I mean there's just nothing to say... this feels like a niche Nintendo DS that you try to recommend to everyone you know (this is the biggest compliment I can give).

This is such an elegant and amazing concept for a mini game collection, the amount of polish is insane.

Kudos to the artists, this game is simply gorgeous and the soundtrack is simply masterful.

I am beyond impressed.

Very pretty, the visuals and audio are extremely well polished.
:)

My only grievances are with some of the mechanics:
1) I did not enjoy the grab and wiggle - it felt very repetitive, and was the most common issue (it also trigger my wrist and should RSI; but that's much more of a "me" thing);
2) I don't think the pipes should have ends that go nowhere - it's confusing, and I had to learn by trial and error what the intended solution was (I also think the straight pipes should go either way);
3) in general, I found the game harder and more punishing than I expected - I'd rather fix everything once (or twice) and move than, rather than wait around, *wishing* for rats to destroy stuff (which I should not be rooting for, narrative-wise) so that I can fix the stuff to add to my count to progress (I also felt like the counts were too high considering how repetitive the minigames were);
4) the rat king is too hard IMO and has too much health - my first attempt dragged on and on, just barely coming back from the brink over and over, before finally losing; on my second attempt, I beat him by using a cheese strategy of hiding behind him and smacking (no recoil back there) while ignoring the damage to the clocktower entirely;
5) when time is up, it should interrupt you immediately in-mini-game - multiple times when I failed, I managed to just solve the puzzle a second or two too late, hear the satisfying success noise, and think "oh, I just made it!" before being disappointed;
6) some sort of ending to the narrative would be good - it doesn't even have to be visual, just a paragraph to say whether or not the clocktower settled down permanently, and to say whether the other dolls got back up or not - what would be enough.

That ALL being said, if the minigames got more tuning/playtesting (and there were more of them), and the narrative was expanded, I would absolutely buy this.
The world you have sucked everyone into is too charming not to.
I want to see more of Hickory and the other dolls - a lot more; and I'm prepared to pay to get it.

this is super well made for a game jam game it's sooooooooo polish and fun

Such a beautifully made game, great job to you and your team. The mini-games and overall game feel are excellent, and tying the player's speed and health to the timer is a neat concept.

Though the speed decrease feels more like a frustrating penalty rather than an engaging mechanic. I know doing minigames restores your time/health/speed, but if you drop too low, it creates a "death spiral". By the time you hit the last 10 seconds, you are so slow that if you aren't already right next to a minigame, you simply can't move to one. It basically means the timer effectively ends at 10 seconds, not 0.

I also encountered a bug during the Rat King fight: there was no debris left during the cog cleanup minigame, but the minigame didn't end so I got stuck. next time I did not encounter it.

Also sometimes I just got stuck on the level geometry, maybe the top down movement needs a bit of polish.

Nonetheless, amazing job, pulling a game this beautiful requires a lot of coordination with that team size, I really enjoyed the game and finished it, really great work overall.

So AMAZING! The levels, the mechanic, the art and music! It is soooo good! God Job! you deserve it!

So beautiful, you guys have done an amazing job!  The different art styles blend together perfectly.  I had a little trouble with the attack and interact button being the same (trying to swing at a rat and getting sucked into a minigame) so maybe it could be an idea to make these different buttons?  Otherwise no notes!

rats!

lovely little game, fan of the artwork, the little minigames are neat to interact with, and enjoy the bit of narrative in the background. i especially like the rendering work on the machinery bits, the artwork for the startscreen, and the little environmental lighting details. even the itch thumbnail and title font are great! i really like the music especially on the startscreen as well! very pretty presentation overall. i like the mechanic of slowing down as the clock slows as well, it helps you feel your 'hp' without needing to look at the ui, and really puts the pressure on those close calls which you're rushing to fix things before your time ticks out. all the ui bits and the little details there were very pleasant too though! im also a fan of the little behind-the-scenes put in; always nice to see the process :)

if i had any small nitpicks, in the starting cutscene, it'd be nice to be able to speedup or move along the opening without skipping the whole thing (i accidentally skipped it the first time and had to reload!). some of the boxy collision, like the bell, felt a bit unintuitive. a sprint would have been nice, not necessary at all but would feel good to have control of. the rats were a little finnicky to hit sometimes because of the hitbox and the fact that fixing is the same key. but these are all just small things, not unexpected in a jam - overall i had a very nice little time with this! great work!

Really cool story and art! It reminds me of the game we submitted for last year gmtk! 

Very easy to follow what you have to do and how to keep going. The only thing I don't get is what the time slowing is supposed to do, looks like is just telling you that you are about to lose. 

Oh, that's a very impressive work, both in terms of the storyline and various elements.

Just a pure pleasure discovering this game! A huge congrats for the work done. The mood is great and I love the gameplay! Congrats!

This game is really perfect for this jam: 

- He completely fills out the subjet and has really written the story about it.

- The page is beautiful and all the game’s illustrations are sublime.

- The music just sounds incredible! And participate fully as the immersion in history! 

- The game is very clear, the mechanics are well explained, so we can handle it easily! 

A sublime game!

Unbelievably polished, a fantastic experience all around. Great music and art, an interesting world concept, fun gameplay & variety - I'm seriously so impressed.

Absolutely stunning and polished experience!

I really hate those rats and chasing them was one of the most frustrating things I have done in this game jam.

Having said this.... What an awesome job! the look & feel is on point. The art looks very good (and is simple). The gameplay is fun. There is a very clear narrative that also covers really well the gamejam theme.

Excellent job!

W game

🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀/🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀

This game is a wonderful little work of art and I greatly enjoyed playing!!