Narrat Newsletter #2 - It's been a while, let's look at Narrat Jam 2
Welcome to the second Narrat newsletter
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It's been a while since the last one. I initially planned to make this a once every month or two kind of thing, but that was overambitious. If you've been subscribed for a while you probably forgot about this, so hello again 👋
This newsletter edition will be about Narrat Jam 2, looking back at the games that were made, and hopefully making you discover some of them or inspiring you to create new things.
Narrat Jam 2
The Narrat Jam 2 ended... a while ago. I wanted to make a special newsletter about it, but didn't get around to it, so I'll mention the games from it now. If you haven't played them, there's a good occasion to.
I've also been thinking about game jams and wondering how often to do them and how. I am tempted to remove ratings from the next one because I don't want it to pressure people. I also would like to organise smaller more frequent narrat jams that last less long, where games are meant to be quick and not as high effort. If you have any thoughts on this, don't hesitate to post in the forum.
Now it's time to introduce each game, in randomised order. I've got some thoughts on them, but I'll try to keep it short as we have 11 games to look at.
Girls' Day
A brief memory.
Girls' Day was one of the first submitted games I believe, and is pretty quick to play (a few minutes). I liked it, but saying more than that would probably spoil what it's about.
Game Night
A group of androids get together for a game night.
Game Night is also a short game, and also the creator's first game. It's also meant to be an introduction to characters for a future game. I actually find some of the art cute and overall a nice little small game 🎲
The Perfect Picture
An art blocked photographer tries to find inspiration again.
The Perfect Picture is a demo of a game, and notably is very stylish with sleek UI and art. It was pretty nice to play through, and I believe this game is also continuing as a project since the jam ended. It's very well made and makes me want to see the rest! 📷
Penrose: Dawning
A short narrative demo exploring your old home.
Penrose: Dawning is another cool looking game with its own style. It's really worth looking at. It's obvious that a lot of work went into it, and it's a good story to play through. I really like the art and vibe.
FINALIS DIEBUS VECTIS
Decay, attrition and the end.
FINALIS DIEBUS VECTIS was a challenge to make a strategy game in narrat (don't try this at home). It's impressive that it can even exist, and I had fun playing through it and trying to figure out how to win. It's a fun experiment and shows you can bend narrat to do a lot of things if you really want to. The strategy gameplay is genuinely fun to play too. Lots of work went into this.
Boiling
Get fired. Get owned by cup noodles. Get mopey.
Boiling was painfully relatable in more ways than one. If you want some cup noodle decision-making horror while lost in intrusive thoughts about capitalism, gender, and the existential crisis of existing in this world, go ahead and try this one. 🍜
schoolnight, 3am
your online friend comes to you for help.
schoolnight, 3am is another painfully relatable one. It's short enough that I don't want to explain much more than that, but it gets in a situation that you're likely to recognise (or if you don't, good for you). Captures the complicated feelings around this well, and might make you uneasy if you have some bad memories related to that. The idea of basing it on a fake tumblr profile is funny, too.
A walk through the forest
Walk through the forest with me, discover flowers and identify them.
Ok so this one is mine. A walk through the forest is a game about, well, walking through a forest. It has a side goal of identifying plants, but really it was mostly an excuse to write down a messy stream of consciousness. It's probably 30 minutes long, and given the general demographics of people interested in narrat, you might find some of the things it gets into interesting or relatable. 🌱
Machinations of Amirus
The gears of the galaxy turn. Power always coalesces in a vacuum, even in the vast reaches of space.
Machinations of Amirus is a mech and political intrigue game. It has a whole combat system which is interesting to look at and a fun use of more advanced narrat mechanics. It's also the first act of a bigger project, so hopefully we'll see more of it. It has a ton of work that went into it, too.
In The Flesh
You and your partner have been called out into the middle of nowhere to investigate reports related to an old, unassuming house. As soon as you arrive, experience tells you there is something fundamentally wrong. But this is your job, so in you go. And the thing in the house is not the only one making trouble.
In The Flesh is another really cool looking game, a lot of effort obviously went into it. It's a pretty long horror game that is just very polished and worth playing. It's also the game that was ranked first in the jam.
30-Second Future
What would you do if you could see 30 seconds into the future?
30-Second Future is a demo/prologue for a bigger project, with a fun little idea as you can guess by the title, of being able to see 30 seconds into the future. It's pretty well made, I like the style, and this little demo was enjoyable to play through. I want to see the rest now 😮
That's it!
Those were all the Narrat Jam 2 games, and it's the end of the special narrat jam edition of the newsletter. In the next edition I will probably get into recent features added to Narrat to showcase new things you can do in it. By the way, did you know games made with narrat are posted on narrat.games so you can find more of them easily?
Wishing everyone happy holidays, take care of yourselves, create nice things if you have the energy to, and I hope you like playing narrat games and/or using narrat. If you are making something, tell us about your projects on the forum or Discord, it's always nice to see!