Tiny Journey by Evil Sandwich Studios

[raw]
made by Evil Sandwich Studios for LD23 (JAM)
Tiny Journey is a graphical adventure where you control a tiny kid with huge dreams.
With an engaging storyline, the game features text-based interaction with the world, puzzle-like challenges, and beautiful art and music.

There are two versions of this game.

The FIRST VERSION (Web) was made in time for the Jam, and has some minor problems. If you are going to play this version please read the following:
We are aware that the game difficulty is not well adjusted, so at the moment it may be a bit challenging to get out of the initial room, and then too easy to complete the rest of the game.
Hint: there's a hammer under the couch!

The SECOND VERSION (Polished) is the tweaked version we promised. This improved version has now more easter eggs (have you tried to sing, switch the lights off or do funny stuff with the objects?), smoother difficulty, comprehensive help on how to play the game, an incorporated hint system in case you get stuck (just type 'hint') and no bugs that we could find.
If you find any problem with the polished version, please tell us, so that at the end of the judging we have a problem-free version.

Please vote and have fun!

If you are still stuck, check the walkthroughs at our youtube channel. (Spoiler Warning!)

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.53 55
Audio(Jam) 3.53 46
Fun(Jam) 2.83 113
Graphics(Jam) 4.11 35
Humor(Jam) 2.20 141
Innovation(Jam) 2.92 130
Mood(Jam) 3.98 7
Theme(Jam) 3.55 41

Feedback

sara__franco
24. Apr 2012 · 15:15 UTC
great game!
tenny
24. Apr 2012 · 15:51 UTC
EPIC GAME OMG SO COOL I CAN'T STAND THE EPICNESS YOU GUYS ROCK AND SO ON AND SO FORTH AND YEAH! OH YEAH!!!
tenny
24. Apr 2012 · 16:21 UTC
oh and btw i think this game should win.
Make A Game
24. Apr 2012 · 16:53 UTC
Dark & gloomy. The last part was awesome.
=D
slk
24. Apr 2012 · 22:48 UTC
Awesome! Great job, great game :-)
HeuGamer
25. Apr 2012 · 01:53 UTC
I liked how you set the mood. Very entertaining to play.
Jacic
25. Apr 2012 · 02:08 UTC
Amazing game! A little hard, but I expected that.
FaBrito
25. Apr 2012 · 02:15 UTC
Pelos nomes, posso julgar que são brasileiros... ;)
Jogo abriu, música excelente, mas eu não consegui decifrar quais são os controle... cliques do mouse, direcionais, ASDW, nada funcionou p/ mim... quero jogar p/ poder avaliar!!
🎤 Evil Sandwich Studios
25. Apr 2012 · 02:33 UTC
@FaBrito
O personagem move-se com as teclas direcionais, barra de espaços para examinar objectos e Tab para abrir o inventário. Podes ainda escrever ordens com o teclado.

E somos portugueses. :)
MinerCraftGuy
25. Apr 2012 · 17:06 UTC
Nice game, hope you will make more of these games
bitslap_
25. Apr 2012 · 21:27 UTC
Good job.
Jiddo
25. Apr 2012 · 21:59 UTC
Very good looking game. I happen to be extremely bad at this type of game so I didn't get very far, but it sure is a cool game and it sets the mood very nicely.
omaha
26. Apr 2012 · 16:10 UTC
I could only walk around the first level, then it switched to 'if only that were true', and the controls stop working. love the music and the art.
AlwaysGeeky
26. Apr 2012 · 16:42 UTC
Was all your graphics hand drawn? If so looks pretty sweet, gives it an interesting style! :)
PabloAM
26. Apr 2012 · 16:49 UTC
Good game, I like the mechanic of write actions.

Well done!
🎤 Evil Sandwich Studios
26. Apr 2012 · 16:58 UTC
@omaha, you have to press "ENTER" to make the text advance :) Controls are disabled while the character is "talking", except for some special ocasions. The "first level" is just a small dream.

@AlwaysGeeky Yes, they were, in a drawing tablet. Our artists are awesome :)

Thank you all for your comments!
Evil Cult
26. Apr 2012 · 21:50 UTC
[Comments and ratings from this account come from various team members]
I really like the idea of this game and so badly wanted to play through to the end but there were some annoyances that stopped me. The hitboxes for a lot of things seemed a bit off and the game just was quite fiddley in general. Really liked the game as a whole but definately needs some tweaking.
samwoakley
26. Apr 2012 · 22:03 UTC
Completely mind blowing. Had that mystery to it that got me hooked. Took me a while but I enjoyed the feeling it gave me.

One thing, the framerate seems to dip in cutscene things at the beginning and end, but other than that, was really nice!
🎤 Evil Sandwich Studios
26. Apr 2012 · 22:45 UTC
@EvilCult yeah, definitely, we know we have problems with some hitboxes, and we have solved most (if not all) of them. We will post soon a new link with the new version with all those annoyances tweaked!

@samwoakley the framerate is not dipping in cutscenes, we just don't have a lot of frames for the cutscenes, since they are all hand drawn and made in 3 days (all together with a lot more of art!)

