#indie game demo

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 686

I had fallen down the demo game rabbithole when I came across CraftCraft: Fantasy Merchant Simulator. It was a brightly coloured stylized game that caught my eye, because who doesn’t want to be a merchant in a fantasy themed world?

Simulator games though are a genre that can be kind of touch and go. There are two types of simulator games. 

There are games that are simulators because you play a role, but that role is the vehicle for either the fun or the narrative of the game. Most shop simulators tend to be like this, it’s not important to simulate accuracy of the role, but rather to make it fun while having a tight feedback loop while you play. 

The other type of simulator game is the one that is trying to lean into the realism of the thing it’s trying to simulate, but reduce the tedious parts in order to maximize satisfaction. House Flipper and Powerwash Simulator are very good examples of this.

I wasn’t quite sure where CraftCraft fell under (and it could have easily fallen under both), though I suspected it was probably the first type of simulator. Just in case though, since the demo was released, I decided to give it a whirl, because there is nothing worse than playing a simulator game and finding out it’s not your jam.

After I played the game, I wishlisted it, and then had to think really hard about the genre of this game. Here is the thing…

Does it have game simulator mechanics? Yes, you are an artisan merchant who crafts items that people can commission you to make. 

However, your customers are not these two dimensional beings, they are people who have their own personalities, quirky-ness and backstories. You learn about them as you speak with them about their commission, as you try to glean what it is they want you to make.

Honestly, this had a lot of Coffee Talk vibes to it, and Coffee Talk was billed more as a visual novel, even though you make drink orders according to what the customer tells you, in a way that is not dissimilar to CraftCraft. In fact, I wonder if Coffee Talk was an inspiration for CraftCraft, but the devs decided to make sure that aspect wasn’t emphasized.

I wouldn’t blame them from a marketing perspective. Coffee Talk was very popular and got a sequel, and on top of that there are at least three other games that are following in Coffee Talk’s footsteps including the recently released Tavern Talk.

That being said, if you like interesting, quirky characters (and really good voice acting), and have a bit of a sense humour, I think you should keep an eye on CraftCraft. The simulation part of the game it seems so far is more like a series of mini-games so if you’re not into simulation games I don’t think it would be a huge worry. Probably…

[littlemxhoney]

I love it when indie demos break the third wall like this

This game was too cute with Mr. Flurfels and Catarina, a magical apprentice cat!

Add Just In Crime to your Steam Wishlist!

Watch the first 15 minutes of the cute detective game demo!

[amadeusgame]

Amadeus demo live testimonials: "I FUCKING love the music." :^)

(Cozypocket, a friend of mine and a Tetris Attack speedrunner, played through the Amadeus demo on stream. The full VOD is here!)

Play it yourself, listen to the soundtrack, and more: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

[viintagebeetle]

Have I posted this yet here?? Anyway the draft for my fic is done and the playlist is still being worked on. Although I can give the link to the playlist to anyone who wants it!

[mr-acrona]

"When was the last time your room was clean? When was the last time you actually went out? When was the last time you had a proper conversation with a real person? You have no clue… your mind only gets more confused whenever you swallow those pills. You try to seek deep inside your damaged memories for a reason… But it’s not time to think about that, sweetie: You have a new message."

After a mysterious incident, you found yourself incapable of talking with people. Leaving your room was a hard task and because of that, you became a hikikomori. Now, with the help of your dear virtual friend, you are on a mission of learning how to properly interact in society once again… and maybe even understand some of the reasons why you are like this.

Daily Dose of Datura is a dating simulator with a focus on mental health topics. With chat elements, you will interact with five handsome people who will not hesitate trying their best to win your heart. Will you surrender to their flirts as you learn little by little about all the problems they carry as well?

Link for download (Windows and Linux)

[dolls-house-devlog]

The Demo is going to come out very soon! I'm going to try and get it uploaded before new years! Keep your eyes pealed.

[anyotherstar]

[ID: Stock image of a “gamer room” as it is labeled by a neon sign. It has a bright purple and blue color scheme. In a beanbag chair to the left, a red among us character has been hastily pasted in. On the proper gaming chair, comically small, is Star’s persona. Text, in black comic font with a white outline, reads, “I’m sleep deprived,” “amogus funny,” “it’s actually indie game demo day at 3pm eastern” and in smaller font, “come hang out”. End ID.]

Wow! I sound a little less like I ate rocks than I did on Monday! So it’s indie game demo day, time to check out a few cool demos and early access things on steam. And then probably play mini metro because it calls to me. the beast craves it. That being said, if y’all have suggestions, throw them my way :} !

[pro-philosopher]

Because sharing is caring, we couldn't miss the opportunity to bless your feeds.

And tell you the first chapter of Pro Philosopher 2 is now available FOR FREE on Steam. Go have a good time, kids!

[dyslexticgeek]

We are calling all Customer service professionals! Join Monster-X’s Customer Service Team to help keep the Sun Shining for their customers or at the very least the company.

Take up a shift at Monster-X. Can you solve the customer's problems, or save the company money here and there?  As the emails come pouring in, are you really the good guy here or is your company more monstrous than it seems?

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit worldofdarkness.com.

I made a game for the Vampire: The Masquerade Jam 2022. It’s an ARG style customer service game. It’s currently in demo and would be thrilled if you want to check it out.

