I love it! It is on the list of my favorite Newgrounds games (it's short 'cause I'm new here, but it don't take away the credit of this game be in there). The art is so cute are the dialogues are pretty funny, I really want to see a full version of this game coming out one day! :)
Reviews for "When Goats Join Cults Demo"
This is officially my favorite game ever. The art is cute, the gameplay is cute, the text is cute, the goat is cute, cults are cute, everything is cute; in it's own sadistic, dirty kind of way. But it's a good way. :D
HershallCook responds:
Thanks! I'm making a full game based off this demo, so I hope you'll check that out when it releases.
moo
HershallCook responds:
I cannot confirm or deny the existence of cows in the full game, should we be successfully funded on Kickstarter.
If you like a game that can give you a light chuckle with slight dirty jokes here and there, this is the game for you. This game is short but sweet and I recommend it if you have about half an hour or hour of free time to blow. I found it well put together and very entertaining.
HershallCook responds:
Thanks! If you really liked the game, pledging $5 to the Kickstarter both gets you the full version when it releases as well as the warm, fuzzy feeling of supporting an indie developer! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/292605641/when-goats-join-cults/
I enjoy games that encourage player to explore all the possibilities they offer and reward him even for failure. This kind of encouragement allows for a more saturated dialogue between the player and the game designer, as some of the player’s actions and challenges that he seeks to accomplish in the game's environment echoes with a reply of some sort. Some games (like this one) take this premise even further and make this kind of expiration the sole goal of the game, thus encouraging players to experience it in many different ways. This makes interaction with the game's system especially playful, as there is no right or wrong answers, only new ones and old ones.
This game utilizes this kind of structure to create an interactive equivalent of a dark joke. The first layer of this joke is the premise that a goat wants to join the goat-eating cult. The second layer is the sham hospitality of the cult members, intended to poorly disguise their true intentions. The third layer is the fact that no matter how well you perform, if you followed the first order that the game gives you (to enter the room and to sit at the table) you end up eaten. It's a joke based on a false misconception: we see something from the very beginning but doubt whether it really is what it looks like; after all though it turns out exactly what we were to expect based on its appearance: goat eating cult that eats goats. What's truly funny about this game, though, is that it continues this joke throughout each and every ending: no matter what you do and how sophisticated your actions are, you will end up eaten - since, again, it's a goat eating cult, after all, and you are a goat. This makes for a great joke, since this game mocks the very principle of its gameplay: it offers variety of possible actions with seemingly different outcomes, but ultimately brings player to the one result that was obvious from the very beginning.
Some technical notes: I've experienced some lags in the hall (initial area of the game). Also some of the platformer mechanics could have been little more responsive and less clunky. Also, it would have probably subtracted from the overall zany feel of the game.