Here is my gameplay video if needed: 

I... I don't know. I'd like to scream, cause I couldn't finish the demo. Like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

I mean, this is one of my favorite genres. Mystery, point and click, detective, puzzle solving, pixel art. But I can't solve the game? Like why? Where is my mistake? What am I doing wrong? Like whyyyyyyy.

But at the same time, it's a demo, so it's okay 😂

Perhaps later, in the future... Perhaps...

Getting stuck on the Slavic symbols.. So, yes, a good puzzle which had me opening search engine.

I would prefer a bigger indication of the arrow that indicates I can slide to the other scenes. I took my time finding it and was just using my WASD at first. I admit hiding the Storage Unit in total darkness is a good approach but perhaps a hint that there is something there, would be much appreciated. Like a flickering lamp on the unit as I only realized later by scrolling my mouse into the void and noticing the sentences popping out. Else, I just assumed the scene there was empty.

• Youtube Timestamped Link
• Graphics :
  
  • Generally very good , 
  • One minor nitpick is the car in the beginning looks a bit off, like the perspective is skewed.
• Music / Sfx :
  
  • Music was Good , but I'd more variety though, it got a bit repetitive. 
  • SFX was good
• GUI :
  
  • Generally Good
  • Maybe a toggle to minimize / shrink the inventory.
  • There's some things that look like they're interactable but are not.
  • There should be something signifying a screen transition , I got stuck for probably about 10-15 minutes because I didn't think or know that there was a something past the fusebox on the right.
• Gameplay :
  
  • It's a point and clicker game , they're a bit hit or miss for me, I thought this one landed though.
  • Not being able to click on the flashlight and then the sewer creature was a bit confusing
  • Unless the standard lightbulb is needed after you get the blacklight bulb, maybe have it disappear from the inventory.
• Notes : 
  • My biggest issue was getting stuck nearly instantaneously as I thought there was some moon-logic, glitch or item I was missing laying around somewhere. I had assumed that the fusebox was the "end" of the path on the right side, not the shed.
  • I like the music, but there should be an extra track or two to help break it up so it's not overly repetitive.

Overall I enjoyed this, I did think of quitting due to frustration in the beginning, having gotten past that, I do think that this is one of the better P&Cs.

I absolutely LOVED the puzzles & story in this demo! Despite it being really short, it satisfied my investigation-bug completely. The puzzles didn't seem overly difficult & there was never any point where I thought I was stuck (except when I didn't realize I could look AROUND the storage unit lol).

I thought the pacing was perfect. The blue light puzzle was SO COOL! I loved that our items ALSO reacted to the environment! It was very surprising & definitely a unique aspect of the gameplay.

The only things I would say needs work is:

• There needs to be more leeway for movement. I found myself having to hover my mouse ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGE of the screen in order to activate the Directional Mouse prompts.
• I'd love for even more Sound Cues to be implemented into the game. Footsteps, paper, crawling sounds, metallic sounds ... they all work wonders for immersion!
• I wish the Investigation Prompts weren't automatic. I found myself having to click on something multiple times to make sure I read everything about it!
• Would love to be able to examine the items in my inventory. I thought it was silly that I couldn't activate my flashlight BEFORE climbing into the vent, for example.
• "Polls" next to the giant hole is misspelled (meant to be poles).

I'm so curious about Storage Unit #39 & the hole! I'm looking forward to more updates on the game!

For my initial reaction & gameplay, you can find my VOD here (timestamps available):

Hi from Feedback Quest 8!  I really enjoyed your game and have wishlisted it on Steam.  I'm a total sucker for point and click, and everything seemed to work really well.  I watched my friend Saknika play previously and I saw you already fixed some of the things she encountered.   Overall, I think I got the gist of the setup and plot, and it certainly pulled me in with the puzzles.  

I loved that the demo end was logging in to the computer; it made me cackle!  Honestly, I can't really think of any bugs or negatives that I found, but I'll update this to include the link to the VOD once the stream is done so you can see the playthrough for yourself.

VOD link: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2556703658?t=01h51m44s

Hello! Welcome to Feedback Quest 8! My name's Hythrain, a co-host and one of the streamers for this event! This feedback is being written live as I stream your game! If you're interested in seeing my live reaction, let me know and I can send you a link to the VOD once it's posted to YouTube!

So my normal approach for any game in these events is simple: I get the game, make sure it's not a virus, then play it with as little information on how to play as possible. This way, I can judge how intuitively someone can figure out the game. Only if it's obvious that I need to read more will I do so. I note this so you can get a sense where some of these feedback comes from. In addition, I want to note that feedback and rating are different; don't use this feedback to gauge what I'll rate, nor should you view my rating as entirely indicative of my feedback.

Puzzle games like this are always fun to solve, but one thing that always frustrates me with them is when you find yourself in a position where you don't know where to go or what to click on to proceed. This was the case for me when I got to needing to use the spanner. It took me a while to realize I could click on the number plates outside.

