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Traces of Home's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio / Sound Design | #9 | 2.679 | 2.679 |
| Gameplay / Fun / Engagement | #11 | 2.679 | 2.679 |
| Overall | #17 | 2.562 | 2.562 |
| Theme | #22 | 2.536 | 2.536 |
| Art Style / Visuals | #28 | 2.357 | 2.357 |
Ranked from 28 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game interpret and use the theme?
Not every long way home is measured in distance. Sometimes the longest journey happens much closer—and returning home means finding what was lost along the way.
Devlog Challenge?
No
Easter Egg Challenge?
No
Did you use Farclip and want to be considered for the Farclip Award? (optional)
No
Game Engine?
Unity
Self-made & used stuff?
Homemade Graphics/Art (e.g. models and/or textures)
Have you joined a game jam before?
Yes
Roughly how much time did you spend developing? (in hours)
40
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Comments
Creative Puzzle Game!
Gameplay was super interesting! I thought the memory aspect of the game was super well done, and I found it to be very addictive. The other half of the game, being the bullet hell portion was also good, but a bit weaker. I found some of the bullet patterns in the 2nd and 3rd section to be a bit unfair, namely the laser beams, and I found it to be a bit frustrating at times. I think simply some balancing tweaks to the bullet patterns would fix all the issues, as the memory section is fantastic in my eyes.
Visually the game was solid! Fairly simplistic but it was still enjoyable to look at! I think potentially add some a cool background to the game, or maybe an overlay effect like a CRT could add a lot to the immersion/atmosphere. Pretty good though!
Audio was great! I enjoyed the simple sound effects and changing of music. No further comments, just very good job!
I thought the theme interpretation was pretty strong! I really enjoy seeing how people interpret the them for puzzle games and I thought this among the most creative, and I understood it instantly!
Overall, among my favorite puzzle games in the jam!
Gameplay / Fun / Engagement: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Art Style / Visuals: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audio / Sound Design: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Theme: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The memory + action idea is really cool. I like that running out of movement doesnt just stop you and instead throws you into a completely different challenge to recover it. It makes the game feel a lot more interesting than a normal maze game.The recovery part gets a bit too difficult later though. Id probably keep the beams fast but make getting hit less punishing. Or give the player a short invincibility time after taking damage so one mistake doesnt turn into multiple hits. A small warning before a beam appears would help too. Maybe the edge could glow for half a second so you know where its coming from.I also think the different chapters need to communicate their new mechanics better. When branching paths and fake routes start appearing it can be hard to tell if something is actually new or if the game just restarted. A small transition like "Chapter 2" and one short line explaining that the maze has changed would fix that without spoiling anything. Branches could also have a tiny visual difference so you notice when the path actually splits.
The story idea fits the theme really well but Id give the player a little bit of context earlier. You dont need to explain everything because the mystery is part of the game. Even a few small hints about who the character is or why these memories matter would make the ending hit harder instead of explaining almost everything only at the end.
For polish Id also improve the purple beams a bit. Some particles when they appear and a stronger hit effect would make the recovery sections feel much better. A proper transition between chapters would be nice too instead of making it look like the game just started again.
Theme is definitely 5/5 for me. Making the long way home more about recovering something that was lost instead of literally travelling a huge distance is a really nice interpretation.
Very interesting idea and theres a lot you could expand here. Mostly Id work on making the later difficulty more fair and making progression between chapters much clearer.
If you have some time please check out my game too! Id really appreciate a rating and some feedback :)
Wow, thank you so much for the detailed review and the ratings! I completely agree with all your points. I’d planned to address some of them, but unfortunately I ran out of time.
Thanks again - feedback like this is worth its weight in gold at game jams :)
It was a very interesting game. I really liked the mechanics and the sound effects. It was a little difficult to understand what I had to do at first, but once I figured it out, I found it quite interesting. It was a bit challenging, but other than that, I thought it was great.
WAIT, THIS IS SUCH A CLEVER MIX OF MEMORY AND ACTION! 🧠⚡🎮
I really like how the theme is interpreted as more than simply traveling a long distance. The idea of recovering what was lost while progressing through the journey gives the game a nice meaning, and combining the memory/puzzle sections with the action gameplay makes each chapter feel like it has its own purpose. The branching routes and later false paths are also a great way to build on the core idea instead of just repeating the same level.
For improvement, I think the recovery minigame could be a little more forgiving, especially as the difficulty increases. Stronger visual/audio feedback when dodging or taking damage could also make those sections feel more responsive. And having the story/context appear a little earlier could help players understand the strange world and the character's journey before reaching the full ending.
REALLY CREATIVE AND WELL-THOUGHT-OUT JAM ENTRY! 🧩🔥🏠 The combination of memory, puzzles, action, and the theme works really nicely. Great job with the homemade art and 40-hour development effort, and good luck with the jam! 🎮✨
Thank you so much for such a detailed and helpful review! Of course, I could have made the game even better, but unfortunately that would have taken more time than I had((
I liked the gameplay, but I think it needs a bit more context. Who is the hero and why is he a square. Why do I have to dodge bullets when I run out of movement? Those are only some of the questions I had! Other than that- having a proper ending screen would be cool.
If you finish all three chapters, you’ll see the ending screen, which explains what’s going on and why))
Really cute and well-rounded game! I really enjoyed it. If you have some time, feel free to try my game too and let me know what you think! :)
Very interesting mechanics.
A bit underwhelming that the game just restarts when you finish the level
Each new level actually adds a mechanic: level two introduces a branching route, and level three adds false paths. The branch doesn’t appear right away in level two, though, so I can see why it might seem like the game simply starts over.
oh, will try playing again then
Now that was a clever concept, the memory game works well and the minigames to recover offer another kind of challenge, it's very well thought out. Good job!
This was really fun and has one of the coolest mechanics ive seen - the recovery of the enery meter by dodging the lasers :D Although i think the third time this happened, it was too difficult! I really love the simplicity of the concept and the way you have interpreted the theme! The interface is very simple an intuitive and the gameplay is also simple but fun and also challenging. The only suggestion i have is to reduce the difficulty of the recovery mechanic or give the player some other way to defend the laser or something as it got really tough an i got stuck in place for a long time! Overall though its a really well implemented idea, well done!
Thanks for playing and for the feedback! It looks like I really did make it too difficult.
Cool idea but the recovery mini-game got too difficult for me and I couldn’t finish the maze.
I like the maze part, and some mini-game to refresh your energy is a fun change of pace, but the purple lines were going way to fast to dodge. I filled maybe 50-70%?
Maybe not losing as much energy on hit if you want to keep the fast pace, or just not speeding them up as much over time?
Wow! The recovery mini-game was actually even harder at first, but I toned it down quite a bit. Did you get stuck on your first recovery, or on the second or third? The difficulty increases with each one, so later recoveries are a bit harder.
Maybe I should have made it more forgiving...
Thanks for giving the game a try and for the feedback!
Nice Job ! i like the concept of puzzle and action game. the visual are nice and love the gameplay. nice work !
A memory puzzle and an action game combined in one is a brilliant idea. Well done.
I had to die the first time to find out how great this game is!
Not really, but that was shocking. The puzzle aspect is really cool, and the visually things look really cool. The purple beams appearing at the edge of the rectangle looks a slightly less polished than the rest of the game.
This is a really solid entry. Congrats!
fantastic game for the theme honestly tho it did get anoying at the end and sometimes i whould not realize its a split path and think its just the fake paths and not know where it split