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Dearth's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Writing | #1 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Use of Themes | #6 | 4.111 | 4.111 |
| Polish & Release | #7 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Aesthetics | #9 | 3.889 | 3.889 |
| Overall | #10 | 3.644 | 3.644 |
| Gameplay & Mechanics | #25 | 2.556 | 2.556 |
Ranked from 9 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Artistic Statement / Use of Theme
Our game incorporates the themes of the jam by exploring the way natural and unnatural disasters impact both humans and animals, and how ecosystems fall apart when seemingly small parts of the system get lost due to climate change. We spoke to many Florida beekeepers and were inspired by their passion for bees and how important bees are to the ecosystem, and after hearing how climate change was affecting them we decided to incorporate them into the story.
Development Summary
There weren't any big changes in our development journey as from day one we had agreed we wanted the main character to be someone who had to explore the flooded remains of what used to be their home state. The biggest change was making the character a beekeeper and the introduction of the beehive, which both added a more personal touch to the character and made the journey about saving a little bit of hope when the rest of the world has fallen apart. There were only three of us involved so we all had to put in a lot of work but we all put our best foot forward and we only had to cut one minigame, which we ended up just turning into trivia instead to keep interesting. We also had to cut the voice acting, but the story works fine without it.
Release Plan
The project is considered finished. It's a full game with a story from start to finish about holding something close and finding community in spite of the disaster around you. If we made any changes we'd add the voice acting we missed, and flesh out the characters some more to make the story longer and give each character an more defined backstory. We haven't decided whether we intend to keep working on the game, but either way we're happy with how the game turned out.
Topic Tags
Hurricanes, Emergency Prep, Loss, Recovery, Community, Floods, Ecosystem Collapse
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Comments
I really enjoyed playing this and at the end I got a little teary. I enjoyed the art style and the subtle changes in facial expression are what really set the tone for the game for me. Also the music established the playthrough for me. I suppose if there was one thing, Zoey's seek and find point and click is a mechanic I would expand upon more and utilize in other places throughout the story, perhaps at the end with the fruit. Thank you.
I only played a couple games, but this definitely felt like the only one that was a complete game, with barely anything that would need to be changed. Right off the bat, Dearth draws you in with both a compelling story and aesthetics. It was simple, but tried a couple things to not get into boring territory (such as humor, choices, and minigames). It feels like you all made the perfect kind of game for a game jam, just the right length and complexity, at least for the visual novel genre. I always love game jam games that are more story driven than gameplay driven. If I had one piece of feedback, it would be to change up the mechanic for looking back at previous dialogue, as it felt like it was close to breaking my game a couple times when I used it. Perhaps just a little log that shows you text displays of what has been said previously. Absolutely loved it regardless!
This game tells a great story in a short time with fantastic art and writing to match! Visual novels are great storytelling devices, but I would have liked a possibly more complex story with more than one ending, possibly if you don't help anyone along the way you get a worse ending. I agree the project is finished, but more polish like sound effects and voice acting would help the atmosphere tremendously. Great work and I hope you keep it up in the future!
This is amazing! I love that you guys created a visual novel for this game jam. I enjoy the art and the story. The music amplifies the feel of the game and brings in the emotion! I think that if you continue the game after the game jam, having voice actors will definitely bring the emotion to a higher level and make the players more immersed in the game. Overall, great job, and I enjoyed playing the game!!
This is one of my favorite games from the jam. The writing and art are superb, and it packs an emotional punch in a fairly short narrative. The characters are funny, empathetic, and feel like they could be real people. Great job!