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Washed Out By The Rain's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| gHosts' Choice | #1 | n/a | n/a |
| Story | #3 | 3.771 | 4.000 |
| Aesthetics | #11 | 3.889 | 4.125 |
| Enjoyment (Best Game) | #24 | 3.064 | 3.250 |
| Creativity | #24 | 3.300 | 3.500 |
| Horror | #37 | 2.475 | 2.625 |
| Sound Design | #39 | 2.593 | 2.750 |
Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Do you allow SCREAM ZONE to promote your game via social media?
Yes
What game engine did you make this project in?
Ren'py
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Comments
It was confusing at first, but then very sad. Very good overall.
thanks!!
Really nice, some aspects early on are hard to follow especially with time skips because it's a VN but it's more clear in later parts with good art. Liked the story a lot probably the best or one of the best from the jam, the bad ending is very eerie. I appreciate original music and the music for the most part is good for the vibes the game is going for, but sometimes the music doesn't sound cohesive like there's a background instrument in a different key.
thank you!!! and yeah, I'll admit the music isn't the greatest - it's not really my strongest ability but it needed to be done
I love the style of the game so much! I hope to see more games like these <33
tysmm🩷🩷
thanks !!
This game took me about half an hour to finish and I got the two endings. First of all I really love how the sprites look! I couldn't tell whether or not these were drawn in actual paper or it's just a paper texture placed on a digital drawing but it really makes the game feel more unique and help it stand out, it was the first thing that caught my attention when I opened the game's page. The background art seems simplistic and almost every location have one primary color it's colored entirely after but I think that's more preferable because it's fitting to the story and goes nicely along with the sprites. Also the music is amazing! I'm gonna be honest I was expecting like only one soundtrack to play throughthout the game but the music that was played when the bad ending was triggered caught me off guard and even scared me. Actually a lot of things in the bad ending besides the music got me spooked, and I mean that in a positive way!
Overall this game was very enjoyable, I will write my interpretation of the story down below (I hope it's appropriate to do that here) so spoiler warning:
Spider is the protagonist of this story, and as the game progresses it is made very clear that she was very close with another girl when she was young, but then this girl got missing when she was fourteen years old and was then found a long time later. It is mentioned that Spider's friend frequently ran off whenever they were on an adventure together, and Spider followed after her playfully until one day Spider couldn't find her, which must be when this girl went missing. This reflects the games events where Spider is constantly left behind by her friends Itzy and Bitzy whenever they go on an adventure.
Now here is my conclusion: I think that the almost entirety of the game isn't actually happening physically, but it's more like everything is happening inside Spider's headspace. This is why I praised the background arts earlier, because it does a good job of establishing the unreal atmosphere, some locations even reminded me of backrooms! But most importantly in the good ending, when Spider is seemingly visiting her friend's grave, the background is much more realistic and detailed, which I think indicates that she is now in reality and not in her headspace anymore. That's actually very brilliant! Anyway I got caught up in the background art again, but it seems like Spider is imagining of adventures, similar to ones she had in her reality, in her head where she is subconsciously looking for her lost friend but she is met with her nightmare of being left behind again and again.
Not only that but it seems like as the number of attempts grow larger... so does Spider's age! She obviously looks way older at the end of the game than she does at the start of it, but I think once Spider had changed her fashion style and gotten into a band, that was when she changed from being a teen to late teenager or something like that. Also I think she is wearing her lost friend's cardigan? In the bad ending we see drawing of a character with a cardigan who's face is scribbled, she doesn't look like anyone we ever seen in the game so I assume it is her lost friend. Anyway, the thing I loved the most about Spider aging throughthout the story is that it shows how healing and moving on can take a long time and grief doesn't just go away.
Lastly: Itzy and Bitzy. I really love the fact that they encourged Spider to take improving steps. I have no clue what they could be besides Spider's imaginary friends but honestly Bitzy feels like they got too much depth to simply be imaginary (again, in a positive way). At first I only saw them as fake friends but my opinion changed drastically by the end. I wonder if they are supposed to mirror Spider and her friend somehow?
That's all I have to say. This game was amazing! Also ignore how I spelled Itsy and Bitsy's name wrong the whole comment, I am just realizing that, whoops!
u were asking me for spiders number earlier
Oh my gosh im so honoured to have someone go through something i made in length like this. Im so honoured !!! Will start going through things one at a time :D
1) The sprites were drawn digitally, with the paper texture being from the nearest notebook to me - there's 2 variations, one with a torn page and one without !
2) I'm actually super happy you like the bg art !! I was really worried about it not getting the point across because it was rushed (we had a deadline to meet and all) so I'm glad I got the vibe across !! especially that part about the backrooms, i really wanted to make it feel slightly off in the way liminal spaces are, with how empty and devoid they feel.
3) I have no musical background so thats an honour to hear !! There's no official name for the bad ending music but it was frequently described behind the scenes as "music that wants you dead" and "music that kills you" and the file is called heartattackmusic dot wav. so yeah it was very much intentionally made to be startling and im glad it worked
4) Thats very much the intent with Itsy and Bitsy leaving all the time - making her relive things that resemble the event repeatedly so she can fully remember what happened and hopefully get through it.
