I enjoyed it, it's a really unique and interesting game in my opinion. The game looks good, the music fits. I liked it, great job!

The art and music was amazing. This could make a great quest game if you decide to expand upon it!

So atmospheric and beautiful.

It was just neat. Good job guys!

I'm getting this for the mac version... any ideas? What game engine/framework did you use?

I love the art and the atmosphere that you have created with the storytelling! I looked forward every time to see what new items would pop up. I did not manage to find what I wanted to give to my nephew in the few times I played but I really enjoyed myself while discoverying this room! The music is also really nice and comforting.

A very soothing experience. :relieved:

It seems like I encountered a bug where the mouse wouldn't pan around in the room anymore when I went for a second round: the camera just stayed motionless. Other than that it was a really solidly built game. Tightly focused small experience that was very highly polished.

I really loved this interpretation of the theme. It looks fine, and I love the music. It had a nostalgic / melancholic kind of feeling that I adore!

Wonderful! Love how the game looks- how the items/furniture are drawn, the little circular particles flying around (dust?) the light from the window, the colors... feels like a painting. I like that the whole game is set in one room but the items shift around, I didn't expect that the first time I picked up all of them! It's interesting that we see bits and pieces of the main characters life through items, it'clever. Really nice athmosphere/mood. The music is really nice and fits the game, love the bell chime when the items switch. Really enjoyed playing this. Great job!

I loved this game so much! Environmental storytelling at it's best. You've really succeeded in evoking that feeling of Sonder™. The art style is I think the best part, the warm browns with fresh green highlights really help make the game feel so intimate. A great look into a part of someone's life that feels very real. And the audio, even if a little bare, helps to make all the memories that much more tangible. Wish it was longer!

Moody! I initially didn't understand what happened when objects moved around and new ones appeared, but by the second time it became obvious it was the passage of time, very cute! :D

Melancholy, but in a nice soft way

What a great game! Really different to the other entries I've played so far and it had such a great atmosphere. The art is gorgeous and really helped bring the setting to life! The music fit well and again helped add to the atmosphere. Congrats on creating an incredibly well polished game; there's so much to like in this!

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone!

@congusbongus Our Mac build was created largely as an act of faith. It didn't get a lot of testing, sadly, although we do have Mac users on our team, so maybe they can provide more context for that error. I appreciate you giving it a try and I'm sorry it didn't work for you.

@antti-tiihonen I think I know how that bug happened, and I'm pretty certain it's my fault specifically. I believe that after you click an object on a second playthough, and then exit it, the camera should start moving with your mouse again. I'll be sure to fix this issue if we push an updated build.

Thanks again, all!

This game is so atmospheric, i like it graphic relly beautiful.

Great atmosphere and nicely drawn. good job!

What a beautiful game! I also encountered the error of not being able to move the camera when playing it for the second time. I played the Windows version.

For replay value, it would have been nice to skip the intro. I did two playthroughs and didn't find the item on either of them. I'm not sure whether it's possible to actually find the item (maybe that's the point)? Either way, it's not particularly satisfying. I think it would be more satisfying if you had an indicator of why you're running out of time and how much time you have left. Then there would be some aspect of gameplay in trying to manage your time, even if it's ultimately a futile effort.

Really lovely art style and music, well done!

I forgot to say that I thought at first that every time the objects changed, it meant we were going to a different age in your life, when you had different interests. Ultimately there doesn't seem to be much support for that hypothesis, but having sort of themed areas would tell a stronger story/character arc. Like first seeing a child's illustrations and their dreams of being an artist. And in a later part of the game, getting report cards that say they have a horrible grade in art. And then at the end seeing a diploma that they graduated from art school. A simple story.

I loved the atmosphere and the journey. The art was beautiful, as was the sound. I also had the bug where I could not pan in the 2nd playthrough, but I still was able to finish it again. Great Job!

I couldn't open the Mac version :(

This is excellent, really fantastic atmosphere to it. Just to make you aware, super minor but the cursor is unlocked rather than constrained, which makes it a bit awkward getting at stuff at the edge of the screen on multi monitor setups. But loved this entry, great job! :smile:

I loved this game, so immersive and so chill to play!

I must admit that text quest are not my thing. But I reeeeally love graphics! Though not in the best quality, but in beautyfull colorscheme and those particles! so cute :heart: And transitions! So smooth and polished. I want to say that UI is no fun in developing but you did got me suprised with it's quality!

I don't play text quests and point-and-click games usually, but the graphics and music really got me immersed. Very beautiful game!

Love it! Very chill and effective. I can't shake the feeling I missed something and will have to go back and play it again to figure out what...

@carraka You are so right! I'll add "skip intro on subsequent playthoughs" to the to-do list! As to time running out... how much do you think you have?

@octopoid I think we have a difference of opinion on the virtue of constraining the mouse cursor (I also run a multi-monitor setup), but your opinion is valuable to me because what we *could* have done is avoided placing objects at the far edges of the scene. I really appreciate the feedback!

@videt I know how hard it can be to enjoy something in a genre you don't love, so your approval means so much to us!

