MAGS June "Home Country" (VOTING)

[ddavey1983]

THREE LIONS
By GOC Games
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/play/game/2877-three-lions/



Wednesday 26th June 1996

UEFA European Championships Semi-Final.

England vs Germany at Wembley Stadium.

And YOU have a ticket...or at least you HAD a ticket. Now you must use your wits to get yourself to the match as events conspire against you.

A traditional point-and-click adventure game created in one month for Adventure Game Studio MAGS June 2025.

[Stupot]

I've learned that what I love about game development, is procrastinating.

Did you say Wednesday is the last day, @Stupot?

Sorry, I saw this yesterday but apparently I wasn't in read-between-the-lines mode.

If it helps, I will leave the window open until Wednesday for further entries. Anyone who has already posted their entries: feel free to tweak your games until I open the voting.

Good to see a decent number of entries already.

[lanchong]

Tauno is now released and moving freely in the wild! Hide any and all alcoholic beverages (it's for his own good). Check out the game page from the link below:

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/play/game/2872-tuulipuku-tauno-darrassa/

Alternate Itch.io link: https://wham.itch.io/tuulipuku-tauno-darrassa

Congratulations for this release. It's quite a long game.
I'm trying to understand

Spoiler

the logic of the supermarket maze. For the beers I just walked straight in front of me. But this doesn't work to find coffee.

[close]

Thanks

[WHAM]

I'm trying to understand

Spoiler

the logic of the supermarket maze. For the beers I just walked straight in front of me. But this doesn't work to find coffee.

[close]

Fairly major puzzle clue below:

Spoiler

At each step, try to look for one of the four directions that is the odd one out, that's different from the others somehow.

[close]

And the outright spoiler for said puzzle:

Spoiler

Coffee is never on sale or discounted when you need it.

[close]

[Repi]

There are already a bunch of great-looking games, and I would get my ass handed to me in this company. The Gods of Youtube shorts and long snacks got my soul, so I have to bow out. Sorry and thanks for the extension, @Stupot

Like @WHAM, I too had a game based in Finland. It is set in Midsummer, and around the spells we have here in the hopes of seeing a vision for a new spouse. Hopefully, I get this polished and done later.

Anyway, congratulations to all, who released a game. Good job!

[WeeklyJournaling]

I made a demo for a game but I'm unsure if it qualifies: I finished making one minute of the cutscene months ago and set it aside. I continued working on it starting june since the theme was perfect for it.

A language learning exploration game: you are a knight templar from an alternative dimension, facing the evil necromancer Gerthart. He uses a spell to send you to modern-day Romania, in a village from Fundu Moldovei. An old couple let you stay at their house until you manage to return to your dimension.

Download here for windows:

https://mew-mew16.itch.io/vasile-the-templar-demo-1-no-audio

This is what the first cutscene is like with Audio.

[Stupot]

Thanks for all the entries, guys.
@WeeklyJournaling, your demo qualifies if you wish it to. We often get demos or unfinished games as entries and that is absolutely fine.

Please vote using the poll above. you have about 20 days.

	Tuulipuku-Tauno Darrassa by WHAM
	The Vasa Fasa by Blondbraid
	Three Lions by GOC Games
	VASILE THE TEMPLAR (DEMO1) by Weeklyjournaling

Happy voting.
As always, let me know if I've made any cock-ups.

[Blondbraid]

I finally got around to add some last-minute improvements to my game, and I've added it to the AGS database.

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/play/game/2879-the-vasa-fasa/

I look forward to seeing everyone's thoughts on it (and whether they learned any history from it ) and I'm looking forward to playing the other entries here!

[brushfe]

These games were all amazing! It's so cool how much you can all do in just one month (and full credit to AGS for making it so easy to develop!). Voting for just one will be a painful decision; they all were 10/10 in terms of the assignment. Congratulations everybody! I hope the feedback below is somehow useful. It was very inspiring to play through these games!

Tuulipuku-Tauno Darrassa by @WHAM

Spoiler

To cut to the chase, this game ultimately got my vote. I loved that overcoming a rough morning-after was the adventure, and that this was the representation of the home country. Every character was outstanding and so well developed: the old lady's dialogue, the sorta-horrible-sorta-grateful teens, the completely unnecessary happy guy on the bench, the unhelpful cashier... what a great cast with equally great writing. The puzzles were varied and surprising - for the record, I thought the difficult door locks were a great fit for the theme! The art was gorgeous and never empty, including a lot of great world-building that made the city block come alive. And the failure states really made the success feel more rewarding. Awesome work!

[close]

The Vasa Fasa by @Blondbraid

Spoiler

This one-room puzzle was excellently crafted from beginning to end. Every interaction seemed to have custom dialogue that helped you understand why things were or were not going to work, a level of care and respect for user can be hard to find (especially in a time-sensitive challenge like MAGS). I've visited the Vasa museum, so being able to participate in this national treasure/catastrophe was a real treat. There's a certain humour to the Vasa story, and I thought the tone of this game perfectly matched it. And the protagonist was fantastic—I'd love to go on more adventures with them!

