But for real now, it is a really nice horror experience, I think I got too into the fishing and Kinda forgot about the horror for a second but, the little things here and there like the 3D dreams, the puzzle, the little visual scares and the ever so slight plot notes blend really well together. This games has everything I enjoyed about old horror flash point and click games!
For a moment there I wasn't sure if I was doing good or not and started panicking for fish, fun times.
I ended up being too scared to continue after the second day or so- not scared in a good way as this is a horror game, but I legitimately could NOT catch enough fish. Too much garbage, too much being tired. Is that supposed to happen? Forcing you to be completely unable to fulfill your customers, no matter what you do?
Yes, that's intentional. The game is deliberately designed so that you can't satisfy everyone. So don't worry if you can't catch some! Additionally, there is some leniency to it, so you can even miss some fish and still be alright.
The atmosphere is really good and the characters are fun. Although the endings aren't as satisfying as Acrophile i would say, but they are fine. The fishing and fatigue system tho, really makes this game not that fun. Acrophile's archelogy was much more engaging. But this game is very good and i like the vibe and i respect your work.
Yeah I knew it was a risk trying a 'real-time' system, and my intention was to instil a sense of panic/stress, but at the same time I can understand how, when combined with the randomness of the fishing, players could find it tedious/annoying. Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks! Just watched your video. There is a secret ending that doesn't leave you in the dark. You don't have to complete the entire game again to get it, but you could alternatively just search up someone else's playthrough and watch it. I liked your interpretations of the characters' voices!
I absolutely love this game. The art and atmosphere is perfectly disturbing. I hope you continue the story in some way because it is very interesting. Where you at all inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Shadow over Innsmouth? I can't wait to see more of you work :)
Good to hear! Unfortunately it's likely I won't continue this story. I think how I want to approach game development is to have each game explore a different idea, considering I have accumulated many ideas that could become games and I only have so much time to develop. I think I want all my games to be one collective anthology. (As a bonus, I'll never have to worry about under-delivering on a sequel, haha.) And no, I haven't read that story of his (but I am aware of other things he has written). Thanks for playing!
I loved the game as a concept, but the fishing mechanic quickly became frustrating, mostly because game does not show how tired you are, so you don't know if you should fishing or regenerating stamina. I didn't really enjoyed it because of that. Still, very intresting and creative game.
Thanks for your comment - I consciously considered whether I should make the player's "fatigue" a visible statistic to the player. You can actually tell how tired your character is by the speed at which the bar fills up when you're reeling in. (Slower speeds = your character is more tired)
However, I do understand why it might be frustrating because there is a fair bit of randomness to the fishing mechanic; you can be fairly well rested and still get super unlucky with the fish. Although, I knew this when I was balancing the difficulty, and the game is designed to make you fail to meet everyone's needs, but will still let you survive. I wanted players to feel like there were going to lose - it adds stress and guilt.
Absolutely blown away by this game! The setting, the atmosphere and the body horror concept of what happens to the fish-addicted citizens of the town is phenomenal. Not to mention how much of a big fan I am of the story and the charas of how it slowly unravels! And that secret ending... oough that secret ending... !!!
Did a quick piece of my interpretation of the fisherman since I loved his character
This was a deeply unsettling game that resonated with me long after playing. The way the addicted townsfolk became increasingly 'less human' after each day and their wanton need for the fish was a great draw. The fishing mechanic and time element also ramped up the tension and anxiety, and for someone that does not get on with logic puzzles the puzzle box and coded vault door were exemplary efforts of puzzle solving in an indie game. Looking forward to more narrative driven games from you!
Pros:
Rich narrative with secret bonus ending if you put in the time
Mechanics that will keep the player on edge and also drive the journey forward
Loved the 'low-grade' ROM style approach - bringing point 'n click back into the limelight.
Cons:
Think there could have been a little more impact with the main protagonist character and his son. Although the player is treated to dream sequences that have memories of the son, until the Mayor explains his dastardly scheme I wasn't aware that he had been kidnapped and what my overall goal was
Not really much a con, but I wanted to know MORE about Pleonexia. Perhaps in the kitchen there could be a daily newspaper from the mailman that gives a little more story to the people that live there and enrichens the world building already at play.
Ending could be perceived as a little ambiguous if not finding out the vault code.
I always try to give constructive criticism to each game I play, but the cons for this one are trivial in comparison to the overwhelming feeling of dread, uneasiness and plot involved in Pleonexia. I want to know more about the town, dammit!
Thank you for your feedback! Left a comment on your video as well (hope it comes through - been having some problems with commenting for some reason).
It was my intention to tweak the amount of customers & fish to put the player in an uneasy position. Nice work with the puzzle as well! I realise it wasn't clear, but the box was supposed to be something the player would chip away at from day to day (the information within was written thinking the majority of people would read it after the meeting).
