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Movements are a bit clunky, unfortunately. The game concept is awesome though! Well done!

Really liked the core concept. The visuals are genuinely cute and I like the idea of talking to all the characters to piece together information. My main takeaway is that the pacing feels a bit idle at times, since there's quite a lot of downtime where you don't have much to do. If you can expand on the interactivity and give players more ways to engage with the studio, this could turn into a little gem.

Really cute, great job! I probably would've trimmed the early game just a bit: the first two or three cycles don't have much to offer, but that's just a nitpick. Other than that, the concept is neat, the controls and animations are extremely smooth, and it's a pleasure to play.

That's a really cool idea. I'll definitely use this if I decide to expand the game :D

They never hit you. You lose health when you shoot the black area instead of the number.

Enemies don't attack :D 

You lose health each time you shoot the black area. You lose health with the countdown just in the final level (when it reaches zero and it resets).

Yes I used RPG Maker MZ! It's quite simple, really. I just used two main plugins to pull it off: VisuStella Picture Common Events to simulate the shooting mechanic (enemies are picture events that take damage via Common Events). and MogHunter's Picture Effect to add float/breath animations to pictures.

As always, you prove yourself to be a great puzzle game designer! I haven't finished it yet due to lack of time, but I think I'm getting close to the end. The main mechanic is very fun, and the puzzles have a nice difficulty curve.

I'm not a huge fan of the narrative setting (it felt a bit random to me) but I really like the characters. I probably would've avoided pixel movement, though, since the core mechanics are tile-based. The graphics in a few spots (windows, icons, and fonts) could also use some polish, but for a game jam, it's more than fine as is. Great job as always!

The concept of the character getting weaker over time is really cool, but I think it would shine even more with a solid narrative behind it. Obviously, given the jam's timeframe, doing all of that would've been impossible, but the core concept remains interesting for that kind of project.

I managed to win on my first run, but I want to try out different choices to see if I can still beat it, especially since some options felt way stronger than others. My only real complaint is that the enemies are always the same without any variants, which is a bit of a shame.

Still, I had a lot of fun! You should consider developing a deeper game around this idea!

Thanks! Maybe it can be buggy sometimes ^^"

At first I didn't quite get how it worked, but once it clicked, I absolutely loved it! Right off the bat, it feels like a really interesting concept that could definitely be expanded. I had a blast and made it to turn 17 on an medium run. The music and aesthetic are spot on. Congrats!

Kudos Pat! Really liked the characters, enjoyed them despite the short screen time! The minigames can get a bit repetitive going on indefinitely, so maybe a couple more variations would've helped. I got a couple of different endings, and I wonder how many there are! Great work overall :)

Sadly it's unfinished and it's a bit confusing to play. Anyway you did the best you could! I'll definitely play the complete polished version! Keep up the good work :)

Impressive work! Managing a game with such a large team is definitely not easy. Great job everyone! Visually, it’s the best one I’ve played so far, and the gameplay is very interesting. I definitely wanted a bit more content, but we all know there just wasn't enough time haha! My only critique (which is pretty subjective) is that Hickory feels a bit too slow to move. While I get that the even slower movement is part of the narrative, it was a bit annoying having to move even slower when the timer drops below a certain threshold. I don't know if you're planning to expand this into a bigger project, but if you do, I'd suggest adding a small power-up system between levels. It would add a ton to the experience. Either way, amazing job!

Omg I'm dumb and I'm stuck at level 4. Anyway really nice and simple game! Well done

Thanks! I used mainly a couple of plugins from VisuStella and Moghunter. The first one was to call common events via clicking pictures (you damage enemies via these common events) and the second plugin was just to add floating and breathing effects on pictures. It's pretty simple actually :D

Holy shit the audio is amazing haha! That was a tense experience. Well done!

Really neat idea, I enjoyed it. I probably would've gone with a 30-second timer instead of 60, though, as a playthrough can drag on a bit and there isn't tons of puzzle variety. I lost to the enemy with 0 seconds left which felt a bit frustrating. The margin for error is a bit low, and going first puts you at a massive disadvantage against your opponent. Overall though, it was a great experience!

