Info about Storyteller:

Official game description:
Storyteller lets you build stories using a visual language. The goal on each level is to make a story that fits the given title by placing settings and characters that react to each other, creating a narrative through their relationships.  
Storyteller's comic-panel design and charming animations allow for experimentation within the framing of its many stories: just drag and drop characters to see how the story plays out!  
Play with a library full of characters and themes, heroes and villains, dragons and vampires, infidelity and revenge, love, lies, madness, and more! Use the blank canvas to manipulate secrets and desires, slay monsters or terrorize people with them, betray lovers or bring them together. You know how the stories go — but this time you are the author.

Release date: 23 Mar, 2023

Categories: Puzzle Solving, Interactive Fiction, Character Management, Multiple Endings


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Highly enjoyable and charming experience (weight 0.89): Players overwhelmingly find the game enjoyable, fun, and a delightful experience. Many appreciate its charm, humor, and the perfect balance of difficulty, making it a great way to pass the time without overstaying its welcome. The game is often described as a 'gem' or 'treat' that provides a satisfying and relaxing experience.
- Clever and entertaining puzzles (weight 0.38): The puzzles are a central element of the game's appeal, described as clever, creative, and highly entertaining. Players enjoy the challenge, the 'aha!' moments, and the rewarding feeling of solving them. The puzzles are often noted for their variable outcomes and multiple solutions, encouraging experimentation.
- Unique and innovative concept (weight 0.36): The game is consistently praised for its unique and innovative concept, particularly in the puzzle genre. Players highlight its originality, creativity, and the fresh approach to interactive storytelling, often stating they haven't played anything quite like it before. This distinctiveness is a major draw and a core strength.
- Charming art style and audio (weight 0.23): The game's art style, visuals, and overall aesthetic are widely appreciated for being cute, charming, and beautifully designed. The hand-drawn, storybook-like graphics, coupled with a pleasant soundtrack and fitting sound design, create an immersive and cozy atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience.
- Engaging interactive storytelling (weight 0.18): A significant aspect of the game's appeal is its interactive storytelling and the freedom it offers players to create diverse narratives. Players enjoy crafting stories, experimenting with character interactions, and discovering various plot outcomes, which fosters creativity and replayability.
- Appreciated bonus 'devil' levels (weight 0.1): The 'devil' mechanic and bonus levels are well-received additions that enhance the game's challenge and replayability. Players appreciate these extra elements for introducing new twists, increasing difficulty, and providing more content after completing the main game.
- Expressive character reactions (weight 0.1): The characters' expressive animations and varied reactions to different scenarios are a highlight. Players find it fascinating and often humorous to observe how characters change based on their placement in the story, adding depth and personality to the narrative puzzles.

Common complaints:
- Game is too short and overpriced (weight 1): The most frequent and significant feedback is that the game is excessively short, with many players completing it in 2-3 hours, or even less. This brevity, combined with a perceived lack of content, leads to a strong sentiment that the game is overpriced and not worth its current price point, even on sale. Many players feel disappointed and that the game offers poor value for money.
- Puzzles are inconsistent and repetitive (weight 0.51): Players found the puzzles to be a mixed bag. Many puzzles are described as too easy or simplistic, often feeling like tutorials. However, some puzzles are criticized for being obtuse, illogical, or requiring specific, non-intuitive solutions, leading to frustration and a need for guides. The lack of variety and depth in puzzle mechanics also contributes to a repetitive experience.
- Stamp collection and achievements are flawed (weight 0.13): The stamp collection system, intended as a form of replayability or extra challenge, is widely criticized. Players find it tedious and frustrating due to a lack of in-game guidance on how to obtain stamps or which levels they relate to. The UI for navigating chapters to find stamps is inconvenient, often forcing players to resort to external guides. Additionally, some players reported issues with achievements, including bugs and the controversial resetting of achievements with updates.
- Poor localization and translation issues (weight 0.06): The game suffers from poor localization, particularly in Chinese translations. These errors lead to misunderstandings of titles and story logic, significantly detracting from the gameplay experience and sometimes causing players to get stuck.
- Lack of post-launch content updates (weight 0.05): Players express a strong desire for more content and updates to justify the game's price and extend its longevity. The current lack of new stories, levels, or features after release is a significant point of disappointment, leading to the perception that the game's potential is unrealized.
- Missing sandbox or custom story mode (weight 0.05): Many players feel the game misses a significant opportunity by not including a sandbox mode or tools for custom story creation. This absence limits player creativity and replayability, as the game's rigid structure prevents deeper exploration of its core concept.
- Disappointing and unclear narrative (weight 0.04): Some players found the game's narrative and lore to be disappointing, unclear, or lacking a satisfying conclusion. The story elements are sometimes described as disjointed or failing to live up to the game's initial premise.

