Instructions not clear. Ended up burning a bible.
Reviews for "Praying Simulator"
JackAstral responds:
lol
I managed 45, and I think without a touchpad the game would be very disappointing. Getting more than 60 points seems physically impossible (maybe by tweaking the CPU-performance?), so I did not even try it.
There is no story (In fact: I wonder what would haben at 60+, but I'm sure it is not reachable). The music is repeating. The graphics remind me on the EGA times (I likes amber or green better tham b/w...). The controls are frustrating. How could I rate more than 0 stars? This game took you only some hours? I see...
I liked the ambiente. It was something between sad, creepy and cynical. It was also nice to see the controls change from time to time, challenging the player. If you would add a goal, a story, some kind of story-development and user interaction, you could make a good game.
JackAstral responds:
*Do you mean with a touch pad?
*It is possible, check the high scores :b
*The black/white colour scheme builds on the metaphor
*There is a story, but it's more about what it's saying than what it's doing
What didn't you like about the controls? You just like click and stuff
Thanks for trying it out anyway, I'll keep some of the things you mentioned in mind !
Great art style and music. What are you suposed to do when the heart appears
JackAstral responds:
Drag it toward the beam of light
Game wise, it's reasonable for its length. Though, the controls might have felt better if the keyboard was involved. The main control issue here is that it's not easy dragging the small-ish hearts around quickly and accurately enough to get a score over 60, that took me quite a few tries. On the other hand, that's probably fine considering getting a high score was supposedly intended to be difficult.
As for the moral of the story... I've seen a lot of religion related stuff in your creations: cult stuff from The Shovel, retaliation in Oh Chapel, Sara's situation as she explains it in the Alula Falling finale. It's had me wonder, did you or someone you know grow up in an ultra strict religious community?
I feel sorry for anyone ultra strict about their religion. Catholic teachings say God gave humans free will so that when they chose to love God, the love is legit. If we were made to automatically love God, we'd relate more closely to robots with bad AI because it would be artificial. Furthermore, there's no real love when you're forced to do something, especially when it's mainly along the lines of "do all these things or you're going to burn in hell later." I don't remember the exact meaning of having holy fear of God (I think it relates to reverence and/or appreciation for His love and mercy), but it's absolutely not fear of what pain He can unleash, that's more towards a despot's iron fisted rule.
It's also crystal clear death has a lot to do with what you make. I can say with absolute certainty that death can't possibly be 100% the end, even if there isn't a god. I think I can speak for anyone when I say not knowing what happens after death can be more terrifying than anyone's worst nightmare, but I'm quite positive that whatever sentient life force we have will continue to live in some way in the same fashion The Big Bang came into what is now our universe in the first place: out of pure nothingness for no reason except perhaps the birth of willpower. Just like in Jurassic Park, "life finds a way."
And if there is a loving, merciful, all powerful god as friendly as a good dad that can (and even wants to) guide you to eternal life in a perfect paradise, being on good terms with him can be a very good idea. That's at least partially where prayer comes in, but it's worth noting that saints tend to actually do something ranging from sharing their wisdom to Joan of Arc's role in the Hundred Years War.
Short but conveys religious cynicism cogently. Good for what it is but would love to see these idea expanded upon, maybe adding deeper layers of this criticism or even different perspectives. Interesting play!