ronron Therapy by Redunca
https://redunca.itch.io/ronrontherapy
Ronron Therapy (ronron = a purr in french) is a game about a cat kid who needs help to fight depression and bullies. Help them by writing nice words in their notebook, and then using the words against their bullies. With you, their family and their therapist, they will hopefully get out this loop. Gameplay is simple, you only need your keyboar to write the good words in time and then submit them with the space bar. The first screen explains it kinda clearly, making you write P-L-A-Y step by step ! Careful, don't write too fast or you'll stutter ! ;))
The devs:
Hi ! We're a four members team, and for some of us, it's our first Ludum Dare ! We had a lot of fun to create this game, from coding, to writing and drawing !
Coding: REDUNCA
Writing & Stickers: LINEORA
Chara Design: CATARIES
Colours & UI: SANIAE
Therapist's music and sound effects are not made by us, they're Free of Use.
Thanks to our friend NEDRAN for the battle music ! Go check his youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nedranmusic
Where you can find us:
Lineora: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lineora - Site: https://www.lineora.com/
Cataries: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/catariesart - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo7EscnEt_Kczo2-VeCVmA - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cataries.art/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cataries.art - Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/catariesart - Behance (portfolio): https://www.behance.net/catariesart
Saniae: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucileFlo - Behance (portfolio): https://www.behance.net/saniae
Nedran: - Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/c/nedranmusic - Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/adrien_nedran/ - Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/NedranMusic/ - Fiverr : https://www.fiverr.com/nedran - Twitch : https://www.twitch.tv/spyrochroniqueur - Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/artist/3gAS6Vgxszc3ArKKMsztpg?si=9Dh7MTZTT4CV5jxcRDbc0A
| Youtube | https://redunca.itch.io/ronrontherapy |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/ronron-therapy |
Ratings
| Overall | 1049th | 3.341⭐ | 43🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1406th | 2.738⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 580th | 3.525⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 811th | 3.613⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 224th | 4.22⭐ | 43🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 479th | 3.688⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 33🗳️ | 57🗨️ |
Now, for the bugbear. Normally, I don't focus much on the themes explored in a narrative, as we really only have 72 hours to deliver on a product, but this depiction of bullying and resisting same is... a little reductive and hollow. Kind words don't counter harsh ones, and "bullies" always find new and creative ways to inflict harm on their victims- I use quotes because the definition becomes highly broad.
I don't want you to take that as criticism... well, it is criticism, but you shouldn't feel bad for it. It's good to want to take on these important subjects, but it's also important to analyze the result, learn from it, iterate, and continue to improve. Normally when I say "this is a great start", I'm referring to the code or the design of a game, but when I tell you "this is a great start", I hope you know I'm talking about the themes you're exploring in your mechanics. I think it's great to try to make games that dissect important subjects, and I sincerely hope you continue to do that. :)
On the gameplay side, I wonder, was there a way to win against the bully or was it just made to delay the loss? When typing, a feedback about succeeding or missing would have been nice and a way to correct (with backspace for example) would have been nice. Other than that, it is pretty nice to play.
I really loved the art and music of the game and overall it is a good game.
I think this game was a bit of a mixed bag from me. I'm going to focus more on the gameplay as a whole first. Let's start with the positives:
1) There is definitely good art here and it works to tell the story you want to tell. The amount of effort is something worth celebrating!
I do have more qualms than I have positives about this game so let's dive right into the most important ones:
1) The game pacing is too slow. I think if you had more words to type out, it'll feel much more fun to play. Remember, it's a game, while a narrative is good (especially for the narrative you are conveying) - a player that quits early on will not experience that narrative at all. Consider making it so that you start with 3 words, and every interval, you learn 3 more new words. This way, the player can feel like they are progressing faster - especially given the current slow pace of the game.
2) I am generally confused of the goal of the game too. Even if the theme is 'stuck in a loop', there is always a goal the players must strive towards. This game seems to present the protagonist in a very passive sense, not really doing anything.
While it makes sense in a narrative standpoint, it just doesn't completely make for a completely good immersion/fun factor in the game. I think this is entering subjective territory, but you should revisit how to frame the game to give the protagonist a more active role.
I think this can become something important in the future with the narrative it is trying to tell. Keep it up!
Just to be fair I want to additionaly say that I'm impressed by the art. That's absolutely stunning result.
I really like the first scene that teaches you how to play the game.
I've learned that I am really bad at typing word "beautiful" quickly:smile:
The art and audio and overall mood of this game is stunning and precious. The concept is also quite unique, so well done. I also think it's an interesting (albeit loose) interpretation of the theme.
I always appreciate story-driven games in game jams. Depression is not an easy subject to tackle, too. It feels like a lot of love and care went into this game. :)
Overall I really like it!
Like a lot of other commenters, I also felt a bit confused because of the lack of feedback and the gameplay felt a bit clunky, but the game has potential to be really good with some extra work. Well done. :)
First of all, the game itself is great. Reading the comments, I think I understand the gameplay loop now, and I think it's really clever. Unfortunatelly the game has some problems with user experience, which makes playing the game a little frustrating.
To illustrate this: you have an amazing tutorial. It's clear, it communicates well what you need to do and how. And then you have the very first game screen. Suddenly things are fast and confusing, you have only one word to write, except when you write it, nothing seem to happen. I mean, it's kinda good ludonarrative, but it's also a good way to confuse the player.
But once you push through initial confusion, the gameplay becomes quite fun (although a little difficult, especially when you have sausage fingers and backspace doesn't seem to work).
Also, *thoughtful