Cute little demo with a simple and sweet story. I look forward to the finished game, but in it's current state it also has a few hard to ignore issues.
Positives:
The concept is unique, trauma cleaners aren't often explored and the nature of the profession provides for some interesting directions you could take a game.
It was interesting looking into Adam's life through his belongings.
I like how what you choose to give his sister at the end actually completely changes what she thinks of the circumstances surrounding his death and how you can make her impression of what happened more or less accurate. He felt pressured and was grieving, wanting to honour his father and driving himself of the edge because of it. Meanwhile, I gave her the trophy and his plans for the sequel to his game in one of my runs, which leads her to believe he lost himself chasing fame.
The art style of the game is cute, I especially like the almost dreamy imagery of meeting the sister at the end.
Negatives:
The walk speed is agonisingly slow.
The auto progressing intro text goes by way too fast to read it completely, I hope in future the text speed can be adjusted and/or switched to manual progression like it is in the rest of the game.
The camera angles were annoying to work with. If you zoom in and walk as low as you can, half of the screen is empty black space and if you walk as high as you can the upper half of the wall is not visible because the player character is also noticeably uncentred and placed towards the top of the screen. It wouldn't be an issue playing the game on a large screen, but I would prefer to have the camera be placed higher for better visibility. I'm also not a fan of "snapping" style rotation because it limits the control.
It's a little tedious having to pick up every small item individually like the paper balls and stacks of ramen pots. I'd prefer if tiny things like clusters of paper or bottles counted as one item all together and picking up an item in a stack, or at the bottom of a stack, got rid of the whole thing, like how the piles of dirty dishes work.
The range at which you can pick items up is a little finnicky, especially with the aforementioned paper balls. I was practically right on top of one at one point and couldn't pick it up. It felt like I had to get further away from some things to be able to grab them.
I noticed in the item descriptions when you clicked on them in the inventory that one or more seemed to cut off before finishing, or read awkwardly like there was meant to be more said but there wasn't. There are also minor issues like spelling and grammar mistakes dotted throughout all of the game's text, but those can be attributed to the game not yet being complete, and so I do not count them as real marks against the game.
I wish the 3 item limit was more explicitly clear. It wasn't hard to figure out, but the "family box" section doesn't need to be so large if there are only 3 things you can put in. You could also use slots in the family box to make it more clear.
Suggestions/Things I may have done differently:
[These are not necessarily criticisms of the game, just other ideas]
While I understand it and there's nothing actually wrong with it, I do not think the 3 item limit on what you can put in the family box is necessary to achieve the outcomes intended, since the player is choosing what to include and omit regardless. Personally, since the family only gets one box, I would have made the limit based on item size. A lot of what you can give Adam's sister are things that don't take up much space like books, posters, pictures, etc., but there are also the large consoles and trophy, yet since the limit is amount of items and not size, giving her something like the 2 biggest consoles and the trophy is seen as the exact same as giving her 3 pieces of paper. It feels a little more realistic and still provides limitations to work in if the box can only hold a certain amount of items based on size instead of number, and the player still isn't required to fill the box and gets to chose what is most important for the family to have.
There are comments in the game about cleaning the carpet and the tv stand is visibly dirty. I'd love if you could actually clean these things up.
I'd add an incentive to clean the room more instead of just grabbing the significant items and getting out. Like, since you are running a business here, cleaning more earns you more money that you can use for... something. That's your problem to figure out lmao.
It would be cool if what you gave the family affected the scenery after they look in the box. Adam's sister's reaction varies greatly depending on what you give her, it would be an interesting artistic choice if it affected the surroundings visually after that flash of light too.
I hope there's a scoring system or something that also prompted me to keep cleaning (picking up the trash) instead of just personal items to give to the family.
Gameplay
The text at the start of the game was a bit too fast for me. I hope I could control the speed or something.
I didn't know I could walk until I couldn't pick some things up. I also didn't know I could rotate the room. Didn't read the manual btw
Some things wasn't white-outlined on hover, but could be picked up anyway. Wondering why this happens
The dialogue box for furnitures... why? I thought there'd be a story or extra action for each (e.g. use some handkerchief to wipe the table, etc).