[close]

Three Lions by @ddavey1983

Spoiler

As the son of British parents, this brought a lot of childhood memories right back, so I'm so definitely biased. This was such a funny and clever trip back in time with super fun puzzles that fit right into the world (like the dartboard, or the bacon, or the sword...). The NPCs and dialogue were extremely well-written; I was laughing all way through and couldn't wait to see what was in the next room. I particularly loved how your own character needed to understand the reason for doing things. I'm still trying to get the shiny sticker, but I'm happy to spend as much time as I can in this twisted Coronation Street!

[close]

VASILE THE TEMPLAR (DEMO1) by @WeeklyJournaling

Spoiler

An educational game was very unexpected, but it did teach me a lot! A huge amount of effort seems to have gone into the story, history, and voice. The more interactive parts were the most educational. I really enjoyed moments like the baking sequence. The dialogue scenes, on the other hand, I often found too long, as I was anxious to start playing. I'd love to play a more polished version and keep learning more, if that's in the cards for the future! 

[close]

[jwalt]

Voted. Found all the games enjoyable, but didn't actually finish two of them. I voted for one of the ones I did finish.

Vasile:

Spoiler

It took a substantial amount of time for my system to download all of Vasile, but it had substantial voice acting. Didn't actually make the pie. Everything seemed to be working, but my carpal tunnel started acting up along the way from all the stirring.  ;-)

[close]

Vasa Fasa

Spoiler

Completed the game. Not a lot here, but it was graphically interesting and worked all the way through.

[close]

Tauno

Spoiler

Didn't complete this one. Seem to have lost the wallet in the pharmacy, which, I'm guessing puts an end to completing the game. Nothing bad to say about the story line, but I was not inclined to try again. Additional save slots might have helped me out, but game managed that, unless I missed something? Actually, I did complete the game by polishing off the partial cans of beer.  ;-)  But that was not the desired ending.

[close]

Three Lions

Spoiler

This one got my vote. Enjoyed the graphics, the game played well, and I finished it. Did have problems with the glue. It was not all that hidden, but I missed it several times moving through that area.

[close]

[WHAM]

A new month, a new batch of games! As always, play the games yourself if able, but if you just can't find the time before the vote, check out the videos and consider voting anyway!

Three Lions by GOC Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey7vlRDeHzc

The Vasa Fasa by Blondbraid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NWG7hhV23s

VASILE THE TEMPLAR (DEMO1) by Weeklyjournaling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NWG7hhV23s

I didn't want to make a video of my own game, but fortunately someone else has done so already, so I'll promote that here instead:
Tuulipuku-Tauno Darrassa by WHAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiVl0U9MVhE

[WeeklyJournaling]

Watched the video of my game and I had so much fun xD you crack me up. You gave me the idea of adding a skip cutscenes button. I'm sorry for the harm I caused you and your audience and it was useful to get another opinion so that I could see how tedious it could be sometimes.
I made the game because of the lack of resources for Romanian and I thought that someone who actively wants to learn the language can try to see the phrase in English and try to guess the words as they're reading the Romanian subs. So the cutscenes is kind of a warm up before gameplay. But I agree that it became too long. Thanks for playing

[WHAM]

I made the game because of the lack of resources for Romanian and I thought that someone who actively wants to learn the language can try to see the phrase in English and try to guess the words as they're reading the Romanian subs.

Good to hear you got a laugh out of it! For me it was a little bit of an absurd experience, but I see what you're trying to do. What made it especially funny for me was that I did something very similar in my own game, trying to give the player the opportunity to see both languages at once and make connections on specific words, and we seem to have had rather different approaches to the same challenge. I also work with romanian colleagues from time to time, so hearing the language spoken gave me minor flashbacks of being at work.

[cat]

I'm stuck at Tauno

Spoiler

I was able to get beer and coffee with the hint above, but I don't have enough money to pay for the coffee. I don't have enough cans to return them.

[close]

[WHAM]

I'm stuck at Tauno

Spoiler

I was able to get beer and coffee with the hint above, but I don't have enough money to pay for the coffee. I don't have enough cans to return them.

[close]

Hint 1:

Spoiler

Did you ever find Taunos wallet? That's where money lives!

[close]

Hint 2:

Spoiler

Never should leave home without it.

[close]

Hint 3:

Spoiler

As Tauno stumbled home from the bar last night, he probably went to sleep with his clothes on.

[close]

Hint 4 - Full solution:

Spoiler

Did you remember to make your bed?

[close]

[cat]

Spoiler

I made my bed right at the beginning. I think I found the wallet but he just kept the coins from it. I got more money from the teens, IIRC, and spent some in the pharmacy and for the beer. I still have a few coins, but the cashier says it's not enough.

Btw, I enountered a bug: In the supermarket, my inventory was already full so I didn't see the beer I took from the shelf and was caught shoplifting. Only when I drank some of the half-empty cans the pack of beer showed up in the inventory. I think there should be arrows to navigate the inventory.

[close]

[WHAM]

Spoiler

I made my bed right at the beginning. I think I found the wallet but he just kept the coins from it. I got more money from the teens, IIRC, and spent some in the pharmacy and for the beer. I still have a few coins, but the cashier says it's not enough.

