Messages

Looks like The Shaft won. Congrats! Well-deserved and not surprising, especially as people posted their comments.

That drive download works...


...but I am stuck with

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2 triangles that fit nowhere. I can't combine them into the diamond shape for the next room, also I'm missing 2 squares probably.

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What happens when you

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put 2 triangles together?

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My ads get blocked and I could download without problems.

I figured out the first puzzles, then got stuck, maybe it's a bug:

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I think I was supposed to get the numbers (132) and put them in the equation, but I wasn't able to pick them up.

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Nope. Not a bug. Consider that to be some "misdirection" I thought the same. Keep trying and post if you still need help.

Oh dear. Sorry about that, I think I know where I messed up. But I'll leave it for the post-MAGS version as correcting it now would be cheating
Thanks very much for reporting!

No problem. Despite that, it got my vote...

Oh, and I forgot to report:

In The Shaft, I saved my game intending to come back later. But when I came back, it said that there were no saved games and I had to start over

[Stories of the unexpected: 'Until further notice' by Slasher]

5 entries!

Here are my thoughts:

Stories of the unexpected: 'Until further notice' by Slasher

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What I liked about this game was how complete it is. It has a backstory, beginning, middle and end. Lots of decent puzzles and a nice bit of variety. The graphics were a bit basic, especially of the characters. The puzzles were straightforward and the only one that took some guessing was the laser

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The Lightning Spell by Buckethead

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It's not often that I am so positive on a game just because of the graphics and animation but this game is an exception. All I can say is WOW! I REALLY hope that you use the characters and backgrounds and build a medium or full length game with a good story and puzzles. For a MAGS entry the story/puzzles were ok, considering the time constraints

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WELCOME TO NOD RIVER by Mandle
Game introduction. The background of the game once it opens is intriguing enough to look like a good basis for a game.

The Shaft by Kastchey

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I really like this one. The attractive pixel art combined with what looks like part of a good story drew me in. I wasn't expecting such detailed, well-though out puzzles. Progress was slow but steady. There is a fair bit of guessing. I got stuck at the same place as Mandle but I did get past it.

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Pizza Calls by VampireWombat
I'm not sure what to say. It's hard to evaluate what seems to be an early release of something?

It was not an easy call to make but my vote goes to

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The Shaft. I feel that while Until Further Notice is more complete rather than giving the feel of a "first scene" of a game, this one has the most to offer in terms of graphics and puzzles and to me was the most engaging and enjoyable

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Good luck!

Thank you. I don't think I would have ever come up with that one.

I'm stuck at the same place that you guys got stuck.

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I need the last magical item. I only had 4: book, ball, feather, cards. Where do I get the last one?

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I am in the castle right now, not able to leave and need to distract the guard.

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I can't open the chest with the keyhole inside or the hollow part unter the statue.
I can'i enlighten the fireplaces (one I can go in but nothing else and the other one needs cleaning first).
I can't cut the rope take the mop or reach the throne or do anything with one of my items to the guard nor do I get new dialog options for him.

Now I am out of options/ideas how I might be able to distract him.
Inventory: cards, cup, phone, scissors, spate, broken pot, recorder, book, lighter. 

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Can anyone give me a hint, please (or confirm that I got stuck because of a bug)?

I'm at the exact same place. I've tried the "use everything on everything" and no luck. If you or anyone solves this, please post.

I'm stuck trying to

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invoke the ghost

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. I have the

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torch, shroud, sacred herbs

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, and I've met Alex and the professor. Help please!

You need the

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vodka

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. It's in a very obvious place.

Thank you. I made a lot of progress. I don't think I would have figured that one out even using "try everything on everything"

Sorry for being cryptic,

The implement you need is at the crime scene! There are no hotspots, so you just need to click on things - if you can dig that. You will find something that can help you out of the hole you are in.

Complete Spoiler follows:

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At the middle to top of the screen is an object in the sand. It is a shovel. Click on it and use it on the middle of the light patch on the left of screen

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. Hope that helps

I already had the

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shovel and pot

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I got stuck on what to do next.

