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Money joke continued in spoilers:

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"How many pieces of eight do you want for that gas station?"

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True. One would need a really big bag of coins to buy a whole gas station : )

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The fun part is that you could carry the coins with ease, because of the low gravity. Any coin toss could result in a new satelite.

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Thank you for the link, heltenjon! I want to try it (despite my very basic Spanish), it looks very interesting!
It's by Postmodern Adventures, he probably didn't add the game to the database because he didn't want to get all of the AGS Awards. 

Well, that plan nearly failed. 

Here's the thread for Dead Dimension. I suppose it's not been added to the database yet because it's not translated to English yet (?).

I playtested on this one, and we did have some discussion about the mailbox puzzle. I was uncertain about it, but ultimately landed on that the puzzle was hard, but fair.

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I think it's a good puzzle, particularly in this setting. This world of absurdities and imperfection is largely about finding ways to cope, and gathering information is a big part of that. To find the truth, one had to see it through the propaganda. And I feel this puzzle, and the street name puzzle, is about combining pieces of information into something useful. (Just like combining two items to make a third.)

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Just to clarify, there's never been a head of the rating panel; there are a handful of people who do the reviews as and when they have the time and inclination.  But as with everything online, real life gets in the way, and people's availability and enthusiasm isn't always high enough to do ensure every game gets rated.

Well, the Rating Panel Information Thread states there is:

Who are in the Panel?
I work as coordinator and supervisor of the rating panel project. Progzmax is the current head of the panel.
The rest of the individual Rating Panel members are currently anonymous. This is to prevent coercion and abuse from game authors.

If that's incorrect, then perhaps the text ought to be changed anyway.

On the Games Page, I'm not sure the Awards and Ratings section needs a whole big area to itself. I'd probably move the ratings under the download button, possibly simplify them like others have suggested and perhaps get rid of the AGS panel ratings, since this feature has been dormant for years.

I understand this is due to Progzmax's illness and sad passing away. Perhaps it is time for the mods to elect a new head of the Review Panel? The system of the panel and the user's rating next to each other is quite informative, and I wouldn't want to get rid of it just because it's not in place for the last years' games.

I would like to add though that I know absolutely nothing about web design and I am an old antiquated dinosaur, whose web browsing preferences and habits do not reflect the average person that will be visiting the AGS website 

+1

Reiter, your projects looks very interesting! The alchemy reminded me about something, and I checked: Your MAGS winner Escapist Literature (or something nearly like that) doesn't seem to be in the database. Please also add these smaller games.

[very huge]

Also, the game was part of a game jam, most of the downloads/views came from itch (where the jam was hosted).

Well, although “Huggles” was not part of any external game jam, “Thinker” is, and that jam does indeed include games with around a thousand views as counted by GameJolt, to wit, three of them.

The spread on that is very huge: The rear has only 11 % of the views of the leader, or in absolute numbers, the #1 is at ~980 whilst the #31 is just shy of 110.

“Thinker”, being the #18, hasn't done all that well in that regard and as usual, I don't have any clear idea about the causes in play and how to effectively improve the numbers. (Note that only participants may vote, so the currently running voting process is independent from viewer numbers, which makes it fair to discuss views here IMHO.)

That has to mean that people find the games on Gamejolt in a different way than through the jam page. The site is overwhelming to me - I don't know what and where and how to look for anything, but regular users will probably have their own preferred way of finding their way and locating games. I tend to stick to a jam, and perhaps check out the other games of creators of games I like, or try some algorhythm games ("Perhaps you would also like...") in the worst Netflix manner.

Is there a way of sorting the games by the count of views? I haven't found it, but if there is, that kind of mechanism . "View most popular" generates even more views as readers click to see why so many people read these stories. Ah well.

“Thinker” has been in the AGS database from its day 1. That does explain several dozen views and a portion of the downloads, but not the difference to four-digit view numbers.

I haven't put “Huggles” into the AGS database yet mainly because this doesn't make sense for a strictly seasonal game after the season has passed. Also, it had only garnered a single vote in the MAGS contest that it was in, and this is below my quality threshold. I might enter it next year in March provided that I've found some way to improve it significantly in the meantime. Or if I can't improve it, I might perhaps retract it; I haven't found time to decide on that yet.

Just what makes my games that invisible? I'm still stumped.

Please don't retract the game, and please add it to the database. In MAGS, you only get votes for first place. If the competition is stiff one month, even very good games will end up with few votes because they ran against a great game. The number of votes received really isn't a quality measurement like the cups in the database is.

