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A jam submission

DepressionView game page

Depression feels satisfying but painful
Submitted by MIRSID Studios — 3 hours, 3 minutes before the deadline
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Depression's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Creativity#593.5453.545
Art#613.2273.227
Polish#882.6822.682
Overall#902.8332.833
Gameplay#992.6822.682
Theme Interpretation#1152.7272.727
Audio#1252.1362.136

Ranked from 22 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Submitted (1 edit)

Oh I really like this. Really neat aesthetic and awesome story. Multiple endings is super cool for a Jam game!!

I think the connection to the jam theme might be a liiiiittle loose but I still think it kinda works.

Really good job, I thoroughly enjoyed!!

Developer

Thank you so much for playing and giving wonderful feedback!

Submitted

I agree that the music is too loud and high-pitched. For some players the white noise effect can be eye-tiring. Aside from that it's a nice experience. Cool game!

Developer

These can be changed by the game settings and the operating system itselfs since I don't have much time. Thanks for playing and giving feedback!

Submitted

Welp, I'm glad I found a good ending on a first try! Nice game!

Developer(+1)

Hope you got other endings! Thanks for playing!

Submitted

Very interesting game. Depression is a real thing and a little game like this can help people realize that they are not alone in their troubles. As others have said, not sure how it plays into the theme, but regardless its a good game. Nice work.

Developer(+1)

I do hope I get a good score on this too, thanks for playing and giving wonderful feedback!

Submitted

Ooo very dark and cool. I liked everything, multiple endings is always very cool. My main complaint is I don't see how it fit the theme very well. But the game is unique and fun experience, so well done.

Developer

I am aware of the problem with this game not fitting for the jam, thanks for playing and giving feedback on my game!

Submitted

I tried both the talking w/ friend and suicide endings! Heres some feedback: 

- The game's art and atmosphere are really good; I like how you did not include shadows in the art and I really felt the eerie effect. 

- I feel like, besides the music, you could have added other sound effects like when the player clicks something or walks. 

- Idk if I missed it, but the black monsters could have made more appearances. 

Developer

Disabling the shadows was not my intention however due to performance issues I had too, I forgot to do the sound effects and there are only 2 appearances of the shadow figure (I usually call them Barbara or Bob). Thanks for giving feedback on this game that is in it's early stages!

Submitted

Nice little game theme around depression. I got the good ending and the true ending.

Developer(+1)

Depression and horror is included in the game, but mostly depression. I honestly don't know if the game even fits in the jam but thank you for playing and giving feedback!

Submitted (2 edits) (+1)

It doesn’t matter whether it fits the jam or not. Most of my game jam submission deviate quite a lot from the theme lol.

Jam HostSubmitted

Fun idea, I also ended up with the good ending. The music was juuust a little loud, but good job overall on the atmosphere.

Developer

Wonder if you got all the endings? (Besides I think the scariest part on this game is a jam host giving feedback on your own game, I want my Geode the mouse back...). Thanks for playing!

Submitted

Good work! I got the good ending!

Developer

There are more endings, 4 of them including the good ending. Thanks for playing!

Submitted

The first time I played, I got a good ending, but when I played again, I was a little startled by the black characters.

Developer(+1)

Umm i think it's appropriate to call them black characters lol, call them shadow characters or hallucination characters. I call them Barbara or Bob. Hope you enjoyed the game!

Submitted

Then I think it's better if I call her Barbara.

Developer

I don't even know if it's a she or a he though...

Submitted

Got good ending and true ending! And I really like the visual style of the game. The simple but consistent 3D objects are very appealing, creating a calm atmosphere with a hidden sense of danger.

As other players mentioned, it is a bit hard to tell when the player can take control. Maybe adding something like an “eye” or vision-blocking overlay could help. When control becomes available, the overlay could fade out, making the state change much clearer.

Developer

I am aware of the problem and hope to fix it after the jam, thanks for playing and giving helpful feedback!

Submitted (2 edits)

I got the good ending! I liked you have used the theme to tell a story grounded in reality about how your actions can have effects the people around you, that's quite unique and good message, I felt there could have been more to it but understandable given the time limit. 

I liked how it felt like it was going to be a visual novel at first and transitioned well into the 3D environment! I liked the theming of the static getting more intense each day, representing the mental state of the character, the way that the days are seemly having the same routine, which is a common feeling when you are in that state. I also sense the start of trying to have some environmental story telling with the cans scattered about the floor on 2 day, like the character is letting themselves go by not taking care of their space?  

while I like the music, I wish there was a bit more too it, and for the volume to be turned down a bit. 

Good Effort! : )

Developer(+1)

I wanted to make the game not only scary but sends an important message to the people that faces the same situations. Thank you so much for giving feedback!