Gameplay feedback:
- Unique Storytelling Puzzle Gameplay (weight 0.43): The core gameplay revolves around a unique storytelling puzzle mechanic. Players arrange characters, scenes, and objects in comic-book-like panels to create narratives that match specific prompts or achieve desired outcomes. The game features varied stories, multiple endings, and dynamic character interactions, allowing for creative and often dark or unconventional plot constructions.
- Short Playtime, Moderate Difficulty (weight 0.29): The game is relatively short, with most players completing the main story and even 100% of achievements within 2-5 hours. While some puzzles require more thought, the overall difficulty is moderate, making it an accessible experience that can often be finished in one or two sittings. It's considered an easy game for achievement hunters.
- Engaging and Challenging Puzzles (weight 0.28): The game is praised for its clever and engaging puzzle design, which requires significant thought, logic, and experimentation. Puzzles progressively increase in difficulty, offering a satisfying challenge that rewards creative thinking and understanding character interactions. Many players found the brain-teasing aspect enjoyable and novel.
- Post-Game Content and Replayability (weight 0.16): After completing the main story, the game introduces 'Devil Levels' and a 'Stamp Collection' system. Devil Levels add new twists to existing puzzles, often with a chaotic or evil theme, while stamps require specific, often humorous, scenarios to be created. These additions significantly enhance replayability and provide extra challenges.
- Achievements and Collectible Stamps (weight 0.1): The game includes a stamp collection system and numerous achievements that encourage players to explore different story variations and solutions. While some stamps can be challenging to find without hints, they add depth and extend playtime for those seeking full completion.
- Dynamic Character Interactions (weight 0.04): Character interactions are a central element of the puzzle-solving. Players must learn the personalities and pre-existing relationships of characters, as their actions and fates dynamically change based on the sequence and context of scenes and other characters.
- Community Modding and Puzzles (weight 0.02): The game supports modding, allowing players to create and enjoy community-made puzzles. This feature significantly extends the game's content beyond the base levels, with community contributions often matching the quality of the original game.

Performance notes:
- Bug-free and polished experience (weight 0.03): Players consistently report a complete lack of bugs, indicating a highly polished and stable game experience. This contributes significantly to player satisfaction.
- Optimized for various PC specs (weight 0.03): There's conflicting feedback regarding PC requirements, with some stating it's low and others implying it's decent. However, multiple players confirm it runs well even on older or integrated graphics, suggesting good optimization for a wide range of hardware.
- Small and manageable game size (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the game's small and manageable file size, making it easy to download and store without consuming excessive disk space.
- Excellent Steam Deck compatibility (weight 0.01): The game is reported to be perfectly adapted for the Steam Deck, providing a seamless and enjoyable experience on the portable gaming device.
- Dynamic elemental combinations (weight 0.01): The game features an engaging system where different elemental combinations lead to immediate and noticeable in-game effects, suggesting dynamic and responsive gameplay.
- Unified and refined art style (weight 0.01): The game's art style, combining 3D and 2D cartoon elements, is praised for its unified and refined aesthetic, contributing to a visually appealing experience.
- Smooth and natural animations (weight 0.01): The in-game animations are noted for their natural and smooth quality, enhancing the overall visual fluidity and player immersion.

Recommendations:
- Desire for more content and sequels (weight 0.46): A significant number of players express a strong desire for more content, including DLC, sequels, additional stories, or new levels. Many hope for an expansion of the game's core idea and some even suggest features like an endless mode or procedurally generated levels to enhance replayability.
- Buy on sale for best value (weight 0.45): Many players recommend purchasing the game only when it is on sale, citing concerns about its full price relative to the content offered. Some suggest specific discount percentages or price points (e.g., $5-10 USD or 30 yuan) to make it a worthwhile purchase. A few reviewers also mentioned that the game's value would increase with more content or a lower price.
- Highly recommended puzzle game (weight 0.21): The game is highly recommended, especially for fans of puzzle games, storytelling, and creative experiences. Players praise it as a short, calm, and delightful indie puzzle game that offers a unique and engaging experience. It's considered a must-play for those who enjoy narrative-driven puzzles and creative experimentation.
- Request for creative workshop/mod tools (weight 0.04): Players frequently suggest the implementation of a creative workshop or modding tools, allowing them to create and share their own stories and levels. This feature is seen as a way to significantly increase gameplay, replayability, and overall game life, potentially making the game almost flawless.
- Mixed views on walkthroughs (weight 0.03): There's mixed feedback regarding how players should approach the game. Some recommend going in blind to fully experience the puzzles, while others suggest watching walkthroughs or livestreams if one isn't inclined to 'rack their brains' or if the game doesn't 'click' for them.
- Netflix offers free mobile play (weight 0.01): Some players note that the game is available for 'free' on mobile devices with a Netflix subscription, suggesting this as an alternative way to play. There's also a mention that better alternative puzzle games might exist at more reasonable price points.