I was wondering if there's a story behind each personal item I picked up. Turns out there is, but I just needed to go to inventory. I only knew this when I finished cleaning and it prompted me to choose items to give to the family (whose max. value wasn't explicitly stated btw)
I wasn't able to read the text at the start of the game as it disappears to fast, a 'click for next' would help us slow readers;
Walking is so, so, painfully slow;
some objects that can be picked up do not get the bold white outline when hovered over;
dialogue box for objects that can't be picked up can be annoying;
Cool gimmick, but I don't see much of a point of being able to rotate in 3d the items in the inventory, seems like a 'front and back' may be enough.
Also some people are talking about endings, not sure what do they mean as I grabbed everything that could be picked up and.. that was it, all I could do after that was slowly walk in an almost empty room. Unlike the screenshot shown in this page, my inventory took the whole screen and I had no "Adam's family box".
Being able to rotate the camera in this art style took me by surprise, very cool.
After you have collected all items, walk to the door and click on it. There will be an "I have finished cleaning" option (or something along those lines) where you can proceed
a brazilian streamer I like played it yesterday and I enjoyed the game very much! the artstyle was love at first sight and it's very polished and pleasing to look at, I loved the imputs of the player at things we found, slowly getting to know the guy who passed and oh god the ending with his sister almost made me cry fr, it was so touching!!!! the entire game even just going thru his belongings made me so soft hearted and sad, like it was a real person who had passed. and he's so complex too, with the whole grief and want to do something to honour his dad aaaaaaa. it's so good!!!! it feels like a demo of a bigger game, though it doesn't say such anywhere I've seen. I hope you plan on expanding this concept (if you'd want to, ofc!) because it is very promissing in my opinion. thank you for the masterpiece!!! btw if you wanna check the vod out, the youtube channel "lives do dreas" will eventually post the cut of the gameplay! it's in portuguese though...
edit: someone mentioned before me and it reminded me, the text before the email giving an context of the character you are goes by too quick even for english speakers, it'd be nice if every screen needed a click for the next to show! not only for english speakers to read, but to streamers of other languages to have their time translating the intro :3
First, English is not my first language and I will rely on my girlfriend (love you, dengo) and maybe a translator to write this, I'm sorry for possible mistakes or something!
I created a account just do write u a review because Homecoming Heaven it's a sensational project and has everything to be a wonderful and unforgettable game, I love playing despite it's a little short and I don't get much about the history (but this it's much about me, anxious and "impatience").
Everything in this demo is comfortable and beauty beside the history, the ambient captive and incite for more everything - items, rooms, characters, history about the player, maybe a ghost - u don't have stop the play!
But, of course, a traduction for Português (pt-br preferably) gave on the HH more visibility, cause BR community is a very warm and supporter, besides have streamers famous who would love play.
I love the demo, gameplay, controls, literally every single detail and I would not wait for updates!
Have nice days, amazing work and a beautiful and a colorful life.
Hello! It was such a cute and cozy little experience. I also managed to find multiple endings! :D I explained the game and how to get different endings through this short, hope you enjoy the narration <3
I love the demo of this so far. my biggest complaint, which isn't all that big, is that the text in the beginning scrolls a little fast. but so far it's wonderful environmental story telling, i replayed a couple times to see different responses to different pieces given to the sister. it's real touching and i cannot Wait for a maybe full game soon!
I love the start of the game, its a great start, I have a few complaints about the mechanics of the game, but the game itself has an interesting and meaningful story.
The issues I saw with the mechanics, 1 the intro story scrolls by to the end of the intro without clicking anything, the text scroll speed is too fast so I was only able to get the gist of what it was saying, I restarted the game 3 times trying to read it and then gave up.
