Hello!

After 25 long days, the game is finally done!  If you're even slightly interested in the game itself, check out its page for detailed info and download.

This game was made for the Spooktober 2024 Game Jam. It's not the first game jam I've participated in, but this is the first one I've participated in with such a huge scale as a game developer. At the time of writing, nearly 1,500 people have joined the jam. Submissions have really been pouring in during the final week, so I wish everyone luck.

This was a really fun experience and really helped me grow as a developer. Planning out an outline helped me prevent scope creep and helped me get a better idea for the direction of the game, which I discussed with the artist, SuRge (who takes commissions, btw!).

The artstyle used for this game was inspired by games like LiEat, a cute and short little RPG you can find on Steam. The dark, monochrome aspect I decided on was selected to create a spooky atmosphere for the game's Halloween setting. The inspiration behind this decision was the artwork of Robert Edmond Jones, a theater set designer whose sketches were all rendered in a unique black and white style. The way his artwork seemed to leave a lot to the imagination about what lies in the darkness was a really cool feeling that I thought would be a good fit for a haunted house story.

I settled on this "trick-or-treat gone wrong" story rather than a more traditional horror story because I wanted to see some of the original characters I created for another project wearing cool costumes, to be completely honest. I saw my chance to do it and went for it. Wouldn't you do the same?

For sound, I dug up royalty-free sound effects and BGMs from Pixabay and Dova-Syndrome respectively. The people who provide their work there for others to use are truly a godsend. I would like to find a composer to work with someday though, because having unique new songs specific to a game would be cool. One day I dream of having a cool vocal song attached to one of my projects.

GUI is definitely the weakest aspect of this game, since I'm just using the default Ren'Py GUI. It's simply not within the team's talents right now, and we're already kind of pushing it with just two people as-is. This is certainly an area of improvement for the future.

Overall, this was a very valuable experience for myself and SuRge both I think, and I look forward to making more games in the future. If you'd like to check in for the latest updates on what we're working on, the Twitter/X page is the best place for formal updates.

Until then, take care!

-Lonely Rabbit Games