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I enjoyed this one a lot. It's in some aspects similar to a game in long progress I'm making with my daughters, and it's fun to see how you've solved that. I'll be sure to let my girls try this one out soon, too.

The puzzles are just the right level of difficulty, I think, for such a game. I needed two goes to sort all the presents correctly. It's also fun to see you make a sort of minimalist game after your thorough storytelling last month. There are stories here, as well, but they are sort of hinted at.

Everyone's favourite super hero is the Human Torch, right?

Spoiler

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[The Witch's Lullaby]

Here's what I wrote about the game in the jam thread when it came out:

I played Honza's The Witch's Lullaby, the overall winner of the Jam. This is an amazing short/medium game. The graphics, story, music, story and characters are all top notch. I also think this one has the best pixel hunt mechanic I've ever seen. Highly recommended!

I still stand by this. 

Edit: Even though I squared the "story".

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everybody!

Something quick I did for the occasion:

Guess it could look a bit weird unless you've played my games

I can only guess what he went through to find those gifts. 

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I played the game prototype today. I agree with Creamy on all counts regarding walk speed and not being able to skip/interrupt. For instance, when I was running away and then tried to open a door without unlocking it by mistake.  Perhaps the running speed could be the default walking speed?

But the atmosphere and story is really good. The music fits and makes the game all the more creepy. The voice actors do their job well, even though it would have been nice to not have several characters with the same voice. I also like the overall graphic style and the dark mood of the palette.

As for difficulty and linearity...I died plenty of times before making it to the end, so I guess it's not exactly easy. Even so, it doesn't take long to play through the story, and I guess the linearity is part and parcel of the design of the prologue. The inventory design suggests that you have more puzzle-oriented gameplay in mind later on in the game, while the prototype is almost pure survival game. I wasn't able to escape in the panic mode (after being caught), but died every time. Perhaps I'm not a fast enough clicker.

Suggestion: Make the statement about the missing doorknob the first time the player tries that door, instead of the first time after discovering a doorknob lying around. By all logic, she should know she needs that knob if she's encountered the door first.

Looking forward to see more of the game.

Looking good there in the rain. I'm eager to know how this story will unfold.

Here's a suggestion for a workaround. Make an area near the third object (which should be visible on mouseover now) that is activated when you put that item in the right place, then if you use the two other inventory items inside the area, the puzzle is solved, outside the area, another message appears.

In your puzzle, that would be

Spoiler

When you put the tinder on the firewood, you activate the area. If you use the knife and flintstone while player character is in the area, the fire is lit. If outside the area, you're just told that it produces a spark.

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...but if this was a game using first person perspective, that won't work. You could make a closeup view instead of the area, but perhaps that would make the puzzle too easy again.

>Examine and search drawers and the small bowl or ashtray on top.
>Discuss directions and bearings with Shoshana...what door is likely the right way?

Torchwood?

[Don't give up the Cat]

Feedback time!

Don't give up the Cat by EriOo

Spoiler

I was a playtester for this, so I have played it in lots of versions throughout the month and watched it grow into what it is now. The game sure shows technical wizardry and is using AGS in ways I wouldn't have thought possible. There are so many great details in this one, like the ability to claw the trees to show where you've been. That said, the gameplay/tasks are short, and the game is best as a mood piece or cat simulator. If you don't like exploring, I guess it's not your thing.

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Very Serious Plumbing Simulator by Falsely

Spoiler

Falsely told me that there's only one ending in the MAGS build. In a way I like that, because the game is definitely best the first time you play it. (I tried it twice to look for more endings.) The graphics are animated like a cartoon - very well done, even if simplified and black and white. The characters are likeable and "alive" in the sense that they behave like real people and have some banter. Good writing as well. I also liked the scary story and how the puzzles came about. This author definitely has a knack for the scary weird story, and I'm going to check out those games I haven't already played.

When playing through the game a second time, the animations and the long dialogues became a bit tiring, even though I liked them a lot the first time. If Falsely decides to add more content, I think I'll keep coming back at regular intervals instead of playing it constantly, in order to not grow bored. I guess this is a risk of all VN games, and this one shares some characteristics with that genre.

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Highland Spirit by ddavey1983

Spoiler

I gathered from all the posts made about the game that this would be a good game even before I got to playing it. And it is a tour de force. The shortcuts made are cleverly hidden and don't affect gameplay at all (walkcycles or not-walkcycles). The game looks great, has characters with their own agendas and puzzles that arise from who they are. Add the several layers of history and the excellent use of the library and other historical remnants and some of the author's characteristic humour, and you get a very, very good game indeed.

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Two Ghosts of That House by Volcan

Spoiler

I've been a bit curious to try out some of Volcan's games, but this is the first time I've done so. This is a short game, suitable for kids, with some nice graphical ideas, like the hovering ghosts who can go through solid furniture or "stand" on a floor that's fallen away a long time ago.

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Ghost Hunter: Dracula by newwaveburritos

Spoiler

I'm not really a maze or dungeon fan, but I did like that I actually played as Dracula instead of hunting him. By luck I tried pressing M and found out that I had a map, and without it I would have been hopelessly lost. The segments in the maze look so alike that there's no sense of movement when you walk forward unless there's an intersection coming up. Adding variety to the walls or a wobble when the player moves would make the game possible to play without using the map, (if that's a goal). I didn't play it long enough to read all the letters in the maze layout, so there may be an Easter egg there. This game is an interesting experiment and reminds me of Khris' OROW game where he defined a dungeon maze as one room.

