Everbloom
A downloadable game for Windows and macOS
Having been sent away by his parents to live with a caretaker after the war, Aster receives a mysterious letter from his father after years of silence. Filled with questions, he returns to the peaceful old town, only to find it in ruins…
Featuring fully hand-drawn art and backgrounds, 2.5d gameplay, and an original soundtrack, Everbloom is a story-driven puzzle adventure game, set in an unnamed European country still recovering from the devastation of the First World War.
Made by a bunch of broke uni students and NEETs.
Credits:
Programmers
Background & Character Art
Animations & Sprite art
Writing, Level Design, Additional Assets
Music
This was a submission for IGMC 2018, so although it is fully playable, there are quite a few things that are rushed and/or cut from this prototype. Click here to see our development log if you're interested in our ~1 month development process.
Thanks for viewing! We hope you enjoy our game.
Game Tips:
If feeling a little stuck, interact with objects in the environment using the [space] key to possibly get hints on what to use, or to gain new items.
If feeling completely lost, a walkthrough is included in the link below. (We highly recommend trying to get through the game yourself first though!)
Walkthrough and Extra Sound Credits:
Download
Install instructions
Download Windows or Mac version, then unzip the files and click the executable "Indie Game Contest.exe".
Comments
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It was amazing
omg, i know i'm super late, but this game was awesome!! i love the artstyle and this type of rpg gameplay, i'm so impressed that this was made in a month! <3
Hello, I'm Nagasari Ferrea and I'm a Malaysian VTuber. May I stream this game on YouTube and suggest it to my fellow VTuber friends?
Love it. It took me a while to get to the end but overall, really nice. I absolutely love the artstyle and the ending was not what I was expecting but still, I really love it.
I thought the game was really cool, the art was really nice, it was a bit finicky but that's to be expected if this was made for a contest. I think the idea was super cool, though having several walls of text explaining the story was a bit overwhelming, especially that first document you find early on.
Dear Developers, I am a Technical Translation and Interpreting student (which is an Italian Master Degree) and I am working on a research thesis in the field of video game translation and localisation. I'd be interested in a complete localisation of your game "Everbloom" into Italian. My research is NOT intended for commercial purposes, nor do I ask for compensation in return. Plus, game assets are NOT going to be used/disclosed/modified/transferred/sold to third parties. If you interested at all we can discuss via email, I am writing on this page since I could not find any other private channel to contact you through. Thank you in advance.
Last but not least, I really enjoyed this game, so great job.
This was really interesting. (( !! SPOILERS !! )) When Iris turned out to be infected I was so shocked! I really hope i get to see the rest of the story someday!!!!
Ok, I know this one's old, but I just found out about it and it's trully beautiful. Although not stupid friendly at some times xD
is this a 2D game or something like that? the photos didn't help me
An enjoyable game, from start to finish! The juxtaposition of the beautiful and the grotesque was well done, executed with enough restraint that it felt all the creepier; it's a kind of aesthetic that's more common in Japanese works than outside of them and I think you've pulled it off wonderfully. I particularly enjoyed the puzzles, which weren't unnecessarily convoluted or obscure while still requiring a little thought to solve, and while certain aspects were clearly a little unpolished (interacting with certain objects, for example) it didn't take much away from the experience. I will say that access points could use a more obvious indicator since they were the reason I died: I couldn't figure out where the "exit" was in the alley and the dark room despite being almost on top of it. The checkpoint system kept it from becoming frustrating, however. I did enjoy the more organic feel that came without having doors, etc light up or otherwise indicate they're usable since it felt more like you were actually exploring an abandoned town.
The story was good and surprisingly intriguing considering the relatively brevity of the game, and the art and audio effectively bolstered the atmosphere of my playthrough. Being the kind of person who checks and reads everything, I enjoyed the extra effort put into giving Aster dialogue for unusable items; the prose was effective throughout, particularly in the journal entries. I liked that some things were implied rather than stated outright, like the relationships of the inhabitants of that first house, since they felt like little rewards for the check-everything players. I was already interested in seeing more of the world before the final scene, and if you ever go back to the alternate-history setting of Everbloom I'd still be interested in seeing more.
Misc notes (POTENTIAL SPOILERS?):
- Is Dr. H. Quinn a Batman reference?
- This might be just a coincidence, but Iris' design reminded me a lot of Florence Nightingale from Fate/Grand Order and was the first thing I thought of when I saw the thumbnails.
- Is there a third child, possibly named Orchid?
- Is the implication that the 'macaques' requested in the lab notes was a coded message for human test subjects from what I assume is a POW/prison camp?
I´m playing it right now and so far it is is really good, cool ambientation, good desing in both characters and background, but right now i thnink i might need help, i don't know what to do whit the safe, i don't know where is the code, please help.
Your art is good.
OH MY GOD!!! Q-Q I though it will be peace of mind gameplay but it turns out to be scary chasiing :''))) but i dont know why, I LOVE THIS GAME though it's short and the end goal is given, GOOD JOB YOU GUYS! <3<3
holy heck, great little game, art is incredible and a kinda deceiving, but I love it! thank you to @_firescribe for recommending me this over on ig, truly a fun and entertaining experience!
