Game In A Week XIII

I WANT DD8

I think you're all winners (:

I think you're all winners (:

That's nice But I want the feedback and the score too, not only remembering us that finishing the GIAW is an achievement not all of the participants achieve

I'm RMRK's most cynical cheerleader!

(Okay, not really...)

I think you're all winners (:

Well. Which is it?

Aw, thanks for the cheerleading! 

Regarding the scores... Do you ever get the feeling there's some crazy conspiracy going on behind the scenes that you're not privy to?  Like maybe one of the judges got kidnapped by ghosts or harpies?

I'm RMRK's most cynical cheerleader!

(Okay, not really...)

I think you're all winners (:

Well. Which is it?

both (:<

THE SCORES ARE IN!



Despite a few unforeseen setbacks and the need for a last second replacement judge, all the scores are in and ready to go! I'm supposed to show off some fancy reviews too, but those will come later when I'm not about ready to pass out from sleep deprivation. For now, settle with the scores, some brief summations for what the game is, and generally why the judges gave what scores they did.

The ranks are thus!

Spoiler for 13th Place!:

"Ghost Hunt", by SamieltheMDS

Polish - 3.1
Playability - 1.4
Ingenuity - 1.7
Entertainment - 1.3

Final Score - 1.875


This entry is a prime example for what NOT to do in a GIAW contest. I don't say this because it's a bad game, but because the creator focused way too much attention on what he could potentially do with the game and not on what he actually needed to do to get anything done. The result is a thirty second long demo with two bland maps, no story, no gameplay, and tons upon tons of unused scripts and audio files. Let's just say it could use a lot of work to catch up to even 12th place.

Spoiler for 12th Place!:

"An Unlikely Adventure", by Chaos_Zexion

Polish - 7.3
Playability - 4.2
Ingenuity - 4.7
Entertainment - 3.5

Final Score - 4.925


This is one of those rare times where an entry can actually look visually impressive, but have every other part of the game pull the final score down pretty bad. Most of the judges agreed that the game had a really good polish, nice graphics, nice audio. But, like with Ghost Hunt before it, this entry is actually just an extremely small demo that goes nowhere. There's very little actual game to this game yet, and what bits are there are kinda buggy and sounding rather... generic so far. There's potential to better, but at this current point, there's not much to really say other than it looks pretty.

Spoiler for 11th Place!:

"The Wyvern", by Yuyu!

Polish - 4.9
Playability - 6.15
Ingenuity - 3.6
Entertainment - 5.4

Final Score - 5.0125


Personally, I was so looking forward to this game because of Yuyu's RPG Maker experience and because of the teaser info that was posted before she actually submitted the game... and then it turns out to be just a joke game. At least, I think it's a joke game. I wasn't really sure whether it actually was for a long while, and I'm still not certain if some of the judges actually realized that it was all just a joke game.

Despite a nice looking title screen and character selection, virtually everything else about the game was all generic and mediocre at best, with mainly RTP resources and next to no originality. It was reminiscent of a ten year old newbie's first attempt at a game. Plus, the spelling and grammar was bad enough to make my writer of a mate want to bash his head through the nearest wall until either his head or the wall ceased to exist (whichever came last). There's a lighthearted sense of humor to the game, but as the scores show, it wasn't really enough to go very far.

Spoiler for 10th Place!:

"Thirteen Ghosts", by PhoenixFire

Polish - 5.55
Playability - 6.6
Ingenuity - 4.5
Entertainment - 4.4

Final Score - 5.2625


Note, this game is not to be confused with the movie(s) of the same name. This entry is actually just a standard little RPG Maker game with an Arshes-like character who is on a quest to rid the town of ghosts by slashing them with his sword. It's not really a bad game, but there's lots of little things that pull the scores down and not really many redeeming qualities to help bolster the scores back up. The graphics weren't really bad, if lacking for the interior maps, but had small issues here and there for some judges and the audio definitely needed work. The game ran smoothly enough but had a very weird difficulty difference between enemies. The judges all agreed though that it was a rather generic piece that wasn't really all that fun in the end.