2 there is no indication of the controls for the game, I didn't know I could walk till I saw the video in the comments here. [edit](I don't tend to read overviews on itch.io because Ive seen a few games where the overview gives away the whole game)
3 there was a paper ball under the desk that I literally could not grab, it was between the chair and the table and whenever I tried to click it, it would click on either the chair or table [I likely can grab it if I rotate the camera, I just didn't realize I can do that]
I'm aware the game is still being made and I hope the feedback helps with its production. Its a beautiful environment and the attention to detail in the art, in the items in the rooms.
SPOILER
How the girls reaction changes depending on what you give her, she gets a different story about the end of his life from the different items you give her. I love that you can give her three things, so you have to choose carefully. I am wondering what happens to the more expensive things you don't give to her. Does the rest go to the family later? I'm very curious.
I hope the game does well, I found a video about it today on Instagram, I hope that post gets a lot of people donating and trying the game.
Its a great game and I hope for future updates in which there is more than room. The environment it beautiful and although not blatant there is definitely story behind the room. The person was a Game creator who spent all his time inside, chronically online. He ate lots of instant food and had lots of gaming devices. He was also successful as he has a game of the year award. But you can see than in his final days he was struggling to find ideas, as seen by the balled up paper next to his desk. And thought the sister talks about how he abandoned his family, the photo of him and his dad sits Infront of his bed, showing that he truly does care about them still. Its a sad game, but it makes you think about how people go through life in different ways and how valuable it is to be blessed with life. I gave her the photo, the game award, and the Gameboy. The photo show how despite abandoning his family he stilled loved them. I chose the Game Award because it was most likely his most prideful achievement. Lastly, I chose the game boy because due to it being on his bed, I believe it was his favorite thing to play on. I truly hope this game gets updates, it is a nice art style, great environmental storytelling, and touching plot.
hey just wanted to let people know someone made a page that looks exactly like this claiming to be the multiplayer version but is actually a virus the creators name is cxrsedd please report every game they have up as they are all viruses so they can be taken down faster
I personally loved the concept of the game, the story and the art.
A few recommendations would be for the family belonging interface on how many it can include. ( kinda like a box with tiles that you could arrange the items into a certain formation to fit as much as you want or can )
another would be for the main menu button to have a confirmation interface when clicked as at the moment when clicked accidentally will forcefully make the player restart.
lastly, this is more of personal preference, but the inventory interface could include more minimal animations, instead of having them all rotate (since you can already rotate the item when inspecting it).
Overall, I'm really looking forward to playing the full game!
I played through the game twice, based on the girls reaction each time I think the 3 item rule is intended, you're supposed to give her the items you think would be the most meaningful.
The first time I gave her the shoes, the clothes, and the PlayStation. The second time I gave her the award, the picture with his dad, and the diary. She had a different reaction, there was more expansion in the story when you give her more meaningful items. I'm gonna play again so I can see the reactions to other items.
I really liked the game and its concept. I enjoyed the art and the way the game behaves. I hope you continue to create a broader story with some levels. However, I prefer a story format instead of just levels that become difficult. Overall, I liked it a lot.
Cannot wait until the full piece is released. I had a friend who left us by his own choice a month and a half ago and this game was super therapeutic.
Usually, I delete games after I play them through and redownload them if I want to play again, but this one is staying on my computer. It is the best representation I have seen to losing someone to that kind of thing.
Thank you so so much for creating this. I hope only good things come to you and if you have lost your own friends or family, I wish you healing.
This game was a lot of fun, it was cute and a good relaxing game to play, but still kept its heavy undertone of why you’re there intact and I definitely recommend the playthrough of this game. Keep it up!
Enjoyed it a lot! I think its a bittersweet take on telling the story of someone who's passed and what/who they left behind.
I do recommend though, to make the beginning prologue text a bitt slower as it went by on auto too fast which makes it a bit inaccessible and I wasn't able to read all of it. Or at least have a action to continue based ending to each block of dialogue! Besides that, this game was lovely and pretty easy to learn how to play. I think there's a lot that could be done with this.
