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A jam submission

Spectral RootsView game page

A Game Boy narrative adventure. Explore an abandoned house and uncover the spectral truth of your past.
Submitted by LaFilleDuCode
Rated by 29 people so far
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Spectral Roots's itch.io page

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How does your game meet GBJam's theme
In the game, the "Old Gold" is not physical treasure, but the priceless memories and legacy left behind by the player's deceased parents:
1. The old diary left open in the library.
2. The family portrait revealing the protagonist's forgotten origin.
3. The ancestral house itself, kept and passed down to the player as an unexpected inheritance.

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Comments

Submitted (1 edit)

I could only start thanks to the comments explaining what buttons to press, since one of the buttons you have to press isn't listed in the controls for the game. I'd consider adding something in the description to help others get past the main menu.

The dialogue boxes were pretty clean, but other than that there isn't much to say. Polishing up what you have and then adding more to the story/adding more to do could lead to something good, though!

Submitted(+1)

For anyone with issues, on both Firefox and Opera at least for me, you have to press the up arrow and then E to start the game, even though it visually breaks the menu.

I liked the interpretation of the theme, and the graphics were cute along with the color choice. I wish there was some music to accompany it as it would elevate it, along with more gameplay, but I'm guessing that came down to time. Nice little game.

Submitted(+1)

Short and sweet, but I really liked the idea of treating old memories and family history as the “Old Gold.”

The house perspective is neat, and it’s especially cool that this is running as an actual Game Boy game. Cute story with a nice theme.

Submitted(+1)

It was hard getting this to run, pressing start doesn't actually start the game. It was fairly short but the visuals definitely yell gameboy. I'd appreciate if you gave our team a rating as well!

Submitted(+1)

It is a puzzle to run this game :) Very interesting interpretation of a theme, I like it. Please provide instructions next time on how to run the game not in a browser ;)

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I couldn't get it to run on the website at all, but I downloaded it and ran it in a Gameboy emulator, where it worked fine.  (In fact, I was very impressed that it's *actually* a fully-functioning Gameboy game, not just a simulation.

It's sweet, but very short.  Short is not bad, but it's maybe *too* short, with barely any substance.  (Compare, for example, Heirloom, which was also a really short narrative adventure about family, but it still required searching through multiple rooms of the small house to find everything)

There is the beginnings of a nice little story here, but it just gets to the end too quickly.  I would love to see an expanded version with more rooms, where getting to the picture takes more effort.

Submitted

so sorry, i couldnt get it to run at all :/ if you could help me out i'll give it a try and a rating!

/jam/gbjam-14/rate/5018312

Developer

If you get stuck on the New Game page and it tells you there’s no save, it’s probably due to your web browser.

Submitted(+1)

Had some trouble starting it in the browser, but I love the perspective idea

Submitted

There isn't anything here to really comment on as I got to the "thanks for playing" screen in roughly 10 seconds. I did kinda like the perspective view of the inside of the house though

Submitted(+1)

The concept is there, but it seems to have needed some more time to come together.

Could've really explored into a whole mess of emotions with further development.

Submitted(+1)

I was really excited to explore the haunted house! It's a shame it ended so quickly.

Submitted(+1)

For those having trouble with this game, you need to press up to get the menu to actually take you to the menu.
Game is pretty barebones but it had an interesting idea.
Really wish there is more cause I wanted to see more of this big old house but an experience.

Submitted

Unfortunately I couldn't start it after a few tries

Submitted(+1)

you have to press up to get it to open

Submitted(+1)

Getting it started was a bit of a process, but I managed and was treated was a short and sweet little story. Thanks for your submission!

Submitted(+1)

The title screen was a bit buggy but I got through it with a good bunch of mashing. Cute little game!

Submitted(+1)

He's just a little goober! Good work!

Submitted(+1)

I luckily did see this comment about not being able to play the game, so did use Z and E to play, short but good narrative! What I mostly find impressive is that you did actually make the game through GB studio? Very impressive, very hard to make an actual Gameboy rom!

Submitted

I think maybe the browser version has an issue- I can't get past the title screen!

Developer (1 edit)

To start the game you have to press Z (physical layout) to make the menu pop up, and then press E.