The moody walkup to the bar in the fog with the music in the distance that suddenly stops when you open the doors got me good lol. I didn't end up needing the gun once... Peace is the noblest pursuit... Short and sweet and I only died once from bumping into strangers. On my second run I made a beeline for objectives and won. Took me a minute to complete the last steps cause I didn't quite get the fire pit bit but I figured it out. Great work!
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Wander Inn's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #7 | 3.536 | 3.923 |
| Visuals | #13 | 3.536 | 3.923 |
| Overall | #14 | 3.190 | 3.538 |
| Engagement | #14 | 2.843 | 3.154 |
| Theme Usage | #16 | 3.051 | 3.385 |
| X Factor | #17 | 2.982 | 3.308 |
Ranked from 13 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
Big fan of the look and feel of the game! The difficulty is pretty swingy depending on if you know where everything is, though. My first play I lost because it felt like anyone drawing on you was guaranteed damage, and wandering around for too long it ended up feeling like getting shot at was unavoidable. My second attempt, though, I knew all the objectives and where all the coins were, which meant that I was able to fly through it without anyone getting aggressive.
It was nice to have to objectives listed in the upper right, but they seemed a bit inconsistent - talking to the guy with the cigarette without any money on hand seems to dismiss the quest prompt to get a cigarette, and sometimes it seemed like objectives I'd already completed would pop up again? For example, if I don't have money to tip the piano player, and then use the phone and pick up the coin there, then use that to tip the piano player, the objective to use the phone returns. Other than that, the only thing that was unclear to me was lighting the signal - I didn't realize the signal was to light the fire, and I also didn't recognize that the fire pit was a fire pit right away. Maybe some burning embers in it or something would make that more clear?
Also when I launch the game, for some reason SteamVR opens. I have no idea why that is lol.
Thanks for the feedback! You definitely hit the nail on the head in terms of the difficulty of my game, this game was really ambitious for me, so I really didn't have time to find a good balance of difficulty.
The task list was my first attempt at something like that and I would probably do it differently now. What I did was make the current task fade out when completed and the next one fade in, however I was in such a rush I didn't add any logic for repeated tasks or doing tasks out of order.
I did have the thought that the bonfire would be hard to identify as such and I am kicking myself for not adding better lighting in that outside section of the map. I also made the task read "light the beacon" to try and fit with the idea you are trying to alert your ship to your location.
Also the steam VR thing is because I used an old first person template for a different project that Unreal engine by default has VR support for, I thought I had gutted all the VR functionality out, so thanks for letting me know about that lol!
Thanks for taking the time to play it!
Super cute! Great visuals and audio- the chunky pixel style with 2D sprites in a 3D environment added to the charm (plus, the classic rotating effect of the sprites fit in perfectly with the sensation of everyone at the bar staring at you). I also appreciated how straightforward the objectives were- having them listed in the top right made reaching the conclusion very manageable. I think the approach is considered on-the-nose at times, but I'll gladly take that over more ambiguous approaches. I do agree with some of the comments regarding soft-locking, and the gameplay is a bit limited, but it serves its purpose and the experience as a whole is nice and self-contained.
Interesting game! Art and sound are both very charming and the overall vibe is great. I liked the premise of going around and finding bits of change to get by, and using two items in a creative way to solve the puzzle. However, it was frustrating to get into dead runs due to running out money. I bought a drink and give the piano a tip because thats what the task list said to do, but that leads to an unwinnable situation from my playthroughs. I was able to reach the conclusion through experimentation which was rewarding, but the object list being a red herring of sorts did feel like an unfair situation. Would have rather just be told nothing and let the experimentation lead the way. I did also like the shooting mechanic and keeping it as a strict defense move for when someone strikes first, however it just didn't feel like it was tied to the rest of the game too much? Other than that nice work, solid game!
Thanks for playing! Sorry some of the coins are a bit hard to find (chalk that up to me being bad a lighting). It unfortunately fell out of scope for me to tie the shooting mechanic into the game more so I settled into trying to make it feel like an old west quick draw. Thanks for the great feedback!
I really like the art style :D and the voice lines were stim worthy!! Was just hard to figure out how to beat the game, wish we knew since we wanted to see the rest of it. This game is #relatable
This is very charming! The 2d in 3d look is cute in of itself but they way everyone turns to look at you really sells this feeling of being a stranger in a small town and everyone is suspicious of you; it's a really nice bit of resonance. The voice lines are pretty fun too.
Unique premise. I enjoyed the dialogue and tipping the piano player, always gotta tip your artists! However the game's too hard, I couldn't tell who was gonna aggro until they already shot me. I like the bitcrushed spatial audio too.





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