I was under the assumption there would be more from the description, so if you could list that its just one room for now, that'd be nice (if there is more to come :3)! Anyways, wonderful work! Good luck on your future endeavors!!
looking forward to trying this out! but thought i was tripping cus i just played a different style game but similar abandonment vibes called "homecoming haven" as well (about a abandoned animal crossing type game file), genuine question but is this a common phrase? or mere coincidence? pretty cool either way!
A short but wholesome game about cleaning the homes of loved ones who have passed away. I enjoyed how the story unfolded through the environment as we cleaned the apartment.
This was such a nice game. I hope companies like this really do exist. The game was beautifully designed and would be amazing as a longer game with a bit more story. Great work and keep it up.
I made a video on your game if anyone wants to see it:
After looking through the comments, I have to wholeheartedly disagree with the statements of unreachable items. Everything is reachable, and the game is beautifully designed might I add. The music fits right in with the theme of the game: solemn, but relaxing. My emotions were right in tune with the cleaner when concerning the victim and his untimely death. I wish that the game in the future may be further developed to include more stories because I thoroughly relished it.
I am sobbign VIOLENALTY such a good game,,,,, has so so so much potential! I would be enthused to see this as a full game. My suggestions are the same as some of the other comments, some trash is unreachable, slow down text, more than three items given to the family, and there were a few items with placeholder text.
It's the first of the 3 games I played. Would love to see a fully formed game with multiple stories, but wish there was more detail in the story you unravel
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Cute little demo with a simple and sweet story. I look forward to the finished game, but in it's current state it also has a few hard to ignore issues.
Positives:
Negatives:
Suggestions/Things I may have done differently:
[These are not necessarily criticisms of the game, just other ideas]
Cool concept! :O
Wishes
I hope there's a scoring system or something that also prompted me to keep cleaning (picking up the trash) instead of just personal items to give to the family.
Gameplay
Looking forward to the release!
ITSS SOOO COOL BUT TOO SHORT :cccc
Ikr like i was trying to find the next level but realised it waas a demo
I loved the demo for this! Such a beautiful and emotional game. Can't wait for the full release <3
Observations as of 29/7/24:
Also some people are talking about endings, not sure what do they mean as I grabbed everything that could be picked up and.. that was it, all I could do after that was slowly walk in an almost empty room. Unlike the screenshot shown in this page, my inventory took the whole screen and I had no "Adam's family box".
Being able to rotate the camera in this art style took me by surprise, very cool.
After you have collected all items, walk to the door and click on it. There will be an "I have finished cleaning" option (or something along those lines) where you can proceed
Hey, just saw a nice mini review of your game at one of Germans biggest Gaming Media Site.
Is there any Chance i can help you People to get a German Translation? I would help for free. Just contact me if you like.
(DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED)
a brazilian streamer I like played it yesterday and I enjoyed the game very much! the artstyle was love at first sight and it's very polished and pleasing to look at, I loved the imputs of the player at things we found, slowly getting to know the guy who passed and oh god the ending with his sister almost made me cry fr, it was so touching!!!! the entire game even just going thru his belongings made me so soft hearted and sad, like it was a real person who had passed. and he's so complex too, with the whole grief and want to do something to honour his dad aaaaaaa. it's so good!!!! it feels like a demo of a bigger game, though it doesn't say such anywhere I've seen. I hope you plan on expanding this concept (if you'd want to, ofc!) because it is very promissing in my opinion. thank you for the masterpiece!!! btw if you wanna check the vod out, the youtube channel "lives do dreas" will eventually post the cut of the gameplay! it's in portuguese though...
edit: someone mentioned before me and it reminded me, the text before the email giving an context of the character you are goes by too quick even for english speakers, it'd be nice if every screen needed a click for the next to show! not only for english speakers to read, but to streamers of other languages to have their time translating the intro :3
My windows 10 gave me a warning when i tried to execute the game, saying it`s not secure
Hello, I really liked it. Is it just a demo? where can I find the full game?
Hi!
First, English is not my first language and I will rely on my girlfriend (love you, dengo) and maybe a translator to write this, I'm sorry for possible mistakes or something!
