P.I.S.

The illustrations were very pretty but I felt like the lack of hotspots made the game a bit of a slog. I would highly recommend adding two 'quality of life' features, maybe making the pointer (wings) move a little when you hover over something interactive (both backgrounds and UI elements), as well as adding a glow to items when you hover them over those interactive spots. Now, sure it makes the game 'easier', but in my experience, whenever you have a chill puzzle game, having proper visual feedback is much better for pacing and overall enjoyment of the game. It took me around 35 minutes to finish, according to the store page there are multiple endings but I am not sure exactly what triggers them, or if the last panel I got was one of the endings (perhaps something to do with the mail?). On that note, make sure the screenshot (f12 by default) works within your games, it makes it more likely that your game will get noticed when people share them in the community. There is a hint system if you click on the 'Bell' multiple times which basically tells you how to beat the game if you are stuck, which is fine, but if you had good hotspots and visual feedback, you would not even need i…

Beautiful and full of lovely, ethereal music. The color palette and wing motif remind me of Haibane Renmei, especially Abe's promotional illustrations, though PIS's visuals are softer. Thematically, there's something in here about freedom, man vs. machine, conformity and resistance...but I don't have the attention span necessary to zero in on the "why," I'm really here for the vibe and PIS delivered. As a "game," PIS isn't great. The puzzles are obtuse and their solutions, when discovered, leave the player feeling more frustrated than satisfied. It reminds me of old point-and-clicks in that way. Just like in Grim Fandango or Kings Quest, you'll click random parts of the screen and drag each item around looking for an obscure solution. All this can be skipped thanks to a bell in the right bottom corner that will walk you through each solution step by step. Buy PIS if you like the visuals and the mood in its screenshots, it's pretty and cozy and cheap

Not a particularly good puzzle game, but I'm going to keep it because of its [i]Haibane Renmei[/i] vibes. Also, am I the only person who doesn't know what to make of the ending? Does the game only have a bad ending? Did I miss something? I'm confused. [b]Edit:[/b] The side-effect of [spoiler](over)using the bell[/spoiler] is clever, though. I like that. Extra points. Rating: ★★★★☆

A really short point and click adventure game with a very unique vibe. The art and the music are beautiful, such huge improvements since the first game (31st prototype), everything still hand drawn, but coloured, in parts animated and much more refined. I finished my first playthrough in about 30 minutes. Got the good ending on the first try, but I can see, that some people might have problems finding the right spots to click on screen, when I played there were no visual markers (which the developer already addressed in an update (I played without this though, so can't say anything about it) and some actions have a weird delay, so one assumes nothing happened. If you want to watch all three endings you have to play through it three times with no new stuff in between (there is one mechanic which influences the last scene), but I did not mind since those playthroughs were even quicker. Overall it is not the most innovative game and pretty short but I loved the atmosphere and strangeness of it all. As I said in my 31st prototype review: I love to see more stuff like this in the future!