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Note for the Lightless's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Community's Voice | #61 | 3.429 | 3.429 |
Ranked from 35 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Creative Vision / Rationale / How Did You Incorporate the Theme
! EXPERIMENTAL GAME MECHANICS - USE MICROPHONE to make the achieve the same note as the note you hear !
Notes for the Lightless was conceived from a simple yet deeply resonant question: What if generosity was a mechanic and a message?
Through the mechanics of singing, listening, and light-sharing, the game externalizes this emotional process. Each creature the player encounters carries a unique sound which is a metaphorical need, and helping them requires precision, care, and intention. The act of listening deeply and responding with the right pitch becomes a poetic representation of empathy and understanding.
The theme is further reinforced by player choice: Who do you help? How much can you give? What if you can’t help everyone? These moral tensions are not just narrative, they’re gameplay. They prompt players to reflect on how they give in their own lives, and at what cost. It all comes down to a very important and basic question that we often forget to ask, how is our generosity perceived? Is it doing good or bad or..?
By making attentive generosity the core mechanic and embedding it in both the narrative and the sensory design of the game (voice, light, and music), Notes for the Lightless invites players to feel the burden, beauty, and consequence of selfless giving.
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Comments
Absolutely loved the concept! Y'all also nailed the aesthetic and style of the game.
It took me awhile to get to the egg/flower at the end. Art & design wise I cannot imagine the ammount of effort that went into designing this game in such a short amount of time. Was this a solo or team effort? Either way I salute you. The only issue I had was I could not tell if it was using my live voice sound or the recorded sound when I pressed 'Q' , if there is a musch clearere instrustion about the steps or a tutorial (I know in most jams we do not have time to make proper tutorials) that would have helped. But otherwise this was an interesting & beautiful game, nice job.
P.S thank you for trying my game earlier, have you tried my quick fix version, the instructions on how to play are on the main page. https://danes09.itch.io/charity-drive-quick-fix
Loved the character design! Got big flower and two flower kids happy, took me quite a few tries to get the notes right. That's good training :D
An unconventional, yet admirable mechanic requiring the usage of a recording device. Those without the melodic voice of a well-tuned instrument may need several attempts, though the detection of pitch appears to be lenient enough for most. However, it was unfortunate that serenading several creatures in quick succession felt slightly unresponsive.
Hi it's Chris!
I'm so sorry I can't really leave valuable feedback because I don't have access to a mic..
That being said, I loved the poem and the intro as well as the green night full of stars. Everything feels so poetic. And who couldn't love our little penguin with antlers? I pretty much walked around everywhere I could, using the E button to play morse code with myself.
Hopefully you get some good feedback from other jammers, but seems like you did a wonderful job!
After some reflection, I have decided to rewrite this post. The original provided little feedback and was more of a creative expression.
Note for the Lightless is a powerful game concept. It presents a world that requires a calm, gentle but strong demeanor to navigate. It teaches you how to be comfortable with your own voice. It shows what giving gives depending on who you give to. It encourages you to listen.
If this game were to be expanded upon, my suggestion (which my original post was inspired from) would be to have an antagonist (deep, male voice) that warns the player of the dangers of the lightless ones. I feel this would add to the worldbuilding in that the narrative follows the scene instead of being derived from an outer perspective about human greed. It would make the darkness unsettling as your perception of these creatures starts with fear. It would add a lot to the experience having two higher voices (one encouraging, and one discouraging) speak to you through verse as you sing to the creatures.
I also support the idea of everything being extremely dark. You could use bioluminescence to light the path you walk and create a radial wave when you sing. Maybe this wave brings the creatures to you instead of them being stationary. Maybe the volume of your voice allows it to spread farther. This as a game mechanic would create a layer of difficulty and uncertainty about what will show up. Perhaps there are bioluminescent marks on the creatures that make them look terrifying until you sing their note, revealing the cute, glowing forms that we see in the jam version.
I was inspired to sing and write poetry because of this game and its star developer. I need games like this. Thank you for making it. Let's make more of them!
It's really interesting and unique. The whole premise of it is pretty touching from the start and the poetic signature and undertones are really refreshing especially for the jam.
Maybe more on the reactions/interaction and way it is even between giving would be a nice addition.
Nice stuff, I wonder how cool even just some more things from you guys would look like.
Thank you for your feedback! It would really help us when we develop the game further!
Loved the glittery skybox. The voice acting added a lot to it as well. The singing mechanic was interesting. Overall very enjoyable.
THANK YOUU! I made the sky animated material myself, it was so much fun!
I'm not much of a singer, but very interesting concept!
That's such a cool and unique concept. GG🎉
You made a nice game , loved the musical interaction
I genuinely enjoyed singing notes, it’s one of those rare experiences that lingers emotionally long after the game ends. The way you’ve turned generosity into both a mechanic and a message is powerful and refreshingly original. As someone who loves singing, I found myself completely immersed, it’s definitely something I could keep playing for hours.
The musical interactions, the moral tension in deciding who to help, and the way empathy is implemented into the gameplay… it’s all so beautifully done. This is the kind of game that deserves to be known by more people. If you ever decide to expand it, I’d love to playtest!
Only small note: the environment sometimes felt a bit too dark visually. Maybe a touch more contrast could help highlight the beauty of the world you’ve built. But overall, this is such a strong concept and a lovely, meaningful interpretation of the theme of generosity. 🌌🎶
I honestly am so glad to meet a fellow singer! Because it is also an educational game, it seems people aren't able to finish it, cuz vocal control takes time! So this really means a lot to me.
And yess, I got that a lot about the world being too dark sometimes, it was originally intentional but if I treat this as a playtest, that intent isn't working so gotta change it!