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My vote went to

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Highland Spirit. There were two masterpieces in the contest this month, but as I was a bit involved in the making of one of them, the decision is made for me. This one shoots up to be my bookie tip for the MAGGIE award this year.

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No luck unfortunately.  I just went through the library again and I'm pretty certain I didn't miss anything but still no change, I can't go onto the battlefield without knowing where to look.

Question: How to get into the battlefield. (Please don't put your entire questions in spoiler tags, only the spoiler parts. Otherwise, people won't know what you ask.)

Answer:

Spoiler

You need to find information in the correct order. You will need to know something before you can interpret the diorama. Check out the paintings in the pub, then the history books in the library (or possibly in the opposite order), then the diorama plaques. You will know you have done it right when Becky draws a conclusion out loud.

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This looks like a lot of fun! The title is definitely a good fit. And original music, too? 
I'm looking forward to (hopefully) solving your five puzzles.

[Highland Spirit]

No, I was thinking about the apartment ....

Ah yes. I thought about that a while ago and then I forgot; like you said here, that would be part of the final tuning.
Thank you for the reminder!

But then I read what Shadow1000, fellow AGS-er whose opinions I value a lot, wrote about Highland Spirit, a game he clearly loves:

My only criticism is that there were some puzzles that you had to literally click every item out of a few dozen till you came across the one you are looking for. This is not unheard of in traditional point and click adventures (in fact, most of the time that you encounter a bookcase, you can expect to have to click all the wrong titles till you find that book you're looking for) but still a bit tedious.

So I guess we're a divided lot. He's critical to the very thing I tell you I want in your game.    In the end, you'll have to do what feels right to you. There's a fine line somewhere between engrossing and tedious, you just have to find it.

I played this one and found it really cute. Being a MAGS game, I don't expect a long or complex tale, so a short and to the point story is par for the course.

What I liked the best, was the idea of simply having the ghosts bobbing up and down, levitating some inches off the ground. They occasionally go through solid objects, and in one room, they are completely unfaced by the missing floor. That's some good little touches.

I'm going to save it in my Kids folder, letting my 8-year-old son play it one day when he asks if I have any games for him. I think he'll like it.

Is the teddy bear worth 100 points? The player doesn't get to see the final score.

I finally got around to playing this one today. I'd gathered from the feedback from other players that I was in for a treat, and I was not disappointed!

Great to see Sophia Becky in her own adventure!  Pointclickaddict had noticed links to your earlier games, and I'm afraid I don't have them fresh enough in memory to be sure what he's thinking of. But, walkcycles aside, is she working in the police station in one of the other games, perhaps?

The game looks and plays great. I was not bothered by the walking speed at all. The characters feel alive (even the ghost), the writing is brilliant and funny, taking the time to give each character an own voice and their own problems and interests. That's some really good world building! Also kudos for including intelligent use of a library during the research.

The puzzles were really fun to solve. They were the right kind of multiple-steps-puzzles that I felt good after progressing, though it never seemed too difficult or too easy.

I found a couple of minor bugs.

Spoiler

One of the gravestones is named Hotspot 10 (or another number). And Becky could walk behind her dripping coat in the cottage.

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This is a very good game. As a MAGS entry, it's outstanding. I applaud the use of fading in and out to remove characters from the screen without doing a full walkcycle. 

>Ask her if she brought any rubber gloves so we don't end up leaving our fingerprints allover the place. After all we wouldn't want to go back to prison
+1
> Turn on the headlamp, slightly open the door (without leaving fingerprints) and shine some light in the room to see what's inside before entering.
+1

+1

>Say "Lead the way, sis."

I guess the "too little hotspots" comment is there because of "Sector2"?

No, I was thinking about the apartment where the first case is. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the apartment, I'm simply thinking about how to improve even further. I believe that in an investigative game, the immersion will be higher if the player can look at lots of stuff in a room that doesn't turn out to be essential. Say you have a room where the player is supposed to find something in a drawer. If that's the only hotspot, I'll find it and move on quickly. But if I can look at all the furniture, under it, check behind the books on a shelf, peek under a rug, behind the curtains, look behind the picture on the wall etc, I will feel more like a detective doing a proper search, even if all that turns out nothing, and I've really only needed to find the item in the drawer.

Anyway, the normal advice is to make the game playable first, and then add such non-vital stuff later on. Feel free to follow or disregard this, I'm on board anyhow. 

I can't be bothered playing more of this exceedingly crappy game, it's the worst on the database.

Oh, there are some other contenders to that title, I'm afraid, but I echo your sentiment. OTOH, it would have been cool to be able to file it under solved and never think of it again.  I had hoped someone else had stumbled over something I had missed. At the moment, I'm inclined to think it never had more endings than the one we've encountered. Thanks for replying.

Although, he's probably talking about the English version. 

The song he's referring to, starts at 1:21

A small joke game from a RuMAGS competition way back. Anyway, the database page entry says there are supposed to be six endings. I've only found one, which was getting killed.

Have anyone completed this one?