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A jam submission

The Curious Case of Uncle BarneyView game page

Investigate a bizarre disappearance at your family's annual summer camping trip.
Submitted by POY's, Sophie Short, granularbiomes — 3 minutes, 50 seconds before the deadline
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The Curious Case of Uncle Barney's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Art#24.8644.864
Overall#34.2054.205
Polish#54.5004.500
Audio#74.1364.136
Theme#194.4554.455
Gameplay#283.7733.773
Limitation#473.5003.500

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)

I really like the summer camp theme, and the arts is superb. The dialogue writing is also very good. The audio is nice, but it lacks some crucial sounds like walking or collecting evidence.

Like many other players, I was also unable to came to the correct solution for the game. I think it makes sense for the story to have them think up a fantastical story about the disappearance of Uncle Barney, but I think it’s too much of a leap as a logic puzzle for the average players. The game also didn’t explain how to actually input the solution, I didn’t realize you had to put an evidence into a slot. There’s also a bug where you can stack items in the same slot.

Overall, stayed and played through to the end, but had to resort to cheats haha.

Submitted(+1)

Hii POY, the writing, art and audio is very cute and amazing, yet I'm still stuck this time...

On the good side, the evidences are all highlighted to find quickly, and the ordering is pretty obvious (said by Tori). But there is just not enough information to pick the right evidence and finish the deduction. (In the end I found the solution from comments)

  1. Beach + Weird Lump, the combination itself makes sense, but I think Paw Print should be considered correct too since they just come back from walk.
  2. Campsite + Tinfoil Mess, mhm, was thinking about using Weird Lump because this is where it's found, or Tarot Card for being witnessed by Charlie.
  3. Restaurant + Sunglasses, I don't see why it's related to restaurant from Grandma's words... no other evidences seem to pointing at restaurant area too.
  4. Toilets Area + Ripped Cloth, we can tell the ripped cloth belongs to Barney, but why it ends up in toilet...? I once put Weird Lump here lol.
  5. Beer Bottle shows Barney doesn't really drink, and it doesn't help on the deduction

So you see how confused I am... good job on the limitation I guess (¬ ω ¬)

Developer(+1)

Hi meooooooooow! Thank you for the detailed review! The ripped clothes goes near the toilets since tori didn’t see Barney with a ripped shirt, and we know that she left him just before that point in the chronologie. But it’s really funny that you put the lump there!

The team is well aware that the puzzle is the weak aspect of the game, it is what suffered the most from the chaotic developpement process :/ Good news is, we already learned a lot from this jam, and we will not make the same rookie mistakes again 💪

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

the amount of polish and charm in this project was absolutely mind blowing :O i rly loved how unique the different characters looked and the writing was so cute. there was so much wholesome vibes! i got hard stuck at the end trying to figure out the puzzle and looked to comments to help a little bit with that part! i ended up on a black screen and am not sure if that was the ending or not or maybe i need to reload :O either way this was an absolute treat to play, super awesome work! <3

Developer

The black screen is then end of the game, there were supposed to be credits playing there but I runned out of time 😆 I’m happy that you enjoyed the game, thank you for playing and taking the time to search the way to see the end of it! 🫡

Submitted(+1)

So far my highest rated game in the Jam! I LOVE IT. Although I could not finish it -_- Probably missing some link. Could you post somewhere a solution or at least hints as I would love to check what will happen...

Also the pixelart, even in full screen, is amazing! Don't worry about that.

Developer (7 edits)

Thank you for your comment! I'm really happy that you enjoyed our game so much! I sure can give you the solution to the case 😌

the weird lump goes on the beach (1), the tinfoil mess on the campsite (2), sunglasses on the restaurant spot (3), and the ripped cloth on the toilets area (4)

Since our puzzle/mystery is super clumsy (we ran out of time for a proper playtest), chances are that you will not find the resolution satisfying, but I hope you'll find it fun anyway!

(don't mind the multiples edits, that's me trying ro put the solution in spoiler, and miserably failing )

Submitted(+1)

Oh! Sunglasses on the restaurant spot! :O

Submitted(+1)

I played it second time, I finished it and I was NOT disappointed! It's awesome! Currently in my TOP3 (after 43 rated games) and something would need to get all 5 stars to get you down from that thrown! :D

Only thing I'm missing are end credits. And potentially another sound theme for a few places to add some mysterious subversion. 

It's funny, charming, great story, polished and as I already mentioned, I love the visual style too! great job!

