Topic: MAGS July “Animal Protagonists” (CLOSED)

[lanchong]

Sometimes the winner is obvious but it took me a while to decide this month.

Hopping Homeward

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It's cute game that would be awesome if you could remove the confirmation messages between screens. I like the large graphics. I think that young kids will love this.

Research Reservations

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It's good short game. The introduction is brief but it's easy to understand the situation. I'm usually not a big fan of multiple verbs (Push, Pull, etc) but here it makes the puzzles more interesting. I think it's the best game you've produced so far.

Birdy Birdy

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I'm always excited by games produced by cassiebsg and this one doesn't disappoint. It took me a while to get used to the various buttons but I've found this interface very innovative so I gave you my vote.

[cat]

Hopping Homeward

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Very cute graphics, lots of screens.
The screen change confirmation was annoying and I found the cursor a bit difficult to use. Gameplay is overall a bit clunky. Why can't I use the mushrooms on the cauldron but have to use the cauldron and then pick mushrooms?
I didn't figure out how save works which almost made me give up this game where you can die, but then I completed it in the end.
The game doesn't stick too close to the topic, since the animals were talking to each other, making potions and and having inventory.
The most polished entry.

Research Reservations

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Very cute idea, the introduction, objective and GUI were easy to understand. Having two characters that have to work together was fun. It was missing a nice ending and there were a few bugs (I got the hamster stuck in the left wall when leaving the vent to the left and the ID card should disappear). Spot on regarding the topic.

Birdy Birdy

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Very creative setting. I like that the bird cannot talk but only sing. It took me some time to figure out the GUI. What was the worm supposed to do? Did singing the songs actually achieve something? The graphics were a bit of a patchwork and the game was missing some polish.

I voted for

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Research Reservations, because it was fun fit the topic perfectly.

[Mandle]

Nice 3-way alliteration titles!

[Shadow1000]

I agree that it was not an easy decision this month.

Hopping Homeward

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I liked the game. I have to agree with what others have said: confirming everything took away from the game. Otherwise, a nice set of puzzles and pretty graphics

Research Reservations

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I have to make specific mention that I think that this is the first full entry from Vampire Wombat. Unless I'm forgetting something, most previous entries were just some characters and some dialogue, so congrats on the entry. Two characters working together was a nice touch, and the idea was a good application of the theme.

Birdy Birdy

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It took me a while to get a hang of the interface and to get the aim right. I had trouble seeing the item in the fountain. Graphics a bit inconsistent. But overall, a good experience and story, with a beginning, middle and end. And as I said, we all love a "redemption" story

My vote did go to

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Birdy Birdy because I did feel that it was most complete, including a bird-controlling interface!

Great entries, everyone!

[Cassiebsg]

@cat

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Yes, the singing did accomplish something. You had to sing two songs: Happy birthday and Twinkle, Twinkle to be able to poop on the boy...  But I couldn't think of a way how to convey this message to the player (so I guess the player just ends playing them all)... maybe a bubble with "why?" on the boy when trying to hit him? . But I agree this puzzle needed a bit more polish to work, rather than feeling random...

The worm is bird food, which is needed to poop... 

[Mandle]

It WAS a hard choice indeed...

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I had to go with Research Reservations in the end just because it had the cleverest puzzles and was the purest interpretation of the theme. I also like to think that I gave that janitor either a infectious rage virus that will kickstart a zombie apocalypse and/or superpowers... Maybe an after-credits cutscene in a more polished version might be the go?

All great games though. Well done to all!!!

[VampireWombat]

It WAS a hard choice indeed...

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I had to go with Research Reservations in the end just because it had the cleverest puzzles and was the purest interpretation of the theme. I also like to think that I gave that janitor either a infectious rage virus that will kickstart a zombie apocalypse and/or superpowers... Maybe an after-credits cutscene in a more polished version might be the go?

All great games though. Well done to all!!!

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I'm not much for rage virus zombies, but the birth of CavyMan is possible.
But yeah, a higher definition remake with more locations and possibly a 3rd animal is quite possible.
Thanks.

[Stupot]

Still two days left to vote if you haven't yet.
I'll give you a clue. It's tight.

[Twirlly]

I could just vote with no comment, but I feel like leaving notes about a game helps people grow as game makers and I would want them so here are my thoughts:

Hopping Homeward

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I felt like I was in a coloring book choose your own adventure type story, which was nice. I enjoyed meeting the forest creatures and was glad I could easily save since you can "die". As others have already stated, the room change confirmation seemed unnecessary and took away from the flow of the game. Also some of the game play was unnatural. For example, I couldn't just use the mushrooms on the badger or cauldron as would be expected.