@binney I don't know if the game can help you shake that feeling... :wink:

Once again, the team really values everyone's comments and perspectives (and bug reports!). Thank you all so much!

getting deeper and deeper in time is quite innovative for this theme!

very good art, music and the way to controll

if items can be more random when every time re-enter the game might be better for experience, or in another way, make those items show more connection between each other through period of time and story lines, well it's just a jam and there's much more to do in the future, good job!

Really a fan of the mood/feeling the game gives, I think you and your team did a great job there! I don't think I completed the game on my first few attempts, but I'll give it another shot today.

Again, great work!

This game oozes atmosphere. The light tones of the soundtrack, the carefully crafted sounds for each inspected element in frame and the distinct, muted art style really evokes emotion and intrigue.

It's wonderful to see a different take on the theme. Thank you for the experience <3 It was soothing.

Really solid in an atmospheric sense. Lovely!

A great experience, very engaging.

Ran into a bug on the second playthrough where I could not pan the camera and all the interactable objects were offscreen to the right.

I really enjoyed this game! So interesting! The music, the graphics and the story! Great job!
I found the bug other people mentioned for the second run where the camera does not pan. If you manage to fix the bug please let me know.
Also as a suggestion export it for Linux or Html5!

Art is nice!
I really like how camera moves, really smooth

Incredible art, audio, and mood! So many little touches: the unique audio clips on some items, the dust in the air, the subtle animations! I definitely felt immersed in this room and the feelings of returning home.

Small bug - I did notice that when I tried to start a second game (clicked "look again") the camera shifting when the mouse moves around stopped working. The camera was completely static.

Great job!

pretty nice art, i like the cyan highlights sorta vibe. I wish it was more consistent tho. I was intrigued by the writing, but it felt like it was setting up a story that just never came. Right when it fells like it's getting going, it ends just like that. Of course, that's understandable for a jam game. vibey music. I didn't see any connection to the theme other than a pretty abstract one.

It felt nice delving into the past of her. The writing was done well, cause I didn't got bored reading information about objects. That's cause you get a glimpse of her past life. I just would have loved you would get deeper into her life. Maybe you would have to play it again or differently I don't know.

The graphics and sound ambience created a melancholic but comfy mood which was very fitting.

I guess the objects disappear and appear, because you are kinda travelling back in time through her room? If that's the case, cool^^ if not.. then I interpreted too much. Probably not, cause otherwise you would have seen more of her earlier life I guess.

Very unique well rounded game. And good job on daring to make a heavily story focused game.

Big mood

In the intro the timer that only allowed me to advance after a certain amount of time was odd--and almost slow enough that my reading speed outpaced it. Are you sure you need it? Faster readers than I may be irked, and people replaying who have already seen the intro will definitely get impatient.

I love the art. Beautiful use of music and sound effects to bring out the spirit of the items. Light touches.

The note about how posters look kitch when surrounded by other more muted art stuck with me.

The beetle with the saddle made me smile.

PIGGY BANK!

I enjoyed the stabilizing influence of the clock.

In the second run through I stopped being able to look left and right. That may be a bug?

I am not sure if I got the game completely but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the music. I hope it can turn into a nice adventure game :)

The writing in this game is probably the best I've seen for an LD game in a while. The music and art also great at setting the atmosphere. A bit depressing, but that's probably a sign that the story is well done.

I encountered the camera panning bug that many others found. It's still not clear to me if the player is suppose to replay again until they find the object or not. I wasn't able to get far enough in my second playthrough to see. "Go home again." would imply there's more to the story, but haven't seen any comments to confirm anything.

It would be great to see this game expanded upon more. Still an enjoyable experience. Lovely job on this jam!

Some quick post-jam bugfixes:

* Fixed that second playthough camera bug!
* You can now skip dialogue/cutscene segments if you've seen them already.
* There's a quit button! You can still use Alt+F4 if you're a jam purist.
* You can toggle fullscreen from the main menu, and resize the game when it's in windowed mode.
* Added a more subtle transition when entering and exiting the gameplay portion. The ending isn't quite so abrupt as a result. Not a big change, but should further improve the atmosphere of the game.
* We've removed the Mac version (for now). It didn't seem to work for anyone, so it was kinda cruel to leave it up there.

We're toying with a few more minor fixes/updates later this week or next, and hoping to get a HTML/WebGL build up at some point. Thanks again for all the kind words and constructive feedback!

https://hotclock.itch.io/sonder

@tucan You wanted to know when that camera bug was fixed. Now it is! 😄 (cc: @jasontherand @antti-tiihonen @beardywombat)

@abigailcorfman As a fast reader myself, I appreciate the concern about impatience. We intentionally wanted to slow the player down and set a more air-y tone. Of course, wishing a thing doesn't make it so, so its a fair critique, but I don't think we want to change it. The game does now allow you to skip a text scene if you've seen it already, so hopefully that helps a bit.

@TheCrittersCove @BytingGames You love the writing you say? You can thank @tottomatic (with assists from @ellenbjohnson and myself) for that, and the whole team contributed to the narrative design!

@thesambassador Those sound effects were chosen and implemented with love and care by our lead programmer @jonathan-jennings, and if anyone is curious about who to thank for that haunting VO clip of "O Captain!", it's @ellenbjohnson, who also helped curate the sound effects.