Developer

funny you mentioned the credits, as it was originally planned. 😆 I even started to code them, but I had to stop to focus on last minutes bugs 🫡 I also agree with you on your second note (we had some other music that GranularBiomes composed for the game, but once again, time was against us, the developpement was overall pretty chaotic XD)

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! Knowing that our little game resonated with someone on that lvl, genuinly means a lot to me

Submitted(+1)

Yo this transported me back to the gameboy era, thank you for that!

Submitted(+1)

The art and the sound design are great! The game really looks good. One thing that kept me from playing the second time are the dialogs which are a lot and long .

Developer

It's ok, not every game is for everyone! Thank you for trying it out though 🌱

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

this is incredible!! the story is so complex and the mystery really pulls you in
i rlly liked the voices and the dialogue bubbles, they fit the vibe perfectly
the art is stunning too! you managed to do so much in such a short timeframe, seriously impressive!
but i'd like to play it fullscreen ;(

Developer(+1)

I cant fight against an unhappy smiley... Fine, I will give the people what they want 🥲

Thank you very much , we really gave our all until the very last minutes 💪 And I can't wait to show your comment to my friends who lended us their voices 😄 I'm happy you had a good time!

Submitted(+1)

It was really fun. I could not figure out what to do after getting all of the evidence but I really loved the art style.

Submitted(+1)

Wow this turned out amazing! the art, the voice acting, the music is all so charming. This is absolutely in my top10 for the jam!!

Submitted(+1)

This game is really charming - the pixel art is adorable, and I enjoyed the story of the detective kids trying to figure out what happened to their uncle.

I can also understand why some of the puzzles ended up being a bit too difficult. Playtesting and balancing puzzle games is tough, especially with limited time. I've run into the same issue with my own game, where players sometimes get stuck because they don't know what to do next.

Overall, I had a good time playing it and really liked the game!

Submitted(+1)

This is amazing, congrats on such a polished game! I wish I could play in full screen for more comfort. I didn't manage to solve the case, but maybe I'll try again!

Developer(+1)

Hey, thank you for playing! Since I got few complaints, I tried to add the fullscreen button yesterday. But as suspected, the low resolution pixel-art doesn't read at all on such big screens, so I removed it :/ (I wouldn't want people to automatically start playing in full screen because they see the button and assume playing in full screen is intended, you know) 
But for next jam, I'll take that discomfort into account and will go for an other art style 🙏

Submitted(+1)

Aaaaaa, I found all the evidence, and asked around but I still could not put it together... The music is lovely, and I love the art. Poor Aunt Susan... Bear is adorable, and I LOVE Grandpa... 

Hmm, so he was early at the beach, Tony dropped a recorder in poop, Barney ripped his shirt somewhere and said he had to use the restroom... And he doesn't seem the drinker type, so someone is clearly lying... The twins definitely stole the cards, and....gah. I can't think beyond that... I'm bad at this.

Regardless, amazing game! Polish is off the charts, the sfx and ambience is well done. 

Developer

thank you for playing! To be honest the puzzle is harder than intended, we didn't plan enough time to playtest and balance it out so it's on us, don't beat yourself up too much xD  regardless, I'm happy that you enjoyed the characters and overall ambiance 🫡

Submitted(+1)

The art, the sound design, the story—everything was amazing! Unfortunately, I couldn't solve the case even though I found all the evidence :(  I'll definitely replay it later and see if I can figure it out. Great job! 

Developer

thank you! ✿

Submitted(+1)

beautiful experience with lovely music 
nice game overall cozy and fun 

Submitted(+1)

The art and animations are beautiful! This is such a charming game, it makes me feel very nostalgic. It's super polished and I would love to see more in this style.

I wish the full-screen option was turned on. You can do that on itch.io, when you edit your game, in case you feel like doing it. It's just a tad small otherwise. 😊

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing! I'm happy you enjoyed the atmosphere and experienced the nostalgia hit that we went for! the actual screensize is a  conscious choice, but I might compromize on it if it keeps players from enjoying the game, so thank you for letting me know how you felt about it! 

Submitted(+1)

Beautiful little game. Polishness, art and audio are all reeeeeally good. Only problem I've got is that the game window is a bit small. Really good job guys!

Submitted(+1)

The level of polish is seriously insane. Top marks! Absolutely beautiful short game and the art in particularly is so joyful. Well done!

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much! I did the art, took big inspo on my childhood memories, so I'm happy it came out as joyful! 

Submitted(+1)

I enjoyed playing this game, the art style is just so lovely! Overall a very polished game.... I could sadly not solve the mystery so I might replay it later! 

Submitted(+1)

Wow, the pixel art is absolutely amazing. So much character!