I think your force is puzzle design. This doesn't easily show in a screenshot. Screenshots from Thinker or Huggles may mislead readers into thinking that these are children's games. The thumbnail on Gamejolt makes Thinker like it's a cartoon. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure about how to push the puzzle design to the front. Graphics are click bait, but story and puzzles makes the games.

I think I should only comment on the games page, as I, like some other users here, tend to go directly here or to the forums without visiting the splash pages. What I like about the current games page is how much information is available at a glance. The redesign uses larger letters, making it easier to read, but you have to scroll more. I think some of the most vital information ought to be visible at first sight, like the ratings. How many cups the game has received may determine if I want to read more about it.

I also tend to use the links/the information in the box to the right on the current page to navigate, either to look for games or read recent comments...perhaps check out a game many others are downloading at the same time. But maybe I'm the only one. I'm sure you have some sort of click count for those. I'd be sad to see them go, but I'll live.

I like that the "Vote" button is larger and emphasized (although maybe this, too, may benefit from appearing at first glance at the webpage). More people should vote, and making it visible is a good choice. The pull-down menus on top of the screen also looks pretty useful.

Now, I'm one of those grumpy old gits that swear when the shops reorganize and I can't find my pudding where "it's supposed to be". I realize that's all a force of habit. But even so, I hope the game pages and especially the forum pages will stay as close as possible to how they are today. A designer wants everything to be parts of the same style, but I've always cared more about functionality. If I can have both, then great, if not, I'll go with functionality every time. I think it's the AGS engine pages that really needs to be cleaned up. While it's not an issue here (yet, at least), I'll also chip in that I don't agree with Hobbes' suggestion about separating older posts from the forum from newer in some kind of archive. Perhaps it makes sense in the more technical threads? But if I want to play some OROW games, then I probably also will get the urge to read about the feedback the games got in their old thread. If I'm stuck in an old game, an old thread in Hints and Tips is just dandy.

I'll let the real designers and artists be the ones to give feedback on style. (I draw like a pig.) And if I've given feedback on the entirely wrong things, then I apologize.

[Dirandious Kroken]

Here are my thoughts this month.

Dirandious Kroken

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Short and easy game with some typical Slasher humour. Hits the theme good, but the fun is over very fast.

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Breakfast on Trappist-1

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The best game this month. Beautiful art and some very nice science fiction ideas that's in the background of the story, like the stuff about low gravity and the planet not spinning on its axis. I also liked that Earth countries have space colonies, not simply "Earth". This in itself gives the characters and their interaction some extra depth, through the meeting of different cultures and habits. Belgium was perhaps an odd choice for a colonialist - I expected atrocities, given the country's horrible colonial history on Earth, but it seems that's not a point, at least not in this chapter. Having given all this praise, there is a big BUT coming: The game isn't really made for MAGS, and the connection to the theme of the month therefore is paper thin. I still think it's great it was entered, so that more people would try it out.

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Fhaloness

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Here's another game that acts as an opening chapter in a longer story. It gives me plenty of urge to see more, too. The characters interact nicely, there seems to be some decent world building and mythology going on, and the magic tree makes this game both interesting and a very good fit for the contest. I also felt that character growth was more of an issue here than in Breakfast. Oh, and I liked the music. I particularly liked the small details like how the sister reacts if you try to rummage through her stuff before talking with her about their loss.

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I voted for:

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Fhaloness. Even though I think Breakfast is a better, longer and more complete game, I feel this one delivers better on the premise of the contest.

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EDIT: typo

I played Nebraska Smith and the mask of Minkhamanna by Gugames, the guy behind the great AGS games The Halloween Party, Kill Yourself and Duty First. This time he's used Unity. As expected from him, this is funny and irreverent. As the title suggests, it's a parody of Indiana Jones (one of two in this jam). Even though it's humourous, the puzzles are rather good and quite original. This is a funny one. Gugames usually has great endings, and this game is no exception. Playtime will vary depending on if you solve the puzzles at one go or not. I had to return to the game a couple of times before I had the necessary revelation. The game in itself is fairly short.

Are you sure this doesn't just show which verb is chosen if you press the right mouse button instead of the left?

I figure I need to get a

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new wire to fix the tv to distract the woman to get the light switch for the elevator but I'm not sure where I get the wire.

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Not exactly.

