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Upcreek's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Cleverness | #8 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Artistic Style | #13 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Judges Choice | #20 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Theme Implementation | #26 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Playability | #37 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Link to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/124_qhiyW4JxjA84H6LTKcDysjAx4BaMwIpKx7aOqhgo/edit?usp=sharing
Have you checked that your GDD is publicly accessible ?
Yes
Is your game set to public on itch.io so we can see it?
Yes
Summarize your game!
Upcreek is about picking up trash in nature; as well as some very light puzzles/tasks and moments of discovery. Controls are posted in the main game; but are largely standard.
Please explain how your game fits the theme.
In Upcreek, 'The World is Watching' takes the form of nature (and various other ordinarily-inanimate objects) literally watches you be a good steward of nature. Nobody else cares if you pick up the trash - but nature does. And the world is always watching.
Did you use Generative AI to make any assets in your game?
No
Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
Nearly every asset was made for this jam; the sole exception is the music, and fonts. All sound effects, 3D models, etc. were all made fresh by human hands.
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Comments
Playability:
Really loved the general setting and interactions. I did run into a persistent bug that stopped my mouse from being bound to the screen center so it kept going out of frame while I turned. Don't worry as it's something that can be fixed in time.
Theme:
Ridiculously on the nose. The entire world is literally watching. Hilarious.
Cleverness:
Getting a fully physics enabled 3d environment with interactive objects in this time frame is awesome. You guys did great and knocked the setting out of the park.
Artistic Style:
Cute coloring and simple models with a consistent style. Good job.
Oh my I loved this.
A very appropriate and cute take on the theme. The art style, the feel and the SFX were all really well done.
I like the little hidden things. Like when you throw a into the water and they pop back up.
It was a little laggy here and there and the mouse was a little over sensitive so having the option to change that would have been nice.
I think it would have been cool to lean into the throw mechanic a bit. Instantly kept trying to shoot the trash from a distance. It would have been fun if you got something for taking those shots. I made a few, but ended up just shoving it in for the most part.
Really well done!
Sooo cute. I loved how the trash was like making disagreeing sounds, when i tried to throw away a rock. I also felt terrible for trying it xD. It was also sweet that the rocks started rolling a bit
The game felt full of such sweet little moments.
The art and game controls are also very nicely polished :D
One Bug that i found was that if i leave the Pause menu with tapping ESC again instead of pressing resume, the mouse cursor didn't disappear.
From the Performance side, it did lag a bit in the first minute or so, when i was already loaded and moving around, but after a bit, the performance was almost completly smooth.
Having to push the tree into the water was difficult for me. But my first try was also to hit it with a rock and jumping at it. That worked at some point xD. I did load in for a second run to check if there was a push indicator, that i didnt see or something i missed, but at that time i couldnt get the tree to fall at all xD
In total the game is very nice and you guys did an awesome job for a two week period :D
Thank you so much for the in depth analysis! I'm glad you were able to appreciate the little details 😊
As for the tree, did you try throwing the rock really hard at it? :P
Ah so it is the rock, no in my second try i didnt :D
Poor rock xD
Such a chill game 😁 loved it!!
Thank you! That means a lot to us! 😊
I couldn't get the game to load for whatever reason so I can't give any feedback. I just wanted to say you have a very cute take on the theme!
:( sorry it didn't load for you, that's a bummer. Thanks for the kind words, regardless!
I love the concept of this game; it cleverly fits the theme. Watching usually comes from things with eyes, but the idea of trees, the sky, and other natural elements watching everything allows me to experience things from a completely different perspective. The music and art are cute!
Thank you so much! I'm happy you liked it!
I spent more time than Im comfortable to admit fiddling with the water physics and trapping rocks in the river.. Such a fun game, well done!
Haha my favorite thing to do through development was exactly that :P
Such a cute and cozy experience, very chill :)
Like others said, the sound effects for the trash and other objects are just awesome haha. The character controller also feels great, and picking up and throwing trash as well!
Not sure if it was intended, but you can grab a lot of trash without throwing or releasing the other trash you're holding, so you can clear out one whole zone at once, which is fun :)
we did realize that, but since it takes at least some skill to perform (getting harder the more trash you hold) we kept it as a feature :) It reminds me of katamari when you have a whole handful of about 20 pieces of trash. Doesn't break anything and only gives the player more to discover :D I'm glad you found it and also glad you enjoyed the game!
Very cozy game. The sounds trash makes when picking up are so adorable (I was especially spamming rock XD). Love it
Thank you! I had fun making the sounds and i'm glad you liked it :D
Pretty cute! I ran around picking up angry trash until I couldn't find any more. Nice art and music.
Thanks! There was actually a wind-effect with leaves that blow in the direction of remaining trash - I've tuned up the effect a bit more.
Also, while I can proudly say nearly all the other assets were made for the jam by my team, the music was from freesound.org.