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Beautiful. Just beautiful. This is a stellar example of "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". The story is simple, yet very powerful.  The use of the theme to use kindness to bring color back into someones life is very sweet and I think there's not enough of this kind of message in present-day media.

In terms of mechanics/gameplay, I was wondering at first like "Oh why are my footsteps not disappearing?". It wasn't until I finally offered my heart to someone and when the MC and the other person returned to the starting point that it dawned me as I saw the path I traveled on turn into a branch of a tree. I think this is a pretty unique mechanic and I think makes it that much more personal for the player.

Art is simple, but honestly I think that it works. Again it's one of those games where I feel the gameplay and story speaks volumes. I actually think it hit a lot harder seeing the colors of a tree emerge from the darkness.

The Good

• Unique gameplay element
• Simplicity is best
• Heartwarming
• Very good message

The Eh (things i wish were in the game)

• I can't think of anything else I could want in this game. It's a very symbolic piece and I'm happy with the way it is.

The Bad

• Just a game-breaking glitch that happens when I go back to a previous tree, press collect fruit and then switch back to the present tree branch. The player doesn't spawn in and I can no longer move. But I know you'll be able to fix it.

In conclusion, beautiful submission. Overall beautiful gameplay with a fantastic story. Just flesh out that one bug and I think it should be fine. This definitely deserves more ratings. Great job, can't wait to see what you do next.

So I feel the gameplay is pretty solid albeit maybe with some more effects and UI stuff. It's a straightforward dungeon crawler and I think there's a lot of solid potential here.

As for the critique, I think the theme could've been implemented better as it kind of feels like I'm obliged to give something to the character. Whereas in generosity it stems from selflessness and kindness.

Art is pretty neat! Love the design of the monsters and the player

The Good

• Dungeon-size
• Decent combat mechanics
• Good game loop

The Eh (things i wish were in the game)

• Kinda wish it had sound effects of some sort, or music.
• Variations of dungeons with different decorations.

The Bad

• Wish there was better implementation of the theme of Generosity.

In conclusion, not too bad of a submission. Just implement the theme a little better and I honestly think you're set. (Also I'm not sure if combat/violence stuff is allowed in submissions, but I think a suggestion would be like he "gives" a part of himself to purify the enemies?)

Heyo! Balint here, just gave your game a rating, absolutely beautiful game by the way. Here's the game that me and my team made:

/jam/tgcxcoreblazer/rate/3604076

I gotta say, I loved y'alls approach with nature and the idea that you get what you give. It's a beautiful and heartwarming story that I think everyone should play. I also love that color slowly returns to the landscape when you bring the forest creatures back to the middle of the forest (it's a similar thing we did for our game). Overall, I love what this represents. We always need to strive to give back, show kindness to others and keep that positive cycle going.

Mechanics-wise, everything worked as intended, with no bugs being present in the gameplay. Though short, I think it's one of those story experiences that are perfectly fine just being sweet and short. The art strikes a wonderful balance between beautiful and cuteness with the character design and the design of the forest. I think the only things that I feel was off was maybe the widget being far off from the creatures and should be placed closer, but I think that's just a personal thing. Loved the use of dialogue boxes and a choice system.

The Good

• Map-Size
• Astounding art/design
• Short and sweet
• Good message

The Eh (things i wish were in the game)

•  I can't really think of much else I'd want in the game. It achieves its purpose quite well. Maybe more creatures? Or like when you press "Follow" or "Hold hand" it does a thing where you can lead them manually back to the middle of the forest.

The Bad

• Virtually nothing

In conclusion, marvelous submission. I can't wait to see what you all do next.

So first things first I want to address the overall aspect of the game I feel is important, I think the idea of bringing players together to help create something that's beautiful holds a great meaning and is ESPECIALLY important nowadays. You tie in the theme of the game outstandingly as you literally give to others your generosity/kindness of helping watering plants and saving plants from decay (via acts of kindness). This is a prime example of a game that is straight to the point, simple, yet very powerful.

Mechanics-wise, everything worked as intended and flowed very nice. I think the "coming back the next day" aspect is a really cool addition to the game as it kind of makes you want to come back to tend to your plants and also simulates actual plant-growth. I think there was a small thing where sometimes I have to move to a spot a certain way in order for the red circle to go white to dig, plant or whatever. I don't know if it's built to where I have to actually point in the direction of where the plot of land is and if it is that's definitely cool and works as it should, if not I think that's the only thing really I saw that only ever so slightly interrupted the flow.

The Good

• Communal forest
• Overall map-size
• Simple, yet effective gameplay
• Very heartwarming to play

The Eh (things i wish were in the game)

• I think it would be cool if the outside map world had more like empty nature with the playing area having dirt-like colors or textures. I think it would add an additional level of immersion.
• This is me just being astoundingly nitpicky and to be fair we were given only so much time, but I'm a big sucker for custom characters. I think it would be awesome to have.

The Bad

• Virtually nothing

In conclusion, fantastic submission. I hope this finds a Steam release one day.

Balint here! In addition to being the programmer, I was also the composer for my team's game, Joy the Paperboy.

Due to time constraints, I was only able to get one song out (the main theme). Prior to this game jam I have not made music in almost 4 years maybe more. From the way that the game started to turn out, I decided to do a little bit of research on how I wanted the main track to sound like for the final deliverable. I ended up being heavily inspired by this one game called Before Your Eyes, and the atmospheric music in Breath of the Wild.

Feeling inspired, I booted up FL Studio and began to work. I had multiple iterations of how I wanted the main chord progression to sound like, but eventually I settled on one that I felt was the most atmospheric and conveyed the feeling of the game going from melancholic to happy.  I was also inspired by the friendship and kindness that my friends displayed to me which inspired me to entitle the track youfeellikehome (which is also to an extent what the game is about).

I hope you all enjoy the music as well as the game :)

/jam/tgcxcoreblazer/rate/3604076

Hey everyone, my name's Balint (discord: kenjididit)! I'm the programmer and lead developer for my team's game Joy the Paperboy. Hope you guys check it out and have fun! (There is a minor bug that is present in the game that slipped by me for the final build, but the game DOES play through all the way)

Now that development for the jam is over, how are you guys feeling? Anything you learned? Anything you wish you did differently? Cool stuff that you did for your game?

Feel free to put in any critiques and other game-related comments down here.