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Witch's Orders's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Narrative | #7 | 4.292 | 4.292 |
| Horny | #11 | 3.917 | 3.917 |
| Overall | #13 | 3.467 | 3.467 |
| Stealth | #17 | 3.500 | 3.500 |
| Kink | #17 | 3.708 | 3.708 |
| Ambition | #22 | 3.583 | 3.583 |
| Aesthetic | #25 | 3.708 | 3.708 |
| Harmony | #25 | 3.417 | 3.417 |
| Play | #26 | 3.250 | 3.250 |
| Novelty | #42 | 2.917 | 2.917 |
| Sound | #43 | 2.375 | 2.375 |
Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
ahh there is so much worldbuilding here in the sort of way that makes it of personal interest to the protagonist rather than just Ambient Politics and i am so interested in what is going on. tragically after like half an hour of playing i saved to see a bad ending and then could not figure out how to resume from the save, so i'm going to have to come back to this later because i still have to play a zillion games in the next few hours ha ha oh no
Thanks for playing! Yeah, I love when plot is specifically tied not just to the world, but to the character’s ties in it. Unfortunately proper saves aren’t in yet - it just works if you want to quit and come back - but glad you enjoyed what you saw!
(And good luck in the last rating crunch!)
the story here is quite something. the introduction to the game seems to be leading us towards some sort of pretty classic, finding out your enemies are not so bad, maybe becoming their lover, type story; my expectation from the introduction would have been that i would over the course of the game grow to quite like the witch and her home, and presumably find a new home there and so forth.
and, well, that is definitely not what happened.
at least in the endings i got, the witch came across to me as a pretty bad person (...and ignus probably does as well). i mean, her home is an extremely unsafe place to put a wounded person you supposedly care for with these very lacking instructions. telling someone to "tend to the pit" when simply approaching the pit without knowledge of what it is will result in the 9th ending, is very irresponsible at best.
the 2nd ending (which is the main one i was able to achieve) also shows the witch having a pretty severe disrespect for the player character's agency.
i'm also pretty suspicious of ending 7 and 8 having similar vibes although i have not achieved them myself.
now--of course--i am sure some of this (or all of it) is, you know, kink stuff, this is a horny game of course; perhaps it is, in some fantasies, "better not to think." but for me, for better or worse, all i can do is read the story pretty directly, and for me, the 2nd ending is a horror story (and i imagine most of the other endings are as well).
and to be clear, that's not to say this is bad. only that it makes for a very dark story, which is very legit. perhaps more importantly, it is a story that really does subvert my expectations wholeheartedly, which is kind of cool.
the gameplay is definitely not for me. the fundamental problem with text puzzles / riddles of the sort of "sort the potions" is that there is no real player feedback; you are either right or you are wrong, and there is no way the game can really nudge you towards getting closer to the correct solution short of explicit hints or through brute-force attempts.
the actual complaint i would have is that even the "you are right or you are wrong" feedback is rather difficult to get to in this game. every run requires clicking through screens and screens of dialog even to just leave the initial room. some sort of skip button for each dialog would be extremely appreciated. you could even make the dialogs mandatory the first time you see them and skippable later, given that there is other state tracked across runs (the ending checklist).
for me, the cauldron ingredients are basically impossible to guess even with the botany book picked up. for the last ingredient, the clue, about "amplification," seems to match so closely to Dryad's Kiss, which is "used as an intensifier," while the other two seem to be related to sex and to sleep respectively. i honestly don't see how the clue is supposed to match up to Altharia in any other way than guessing and trying again.
for the potion sorting you mention in the comments that ignus can help with a clue, but i definitely didn't see any dialog options that would help. i'm not gonna lie, i don't think i would ever figure out this puzzle myself (at least without trying the 720 different orderings). for reference, the order that i came up with was: Lover's Kiss, Knocker Gawker, Succubus's Heat, Dance of the Fervored One, Stud X, Angel's Climax. again though: probably a genre issue.
the first time i tried to go to the pit with the bucket i got softlocked--i couldn't exit through the top of the screen or the bottom. i think this is a bug. i did accidentally open some kind of debug menu but it didn't seem to help. (got softlocked again when trying to do a true ending run--i wonder if the softlock has something to do with the order you complete the tasks in?)
anyway, sorry for all the complaining. i do think people who enjoy riddle-type puzzles more will probably get more out of the puzzles. i do think it's maybe worth seeing where the points of confusion are though, which is why i mentioned what i came up with for the puzzles.