I created a account just do write u a review because Homecoming Heaven it's a sensational project and has everything to be a wonderful and unforgettable game, I love playing despite it's a little short and I don't get much about the history (but this it's much about me, anxious and "impatience").
Everything in this demo is comfortable and beauty beside the history, the ambient captive and incite for more everything - items, rooms, characters, history about the player, maybe a ghost - u don't have stop the play!
But, of course, a traduction for Português (pt-br preferably) gave on the HH more visibility, cause BR community is a very warm and supporter, besides have streamers famous who would love play.
I love the demo, gameplay, controls, literally every single detail and I would not wait for updates!
Have nice days, amazing work and a beautiful and a colorful life.
Hello! It was such a cute and cozy little experience. I also managed to find multiple endings! :D I explained the game and how to get different endings through this short, hope you enjoy the narration <3
I love the demo of this so far. my biggest complaint, which isn't all that big, is that the text in the beginning scrolls a little fast. but so far it's wonderful environmental story telling, i replayed a couple times to see different responses to different pieces given to the sister. it's real touching and i cannot Wait for a maybe full game soon!
I love the start of the game, its a great start, I have a few complaints about the mechanics of the game, but the game itself has an interesting and meaningful story.
The issues I saw with the mechanics, 1 the intro story scrolls by to the end of the intro without clicking anything, the text scroll speed is too fast so I was only able to get the gist of what it was saying, I restarted the game 3 times trying to read it and then gave up.
2 there is no indication of the controls for the game, I didn't know I could walk till I saw the video in the comments here. [edit](I don't tend to read overviews on itch.io because Ive seen a few games where the overview gives away the whole game)
3 there was a paper ball under the desk that I literally could not grab, it was between the chair and the table and whenever I tried to click it, it would click on either the chair or table [I likely can grab it if I rotate the camera, I just didn't realize I can do that]
I'm aware the game is still being made and I hope the feedback helps with its production. Its a beautiful environment and the attention to detail in the art, in the items in the rooms.
SPOILER
How the girls reaction changes depending on what you give her, she gets a different story about the end of his life from the different items you give her. I love that you can give her three things, so you have to choose carefully. I am wondering what happens to the more expensive things you don't give to her. Does the rest go to the family later? I'm very curious.
I hope the game does well, I found a video about it today on Instagram, I hope that post gets a lot of people donating and trying the game.
Its a great game and I hope for future updates in which there is more than room. The environment it beautiful and although not blatant there is definitely story behind the room. The person was a Game creator who spent all his time inside, chronically online. He ate lots of instant food and had lots of gaming devices. He was also successful as he has a game of the year award. But you can see than in his final days he was struggling to find ideas, as seen by the balled up paper next to his desk. And thought the sister talks about how he abandoned his family, the photo of him and his dad sits Infront of his bed, showing that he truly does care about them still. Its a sad game, but it makes you think about how people go through life in different ways and how valuable it is to be blessed with life. I gave her the photo, the game award, and the Gameboy. The photo show how despite abandoning his family he stilled loved them. I chose the Game Award because it was most likely his most prideful achievement. Lastly, I chose the game boy because due to it being on his bed, I believe it was his favorite thing to play on. I truly hope this game gets updates, it is a nice art style, great environmental storytelling, and touching plot.
Thank you for such a sweet game.
It looks great, I love the environments
it's such a nice game! I want to see more of this ^^
Dunno why but the soundtrack hits hard.. it's kinda has a sad feeling. I liked it, very cute game.
hey just wanted to let people know someone made a page that looks exactly like this claiming to be the multiplayer version but is actually a virus the creators name is cxrsedd please report every game they have up as they are all viruses so they can be taken down faster
Good cozy game and I do hope that this game will come to market. I would play it the hack out of it.
However there are some challenges in this game:The pick up mechanic have no indicator.
Too far cant pick up and not picking up certain items.
How many items left I have to pick up.
