The Wizard's Departure
A downloadable game for Windows
Travel to the past to embody your younger self and make changes that echo forward through time!
Controls:
WASD/Arrow Keys: Move
Space (Context-sensitive):
- Travel to the Past/Future
- Link objects through time (as older wizard)
- Climb (as younger self)
- Plant/remove seed (as younger self)
- Push blocks (as younger self)
C: Pull blocks (as younger self)
Download
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Comments
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Thanks for the game!
It was very enjoyable to play! I was expecting some bugs that would break the mechanic and I wouldn't be able to complte the puzzle, but have encountered none. Considering how many different mechanics you have in the game, and how well difficulty curve is executed, this is quite an achievement in my eyes! I also liked how unexpectedly logical some of the puzzles were (pushing the block through the gate was my faworite).
With that said, while the last two-three puzzle pieces felt exceptionally tight, the beginning of the game was somewhat sluggish. This is mostly because puzzles rarely forced me to think about the position of my older/younger self strategically, so several times after significantly forward with younger self, I was forced to re-track same distance by the older self when younger self reached the impasse. This, combined with big distances and slow movement made some of the puzzles at the beginning somewhat tedious.
There were also two moments that I consider as bugs:
1. in the long stretch of plantable tiles section there was a moment when I was unable to get down the wall by the wine, since only 'plant seed' option appeared when I approached the wine;
2. from the wall in the last section (behind the dragon and block-unlocked gates) I was able to see my reflection in the riwer, but no interaction were availiable. That looked strange and almost convinced me for a moment that I've encountered a game breaking bug.
I sometimes found myself having trouble understanding 'when' exactly am I now. I would be cool to have two different times more visually distinct from each other, for example, have other color for grass and trees in the future.
Overall, the biggest downfall for me was lack of a meaningfull ending. I've collected all the crystals, and nothing happened... I tried to blink myself out of existence by rapidly switching selves several times in a row, but failed at it.
Hey Valeriy! Thanks so much for the kind words and helpful input. I'm happy to hear that you liked the game!
You're absolutely right about the level design feeling a bit too open initially and then more restrictive later on. We ran out of time, but would have liked to polish the level design for another day or two. I think if I was to redesign the moment-to-moment gameplay, I'd have the puzzles broken up into smaller rooms, and completing a puzzle would automatically "fast-forward" both characters to the start of the next puzzle instead of requiring the player to manually keep both characters in sync.
Thanks for letting us know about those two bugs. That will be the first thing I fix when I get a chance to work on a new version. I was hoping I had accounted for all the plant vs climb situations, but I didn't test enough to encounter that first bug you described. The second part (about not being able to teleport when you see your reflection) was something we found and discussed near the end of the jam, but I ran out of time to find an elegant solution for that one.
I love that idea about different foliage colors for each age (maybe the past could be summer and the future could be fall/winter). I ended up going with a temporary "warm" or "cold" overlay that helps each age feel somewhat distinct, but I agree that after that overlay fades, the two ages still feel much too similar.
I definitely wish there was a more impactful ending. The crystals just ended up being a somewhat mindless collect-a-thon, and it would have been fun to be able to spend them or at least get an alternate ending or a "congratulations" message.
Thanks again for taking the time to finish the entire game and provide all the great feedback. It's very much appreciated!
Its a cool game with an entertaining mechanic, but there are some things to keep a lookout for.
2.after the double gate, at the part with the dragon and a block that you can push past the gate, you can lock the wizard to the left of dragon's breath while man is on the right and the block is pushed past the gate (again forcing a reset)
Up until that point, the game was rather enjoyable, so if you had more time to fix these problems, I think the game would turn out to be great.
Thank you, Marco! We really appreciate your input and that you took the time to play all the way to the end. I totally agree with you about the movement speeds and that keeping the characters near each other felt like a chore. I was definitely starting to get that sense even part way through playtesting.
Glad you liked the sprites! Jeffcakes was working on pixel art nonstop during the jam and it's my favorite part of the game.
Thanks for reporting the bugs with the seed/vine and the dragon's fire at the end. I should have been able to catch those bugs but ran out of time at the end, so I really appreciate your help!
Thank you again for the great feedback, and I'm glad you enjoyed the game!
Go team "puzzle wizard"! (my game is about a wizard and puzzles as well so) .
I really liked this one, the puzzles are good, I got the 31 shards (I got 29 and I had to backtrack some of them at the end of the game). That being said.
There is a mechanic at the end of the level that you have to use to end the last puzzle, and I dont think that it's a good Idea to do that. I would put that mechanic earlier in the game. Beside that, I think you have a great way to show the tools to the player.
Not a fan of the music.
The sprites are awesome! and If the player was animated it would add a lot to the experience (but i'm a fan of the wizard). I would add some speed to the player (not much).I understand if the movement speed is slow because the wizard is an old man and he walks slow, but would make at least the strong men go faster.
Great game! and I would love to see more levels and some of the plot. Thanks for making it! :D
Hey Salsadix! Thanks very much for the feedback. Your game was amazing and the community really loved it when it was shown on the Extra Credits post-jam Twitch stream - very cool!
For The Wizard's Departure, I definitely agree that some of our mechanics were introduced too late in the game and could have been more intuitive. The music was also a bit repetitive for a slower-paced puzzle game like this, so I'd probably have scrapped it if I had given it more consideration.
Glad you liked the sprites! Jeffcakes ended up working mainly on the art and some puzzle design, and I was really happy with the final art style that he ended up with. I'd love to add some character animations if we get to revisit the project later.
I really like your idea about the characters moving at different speeds (and giving both an overall speed boost), and I think you're right about the movement feeling a bit tedious when trying to keep the characters synced up.
We really appreciate you taking the time to play through the game and offer so much valuable feedback. Thanks again! :)
Where do I begin? Amazing game! Cool concept, pretty well executed, fun puzzles! I liked the way you implemented the classic features of this kinds of games. The bad? Well, it feels a bit tedious but nothing too extreme or immersion breaking. I like time travel mechanics and this one was pretty well done. Keep it up! Meow!
Thanks Kenia! Glad you had fun with the game. I also noticed a bit of tedium while playtesting, and I think it might be due to combination of slow movement speed and trying to keep the characters together as you progress. Definitely something I'll try to improve if I get more time to work on this prototype in the future.
Thanks again for taking the time to play. We really appreciate your feedback!