Play game
The Bucket Dog's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Itch page & Marketing | #7 | 3.242 | 3.400 |
| Visuals | #8 | 3.623 | 3.800 |
| Audio | #9 | 3.337 | 3.500 |
| Theme | #13 | 2.574 | 2.700 |
| Overall | #14 | 2.797 | 2.933 |
| Gameplay | #17 | 2.002 | 2.100 |
| Accessibility | #17 | 2.002 | 2.100 |
Ranked from 10 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Theme interpretation
The Bucket Dog has a natural case of the dog zoomies when he trips and becomes stuck in a bucket. He was going so fast that he became permanently merged with the bucket. This has resulted in him becoming The Bucket Dog. He now has Bucket-Based Dog Powers, but doesn't know how to navigate them as a freshly minted Bucket Dog. However, with the help of an obnoxious narrator and YOU he might be able to navigate how to move as a Bucket Dog instead of a Dog-Dog.
Players Notice
Bucket-Based Dog Powers are complimented by duck physics.
I am a huge fan of show-not-tell storytelling and gaming. I'm not going to tell you everything - only what you need to know. My game is the same. Pay close attention to the narrator for controls, but it's up to you to figure out how they affect you and the world around you.
This is a demo so I decided just to make one squeaky clean level. For those who may be interested - I DO intend to continue working on this project. In order not to scope myself as a solo dev I made one level, but after having my kid, my husband, and my friends playtesting it - I'll spoil that the true ending of the demo isn't a happy homecoming - The Bucket Dog gets abDUCKted... Shenanigans ensue.
I want to make a game that is comedic, but also helps improve critical thinking skills, and literacy in a way that isn't edutainment - let the storytelling speak for itself.
Development Software
Construct 3, and Aesprite
Accessibility
I was originally using Dyslexicon - a font that I created based on the Dyslexei Font, but for use in Pixel Art. I ran into an issue with it because the engine stopped using the font, and I wasn't able to resolve it. I would be more than happy to send you a copy of the Dyslexicon font that I made.
I also wanted to make something that encourages critical thinking, and literacy skills without the feeling of it being work. If people love the game, enjoy the environment of it, enjoy the gameplay, and are captivated by the story they will learn naturally.
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
My first run I may have broke the dialog by accident, especially because I missed the pawprints, they need to be more visually distinct.
2nd run after letting the outro play dialog didn't trigger at all for me.
but I did a refresh and knowing the mechanics now I had a "as intended" run I think.
I see the idea of the water mechanic but haven't seen it get used enough- you needed to stay thirsty for most of it.
We also need a pet the doggo button :P and give good boy some water at home :D
Accessibility menu for sound, text speed, controls & controller support would have been nice.
The art, writing, sound & animation does radiate that you & the team worked on this in passion & great fun; that was nice to see!
I have a vod recorded as you weren't present in stream- I'll try get that uploaded if you want. :)
I would love to see the video!
RE: many of the comments of others playing through let me know that some things that were not broken - broke on upload such as movement locking the player during dialogue, and things like that.
Also, I am the team xD it was just me working on this by myself <3
First time doing solo dev.
I've been encouraged to flesh this out and take it a bit further; so I'll let you know when I post a solid update <3
-Sonik
This was truly a micro demo as the credit says haha. I can’t really give much feedback on something this short but I’ll start with that you can’t replay the game, if you pick start after finishing the game, the clues don’t reset and you can’t move, also I got a strange bug in the second playthrough where I picked up the last clue and the movement got weird, like I could go left and all the time a sfx started to play, even resetting with esc didn’t help with that
The visuals are great, I like them, the ducks are cute and the cow, I mean, the dog is nice, also the little animation at the start is great and I like the concept that a dog got stuck in a bucket. The gameplay it’s ok, maybe at the start of the game the dialogues go a little fast after you press Q for the 1st time but the platforming feels ok. Also maybe the clues are too small and I would liked a longer level but it was an interesting idea
I like the header on the Itch page and I think that’s all I can say, thanks for sharing! :)
The art is pretty nice, but everything starts off way too fast to give the player a chance to understand what's going on in the game. My favorite part was definitely the intro cutscene, and the dialogue was pretty funny too. I think the main benefits would be to slow down the pacing of the dialogue, and giving the player a better idea of what to do. Good job with the submission.
i love the art and game idea but i had no clue what was happening in the game
This is an interesting one. The art looks really good, sound is nice. There's a song too damn that must be a first I've seen in a jam game. The concept is interesting, but sadly it's a tat bit too short to fully realise it. It ended even before I understood what was going on. The dialogue is really funny and I had some laughs reading it, though they are in a really awkward position, and for some reason it's hard to read. Maybe it's being too quick to disappear after a quick text, and the lack of text-spawning animations. But overall, I think this is really nice and unique, well done.
Other things I like:
Suggestions:
The art and the music was pretty nicely done. I guess the gargle sounds could be a little bit more pleasant, but it's not a big deal breaker. Without enabling the full-screen mode on your itch page, the game is a bit small so it can be hard to see what's going on.
I think the tutorial automatically disappearing without the players being able to review was intentional because you wrote players should paid attention to the instructions to figure something out in the game. However I don't think it is not a good design choice because I feel like I would be missing a lot of it when I'm playing the game for the first time.
The game is pretty much "soft-locked" after you jump over the last tree to reach the house but if you haven't collect the tracks you cannot retrace the steps to get it.
Firstly - Thank you so much for playing my game ^.^ That's awesome, and I appreciate it.
To answer a few things:
The gargling sounds are not supposed to be 'pleasant'. They're supposed to be silly. =^.^=
In order to retrace you can hit ESC so that you don't lose your progress. Sorry that I wasn't able to get a note in for it.
I had fixed the disappearing text on the tutorial previously, but it sounds like I broke it again with having to redo some things. The "pay attention" is because although you have tutorial instructions I don't give away exactly how navigation interacts with other objects. ;-) Duck Physics are simple, but fun.
I'm not sure what to do about the game being small on the itch.io page to be honest. My existing skills are primarily in art, music, and storytelling moreso than coding. I'm sure I'll figure it out though. This is my first Jam as a solo dev; so I'm pretty happy with how far I made it in just a few days <3
Thanks again for playing, and the feedback!
Regarding the full screen option, it's a simple checkbox you can enable on your itch project "Edit Game" page. Scroll down to Embed options section and you can find it there.
Oh That's Awesome!!! Thanks!!!! I'll get that fixed stat!
There are so much descriptions for a short game. It was hard to figure out how to play at first(it may be hard for me only because I don't like reading), I was immediately explore the level as soon as I got the ability to move around, not realizing that I miss some objectives.
The game got a good story, but I feel like it struggled to tell the story at some points. The gameplay was admirable, but shame, I got to do just a few things in it.
Overall, a beautiful game, there are always room for improvement in expressing ideas through game designs.