Strangely enough, a lot of this entry's scores were actually LOWER than the 11th place scores. The game's main saving grace comes in the form of one single judge having given the Wyvern super low scores for polish and playability compared to this one's, and in the fact that PhoenixFire put more effort into making this an actual game instead of an attempt to troll us.

Spoiler for 9th Place!:

"Farmyard Chronicles", by Flapbat

Polish - 5.5
Playability - 4.4
Ingenuity - 7
Entertainment - 6.4

Average Score - 5.825

Lateness penalty of -0.5 to the final score!

Final Score - 5.325


First off, this game actually could have been ranked 7th place, but due to being late, we had to dock a half point off the final score that ultimately brought the rank down a few places. Additionally, the creator wanted to submit an updated version of his game to fix a couple of bugs in the game, but the judges decided that they would only play the first submitted version of the game due to the time. Thus, the version that the judges played still contained the bugs that would have been remedied in the updated version. Sorry Flapbat, but we were bending the rules already just to accept the first version of the game.

Farmyard Chronicles is, surprisingly, a game made in RPG Maker 2000, which is seemingly a rarity these days with how popular XP, VX, and VXA are. All of the judges seemed to like it well enough and thought it was a cute little game that was pretty original. Personally, the teleporting animals in the opening were outright hilarious to me. Had it not been for one single judge being unimpressed, the polish would have been a pretty good score too, being mostly standard for the engine but well used and rather fitting for the tone of the game. But like most games, the big flaw is in the playability. Combining the angry insects with hammers (IE, game-breaking bugs) and the lack of information for what to do / where to go bombed the scores for two of the judges.

If Flapbat had gotten in his fixed version on time, this game might have done a whole ton better for its ranking than even its original 7th place. But, seven days is seven days!

Spoiler for 8th Place!:

"Lost Island", by Darkness and Axel

Polish - 5.65
Playability - 5.2
Ingenuity - 6.4
Entertainment - 4.3

Final Score - 5.3875


The title says it all for this entry. You're lost and stranded on an island, and must fight to survive while looking for a way off. An interesting concept for an RPG Maker game, but when it came to execution... well, it could have been done better. The judges all agreed that the mapping was decent but a bit bare and repetitious, although the selection of music was well chosen (despite the irony that it was RTP) to boost the polish back up a bit. As far as originality, while I can't say I've ever seen a survival game done with RPG Maker before and think it's a neat concept, most of the judges have seen their fair share of such games outside of RPG Maker and didn't see many new elements. One judge even commented that it's extremely similar to "Lost in the Blue" in terms of the systems.

The main flaw to this entry is that all of the judges felt... well, lost. We had next to no information, no direction, and no idea what we were really doing aside from getting our asses handed to us by the wildlife. Incidentally, wandering around in circles and having my ass handed to me isn't very fun.

Spoiler for 7th Place!:

"Memedroid the Game 2: Prequel", by Kodi123

Polish - 7
Playability - 5.2
Ingenuity - 6.8
Entertainment - 3.8

Final Score - 5.7


Memes. Do I really need to say more? Oh, I guess I do. Dammit, I want to go to bed already!

MtG2 is a strange game in every way, and it's... surprisingly good. When I saw the title, I was admittedly bracing myself for the worst, but most of the judges agree that it's not a bad game really. The visuals seemed pretty fitting overall, with particular note to the cartoonish-ness style of the tileset. With just a little more detail to the mapping and writing, it could really be something. Despite being a joke game that uses an abundance of memes, the concept and story of the game isn't half bad. However, there were some issues with missing music files and a couple of minor game-breaking bugs. Coupled with the difficulty curve requiring you to grind A LOT, it lost a fair amount of points to the playability.

But what knocked this entry down to 7th place instead of something higher was the fact that NONE OF THE JUDGES ENJOYED IT. Most agree that it's a decent game not counting the bugs, but only one of the five judges gave it a good entertainment score, and I'm pretty sure that he/she gave it such for the fun of playing something so difficult rather than for the memes. The rest mostly found the crude humor and overuse of memes not really appealing, and were turned off by how hard of a game it was.