i think my favorite part of the game (until the unfortunate softlock) was the walk to the pit. it was very atmospheric, and having an actual long walk in the game definitely sells the depth of the cellar. i would almost prefer it to be even longer, to the point of absurdity.
personally i found the interaction with objects pretty convenient overall. the blue dot system is neat in that it requires your physical presence next to the items you want to interact with while still being pretty flexible. i suppose perhaps a "twin-stick" way to aim the dot could be an improvement, but i think it was pretty good.
despite my complaints about the puzzles, i do actually like the way that it is very easy to get something done for each of the tasks. makes the game feel like it is easier to get started playing, as i don't have to solve every last puzzle to start understanding the story and finding my way around.
one interaction i liked a lot was having the chair be the point of waiting for the witch. it felt like a little mini-puzzle--i see the fireplace, how do i wait for the witch? by relaxing in a chair, of course.
as with some other text entries this jam, i am impressed by the sheer amount of writing here. of course i am no stranger to writing a lot (as evidenced by, uh, the above) but when it comes to storytelling i think it is a lot harder. i know i found myself spending an hour on a couple lines of dialog in my game and so anything with this scale is going to be impressive to me.
despite my emotional distaste for the characters i do like their visual design a lot.
there are a lot of cool visuals in this game. ignus looks cool, and i really like the garden outside.
overall, an impressive amount of writing and a story that i did not see coming. good job!
Thank you so much for the in depth comment! It’s appreciated, and the effort to play something that isn’t to your taste kink or gameplay wise is very much seen.
You’re right - this is a kink game at its heart and and the concept is absolutely not for everybody. A direct, reality checked reading of this is damning - consent is non-existent for the majority of endings, and the witch, given real life parameters, is a bad person on multiple fronts; leaving an injured person in the house more or less alone, overriding bodily autonomy, and for the lack of information given on any fronts. If you’re not into these kinks, this is a horror game - and this game goes even further into that with legitimate horror writing at points as well.
But that’s also the point, right? Much in the same way that you’re entertaining a world where dragons and magic are tangible concepts, you’re also entertaining a world where this entire setup is in any way logical or makes moral sense. In a world where you learn everything you stand for is a lie, and the outside world will make you a nameless cog in its machinations, would it not be desirable to stay in a place where pleasure is put forefront, to submit to somebody who is shown to care deeply for her work and possessions, and who perhaps knows more about what you need than you do? That’s the basis the game wants to engage with you on - it’s dark, but it’s also the sort of story you can only truly explore in works of fiction.
Yeah, it’s one part genre, and one part needing to use the most direct solution within the confines of the jam to make sure it got implemented. I do want a bit more feedback for the potions specifically - some sort of warmer/cooler response, probably - but time got away from me. Similarly, Ignus only talks about the potions after the note about them has been read - his help text for it was one of the last things implemented and definitely isn’t signposted as well as it could be.
Definitely agree with this - things like the walk down to the pit I’d also like to have skip-able on subsequent play-throughs if the player wants. The custom dialogue system needs a bit of an overhaul to make this work, but it’s on the mind.
Intended behavior, and the fact that’s how you phrased it means the nudge worked. The book is extremely important to interactions across the house, especially for the true ending, and also gives some background regarding the world simultaneously - but I’ve always appreciated games that allow you to try, anyway.
That puzzle appears to have landed a bit on the harder side with the feedback I’ve gotten; something to keep in mind, I think.
Oh whoa, thats the first time I’ve heard of a softlock! If there’s any way to recreate it I’d appreciate it, but I’m definitely kicking myself now for not adding an “unstuck” button.
Nah, I appreciate it - the people who enjoy riddles seem to have gotten a kick out of it, but your feedback’s been really helpful for seeing how somebody less inclined towards them feels about them.
I appreciate the positive feedback as well, to! People seem to appreciate the scale of the narrative work which is really nice - I didn’t realise how far I’d gone until I’d finished the jam. I was worried about the interaction system being awkward feeling, so I’m glad that isn’t the case for you. I’m also quite proud of the character designs and background work so it’s nice to hear that appreciated!
Thanks again for the in-depth thoughts!
Wow, really impressive. So much packed into this. I'll admit I laughed when i saw the walk sprite, but the cursor is an elegant solution to interaction, and the art is nice enough that I'm not fussing about our hero's little two-step. The writing is fantastic, and the puzzles are clever. Oh, and I'd kill and/or die for Ignus.
