Guest House by cardboard

[raw]
made by cardboard for LD27 (COMPO)
==== WALKTHROUGH =====
http://www.wampastompa.com/games/guest_house.html


==== GAMEPLAY ====
The game is an adventure game similar to Myst (or at least more similar to Myst than other adventure games I've played). You have no visual inventory, no on-screen character representation, and you never see any people. Yes, I know Myst has people in it, but when it does it isn't very often. Click on objects and navigate the room by clicking the far left and far right of the screen. (The cursor will change to let you know when you will change views). That is all! Oh, the game ends when you open the door. Enjoy!


==== BUILDS =====
- Windows
unzip 'cardboard_guest_house.zip' and run 'main.exe'

- Python / Linux
requires Python 2.7 and Pygame.
run 'main.py' to play

- OS/X
I'm pretty sure the Python version should work for you. Let me know if there is a way I can compile a version for you (to make it easier to play) and I'll try to get my hands on a Mac to do so.

-ComPost
for windows users, unzip and then run 'main.exe'
for other OS's, download the source from github and run 'main.py'


==== ABOUT ====
I recently got into the Myst games (and lore) and finished Myst in about two days. I'm now working on reading the Book of Atrus before I start playing/experiencing Riven. After playing Myst I decided I would make an adventure game for the upcoming Ludum Dare (because it was only a week or so away at the time). I had a little mishap around the 45 hour mark, where I accidentally clicked a shortcut I have defined in Vim that exectutes '%!xxd -r' and then saves and quits. This totally screwed my game.py file over and I had to revert to the backup I made the night before. Luckily I have my code pretty well spread out across multiple files, so all I had to do was type out a bunch of repetitive and way-too-drawn-out code to get back up to speed. The moral of the story: don't put off putting your project on GitHub because you cannot think of a good repo name. Also, don't put volatile Vim shortcuts where you might accidentally press them.

Ratings

Coolness 66% 3
Overall 3.69 87
Audio 3.84 27
Fun 3.26 296
Graphics 4.45 11
Humor 2.53 402
Innovation 3.32 310
Mood 4.05 14
Theme 2.32 1098

Feedback

nintendoeats
26. Aug 2013 · 05:17 UTC
the Good: Great music, awesome visual style, actually really good writing (most people are crap writers), good integration of depression theme into gameplay

The bad: Those were super-arbitrary puzzles, the longstanding problem with adventure games.
daOyster
26. Aug 2013 · 05:55 UTC
Loved it. Great idea using clay and objects for your scenes. If it wasn't for your help I don't think I would have gotten very far in it though.
rfgpfeiffer
26. Aug 2013 · 15:20 UTC
Unsolicited git/github advice:

You could run "git tag compo" and "git push origin compo" and then github creates zip files we can download from https://github.com/Cardboard/guest_house/releases without cloning the repo. Also as it stands now, the github page always points to master.
Beardbotnik
26. Aug 2013 · 17:51 UTC
Amazing game, love the use of the clay, the music was fitting and nice and the puzzles were really interesting, only thing was that it didn't really seem to fit the 10 second theme, nonetheless I loved every second of it.
Mental Atrophy
26. Aug 2013 · 17:56 UTC
I liked the art and little backstory to discover. The music was both homey and somber at the same time, which fit the general mood well. I'm sort of dense so I don't know how it fits the LD27 theme, though. Great job!
MrBlade
26. Aug 2013 · 21:45 UTC
Nice job. I couldn't find the key for the cupboard. But oh well. :P Good job overall, I loved the real objects integrated with the game, sounds were amazing, music was wonderful. I would have liked a menu, but that is just me. Keep it up.
ashdnazg
26. Aug 2013 · 22:17 UTC
The atmosphere is well created with the clay and the music (even the teddy bear fits in perfectly). Good job!
GigaBass
27. Aug 2013 · 04:22 UTC
Good music and I liked the idea behind the graphics very much!
Couldn't see how it fits the theme though. Still good!
GigaBass
27. Aug 2013 · 04:23 UTC
Good music and I liked the idea behind the graphics very much!
Couldn't see how it fits the theme though. Still good!
Oh, 10 2nd place medals... I see.
motty
27. Aug 2013 · 16:07 UTC
Absolutely great. Particularly love the graphics style. Really really good stuff. Extremely clever use of the theme as well.