Research Reservations

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I loved the two player gaming. However, there were some game play moments that seemed rushed(likely do to the time constraints of MAGS). These include the hamster/gerbil? simply going into the vent even though it's way too high, and the key card just appearing under the door without player action.

Birdy Birdy

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It had a thought out story line and quite a few nice animations. I loved being able to play as a human and a bird. You had bird songs, which were unique and sounded lovely. I thought the idea of having to eat a worm to poop was genius(once I figured it out), but there could have been a more direct way for players to know. The thought bubble was just confusing at first, and it seemed like I had to put the worm back to eat it again, which seemed kind of weird. I did find a bug where the worm hole would keep moving around the screen(unless this was intended). Also I just got lucky and sang the two songs needed on first attempt, although there was no clue as to which were required.

My vote went to

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Birdy Birdy

[Cassiebsg]

Thanks for the comments and to answer your questions:

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Yes, the eating part is something I would have liked to do better. It's not clear that when you click on it you are actually eating it. The thought bubble was my way to clue the need of the worm in order to poop. If you have a better suggestion (without actually using words, I'm all hears.  ).

As for the "bug" it's not actually a bug (unless the following was not what you were doing)... thing is that the bird can only carry one item, so if you pick up a second item it will drop the first. I thought it looked a bit weird with the worm too... but think of it as: you dropped the worm and it instantly dig a new hole...   

Yes, I probably should revise a few things about how things are working and how they would work better some other way for the pos-MAGS version. 
Thanks all for the valuable feedback. 

[VampireWombat]

Research Reservations

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I loved the two player gaming. However, there were some game play moments that seemed rushed(likely do to the time constraints of MAGS). These include the hamster/gerbil? simply going into the vent even though it's way too high, and the key card just appearing under the door without player action.

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Actually, it's a guinea pig. And the key card ends up under the door on its own? I guess I missed something in the coding. It was only supposed to show up if the guinea pig used it with the door.
And yeah, I should have made the monkey move up or something to put the guinea pig in the vent. But I ran out of time.

[Kastchey]

Hopping Homeward

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I can tell that an amazing amount of effort went into making of this game. I agree with what other said about the interface being a little awkward, but it's your first game so that's something that comes with experience I guess. The storyline was cute, the graphics even cuter and the game was surprisingly long and complex for any average MAGS entry, let alone a first game. I do agree that animals doing human things might seem like a loose interpretation of the theme but as they do a lot of animal things too, the game fits well enough in my view. Plus, I love the title

Research Reservations

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Definitely your best game so far, VW. It has a clearly defined storyline that has a beginning and an end, a sequence of puzzles and a fairly unique gameplay idea on top of that. The interpretation of the theme was spot on, too. Overall the entry seemed somewhat rushed, but played like a full game that just needs a bit of post-MAGS polish rather than an intro. Well done!

It wasn't an easy choice but I finally decided to vote for

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Hopping Homeward because despite some missing interactions, it was the most polished entry. And too cute to resist.

[Blondbraid]

Hopping Homeward

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It's a lovely game with great graphics and decent puzzles, my only complaint is, as others have already pointed out,  that it doesn't really fit the theme with animals brewing potions or trading goods. But if it wasn't for that, it'd be a great entry.

Research Reservations

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I liked the puzzles but the lack of animations was a bit jarring. I'd say it's a good idea that would be fun to see expanded upon.

Birdy Birdy

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The inconsistency in artstyle for the characters (a realistic protagonist but cartoon npc's) was rather distracting, but the gameplay was good and the simple moral tale of the story made it feel the most like an complete experience out of this month's entries.

I voted for:

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Birdy Birdy, since it did the most with animal interactions and had the most complete story.

[Shadow1000]

Wow...so close! all really good entries. Congrats!

[VampireWombat]

Congratulations NuggetSeb.

And thank you to everyone who played, and commented on my game. I do plan to make a higher resolution version with more content at some point, but can't promise when.

[Cassiebsg]

Congrats NuggetSeb 

[cat]

Congratulations - first game and already a deserved MAGS winner! I hope you will now release a version of the game without the change room confirmation.

As shadow said: all really good entries!

[Kastchey]

Congrats NuggetSeb! Fantastic work.

(By the way, I was close to voting for Research Reservations instead. The result would have been funny if I had voted for it )

[Blondbraid]

Congratulations!

[Stupot]

Close one this month. Well done everybody.
But the winner of MAGS July is Hopping Homeward by NuggetSeb.

Congratulations Nugget. You'll be contacted soon about choosing a topic for September.