Thank you so much! Definitely feels like stepping out of a fugue state realising just how much I ended up shoving into this over the course of a month. I really did mean to replace that walk sprite, but it’s the one thing people have consistently commented on/loved - funny how that happens.
Really glad that both the writing and puzzles landed well with you too, especially since writing is so important to your own entry as well - and I’m glad to see some love for Ignus, he’s one of my favorite parts of the entry!
Wow this is crazy impressive, I'm going to have to revisit this later when I'm in a better headspace for reading heavy stuff. Love the silly walk animation, and the black and white art is simply incredible. Heading to the pit got me genuinely unsettled, the vibes are very powerful.
I did find some placeholder text left in with the dog, the eating out and present choices.
I didn't understand what the cauldron puzzle was going for though, maybe I missed a separate clue?
Would appreciate it if the intro skip feature also skipped needing to read the note at the beginning.
Thank you so much! Yeah, it’s definitely a game that asks for a bit more of a headspace/frame of mind than most of the other entries - not that you’d guess at first from the walk cycle, hah! Really glad the black and white art landed for you as well, and the pit is definitely my favorite writing passage in the game!
With the cauldron puzzle, did you end up grabbing the Botany Guide in the same room? The text for the cauldron puzzle changes pretty significantly when you do!
Thanks for alerting me to those placeholders, I’ll grab them in the next update. Will definitely add in skipping reading the note at the same time - that definitely makes sense!
I was looking so forward to this and can I just say it BLEW MY EXPECTATIONS OUT OF THE WATER! I adore the art style and I just can't get over how much I love the walking animation. The puzzles were really fun, mostly not difficult enough to be frustrating but just enough to make me feel clever, and I liked that you could complete a goal "wrong" and it counted but led to narrative consequences, that's super cool. I can't believe how much you crammed in here, too, I think I've played for more than two hours total so far and still only have half the endings, I just made myself settle for coming back after rating and commenting for fear I wouldn't make it!
But hold on hold on we need to talk about the WRITING. I remember you talking during the jam about how hard you were working on it and even with that I was not prepared for just how good it was going to be. There's so much background story, history, and lore infusing every part of the game the immersion is amazing. The tone is so consistent without being at all monotonous, getting really dark at times but still having room for bits that made me laugh out loud, and the sex scenes are legit steamy. I don't even know which was my favorite, they're all genuinely thrilling and tense with mostly excitement but a little razor edge of fear that floored me.
I think maybe my favorite part of the whole game though was the plant book. The amount of imagination and care that went into that made it so fun to explore, even if it was way more than my brain could take in and hold onto very well. I want a whole series where I can explore this world and its lore and different parts and places. Really, really great work and something I'll be coming back to!
Ahhh, thank you SO much Note! Everybody loves that damn walk animation, it’s really delightful. I’m glad you liked the puzzles too! The feedback on them generally is that they were a bit too hard, so I’m glad to hear that it did hit the mark for some people. Also whoa, it’s kind of nutty to hear somebody actually put a play time to the work I’ve done here - I knew with the amount of writing it’d be pretty long, but still wild to see I’ve created something that can demand hours of time.
Also gosh, I appreciate the comments on the writing so much. ;w; I had two big aims for this jam - make a game that was to its bones horny, and to finally center my writing in a way I haven’t in any games previously. I feel like I’ve well achieved both, but to hear somebody appreciate the craftsmanship of it this deeply?? Gosh. Means the world - I’ve been putting off replying to this in part because I wanted to reply a bit more eloquently that “thank you thank you thank you asdwsdefghjk”.
I’m especially glad the depth of lore and backstory really hit, especially in the denser areas such as the plant book! I really wanted the game to build not just on mood, but the actual lore of it giving justification for the story it tells. And I’m glad the more humorous moments hit - I feel like those are especially important in a game like this, which straddles horny and horror pretty finely at points.
Thank you so much again! ;w;
That's a lot of wonderfully kinky writing for a jam game! Your writing style is beautifully descriptive with a real sense of everything belonging to its own place in the setting. Most of the text almost fits the dialogue box without needing to scroll, and could probably be made to all fit by using a smaller font or expanding the box for smoother reading. I love the art and detailed environments, everything has a role and a purpose! Fitting background music could increase immersion, but it doesn't feel fully necessary for this type of adventure. The puzzles are neat, and it's fun to seek out different endings. Due to the replayable nature of the game, being able to skip seen text can be a good feature, I also sometimes clicked through it too quickly and got the description of the same thing multiple times. Very well done, I'm really impressed by the narrative scale of the world you've made!
Thank you so much! I’m glad my writing style resonated with you, it’s something I take a lot of pride in. Care was definitely taken to make each block of text at least roughly fit, but making it exactly fit was a polish thing that I didn’t want to prioritise in the jam over the actual content itself. Definitely paid off if it feels like everything has its place and the world has narrative scale!
I did have some background music and sound effects bookmarked, but just couldn’t quite get them in on deadline. Agree on the skipping seen text thing as well; it’ll require a bit of overhaul of the dialogue system, but it would make for a better play experience.
There was a LOT of care put on the writings for this game. What an exceptional reading! Yes, the art is mostly functional and, at times, rather hilarious (can't get over the way our protagonist walks around), but the writing really makes everything better. I sure wish there were specific drawings for specific scenes, but I understand the limitations of the deadline.
If I would have topin-point an actual issue, I could mention one: the way you interact with the world: I get that drawing thecharacter facing in different directions would have been more complicated, but the blue orb thing was a bit difficult to get used to. It felt... cumbersome, in some way. Nothing game-breaking, though.
I really hope we can see a version of the game with improved graphics; but, for the time being, the narrative alone is doing a massive, massive heavy lifting here: it's super engaging and alluring. Well done!
Thank you so much! I really wanted to make a game that centered my narrative ability first, since it was the biggest regret I had for both of my previous jam entries. The pendulum swung a bit too far the other way in some ways - I do wish I’d had times for even just ending illustrations, or some basic music/SFX work beyond the typing - but I don’t regret finally committing to a story-first game like this.
Definitely agree with the cumbersome nature of interaction - there’s a slightly awkward edge to it that I could never quite find the source of. With it being the first “walk around and interact” game I’ve done it’s hard to tell whether it’s because I’m redirecting the player’s focus in a way that isn’t usual for the genre (the blue orb rather than the item highlighting in some way) or because of something deeper. It’s something to tinker with, for sure - making good better, rather than un-functional functional.
I’m glad the idea of an art pass is that interesting to you! I might have to consider it when the crunch of it all’s worn off; with that narrative being that engaging though my main goal’s succeeded on. Appreciate the comment!
WOW this was a lot. I'm always a sucker for the rpgadventure/rpghorror style walk-around-and-do-puzzles type games so having one be turned horny was kind of like the genre aging up almost? 10 endings feels like a bananas amount of writing for a game jam but it works and I'm very impressed. I liked a lot of the botanical worldbuilding as well, i felt like I could tell that's a passion of yours to some extent (and one that's shared! I love that kind of stuff!). Figuring out the window's correlation to a puzzle was also a delight, i found them conspicuous from the start and was so pleased when that paid off.
Main pain points were that some of the puzzle hints were just a little obtuse, the first one that got me was actually the second cauldron demand where i wasnt sure if potent/honed was talking about the amount of time it was honed (implied with the lover's drop) or the intensity (which was the actual answer). I think that one's okay though since it encourages follow up playthrus. More pressing though was a kind of paranoia that literally any indulgent act could lead to a punishing ending which, while probably enhances the atmosphere a bit, actually stalled me off from getting the final ending for a hot minute. Which again, not a dealbreaker, it just kind of made the experience have a bit more friction for me. Also on the replay note, having an option to skip the intro would be a good future add.
I'm also figuring this was a time constraint or possibly because there's so much focus in the text, but I would have loved illustrations for the endings even if they were sketched and even if there was only 1 per ending to just sort of strike the mood. Honestly bc there's not, I do think this game got a higher stealth rating for me, but I liked so much of the writing I kind of wanted the art to shine with it? if that makes sense?
Can you let me know what the dialogue line you’re getting/looping back to is? I’ll have a look at it!
First talk action to ignus > "back the fuck off" > game gets stuck at "You swiftly move away"
(“Back the fuck off” freeze has been patched!)
Firstly - thank you SO much for the in-depth comment! Knowing this game found an audience over the jam means a lot, especially with it being both more time intensive and containing some more intense kinks. Those RPG “walk and puzzle” games were definitely what I was trying to invoke, so delightful that it comes across. I’m also glad the botanical worldbuilding landed; I’ve always been fond of indirect world building avenues, and I’ve wanted to do that via botany for years. Didn’t think it’d happen via porn game, but here we are.