I wish the game were longer. Hopefully one day it will be :)

Two quibbles - I had to check the walkthrough to make sure I'd actually found the ending as I wasn't sure (I've come across false endings in this kind of game before). Also, after solving the cupboard puzzle you can unsolve it, which strikes me as odd and possibly buggy behaviour.

That said, a great short game, nicely atmospheric, great writing - one of the best I've seen so far.
anmorales
28. Aug 2013 · 00:22 UTC
Nice work!! Short but great, I loved the graphics and the music.!!
Fireblend
28. Aug 2013 · 00:23 UTC
I absolutely loved most things about this game (if I had to complain about anything it would be its length). Great writing, great atmosphere, incredible visuals and a really fitting tune. I don't know what it had to do with the theme, but I just don't care. Really good, great job!
Cryovat
28. Aug 2013 · 16:34 UTC
Man, the music... I let it play for a long time because it was so soothing. :)

I also enjoyed the heavy atmosphere, and the clay backgrounds really sets it apart.

As for the puzzles. Well. I'm glad there were hints available. ;-)
LordHellMaX
29. Aug 2013 · 01:55 UTC
Awesome clay art ! I don't really understand the use of the newspaper cut... but I reached the exit ! Good game !
angrygeometry
29. Aug 2013 · 03:17 UTC
adorable and brutal. great game.
fmBigBoss
29. Aug 2013 · 08:58 UTC
I never expected to see clay art at all. Really cool, atmosphere was great. Terrifying on a whole new level. Would love to see the game or something of this type extended.
Got stuck initially but I worked it out eventually!
FunByJohn
30. Aug 2013 · 12:48 UTC
Beautiful music and art, and the sentiment of being "deserving" actually really struck a chord with me :S
Great work.
BenWhi
01. Sep 2013 · 04:24 UTC
I wasn't able to get very far, but I really appreciated this game. Very original!
Linusson
01. Sep 2013 · 22:03 UTC
It took a while to figure it out but I finally did. :D

I really liked the clay objects and the music. :)
Lokarunith
06. Sep 2013 · 01:02 UTC
Haha, nice interpretation of the theme, it was unexpected. The game aesthetic reminds me a lot of another indie developer called Thecatamites, if you don't know him already you might want to check his games as some have a very similar style to yours. Good job with this entry!
local minimum
07. Sep 2013 · 08:48 UTC
Fantastic little contraption, though I'm not clever enough to solve all the riddles but still impressive. It made me want to do a stop-motion game as well, maybe next dare.
Zerkruemler
07. Sep 2013 · 09:17 UTC
Cool style. I like it very much. Good story telling and mood. But althogh I already played lots of adventure games, I was not able to solve a puzzle without the help of the walktrough - they are very confusing.
Atmospherium
16. Sep 2013 · 02:21 UTC
Awesome work. I love the design and the way that the puzzles and story intersected. Could be a bit clearer in parts (but that's usually the case for games like this), but definitely a lot of fun.
Vile Smile
16. Sep 2013 · 02:26 UTC
This game is great! I love the clay style. I have not seen many (if any) other point and click games. The puzzles were a lot of fun and really had me going 'Aha!'. I really wish there was more to do. Great work! :)
Teejay5
16. Sep 2013 · 03:18 UTC
OOOH 10 SECOND PLACE MEDALS I GET IT.

Nice game, the clay art looks awesome and seamless! great music, too.
The puzzles were pretty clever, good thing there were hints haha :)
Jedi
17. Sep 2013 · 00:36 UTC
I really like the mysty style and the LOVE the plasticine! The music and mood were great. I wanted more game!!