Submitted

I think this has the groundwork for a good story game. A few quality of life things took me out of the story though. One being not knowing when it went from no control to being able to walk around, as well as not being able to skip text once I read it. Once I started walking around tho the apartment seems cozy, and I like how it slowly gets dirtier. I got the good ending on day 2 btw.  

Developer

I am aware of some problems but was too lazy to fix it :P Getting the endings is easy but in reality that's not the case  to the people who share the same problem as the player itself. Not only that I wanted to make a scary game but a message to the people who faced these problems. Thanks for playing and being comfortable in the apartment in my game!

Submitted

Some advice, don't put constant high pitched sounds / tone music into games. Had to mute the whole game.

I like the idea/message. As other comments said there could be more to the story. I think the depression aspect could be more clear (i.e: feeling lack of emotion, more signs in the apartment). If you come back to this game, it would make a nice short.

Developer

This game can get loud, pretty understandable to mute the entire game i think.
Thanks for playing my game and giving feedback!

Submitted

appreciate the warning at the start, at least u kinda know what ur getting into. but even then it still hits different. wild experience overall, the tv static artstyle adds a lot to the vibe. story def has potential to go deeper. great job

Developer

Thanks for playing my game! The game will expand, i just don't know how.

Submitted

It was an intresting experience, the take on the theme to tell this kind of story is definitively ambitous for a jam, and with this game being an introduction there's a lot that can be added to present the story you wanted to share

As mentionned before the endings are a bit straightforward, but they serve the choices you make during the game so it's good for me

The very simple artstyle coupled with the TV effect work a lot for this game, but indeed the audio was a bit too loud xD (This techno for the ending was fun I confess x3)

Good job !

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks, I don't know how I will be able to expand this game yet but hopefully this game can get improved in the near future!
Thanks for playing!

Submitted

Cool game! First time around I missed the jumpscare because I was still looking at the door. It is a bit hard to tell when there's a cutscene and when you can move around, as you are just looking at the door and suddenly can move. I do like the vibe of the static, but it doesn't feel very good to play, and hurt my eyes :( Overall, cool story, the good ending felt extremely straightforward, I think the good ending should be more roundabout, rather than the option I assume most people would choose.

Developer

There is an option to turn of the static effects in the menu (epilepsy-friendly mode)
The ending do need more work as it is really easy to get a good ending.
Glad you got to play the game!

Developer

Here's the reality, depressed people don't seek help, if they seek for help then life would go easy on them but most of them will of course isolate themselves thinking it's best for them to be alone without help but instead they go deeper.

Submitted

I don't think I did a good job communicating, when I mean straightforward, I mean that the protagonist of the story obviously wouldn't choose that option, but the player of the game certainly would. One suggestion might be to have an action the player do result in that outcome, rather than a choice of what the player would most likely choose vs what the protagonist would most likely choose. I was honestly expecting the protagonist to keep choosing to ignore the friend.

I usually don't play story driven games that often, but nevertheless enjoyed your game. I hope my feedback was helpful!

Developer

It's the players freedom to choose, I might be too nice to them I guess... Thanks for the feedback!

Submitted

the story is nice and i get the vibe. if we can skip the dialogue that will feel better in terms of interactivity.

Developer

I feel you bro, a way to skip the dialogue is a must but i didn't have time for it ):
Thanks for playing my game!

Hi, I really liked the game, but maybe the endings could have been improved. I played it two times, where I first answered him, but I think it was too plain. Maybe make the story more expandable and let us know more about what would happen. Like when you answered your phone, there could be a crash accident, and then you thought it was your fault because you answered him and called him. So then you start taking pills for depression, but they do not make you better, and then you start seeing this figure in your room (your dead friend), maybe not sure, or just a strange figure who is following you all the time. Then you keep taking the pills, but you cannot take them anymore because they just make you worse, so what you do is kill yourself or die in your bed by taking pills. That could be one ending. I feel the story had some potential, but overall, it looked good. I liked the assets and the grainy effect, though, overall good job!!

One last thing I would consider is after the cutscene, like when the story intro finished, I thought there was more story, but there was not until I moved the mouse. I feel like some UI for an intro tutorial would be cool, like “use the mouse to look around” or “use WASD for moving,” you know, typical stuff.

Developer

My creativity for this game was way too big for it since i have very limited time to use my laptop.
Thanks for trying it out!

Submitted

I thought the story was deep and the art was very impressive. If I had to give one piece of constructive feedback, I would say that the audio starts too loud. I put my volume on 2/100 for it to be a good volume. On the other hand, if you were intending it to be inescapably loud as a commentary on depression, then that's awesome.

Developer

I kinda got stuck with the volume of the music I guess. And i'm surprised that you found the art impressive when it looks plain in my opinion
Thanks for the feedback!