Play game
The Five Stages's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #10 | 3.714 | 3.714 |
| Fun | #27 | 3.429 | 3.429 |
| Originality | #32 | 3.524 | 3.524 |
| Graphics | #34 | 3.476 | 3.476 |
| Overall | #36 | 3.354 | 3.354 |
| Controls | #43 | 3.190 | 3.190 |
| Theme | #44 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Accessibilty | #65 | 2.476 | 2.476 |
Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Godot Version
4.3
Wildcards Used
Why limit yourself
Game Description
"The Five Stages" is a short platform game that puts you in the shoes of a man dealing with the loss of his wife.
How does your game tie into the theme?
The game explores the stages of grief through self-reflection, with the protagonist confronting their emotions by observing themselves in a mirror.
Source(s)
N/A
Discord Username(s)
@niccolino @tommasoelisei
Participation Level (GWJ Only)
1
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Truly a piece of art, I loved having to move the light around separately from the player. Thought it was a neat idea, great work!
I like the concept of the game. Tying the game mechanics to five stages is really good idea for a game and its well executed here.
The art style is faithful and charming
I did not hear any music playing in the levels ( not sure if its intentional or not)
I am not a platformer jumping guy. I could not progress the second stage where I had to press F for mid air blocks and the fire would kill me even if I moved so I stopped there.
There were no accessibility settings I could see.
Really good entry for the game. Good work ^^
Beautiful. I love games that have emotive story telling and while simple this one does it in a great way. I love the creative ways you've incorporated the different stages of grief into the gameplay while still keeping it in the realm of expectations for a 2d platformer.
I do enjoy the choice on stage 3 giving a different ending and how the path chosen even reflects, the type of decision being made.
Overall fantastic entry one of my favorites this Jam. Keep up the awesome work!
The levels are well-designed, the controls feel good and responsive (I personally had some difficulty with using F to break blocks mid-jump but that's fairly minor), the art and music are both fitting and well-done, a solid package all around. I ended up playing twice for both endings, though I'm not sure if the choice in level 3 was responsible for which ending I got or if it was something else. Good work!
Interesting take on the theme. I had no issues with the platformer and was able to manage all levels. Sound and Graphics support the game well. As others mentioned a reset button or resetting on death the light in the last level would have been good. Good job and well done on this!
Nice work! My favourite part was the guy's face in the mirror in between levels - it was beautifully drawn and made an extra level of connection to the theme! The platformer was also nice and smooth, although a bit bare-bone. For the last stage - I would suggest also have a button to retract the fire - after a few times loosing it I just gave up trying to bring it back :)
Great work, Interesting turn on the theme, and fun was of making the levels represent the feeling / stage they are named after. The depression level is a bit difficult as the light did not respawn with the player. Personally I lost the light and had to solve the level in the dark. The sound and graphics are simple but still good. Nice game!
I like the way the story is told through the platformer game and how each stage reflects a stage in the five stages of grief. I agree with the previous comment that the light should have been moved to the player's position when the player dies.
Also, it's a bit hard to tell there's a door in the middle of a wall in certain places, as the door and the wall both use the same color.
The theme was reflection, and I did end up reflecting indeed. Well played!
Loved the incorporation of the five stages of grief into the gameplay. The music fit nicely with the game as well. I enjoyed the gameplay, especially the wild card use with the light. I feel like the light's position should be restored to its original place when the player dies though, unless it's current behaviour was intentional. Super smooth gameplay though overall, and lovely narrative. Good work!
Thank you very much for the review! You're absolutely right, the light should move back to the player upon respawn. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to work on this project in the final days before submission. Once the jam ends, I’ll make sure to add that feature.
Very clever use of the mechanics and really polished feeling gameplay. I’m a sucker for games that try to tell a personal story, this was well done with a nice atmosphere too. I love the soft piano in the background :)
Your team was probably pressed for time but volume sliders for the SFX would be great (it was way too loud compared to the music!). A HP filter on it would have been good too.
I really liked this submission, well done!
Thank you so much for the kind words and thoughtful feedback! It means a lot to hear that you enjoyed the mechanics, atmosphere, and music. We really wanted to create something personal and immersive while telling a story that could be interpreted differently by each player.
The team was actually just the two of us, so we were indeed pressed for time, but we’ll definitely keep your suggestions in mind! Adding volume sliders and an HP filter for the SFX are great ideas and would really help balance things out.
Thanks again for playing and sharing your thoughts!
thematically this works perfectly w the theme, i think you guys have something unique here and you executed it really well. i had fun w this platformer, some of the mechanics in here were neat, i think the depression level was my personal favorite. i'm not sure if this was intentional or a bug, but when you die on the depression level the light does not reset back at the beginning. i found it a bit tricky to maneuver it back to the player each time, other than that it was a rewarding and challenging experience. smooth and responsive controls. great work guys, and props for trying to tell a story.
We’re really glad you enjoyed the game and found the theme and mechanics engaging, especially the depression level. The light not resetting there was unintentional, and we’ll definitely address that post-jam. Thanks for pointing it out! 😄