Definitely agree on both pain points; they were things I was aware of over the development process, but didn’t really have the time to delve into before submission.
The second cauldron clue I actually had a bit of writer’s block about and had to leave in the placeholder clue; I wanted something that both pointed to that effect of the ingredient, as well as hinted at the use for witches specifically (which it shares with the first ingredient, and I was hoping would help make it less of a 50/50). There’ll be a clue I can add in that handles those parameters with a bit more finesse now the jam period’s over, though I’m blanking on it currently.
The paranoia completely makes sense - between bad ends being present at all and the general darker tone of the game usually this would be a cut and dry “lose to see sex” sort of game. …Buuuut I really wanted to develop something where the kink content was suffused through it instead of needing players to fail to see it. Definitely makes sense the end result is being unsure if this particular sexual act will be “acceptable” - I feel like I might be able to signpost those ones better in the game? The ones surrounding the final ending especially I don’t want the players to hesitant to engage with, since the intention is finding those in the first place should be the main friction.
(Intro skipping is already in the game via the options menu! I wanted it to enable automatically once somebody achieved at least one ending, but that felt a bit dangerous to implement in the last 12 hours of the jam, hah!)
Also yep, 100% a time constraint that resulted in no additional illustrations - the ability to display images alongside the text is actually fully implemented, and the intention was to not only have images for all endings, but also key items the player would investigate (all the potion ingredients, the outfits both in the dresser and on the player, the current transformation state in the mirror that hints towards their current ending…) and other sex scenes if I had time. Turns out writing takes up like, a fuck load of time. ESPECIALLY when you’re solo deving it. I was writing endings up until an hour before I submitted! So yeah, you’re tapped into what I was trying to do and just didn’t have the time to execute.
(I’m glad the art as it exists currently feels strong enough that it would further enhance the writing though!)
Thanks again. :D
Very nice world and sex scenes! The amount of writing is impressive, which each ending carrying its own flavor of kink. The lore felt solid and interactions pull you into different directions in a way that built both curiosity and puzzling moments.
The walk cycle was fantastic.
Thank you so much - the feedback means a lot coming from another dev who was so writing forward! The amount of writing makes sense in hindsight, but I genuinely didn’t realise how much I’d done until I could total it post jam. Very glad the lore felt that solid and could build that curiosity; building that mood and trying to naturally stoke curiosity was the biggest aim I had for the game (besides making it notably horny, so very glad that all the different flavours come through).
Also delighted you like the walk cycle - it seems to be a favourite!
It was a longer game that I anticipated, it surprised me in a good way.
I have to say, I accidently skipped the dressing section and ended up locked out of that for the run, not too bad since is the start but unintentionally cumbersome.
Yet "the scenes" were GOOOOOD, I really enjoyed the experience.
Thank you! Yeah, the length of my game definitely stands out. Other jam entires are finished in the time it takes to leave the bedroom! I’m curious what you mean by “skipped the dressing section” - did it click by too fast, or was it something you didn’t know you could interact with?
So glad you enjoyed The Scenes though - I had a LOT of fun writing them, and I think it shows!
It was a human mistake. I clumbsily pressed, leave, after the first choice (when more options were available).
And when I talked again to the wardrobe, it only gave the option of changing back and leave.
It was not a bug in any sense, it's an instance where the game didn't behaved like my instinct told me it would.
So I brough it up for you to know, If that would happen in an interaction close to the end I would have an issue, but since it only takes 5 seconds to reach the wardrobe it was no issue at all.
Very intriguing lore being built up as you explore! A bit darker than i would prefer (But I also only managed to get "bad" endings in the time I played ^^; ), but very well written. Nice art, amazing walking animation.
Thank you! Yeah, it’s definitely darker in tone than most of the other jam entries from what I’ve seen, and the easiest endings to get are the darkest. Glad the writing and art were enjoyable - and the walk cycle! That wasn’t something I expected to make it to the final version, but it definitely works.
Really fun and super hot! Very well written both intimately and generally. A great amount of depth, from the lore to the gameplay, very fun stuff ^^
Thank you! Really wanted a game that’d show off my writing chops and depth of world building, so really glad that stood out as a highlight to you!