Artifact (MAGS)

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

Artifact - Created by Kara Jo Kalinowski and pell

You are Cole, an adventurer from a family of treasure hunters, and you arrive to find a note - which takes you to explore the mysterious catacombs in search for an artifact. Prepare yourself, then head out for adventure.

Made for MAGS January 2025 - Break Some Rules. The theme of this game jam was to break the unwritten rules of adventure game design and intentionally do some of the 'bad things' that adventure game developers try to avoid.

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/play/game/2825/

https://kara-jo-kalinowski.itch.io/artifact

[heltenjon]

I've tried both the first draft version (which was really just intro and ending) and the finished MAGS entry, which I've not managed to complete yet.

First of all, yes, you have managed to meet the requirements for the MAGS contest this month. That really means we'll have to look at all the entries as sort of tongue-in-cheek in-jokes.

Rules broken:
* giant maze
* puzzle that can't be solved the first time
* only one save game slot
* possible/probable to end up walking dead
*

Spoiler

ability to interact with exit

[close]

* And probably more, as I haven't figured out the last (?) puzzle.

I enjoyed the intro room, with lots of possible interactions, and it also sets up the stage for later. The maze...I don't like mazes. I've mapped so many of them through the years I can't tell. I think it's boring. This one came with a twist, which you have to understand to map it, and it's well executed, but simply not my thing. Luckily, I didn't have to, because WHAM! made a Youtube video, allowing me to cheat piggyback using his map. @WHAM! @WHAM! - thanks!

The final room have me stuck. I guess I'll open up a help thread about it. It's brilliantly mocking in this setting, where only one save game is allowed, and the player need to restart to try different approaches, trekking through the maze again and again. Annoying? Yes, certainly. But that's kind of the point, too.

So...is this a good game? No. Is it a good entry in this competition? Yes. I guess that someone playing this without knowing the context, will be quite frustrated. Less so for us that are in on the joke.

EDIT: I forgot one thing. The maze in WHAM!'s video and mine is identical, but are shown from different angles. Do we have different editions, or is there some random stuff in the setup stage, just to f with our minds even more? It looks like my game is turned 90 degrees compared to his youtube video.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

I've tried both the first draft version (which was really just intro and ending) and the finished MAGS entry, which I've not managed to complete yet.

First of all, yes, you have managed to meet the requirements for the MAGS contest this month. That really means we'll have to look at all the entries as sort of tongue-in-cheek in-jokes.

Rules broken:
* giant maze
* puzzle that can't be solved the first time
* only one save game slot
* possible/probable to end up walking dead
*

Spoiler

ability to interact with exit

[close]

* And probably more, as I haven't figured out the last (?) puzzle.

I enjoyed the intro room, with lots of possible interactions, and it also sets up the stage for later. The maze...I don't like mazes. I've mapped so many of them through the years I can't tell. I think it's boring. This one came with a twist, which you have to understand to map it, and it's well executed, but simply not my thing. Luckily, I didn't have to, because WHAM! made a Youtube video, allowing me to cheat piggyback using his map. @WHAM! @WHAM! - thanks!

The final room have me stuck. I guess I'll open up a help thread about it. It's brilliantly mocking in this setting, where only one save game is allowed, and the player need to restart to try different approaches, trekking through the maze again and again. Annoying? Yes, certainly. But that's kind of the point, too.

So...is this a good game? No. Is it a good entry in this competition? Yes. I guess that someone playing this without knowing the context, will be quite frustrated. Less so for us that are in on the joke.

EDIT: I forgot one thing. The maze in WHAM!'s video and mine is identical, but are shown from different angles. Do we have different editions, or is there some random stuff in the setup stage, just to f with our minds even more? It looks like my game is turned 90 degrees compared to his youtube video.

Thank you for your feedback. Yup, it was definitely intentional    I've responded to your questions in the hints forum

To answer your perspective question,

Spoiler

The rooms in the labyrinth, besides the starting room, are randomly rotated 0,90,180,or 270 degrees upon entering them. Each time you enter them. Thought the players might appreciate that

[close]

[heltenjon]

After finishing it, I'd say that the last "unfair" puzzle

Spoiler

getting below 120 lbs

[close]

is almost fair, given the context.  And the maze got even more evil after reading what you did with it.

I came up with an alternate solution I liked, but which (fortunately) didn't work. I guess it would have been too evil.

Spoiler

After entering the trap room with the hat only, I threw it away, then went to a corner and left the game on while leaving the computer. After a long time had passed, I thought maybe the motion sensors in the room would determine I was dead and open the gate again.

[close]

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

After finishing it, I'd say that the last "unfair" puzzle

Spoiler

getting below 120 lbs

[close]

is almost fair, given the context.  And the maze got even more evil after reading what you did with it.

I came up with an alternate solution I liked, but which (fortunately) didn't work. I guess it would have been too evil.

Spoiler

After entering the trap room with the hat only, I threw it away, then went to a corner and left the game on while leaving the computer. After a long time had passed, I thought maybe the motion sensors in the room would determine I was dead and open the gate again.

[close]

Spoiler

Maybe that would be an opportunity for a death in a v2 with added frustrations

[close]