Becoming a fish that can fly to a deeper end is enjoyable enough. Loved the music.

I have no idea what's going on, or do I?? idk I had fun though wel made :)

I don't really understand this game. I appreciate the work though.

It was certainly an interesting game but I had no idea what was happening.

Interesting game, though a bit confusing - the choices felt like they were mostly trial and error. It was enjoyable trying to make progress though, must go deeper!

The line between postmodernism and schizophrenia is a thin one, ridden quite well by this game. I enjoyed this experience quite a bit, certainly a unique one. Well done

I'm not sure if this is too avant garde for me or what... but I didn't understand this at all. There was no real story, nothing really to latch on to, it was just some text that was given at random.

The art was definitely the high point for me, the tree that you have as an image above is really cool! The fish were also pretty cool, but it seemed like they would only show for like a frame?

Very unique game!

Maybe I have a right answer? or not? idk haha. The art style, the music and the atmosphere enchanted me, but I didn't quite understand what to do.

If you have a little tutorial it will be enough to make the game amazing - it’s interesting enough! Good work and my compliments, I hope you continue to work on this project.

I have the feeling this was more random than necessary :confused:

@substain it's not random, however the actual lore is revealed on the tree screen.

@kr4ft3r nice phrase to emphasize our concept). Thanks! The music is best listened to in headphones. I'll upload main theme on soundcloud soon, maybe slightly enhanced for stand-alone listening.

@snifferd owls are not what they seem) well, fishes...

@studio-gomp thank you!

@snickers-cat for now it's more of a game with a think your own story concept, but we think to go on with further development.

@space-man thanks for playing! Some choices are not even choices, even have no choice to be choices themselves)).

@sam-onella nicely put review, thanks for the deepness.

@thesambassador it's really not random, and there's much lore behind the scenes. I'll write a devblog later, telling some stories. The fishes are almost a 25th frame effect, which becomes a weird fun after some loops, and you remember them. Thank you for commenting and complementing the title art!

@lrvstudios we have some deep lore, but we had no time to get into huge scripts, so decided to make this one playable on subtext through short phrases and strange solutions. So to present our game as an art-house experience we skipped tutorials. Yet, aye, we're going to get deeper into the development of the game based on this one with full lore revealed, along with new mechanics, art and animations. Thanks for playing and good words).

Art is really quite good the cover and the lore tree in the game. I think i got all 3 endings - fisherman, kids, texas and i still don't think i know story quite well. That rectangle with white border or door i think is distracting for imagination. Humor was there but i thought it was meh. Lore reveal was quite nice after all that getting deeper and deeper. Music fits the theme quite well. It will be interesting to see the final game.

This is a very strange game lol I have some vague sort of idea what's going on, but I could be entirely wrong? I have no clue what I played, but it was interesting at least!

Interesting, but confusing game. There is some really neat art, but sadly most of the game is not spent looking at it. The music is also good. I don't think a tutorial is necessary, but more visual cues could have helped make the gameplay not feel like random choice. I got the fisherman ending. I think I kind of got what it was saying, but it felt like all the info moved along too quickly to confirm I wasn't just overthinking stuff in my head.

Still, it's one of the more unique LD games I've played. It would be interesting to see what it could turn into.

Probably this game is not for me...

Tbh I didn't really understand what happened and it didn't feel like I had real choices, but the atmosphere was tense.

I was very confused.. And the dialogue didn't make a ton of sense. I think if we could look at the art more that may help it make more sense.

Well, that was something for sure. haha

I didn't know what the f*** was going on...The art was nice, the music could have been a bit darker if that was what you were intending (idk I really didn't get the meaning of the game sorry). Maybe your full game might make things easier to understand?

I got to the part with the tree and saw a bit of explanation on the lore...but maybe it could have explained things a bit better, maybe this game and this genre is just not for me, but I didn't really get the intention of the game I'm sorry.