Hi Shadow1000,

You haven't found the "Spear & Jackson" #3! (sorry, that's an allusion to "Ripping Yarns") I actually own a Spear & Jackson, and it's very handy for digging up evidence, particularly in a

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discoloured spot in the middle of a light spot.

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The "Ripping Yarns" episode was "The Ballad of Eric Olthwaite"..."It were always raining in Denley Moor...

Hi Wiggy

To be honest, I didn't understand anything you said

I assume you mean to

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dig more at the crime scene?

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I started playing this and things were progressing nicely but I seem to be out of things to do.

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I got the pot from the crime scene and can't progress past that. I have the pot, paper cup, scissors, cards and cell phone. I can't call anyone on the phone. Nothing to do at work, home and the crime scene. I tried the old "everything on everything" and no progress

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Thank you

Well deserved win. Congrats.

I played this game and here are my comments:

First, I don't need to compliment the graphics and animation. Anyone looking at the screenshots and trailer video can see that Blondbraid's skill is excellent in this area (most of us knew that already, anyway )

The strongest point of this project is how once again, Blondbraid deals with the horrors of war from another angle. I would suspect that most players will be emotionally pulled into the game and it's hard not to be moved.

As far as the puzzles, I do agree with Mandle that some higher sophistication of the puzzles would be a nice touch, but I feel that this is not so much the point of the game.

Taking Mandle's example:

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Sure, in most games fixing the truck engine would be a task involving finding parts or creating them, perhaps finding instructions or someone to help, assembling the engine and so on. But this point here is exactly that where a logical person expects there to be a real problem to solve, the bureaucratic nitwit didn't bother to check the obvious. This would be in the same line of thinking of why find a way to take out the enemy by outwitting them and saving casualties when you can have your men die rushing a machine gun.

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Notwithstanding that, there's a nice mix of inventory puzzles, dialogue puzzles, maze puzzle, and some of these puzzles are fresh thinking so not a really weak area overall.

This is nother excellent work that really accomplishes what it sets out to do in a way that no one else does.

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In short, I felt it was about the protagonist's redemption and was almost moved to tears at the ending.

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Cheers

I couldn't figure out what to do so I gave up. There's no save button so I think I'll stop here. You weren't kidding about "abstract". This is one WEIRD game!

I'll consider posting something along the lines of a walk through at some point. It's defiantly weird, I was just having fun and getting my hands dirty.

Thanks for playing.

How about a save button? I recommend that if the game is more than 20 minutes or so that you let the player save progress and come back to it. I had no choice but to just abort the game because I just did not have the time to continue.

Just a suggestion

I played until

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I got to this area with 2 orange pixel guys and a boar. I got some berries.

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I couldn't figure out what to do so I gave up. There's no save button so I think I'll stop here. You weren't kidding about "abstract". This is one WEIRD game!

[Comet Collision]

Wow..talk about 11th hour entries!
Comet Collision

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Reminds me of those paper "fortune tellers" we made in grade school

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Yes, I was kind of panicking when I saw how close it was.

I'm only vaguely familiar with how those work. At my school the knowledge to make those only seemed to be passed on to girls while boys did paper airplanes and paper footballs.

Thanks for playing and commenting.

If I recall correctly, the paper airplanes were for during class and the fortune tellers for recess.

[Groundhog]

Wow..talk about 11th hour entries!

So...here are my comments:

Groundhog

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Don't be deceived by what seems to be a simple guessing game. It wasn't till I finished that I realized that it's actually very clever!

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To the Mountains of Madness

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Well, it's just an intro...looks like a good concept.

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Ice in the Air

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The most complete game, with a goal, inventory, steps to take to achieve the goal and decent graphics.

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Comet Collision

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Reminds me of those paper "fortune tellers" we made in grade school

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Don't Ice your Cool

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I love the graphics and animation! Short game with simple, progressive puzzles.

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My vote goes to

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Ice in the Air, as I felt that it was the most overall complete game of the bunch.

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Well done!