Very cool concept! I had some issues with the controls, but the gameplay is fun! Well done :D

It's genius. Well done! The countdown anxiety was palpable, and the answering machines were way too relatable.

Very funny :D

Toilet-san / 10

Great job! I really loved the idea. It might work better on paper than in actual gameplay, but for a game jam it's spot on. The only things I might have changed are splitting the masks by color (for example red, blue, and green, so you can recognize them at a glance without having to read every time. This might get a bit tedious in the later levels) and making the hitboxes slightly more forgiving. I lost several times just for stepping on a single wrong pixel. I also didn't fully understand the purpose of the ground layer: I don't think I ever really used it. Is that possible?

Anyway, great work overall. It's always nice to see how you break the usual RPG Maker conventions : )

Hi! Thanks a lot :)

I'm still thinking about it, and I'm not really sure right now. I'll let you know ^^

Don't worry, I'm always glad to receive some feedback, good or bad, as long as it's constructive. I won't update Theia anymore, but I'll keep in mind your feedback for my current game and the next ones! Thanks for sharing your opinion : )

I honestly don’t know how many people actually managed to finish the game. I intentionally avoided publishing a guide because it’s a puzzle game, and a walkthrough would kind of go against its purpose. That said, since I released it more than four years ago, I guess I could finally write a guide on how to complete it XD

Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the demo. I noted your feedback and I'll do everything I can to make the experience smoother. I'm aware of some things like overlapping texts and the confusion about the city map system. I'll figure something out : )

Nope, they just take double damage for that turn and the next one

Oh! Good to know! I don't own a Steam Deck, unfortunately, but I'd really like to try : )

♥

Thank you for playing and sharing your thoughts :D

Thanks! I work on the game every single day, actually! I'll release the new demo as soon as I can and the full game will most likely come out next year : )

Thanks a lot! I'll make sure the game will be as good as possible : )

Hi! Thanks for the question :) After 5th ERA, I'd like to try doing something different, but for now I only have written notes (a lot of notes) for other turn-based/strategy RPGs haha, like three or four different games.

If I had to switch genres, I think I'd go for a story-driven FPS (something like Bioshock), or maybe an action-oriented FPS dungeon crawler.

I'd love to keep making games, but I'll also have to see how 5th ERA goes first.

Hi! Unfortunately the game is made with an old RPG Maker engine and I can't make a proper android port. You can try to play it with EasyRPG emulator but it won't be a smooth experience. It's still playable, but I don't recommend it. Feel free to try it, though!

I don't really know what to say. It depends on your sensitivity. There's just a single spider enemy in the game (and maybe some recolors in the latter sections) but there aren't spiders in the first four chapters, so you can try the game if you want.

Hi! There are some spider enemies in a couple of sections, but nothing major. I’m not sure if this is useful to you, but just so you know, they’re only static pixel art images.

Hi! Once you find all the moons and open the Lunar Amulet, you'll find a new file inside the directory. Copy that and overwrite the original one inside the game directory and you'll find the Full Moon item inside your inventory. Then you can give that item to Master Mathias... sooner or later. You'll have to complete the Stellar Amulet first! So, if you haven't done it yet, you need to defeat the Mastermind first, and then talk to Maverick. Anyway you have to collect all the stars to proceed : )

Hi! Sorry, my bad. I thought I had included the font folders inside the game, but I was wrong. I’ve added some files you can download from this page. Try installing the fonts and see if everything displays correctly afterwards. I don't know how Winlator works, I hope you'll manage to run it properly : )

Thanks man I really appreciate that! 5th ERA is nearly finished, I'm working on it every day, don't worry hahaha

It will be released in 2026 ; )

Hi! Thanks a lot! Unfortunately I won't add any new content to the game because I'm working hard on my next game. Maybe you can try some self-imposed challenge? Something like "no random encounters" or "no Atlas" to spice the things up : )

Feel free to join the discord server to talk about this with other players ^^

Thanks again for playing!

Thanks a lot! : )