Play game
The 4th Wall's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Narrative | #1510 | 3.242 | 3.242 |
| Audio | #2547 | 3.182 | 3.182 |
| Creativity | #3483 | 3.485 | 3.485 |
| Enjoyment | #4700 | 2.909 | 2.909 |
| Artwork | #5756 | 2.788 | 2.788 |
Ranked from 33 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
The plot revolves around a time bomb counting down
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
See ingame exclamation for full credits
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Really nice puzzles and 4th wall break, there is no mechanic around the countdown just a narrative. Besides it, really liked the project! Congrats for the engine!
Thanks a lot! Come try to make a small game using the engine!
I really enjoyed this game it was pretty fun i loved the sfx they fitted pretty well with the artstyle u went for i loved the idea of a bomb ticking down it adds somewhat of a tension to the game which fits the theme pretty well my only small suggestion for this game is that sometimes i mess up with how to place the chairs and end up with no other possibilities to solve the puzzle so i had to restart the game multiple times, and i even tried pressing the R key on the right bottom of the screen though it would only restart the room but ended up restarting the game but overall great game dude!
EDIT: didnt know it was a custom engine aswell thats awesome and more impressive.
Thank you very much, I implemented your excelent suggestion as a post jam update.
Come join our small community of Tiny RPG Studio devs!
Its a great little engine, awesome both for prototypes aswell as fully complete games like this one!
Really impressive for making your own engine, the levels were fun and chalenging, Great Job!
Thank you so much! Just to clarify, the engine wasn’t made in 4 days, just the game xD Engine is being developed since november and we have been growing quite a nice community arround it. Come be a part!
Nice narrative design, but I think you should adjust the font size and the text box to fit with it. Anyway, good game since you built it in your own engine, it could improve more <3
Thank you very much! I don’t really understand the textbox adjustment you suggested, could you simulate it on paint and post it here? Also, if you’d like, you can suggest all kinds of improvements for the game engine here!
Oooh, I see your point. It’s a bit tough to make cause our engine generate games that are compatible with mobile out of the box, and I’d have to account for that too, but it’s doable.
Question: would’t it be annoying if the text box had different heights for different ammounts of text?
One more thing, could you maybe post this here so that the community can also participate in the discussion?
Okay, I did not expect this.
Really nice twist. Also I loved the puzzles. One thing I would recommend is to add a tilemap, which shows exactly where you can enter and exit the room. In the second to last room, it took me a while until i realized I could actually walk to the right into the next room.
Except for that, amazing game. Good job!
Thanks a lot for the revew and kind words! I agree, I should have made floor tiles with arrows to indicate where there’s a door or passage. Thank you very much, also, come join our community, we’d love to see new games made with TRS!
I had a lot of fun playing it, and I absolutely loved the narrative as well.
Thank you very much!
Great job building your own game engine! The narrative was good, and I loved the little rpg-like style! The pixel art was a very great attempt at making the game kinda retro-y, but I would suggest picking more colors as sometimes they blend together and make different things hard to distinguish from one another. Personally, I think that the 'theme fit' that the comment section mentioned doesn't matter too much as it was stated that loosely fitting games are ok in this jam, which clearly is what this game is! Very well done :)
Thank you so much for playing all the way to the end, and thank you for the kind words and understanding my direction in realation to the theme. I know it can be underwhelming for people when the theme is not gameplay based, but that’s what I managed to do with my engine, and I really wanted to make the game using my own engine. Also I’d be really happy to see you again making games with Tiny RPG Studio. If you do, post it on a thread and I’ll be sure to check it out
It's an interesting gimmick that you put in the end! I didn't feel like the gameplay fit the count down theme very well and it felt like I just played a normal puzzle game with a clever twist at the end. The plot / premise did fit, I just feel like there were some missed opportunities to make the gameplay fit better with the count down mechanic of the "bomb" at the end.
One issue I have with this game is the puzzle design. There are zero indication for when there's another room on the sides, so I went into the room after the 3rd wall was introduced and I was stuck for about 4-5 minutes because I was under the impression that there aren't any more rooms on the sides. Until I randomly stumbled on it and then solved really quickly, which felt unfair since there should be some sort of indication that there are valid rooms, either by the level design (like how previous levels did, a gap in a wall). Additionally when I went into the first room I didn't know what I was doing since I could push the chair around but I didn't know where to, until I saw the sprite on the top right and realised it was a button, then the levels afterwards became quite simple. Still, the puzzles were fun to solve!
I liked the narrative quite a bit. The fourth wall break (& also literally breaking the random fourth wall in the game) is quite interesting and deleting the wall in the Editor is an interesting gimmick. And then speedrunning through the game after deleting the wall is a nice touch as well.
