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Those finished, animated backgrounds are impressive, and that is a wonderful bit of animation for Andre swimming.

Glad the spruced-up version of the game is taking shape - as you know, I really enjoyed the MAGS edition.

Congratulations Tycho and Brane! Very worthy winners - and it's wonderful to hear it's represented such a U-turn for you personally, Tycho. I'm looking forward to whatever you come up with next.

Even though I didn't have as much time for my entry as I'd have liked (I was away on holiday at the end of June) the 'Rescue' theme was just too tempting, and I'm now really glad I took part in what turned out to be a particularly inspiring round of MAGS.  I've learnt a lot from playing all of the games submitted, trying to make constructive comments about them, and reading the feedback on my own game. I might not be ready to enter another MAGS straight away, but it's definitely something I'll return to.

Thanks to everyone who played through, commented on and even voted for Hang On, you're ace.

My vote was actually for Bury Me In The Sand, but it was such a strong field, that wasn't an easy decision.

It'd be great to collaborate with some of you for some future MAGS!

I liked the pleasant JRPG tunes you picked, they seemed well suited to wandering around up in the clouds. I think the atmosphere (no pun intended) could have been further helped by a little more detail and depth to the backgrounds. I know you acknowledge certain limitations when Rosaura looks at the palace from the bridge, but that's a good example of a room where the background art could really draw the player in, and it doesn't need to be a jaw-dropping riot of colour. Still, in the time you had, working alone, I can understand going with the style you chose.

I agree with Mandle about the scripting being solid - you've anticipated most things the player might try, with lots of special descriptions and reactions. Well done.

Keep it up!

I've just played the demo, well done! Noria's augmentations and the stealth aspect of the game are nicely implemented, and promise to make for lots of interesting adventuring possibilities in the eventual full-length game. There was some heavy world-building in the dialogue and descriptions, but a demo needs to hook the audience in, and you've managed to establish an intriguing setting effectively across just a few rooms.

I'll follow this with interest, and expect lots more screenshots of majestic sunsets populated by terrifying spacecraft.

Thank you everyone for the further comments and suggestions for an improved version, all will be considered!

lorenzo: That's really nice feedback - thank you for seeking out Loch Inch too! I know what you mean, there are probably few better remedies after a tough day than a relaxing adventure-gaming session.

Mandle, well done on somehow making a roguelike helicopter sim in AGS, remarkable work just on that count.

Like SilverSpook, this game took me back to days of 'just one more go' on the NES. The control scheme is challenging at first and the gameplay totally uncompromising, but that makes it all the more satisfying when you do accomplish things! I sort of got the hang of flying using a trackpad, but I'll have another go using a proper mouse soon.

I agree with others about the areas for possible improvement, but it's a good proof of concept and something you could build on if you're inspired to.

Today I celebrated Bastille Day by...Bustin' The Bastille!

This is a good game with a clever interpretation of the 'Rescue' theme; I enjoyed the cartoony spin on historical events.

I felt the game could have done with more event handling, not least to give the player a few hints here and there. It felt a bit unresponsive, with even relatively obvious actions not triggering anything.

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For instance, nothing happened when I used the Parisian flag, or the two flags, on the crowd of citizens. Even though that's not the solution, it's something a lot of people would try.

As cat pointed out in the MAGS thread, obtaining the wooden rail required for the Tricolore is rather obscure, and that held me up for a while!

I'm glad I persevered though, as the mini arcade sequence was a nice surprise, and the puzzling inside the Bastille made sense. The ending sequence was fun!

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Any rough edges are understandable given it's an ambitious game to have made in one month. I'm pleased to see you have plans for a more polished version - as you know, I'm in the same boat!

Well done both, I look forward to more of your games.

Terrific work xBRANEx and Tycho. A well-designed, involving short game with some tricky and varied puzzles, and some of the bawdiest robots yet seen in any medium. Lots of fun sci-fi references to enjoy here too!

It's great to see Tycho's art in a game after admiring it on here for a while, like in his CRT tutorial.

I know the music was all Kevin MacLeod stuff rather than new compositions, but it was all extremely well selected and almost cohered like a bespoke soundtrack, with all those nice electric pianos running through it. That seemed to add a lot to the experience.

I had some slight audio glitches when entering/exiting puzzle close-ups and during video cutscenes, but it may just be a quirk of my laptop.

I've played this now - excellent work!

Technically very impressive, from the level of animation to the array of visual effects (it does several things that I imagine are quite tricky in AGS),

There's a lot of strong writing running through the game. I like how each character had a distinctive voice that came across in just about every line they were given. Also you've gone to the trouble of plenty of specially handled (and often wordy) events for trying different things out. There were only a few things I attempted that got no response from the game.