Hi, what platforms does the download work for?
Hey! Currently there is only a Windows version for the duration of the contest, but we will be releasing a Mac download once it is over. In the future, we may consider expanding to other platforms too, so keep in touch!
Interesting story, pleasant game controls, A lovely recognizable art style. You can find it all here in Ever Bloom. Ever Bloom was a lovely game and I am going to be playing more of it off camera. The thing I enjoyed most was your story, If I would have taken the time to read the notes I would have gotten more, but I really like the story so far and I am going to be keeping an eye out for any updates. You have received a five star rating from me and If you want to check out my live reaction you can find it in the video below at 18:20.
O sHET I've been waiting to watch LPs tbh. 👀👀👀
I'm hyped to see this one, thanks for taking the time to do it! (Also thanks for that gr8 rating I appreciate it.) 👀💦💦
O SHIAT
Thanks for the comment, they always make my day, I hope you enjoy the video its not the best but I hope to improve.
The fact this game was made in a month is so amazing to me because of how well it was done. Ye it is still pretty unpolished, but the fact it was done within a month, this game says a lot. I've seen other games that have been pretty badly polished within a months work, but Everbloom really surprised me and it was fantastic to play! It really gets you to pay attention and gets your minds gear going. I will say that if this game were to have been or were to be polished more, then I can definitely see this kind of content in the upcoming future! Good job to everyone for doing this within a month, and I hope to see more from you all!
Thank you! We found out about this contest late so we started one week late into the contest so a lot of things were left unfinished or had to get scrapped out due to lack of time >< So we're really glad that you enjoyed it!
Definitely did enjoy it! And yeah thats fine, especially since this was done within a month, It's not surprising there's still stuff that was left unfinished and such. I'm so pleased and impressed with how well it looks. I wish you guys the best of luck! Hope you guys win this :)
This was very intriguing! While I did really enjoy the story, I would say my biggest complaint was that the game felt very unpolished. I guess that's to be expected for a game made in a month, but it really felt like I was playing something made by someone without much idea of how the engine works. There was little to no player feedback for interacting with some things. I could never tell if I had an item ready to use after clicking it or if the retry button actually worked when I pressed it. Otherwise, excellent art and lots of potential. I would definetly love to see this one extended and refined and I think it could actually be a really really good game!
I'm sad to say that you're quite spot on hahah this is the second time our programmers have ever used Unity to make a game, and we found out about this Jam a week late so by the end we were rushing and yelling at the computers while they were still learning some of the basic functions of Unity... the stress shaved off 20 years of our lives LOL
We'll definitely work on making the mechanics more user friendly like you suggested, and in hindsight I also should have made the items people interact with stand out more from the backgrounds as well.
Thank you so much for giving our game a try! We're really hoping to improve the game with all this feedback as well : D
i really like the game's art style and mechanics.! Especially the cover page i was absolutely amazed by how high quality this game is. The only problem i have is the items mechanics. i didn't know i had to click the item once den on in-game item. eg i have to click on the stick den on the fountain. I'm not really fond of zombies so i kinda had a heart attack when i saw the zombie HAHA the first zombie was relatively okay since i had space to escape but the second one is really tough ==;; its fast and i only have about 3 health? before i died i think this could be fixed. It would be nice if you could fixed it in the next game. i couldn't complete the game because of the 2nd zombie unfortunately... so im really sad to not knowing the ending since i saw a lot of people complimenting the final scenes. but regardless this is a really great game in general and i would recommend this to my friends keep it up!! Im currently a student studying digital game art and design so im really inspiried thank you!
Omg I slaved so much for the cover image hahah I'm a noob at animation and everything but I'm glad it looks alright!! We're thinking of implementing a click and drag system to make the game more user friendly, and yes definitely make the instructions more clear at the beginning...
But I'm rlly sad to hear you couldn't get past the second zombo D: Their speed was a misjudgement on our part... (Steering away from the walls and making a mad dash for it would really help on those maps since the walls slow you down!)
Good luck to your future endeavours in game design!!
I can't seem to download it - nothing downloads in web-browser and the itch.io client doesn't list any files to download or install either.
Oh no! The files should work? We haven't been allowed to change the files after the submission date, but I hope ur issue gets sorted out;; If it still doesn't work then hopefully you can try out our later build with new files after the contest period ends!
i cant seem to unlock the code for the book cabinet
Did you already get the code for it? :O
It's easy, just set everything to 9999. Then, read the kids novel for the number of clicks to press on the padlock. (press the buttons on top)
oh! well um man i didnt think of that...hahah thanks for giving me a hint :) i really love how you interpret hardship of life and the art style is magnificent. It is amazing ♥
Hi! The game so far is absolutely stunning but I have a question about saving, I found the only way to exit the game is dying- I don’t know if I just haven’t gotten far enough into the game to find a save point or something or if the game is meant to be played in one session? The game and design is beautiful and the story is super interesting! Please keep up the incredible work!