As for the story, it was meant to be a mystery at first that slowly resolved as you play. I wanted players to respond with "goal? what is my goal?" and wonder about the fisherman & his son until things fell into place, but I can see how the mayor's final visit is a little anticlimactic for that part of the story. I think there's a horror to the way a massive, harrowing realisation could come to someone not through an extreme moment, but passively sneaking up on them. Although, that might not have been the right fit.
I'm surprised you want to know more about the town! I spent months planning the complexities of the story, and thought that if I added anymore it might seem a bit overwhelming. There should be enough detail hidden in the game so that you can solve the mystery of the fish & what's going on, but I kept background information to a minimum. (AlphaBetaGamer's video has a few comments and there are some real detectives in there if you wanna browse through people's theories!)
I tried an ambiguous ending this time, hoping that the feeling of being left in the dark after the normal ending would serve as motivation for the secret one. I'll consider going back to making both have some degree of satisfaction in the future.
Unfortunately there seemed to be a visual bug (not impacting gameplay) for the UI on your playthrough. My guess is the game window was beyond the vertical limits of your monitor? Sorry about that. It looked like it resolved itself at 50:14. Also my bad with the exiting the game, it should say "hold Escape to quit".
It definitely made me feel uneasy! Ah, I thought I saw the puzzle and thought it would needed to be solved as soon as possible, it did cause me headaches (in a good way) as I'm not particularly great at logic/sliding tile type puzzles. Managed to crack it in the end though! Oh I certainly got the whole slow build up of the horror, particularly with the way things were going with the townsfolk and the story pieces falling into place. I thought the pacing was great, I actually missed a few cues to begin with (i.e. in the store room and window at the bedroom) that may have left some more breadcrumb trails for my brain to decipher.
With regards to the visual bug, it was more post editing wise that I had a problem with. I should have just used the smaller screen and blew it up in post, but I was about half way through when I realised my mistake - so that one was on me! Look forward to the next one!
This is really cool! Is there any way to change the resolution or switch to full screen though? On a 1080p display the bottom of the game window is cut off by the bottom of the screen.
Thank you! Currently no; while testing, changing the resolution (1200x1200) caused certain UI elements to lose their place, and the game is built around a square aspect ratio. I hadn't considered that this wouldn't accommodate 1080p, so I'll start working on a fix.
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But for real now, it is a really nice horror experience, I think I got too into the fishing and Kinda forgot about the horror for a second but, the little things here and there like the 3D dreams, the puzzle, the little visual scares and the ever so slight plot notes blend really well together. This games has everything I enjoyed about old horror flash point and click games!
For a moment there I wasn't sure if I was doing good or not and started panicking for fish, fun times.
Keep up the good work!
Just watched your playthough! The secret ending answers some of your questions (but it also raises a few of its own haha). Thanks for playing!
That was ...magnificent. I can't believe what I just experienced, mind is abso blown!!! You are great at what you do my friend!
Thanks so much!
I ended up being too scared to continue after the second day or so- not scared in a good way as this is a horror game, but I legitimately could NOT catch enough fish. Too much garbage, too much being tired. Is that supposed to happen? Forcing you to be completely unable to fulfill your customers, no matter what you do?
(spoilers)
Yes, that's intentional. The game is deliberately designed so that you can't satisfy everyone. So don't worry if you can't catch some! Additionally, there is some leniency to it, so you can even miss some fish and still be alright.
your games are very good at creating an eerie and sinister atmosphere - can't wait for the next one!
Thank you! It's in the works.
Hey! I loved both of your games, and this one is so good too!
Much appreciated!
The atmosphere is really good and the characters are fun. Although the endings aren't as satisfying as Acrophile i would say, but they are fine. The fishing and fatigue system tho, really makes this game not that fun. Acrophile's archelogy was much more engaging. But this game is very good and i like the vibe and i respect your work.
Yeah I knew it was a risk trying a 'real-time' system, and my intention was to instil a sense of panic/stress, but at the same time I can understand how, when combined with the randomness of the fishing, players could find it tedious/annoying. Thanks for the feedback.
This was fantastic. The atmosphere, the design choice, everything was just really poignant on driving home that unsettling feeling.
Thanks! Just watched your video. There is a secret ending that doesn't leave you in the dark. You don't have to complete the entire game again to get it, but you could alternatively just search up someone else's playthrough and watch it. I liked your interpretations of the characters' voices!
I absolutely love this game. The art and atmosphere is perfectly disturbing. I hope you continue the story in some way because it is very interesting. Where you at all inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Shadow over Innsmouth? I can't wait to see more of you work :)
Good to hear! Unfortunately it's likely I won't continue this story. I think how I want to approach game development is to have each game explore a different idea, considering I have accumulated many ideas that could become games and I only have so much time to develop. I think I want all my games to be one collective anthology. (As a bonus, I'll never have to worry about under-delivering on a sequel, haha.) And no, I haven't read that story of his (but I am aware of other things he has written). Thanks for playing!