I won't tag everyone who mentioned the art (because it was everybody), but for that you heap your praise onto our artist @laura-onderwater!

You guys made a wonderful atmospheric game, it makes me want to go back to my own childhood bedroom! Well done.

Congratulations I love how the story is told, and how it is completed in the imagination of those who play, the music is beautiful and incredible visuals, I loved knowing your work and are very talented, I hope you continue to evolve in your projects, if you want to give your feedback in my game I will be very grateful, a big hug my friends.

Congratulations I love it when I see a job well done, and for that it doesn't need much, just show what you just did, a beautiful narrative that invites the player to compete the rest of the story, plus a very beautiful and meaningful art, plus to a beautiful track to follow, I hope I have helped, to continue evolving in your projects, if you want to give your feedback on my game I will be very grateful, a big hug my friends.

uau awesome mood. Art, audio and gameplay are just sweet and cool. Loved.

I was excited to play this game because there is some overlap to what we did with our narrative/exploration project. :) The moving dust particles, 3D-like layering, zooming in/out and camera movements made the exploring feel really smooth and immersive! My favorite object was probably the unicorn lamp. I wasn't sure if it was possible to find the "right" object, so I searched through everything twice.

As a suggestion, I had mixed feelings about the indicator to continue the intro dialogue. I think it's intended as a timer, not a button, but I clicked on it at first. Intuitively I would expect it to be on the right side (and for the left one to take me backwards) or maybe in the center. With shorter sentences, I had to wait which wasn't much of an issue; but with longer paragraphs, sometimes the button appeared too soon and it interrupted the reading flow.

Overall it was a really interesting experience with fun writing and pretty visuals!

One more update!

**The WebGL version is now live on the itch page!** I suspect this will be of particular interest to our disappointed potential Mac users (@congusbongus, @jaybaus).

We've also updated the game to include a bunch more interactive objects. The writing for these was done during the jam, but we didn't have time to enable them at the time.

@ynneblack Thanks for your kind comments (and great playtest feedback). I checked out your game and you're right, our games are basically cousins! I especially love your monochrome "pencil" art style.

Incredible!! Don't know what else to say. Great work!!!

@noble-robot Thank you! It is actually scanned pencil art. :)

It has been a while since something invoked so many strong, real emotions, it is beautiful.

Nice menu screen, art and button style, color palette and text fit very well together. Though the "Make like a tree" option crashes the game both in browser and windows versions.

Narrative is really strong, the descriptions of items and their feeling add life to the scene.

The room looks really beautiful - dust particles are a super nice touch, and a lot of old life to it.
Turing in the room feels smooth and realistic as well, probably due to particles adding realistic depth.
The transitions are super smooth. Sound effects for items and transitioning to the past is a nice touch.

So many beautiful details, so many interesting things in the room. The whole game is just radiating atmosphere.
Really felt the connection between periods of time because alarm clock remained but with different description in different locations, and some other things also were around for more than one time period.

Putting everything together, it really felt like I was examining a room where someone lived out a significant portion of their lives. First appreciated the intro narrative, the gasped in wonder at the room. Then appreciated item descriptions. Then gasped in wonder when stuff appeared after looking at wooden bookshelf dust imprints. Then appreciated the interesting person that lived there. Then gasped in dismay as I triggered a transition before I was finished examining everything. Resolved to replay, but still was wary of clicking on stuff - didn't want to trigger an early transition. Few replays later figured out what triggers transitions, was ok then. Also not sure how many endings is there supposed to be - know for sure how to get two, but also pretty sure I once got a third one...

I guess sometimes it felt like maybe forced transitions and hunting for endings sometimes clashed with the narrative and brought out of the experience. Not sure how could be solved without just making in into pure non-interactive story. Maybe just knowing how many possible endings there are would have helped relax and just enjoy the experience more.

Despite minor nitpicks, the game was wonderful. Thank you for the opportunity to experience it.

P.S. Now I know about The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, and I'm glad I do.

@nonumbersgames Thanks so much for your glowing, in-depth review! Great constructive feedback, too.

One clarification: The "Make like a tree" button is *supposed* to close the game, since that's the quit button! Perhaps we should change the phrasing on that (and we certainly don't need it for the web version). 🤣🤣🤣

@noble-robot That explains everything! I thought it was supposed to show a tree-like representation of branching paths that lead to each ending so that you could see if you still have some unseen content to find. And I really want to find it if it exists. I'm pretty sure there are 3 endings, just no idea how to trigger the 3rd - after more than 10 tries I'm starting to think I might have imagined it... Would it be too much to ask how many endings there are?

@nonumbersgames That's so interesting how you interpreted that button. It's such good feedback because it reveals that even though it was your misunderstanding, it's absolutely our fault for giving you that impression (well, *my* fault, since that button was my idea 😄). The value of playtesting!

There are *four* endings. I can say more if you want spoilers. 😉

@noble-robot That is wonderful news! It means I have a good reason to enjoy the game again, searching for those elusive endings! No spoilers necessary yet, but I will let you know if I become desperate :D