Thank you all for commenting on our game. Please tell us about every good and bad thing about it so we can make better games!

Diogo
SonnyBone
27. Apr 2012 · 02:25 UTC
Very moody little game with some unique artwork and great music. The gameplay itself can be a bit frustrating, as it took me 20 tries to get a few of the items. The ending was quite unexpected. Good job.
liger13
27. Apr 2012 · 03:55 UTC
I can't get out of the first room, even with the hint. I'm terrible at thiese kinds of games D=

It's really well-made though. The atmosphere is great
basspenguin
27. Apr 2012 · 04:04 UTC
Great work! A little difficult but I loved the change of pace in the part preceding the ending. :)
Hazematman
27. Apr 2012 · 04:14 UTC
Well that was depressing :P
Very good game overall! I have to say I enjoyed, I was hoping for something a bit more happy at the end :P
Tinco & Jeroen
27. Apr 2012 · 19:41 UTC
The graphics and audio look amazing, but I can't get past the first room
BlackDogg
27. Apr 2012 · 20:05 UTC
Great game, with cool arts and awesome sound, good job !
🎤 Evil Sandwich Studios
27. Apr 2012 · 21:14 UTC
@liger13 , @Tinco & Jeroen - If you got stuck, check out the new walkthough videos (the link is on top of the page). If you are playing the improved version, you can even try the built-in hint system by typing 'hint'.
Volute
27. Apr 2012 · 21:53 UTC
I really enjoyed this entry. I usually get stuck in this kind of games but I thought this one was well balanced even though I played the first version. I'm so sad the little guy didn't get a happier ending, I thought he deserved it :) Great job anyways !
cakemonitor
28. Apr 2012 · 18:20 UTC
A very beautiful game, great work :)
Personally, I would have preferred a short list of verb-buttons instead of having to guess which commands the game will accept. But otherwise this is great!
R3ason
30. Apr 2012 · 02:08 UTC
Sheesh, talk about a depressing ending! BUT...the game itself: fabulous! Played the Jam version, and encountered a few bugs, but nothing that kept me from finishing. Great artwork. Great sound (reminded me of Binding of Isaac). Simply amazing all around. Thanks!
summaky
30. Apr 2012 · 07:14 UTC
Great art style.
Cake&Code
30. Apr 2012 · 16:38 UTC
Really great game! The mood was set really well, and I love the type of games where you interact with the environment like that. The art was also really great, great job on this!
chinchang
30. Apr 2012 · 19:08 UTC
neat graphics and game mechanics.
robcozzens
05. May 2012 · 19:25 UTC
That was pretty awesome!
The meteor at the end seemed harsh.
Valeour
06. May 2012 · 23:41 UTC
Really really enjoyed. I've never actually played a game like this before. Really sad ending though. Well done.
TenTonToon
07. May 2012 · 04:47 UTC
Very well done! Dark and moody, with a compelling main character whose journey you get invested in. The puzzles are on the easy side, and sometimes the collision masks get a little bit on the way, but that's almost nitpicking.
Maybe you should add some sort of loading or splash screen, as in both the original and the post-compo versions the only thing I got once I clicked the links was a blank screen. The first time I thought the link might've been broken.
And both of the ending sequences were unexpected, if somewhat mean, even if they fit the tone.

Also, I should say that the post-compo build has a much better feel to it.

Congratulations!
matthias_zarzecki
10. May 2012 · 07:33 UTC
Lovely aesthetic! Goes great with the story.
azurenimbus
10. May 2012 · 19:30 UTC
Wow, very nostalgic for me :) Full points for graphics!
RobProductions
12. May 2012 · 01:35 UTC
Brilliant! Such a sad story! Loved the command box and art style!
tcstyle
12. May 2012 · 07:25 UTC
Nice idea and great mood. But the mixed cursor/text input control isn't my thing. I'm just not good at this.
The graphics and music are great.
KevinWorkman
13. May 2012 · 15:12 UTC
I'm not good at this type of game, so I couldn't really get into it. Especially because Ludum Dare games have a tendency to break or not work on all browsers and systems, so I'm never sure if I'm missing something or if there's a glitch. So it would be nice if games like this had an in-game hint system or something. Either way, this looks like a pretty involved start, so kudos on getting something working and looking this polished in such a short amount of time.
🎤 Evil Sandwich Studios
13. May 2012 · 15:38 UTC
@KevinWorkman
The post-compo version actually have an in-game hint system (just type 'hint'). And we also have the walkthroughs just in case someone got stuck.
Anyway, thanks for trying our game.
mildmojo
13. May 2012 · 21:58 UTC
I played the compo version. I had to rely on the walkthrough for several sections, including the final verb (I was trying to use objects instead). I didn't think I could take the rocket plans in the starting room, but it turns out you have to stand in just the right place for it to work.

The art is lovely (the keys, in particular, are beautiful). The music was nice, though it became repetitive. The ending was nicely done, though the framerate dropped through the floor.

Difficult, but very interesting. Nice work!