Candle

If you have trouble figuring out/completing the game and want hints, I'll provide them in the end of this description.

This is a very short project I created in two days for a local Christmas game jam.  The theme was 'Polar Opposite', and this was my first time working solo for a jam. 

I like artsy experimental gameplay and often make games that are somehow uncomfortable, weird, or mean to the player, trying to push 'games as service' closer to 'games as art'. But this time I got sad and needed to cope, so I made a game about hugs, bon appetite :')

This is basically my commentary on how winter holydays feel to me.  Cozy and atmospheric - yes, but it's also a chase to meet all the important people in different countries and cities before I run out of time or mental energy. At the same time, showing your love and appreciation to others still isn't about pace, and you have to slow down and put your nervousness aside. I hope I managed to capture that in the gameplay.



HINTS ON HOW TO WIN [SPOILERS]

You control the strength of the flame using up and down arrow keys. To make the carousel start spinning, you need higher energy (all the way up), but once it is in motion, you can make the flame weaker if you want it to spin slower. If you go all the way down, the carousel will stop, but it will take some time because of inertia.

Your goal is to align animal silhouettes so that they complete each other. When polar opposite figures visually overlap in the center of the carousel, you can notice that their silhouettes fit together like two jigsaw puzzle pieces. If you achieve it, you will see a heart on the side. 

Your goal is to keep them overlapped for a longer period of time - until the heart on the side grows as big as the outline around it. When it grows big enough, the silhouettes will disappear, turning into Christmas decorations on the tree (left). Your goal is to repeat it for all three pairs - this is how you win.

You can also notice that the candle gradually burns out - this is visually represented through the red wax inside the candle going down. To win, you need to achieve your goal before this resource is depleted. The stronger fire you keep, the faster you run out of it.

Different testers had different ways of winning the game. The easiest strategy is to go all the way up, and then immediately all the way down, so the inertia doesn't have time to build up. This step is then repeated many times until the proper position is achieved. Not the most elegant solution, but the easiest one to perform :)