December 16th-19th 2011 :: Theme: Alone
"The Invention of Colour"
This is interactive storytelling. It doesn't play like a traditional game. You'll follow "Alrion" through his quest to find "shimmers" as he doesn't know what colours are. I aimed to create something that is engrossing and takes the player on a journey. Just enjoy not having to do much and expect a few minutes of atmospheric storytelling. It's intentional low level involvement.
There are two ways (literally) to finish the game. Just keep going.
Hope you enjoy this little trippy & eerie plunge into the heart of a bizarre world.
PLEASE NOTE: This experience requires AUDIO (best enjoyed with headphones), otherwise the game will not make sense. Controls are also explained in-game: just use the arrow keys to walk around. This should run on Windows, Mac & Linux. The only thing you need is a JAVA runtime.
Oh and yes. There is a kitten in the game.
Made with libgdx, reaper & gimp.
UPDATE: Added a complete walk-through video of the game. If for whatever reason you can't play the game this should give you a fairly accurate impression of the experience!
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 80% |
| #6 | Audio | 3.98 |
| #10 | Mood | 3.94 |
| #10 | Graphics | 4.22 |
| #76 | Community | 3.30 |
| #120 | Theme | 3.39 |
| #138 | Overall | 3.16 |
| #264 | Innovation | 2.66 |
| #438 | Humor | 1.57 |
| #515 | Fun | 1.96 |
Comments
The atmosphere is great. I kinda wish there was some gameplay though. I had the same problem with my game also so I'm not really one to talk.
I loved the pixel grid and the art in general.
The game is more about watching than playing (like mine), so I feel like I can't criticize you for the lack of interactivity :P
Very cool, also liking the visual style. Wishing there was perhaps a bit more to do, or even a couple of jumping puzzels or something, but perhaps it doesnt need it. Good you kept it simple though, since this is a LD afterall!
Found both endings too :)
I liked the second ending, it made me feel weirdly uncomfortable to be directing Alrion against his will.
I find a storytelling game better if it's simple, so lack of gameplay wasn't that bad, actually. Good entry, and some very nice artwork.
This is really good. Loved the pixels, and the sound really sets the mood. You should do more.
Wonderful! It could have used more blue though :p
There should be separate voting categories for 'fun' and 'gameplay' ... this game is a lot of fun, but there's (intentionally) little-to-no gameplay to it and I would like to reflect that in my scoring.
As a non native english speaker, I didn't understood anything after "I feel alone" ^^. The voice was too weird. I still appreciated the atmosphere : very nice job!
Thanks so much for playing everyone! :)
@Pierrec: not just you.. Working on an enhanced version with sub-titles. Unless you use headphones it's pretty hard to hear it properly.
Excellent mood and very good art and audio, but no game. Base idea is great, but I would't dare to call this interactive... because "interactivity" consists of either holding left or right cursors key for long enough (well, maybe you can change your mind after going left for too long)
GREAT work with the audio. Not really a game, but a great display of art!
Not very much to play, but graphics and sounds are really amazing.
oh this was great! dark and beautiful, and the audio is on another level. i loved the whole experience too. really really nice game man. good job.
The audio really made this game. The graphics were good, the narrative was pretty basic, but the audio, voice and music, really added so much to the atmosphere of the game. And the atmosphere was great.
The sound was really well done. I currently have the game still running on the credit screen and am listening to the sweet noisy music.
The art, the sound, the whole atmosphere is gorgeous! I really enjoyed the poetic stroll in a quest to find the shimmering pixels, despite the lack of a more active gameplay experience.
Today I learnt that Bach is also an accomplished pixel artist! :P
Congratulations.
Really great work, I admire your skills.
Before I go into my main problem with this game, I want to say how brilliantly the mood and feel is conveyed through art, sound, and theme.
The sound design and the character design matches the world, he is born of that world, like dead twigs. A world with life sucked out of it, a world without colour.
The sound is abstract but
I think this game would be more interesting if the mechanics
were in harmony with the concept.
The mechanic - you walk in a direction until the game ends.
The game mechanics fall flat for me. This isn't really a game.
I saw screen shots of this and was really looking forward to 'playing' this game.
I think you can create a game with this kind of high concept, brilliant art and sound design, but also compelling gameplay.
I really enjoyed this, and I think it might seem arbitrary to pick on this otherwise brilliant entry because of its lack of gameplay. Because in the end why does it matter? It is what it is.
But, I could have put a paper weight on the right arrow and 'watched' the game as a short film, and it would have been more enjoyable
(Actually this is easy to achieve, just hit the right arrow and then click on another window and the character will keep walking).
As soon as you have the ability to control the character and then do nothing with it, that is a waste of the mediums strengths.
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Enjoyed it!