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Loop Merchant's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Narrative | #16 | 4.485 | 4.485 |
| Creativity | #663 | 4.121 | 4.121 |
| Artwork | #1683 | 3.697 | 3.697 |
| Audio | #1793 | 3.273 | 3.273 |
| Enjoyment | #2325 | 3.303 | 3.303 |
Ranked from 33 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
In many ways! First of all: If you stretch the definition of "loop" a little bit, every single item that you're selling in the game is related to loops, especially, the most powerful item in the game (for strategy), Ouroboros. The game also fits the theme through its main character, story and theme. A man working a corporate job he hates for the rest of eternity, surrounded by different versions of himself from different times of his life.
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
Credits are given in the description! Please read :D
(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Mat Eliot (Mat for short)
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Comments
Your Average rank is #480 in GMTK 2025! Congrats!
Here is the link with all the rankings:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pcYEGvaHF3y30mMEWwywmkRd2FCpo-u3_ZFpPFSo...
I felt bad that there is no average score, because some teams aimed for all categories, not just one. So I just scrapped the results page and made a table. I agree with Mark that "Overall" is questionable, but I still think "Average" is a valuable score, so I decided to share it.
I did not receive a poiuyt in the mail after playing this and my disappointment is immense and eternal.
This is on the category of games where the looping is entirely in the narrative, but the narrative is so unbelievably funny that it deserves every praise I can give it. It's a good, short and very amusing visual novel. The hypnosis is a goofy gimmick, maybe a little frustrating at times and drags a little long, normally I wouldn't mind a "vibe check" mechanic that slows the game to a crawl to let the story sink in, but you can't exactly do that while you're trying to beat the minigame like your life depends on it (it might). Game's not winning an award for creative implementation of looping in the mechanics, but it amused me so much it easily ranked on my favorite games this year 'round.
This is very interesting and unique! I think you did a great job at creating an engaging concept. As others have said I think the hypnosis part was a bit difficult. I'm excited to see if you continue to develop this!
I really like the vibes and art but it was super hard to progress through the hypnosis part :(
Focus on the Untouchable Orb. It looks so, so alluring, don't you think? Just look at the Untouchable Orb and focus on my words, listen to my calming words and inhale deeply. In.... and out... that's right, that's right, stare at the orb and just relax, relax and let go. Take a deep breath once again, in.... and out... You are deeply relaxed now... Keep looking at the Untouchable Orb. Doesn't it look so, so nice? You'd looooooove to have it in your possession, right? You'd loooooove to buy it from me, no? Repeat after me: I want to buy the Untouchable Orb. Greaaaaat job, I'm glad you want to buy it, just look at paper I'm holding now but don't stop thinking about the amaaaaazing Untouchable Orb you're about to buy. And you'll love having it. Just sign right here at the bottom. Thaaaaat's it, thaaat's right.
Thanks for your purchase and have a great day!
Man, I really enjoyed playing this one! The world building and narration was top notch! The conversation puzzle style was really fitting for this one, it reminded me of logic chess from Ace Attorney. The visuals were also really well done.
Keep up the good work! For Barry.
Very nice! I really liked the goofy writing and visuals! I had a bit of difficulty with the hypnotizing sections, but thankfully I was able to sell all my items. I’m not sure if it’s something to do with my mouse settings since I changed them ages ago, including disabling mouse acceleration
Was having a total blast, very good writing, but oof... I couldn't even get past the first hypnotization scene. And I'm a pretty decent fps player! Having the green bar decrease so fast while increasing so slowly, combined with the time limit, made it pretty much impossible for me. Still, what I did manage to play was quite charming.
Some people seem to blast through the hypnosis mini-game, while others struggle getting through even the early levels.
In hindsight, I think I should've made it adjust in difficulty based on the player's losses.
Thanks for the input. Next year, for sure!
For the last hypnosis segment, I invited a friend who is very good at FPS, and he’s already broken down.XD The game’s atmosphere is quite interesting; it would be great if hypnosis could be simpler.
I managed to sell all the items but didn't get all of them (that last clock was tough!). This was really cool and creative!
Very creative and fun narrative!
Great narrative and such an original idea, love it! I had a blast during the playtime and even restarted it to get the last girl the item she actually needed! Though the hypnosis scenes do feel kinda forced, I still enjoyed even that. Amazing job!
There is a quirky, dark charm to this game that took me by surprise, in a good way. The text audio was a little on the loud side compared to the music, and the watch minigame broke up the action in my opinion. But there is a real character to it that I enjoyed.
hypnosis pendulum physics seems weird but I loved the universe of the game, I WANT the ouroboros
I'll ask Chris to hook you up!
Loved the creativity in this idea! Follow the watch is hard, anyway I like the game mechanics.
I like hypnosis as much as the next guy, but please remove that minigame this game would easily get 5 across the board withoutt itt
Loved the story and artwork here. Loved the characters too! I think I played the last hypnotizing minigame maybe 30 times just to beat it and now my wrist hurts so I was a little sad when the end screen was just the guy floating in the void. Still 5 stars on creativity. I had a lot of fun and got really invested in my sales pitches :)
How much for the stopwatch, eh?
Really enjoyed the vibe and the story and how unconventional it seems.
I love the thought put into the story but I'm having a hard time seeing the "loop" theme
Please refer to the reply I gave to another creator below about this question.
Nice game! I tried to get past the stopwatch but it's very hard :(
I liked the narrative and creative items, but found the last watch minigame impossible (and the mouse hard to see over the watch and background), which is a bis frustrating.
In my opinion, the music and background get a bit hard to listen to / look at over time.
I'm sorry to hear about your experience.
Most of these issues did not occur to me during my hours of game-testing. Although, I did nerf the difficulty of the last level two times, but it appears that was still not enough for some. I only intended it to be difficult enough to lead to a failure or two, but some people can't get past it at all.
Will be making a note of this for my next game jam, as this was my very first one.
Cheers!