I have to say this was a very challenging puzzle game, but if you can push through that, underneath it has a very wholesome narrative with a very fun level design. I think I came across one of your videos where you were modeling the stairs, unlike many similar games, you put a lot of personality and character into the locations, so you have that feeling of excitement when you enter every individual room. I also like how the entire house is one big puzzle, reminds of the horror movie tropes where the house is like a big mechanical trap.
Even though the puzzles were very creative, I think the hints had the potential for double meaning, so that is something you should watch out for, you don't want the players to find a more logical answer, or to find something in the environment that can mislead them. Also, sometimes I felt like the hints didn't give me enough information to solve the puzzle, I never played sudoku in my life, so you have to be a little more specific with how you want me to read the positioning in the room. And just to be clear, I thought thematically the puzzles were put together very well, I liked the motif and the thought process behind them, I just thought the solutions were too easy to overlook.
There is almost nothing that is given to you for free, everything takes some conscious effort to put together, including the story, which is compelling, but you have to pay attention to all of the notes, and some of them are difficult to read. We don't see too many difficult puzzles games anymore, I think at some point the devs figured out that gating players from completing the game is not the best experience, and if you watched some of the videos, people were getting stuck a lot, or simply just closing the game. You clearly have a talent for creating that whimsical experience similar to Alice in Wonderland, both in terms of level design and the mood, so creating challenging puzzles might be a double-edged sword, I do wonder if you would be better off making a walking-sim focusing on the story and the experience.
[h1]Pros: [/h1]
(+) Unlike many similar games I felt you were putting a lot of effort/character into the level design, I like that every room has different theme and different feel to the architecture. Even just the overall direction of the game, having a giant house as one big puzzle, I think the small design nuances of the game elevated the whole thing.
(+) I thought it was interesting putting the narrative together, it's not really fed to you, but you have to pay attention to the details and the metaphors, and the relaxing music was also nice for immersion.
(+) I liked the actual idea behind the puzzles and they are somewhat rewarding to solve, I just thought they were a bit too difficult for an average play session. People were getting stuck for days in the forum, streamers quitting the game, maybe there is an audience for that, but it's a limited audience.
[h1]Feedback: [/h1]
[u]Double Meaning/Puzzle Interpretation: [/u]
- I think sudoku room needs more guidance, I understood the hint, I had no reason to assume it had to be in that exact position, not sure if it's a sudoku thing or not.
- there was a hint in the telescope room about "sh___", but then one of the statues is literally in the _____ which makes a more literal meaning than what is in the text. Then I am also like, do I trust this note that is directly next to the statue, or do I trust the other one. It's a little misdealing, even if it makes sense when you solve it. You can blame the player for overlooking the meaning, but at the same time, I think the game needs a more intuitive visual Q for the positions, and you don't want to make the player feel like they can't trust you. To me it didn't look like that position was "shielded" you know.
- if you going to put hints with a hard to read font (or maybe it was actual writing), maybe give an option to read it in generic font
[u]Suggestion for a timed hint:[/u]
- you know some games do like a timed hint feature which is very nice because people won't have to rely on videos and guides to play the game. It does not have to be like a plain spoiler, you can even do something fun with it, maybe some character that gives an extra hint every 30 minutes, or maybe trades a hint for something. Maybe something for you to experiment with
- you still have that random softlock with the statue key
[b]Overall Thoughts: 7.5/10 [/b]
You doing a lot of things that I love, not just in the puzzle medium, but just games in general, and I think everything came together very well, with the level design being the highlight of the game. The locations were very fun to navigate, I thought the game had nice detail, and the narrative was fun to put together. I do think you gating the experience a bit too much, I think you should look into some type of timed hint system, and maybe implement it in a fun way, if not for this game, perhaps for the next.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