The custom game engine is quite ambitious! I really liked the premise and the final gimmick. I feel like some more polishing and a gameplay gimmick that fits the count down theme better would make the game shine. Of course the narrative and theme of the game fits, but I don't feel the pressure during the gameplay. Still, it's a fun experience with a clever gimmick at the end!
Thanks a lot for such detailed feedback!
The theme was definitely approached more through the story than through the gameplay. Mark Brown mentioned that the jam theme could be interpreted in a very open and flexible way, so I decided to follow that direction. Also, my engine does not have any built-in countdown system, and I really wanted to use it to make the game, so I focused on the narrative interpretation instead.
I completely agree with your criticism of the puzzle level design. It was not clear enough where passages or doors were located, and I also should have visually differentiated doors opened by keys from doors activated by pressure plates. Those clues should have been communicated much better through the pixel art itself.
As for speedrunning the game after removing the wall, that is one way to finish it again—but theoretically, you could even reposition the player in the editor so the game starts right next to the bomb, hahaha.
Thank you again for the thoughtful feedback and for the kind words about the narrative, the engine, and the final gimmick. I really appreciate it!
Also, I’d be super thrilled if you came back to Tiny RPG Studio. Our community would love to see some new people and new games!
Breaking the fourth wall to solve cross room puzzles using the custom engine editor is such a clever narrative twist!
Makes me really happy to read these kinds of reviews! Reassures that I really did something right :) I hope you liked the engine aswell and come back to Tiny RPG Studio, our community would be happy to see some new users and games made with it!
I really enjoyed the puzzles, and the ending was quite nice too! Awesome game
Thank you for playing all the way to the end!
This was a really fun entry!
Thank you very much!
Very fun and creative way of playing! i did not really felt the theme had a big impact but i must say i enjoyed the little twist at the end!
Great job nonetheless
Thank you very much! Yes, my implementation of the theme was more story based than mechanics based, but I guess it works for the jam. Really glad you enjoyed it!
my keys look different^^
nice little game tho and cool twist at the end
I should’ve made it clearer that those are key cards xD you’re not the first to be confused. Thank you so much, really happy you enjoyed it!
The ending is amazing but didnt really feel the count down from the bomb through the game
Thank you very much! I know, the theme was more lore based, than mechanic based, but since Mark said that the interpretation and use of the theme can be broad, I went with it. I hope you come back to Tiny RPG Studio, our community would be happy to see some new users and games made with it!
Fun little sokoban game, but didn't expect to see a custom engine game in a 4 day jame, that is super cool! I saw there were a lot of other games in the engine in there, love that you can edit levels and stuff too. Great work :)
Thank you very much! The engine has been in development for quite some time now (since november), I just used it to make my game for the jam (the engine wasn’t made in 4 days, but the game was). I’m really glad you liked it, maybe your next prototype, or even finished game, could be made with Tiny RPG Studio!
Okay not what I expected, even though it was pretty direct with the fourth wall call out. I thought it was a good enough time, but I didn’t expect that cross room puzzle near the end. Really liked that. Also a neat way to shout out the engine in a way that still felt genuine.
Thank you so much. I’m really passionate about my tiny engine and I felt like I could both contribute to GMTK while also showing what my engine is capable and inviting people to check it out without it feeling lame, or too forced. Your feedback makes me really happy because it reassures I did it in a fun way rather than annoyingly spamming my project. Also, I invite you to come join our small but thriving community of Tiny RPG Studio users! Maybe your next prototype, or even finished game, could be made with it!
Ok the plot twist is genuinely cool, and what a smart ad for your own engine! Very well played !
Thank you so much, I’m really really glad you enjoyed, I was afraid people might find it lame, but to my surprise many folks liked it. And since you did, come join our small but thriving community of Tiny RPG Studio users!
u made your own engine SO COOL!
Thank youuuu!!! Come join our community of Tiny RPG Studio users! We have threads suggesting improvements and new features everyday!
I really liked the sprites, they were cute. Cool game. I would make it so that you can see where the doors are and you don't have to guess, I accidentally restarted my rooms a few times ;-;
Thank you very much! I agree, should have made floor tiles with arrows to indicate entrances and doors.
Loved the artwork and story telling, while I am still trying to figure out how that thing is a key :) Enjoyed the way you placed the tutorial in the gameplay itself. One improvement I would suggest is to have a better clue on where the doors to go back are, I was hitting every wall to find it. Great job, the custom game engine is crazy.
Thank you very much! It’s a key card (should’ve made this clearer xD). I agree, I should have made custom floor tiles with arrows that indicate doors, or entrances, will definitely add that after the jam. Really glad you enjoyed the engine, come join our community of Tiny RPG Studio users!