How many item I can pass to the family
The movement pace might need to be a bit quicker
I wish you guys all the best. Will buy on day one
I agree with you (Y)
I personally loved the concept of the game, the story and the art.
A few recommendations would be for the family belonging interface on how many it can include. ( kinda like a box with tiles that you could arrange the items into a certain formation to fit as much as you want or can )
another would be for the main menu button to have a confirmation interface when clicked as at the moment when clicked accidentally will forcefully make the player restart.
lastly, this is more of personal preference, but the inventory interface could include more minimal animations, instead of having them all rotate (since you can already rotate the item when inspecting it).
Overall, I'm really looking forward to playing the full game!
I played through the game twice, based on the girls reaction each time I think the 3 item rule is intended, you're supposed to give her the items you think would be the most meaningful.
The first time I gave her the shoes, the clothes, and the PlayStation. The second time I gave her the award, the picture with his dad, and the diary. She had a different reaction, there was more expansion in the story when you give her more meaningful items. I'm gonna play again so I can see the reactions to other items.
say hwat now haven
I really liked the game and its concept. I enjoyed the art and the way the game behaves. I hope you continue to create a broader story with some levels. However, I prefer a story format instead of just levels that become difficult. Overall, I liked it a lot.
Great idea for the game. Love the art style.
I would recommend slowing down the text at the start as I couldn't read it fast enough before it was gone.
Love this though, I hope that this is something that will become a full game in the future!
Cannot wait until the full piece is released. I had a friend who left us by his own choice a month and a half ago and this game was super therapeutic.
Usually, I delete games after I play them through and redownload them if I want to play again, but this one is staying on my computer. It is the best representation I have seen to losing someone to that kind of thing.
Thank you so so much for creating this. I hope only good things come to you and if you have lost your own friends or family, I wish you healing.
This game is just beautiful, so heartwarming x
Sounds like a very heartwarming game. I really like the visuals as well.
sounds adorable and sweet <3
abandoned?
The game got released here few month ago, what makes you think it might be abandoned? Game dev is nothing to rush … give the devs their time! :D
no, the creator post game art regularly on their reddit
Enjoyed it a lot! I think its a bittersweet take on telling the story of someone who's passed and what/who they left behind.
I do recommend though, to make the beginning prologue text a bitt slower as it went by on auto too fast which makes it a bit inaccessible and I wasn't able to read all of it. Or at least have a action to continue based ending to each block of dialogue! Besides that, this game was lovely and pretty easy to learn how to play. I think there's a lot that could be done with this.
I was under the assumption there would be more from the description, so if you could list that its just one room for now, that'd be nice (if there is more to come :3)! Anyways, wonderful work! Good luck on your future endeavors!!
looking forward to trying this out! but thought i was tripping cus i just played a different style game but similar abandonment vibes called "homecoming haven" as well (about a abandoned animal crossing type game file), genuine question but is this a common phrase? or mere coincidence? pretty cool either way!
A short but wholesome game about cleaning the homes of loved ones who have passed away. I enjoyed how the story unfolded through the environment as we cleaned the apartment.
There used to be a website with haven in its name that made people home coming a lot too, lol
amazing game, mate! we surely need more levels
j'ai voulu lancé le jeu mais il était infecté
Very beautiful game! I hope more rooms will be added.
This was such a nice game. I hope companies like this really do exist. The game was beautifully designed and would be amazing as a longer game with a bit more story. Great work and keep it up.
I made a video on your game if anyone wants to see it:
After looking through the comments, I have to wholeheartedly disagree with the statements of unreachable items. Everything is reachable, and the game is beautifully designed might I add. The music fits right in with the theme of the game: solemn, but relaxing. My emotions were right in tune with the cleaner when concerning the victim and his untimely death. I wish that the game in the future may be further developed to include more stories because I thoroughly relished it.
I am sobbign VIOLENALTY such a good game,,,,, has so so so much potential! I would be enthused to see this as a full game. My suggestions are the same as some of the other comments, some trash is unreachable, slow down text, more than three items given to the family, and there were a few items with placeholder text.