I loved the designs you made for each area of your game. I think the way you set the normal ending was easy to follow once I realized there was no where else in the castle I could go through. The secret ending was a little hard to find at first but I liked the way you made books as sprites so we had a clue on how to find it. It was a fun experience overall since it made me motivated to find out what the secret was since you added a sense of unease when reading the dialogue following the normal path.
I really enjoyed the visual design of your game. The way you paid attention to every small detail makes it look very polished and well thought out. The environment and the overall aesthetic are really nice.
When I first started playing, I was a little confused about what I was supposed to do and where to go next. It was a bit difficult to understand which areas were entrances or exits, so I found myself getting a little lost at the beginning. However, after I read your tutorial, everything made much more sense.
I really enjoyed the story! I had to follow the tutorial in a few parts where I got stuck, which might be on me, but it would be nice to navigate a bit more on my own. I noticed there are other secret endings, so I’m excited to try it again. The graphics are great, and I love the little details, like the extra dialogue when you interact with the cat too much.
That,,,, was dark, And I'm not quite sure which was darker. The normal ending or the secret ending. That said, The level design was good, I liked the puzzle hint, took me entirely too long to figure out that the tunnel was there. The 'angel' insisting there was nothing there was the only thing I had to go on, that took a bit to figure out where to go. I did enjoy the little story though, despite the dismal nature of it all.
Thank you for the feedback! It motivated me and made my day to hear you say the story was dark, that was exactly my goal! The 'angel' exists just to convince you that 'really nothing is there' to bring you back to the story. LOL
It worked! I was stuck more on trying to see if there was anything I could do to get the seed to grow! I'm still debating what was more dark, the secret ending where you realize what's actually happening, or the normal ending where you kill the "demon lord". D:
Unfortunately, you can't grow the seed... This refers to the plant that can't grow in the Secret Ending. I should probably add some more dialogue here. In the normal ending, it is more of a fairytale, since it is originally a classic Hero vs. Monster game. Therefore... in comparison, the Secret Ending is more... dark, maybe? :')
The design of this game is great, the sprites are a really interesting combination of abstract and representational. The dialog at the beginning does a great job of establishing the goals and mechanics in the game.
I am having a hard time navigating once I get to what I think is inside of a castle. The room that is divided in half with two sections that are connected by internal doors is tricky, I keep going back and forth between the sections without being able to progress. I can get to the room with the cat but then I can't seem to get anywhere else. Overall, its a little unclear based on design where the walls are, I am unexpectedly running into walls and also realizing things that look like walls I can walk through.
So I'm not sure if I made it all the way through, but I did not get to collect gold or use the sword. Great start, but if this is the full game, I would include some kind of indication, because I was trying to figure things out for a while.
I also thought it might be a puzzle, because it looks like there's an arrow in the top of the right side section, but if it is, I couldn't figure it out.
Hi Professor! Thanks for playing! I am glad you liked the design!
You actually haven't finished the game yet! The game was completely finished and it should tell you whenever you reached the end.
I apologize for the confusion with the walls and the arrow. Is it only in the room with the dark red background and mint green tiles? Or are other rooms also confusing? I would like to try to fix it. If you find yourself lost inside the castle, I recommend walking straight up and to the right!
There are puzzles in the game, but the elements in the castle are just decorations, including the one in the top of the right side section.
Hi Professor! I have updated the game to a new version, it should now have better visuals for the exits in the castle. The arrows like the one in the top-right section you mentioned, now serve as hints to guide you on where to go. Also, there should no longer be walls that players can walk through.
Wow, thanks for posting the walk through, I would have had a hard time figuring that out on my own. For the normal ending, I didn't try to talk to the cat after I got a repeating ... I think. I think it's tricky to decide when you want to make something difficult or unconventional, because you will lose some fraction of players who will be confused. I think if the cat dialog didn't repeat I would have figured that out earlier and might not need the visuals for the doors in the previous room, I spent more time exploring because I thought I was missing something.
It's interesting I missed the secret area even though there are clear visual indicators of how to get there from the first room. The effect of guidance, the path leading down, is so effective, I didn't even think to look elsewhere. I was looking for gold, but I figured I was just not able to find it later in the game, not in a different direction.
I really like the concept for this, and I think a lot of players enjoy rewards for poking around like hidden content. It's a tricky thing to balance that kind of surprise with the player feeling encouraged to explore enough to find them. This is really fun though and it's great to take risks like this working on a game project.