It's neat how

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you end up losing all of your vampire-hunting inventory in your efforts to reach Byron in the bell tower.

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The overall puzzle structure was quite clever, and that's a good example.

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The manipulation of the GUI in the finale was a novel twist - fun to see this used to serve the plot.

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The latest version seems pretty robust, no bugs encountered!

This is the first of this MAGS batch I've played through, and I thought it was ace.

The art style jumped out at me when I first saw your character sprites in the MAGS thread and it didn't disappoint in-game. Great use of a limited but very bold, distinctive palette that really suggests sun beating down on Growlton.

Dialogue was another strong point.

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I played through the last section twice just so I could purchase both a Hoppy Pal and a Creepazoid and get the different dialogue from Ernie.

The cheeky easter egg found in Millie's locker was fun too!

I admire the subtle backstory that Stupot+ has noticed - I think the order in which I did things (I'd already rung Flo, and worked out the locker combination from the hearts under the boardwalk, before I'd spoken to Millie about needing the lotion) meant I didn't encounter the discrepancy in years on my own playthrough, but it's great that it's in there.

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Being able to rename Andre in the opening dialogue is a small but welcome touch, we don't often get that for adventure games - think I might pinch the idea for a future game of mine! I also like that you had a character named Gilda.

Pleased to learn that a more complete version is in the works, and it's the prequel to a further game too! Terrific.

I didn't actually realise Lamplight City was slated as another Wadjet Eye collaboration, but I suppose that was implicit after Dave published your last couple of games, and with being Shardlight being such a winning combination of your talents.

Regardless, the game looks like it shaping up really nicely, and I shall of course be snapping it up regardless! Good luck with the continuing development and with lining up another publisher, if that's still the plan.

Great idea! I plan to have a go at this.

Well done everyone! Exciting to see such a varied bounty of MAGS games this month - I know it's not something to take for granted. I'll be playing them all later this week.

Scavenger: The hype is killing me! I really love the glimpses we've had from Eggie. Good luck with this final push!

selmiak: That's a lovely walk cycle! Lots of character in it, very strong pixel animation.

Looking forward to taking some time to play all of the June games next week.

Wow, thank you selmiak! It's always fun to see these videos, it was an unexpected bonus when I did Adventure Jam last month too. I appreciate how you've described the game in the YouTube text...'kleptomaniac yeti'. Anyway, I've subscribed to your channel!

Rest assured, the fully soundtracked version will be coming, with any luck next month. It was just too tricky to get that part up to scratch before the MAGS deadline, and I agree it painfully detracts from the atmosphere. I'll post here about an update as soon as it's ready.

Thank you to everyone who has played and commented here since I last posted, it's very encouraging to read all that. This forum has been so welcoming and supportive of my first couple of games and I'm looking forward to doing more.

Thanks everyone for playing this and for the kind words, I really appreciate it.

The arcade Hang On is news to me, Captain D - it looks great! Road Rash on the Megadrive was more my era. Watch this space for Super Hang On...

Thanks for the feedback, all good points!

I ran out of time to do much in the way of audio in time for MAGS, unfortunately, as I'm busy with other things for the rest of this month. I did get as far as writing some nice theme music for each character, but my demo versions were a little too sketchy for me to be happy putting them in the game. Once I have time to do some more work on those tracks I'll probably update the game (enhanced edition!). The wind sound effect is a great idea, though - wish I'd thought of that.

Also cut for time was

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a more complex version of the eagle puzzle, where different birds would appear randomly in different places around the mountain, and you'd have to use the bird book to identify the correct one to record.

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Scavenger:

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You can pick up the stool from the chalet to help you reach the gear.

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Glad you're enjoying it so far!

I've finished my entry! Check out the completed games thread here and download .zip here. It's called Hang On.



Thanks to Slasher for an inspiring theme this month! Looking forward to playing all the rest of the entries. Mandle, I'm intrigued by this helicopter game!

[HANG ON]

My entry for June MAGS, on the theme of 'Rescue', is:

HANG ON
Download

Martha is getting away from it all, up in the clouds on the lonely but peaceful slopes of the Trollspitze mountain. When a quick trip to the village below goes awry, who will come to her rescue? And is there any truth in the local legend of an abominable snowman?

Featuring:

• Two playable characters!
• Sublime alpine scenery!
• Vertiginous thrills!
• Accurate bird audio from the public domain!

Updated in October 2017 with added music, sound and minor gameplay improvements.

Updated in March 2018 with French translation option (by Christophe Pallarès / @xtooph), start menu, and save/load interface

Download v2.0.0 (March 2018)

Games database page

Download MAGS original