5) While there is no confirmation where the game takes place (and by that i mean. i didnt think of that), I think the headspace interpretation works really well, especially with the game being based around memories and all. I think the backrooms look can also add to this - liminal spaces kind of feel like places youve been before even if you havent, sometimes like the hazy memories of places you've been in your dreams. So while there's no true answer I think this is a really good interpretation of it!
6) She's not in a band yet, but she wants to be! Her story has pretty much concluded and I don't think it'd be fitting to expand so much on a story about letting go, but I do think she eventually joins one in college.
7) I can confirm she's wearing her friends cardigan - I tried to imply that with the endings, especially the way the cardigan is shaded purple while the rest of her is shaded red, and how purple is the main colour used to identify things attached/related to the girl. The girl in the bad ending is pretty much used to confirm it. It's also why she gives it to Itsy in the good ending - it's an act of letting go and moving on.
8) would you believe me if i said itsy and bitsy are minimum wage workers. I should really get to writing more about those two some time - maybe in a future VN, no guarrantees! I did kind of want them to mirror Spider and her friend, but not like a 1:1 parallel , more just somewhat similar - it's part of why I picked the "cheap nativity play angel costume" look for them (Itsy's halo is supposed to be fuzzy instead of glowy like most halos look like, like a cheap headband one that's made out of gold tinsel or pipe cleaner), it kind of ties them to the choir in a way! The main reason I picked those outfits is mainly just that angels are seen as guides frequently and thats their role in the story, though.(maybe i just have all too vivid memories of christmas growing up and being forced to sit in the freezing parking lot a shopping center with my girl scouts group singing christmas carols ;-;)
anyways im so honoured to have someone go through like this thank you so much :D this made my day
also im going to be honest youre not the first one to ask for spiders number. I understand why this is happening but it wont stop being funny to me. women want her fish fear her
Didn't expect the story to take quite a turn, and as someone who doesn't play VN games at all, I enjoyed this one! The artstyle is amazing as well, and the music composition is as fitting.
Great playthrough, Would definitely recommend to someone!
Thank you !!
I really enjoyed playing this! The visual style is super amazing and I really liked all the settings and characters! This has got to be maybe my favorite out of the Scream Forever entries that I have played so far! I'd love to see you return to this to maybe expand on the story or characters-- even though we aren't supposed to return to them sadly... I'd just love to hear more about Itsy and Bitsy's lives and their stories :] Awesome game!
Thank you so much!! its an honour!! We definetly did alot of chatting behind the scenes about itsy and bitsy and what their lives might look like even if it didn't end up in the final story, so a vn about those two specifically definetly isn't out of the question - I'm going to busy with artfight coming up, though, so no guarrantees !
Super glad you enjoyed !!
That's absolutely fine !! You had alot of games to go through and i'm just very happy you decided to check it out in the first place, it's an honour to have any kind of playthrough of something i've made, honestly !
The attempt 1 thing at the beggining is actually a mistake - it's supposed to be attempt 10, but with the story not revealing the fact there's multiple attempts until spider collapses in the forest. alas I was very tired while playtesting and didn't catch it. same with that "draws" typo - whoops ! thank you for pointing it out ^^
I'll make sure to take note on the 3rd/2nd person writing thing for next time !
Really love the aesthetic here, the whole paper cut out really works and the artstyle is absolutely adorable. Loved how kinda surreal and liminal all of the different spaces are.
I did notice that at one point the background doesn't change:
This should be the library, I think? It's not game breaking or anything though!
My main issues was that it was a little difficult to tell at a glance who was speaking. I'd love if there was a little more animation for the sprites, like maybe if they got highlighted while they're talking, or jumping up a litle?
Either way, I really enjoyed both endings. Congratulations on finishing a whole game in such a short time frame!
Edit: Also the extras is a nice touch!
thank you for pointing that out !! i dont know how i missed it when playing through . whoops!
and yeah, the lack of difference between the characters talking is definetly something we need to take into note for next time
still really glad you enjoyed !!
It's just tiny stuff, though, for such short game jam it's already very impressive! Done is better than perfect, and it holds up really well anyway. I look forwards to seeing more of your games!
thank you !!
thanks for pointing that out!! there mightve been some miscommunication while deciding on the backgrounds on each scene and i kinda got confused on what to put haha ^^;
i considered implementing the sprite highlighting but ended up not having enough time sadly :(
overall tysm for pointing these out well definitely take it into account if we make another game!!
and im so happy that you liked the extras!! they were really fun to make :3
DEAR GOD. I LOVE THIS. you actually did so well it's not even funny
the paper-style drawings, the backgrounds, the story, the fucking piano - i love this game so much
this is probably my favorite game in the jam. thank you for making this
Thank you so much!! we're honoured :D
and thank you soooo much for playing!!! im so glad you enjoyed it ^^