Comments
I loved the designs you made for each area of your game. I think the way you set the normal ending was easy to follow once I realized there was no where else in the castle I could go through. The secret ending was a little hard to find at first but I liked the way you made books as sprites so we had a clue on how to find it. It was a fun experience overall since it made me motivated to find out what the secret was since you added a sense of unease when reading the dialogue following the normal path.
I really enjoyed the visual design of your game. The way you paid attention to every small detail makes it look very polished and well thought out. The environment and the overall aesthetic are really nice.
When I first started playing, I was a little confused about what I was supposed to do and where to go next. It was a bit difficult to understand which areas were entrances or exits, so I found myself getting a little lost at the beginning. However, after I read your tutorial, everything made much more sense.
I really enjoyed the story! I had to follow the tutorial in a few parts where I got stuck, which might be on me, but it would be nice to navigate a bit more on my own. I noticed there are other secret endings, so I’m excited to try it again. The graphics are great, and I love the little details, like the extra dialogue when you interact with the cat too much.
That,,,, was dark, And I'm not quite sure which was darker. The normal ending or the secret ending. That said, The level design was good, I liked the puzzle hint, took me entirely too long to figure out that the tunnel was there. The 'angel' insisting there was nothing there was the only thing I had to go on, that took a bit to figure out where to go. I did enjoy the little story though, despite the dismal nature of it all.
Thank you for the feedback! It motivated me and made my day to hear you say the story was dark, that was exactly my goal! The 'angel' exists just to convince you that 'really nothing is there' to bring you back to the story. LOL
It worked! I was stuck more on trying to see if there was anything I could do to get the seed to grow! I'm still debating what was more dark, the secret ending where you realize what's actually happening, or the normal ending where you kill the "demon lord". D:
Unfortunately, you can't grow the seed... This refers to the plant that can't grow in the Secret Ending. I should probably add some more dialogue here.
In the normal ending, it is more of a fairytale, since it is originally a classic Hero vs. Monster game. Therefore... in comparison, the Secret Ending is more... dark, maybe? :')
Maybe... but at least in the secret ending you feed the kitty rather than stab the kitty. :D
The design of this game is great, the sprites are a really interesting combination of abstract and representational. The dialog at the beginning does a great job of establishing the goals and mechanics in the game.
I am having a hard time navigating once I get to what I think is inside of a castle. The room that is divided in half with two sections that are connected by internal doors is tricky, I keep going back and forth between the sections without being able to progress. I can get to the room with the cat but then I can't seem to get anywhere else. Overall, its a little unclear based on design where the walls are, I am unexpectedly running into walls and also realizing things that look like walls I can walk through.
So I'm not sure if I made it all the way through, but I did not get to collect gold or use the sword. Great start, but if this is the full game, I would include some kind of indication, because I was trying to figure things out for a while.
I also thought it might be a puzzle, because it looks like there's an arrow in the top of the right side section, but if it is, I couldn't figure it out.
Hi Professor! Thanks for playing! I am glad you liked the design!
You actually haven't finished the game yet! The game was completely finished and it should tell you whenever you reached the end.
I apologize for the confusion with the walls and the arrow.
Is it only in the room with the dark red background and mint green tiles? Or are other rooms also confusing? I would like to try to fix it.
If you find yourself lost inside the castle, I recommend walking straight up and to the right!
There are puzzles in the game, but the elements in the castle are just decorations, including the one in the top of the right side section.
I posted a walkthrough on the Open Lab if you would like to finish the game! Here is the link: https://openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu/mmp-270-spring-2026/2026/03/11/bitsy-game-wake-up-...
Hi Professor! I have updated the game to a new version, it should now have better visuals for the exits in the castle. The arrows like the one in the top-right section you mentioned, now serve as hints to guide you on where to go. Also, there should no longer be walls that players can walk through.
Wow, thanks for posting the walk through, I would have had a hard time figuring that out on my own. For the normal ending, I didn't try to talk to the cat after I got a repeating ... I think. I think it's tricky to decide when you want to make something difficult or unconventional, because you will lose some fraction of players who will be confused. I think if the cat dialog didn't repeat I would have figured that out earlier and might not need the visuals for the doors in the previous room, I spent more time exploring because I thought I was missing something.
It's interesting I missed the secret area even though there are clear visual indicators of how to get there from the first room. The effect of guidance, the path leading down, is so effective, I didn't even think to look elsewhere. I was looking for gold, but I figured I was just not able to find it later in the game, not in a different direction.
I really like the concept for this, and I think a lot of players enjoy rewards for poking around like hidden content. It's a tricky thing to balance that kind of surprise with the player feeling encouraged to explore enough to find them. This is really fun though and it's great to take risks like this working on a game project.