* Please be aware that Unfamiliar deals with serious topics that may not be appropriate for everyone.


Unfamiliar

Unfamiliar is a visual novel/click-through game that attempts to show the affects of Alzheimer's on a family.

Tackling such a serious theme was a new and challenging experience for our entire team. While we had fun working together on this project, we tried to always keep in mind the solemn nature of the game.

We hope we were able to present these topics in a way that can shed some light on the seriousness of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

We also ask that you consider donating to one of these Alzheimer's research funds/care programs :

https://curealz.org/

https://www.alzinfo.org/

https://alzfdn.org/

Thank you.

 

Special thanks to Seth Dawson for sharing his insight into the various ways Alzheimer's can affect people.


All content for Unfamiliar , including game concept and design, source code, artwork, sound effects, and music, was developed by our team in three days for ludum dare 42. No outside assets were used.


Team Info

We first came together as a group during our senior project at the University of Central Oklahoma, where we all studied computer science. Our diverse backgrounds and interests have led to a versatile and dedicated group, all with a passion for gaming. This is our second ludum dare game.

Adrian Kovatana -  Programming 

Cody McGuire - Music

Cole Penning - Story

Don Nguyen - Effects 

Virgil Stringfield - Art (check out more amazing artwork here)



Download

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Click download now to get access to the following files:

Unfamiliar_Windows.zip 41 MB
Unfamiliar_Mac.zip 43 MB
Unfamiliar_Linux.zip 54 MB

Development log

Comments

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(+1)

I almost cried :-( This was a great game <3 Great, but sad :-(

(+1)

I personally don't have alzheimer's nor do I know anyone who has but this is such a touching and emotional story and I love that the family was still supportive and loving even though it must have been hard for them. Also, I spy Arthur with someone, I bet Nana Ruby loved him and his beau, wonderful story.

(+1)

Beautiful game. Almost made me tear up

(-5)

can you make it so that the music DOESNT stop halfway

(-6)

I MEAN YOU TOTALLY COULD HAVE JUST MADE THIS INTO A BOOK AND WAIST A LOT LESS TIME DRAWING ALL THAT But whatever (also the caps lock was not on purpose but i'm to lazy too rewrite everything)

(1 edit) (+1)

Very beautiful game. It made me cry, but that's not a bad thing at all. Making the player be the persn who has Alzheimer is a very clever choice, it makes us feel everything almost like it was real.

It reminds me of my grandma who died fromcancer some years ago. She had some symptomes that could have been Alzheimer's (the doctors weren,t sure abut it yet) so I can relate to some parts too.

Thank you for making this game, it was really touching.

(+1)

I'm glad these games are being made, they help me understand my grandma better.<3

 
(+2)

so beautiful and meaningful, and the first time i've cried about an itch.io game. thank you!!

(+3)

wonderful work. the words used were beautiful despite their painful meaning. & using black and white made it more emotional and mundane.

(+2)

Cara, o final do jogo me deixou mal. Enfim, é um ótimo jogo, obrigado por ter gasto um tempo de suas vidas para fazer algo bom assim. Parabéns pelo trabalho.

(+6)

its unfair. dont make me cry at the end. i dont want to lose my memories. i still want that big hairy hand in the morning

(+5)

i'm not crying, you're crying

(+3)

an amazing and emotional game, im really thankfull and amazed that you and your team have spent all of this time and effort creating such a wonderfull game for such a wonerfull cause.

(+4)

Emotional. A serious work on a serious topic, yet felt light. I like it. Also, if I didn't read the discription after playing, I wouldn't notice the links for donations. I think, it would be good to add them in the credits.

(+2)

Glad you enjoyed our game and thank you for the suggestion.

(+4)

Stunning on so many levels. The dialogues and thought-fragments have been wonderfully written. The very distinctive art style has filled the characters with life. I do not know if it was a conscious decision, but I thought it was wonderful that you depicted everything in black and white and gray. So you could interpret that Ruby's memories and their perception blur more and more into each other, because all the time levels are to some extent the same for them. It was all unique... At some decision points, I did not want to choose any of the options, because they all seemed so terrible to me... A real punch in the gut, but that makes it so fantastic at the same time. I loved it so much that I recommended your jam submission in an article on our blog! I also uploaded a playthrough video in the hope that more people will try out your game. :) So, congratulations and many thanks to you five, that was just great. <3 I wish you all success for the ratings at Ludum Dare 42! You definitely deserve a high ranking. :)

Best wishes,
Sebastian

(1 edit) (+2)

Thanks Sebastian! Interesting how you portrayed the art style as a perception blur of memories. The idea to depict everything in black and white was definitely planned. During the initial few hours of brain storming several game ideas for LD42, our artist was sketching a character on paper. Once we decided to go with "Unfamiliar", he showed us his sketch (which turned out to be George). We thought the black on white sketch style art would be great for this topic and would help portray a sad atmosphere.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed our game and thank you for writing a wonderful article.

(+4)

Well done. I didn't read the description beforehand so the entire story was a surprise to me. Was this based on personal experience?

(+1)

Thanks for playing! To answer your question,  two of our developers had family whom showed signs of the symptoms of Alzheimer's.