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Looking forward to this.

All devs remark on this, it tends to be impossible to accurately figure out how long an improvement will take when you chase down an inspiration.

FYI, I definitely understood a lot more of the story from just that handful of words.

Replayed this and got creeped out all over again! The computer is a great new addition--of course, while playing the jam version I could have written down the morse code on paper and decoded it myself, but I didn't bother; doing it in-game makes it feel like part of the game. Would enjoy seeing this setting and these characters developed more.

Yeah, knockback can still cause some collision issues. This isn't new but I haven't been able to eliminate it completely .

I have now uploaded a Windows build by popular request. ;)

Thanks for checking it out and sharing your feedback! After the rating leriod ends, I will upload a new build that has difficulty levels. Easier enemies will probably make searching around less stressful.

Thanks so much for checking it out and leaving feedback! I'll upload a build with difficulty levels after the rating period, so you can experience the story with less of the frustration.

Thanks for checking it out and sharing your feedback!

Thank you. That is extremely helpful.

It's very gratifying to get some love for the flashlight... because I actually spent the *entire first day of the jam* just implementing and tweaking the flashlight mechanics, then basically built the rest of the game around that.  😂

Adding real raycasting would significantly change the way the flashlight works, and might impact game design in certain ways.

But adding directional audio sounds like a very worthwhile avenue to investigate. I'll try to include that in the post-jam edition.

Quick question, what was it about the flashlight that you think worked particularly well? Gotta build on whatever I'm doing right. :)

Great visuals and audio combine with a mysterious, enigmatic setting to form a really compelling experience. I definitely jumped a couple of times while playing.

The actions the player is expected to perform are more or less intuitive based on the protagonist's situation.

Enjoyed the Prufrock lines. When the Dies Irae played, I knew what that meant.

A very polished game.

Understood. I wasn't thinking about positional audio at all... another frontier to explore.

Wow, that is high praise! Can I ask what you like about it?

As for the batteries: I wanted to discourage the player from just leaving the flashlight permanently on. Of course balance is always hard in a jam game.

I really enjoyed this one.

The visuals are detailed and very atmospheric. The controls work very smoothly.

Getting caught by the Witch was terrifying! She always popped up out of nowhere... and then I could feel her influence even before she caught me. That little crack of the neck. The uncontrollable shaking of the camera. I kept thinking I'd managed to get away... but no. Very frightening, every. Single. Time.

I really enjoyed the soundscape outdoors, but there were some other choices I wasn't so sure about, like the sound that plays when you talk to Grandma. 

I also would have liked a bit more background about the history between Grandma and the Witch. It seems... personal somehow.

And... why is the game called The Watch?

Thanks so much for checking it out, and so happy you enjoyed it! 

There are grenades in the final boss room, but I didn't include the rifle or the submachine gun in the game. There just wasn't enough time to get everything working correctly. :)

I'd love to hear what you think of the other games in this setting.

Thanks so much for checking it out and sharing your impressions!

Some pretty cool music here! And some decent jokes, too. I wanted to know more about this world!

It's impressive that you made a whole turn-based combat system; what would have made the combat more engaging would be a few special abilities, leading to some strategic choices.

Thanks so much for playing and sharing your feedback! Glad you had fun.

Gorgeous graphics: utterly over-the-top color palette, like a black velvet painting. Very Edgar Allen Poe vibes. The enemies are terrifying. The music is very good, although I think the music volume is rather low. The defeat sound effect is absolutely sickening (I mean that in the best possible way).

Navigating the ballrooms and dining rooms is challenging but fair. The game has a variety of tasks without outwearing its welcome. 

The ability to permanently incapacitate foes provides a welcome relief, but it also makes the game somewhat less scary than it would otherwise be; this is a trade-off.

I think the default mouse sensitivity is far too low, but since it can be increased in the Settings, this is a very minor point.

Note that, after I died and chose to return to the main menu, I could not activate any of the buttons. I had to quit the game to go another round. (Choosing "Restart" from the Game Over screen works fine.)

Thank you for giving it a shot!

Thanks for playing, so glad you enjoyed it!

If the player is allowed to overlap too much with the walls or furniture, then when the player shoots, the bullets will instantiate inside the wall and disappear. When this problem reared its head, I decided to control it simply by making the player's collider higher than you (or I) intuitively think it should be. There are of course other ways to handle this problem, but it's all about tradeoffs. :)

If you're looking for the key to escape the room with the desks and the TV, make sure you search the corpses of your enemies. The gun is in the next level.

Thank you so much for trying it and sharing your detailed feedback! Glad to hear that you enjoyed it.

I had meant for there to be more action sequences, but I had to curtail the scope of the project toward the end. :)

Thank you for your kind words!

Thanks so much for trying it, and for all your feedback! Glad you enjoyed.

This is quite an original idea. I don't know what a Watcher is or why they need to be processed... but it's very mysterious and very creepy.

Overall the gameplay loop is quite satisfying. Scanning the crowds & trying to find out which ones are watching me is challenging and fun.

The graphics look good. The sound comes through with some static, unfortunately. Not sure if this is intentional.

The controls are not as responsive as they could be; sometimes I had to tap Space twice to change cameras, or click 2-3 times to process a Watcher.

Thanks so much for checking it out! Glad you had fun.

Thank you for trying it and sharing your feedback! Glad you enjoyed. :)

Ooooh there you go! 🍴🍄

I see... I didn't realize I was moving, because the background is uniform.

But now a giant squid is catching me and I can't get away. 🤔

Not sure why it wouldn't be responding. I haven't heard a report of this before. 🤔

You did pick up the knife, right?

Left click is just regular click. Are you using a mouse or a trackpad?

LOL. I'll take it! 😂

Here's hoping it's an easy fix. 🤞

Thank you so much for checking it out & sharing your feedback! Glad you enjoyed. :)

Oh no! I couldn't hear the music. Is it possible that the volume of the music is just low? I could hear the sound effects just fine.

Great presentation. Beautiful backgrounds, characters, and workspace objects. The soundscape is also rich and immersive.

I love the variety of characters, so many allusions to folklore and literature.

Trying to match all 3 ingredients to the "customer" was very difficult, even on the tutorial. The answers are somewhat abstract, and the timer interfering with your vision makes it even harder.

Very cool visuals; I really like the limited palette and the bold strokes.

I like the unusual premise and setting, and the large cast of eccentric characters.

The crypto puzzle was a disproportionate piece of the gameplay, but I really enjoyed it (I used to do the Crypto Quote in the newspaper).

It would have been nice to have music along with the gameplay.

Also, it should be possible to re-interview a suspect after the first time.

Bug: In my first playthrough, I exited out of the cipher dialogue without solving it and afterwards I was unable to return. :( Clicking on the ghost would do nothing. Then I tried to start a new game, and it got stuck on Jeannie going "Boo!". I had to reload the page to restart the game.

Ahh, okay. I saw things like notes and extra characters and assumed it should be possible to interact with them!

I did unlock the special ability! And it allowed me to see all sorts of new things. But I could not interact with them...

Good esthetics, immersive sound. A decent little set of minigame challenges. As other commentators noted, it would be helpful to have just a little bit of introductory guidance at the start.

Also, I solved the pipe puzzle but to be honest I don't really understand the solution: