Sorry it's telling me no unityplayer.dll

This concept for this theme is awesome. I really like the direction that you took the theme. Your execution of your concept is great, I love the effect that hides the map except where the idea is forming. Stylistically this is one of the best game jam games I have seen in a while. This game felt very calming to play, and I think that it does a good job communicating what you were trying to communicate. I found it odd that the continue dialogue button was labeled skip, I spent a minute when I first opened the game trying to advance the dialogue without hitting the button, and the game either exited or crashed when I hit the spacebar, which I didn’t expect at all. Those were the only issues that I had with this game though, very well done, I would love to see this concept taken even further!

Very nice concept and execution. Loved how you visually represented the growth of an idea and the "focus" with the growth of the player's line of sigth and it's shapes. The music is very atmospheric and fits very well, it's very well made. I think working a little bit more on the character's movement (making it smoother maybe) and modeling (making it more abstract and organic, just like the shapes in the shader maybe) would have helped with the immersion.

tip: Try rating some games on the jam. It will help get your game visible to others (I found your game because I searched for games with no ratings so far). Other people should see this game :smile:

EDIT: Other thing I noticed, the "skip" button I think it's using the Unity's default sprite, try changing it to other, I think it will help with immersion (at least for developers).

Ah! This is a beautiful game! Really loved the vibe behind this one :)

Small suggestions of what would be nice to tweak:
- It'd be nice if there was some motion to the player's movement (maybe bobbing, maybe something with a shader?)
- Also would be nice if the UI wasn't Unity's default, but was tweaked to fit the style of the game

But both those things didn't take away from the overall feel of the game. One of my favourite LD games so far! :)

This game is a great example of a simple idea executed in an intriguing way. I like the narration, despite a few minor grammatical quips and how well it tied in to the gameplay. The way the level zooms out completely when you finish a level makes things extra satisfying; I love being able to see the level I just navigated in its entirety. The way the colour palette changed kept the minimalistic design interesting without becoming stale.

I really love what you did with the audio in this game. It's very clear that time and effort were put more into the mood and the audio, but I think the idea is distinct enough that the mood and audio actually help to enhance the gameplay overall. Starting out with very few notes with the delayed shorter notes chiming in every now and then sets the tone perfectly for a world that is more abstract. Actually, it almost feels like I'm stuck between worlds, maybe even some unknown dimension. And I love how that music gets built upon as I progress through the levels. The guitar and percussion were fitting and if they were not layered upon the already existing background track, everything flowed together seamlessly. :ok_hand: Also, can I just add that the sound that plays when you obtain inspiration/motivation/determination is just amazing? It's a big part of the reason I wanted to keep playing, even after I crashed the game by pressing the spacebar (should've read the comments first haha).

The controls are probably the most puzzling aspect of the game (no pun intended?). Using only WASD keys for movement seemed too restrictive, especially since the only function of the mouse is to advance text boxes and any UI. A more practical set of controls for this game could have been either WASD or the arrow keys to move and the spacebar to advance the textboxes and level start/complete screens. Unless the gameplay actually depends on the mouse, having two different control sets for movement (ie. WASD and the arrow keys) is generally most ideal.

Another interesting thing of note is that the controls seem to be geared towards perpendicular movement while the game perspective is isometric. I may be using the terms wrong here, but games that have this sort of isometric setup (Naya's Quest as an example) usually have regular arrow key controls that are set so that you automatically move at a diagonal when pressing up or left, etc. rather than having to press up *and* left to move. Maybe I'm too used to playing isometric games that have such controls, but I think it may be worth considering. More precise movements can be difficult to attain if you're expected to press two keys at once. But I understand if this was an intentional decision, as it's more intuitive if paired with simple enough level design.

The tower design is really cool, but it gave me the most trouble because I was never able to see behind the tower, and I'm not sure if the spotlight truly illustrates how the tower's structure worked exactly. If the camera were able to rotate along with the player, I think it might have caused less confusion as to why I kept falling when I was walking at times. The final part towards the end also had some perspective issues, where it looked like I was going to fall off a tiny platform but was still hanging onto it for some reason. But all in all, I was able to complete it.

All issues aside, I like your game a lot. It hits that right balance for me in terms of sound, gameplay, visuals, all meshing together perfectly to create an evocative mood. (although, the ending also crashed the game, but I think I might have hit the Exit button out of curiosity :joy: )

I love how profound this is, also did you make the shader for this yourself? It's pretty awesome.

Wow really good game! Nice how did you interpretate the theme and the execution of it. Moreover, the work with the shaders it's amazing, really good how it can became mechanic itself. Well done!

@fizzpowmike1 Yes, I created the shader using Unity's new Shader Graph. I'm thinking in making a tutorial on it because I'm quite proud of the end result.

A really enjoyable experience. Nice music and art style. Great play on theme and fun puzzles.

Fun game. I felt accomplished at the end of each level when I was able to see everything at once.

Great work on the sound, graphics, and overall mood ! It's also an interesting and unique take on the theme.

I'm not a fan of the gameplay tho, looking for stuff is always boring to me (this said others might like it).
I would also change the default unity button, first it's ugly but more importantly it makes me feel like i'm in the Unity editor instead of playing your game. Even a simple transparent white square would do a great job there.

Amazing game man , keep it up :D

Ok, cool effects. Yeah, for real.

Also, nice narration. Combined with the minimalistic graphics and the ambience sound it kinda give a meditation vibe.

Its also worth to note that the effect when you grab the cubes matches the tone of the ambience, which also give a nice feel.

No complains. Nice graphics, cool mechanics and great sound.

Excellent job on this game!

Nice work. I love the cool effect you are using.

Really beautiful mood; audio and graphics and story all fall together into a coherent work. The concept of only being able to see in an area close to you is a common one but you've executed it perfectly. A polished, really pretty game!

Great story, great aesthetic, and my favorite part was the music! Brilliant idea to layer the tracks and bring in new instruments on each level. I was honestly ready to give up until that guitar came in and wowed me. Fantastic idea!

Beatifull game and concept, very well executed. Good job!

Very visually striking game; some quite beautiful effects which can bend your mind, especially on the last level.

The gameplay was a bit on the dull side at times, however. I sometimes felt like I was spending more time waiting for platforms than properly exploring. The overall aesthetic still made this a worthwhile experience, though.

This is a really interesting game idea, and the shader work is real nice (even if the rest of the visuals are a bit bland). The music is good, too! All in all, it's good work; my only real complaint is that the player avatar moves too slowly, so if you fell, getting back to where you were was a real slog. But that could easily be tweaked.

Amazing visuals and music, very cool atmosphere!