Btw, I enountered a bug: In the supermarket, my inventory was already full so I didn't see the beer I took from the shelf and was caught shoplifting. Only when I drank some of the half-empty cans the pack of beer showed up in the inventory. I think there should be arrows to navigate the inventory.

[close]

Regarding being stuck with no money (spoilery):

Spoiler

If you got the money from the wallet and from returning the cans, is it possible you didn't actually talk to the teenagers before buying the beer? That is: is it possible you just gave them some beer for no reason? I tried to fix this bug in a minor update later on, but at least the first release builds of the game had it possible to give the kids the beers without having talked to them first, in which case you never got the money from them for buying the beers in the first place.

Not very Tauno-like to give away free beers, and thus a poorly designed (albeit realistic and thematically appropriate) game over situation if this is the case. The three ways to get money in the game are the wallet, the teenagers and the cans and all three must be found in order to win, otherwise Tauno will be out of money. Current version should have Tauno refusing to pick up the beers if he hasn't talked to the kids, which should prevent this.

Another fun way to lose the game, and not necessarily realize this, is to pay for your groceries at the shop and not pick them up before leaving. Someone else will nab them off the counter while you're away and there are no refunds, so this would also be a way to lose money and thus lose the game without Tauno ever realizing what he'd done wrong.

Just stuck in an endless loop of hangover...

[close]

As for the minor inventory bug:

Spoiler

Yeah, the inventory space carries a small risk of running out of space to display all items if the player doesn't drink their beers, never have Tauno put aside the empty wallet and especially if they also pick up the coffee filter before leaving home. I tried to design the game so that a scrolling inventory wasn't necessary, but just barely ran out of space for it. None of the playtesters I had run the game ever encountered this issue, but I should have known someone eventually would. I think my eventual fix will be to adjust the verb button sizes down enough to make space for 12 inventory items displayed instead of 10 and try to design any sequels better in this regard.

Missing the wallet even after making the bed was the main cause for my playtesters getting stuck this way. The item is a bit small and easy to miss when it falls to the floor, but I felt it wasn't unfairly so, especially since it has an animation for keen-eyed players to spot.

[close]

[cat]

Spoiler

I have not returned the cans. He says there are not enough of them. I still have one half-empty can in my inventory, but if I drink it it's too much and the game ends.

[close]

[WHAM]

Spoiler

I have not returned the cans. He says there are not enough of them. I still have one half-empty can in my inventory, but if I drink it it's too much and the game ends.

[close]

Spoiler

Take some time, walk around a bit, and the buzz from the previous cans will wear off. Drinking too much too fast will get Tauno drunk all over again, so he needs to be paced out a little. There is also a hidden benefit to having him buzzed earlier in the game that can make some frustrating actions easier to deal with if you figure it out, though now it's probably a little too late in the game to really benefit from it.

[close]

Mechanics explanation:

Spoiler

There is an alcoholism stat that increases whenever you drink and decreases on every room transition. But as long as you have some, you can just USE most doors that would require complex fiddling around with the handles to get through otherwise and Tauno will channel that buzz to make his life a little easier and more functional. He drinks because things are just simpler for him when he does...

[close]

[cat]

First of all, I want to say that all games hit the theme, each in their own way.

Vasile the Templar

Spoiler

Wow, this game is huge! The demo alone is already almost one gig. How big is the full version going to be?
I like the graphics and the voice acting. However, the concept didn't work for me at all. It's not how learning a language works for me.
You should decide if you want to tell a story or teach a language. Reading the sentence first and then hearing it again was weird. Why not just have Romanian voice acting with English or Romanian subtitles?
The intro sequence and dialog was fun but the cooking was so boring, I just clicked through all the dialog and didn't listen to it.

[close]

The Vasa Fasa

Spoiler

I remember visiting the Vasa museum many many years ago. It is indeed an impressive ship and museum. However, this does not really show in the game. The room is very limited and most of the time I didn't know what I was doing. I shot the barrel just because and only later realized what I was supposed to do.
The graphics are nice and the animations really smooth.

[close]

Three Lions

Spoiler

A blast from the past. For someone living in England in 1996 this must be a trip down memory lane. I didn't, so I probably missed quite a few references. Fun nonetheless! The intro and outro with the music and the photos are a nice touch.
The graphics are nice and there is a surprisingly large number of locations to visit. Very classic adventure game puzzling.

[close]

Tauno

Spoiler

A deep and complex game. An unexpected protagonist from a person that does not drink alcohol at all, if I remember correctly.
The graphics are clean and consistent, there was a lot of effort put into sound effects.
There is a plethora of different puzzles, some involving quite some coding. I loved the one where you have to wait for the old lady to finish. The maze was actually quite clever, but I didn't get it myself, I needed a hint. Same applies for the beer can puzzle. The problem with the game is, that all the thoughts that went into it are somewhat hidden and not obvious (like the secret alcoholism stat, just way too subtle for me to get), so if I hadn't read your commentary, what remains is doors that are super annoying to open.

[close]

I still have to ponder for which game to vote.