As a note for Kodi though, don't be discouraged by this! The entertainment score is always a bit of a gamble category, and sometimes it simply depends on what kind of judges you've got grading your game. So while the humor of the game might not have gone over very well with us this time, there's bound to be a better target audience for this that'll praise the game much more highly.

Spoiler for 6th Place!:

"A Board Game", by Sipsop

Polish - 6.9
Playability - 5.1
Ingenuity - 8.45
Entertainment - 5.2

Final Score - 6.4125


This certainly was an interesting entry. It's quite literally a board game that plays looks and feels a little bit like LIFE. This is a really unique concept, as I don't believe I have ever seen RPG Maker used to make such a game before. As such, this game has an amazing ingenuity score. Additionally, most of the judges thought it was amazingly polished; the game starts out with some very well done intros, a nifty titlescreen, and a very vibrant board graphic combined with some super upbeat music. Two, however, weren't all that impressed, feeling that the music got a little grating after being on repeat for a while and that the sprites, spaces, and backgrounds felt off and contrasting to each other.

Despite how unique everything looks, the one thing that cost this entry dearly is a lack of instructions, or at least a purpose. None of the judges had any idea how to actually play the game; we rolled the dice, landed on random spaces that apparently gave us intelligence/fun/money, went around in circles until the game eventually told us that we won. There was a manual included to explain what the spaces did (which I know at least judge never actually read before playing), but it explains very little and gave us no clue what the stats actually did or what the goal of the game was. As a result, the playability scores were mediocre and entertainment scores low for all but one judge.

On a side note though... despite being in sixth place, this game actually has the highest ingenuity score out of all of the games!

Spoiler for 5th Place!:

"The Rubicon", by Legacy

Polish - 5.95
Playability - 5.6
Ingenuity - 7.85
Entertainment - 6.6

Final Score - 6.5


As the MC, this entry gave me the most headaches out of all of the entries, due to the fact that two of the judges scores were so polarized for this game that I badly wanted to tell both of them to redo all of their scores. But, the final scores for this entry were similar enough to what the other judges actually thought that I let it go through as is.

The Rubicon can be considered stealth game of sorts about a group of people lured into a deathtrap, where they must use quick reflexes and the power to turn invisible to sneak past a whole ton of enemies. Three of the judges agreed that, gameplay-wise, it was a mediocre game with a couple of minor bugs and a detection system that's kinda iffy at best. Visually, it's not too shabby (except for the titlescreen, which was amaaaaazing), but it could use some better mapping that's not so bland and empty. It needs more than just boxes and strewn paper. Also, it's a little confusing whether this is a modern game or a steampunk game due to story sounding like a modern one but the graphics feeling like your standard fantasy RPG Maker game.

Where my headache comes in is this: one judge gave extremely low scores in polish, playability, and entertainment, citing bugginess and as the main issue while being thoroughly unimpressed with how it looks overall. Another judge, however, had the complete opposite of overwhelmingly good scores higher than even the first place game, having found the stealth to be intriguing and fun while the graphics seemed very fitting. Mercifully, the final scores still fit in with what the rest of us thought of the game: it's a decent game, but still has a LOT of room for improvement.

Additionally, ALL of the judges found the story to be quite interesting, but I can't say why without spoiling anything!

Spoiler for 4th Place!:

"Melody's Quest", by NekoBucket

Polish - 7.1
Playability - 6.15
Ingenuity - 7.35
Entertainment - 6.7

Final Score - 6.825


Unlike most of the submissions, this particular entry can actually be considered a simple kid's game. This game, as the title states, is about a little girl named Melody on a quest to find a cinnamon roll for breakfast. It doesn't get much cuter than that, unless you were to come across some mewling kittens while playing.

Almost all of the judges were unanimous in all of their scores. It's a pretty decent game that was easy on eyes, though the mapping could use some improvement) and had unique feel to it. The biggest flaw to this entry is the small number of bugs (like almost all of the games have) and, more importantly, the gameplay itself. It's basically a giant fetch quest with a couple of mandatory side quests attached, and doesn't really do a good job of pointing you in the proper direction. A number of the judges got stuck trying to figure out where they're actually supposed to go, and if it weren't for a Read Me file that showed me where to look for the solutions to the "puzzles", we probably all would have been stuck a lot longer until we gave up on it. That took a good chunk out of both playability and entertainment, as somehow getting lost in the same two maps is not really our idea of fun.

