deeper theme. I love when people think outside the box. Good job!
cheesepencil
29. Apr 2021 · 14:03 UTC
Whoah I think this is the first legit vnovel i've seen in a LD ever. Good job
Rusty Bailey
29. Apr 2021 · 21:18 UTC
Always nice to find a VN in a jam. This one definitely had some unexpected twists and turns and I loved the cliffhanger. I hope you continue the story; it was cool.
dk5000p
29. Apr 2021 · 21:28 UTC
Great artwork and music. The game really set a mood. The story seemed to just end, not sure if I am missing something or it was a timing thing. There were some spelling mistakes, you wanted counselor, but they weren't so bad that it detracted from the story.
Pawciu
29. Apr 2021 · 21:29 UTC
Nice story, pretty interesting.
miej
30. Apr 2021 · 07:50 UTC
nice work! i guess you are a fan of the vn genre!
SaraFilipa
30. Apr 2021 · 10:08 UTC
I like this a lot! I'm always up to play a visual novel and I love when I can find the rare VN in a Ludum Dare. These games are tough to create, especially in 2-3 days, so I respect the ambition!
Overall quite solid entry that matches the theme nicely, I really enjoyed the story, great graphics, writing and audio for sure. Was a bit darker than what you could've originally expected from the cutesy graphics (this is a plus!).
PSiv
30. Apr 2021 · 15:45 UTC
I don't normally play these kind of games but it sucked me in and I'll admit I was disappointed when it ended because I wanted to know what happened next, so you must have been doing something right! Great job! The art especially is all very nicely done, and I like that I could name my character, I gave him a silly name and it made me laugh.
Krapht
30. Apr 2021 · 19:35 UTC
Nice to see a different take on the type of games we saw this game jam.
Chacawott
30. Apr 2021 · 19:54 UTC
Graphics are very cool :)
Good job guys
Sharks
01. May 2021 · 00:35 UTC
Oh dear I fear I may have left a comment on a game in the wrong tab :/
Sharks
01. May 2021 · 00:44 UTC
Ok actually played the game this time instead of a shoot em up :joy: Loved the story! It got me emotionally involved in the few minutes I played it. Drawings were nice as well and sound effects definitely helped out. Was a bit of a shame not to hear a LOUD CAMERA NOISE on queue when everything else was done so well but such is what happens when you have limited time. I've always been afraid to got this type of text adventure sort of game so I applaud you for your bravenes, I'd call it a success if I were you!
J. Kyle
01. May 2021 · 00:51 UTC
Nice take on the theme. Heckuva a twist by the end there! Great character art for being the first time doing characters, too. Nice work!
ardorugus
01. May 2021 · 03:21 UTC
Interesting, but pretty well in the genre. Would love the deepness involving the therapist work with dif. couples getting he's own backstory, self-troubles and therapy. But hard fun playing. Design could be improved, though, if you're going to continue the story due to obvious cliffhanger.
Madbarron
01. May 2021 · 16:59 UTC
Woah! That was a pretty engaging story. Not too many choices, but the story branches nicely. That's a ton of writing and art to do, nice work!
Prakkus
01. May 2021 · 23:46 UTC
Well that escalated quickly! Good length for a ludum dare story honestly, which is tricky to get right. It's a ton of work to have that much art and that many lines to wrangle so kudos on that for sure.
Ismael Rodriguez
03. May 2021 · 01:31 UTC
I appreciate the unique approach to the theme. I appreciate the hand drawn artwork. The unique characters and locations.
This isn't really a genre I play, so I can't really speak too much on it. It feels like things went from 0-100, like instantly.

**SPOILERS** The whole mob twist and murder things just kind of turned up out of no where. That's how twists work I guess, but I was really invested in trying to mend the relationship and find out if the dude was really a cheater and that whole thing.

Overall a good and entertaining experience. Good job!
LDJam user 184711
04. May 2021 · 17:06 UTC
The end also left us a bit behind. Which was a shame, because you were just starting to really get into the relationship story. The music was pretty nice!
We were also a little surprised at how long the story was, kudos!
tkers
06. May 2021 · 15:14 UTC
As mentioned earlier, a bit of an abrupt ending, having some sort of "to be continued" screen at the end would make it feel a lot more polished even without actually adding more content to the story. Other than that it's cool to see this as a result in the little time you had to make it, especially for a first time using Ren’Py :)
CG_Fred
06. May 2021 · 20:46 UTC
Super nice graphics and liked the music. A very different game from the others I've played so far.
kr4ft3r
18. May 2021 · 18:11 UTC
While it was kind of enjoyable to do the counseling and I felt I was making good progress by taking it slow and not pissing the guy off, the twist was more my cup of tea. Too bad it ended fast but I understand the amount of work you had to put into making it this far. Good job.