Fear of the Ungnome by Scott Steffes
"It seems that your Great Aunt Fanny has, sadly, passed away."
...Who?
Wasn't she your mom's relative or something? Maybe we met once at a reunion when I was, like, 5? Was she the one with the, er, eccentric tastes? Either way, the trenchcoated lawyer at your door insists that she was, in fact, your relative. They also proclaim that she left one specific possession to you in her will: her most prized gnome.
"The thing is," says the long-bearded lawyer, looking impish, "We just couldn't find the little guy! He's soooo valuable, a real prize, but we kept getting lost!" They show you a snippet of a meticulously handwritten will. It says, "Be not afraid. Follow their signs. You will gnome him when you see him."
"Maybe... Maybe you can find him for us?" says the lawyer with hopeful eyes. And with that, they pass you the key and turn away into the night.
As they totter off, you realize that you forgot to ask how she died. Oh, well. I guess it's time to pay your great aunt's house a visit...
Enter Great Aunt Fanny's House.
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Controls: ``` W, A, S, D - Movement
E - Interact
ESC/P - Pause Menu
Spacebar - Jump
Shift - Crouch ```
The solution is different every time. Good Luck.
=============
Credits:
Programming - Scott Steffes
2D Art - Vani, Rincs
3D Art - Jack, Cless Aurion
Design - Nathan Deniston
Music - Alucard
Special Thanks - Jasper Stephenson, Rovern Hashu
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To anyone who's stuck: some spoilery clues
- This game is essentially a spot-the-difference labyrinth. If you get a room wrong, you will be returned to the start. Look for any clues around that point to a specific door — different gnomes, colors, etc.
- It's ok to open doors. As long as you don't cross the door's threshold, you're safe.
- It might take a few loops, but getting to know the general room helps, including floors and ceilings. Any clue that will require you to look in close proximity will be near the doors.
Ratings
| Overall | 78th | 4.134⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 289th | 3.696⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 223th | 3.696⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 355th | 3.902⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 21th | 4.696⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 118th | 3.926⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 143th | 3.809⭐ | 57🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 16th | 4.436⭐ | 57🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 36🗳️ | 57🗨️ |
I really liked the artstyle and how well the interaction and sfx meshed together. Good audio. I slightly wish there was a sensitivity setting for the mouse because it's set super high for me.
But finding the differences wasn't easy. I found some, like the tongue on the first picture, and a gnome with a colored hat, or a different picture, but I couldn't figure out what the difference was in a lot of the rooms and ended up just going around in circles.
I don't know if it's just that it was obvious and I missed it, or if the differences were that hard to find. Maybe having some that are animated could help.
But! The visuals just on other level. I don't know where you found so many gnomes but I like each of them. I mean it.
Moody and surreal feeling which I think the music really creates along with the general design. Can't say I was very good but I had fun attempting to solve the room puzzles.
I also just liked opening stuff, but was never sure what was interactable.. maybe something to subtlety highlight things to interact with.
Awesome game!
I would have loved a small hint at the start, it took me quite a while to figure out what I was actually supposed to be doing, but once I understood it was a "spot the difference" sort of thing, the rest went much faster.
I couldn't get all the different differences for each room but I got enough to finish the game after some tries. Loved the little details everywhere.
https://www.youtube.com/live/I2NaC9C0rDI?t=2957
Also Wanted to ask if youre fine with me using gameplay from the game in this LDs [score chasers tournament](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/$405421/ludum-dare-score-chasers-qualification-begins) intermission video. (Would play in the breaks of the tournament on my stream). Last year for reference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuddhZScWxo
(Also, thank you everyone for all the lovely comments. You are all now gnomelegeable in the ways. *nodnod* )
Anyway, that's all 5s from me.
I love this kind of art! 3D with 2D lines. I don't know the exact name for this style.
I don't really like first-person games because I get motion sickness and feel sick, but I did my best to get to the end. I racked my brains a bit to figure out the puzzles, but in the end everything worked out.
I was so sure that I found the Gnome! ;)
Congratulations for the game!
Thank you all for making it. You're putting good out into the world and that is profoundly fulfilling to see.
https://youtu.be/mncZp5CX-R0?si=LZJA32P0cSjurKJU
Took me way too long to do this :sweat_smile:
This is certainly a very unique game, with a gorgeous art style, and it oozes atmosphere. Really nice take on the theme, very polished and complete for a weekend jam game. Nice work, keep making games!
For later rooms, if the colors above the doors are different then there's something else hidden in the room that indicates which color is correct. If the colors are the same then it's something else. A lot of the clues are in the paintings.
I havent figured every clue out yet, the kitchen is the hardest for me
10/5 <3
ok i figured it out, idk why kitchen was so hard before ^^
my best non random picking doors score:
In other news I was happy that I got to finish it in 31s:
... only to come to the comments section and have my happiness crushed 😅
PS: Two words - Hatsugnome Miku
@perrin
There's only a few puzzle types for the entire game: spot the difference (the clues are always near the door, if you note for example in the first room, out of all the items in the room, only a few things are repeated and close to each door: the painting and the shelf), find the "weird" thing that points it out (the fan in the living room is sometimes off, with a clue on it and; there's a gnome on the floor by the correct door) and color matching (these are only in the latter rooms, and you can tell when it's that type when all the obviously visible colors in the room are different from each other. For this you have to look around in the room, and inside openable objects - including doors! - to find the clue that tells you which color it is).
So it takes a little bit of you knowing the room and spotting what is repeated near the door. Maybe with this in mind you can see if you can find the clues this time xD hehe
The only one I wish we had better time to finesse is that some of the clues you can find by opening doors. But understandably players would hesitate since that might trigger a door choice. Just know this: __as long as you *don't* cross the door threshold, it's safe to open doors__.
I loved this game! I loved how each room randomly sampled different puzzles, kept things interesting and helped induce a sense of insanity lol. My first run was ~20 minutes, but I went back and got a better understanding of all the puzzles and here was my best speedrun score!
Super innovative, and great job! I love these type of experiences that stem from game jams.
i got actually spooked the first time when i opened one of the door and theres big gnome face xD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf4kgFECvZw
Really good entry, well done.
I think you guys will win the graphics category with this one!
I would even call it masterpiece if only it had some gnomes in it. Oh if only...
https://youtu.be/pKxjE9Zgikk
~XpMonster