Mira's Therapy by ljh572

[raw]
made by ljh572 for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

You play as a psychological consultant. Your client is Mira, a young, troubled woman who seems quite defensive. You talk to find out what's going on.

Gameplay is partly inspired by Her Story - you type in keywords and choose the prompts that come up to say something.

Music by Ross Bugden: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQKGLOK2FqmVgVwYferltKQ

Ratings

Overall 113th 4.119⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 598th 3.553⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 29th 4.375⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 5th 4.625⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1150th 3.472⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 49th 4.45⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 7🗳️ 6🗨️

Feedback

Micia
26. Apr 2021 · 22:05 UTC
Beautiful music. The art style compliments the theme.
Landerack
26. Apr 2021 · 22:13 UTC
loved her story, am loving this game, haven't finished yet. little stuck atm :P I did notice small bugs where I accidentally got chat options that I hadn't discovered properly yet, but even so, excellent game ^^ well done
alec
26. Apr 2021 · 22:24 UTC
Really like this game. The visuals, music, and writing all work together so well! I also appreciated the more mature interpretation of the theme. It was a little slow to have to type out the text, then switch to the mouse to actually select a phrase though. Maybe some keyboard navigation would help with that!
DanSchwobs
27. Apr 2021 · 01:46 UTC
Didn't quite play through it in total, but I love the idea and theme behind the game. Would love to see a full version :)
Landerack
27. Apr 2021 · 09:01 UTC
would it be possible to get a full playthrough btw? I tried some more but am thoroughly stuck :P would like to see what the intended route was ^^
MaximilianCroissant
27. Apr 2021 · 09:15 UTC
Hey @landerack thank you! I think the game is still a little rough and we'd love to change some things to make the progression more natural, but that's a jam game for you, haha :D There is really no intended route, but I spoil a few prompts now so I hope you gonna be less stuck. SERIOUSLY SPOILER WARNING: I think (for some reason) some of the best prompts are water, feeling, and panic. All the panic prompts start opening up after talking about the mum and the dog - hope that helps?
Landerack
27. Apr 2021 · 09:25 UTC
@maximiliancroissant thanks :P it's that I cant get her to talk more about her best.. well that. she just says maybe another appointment, so I ended the appointment and then next time tried again, but that just seems like a safe state. Either way not sure if there is an end to the therapy, even so it's real good ^^ I know what causes the 'water problem', but am unsure of how to pursue :)
but that's okay, the rest of the playthrough was sometimes tricky, but managed quite well, you guys did excellent for the amount logic behind the step to step questions.
I would recommend maybe not having a: "Could you expand upon that" type of option if the response is a specific line, for in that case it could cause the game feel to break down a bit, takes you out of the fantasy.

<3 great stuff~ if you ever do make updates be sure to let me know :)
MaximilianCroissant
27. Apr 2021 · 09:39 UTC
@landerack Thanks so much! In that case you've seen all there is in the game (there is no next session - haha. Would be cool though). I agree with everything you say, turns out writing in this completely open style is kinda hard (and connecting all prompts and answers is even harder). So we really appreciate the nice comments!
Romana Kapustova
27. Apr 2021 · 11:06 UTC
I saved the link when I saw this game in a blog post. It's definitely one of the harder ways to go about a jam game (you need research, you need to get the atmosphere right to make it work) and I liked that you chose the way to let the player write a prompt, not only to offer some options - it would be a lot easier with options, just mindless clicking I guess, this makes people really feel the story, even if it's the harder way to implement / get it right. You need to empathize and try to figure out what could be the problem, what to ask about next.

The prompt worked really well (better than expected). Sometimes I wasn't sure if something is a dead end just because I went the route before, or just because she's not in the right "mood", because I didn't ask the right questions again (I thought maybe I need to ask them in some sequence to get her to talk, even if I asked them before), so I got stuck at the end (at least, feels like I'm really close).