Still, it was enjoyable for what it was, simple as it may be, and I'm told that this is actually NekoBucket's first attempt at ever making a game. While you do still have some things to learn, you've done a great job so far for your starter!

Spoiler for 3rd Place!:

"The Undimmed Tablets", by Bluntsword

Polish - 7.8
Playability - 6
Ingenuity - 7
Entertainment - 7.1

Final Score - 6.975


LET ME GO TO SLEEP ALREADY, I CAN'T KEEP TYPING THESE THINGS ONLY HALF AWAKE.

The Undimmed Tablets is very clearly a game made by a good writer with a sense of story, character, and setting. Despite using almost exclusively RTP graphics, the mapping is very nicely done, the music is very appropriate, and the characters fit very well together both in terms of appearance and in personality. The story itself was thought to be "standard RPG formula" by some of the judges, but in general it's well liked for the direction it takes.

But, as with most of the games so far, bugs take their toll on the gameplay score (and often with it the entertainment score). For example, doing certain quests out of sequence tends to put you in a situation that either prevents you from being able to progress any further or outright crashes the game. However, despite the number of bugs, the game was fairly well liked for the immersion. Any game that can make you look past having to start again from the beginning due to a bug and still enjoy it must be doing something right!

Spoiler for And finally, first and second place!:

Second Place: "Fabulon", by KilgoreTrout

Polish - 7
Playability - 7.5
Ingenuity - 8.4
Entertainment - 7.1

Final Score - 7.5


Okay, no, really, I need to go to bed, I'm going to pass out if I don't and be a walking zombie at work tomorrow.


This entry is a surprisingly amusing game about a stereotypically gay robot who has been banished to the axis of time and must find five fabulous artifacts to return to his own time again. The simplistic graphics are well done, and it certainly has a unique story even if it does rip a fair chunk from Illusion of Gaia, Super Mario, and other NES titles. The gameplay felt a little clunky to some judges, but for the most part handled pretty well with a mash of genres. Overall, almost all of the judges were thoroughly impressed by it.



First Place: "Spirit Summoner Girl", by Hiromu656

Polish - 7.85
Playability - 8.45
Ingenuity - 7.3
Entertainment - 7.4

Final Score - 7.75


This entry is OH SCREW IT I'M GOING OFF TO BED. THE GAME IS GOOD, JUST TRUST ME ON THAT. It's beautfully done, has an interesting story and no real bugs to speak of. Just wait for the full reviews for the lavishing praises. ;-;

Congratulations to one and all! This was certainly an interesting round of Game in a Week!

In all seriousness, more specific reviews will follow sometime soon, especially for the top three games (since I may or may not have started to lose consciousness towards the end). These game briefs are just the summations, since every judge had to write down their own thoughts for each category. So, expect the details after the initial celebrations/fisticuffs have settled down!

Also, I will be contacting people soon with a list of the prizes to choose from; to make up for all of the delays, I'll probably add more on to the pot and pass out even more than was originally intended to more than just the top three ranks. But first, my pillow calls to me. x.x

Good to see them in; gutted about 5th place though; I think I'd have to say that was probably my favourite game out of the bunch, sad to see it not...well, 1st tbh.

1st place is no surprise either though, fantastic, if slightly heartbreaking to...play!

Congratulations to everyone though; am looking forward to seeing the rest of the feedback myself, as I've only seen a couple of the other reviews, would be good to see what all the other reviews from the other judges are like

WHY DID MY GAME ONLY SCORE #11 ?!?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

Okay, okay fine. Yes, it was a joke game. I was bored ok. Strangely...I've rarely had more fun making a game. Will be posting it soon, if anyone feels like playing something inspired by Jomarcenter and the Future Helpers series. ;o

Anyways, I've got time to kill this weekend. Stick around for the video reviews, okay guys? May start them tonight or tomorrow. ;o

holy crap I cannot believe that I got 4th place I am literally shaking with joy thank you guys so much!!! And congrats to the winners!!!

