What an interesting concept, using your own deaths to progress the levels, though you have to be very precise, as the game same, it's unforgiving out there. Also the music was very calm. Great work!
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Heartstrung's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Narrative | #1001 | 3.455 | 3.455 |
| Creativity | #1896 | 3.818 | 3.818 |
| Audio | #1942 | 3.327 | 3.327 |
| Enjoyment | #2178 | 3.455 | 3.455 |
| Artwork | #2792 | 3.491 | 3.491 |
Ranked from 55 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?
You have a limited number of lives as a resource, counting down until game over.
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
See description for full credits
(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Fresh
Comments
I really liked the narrative sections and the calming text, it saved me from raging thanks to my bad platforming.
Submitted
Click ClockThat was clevel mechanic! It reminded me of Mortol from UFO50. You should definitely check that out if you dont know it already. I also loved the theming of the whole thing: the philosophy, limited palette and general atmosphere really worked well all in all. Truly one of the best executions of the theme in platformers so far!
Submitted
Mr. Topps Electric GauntletClever! I struggled a lot on the spike maze, it's pretty tight quarters to maneuver in. I did like the puzzle with detonating the bomb to turn your corpse into a raft. The sounds are nice and punchy - landing on those spikes makes you wince!
Submitted
50,000 Final BreathsGreat entry!
I love this concept and execution. You've got really good taste in making games, especially with the story beginning.
The big countdown is sooo cool and creates great emotions. Using the corpses of your previous life to move on is such a good mechanic.
Congratulations on your submission!
Submitted
Incremental Star Cityplayed this one for a while! figuring out that i could use my dead bodies to help with completing puzzles was great! i had a lot of fun figuring out what else they could do. the one part where i had to die to spikes above and push my body down to press a button was great.
Submitted
POPUP://TOWERReally awesome entry! The core mechanic of using your past dead bodies as physical puzzle pieces is super clever and perfectly fits the theme and completely different than what we did! The atmosphere and fourth-wall-breaking narration gave me huge Undertale vibes and kept me hooked despite how challenging it gets. The movement controls and hitboxes can feel a little heavy or floaty at times, and the glowing character occasionally gets lost against white backgrounds, but it's a beautifully moody and complete experience. Great job! :D
Submitted
Beat The Count DownLoved the game, such a unique and creative take on the theme, counting down your lives as physical pieces of the puzzle. I'm giving this a 5/5 for creativitiy ! The puzzles were also really tricky and engaging to solve !
Submitted
Exploding ChickensReally enjoyed this one, but the spike section feels very difficult contrary to the rest of the game, and more about precision than puzzle solving. Still enjoyed it though!
Submitted
Die, HardenCool game! Really interesting… I’ve seen a lot of “die to continue” games so the gameplay isnt super different but the theming and the dialogue is so cool. I really like the themes of this work!
Submitted
09 Days Till AnnihilationAt first I was gonna compare this game to Bloodbound (from this same jam) but NOPE, similar takes with very different approaches. I enjoyed this greatly.
I get the 1bit look tho I would recommend doing some refining on white character on white background, I think hinders the gameplay without adding to an actually needed difficulty.
Submitted
Space BarbarianGreat job! I like when games use something punishing like dying and turn it into a game mechanic. Clever take on the theme.
Submitted
Tile Zero (GMTK2026)really clever level design in this, it was a cool feeling to do something with less "lives" in subsequent runs because I found a new path or mechanic
Submitted
Hare TriggerGood concept with good execution! Loved the vibe and the ambience, using your last death as a stepping stone is always an idea I’ve loved! Unfortunately I haven’t completed it yet (writing this in 4 in the morning) I really like it alongside the narration ^V^, also i liked the feeling of just dying and hoping whatever you just did actually was worth it
Submitted
[Program Tester]Really nice game, with solid visuals and audio! Using your dead bodies as game pieces is always a nice concept, and absolutely well executed here :D
Some feedback I gathered while playing:
- I am nervous and twitchy, I would love to be able to speed up or skip some of the text xD (especially after failing)
- Having a bright glowing character against white environment makes it hard to spot your character sometimes.
- While I like the impact and size of the countdown counter, this is the only case where a modern/not pixelated font was used, right? The font felt a bit like it belongs to a different game imo, so maybe something a bit more coherent would fit better? Unless this is the whole intention of course :)
- Keep holding the bomb after dying feels a bit buggy imo
- Very personal point, I don't like jumps without hang time (so basically the instant downward movement after letting go), it always feels a bit rough, and slightly imprecise to me. But other people like it, and it is also an stylistic choice, just putting that here ;)
But generally really nice, and well fitted to the theme, good job! :D
Submitted
Star GrabberI really appreciate the detailed and honest feedback! You’re definitely right on most counts. The controls I should’ve polished a bit more, and the character isn’t really visible in front of the door, but I didn’t know a good way to solve that.
The death font is intentional, but I understand it feels out of place. Death and failure does evoke that feeling in life, doesn’t it :)
But tysm for playing, and I’m happy you enjoyed it <3 I loved your game so it’s really high praise!
so i kind of beat it?? first thing, it was really fun, i didn't get the whole "your death markers are objects" thing at first but once i understood that it was really fun piecing together what i had to do.
so basically, i got every key and the only way i could go back to the start with the final key was to die, but i only had one life left. as a last resort i killed myself and it seemingly caused a game over screen, but then i hit "e" on my keyboard and it started the win text to start appearing AT the same time as the game over text lol. it was quite funny but i'll take it as a win kind of? i dunno, either way nice game and nice primary mechanic :)
Submitted
Sorcery Inc.
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