Before, it felt like I need to make her tell me more about her friend, it looked like she would tell me more "next time", but after I ended therapy I could never get into the topic again (only some basics which ended with I don't want to talk about it).

I'm stuck and not really sure what to do next (but in real life I would have so many questions :D), seems like I explored everything. I see that other people suggested a playthrough video, please ping me if it happens, I would love to see it.

Nice detail was the (maybe spoiler alert?) changing background picture. And also (this will sound weird), I appreciated that the music didn't end. I was kinda scared that I will play for too long and I will lose the music :D Stupid, I know.

Overall, this really stands out from other entries and it's well done! I spent at least half an hour playing it and I still had fun (and I would continue if I wasn't stuck for a long while), so that's really awesome and not something every jam game can manage.

Once again, please ping me if you have the playthrough video :) I mean it.
jonah
27. Apr 2021 · 13:03 UTC
Very interesting concept and it works really well together with the slowly revealing beautiful art and music.
Great job in the writing, I felt very invested in this game and wanted to know more about the story.
CharlineF
27. Apr 2021 · 13:32 UTC
Second time playing, still an amazing experience! I love the concept so much, and the art/music/writing complement each other beautifully, I'm super invested in Mira's story, and trying to bring her out of her shell carefully. Beautiful concept, beautiful execution, genuinely love it.
mtrc
27. Apr 2021 · 16:26 UTC
Such a good game. The writing and systems just go together perfectly. I love this entry a lot, it's smart and satisfying and innovative. I'd love to see this expanded into a fuller post-jam experience!
zenbarista
27. Apr 2021 · 20:20 UTC
I absolutely love the concept and the writing of this game, and how intuitive the conversation system is! I think it also has a lot of potential. It’s something I’d definitely want to play a lot more of.
Daniel Harborne
28. Apr 2021 · 06:15 UTC
This was great - shame you don't make it more explicit that "can we talk about it in another session" is the end of the game as that wasn't clear at all... :P
DzejPi
29. Apr 2021 · 10:22 UTC
Amazing game and great execution. Uncovering Mira’s story step by step was really beautiful. I never liked typing games much, but I think I would enjoy them if they were done like this one - with prompts. They made it feel really natural and smooth. One of my favorite entries, well done!
Natalia Dushkina
02. May 2021 · 18:47 UTC
Definitely innovative gameplay! I like the music, too.

I had found out some facts (about panic attacks, what she felt, Tom, etc) but then got stuck.
Eckkert
09. May 2021 · 17:08 UTC
High five from a team that also made a therapy-themed game!
Teto
14. May 2021 · 11:06 UTC
Really nice atmosphere created here in a beautiful and orginal game idea. Typing to get the prompts was a very nice touch which prevented it from becoming a mindless click to respond game and didn't feel as railroaded as a result. however, it did make it a little tricky. I did get quite stuck and felt like I'd gone through all the options but she still wouldn't open up and kept getting ellipses. I would love to see a playthrough!

I love the background art and music felt so soothing. Even the font felt like it contributed to the overall feel of the game and it seemed like you put thought into each aspect of the game's creation.

One slight thing that is suuuuper nitpicky was not being able to use only the keyboard and having to move my hand to use the mouse to select an option. I feel like with a game where you type the response, you should be able to use arrow keys or tab and hit enter to select the highlighted answer since I kept hitting enter just out of habit (especially when there was only one option). However, this is a super specific bit of feedback that would make it feel smoother for me personally!

Overall, absolutely amazing job so well done and I can't wait to see a playthrough if you make one!
Kylene
14. May 2021 · 12:21 UTC
Really beautiful game. Loved the music and the background, both gave the game an amazing aesthetic. Didn't finish the game, but had a really good time with what I experienced. Good job :)
Derean
14. May 2021 · 12:41 UTC
Amazing! I got absorbed by the story. The art and music also help to get into the mood. Overall, a really great narrative experience. Good job!
Romana Kapustova
20. May 2021 · 11:12 UTC
Congrats for the theme placement, you deserve it :)