Heyo! Thank you for trying out the game. There is no save in the game unfortunately, we have not implemented the feature in this game jam version. The game should ideally be played in one sitting. (It should take about 30 mins or more less depending on how long the puzzles take you.)
ah sorry! I had to get off the computer quickly and i thought that the game might’ve still had awhile to before it was done, I fully played it through and it was beautiful, I really enjoyed it! Thanks for making such a great game
Hi! Beautiful game here, and interesting concepts!
I'm having difficulty activating items. My first playthrough, I was able to get the key for the gate, but when I tried opening the gate, the key wasn't usable. (I got the toy key for the lock, and opened the teddy bear, then opened the combo to get that silver key.) I checked the walkthrough, and it seems to be the right key, but it wasn't activating. So I restarted the game (couldn't figure out how to save either!), but this time, the stick didn't activate when I was trying to fish out the toy key from the fountain. I was wondering why items sometimes activate and other times don't? Do we have to be in a specific spot? (The key to the gate wouldn't work till I was near the middle of the gate + was talking to the gate.) Do we have to interact with the object then try using the item? Or is this a bug or? Thank you. (Again, very interesting game! I would like to finish it, but I'm having trouble activating the certain items.)
Hi! Thank you so much for dropping by and giving our game a try! For item activation, make sure you're not double clicking the item or real world objects as that resets the combination check. I find myself doing that accidentally sometimes, leading to item combinations not activating at times. Unfortunately, there currently isn't a save system only an ingame checkpoint respawn system. Sorry about that! It's definitely something we will need to add in a more polished build.
I got it! And I got the ending! So, it's much easier to activate if you click the item and click what you want to interact with. (Click Key, then Click the Lock.) From the description of "double click," I thought it meant double click the item (click twice) while standing in front of what you wanted to interact with.
Thank you for the game! The visuals are nice, and I liked the mixture of beautiful aesthetic/imagery with grotesque (the flower disease, for example! and the description of how the flowers were overtaking one's body + the pain). I look forward to the full game, and learning more about the disease, the world, and what happened to the village. (I'm very curious!) Thanks for the experience!
(Some bugs: After leaving the lab after getting all the items, there's another lamp again in the map. But you can't interact with it.)
AHH I'm so glad you got the ending and enjoyed the visuals!! : D We really wanted to make a twist on the standard grimy horror RPG games and turn it into something visually aesthetic, which was quite a challenge. Also thanks for the feedback! The clarity of the initial tutorial is definitely something we need to change, especially to differentiate between double clicking and clicking the item then the environment. We would really like to explore the story further and update the game after the contest as well :>
I think you guys succeeded! It is visually pleasing, and one reason Everbloom caught my eye was the nice art. But I stayed because the world and the story was interesting. It's also interesting to learn that the Main Character, Aster, is a coward. I want to know more about what he's running away from, what is it in the past that he's trying to leave behind, and more about the world of Everbloom. Not just more about the disease, but the characters + the world itself. Why did the world turn its back to the village? What is Aster's and Iris' significance to the flower disease? Etc.! The more I play, the more questions I get (even if we learn more information!). I like that about Everbloom. It makes one curious, and makes one think to try to speculate what happened and such. (I hope you don't mind the constant messages! I just liked it a lot! ; w ; ) Congratulations to the Everbloom team! And good luck with the contest! (Also yeah! I think a little more clarification for how to use items would help a lot!) I'm excited + looking forward to the final game!
A note that we actually have a lot of optional flavour items in the game that supplement the story, they're just very easily missable ;;
Hopefully in future builds we'll be able to add clarity to what is interactable and not, which should also help gameplay quite a bit!
Anyways, thanks for playing the game! We had a lot of fun making it, so we're glad you enjoyed it despite the issues you ran into.
Oh! I think I got them! [SPOILERS AHEAD] I just meant I'd like to learn more in-depth in the full game! I want to meet his parents to see what they look like, meet his uncle, and meet the other child! (There's Aster + Iris, and from the text I'm believing there's probably a third...? ) I want to know what his past life was like, learn more about his friendship with Iris when they were kids, and etc.! And ofc, more about the flower disease. (I know they were experimenting with it in the lab, and they brought it in the test with mice. But I'd like to learn more!) Also, I liked the ending: An unknown carrier of the disease leaving to try to survive, and unknowingly spreading it to the rest of the world. I can't wait to see it more fleshed out in the final game! (Also yes! I think knowing what to interact with would help! Also making some entrances/doors a bit easier? Like, knowing what's a door/what's another way through. The first time I played, I kept trying to go to the right of the first map, not knowing I had to go down on the white spot. And in the lab, I didn't notice the bottom left door. Just making it a bit more noticeable would be good!) Overall, the game has a lot of potential and I like the world already!
Otsukaresama, guys!!^^
Gonna totally check this soon!!
Thank u so much for the continuous support!! <3 We definitely still need to fix some mechanics of the game to make things more clear, but I really hope you'll have a fun time playing it ;v;