I'll also admit that I didn't feel like the safe's pin code made sense. In particular, the last number didn't feel right. All of the other numbers were the first printed number in the related article, but for the last number it was the fourth printed number.  It also didn't make sense to not be 3 because it wasn't like it was differentiating between sub headlines and the article itself; the third article used a number in the sub headline. It just so happened that that was also the only article to never show the article itself. Also, looking at the screenshots, I don't know how you got the dark light to show all of the symbols. I could only see the fourth middles ones (and only barely on the edges) and had to guess the other two.

Otherwise, this was getting really interesting. I only wish you hadn't ended the demo right as I got into the computer when you gave me a floppy disk! D:

Ashwood Conspiracy was very nostalgic and I loved every second of it! I think ya'll have really succeeded in it feeling like a 90's point and click without being too clunky. Being so familiar with point and clicks it was easy to just jump right in but I can see if someone is not familiar, needing a tutorial or at least a controls setting in the pause menu to see what's up. I also assumed I'd be able to combine items but again if someone is not aware of that feature there was no indication of it. 

The game also opened up twice, not on my screen itself but on my stream. I couldn't figure out why that was happening, it for sure could have been an issue on my end but I still wanted to bring it up in case maybe its not. I did stream another demo after this one and did not have that issue but like I said I couldn't figure out what the issue was so I can't say for sure if it was an issue on my end or not.

The story itself seems pretty fun and I am intrigued. The music sets the mood and I think it fits the game perfectly. The art style is also beautiful, again feels similar to older point and clicks but also updated for today. The puzzles were on the easier side to figure out but it didn't feel so easy that it wasn't fun or was boring. I could see this being a great start and then gradually getting more challenging as the game goes on. 

Overall I really enjoyed it and I look forward to the full release! I have included my vod here, Ashwood starts at 10 minutes in.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2552306332

I really enjoyed this demo! I'm not sure if I made it as far as one possibly could because I got hung-up looking for a light source, but what I did manage to play was fantastic!

The art style is nostalgic, but well done and clearly conveys the things the game needs you to be able to see/understand. I love the music and sound design for this as well, and I really appreciated that you didn't have the music/sounds set to max volume on load in. So many games do that, and blow my eardrums out on launch.

Use of the environment to lead people around is very clever, most notably with the crow's feather, and I think that's a great bit of subtle guidance and storytelling. Definitely keep going with those subtle little things to help catch the player's eye, it really matters. 

Loved the interconnectivity of exploring, clicking on everything, and thus solving puzzles in a seemingly non-linear order. It's just fun to be able to explore and get excited about what you're finding and solving. 

Story thus far seems cohesive, and isn't straying off in too many odd tendrils that are going to be difficult to wrap up. Props for that. Sometimes I think people who are designing games forget how crucial it is to just have a to-the-point story--save the more in-depth ones that have multiple things to consider for either the really long games (10hrs+ to complete), or books.

Now, for a few things I think could use some work.

First and foremost, please explain the controls, or have the basic ones on-screen somewhere (even if only when it's relevant). It was pure luck that I realized one mouse button zoomed in, and the other zoomed out. It was also never explained that you could combine items together, I just sort of thought to try because I've played similar games before (like Fran Bow, which I saw on Steam was a similar game after-the-fact). If you get someone who plays your game as their first game in this genre, they may not think to try and combine those items and that could be the difference between them enjoying the game, and them leaving a negative review and/or refunding it.

I mentioned above that I'm not sure if I got through the whole demo or not, but I got completely stuck. Felt like I explored everywhere, and did everything thing, and couldn't progress. If I in fact had not completed the demo, then I'd recommend a "hint" feature that very gently guides you to where you might find the next thing you need to do. Something where it's like "Are you sure you checked all the boxes?" or "Some objects can be turned over for more clues". You don't need to spell it out, but having a hint to help guide the player when they're stuck at a certain point is always nice, in my opinion. You could even make it an option too, perhaps, where you can toggle hints being on or not.

Now for some nit-picky things, because this is who I am as a person but I do feel will help you have a stronger game overall.

In the one article, "Ashwood Protests" dated September 18, I think you need to double-check the grammar. It says "Ashwood mining" at one point that I think you meant to say "Ashwood Mine".

Regarding the butter knife, I think you have a typo. You state that it's from 1859 on the card, but I think you meant to say 1959. Firstly, stainless steel wasn't invented until 1913, so if it's not a typo, then that knife couldn't have existed. Secondly, I'd remove the entire sentence about it shining best from "grass fed butter", because the American Grass Fed Movement didn't even really happen until 2003. There were whispers of such things shortly after WWII with the introduction of factory farming that happened, but it did not become a mainstream focus until the year 2000, and was really pushed come 2003. I understand you wanted to tie the butter knife into butter somehow for its own marketing purposes, but this definitely felt like a stretch and you were trying too hard. I'd go for a different angle like "A knife so well made you'll never tear your bread again when buttering it" or something like that. Totally an overreach of a company to say that, but companies in the 50s liked cheesy things that didn't necessarily make sense but would improve the average housewife's day.

Overall though this is a solid game, and I've added it to my wishlist for its future release. I really want to complete the story and learn more. And see if that computer does contain the saucy images the Uncle may have been looking at >_> LOL jk jk

My VOD is here, your game is timestamped in the bookmarks: