itch.io

Thanks for replying!

I only included my system info for feedback purposes :) iirc some Unity games are shipped without shaders(?) that are compatible with Mac Metal. I’ve been told that it happens if a checkbox is left unchecked when exporting the game. We get lighting that’s blinding, too dark, random black squares popping up, and white, black, or hot pink “placeholder” textures.

I haven’t experienced this in a browser-based game, so I don’t think that’s the issue here :)

I didn’t get a chance to play the game yet due to the lighting. I figured I’d come back and try again some other time!

YAY! Thank you so much :)

I really love this game! I believe we should be able to purchase the full version on the same site where we played the demo. Please consider releasing it on itch and Steam.

This was such a clever idea, and the music was fun! I’d totally play a longer version, maybe with a collection of short stories?

I love cozy games and puzzles - but the lighting in the room makes the puzzles too difficult to see. I’ve turned the brightness all the way up, and I didn’t see a way to turn on a light over the puzzle to make it easier to see what I’m doing (like I do irl).

Playing on a Mac, so the browser version is the easiest option.

I am! I was so excited about walking through a Wikipedia museum that I didn’t notice the challenges. I’ll have to try them :)

I’ve noticed some quirks:

• The information podium sometimes renders in a corner and is blocked by a column
• The information podium blocks a door and briefly shoves me into limbo if I try to get around it
• A room door has a gray bar in front of it after loading, but I walked through it just fine
• Text displayed on a wall can exceed the character limit and get cut off
• Music doesn’t automatically play in the playlist or shuffle; I have to manually click each song
• I haven’t been able to play any videos with a projector; I can only view them in the menu

Sorry that I don’t have screenshots for everything, but here’s one of the doorway limbo situation!

Hello! Thank you for making a Mac version. I’m on Silicon (M4) and I get a popup that the app can’t be opened? I’ve used Sentinel to allow unsigned apps to launch, which didn’t work. Then I used it to sign the app - which usually works - but nope. Any ideas?

If you ever decide to release the full Mac version on itch, I’d love to buy it!

Great game! Made it to level 37, 20800

THIS IS SO COOL! Reminds me of Mind Maze from Encarta CDs, but without the trivia. I can fall down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and nerd out in aesthetic splendor lol

ETA Thank you for including controller support.

Great game! I never told the detective anything or broke the seal of the confessional, so I’m not sure why the ending thought I did.

This was so cute! I loved how focused and determined she was to help her nana, even though she couldn’t see a thing haha

I didn’t realize that ratings don’t hold as much weight as comments on games on itch until recently. I wrote this review 3 years ago:

5 stars. This game was amazing and an emotional rollercoaster. Although the subject matter made the game challenging at times, the story fit well within the universe. I’m looking forward to the next installment! (please make another installment)

I’m honestly shocked that Unimatrix games aren’t more popular, especially since they overlap multiple niche communities are are well-made.

The stories were brief, but very engaging! That one “totally innocent” guy was hilarious, and I loved the special options for certain souls.

This was great - really liked the ending!

I love this! It’s so hard to find good creepy-cozy games - and for Mac, too :)

One of the letters had a name with no department, so I burned it. I was dinged for it, even though the note said a “name and department must match exactly, but a department without a specific person is okay”. I took this to mean that a person without a specific department was not okay? Maybe I’m misunderstanding something.

Will the full game also be released here? I don’t use Steam.

This was great! My only gripe is that there’s no way to minimize windows. I felt like I wasted a lot of time just opening, closing, and reopening them.

Ah, okay! I was thinking I’d done too many puzzles for today and melted my brain lol Thanks for the explanation :)

YES. More games like this, please! Rot 13: Jung n fgbel! Htu, cbbe Ryran. Nf fbba nf V fnj gung fur’q sbhaq gur qvfpercnapvrf va “Jbzna va Oyhr”, V jnf yvxr tvey, trg BHG juvyr lbh fgvyy pna yby

V jnf ubarfgyl fhecevfrq fur yvirq nf ybat nf fur qvq nsgre ur gbbx ure wbheany. Naq gur yrggre unccrarq n pbhcyr lrnef orsber ure qrngu. V jbaqre jul ur jnvgrq fb ybat nsgre gung gb fgntr gur “nppvqrag”? V qba’g xabj vs fur orpnzr n HF pvgvmra qhevat gubfr 30 lrnef, be ubj znal gvzrf n jbex ivfn pna or erarjrq - ohg vs ur fcbafberq ure jbex ivfn gur ragver gvzr…fur ernyyl jnf genccrq ba uvf rfgngr :(

Naq jub qrpvqrq jr fubhyq frr gur cncref?! V ubcr gur zhfgnpur-gjveyvat, fbnc bcren eriratr gjvfg vf gung Znetbg yrnxrq vg fbzrubj unun

V unq 12/14 ng svefg; gur qngrf fghzcrq zr, fb vg jnf n tbbq vqrn gb xrrc fbzr qbphzragf bhg bs puebabybtvpny beqre. I liked having the chance to go back and look again without losing everything I’d already typed. I tried to be precise with my answers, but having a bit of leeway on that was very helpful.

