Dear followers
We apologise if things are running slowly with Hymble Ventures hence why we haven’t updated much recently. As we were in the process of our business growth, we put the games development on hold to focus on establishing our business documents, and pitching the game to publishers and investors. There’s been no luck with securing extra funding thus far, however, the organisations we pitched to gave us excellent feedback which is greater than nothing. Some pointed out that the game’s message about autism (expressed heavily by the four health bar system) overshadowed the gameplay, making Hymble Ventures less fun and more educational. I know some of you see it as a positive educational tool about autism which is good, however, we never intended for this game to be educational at all. Besides, a game about avoiding sensory stimuli and monitoring the characters wellbeing is tedious, but will work as an educational resource. I (JJ, the creator) wanted Hymble Ventures to be a 3D platformer with a tribute to the 90’s gameplay, well fleshed out characters, and a charming narrative.
The stresses and burnouts we’ve been facing meant we had to step back from the Hymble Ventures project for a while until we had a clearer vision for it. During my break, I enjoyed playing such platformers as A Hat in Time, Thomas Was Alone, and Cavern of Dreams. If it wasn’t for those games, I wouldn’t have got these exciting new ideas for Hymble Ventures!
So moving forward, we will iterate the demo by weaving the neurodiverse themes into the gameplay a lot more so they appear subtle. This change will involve reducing the four sensory health bars to ONE traditional health bar, so Hymble’s health won’t be too headache-inducing to manage. Example below.
The narrative will also get a proper treatment so Hymble has a clear goal. So far, Hymble wants to collect all the magical pieces that will lead her to discovering why she’s different to every other creature. Each piece grants her a new ability to help her progress further. Sound interesting to you? I hope so!
We would like to thank everyone in our community who supported us, and the project with shout outs across Twitter and fan arts! Hymble is still going because of you, we just want to make the game brilliant and worth your time.
Until next time. - JJ