[blighted-elf]

Tiny Glade demo

[inkyrains]

TINY BOOKSHOP demo (2024) dev. Neoludic Games

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 697

I’m still in the middle of playing game demos, because every once in a while I stumble across them.

Fine Work is technically a visual novel game with a rhythm minigame built into the storyline. Despite the fact I had a love of visual novels when I was a university student, I actually don’t tend to learn towards visual novels on my wishlist. I also don’t often play rhythm games unless I get them on sale or I know they have accessibility options because I’m not really that great at them.

Which was why I was pleased to find that the learning curve on the rhythm minigame to not be particularly steep, while still being pretty unique in execution. It’s actually very relaxing, and the beginner’s mode is actually really good. 

I say this, because one of the issues with reducing the difficulty on rhythm games is that often developers will just remove notes in a track thoughtlessly to make a track easier, but not think about if those notes were important to the melody when the game is being played. Square Enix’s Kingdom of Hearts’ rhythm game is a good example of this, where it just became easier for me to play the game on normal, rather than easy, because the easy mode was throwing me off. Even though I wanted to play easy mode to get a feel for the game.

But I digress, the rhythm minigame is very well made, and an important part of the plotline.

Which brings me to the main point of why Fine Work is fascinating to me, because narratively it is a fascinating game. Most visual novels tend to be set in worlds that we’re already familiar with, and often use familiar story tropes, because it’s kind of hard to do world building in a visual novel without dumping a lot of exposition. 

And visual novels by nature already tend to be very wordy.

So it’s an interesting choice that Fine Work has chosen to put the player into another world that not only has its own lexicon, but has a very different cultural context than our world. In the world of Fine Work, memories, known in the world as sends or sendings are a commodity, in large part because they hold power. There are a number of professions where people use others or their own memory as part of their work. The main character being one of them, called a Sendshaper, a person who shapes objects using memory.

It’s a very well written and well made game, and I hope they reach a large audience who are really into stories. Games like Fine Work do tend to be a bit of a risky venture, not because the scope is ambitious or anything, but because a game like this does require a certain amount of reading comprehension and media literacy. I can see people who are not as savvy towards the fantasy-science fiction genre get a bit lost in the narrative. The word glossary, while useful for lore building, isn’t fully useful to the player from the outset because it requires context. 

I do personally think it’s well written enough that you can get the gist of what is going on without the word glossary at all. However, I also recognize that I am the person who will talk for an hour about why fight scenes are different in western media compared to eastern media. So I’m not the best indicator of what the average person would get out of a game like this.

But, definitely a game to keep an eye on.

[littlemxhoney]

I love making YouTube thumbnails

because you get to take silly little dramatic photos like this ⬇️

and turn them into this 📸

I’ve been trying to experiment more with my gaming channel thumbnails and I am so proud of this one 🥹

Not to mention you should absolutely look into playing CLeM by Mango Protocol when it comes out later this year 🔍

Think creepy haunted doll meets cozy puzzle adventure

You can see me in all my haunted Sherlock glory playing the first 15 minutes of the demo on my channel ⬇️

And help the developers by wishlisting the game on steam!

Planned release is later this year! And I'm ready for my haunted doll era 👻

[amadeusgame]

It's finally time... the playable demo for Amadeus, a melancholy point-and-click puzzle game/visual novel, releases tomorrow (July 29, 2023).

Relevant links here: https://linktr.ee/amadeusgame

Are you prepared to make a deal with a witch...?

[redspringstudio]

The brilliant crew at Knights of the Light Table knocked it out of the park with this animation 🔥 Especially paired with the "Every Time We Touch" cover ft. Dan Avidan!

Hear the whole song by backing our Kickstarter! Animation: Director ✦ Patrick Stannard Supervising Animator ✦ Abroo Khan Animation and Clean Up ✦ Kaya Horiya, Imogen Osborne-Sobers Background Illustration ✦ Sean Randolph

Trailer by ✦ val.

TOUCHSTARVED by @redspringstudio

[notoh-dev]

Flowers for Kasumi on Itch.io!

Flowers for Kasumi was a demo that @eredoh and I (previously Nedras) released in 2017. It was developed in RPG Maker VX Ace. While Flowers for Kasumi is on an indefinite hiatus, (at least until my other project, The Doctrine of Perseverance is completed) I wanted to share this old demo as it is dear to me, and there is at least one confirmed character who is also in TDOP. Also, the RPGMaker.net download is inaccessible due to their website being down.

I have also merged the setting for both projects (This will be more noticeable once the full game for TDOP is completed): Flowers for Kasumi will take place in Noxton, some other characters in FFK will see name changes as well in the future. Other story elements from this project are subject to change in the future.

Synopsis

Flowers for Kasumi tells the story of titular girl, Kasumi, and how her life ended so abruptly. The game takes place in the fictional town of Kumashina, a small town that holds a grave secret. In the midst of fall, protagonists Isa and Omoka will unearth the secrets behind Kasumi, and the truth behind her death.

Solve puzzles and piece together the dark mystery of what happened to Kasumi Erizawa.

Disclaimer

This is a demo from 2017. The project's development halted around late 2018/early 2019. Eredoh and I were teenagers when we began, but as life got busy, it was ultimately discontinued.​ I have just returned to game development last year (2023). Flowers for Kasumi is on an indefinite hiatus until my other project, The Doctrine of Perseverance is completed.

>> Download on Itch.io <<

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