This is AMAZING game design!!! Also… when I read a Kidna pper say “ All that shivering is PISSING me off” I must have fallen off my chair because THAT WAS A DARK LINE TO READ, Friend! faints again

this is so well made! i love the stressful vibe of the game, and it was good enough to reach the ending! the gameplay is a bit bugged, like i once was talking to someone and a guy in the back kidnapped the kid in the middle of the dialogue, and the fact that it's almost impossible to understand who is evil and who is good. very well made! 

I love yours art and it's so cool to play. The vibe that's really scare me.

The idea and the premise are so unique. And the sound effects were nerve wracking. 

Really GREAT game

Really cool idea for a game! I think there should be some clues about which stranger is good or bad. Maybe the way that they walk? The anxiety meter goes a little bit too fast, but that might be just me.

A gameloop so simple but with so much depth if you wanna make it to the end. Had me strategizing and taking into account where the nearest hiding spot is, where would be a good spot to talk to a stranger etc.
Plus the pixel art is incredible here.
Really good work!

This has to be one of my favorites. We were planning on making something similar but with social anxiety instead of being a child with rest stops to relax your anxiety. At first i was disappointed there were no clues to look out for to tell a good person from bad. Then i started talking to people only near the hiding spots and managed to get through. This really feels very similar to the kind of games my team makes as well so it felt very nice playing this from that aspect too! Good Luck. Do check our game too we're trying to reach 20 ratings 

Damn its a cool game gameplay is very good nice work

Solid game loop! I got kidnapped at first because I didn't realize kidnappers could be running! I also didn't realize that moving my character left would auto-run. So that was pretty spooky when they got me so fast. Second time around I got home safe. I read your spoiler on a different comment, and I honestly totally missed the mom being gone overall, and the dumpster part. I love that there was a lot of character lore, I should have looked more closely at that end scene!
I thought the writing was really nice, it provided good contrast between the tense walk and warm/friendly characters. I think the experience succeeded with the theme and associated anxiety. The gameplay and level design reminded me of my own experiences walking in a city alone late at night, keeping an eye on my surroundings and noting where my exits (for the game, hiding spots) might be.

This was such a great game! Really polished, especially considering it was made in such a short time. Animations, music, design, everything was top notch. Kudos to you guys for such a great jam entry!!

Such a cute little adventure this was!
The implementation of the theme was perfect, the gameplay was simple yet fun and I absolutely loved the ending!
A tiny little improvement on it would have been a better way to explain how the game works since it was a little bit confusing at first but it got much better when I found out how the game exactly works!
Other than that it was a blast!

This game was such a fun little experience 😭 I honestly wasn’t expecting to get this invested in trying to make it home safely. The whole atmosphere is so good, especially the music and the creepy moments when the shadow people start chasing you. I definitely had a few panic moments trying to figure out how far away I needed to stand before talking to someone 💀

Also the story caught me off guard?? It’s actually really sad once you start thinking about what happened to the kid and his mom. I loved the little details in the world and the animations too.

I feel like there’s so much potential here. Definitely would love to see more streets, characters, story, and maybe some more ways to deal with the shadow people. Overall though, super charming and creepy game!

Very well rounded and polished game. The mechanics took some trial and error. I was too afraid to talk to anyone and only ended up speaking to people at high anxiety at which point, if they were a baddie, I would just lay down and die and I thought "well just guessing incorrectly kills you; that's no fair, gee I sure wish it would just start a chase and you can run away from it". And then I realized that is how that works :D amazing. Loved the art style loved the music and sounds. Game mechanics were solid. There were a few points were I was in one hiding spot and the next spot was right on the edge of the screen and the game kept spawning these s h a d o w  p e o p l e BUT I stuck with it. Took me like a dozen tries? My score is 80. I dunno what counts as a score. Is that good or bad?

I think one thing missing is that it's not specified in the game or the game page description that you need to talk to people to lower your anxiety. I only noticed it after tabbing back to this rating page. 

Also awwww man this kid going back home to his dumpster that's so sad. I read your lore about his mom. Did his mom get kidnapped by these shadow people too? L mom doesn't know how to beat Welcome Home frfr. Jkjk it was a touching story and powerful quote. I guess having more of that lore being in-game would help connect the dots! I had the same problem with my game where I put some cryptic lore hidden in easter eggs in my game but most of it is in my head and the reference is quite obscure 💀

I made it to the end on my fifth try!!! The kid collapsing onto the bed completely exhausted at the end perfectly matched how I was feeling XD

This was such a fun game! It really does make you feel like you can’t trust any stranger you meet on the street. The music and animations made the whole atmosphere even scarier too. The first time one of the bad guys suddenly started running toward me, I was genuinely terrified XD

My strategy for making it home was to make sure there was a trash can behind me, then try talking to strangers from as far away as possible. That way, if they suddenly ran at me and tried to grab me, I could immediately sprint back and jump onto the trash can... It took me a little while to figure out the right distance, but getting the little yellow-hat kid home safely felt SO GOOD.

The art style is super cute! I especially love the artwork for the streets and backgrounds, and even the animations of the kidnappers grabbing you XD

I really wish there were more content because I’d love to play more of this... but MOM, PLEASE STOP FORGETTING TO PICK UP YOUR CHILD!!! 😭😂

The atmosphere in the game is very well done that even I felt anxious myself ngl. Personally felt the game was a little bit too long and would of liked it to be a bit shorter but game is well made good job!

Big fan of the art style and atmosphere! Would have enjoyed having some way to try and determine if a stranger was good or bad beyond talking to them or seeing them running. I ended up just talking to everyone after I discovered you could run and hide from kidnappers. Good job on making the ending feel impactful and bringing some extra meaning to a jam game!

The atmosphere is really nicely done, the sfx and everything gives you the panicky feeling when you encounter a kidnapper. The final stretch when it's an empty long pathway, with the nearest hiding place being miles back makes it that you have to get good rng to get pass the people there. Overall, great game.