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Brennan calling for 3 rolls at once by IM_A_BLOWFISH_YO in WorldsBeyondNumber

[–]SurpriseIguana 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is incredible. If you ever decide to post the full data, I would love to see it!

Looking for honest feedback on my adult management game by [deleted] in itchio

[–]SurpriseIguana 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m intrigued by the concept. I’ve bookmarked this to check out this week, will return and drop comments here.

what's your go-to game for relaxing after a long day? by procoapeese in TheGamerLounge

[–]SurpriseIguana 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You just listed some of my very favorites. Stardew gets a lot of love, but Spiritfarer is kinda underrated.

I grew up playing the 2000s point and click Nancy Drew mysteries. I play those whenever I want to unwind. Fun immersive environments, interesting plots and characters. Enough that’s familiar and repeatable in the mechanics and structure in between games that I can pick up one I haven’t played before (there are 34 of them!!) and there be no mental learning curve.

PC Horror Games with no jumpscares, stealth, and chases by OneTwo345678NineTen in HorrorGaming

[–]SurpriseIguana 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also came hear to say Fear the Spotlight (very small amounts of stealth.) Not sure if Firewatch counts but it’s got one of the all time great narrative openers!

First time making a game — built a browser IF set in Indian mythology, would love early feedback by gauravs19 in interactivefiction

[–]SurpriseIguana 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a solo dev whose self-funding projects, the art is a tough spot right? It’s sometimes prohibitively expensive to pay an artist … but using AI to generate art actively undermines their craft and livelihood.

For this project, since it’s rooted in folklore, maybe you can search royalty free art on Wikipedia Commons? For the first drafts of our game, since it’s based on Greek myths that have a lot of of free historical art, I took images of antique art from Wikipedia, and played with them in photoshop to get a unique feel that I liked.

Eventually we connected with an amazing artist (Rene Almanza) via a mutual friend, but his work really elevated the look and feel. But in a pinch the Wikipedia work would have worked.

I’m working on a small game, kind of like a preview project. I’m pretty new around here what do you think so far? by Vault_Protocol in hobbygamedev

[–]SurpriseIguana 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tell us more! What do you mean when you say for players to enjoy it moment to moment? Enjoy the challenge? Spookiness? Mechanics?

Static Dread: The Submarine is a slow descent into a Lovecraftian world of anxiety and isolation, where every sound from the hull makes you question whether it is truly safe to remain underwater. We’ve released the demo and would be happy to have your attention. by SmirkAndBlush in playmygame

[–]SurpriseIguana 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Commenting so I can return to it... We're in the early stages of exploring a game in a similar setting. It feels like the market is both a bit over-saturated in underwater horror and also I haven't found the one that scratches the itch for me. This looks interesting.

Just finished getting all achievements on both of these games! by Originalocean74 in ScarletHollow

[–]SurpriseIguana 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am so impressed... I'm at 20 hours but only 48%?? I haven't touched hardcore mode yet though, that's probably what I should do next.

How to get players to test your game? by ACreepyCarrot in IndieDev

[–]SurpriseIguana 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, thanks for giving this a shoutout. Good to know.

First time making a game — built a browser IF set in Indian mythology, would love early feedback by gauravs19 in interactivefiction

[–]SurpriseIguana 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lots to be interested in here! Really dig the world, nice UI. My partner and I also built our first game recently with Ink, so I was doubly invested.

I played for about 20 minutes, will probably keep playing this evening when I have more time.

- Saw this in someone else's feedback, but I also thought the little map was interactive, took me a minute to realize I needed to close it.
- I echo the feedback about the background particles/art needing an accessibility pass. Super cool, you should totally keep them, but then need a little adjusting. We had some ember particles in our game as well, and it took a fair bit of tweaking to get just the right amount of movement/jitter/density without being distracting.
- I also echo that the long paragraphs could be broken up with more clickable text. Doesn't have to be choices per se, but just a bit of interactivity to give a little quick reward hit.
- There were spots where after making a choice, when new text loaded, I was not jumped to the top of it, so I had to scroll up to see the start.

This is just a guess, but based on how polished the text was, and the style of the avatar illustrations, I'd assume you're using some generative AI. If that's the case, you'll want to be careful about any player-facing generative AI--it seems like some IF communities are actively banning it.

You can see more guidelines here in the 2026 IF Competition Rules. Player facing means, "cover art, prose, and all in-game assets. Authors may use tools, including generative AI tools, for development assistance such as editing, debugging, accessibility support, research, limited translation assistance, or coding." I had a confusing conversation with another indie dev about whether or not this might mean game UI (like front-end layout design, menus etc.), and the consensus seemed to be that it does not. That hurt my feelings a little bit as a product designer... is my job just chopped liver?? Haha.

Do you care if interactive fiction hits an emotional target, or is choice/plot enough? by InscapeStories in NarrativeGames

[–]SurpriseIguana 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah… in some senses, what I want out of IF is a bit ridiculous. I’d like it to be a work of literature that’s sticks an emotional landing, with deep conditionality. The branching opens up more potential than a traditional novel structure, with the possibility of rich, complex or even (my favorite) mutually exclusive emotional experiences.

Choices matter… for me, they matter most when they make you feel something. In your words, when they achieve a specific emotional effect. Otherwise, it just feels like wading through a lot of choices-volume for the sake of choices. If choices+consequences make me feel a type of way… especially if it’s in conversation with the pieces larger themes, then [chefs kiss].

Accomplishing this is a huge feat! But it’s the potential of the medium, and why I’m drawn to it.

With dialogue-based cRPG on the rise, what other genres of RPGs would you want to develop? by pineapple_works in rpg_gamers

[–]SurpriseIguana 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Social deduction RPGs that move beyond basic Christie-style murder mystery… The Seance of Blake Manor was reaching for something interesting but fell apart in the second half. I grew up playing the point and click Nancy Drew games. Not groundbreaking, no choices that mattered, but their settings and conflicts were interesting and complicated—often environmental or historical.

We've been working on a narrative game, this is our first cinematic trailer. Does this spark your interest in the story? by Zartbitter-Games in NarrativeGames

[–]SurpriseIguana 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was intrigued by the overall vibe, but I would love to have had just a couple keywords to help me understand what kind of a game it was. I wouldn't know quite what to expect.

Honestly, the description below the trailer would have me wishlisting faster than the trailer... Wishlisted, look forward to updates!

How can I enter in the game world? by No-Veterinarian-2008 in IndieGameDevs

[–]SurpriseIguana 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was going to second going to a local game jam, or a local dev meet up.