I think I was part of your problem, yuyu.
I came out of it feeling like the game had a parody feel to it and wondering how much of that was deliberate, but to be honest too much of it just rang false to me, rather than rang as a parody.

That said though, it was one of the least buggy games that came in, which is definitely something to be proud of O:

and yeah Neko, should be happy. Was pretty surprised finding out that your game was a first attempt (I played all the games deliberately without knowing who it was that submitted them, to try keep some bias off). Really fun, has a lot of charm

Aw, I'm bummed.  Only 9th.  I thought I'd created something really unique.  Well, just means I look forward to playing the other games that scored above mine. 

The first draft I sent in was really buggy.  I'll be releasing a very much more polished version soon if anyone wants to play it.  But with such a low score, I kinda doubt anyone will

and yeah Neko, should be happy. Was pretty surprised finding out that your game was a first attempt (I played all the games deliberately without knowing who it was that submitted them, to try keep some bias off). Really fun, has a lot of charm

Thank you!! Yeah, it was my first game and I really really didn't expect to do so well, I am just blown away. :3 Thank youuuuuu

I'll also be releasing a fixed up version of my game once I get around to fixing it. :3

Congratulations to everybody!  Especially those who got pleasantly surprising scores!

Okay, so how we gonna do these video review things? Will we be getting copies from the judges (a lot of people tend to forget to post them)? It may be easier if you guys post them anyways (or PM them to me), in case the judges don't still have them all around for some reason or just don't prefer to hand them out. :-)

So far, no one quite asked me NOT to review their game. Please let me know asap if you don't want yours reviewed, because I will typically impulsively select games to review, and yours might end up first! ~(o.o)~

I think I was part of your problem, yuyu.
I came out of it feeling like the game had a parody feel to it and wondering how much of that was deliberate, but to be honest too much of it just rang false to me, rather than rang as a parody.

That said though, it was one of the least buggy games that came in, which is definitely something to be proud of O:

That's okay. ;o I think I covered it up as just a noob game pretty well! The last GIAWs exhausted me, so I figured I'd have fun with this one. Literally! ;o

Also, if you guys want to play the BEST GAEM EVAR, I've created a thread for the Wyvern! ;]

Whoa!  yuyu has exactly 4,444 posts!  Happy coincidence yuyu!

WAT ? And I missed it? Darn it! Why did I just have to make a silly post about super vision?!

*edit*

On a more important note - is there anyone that WANTS their game to be reviewed first? Otherwise, I might have to corner boe and peer pressure him into giving me copies of the games. (We're probably going to start tonight, maybe even super soon).

...That's howwible. Don't make me do that to boe.

I am not surprised I got 5th in the slightest. My game had it's moments, in both directions xD. Loved some parts of it and they gave me chills, but for the most part I just wish I stuck with the stealth mechanic all the way through. Hidden mechanic (the dark spots) was a total waste of time. It was super clunky and felt really weird. It sucks being stuck in a hidden area and waiting for those stupid enemies to just move xD. Stealth felt so much more natural and was way more fun. Truth is that I finished the game at about 11:00 PM the day it was due xD. Finished the music in 20 minutes at that time too. Almost no time to test it so it was mostly code and pray. Really wish I got to explore the stealth mechanic a bit more. I might save this game for a later date, but meh.

Super fun doing this though!

Congrats to all who completed the GIAW!

I had a blast making my game and, as usual, succumbed to the tragedy that is bugginess!

I'm honored to have placed 3rd!

I'll post on my game later and address the issues as soon as I can!

Hoorah!

Edit -
As soon as I hear what the game killing bugs were I'll fix and give over to the review team for their enjoyment!

So, 11th place means I won 1st place twice, right? (: Or is it really II place? (:

So, 11th place means I won 1st place twice, right? (: Or is it really II place? (:

Yes. Yes it does.

Yuyu wins.

ok good! (B

yuyu your triggering me you really should choose your words better
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