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You can't fix the tv in the demo, that's in the full game. It's a great puzzle, so you can look forward to it! But otherwise, you are right about getting the light switch while the old lady is distracted.

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Still stuck? Here's another nudge:

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Are you playing with sound on?

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The next spoiler gives it all away, so try the one above first:

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You have to time this one right. Use the screwdriver on the switch when the tv makes the most noise on the cycle of disturbances.

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I am at the first part of the demo and I have

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the ration cards the card with the grooves, and the shopping list.

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I have gone to the

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elderly ladies appartment and I know I have to fix her tv when I get the wire. I also figure I need to steal the lightswitch from her apartment to put it on the elevator. I figure I have to get the tools out of the drawer but I'm not sure how to do it.

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I would appreciate any hints.

Have you tried to

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click on the drawer after the need for a tool arises?

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I played a couple of entries:

Exodus Terram: This is demo at this point. There's a pretty long walk in the start that seems to have little bearing on the game (except showing the world), and then there is the beginning of a conversation with an AI. The conversation bit may turn out to be interesting if the game is finished. So far there are no puzzles except that walking is unnecessary tricky because of objects in the way. I like the idea of the story, it just isn't developed yet.

Rideshare: This is a rather long visual novel with very limited interactivity. There are a few places where you get to choose what to say, but it doesn't always influence the story much. The story itself is surprising and grossly funny, so there is some entertainment to be had here, if click to proceed is your cup of tea.

I just realized that Nadir is made by Akril, who's behind the excellent Adventure trilogy, some of the highest rated games in the AGS database! I'm eager to play this one now!

Movember Whale?

However, I'm starting to feel completely lost.  Admittedly, I don't a have a great sense of orientation. But I don't think I'll be able to handle all these similar rooms without any color. Is there a minimap somewhere?

No map. But here's a hint.

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The map is laid out on a grid. If you try to map it, you will soon see that Room 2 lies to the right of room 1. And since the first thing you do is to walk down, you will see right away how wide the grid is. Once you know that, you will know where you are on the ship when you look at the room number. I still recommend mapping, because of the door system.

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Hope this doesn't sound like the personal blog of Mr. Poststoomuch. 

IMAGinE has a professional walkthrough up for downloading. I needed two peeks to get through this game, which I cannot recommend enough. But it's a game for puzzle lovers. Be warned. I've played this extensively the last days. There are hours of gameplay here, if you don't look at the hints right away.

I also managed to topple the evil king in Path, more of stubbornness than anything else. Not recommended, but if anyone plays it and gets stuck, I'll be happy to share which equipment to use in the final battle. This is an action game of sorts where you can go up and down to avoid attacks while launching projectiles of your own at the enemy.

Both Anamnesis and The Creator is Mean is a sequel. Does anyone know whether one ought to play the number one games first, or if it doesn't matter?

I did the stubs today. 

I played TBFTW_ADVJAM2021 (That dinosaur game), The Climb, Darts 2 and Train to Amber Coast. These games are all short or unfinished.

The dinosaur game is huge at 2 Gb, and still it's just a proof of concept-thing. You can run around in a forest and presumably eat and fight, but I never met anyone and didn't understand why I got some points. This is the Unreal Engine, so a high end computer will do it more justice than my system. Stunning visually, but nothing to do yet. I wouldn't call this an adventure game anyhow. The same people have made a game with a similar title in Visionaire, so perhaps that one's more of a point'n'click dinosaur game. (Haven't tried that one.) I was a bit bothered by the sound. Bird song? A bit early for that...

The Climb "looked a bit like Minecraft", my son said. And it does. There was a tutorial that was ruined by a bug, and I could play what will presumably be the first level of the game. Why I have a sword and shield when the guy in the tutorial says he has plenty of shotguns is beyond me, though.

Darts 2 is a joke game that won't win any prizes, buy okay. It is what it is.

Train to Amber Coast is unfinished and works as a demo for the full game. This one I liked, though the emphasis is on storytelling. I didn't encounter any puzzles at all. Click to continue...but the story seems interesting. This is probably the only one of these I'll check out later.

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the message behind the ending.

On the other hand, this adventure doesn't need to patter out as pessimistic as all that. It hasn't come to an absolute end yet.

What do you think?

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So Thinker has arisen from his crate once already. Who knows? Perhaps he will arise from his crate again and make further attempts at escaping his confinement.

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Perhaps he will need to make another robot to do his work! But then that one will become sentient and so on...and in the end he will inadvertedly be either a prophet or lead the revolution. 

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