Having reviewed all but ten entries, I only have time to rate the final ten but not provide a written review. If you want detailed feedback like I've given others, hit me up on Discord (xopods) and I'll give you some after the ratings close.
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A NEST FOR THE CHILDREN's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| LAYOUT — How well does the module get across information? | #1 | 4.466 | 4.571 |
| UTILITY — Does complexity inspire game prep? Or Is it very "Pick-up-n-Play"? | #2 | 4.280 | 4.381 |
| GAME DESIGN — How good is the game balance or concepts there in? | #6 | 3.815 | 3.905 |
| ART — How good is the art/graphic design? | #6 | 4.420 | 4.524 |
| Overall | #8 | 3.828 | 3.918 |
| WRITING — How does this read? does it emanate with horror, humor, drama...? | #8 | 3.862 | 3.952 |
| FAVORABILITY — how much do you personally like the submission? | #17 | 3.489 | 3.571 |
| THEME — How well is the jam theme used? | #48 | 2.466 | 2.524 |
Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
Well implemented map exploration scenario. Everything looks very professional. My only real objection is that the plot is a little mundane, seems like a lot of scenarios have this or at least a similar premise.
Simply wow. This is so good. One day I aspire to be able to do with 6 panels what you have accomplished here. I am in awe.
Some really great layout and design choices here. I love the flow-chart map. The texturing and art is great; where did the faceless portraits come from? I really like them.
I may have been tempted to swap the NPC information with the 'Matron Destroyed' and 'Random Encounters' type blocks, but that's likely a matter of personal taste. My only other feedback is that I wish the Ancient-Myth of it all was a little more front and centre. All in all, this is a solid entry, strong on Mothership vibes and with great presentation.
Excellently-delivered classic Mothership body horror/corporate resort goodness! My kind of comfort food! It's got the time pressure, a good variety of NPCs, and top-notch layout. Only real strong critique I have is the thematic connection which others have mentioned - it's notttttt really there, y'know? More means to discover the origin of these creatures, or a throughline of what element of culture has been influenced by their past exploits would go a long ways to strengthen that element. That said, it's already plenty cohesive outside the theme and is right up there with the best of them for "ways to introduce Mothership to a new crew," so once we're out of the Jam I reckon there's no reason to muck with it. Great stuff, well done!
- Intriguing and horrific cover art!
- Great colour choice and clean, well-balanced layout. Really like the background texture. One thing that's hard to parse is the black boxes on black background of the rooms.
- The boxes to map convention is a bit hard to follow for this configuration. A mini-map would help! (extra material?)
- Mira broadcasts are great!
- Not clear, but implied in description of Dining Room - is the crew required to locate and save Harlan in order to get paid? (if so, include in briefing?)
- I'm not sure how the crew discovers they're meant to go to the Engine Room. Maybe some clues in the briefing (e.g. central heat signature detected) will get them searching for the maintenance key.
- Straightforward, easily to follow and implement, classic Mothership... but capitalising ANCIENT MYTH doesn't make it suddenly theme compliant haha
(errors: renowned xenobiologist = renowned xenobiologists; Vicky Baldren = Victor Baldren?)
In general, I love a resort location. I feel like the conversion of stress to experience is a little onerous and stingy in Mothership, especially given that there's such a high chance of a character dying, so I'm always looking for adventures that can do double duty. As an alternative hook, the players could be resting/converting stress when everything goes to hell.
Love the cover art, the color choice, NPC profile pics and descriptions. With the NPCs I thought you did a good job giving them personality in a short space. Mira's broadcasts had me laughing out loud and were my favorite part.
I thought everything was very playable and easy to follow. There is a bit of a video game quality to this where we're clearing rooms with guns blazing which is more "action-horror" than my personal taste and I think it would be a few too many rooms for a one-shot, not that there's anything wrong with that. This is just my opinion, but I think you have a real flare for dialogue and description and the space on the second page my be better served by fewer rooms with more roleplaying fleshed out. At the same time, you've done a great job placing all the necessary details for the wardens to run with it themselves, so I don't think changes are necessary as it works great as is.
Aesthetically this is fantastic and the adventure is really exciting. You've created a scenario relatively large in scope considering it's just the front and back of a single page, and without cramming too much text into the trifold. The map feels extensive but the descriptions are short enough that it also feels slick. I wouldn't be surprised if this a short campaign arc (2-3 sessions) but also wouldn't be shocked if you can get it done in one.





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