This game definitely sets a mood! Love seeing more narrative/music driven games. Mood is one of the trickiest things to nail but I think you set a pretty good one here. Art and music are both really well done, I think everything works to set a tone. I like the bits of humor mixed in with the horror. You got an audible chuckle and a jump scare from me during the course of playing so good job there!

Narrative wise I always appreciate stuff that's a little more open-ended and open for interpretation, so I really liked the paths you laid out. As I continued to play through multiple times to try to find different endings, it sorta gets in your head a bit which I think is the point!

Also I'm pretty sure I did have hands and not fins before playing this...

Well done!

@ansh-mishra the idea is to make you think your own story/conclusion here. However, many things, like swimming through doors (of perception) or getting beyond the borders were hard to accomplish, for now. But we'll get there with the game, based on this minimalistic concept. At some point I asked my partner, hey, are we changing that "F yourself" lines? She surprised me with "nay, leave it".)) Thanks for playing and not getting too much disturbed, man!

@cdunham vaguely that sounds quite what we're aimed for). Aye, there's some specific lore, but due to lack of time or skills we decided to go with a see your own picture thing. Think of this game as a core to our iceberg.

@thecritterscove "Death is a fisherman..." (c) Benjamin Franklin. There's also another poem hidden in there, I'm going to reveal it in the next blog post. Appreciate, you enjoyed the experience, anyway, and having a compliment on "unique" makes us utterly thankful.

@tanner-shelton we'll have more art and more sense then, more game also. Still, the sense is out there.

@escapade we didn't aim for a horror, actually this game is about overcoming and becoming yourself. Maybe, being like this now, it's really not for everyone (it's not), but we'll transform it into a bit more fun and clear experience.

@systemeffect oh, so deep thank you! I believe, we aimed for mood, art, audio. The humour was a bit of an improvisation with some citations (like adapted "I have no mouth but I must scream") that came by at the moment. It really starts to feel like viral thing, when you play it several times. Then your mind does the trick and creates its own story. You got the point here! If you've got fins (even if extra, hands-replaceable), hope you are flying.;)

I really liked the visual performance and aesthetics

I didn't understand it all but I suppose it's what the game want to tell, a story that we don't really
understand as a player. It's an interesting take on the theme and I like the fact that as a player you
always have a choice. Also it set the mood very fast so well done, I had a great time. Good job !

I somehow made it through, I don't know how and why, but I did. The art pieces and the mood were really nice, the gameplay was, well, "slightly" confusing. But it's always interesting to see some games that are a little bit more out there and do things differently.

Really nice idea. The flashing angler fish later in the game was nice, but the small ones in the begining where meh. Played multiple times, dont think I got to the bottom in the end

What in the world did I just read?

The visuals were very appealing. Idea is nice, but gameplay is somehow frustrating. Anyway 5 for visuals!

What is going on here?? :laughing: I was confused, I must admit. The paintings were great tho! I like mystic and that was what I got. Thanks :laughing:

terrific art, what an experience!

First - did not expect this :smile: Second, love the idea of looping, getting new info every time, I found the end, but I am not really clear about the story. Oh yeah, and it scared me, so good job :smile:

There is my LP :slight_smile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RagftZIxqU

@molpe a very unexpected cool surprise! Thank you for playing our game, and quite thoroughly (and patiently). Loved the reactions). Most of the lore guesses were right. There's a big story behind this core-loop (subtext based), so I think you'll see what's with Oklahoma, and the others. You'll get to know them in person, those little fishes... We're working on it. P.S. Your feedback is very important.

is there even a too deep?

Little game, but deep meaning. :)
Another proof that video games can be piece of art.
Well done !

@ardorugus…

I've played your game here (as you asked). :)

I will make the full analysis soon.

https://youtu.be/lciF4F6MkJw


**Analysis...**

1 - Mechanics, Learning and Flow:
The main mechanics of the game are making decisions, in a way the decisions are based on textual clues (some seem to be based on the narrative behind everything that is being told, while other decisions seem to be illusory and/or rather subjective to those who built the narrative).
Learning to play is a little difficult, as there is little feedback about doing it right or wrong, just the non-repetition of the elements and the appearance of new elements tells us, approximately, that we are advancing.
The game flow generates some anxiety, as there is little control over the gameplay (in part it also depends on being able to understand English, understand expressions, tune in to the intended narrative and capture imagery messages).

