Play World
Stories From the Near Lands's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Storytelling/History | #1 | 4.125 | 4.375 |
| Execution | #5 | 3.771 | 4.000 |
| Overall | #7 | 3.653 | 3.875 |
| Vibe/Atmosphere | #9 | 3.536 | 3.750 |
| Cohesion | #9 | 3.653 | 3.875 |
| Uniqueness/Originality | #11 | 3.418 | 3.625 |
| Incorporation of Theme | #12 | 3.418 | 3.625 |
Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Music and stories from a land rich with natural beauty, intrigue, demon raids, and gambling.
Demonstrate that this is your own work
These words and sounds were lovingly written in or on a variety of hotel rooms, bars, restaurants, and couches as well as my home studio in Austin during the summer of 2026.
Discord Tag
World Building
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Comments
Very cool work!! Love the harmonies, textures, atmosphere and instruments in the music, they go perfect with the narrative concept and images, this is very solid and awesome, great work!! absolutely 5/5
This is amazing! The history of the Near Lands really gives a great feel and is an amazing exposition to the music and the story. The short stories are amazing and link together really well and just leave wanting more. The church of Salda kind of reminds me of the Church in His Dark Materials, and the element of Fluxstone has so much potential there, it's just a *flux*mine of stories there to be discovered (get it? hahaha). You developed the characters very well, and it's just a great look into their world in these.
As for the music, it's also great! I love how in the Cael Canopy for example, you used some sort of wind instrument and strings which gives a really nice and nature-y feel to the music.
The jazziness of Valen Shadows really portrays that vibe of the casinos and bars really well and the strings under that are quite pleasant too.
Some small feedback points I have is that the calmer tracks, like Cael Canopy, just don't feel right with the percussion there, as I would describe the percussion as fairly upbeat in that track.
Also, I think making each of tracks even MORE distinct from each other would really emphasise the difference between the cities and I think, make the world much more special (not because your world is generic, but as in giving it a REALLY unique vibe). Maybe you could lean more into the jazziness of Valen, more ambience for Cael, a bit more cheekiness for Salsa, etc.
Overall though, amazing work, the short stories are really good and if you choose to expand on this world, I would love to see it!
I really liked how you introduced your world through the writing, and I think having “Near Lands History” as the main script for the submission worked really well. The text is really well structured and establishes the foundations of your world very solidly, while leaving the possibility of diving deeper into that world through “Shifted Short Stories.” These stories give real depth to the cities by telling them through the perspective of characters who actually live in each one. In my opinion, the writing in these stories has a great narrative flow, while also adding an extra layer to the atmosphere of Near Lands that cannot really be perceived in “Near Lands History.”
The introduction of the fluxstone, especially with the fact that it comes from an unknown world, opens up an immense amount of potential for continuing to develop your world. When I saw how fluxstone is used for Berken’s technology, it reminded me, with its obvious differences, of how Hextech harnesses magic in Arcane.
Regarding the tracks, I liked how you managed to create that chaotic sense of diversity that you would expect from a living city. It genuinely feels like you are right in the middle of a great city, immersed in its energy and constant activity. In my opinion, though, I think it would have been interesting to differentiate the tracks of Berken, Valen, and Salda much more, in order to better represent the geographical and cultural differences between them, much like you did with “Cael Canopy.”
Personally, I really liked the description of Cael’s fortress, and in general everything related to it. I especially liked how strongly it differs from the rest of the cities, how its people live in harmony with their surroundings, and how, on top of everything else, they are also the silent protectors of the world.
Cool job! I am afraid I won't have the time to read all your short stories before the deadline with enough detail to judge properly, so these are my impressions of just the world and the music. I really appreciate the great detail you put in your creation, describing the societies and the interactions between the four cities and how they play a part in the events happening in your world. The music accompanying each of the settings was also very cool, and it was really surprising to me to experience for the first time a more or less typical fantasy setting but with a jazzy vibe!!! I must confess, though (but take into account this is because my musical ear training leaves much to be desired), that many of the harmonic subtleties of your arrangements were probably lost to me, and this resulted in the four cities all sounding a bit similar.
Overall, I had a really pleasant time with your entry, and your work felt very polished and complete.
I appreciate it! I was enjoying myself a bit much and didn't intend for those stories to be QUITE so long, so I wouldn't expect anyone to read them all, honestly... Hopefully the "brief history" is enough to get the vibe. The music was supposed to be the focal point for this particular project, anyway!
Proper easy listening, complete with real jazz chords! Plus... entire short stories?! Great submission.
Loved the combo of the old rompler sounds together with proper samples and live recorded parts, the mix was great + just a nice laid back vibe in all of them.
The short stories following a different characters perspective were cool, having a robbery done in the previous chapter discussed by other characters after the fact is always great and one of the fun parts books like the A Song Of Ice and Fire series.
Can't really say more, really good stuff!