Hello, dear inhabitants of this Gloomy Juncture!
VISUAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER
Gloomy Juncture won the Visual Excellence Award at BitSummit in Japan!
BitSummit is Japan's industry-leading independent game development festival, held in Kyoto from July 19th to 21st, 2024. Gloomy Juncture was an official selection.
The creative journey is filled with insecurities and can be a lonesome one, so this recognition means the world to me. Also I must confess that Gloomy Juncture winning the first award in Japan—the country responsible for my passion in video games and renowned for its industry that excels in high-quality, innovative titles—is more than I could ever dream to achieve in life.
Professor and Game Designer Iida Kazutoshi from Ritsumeikan University shared these kind words about this peculiar work:
"A puzzle game in a chaotic world that calls in for your sanity. Solving puzzles is about restoring order. However, in this work, the paradoxical puzzle feeling of being drawn deeper into a person's world of madness the more puzzles you solve is very appealing.
Furthermore, the fact that it is done by a single developer drawing for the first time and using those drawings directly into the game brings a new shake-up to the somewhat stagnating indie game world, making it the most controversial work in the history of BitSummit, depicting a fascinating decadence with a sort of outsider art feel."
AWARD PRESENTATION AND ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
HAND-PICKED BY SWERY (HIDETAKA SUEHIRO)
On the second day of BitSummit, this weird game was honored to be one of five indies hand-picked by legendary game director SWERY (Hidetaka Suehiro) from the entire festival!
On stage, SWERY shared:
"It's an incredibly cool art style, isn't it? All the textures are done by a single person. The development company consists of one guy and one cat, making a new type of point & click in the first person. This is a mystery game set in a noir world with a unique style, where you experience the inside of someone’s mental state."
"Also, I tried to play during the interview, but there was a guy playing who was really concentrated. I tried to give him a hint, but it didn't work."
This recognition from the creator of Deadly Premonition is such a tremendous honor that, even a few days later, I'm still unable to process it...
SWERY SELECTION AND GLOOMY JUNCTURE INTERVIEW
FINAL THOUGHTS
People were lining up to play and, unfortunately, as happened with SWERY, not everyone had the opportunity to try the demo on site. Sorry about that, and I hope that at least you can enjoy the demo in the comfort of your home. I'm incredibly grateful for the recognition and warm welcome from the Japanese gaming community. Thank you, Japan!
To the BitSummit team and everyone who voted for Gloomy Juncture - thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your support of indie developers is invaluable.
I also want to express a special thanks to you guys, the community who supports me and shares opinions with so much love.
Finally, I'd like to sincerely thank Laura Teixeira. Not only did she do an awesome job representing me in Japan, but she also provided invaluable help with the Japanese translation!
Thank you,
Filipe