I loved the game as a concept, but the fishing mechanic quickly became frustrating, mostly because game does not show how tired you are, so you don't know if you should fishing or regenerating stamina. I didn't really enjoyed it because of that.
Still, very intresting and creative game.
(comment contains mild gameplay spoilers)
Thanks for your comment - I consciously considered whether I should make the player's "fatigue" a visible statistic to the player. You can actually tell how tired your character is by the speed at which the bar fills up when you're reeling in. (Slower speeds = your character is more tired)
However, I do understand why it might be frustrating because there is a fair bit of randomness to the fishing mechanic; you can be fairly well rested and still get super unlucky with the fish. Although, I knew this when I was balancing the difficulty, and the game is designed to make you fail to meet everyone's needs, but will still let you survive. I wanted players to feel like there were going to lose - it adds stress and guilt.
Did a quick piece of my interpretation of the fisherman since I loved his character
Woah that is so cool! Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Pros:
Cons:
I always try to give constructive criticism to each game I play, but the cons for this one are trivial in comparison to the overwhelming feeling of dread, uneasiness and plot involved in Pleonexia. I want to know more about the town, dammit!
Great game!
Thank you for your feedback! Left a comment on your video as well (hope it comes through - been having some problems with commenting for some reason).
It was my intention to tweak the amount of customers & fish to put the player in an uneasy position. Nice work with the puzzle as well! I realise it wasn't clear, but the box was supposed to be something the player would chip away at from day to day (the information within was written thinking the majority of people would read it after the meeting).
As for the story, it was meant to be a mystery at first that slowly resolved as you play. I wanted players to respond with "goal? what is my goal?" and wonder about the fisherman & his son until things fell into place, but I can see how the mayor's final visit is a little anticlimactic for that part of the story. I think there's a horror to the way a massive, harrowing realisation could come to someone not through an extreme moment, but passively sneaking up on them. Although, that might not have been the right fit.
I'm surprised you want to know more about the town! I spent months planning the complexities of the story, and thought that if I added anymore it might seem a bit overwhelming. There should be enough detail hidden in the game so that you can solve the mystery of the fish & what's going on, but I kept background information to a minimum. (AlphaBetaGamer's video has a few comments and there are some real detectives in there if you wanna browse through people's theories!)
I tried an ambiguous ending this time, hoping that the feeling of being left in the dark after the normal ending would serve as motivation for the secret one. I'll consider going back to making both have some degree of satisfaction in the future.
Unfortunately there seemed to be a visual bug (not impacting gameplay) for the UI on your playthrough. My guess is the game window was beyond the vertical limits of your monitor? Sorry about that. It looked like it resolved itself at 50:14. Also my bad with the exiting the game, it should say "hold Escape to quit".
Thank you playing!
I did get your YouTube feedback, thanks for that!
It definitely made me feel uneasy! Ah, I thought I saw the puzzle and thought it would needed to be solved as soon as possible, it did cause me headaches (in a good way) as I'm not particularly great at logic/sliding tile type puzzles. Managed to crack it in the end though! Oh I certainly got the whole slow build up of the horror, particularly with the way things were going with the townsfolk and the story pieces falling into place. I thought the pacing was great, I actually missed a few cues to begin with (i.e. in the store room and window at the bedroom) that may have left some more breadcrumb trails for my brain to decipher.
With regards to the visual bug, it was more post editing wise that I had a problem with. I should have just used the smaller screen and blew it up in post, but I was about half way through when I realised my mistake - so that one was on me! Look forward to the next one!
wow, really fantastic game! I love the atmosphere, the low res, everything, really good stuff
thank you!
This is really cool! Is there any way to change the resolution or switch to full screen though? On a 1080p display the bottom of the game window is cut off by the bottom of the screen.
Thank you! Currently no; while testing, changing the resolution (1200x1200) caused certain UI elements to lose their place, and the game is built around a square aspect ratio. I hadn't considered that this wouldn't accommodate 1080p, so I'll start working on a fix.
Alright, should be fixed now - you can press F11 to cycle between screen sizes. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Awesome, thanks! Really love the game. Will get a video up soon!
Also, what is Portal Emulator? Is it an actual emulator or a framing device for the game? Can't find any information about it! :)
Just watched it, what a great playthrough! I've known your channel for a while, can't believe I'm finally on it haha.
Portal Emulator is a framing device, part of a meta-narrative between my games.
Thanks glad you like the channel! Was a pleasure to cover the game.
Ah, that's pretty cool! Makes it feel like the game is a long lost rom that's been unearthed!