I didn’t use the tags, plus I started writing stuff down in my handy dandy notebook and forgot to use the in-game notepad! I’ll have to remember to do so next time :)

YAY! Gonna play it now

These are so fun! After completing the latest puzzles, discovering the archive made for a nice change of pace. It’s a clever twist on how most logic grids work, too.

Hi! I absolutely LOVE rebuses - there aren’t enough of them in thinky games, tbh - but this game is confusing. There are a few ? and =, but I’m not finding the +, -, |, etc. in each phrase like in a typical rebus.

Are the emoji meant to be interpreted as pictograms (taken literally) like in rebuses, or ideograms (symbols that represent ideas) like in emoji-speak? Maybe I’m misunderstanding something?

This was great! Rot13 V tbggn fnl gung Pnzvyyr qbqtrq n ebpxrg-funcrq ohyyrg, lvxrf

This was so well done. I did figure it out early, but only because the scenario is infuriatingly plausible. Rot13:

Nygubhtu gurl ner nyfb genssvpxvat ivpgvzf vey, ab zra “jvguqerj”…bayl jbzra. Naq nf fbba nf V pnzr gb gur cneg jurer Znepl svyrq gur unenffzrag ercbeg ntnvafg Yran, V xarj gur genssvpxref naq gurve ynpxrlf zrffrq hc. Guvf orunivbe jnf fb bhg bs punenpgre sbe Znepl - bhe “vs V qvfnccrne orpnhfr V xabj gbb zhpu, urer’f jurer gur rivqrapr vf” cebgntbavfg - gung frrzvatyl rirelobql jub xarj ure jryy xarj gung n) fur qvq ABG znxr gung ercbeg, o) Bjra jnf xabja gb qb nalguvat gb trg jung ur jnagrq, naq p) fur jbhyq ABG whfg yrnir ba ure bja.

Ohg V qb jbaqre jul Znepl jebgr “chg ba fbzrguvat tbbq” nf cebbs fur jnf urefrys. Fur jbhyqa’g unir xabja gung Yran’q nyernql tvira gur fpubby n pbcl bs gung pbairefngvba - urapr ure fnlvat vg jnf n cevingr NVZ pbairefngvba gung bayl gur obgu bs gurz jbhyq haqrefgnaq - ohg fbzrbar cergraqvat gb or ure pbhyq fgvyy unir hfrq vg nf n pbqr cuenfr? Ohg fvapr nofbyhgryl ab bar vaibyirq jbhyq unir nqzvggrq va qrgnvy jung unccrarq gb Znepl, gura V ernyvmrq vg jnf npghnyyl ure jevgvat.

Anyway, this was great! It seems like there could be a second part jurer jr hapbire gur vqragvgvrf bs gubfr va gur genssvpxvat evat naq qvfpbire gur sngrf bs rirel ivpgvz. Hasbeghangryl, guvf frrzf yvxr fbzrguvat gung jbhyqa’g or pbagnvarq gb bar qrcnegzrag va bar fpubby, lbh xabj?

Yes, please! I really love games that let me comb through old archives, discover patterns, and make connections. I know they’re very challenging to make, so there aren’t many out there.

I’m the type of player that prefers to be given an overwhelming amount of information to sort through from the start, with validation as I progress. I prefer to work at my own pace; the information barriers in some deduction games are frustrating because I usually figure things out and am held back arbitrarily until I “unlock” the next section. I’m not really a “string connections on a bulletin board” person, either. I enjoy validating guesses on a board a la Roottrees or Obra Dinn, but the rest is pure note-taking. In this case, the validation process felt kinda like cheating for me lol

I also prefer to only fill in the blanks in a report. It’s an added challenge that helps me understand EXACTLY what happened instead of making a guess based on the options provided. Thanks for giving me a few chances to do that in your game! :)

This game was a lot of fun! A few tricky ones (not sure which gift fits a kid that doesn’t remember what they wanted), and the evolution of names was hilarious. The ending was adorable, and I loved the few “What I Want for Christmas: An Essay” kids, too haha

Btw folks, you ARE supposed to give the Assassin’s Creed kids what they want - even though the game is rated M! - plus you have to switch the game systems due to a bug. Give Xbox t-shirt the PS version and PS t-shirt the Xbox version.

Such a great game! I’m still playing, but wanted to thank you for making it available here (instead of a Steam-only release like most demos on the site), and for developing a Mac version :)

My only game-related feedback so far is that the notebook feature is not useful for players with keyboards. There’s no way to type notes in it, only to “write” them with my mouse. Although it breaks immersion, it’s easier to use my own notebook and/or take pics with my phone.

Also, I joined (and left!) the Discord server because I needed to “verify my identity by phone” before I could write anything. I’m part of about 20 game-related servers of varying popularity, and so far none have required this.

When I saw the phrase “you left the door open” my soul briefly left my body lol great game

ETA “I will come back later” pleaseplease don’t XD

YES! I had a visceral reaction to that one. This should be a challenge - how many unrelated game genres can they show up in and still creep us out haha

I’m surprised I haven’t seen this game before. The story was deeper than I expected. The path leading to the joke ending was an emotional rollercoaster, but hey - a good job? In this economy?! I would have asked, too haha

This was such a fun and thought-provoking game! I found myself thinking about how “negative” news could have a positive outcome.

The “coming soon” thing might be their way of combating shovelware, but that doesn’t seem to deter people. And it seems like they have enough tools/money to come up with a way to automatically detect and block malware during upload? I dunno.

Yeah, I don’t mind if devs spread their game across as many platforms as possible - I just want Itch to be one of them.

I foolishly bought a game on Steam once. I really wanted to play it, but the dev did the demo-here-full-game-Steam thing. I’d remembered seeing somewhere that after creating an account, I should be able to easily download and play free games, demos, and DRM-free games I purchased without using Steam’s client. That’s no big deal; I create accounts everywhere else.

After buying, I figured out that what I thought I read was impossible. Even though there was a giant green button that misleadingly said “Download” on the page, it still forced me to install the client first.

I repeat: For free games. And demos. And DRM-free games purchased on Steam.

What absolute nonsense.

Anyway, I thought it wouldn’t be such a big deal to install it just to get my game and then uninstall, right?

Omg. The amount of crap lodged deep within my computer that I had to remove…big antivirus software/malware vibes. I bought an app called Hazel just to make sure I got it all.

Never again.

Edits: typos and a missing sentence sigh

That’s good to know!

What an amazing game!

I don’t know much about Steam, but is that the “greenlight” thing? You guys are excited to have us play your game, and we want to play your game, but you have to wait for Steam to…what are they doing, anyway? Definitely not making sure the games are legit, because I’ve been through their store and hoo boy.

I’m obviously not a developer, just a nerd about ethical operational performance lol

That being said, I think it would be good to have real (paid!) humans (that you all can talk to!) internally monitor and tag the stream of new releases without an approval process. If they see something that violates the rules, then it can be removed. If the dev keeps doing it, they are removed. That way, you guys can still instantly upload your games, and we do not all have to wade through quantity slop - not to be confused with quality slop. My tepid take is that some of my favorite games look like they’re fresh from MS Paint or KidPix, and I don’t want that to go away.

This is 100% a service issue that Itch could solve. Do they not know where to start? Do they choose not to care because that’s the “indie” thing to do? I’ve noticed the toxic indie hubris sort of stuff in other niche communities, but I don’t know that much about their behind the scenes stuff, so I’m just guessing.

Also, there aren’t many paid games here in general because they’re on Steam…which has a shopping cart so we can buy multiple games at once instead of individually (that’s a barrier to sales, idc what anyone says). Even GOG managed this, so what’s going on?

I think that if Itch implemented a much lower percentage than Steam’s - like 5% - that’s more than reasonable. Kinda like that Cost Plus Drugs thing, where they only charge the cost of the drug plus a markup to keep the lights on? Nobody’s making kajillions of dollars off grandma’s cancer treatment, you know?

Anyway, I’m ranting lol

Yeah, it really sucks. I’ve been in game Discord servers where I specifically ask when/if they will release the full version on Itch, and the answer is like “no, but we will release on [insert any other platform here]” in that giving-me-the-side-eye kind of way. Why is it such a weird thing to ask if the place I played the demo will also have the full game?

Actually, why do I have to ask that at all? That’s the weird part imo

You can even give the Steam key with a purchase on Itch.

A similarly frustrating thing is when a dev gives out ONLY Steam keys (no downloadable files) if I try to purchase here. A good example is the game Smile for Me. I loved the art style and was really excited to play it. Then I realized that purchasing it on Itch would only give me a Steam key…except they released it on Steam, Switch, Playstation, AND Xbox. Makes no sense.

But usually, developers are keen to release their game on as many platforms as possible.

Yes! Isn’t a sale a sale, no matter how many there are, or where they come from? Especially for indie games. And I’ve seen a bunch that release on Steam to low sales because their niche game’s target audience is on Itch, not Steam.

Interesting how you talk about toxicity while making toxic comments yourself.

I just want to buy and play full games on here without being shunted over to Steam. That’s it.