Post-mortem felt a little grizzly, so I felt that 'Just Desserts' might go down a little better ;)

Firstly, I am so grateful and humbled by the reaction to 'Do you like sweets?' I must thank everyone for their thoughtful feedback, ratings and encouragement. I did not anticipate the interest and enthusiasm for the entry, so I wanted to express my thanks to everyone who has played this little game. I'd like to thank TofuRocks who organised O2A2

This project is very special to me, so I wanted to dive into it (hopefully in less than 1000 words,  in the spirit of O2A2 ;) )

Do you like sweets?

The good

• The 'vibe' was a good balance of what I wanted to represent and more importantly, players really enjoyed it.
• The character design is probably the right balance of a bit quirky (mismatching tartan on both sides) and practical, he's a wizard who makes things, so it can't be too elaborate... (also there's something underneath that cape...)
• The experience was short enough to play once and enjoy and had enough endings to give it a little replayability 
• It is based on a real place in York City! My intention was to highlight fun quirky places near where I live, rather than typical UK settings of London, Stonehenge, etc.  
• The graphics were fun to create, in Hyakuten Games, I'm a writer and programmer, so I was excited to do some sprites and backgrounds - it's a little rough and ready, but I enjoyed the process and was happy with the presentation.

The bad

• It was a little repetitive to get the different endings.
• It was a little too short to give a good view of his whole character.
• I would have liked to have like to have cast a voice actor, had I had more time.
• I reflected on other entries in the jam and I think there's more I could have done with effects to enhance the experience (though this is more a reflection rather than a bad thing-  I was inspired by great entries!).
• The UI was very reminiscent of many Renpy games. That isn't a bad thing, but I would have liked to have done some more things to spice it up
• I'd like to add more interactivity to future projects.

The crooked...So who is this man?

I created the concept of the Crooked Man in 2012(ish) originally as the villain of a comic series, but other creative projects meant that he and the comic he featured in was paused. This jam gave me a valuable opportunity to go back to basics and think about what I wanted to achieve with him and his story (he's too interesting to sit on the sidelines of a comic!).  I always knew 'who' he was, but his design had changed occasionally...here are some questionable samples...

The comic format didn't give an audience the interactiveness that shows his quirky qualities. I wanted people to have an experience with him, not read about him. I wanted to solidify the 'vibe' of being with someone like him...

So...who is he?  I won't go into spoilers, as these things will be revealed in his own game, but he is unpredictable, highly intelligent and capable of moving with the times (he's no spring chicken). He can be contrary, a little silly and sometimes very calculating. He's part wizard...part something else...

Having him in a comic where he played the part of a villain meant we didn't get to know 'him' for what he is. The goal of this project was 'let people decide what he means to them, not prescribe a role'.

So, this jam was a perfect place to test the waters of the concept, before expanding the lore of the Crooked Man and others in his universe. 

What's next for the Crooked Man? The Crooked Man will be returning, he will feature in a game that's entirely dedicated to him (with some delightful side characters).

'Tales of...' series

Also, he will feature in a small series wherein he teaches his 'apprentice', about some of the people in his world, ahead of his own game. This is a nice way to expand on the world he's in small accessible chunks without making it too big to take in all at once. (I also have some projects to finish in Hyakuten Games, so I have to work on those as well!)

But thank you once again and....