2 - Graphics, Audio and Narrative:
I separate the images into three groups in this game: (1) the basic images (sometimes the text tries to guide us to understand what they are about (for example the door)); (2) the figures (mainly of the fish, but, sometimes, of elements added to the most basic figures; (3) the fuller figures (like the last two images that I saw in the times that I finished the game, like the example of flying fish through the skies).
(1) It would be interesting to improve these images to better pass the narrative and save text.
(2) They look good. They last a short time on the screen, I would like to see them for a longer time. They can be polished in a post-jam version.
(3) They were very good. I felt like having a picture with the final picture (which I put in my previous comment).
About the audio: (1) the sound effects were interesting (I even got scared at a certain moment); (2) the soundtrack was very interesting, engaging and immersive in my view.
The narrative has a content that I found to be quite subjective and enigmatic, I still have many doubts about what it was exactly (it seemed to me a reflection on the relationship between some people and on what happened with those people and, as I understood it, with the world).

3 - Culture:
With the narrative clear, I think I could draw some parallels. In addition, the game seems to reach good references for the visual arts (very good figures). In addition to involving human relations issues and, as I understand it, the unfolding (or reflection in the world) of past events. I'm still trying to understand.

4 - Monetization:
I believe that with greater clarity the game can strengthen the portfolio of those involved and, in my view, the arts (very good figures) could even be placed in paintings and hung on walls. Hahahahahah.

@gustavo-christino you've got them flying, man! However, notice, one goes in different direction. Thanks for playing, we enjoyed watching you click-looping through this experience. I didn't get, why the game wouldn't start properly, but then you managed. Still, an intriguing prelude to the narrative chapter it was). We highly appreciate your analysis, you're very thorough and some notes are definitely to be taken into the account due further development. We should mention you in credits in final release). New mechanics to be added (and new visuals), however the making decisions/choices loop-core is the basis here, aye. Some wordplay is vague, maybe, still there's more to the story to be told (not just text-wise). At some point there were problems with making screens change slower, but, of course, we'll fix this (still, I liked this 25 frame thing). And the art, aye, can be hung on walls! Especially, since the title one is the actual painting. Thanks for liking the audio, man, and all those deepness you got yourself into with doing this analysis. Appreciate - tons! P.S. The reincarnation part is a very deep insight.

:)

Psychedelic man! That was a deep into the mind experience. Couldn't figure out how to escape the loop. The story is confusing but I suppose it develops once you get some answers right. A couple of things confused me: When there are two options and both are labeled the same, they do different stuff?. And when th background turns white am I going upwards?
Tons of originality. It's mysterious in a lot of ways. Nice work!

@macdoom thanks for experiencing our mind-scrabbler! Some options influence the process and the loop sequence, some are mostly instrumental (for now), yet present different text. The white background is actually a loop of a coward, the one, according to lore, who tried to turn his back on others and save himself. Hopefully, we'll polish this one into a bigger game with more narrative, gameplay and suspense, yet this one is working at some point, already. Deep thanks again, psychedelic is a compliment!

Great music and atmosphere!
Not sure I completely understood the concept, but this game is playing with my mind. There's a certain level of psychological thriller there.
Nice submission!

What the f*ck did I just experience?

I don't know the answer but it was cool nevertheless.

that was a very unexpected experience but i love it. the music was good and the atmosphere was pretty Cthulhu

There's a lot to unpack here. I don't exactly know what I just played, but I got to the tree and I eventually picked "F*** yourself" and I think I wound up back at the beginning?

The looping nature of it was disorientating but the use of changed options helped to make it clear that the entire game hadn't full-on restarted.

Good stuff!

A very reflective game I would say haha. I like the factor involving choices. I like the graphic content and the sound is ok. A different game with a good content of history and texts. Congratulations.