Misty

With how heavily this gets memed I figured it was going to be awful, but it's actually just... fine? The core gameplay is a bit awkward but serviceable. I've played much worse single-screen platformers. Feels like they were trying to come up with something new to do with the old Mario Bros arcade game, and it's not great, but it's fine. It's fine!

The cutscenes are awful but in a way that's kind of funny to watch, while the rest of the game is just kind of bland. I'd struggle to tell you what the levels look like; they're not offensive, definitely competent, but not distinctive, and each level blurs into the next. The music's actually pretty fun, but it needs more variation. Guy has a way with a bassline though.

"Wizardry but you're a dog wandering your backyard" is such a smart idea. This is way, way too charming, and it's got so many cute ideas. Just messing around the yard and seeing what happens feels so good.

Fun but unexceptional little RPG Maker adventure game. I've played a lot of "deduce your own murder" types of games, and there aren't really any surprises here, but I had a good time anyway.

I think the best, most distinctive feature for me here is its very smart use of RPG Maker-style space. The thing that sets apart RPG Maker adventure games is the player's relationship to the space they're in. Direct control and RPG-style area layouts means the player gets a more physical connection to the space they're in compared to, say, a point and click style game. Constraining the player to a single endlessly-looping screen is a pretty clever take on this style of space, and helps the game make an impact it might otherwise not have. The use of outlined NPC characters, without any details, might be cribbed directly from Palette but it still does a good job of communicating the player character's alienation from other characters around him even as he needs a connection with them to solve his personal mystery.

Very sweet little adventure game. Very impressive for a game jam game - it coheres and leaves an impression much better than a lot of game jam games I've seen. Beautiful artwork.