Other player notes:
- Desire for More Content (weight 0.12): Players express a strong desire for more content, including additional levels, stories, and a sandbox or creative mode. Many hope for future updates, DLC, or even a sequel to expand the game's experience and replayability.
- Short Game Length (weight 0.11): A recurring theme is the game's short length, with many players completing the main story in 2-3 hours and 100% completion in 3-5 hours. This brevity is a significant point of discussion, influencing replayability and value perception.
- Charming Art, Narrative, and Sound (weight 0.1): Players consistently praise the game's visual design, charming art style, and pleasant aesthetic. The narrative structure and overall production value, including music, are also highlighted as strong points, contributing to a unique and imaginative experience.
- Decent Casual Experience (weight 0.04): Some feedback suggests the game is decent, okay, or a 'lite' experience, suitable for quiet evenings or short breaks. It's generally seen as a brief puzzle game without much fanfare, potentially appealing to a younger or casual audience.
- Broad Audience Appeal (weight 0.01): The game is widely considered suitable for a broad audience, including children, teenagers, and adults. Its accessible nature makes it enjoyable across different age groups.
- Annapurna Interactive Published (weight 0.01): The involvement of Annapurna Interactive as the publisher is noted, with some players implying that their reputation suggests a certain level of quality or potential for improvement.
- Coherent Animations and Autonomy (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the small, coherent animations even for incorrect puzzle solutions and express a desire for more open-ended puzzle games with greater player autonomy in the future.
- Sandbox Mode Mentioned (weight 0.01): Based on limited and low-quality feedback, there's a mention of a sandbox mode in a non-English review, aligning with other requests for creative tools.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.26): Players felt satisfied by the game's engaging and creative puzzle design, often highlighting the 'eureka moments' from solving clever challenges. The game's charming aesthetics, unique concept, and overall quality, including modding capabilities and diverse endings, also contributed to a rewarding experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.21): The primary cause of disappointment was the game's short length and perceived high price relative to the content offered. Players also expressed frustration over limited replayability, lack of content updates, and the absence of desired features like a sandbox mode, leading to a feeling of unfulfilled potential.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.1): Players enjoyed the game's fun, creative, and often humorous puzzle-solving experience, appreciating the engaging gameplay mechanics and interesting story outcomes. The game's high replayability, hidden levels, and charming art style also contributed to a positive and relaxing experience.
- Frustration (weight 0.08): Frustration stemmed from the game's perceived high price for its short length, non-intuitive or rigid puzzle solutions, and issues with achievements (especially the 'Worth It' achievement). Poor translation quality, slow UI navigation, and a lack of hints for collectibles also contributed to player annoyance.
- Joy (weight 0.08): Joy was frequently expressed due to the game's charming aesthetics, humor, and the creative freedom it offered in constructing stories and character interactions. Players found delight in discovering unexpected outcomes, the overall fun gameplay, and the ability to share the experience with others.
- Excitement (weight 0.06): Players felt excitement from the game's unique and innovative puzzle mechanics, the potential for creative storytelling, and the challenge of discovering multiple endings and hidden content. The game's originality and the 'devil mechanic' were also frequently cited as sources of thrill.
- Admiration (weight 0.02): Admiration was directed towards the game's exceptional creativity, ingenious concept, and beautiful art style. Players appreciated the masterful design, unique narrative presentation, and the overall high quality of the game's visuals and character interactions.
- Desire (weight 0.02): Players expressed a strong desire for more content, including additional levels, stories, and game modes like a sandbox or level editor. The game's short length often fueled this longing for further expansions or sequels.
- Hope (weight 0.02): Hope was primarily linked to the potential for future updates, more content, and the introduction of features like a sandbox mode or user-generated content. Players wished for continued development and expansion of the game's unique concept.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement arose from the game's humor, cute aesthetics, and the ability to create absurd or unexpected story outcomes. Players enjoyed the funny animations, specific scenarios, and the game's clever literary and cultural references.
- Challenge (weight 0.01): Players experienced challenge from puzzles that required significant thought, brain-teasing logic, and experimentation to solve. Finding all combinations, hidden levels, and completing stamp conditions often presented a demanding but engaging experience.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Appreciation was shown for the game's unique puzzle experience, its subtle teaching of narrative structure, and its overall originality and aesthetic appeal. Players valued the well-designed mechanics, charming art style, and clever references.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love for the game stemmed from its overall quality, engaging and creative aspects, and its unique concept and execution. Players deeply enjoyed the story-building, art style, and the profound experience the game offered.
- Interest (weight 0.01): Players found the game interesting due to its creative gameplay, unique story-building mechanics, and innovative concept. The intriguing devil stamps and the charming art style also captured their attention.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom was reported due to the game's perceived ease, repetitiveness, and the tediousness of collecting stamps or following rigid guidelines. Some players found the gameplay became unengaging after completing the main story or without new content.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Players were pleasantly surprised by the game's creative concept, unexpected difficulty, and the depth of its storylines. The game often exceeded initial expectations, offering more complexity and fun than anticipated.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arose from flawed achievement systems, unclear puzzle logic, and abstract puzzle titles. Poor translation quality, chaotic character relationships, and discrepancies in level design also contributed to player bewilderment.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger was primarily caused by feeling ripped off due to the game's high price for its short length and perceived lack of content. Bugged achievements, especially the 'Worth It' achievement, and the inability to refund also fueled player resentment.
- Calmness (weight 0): Players experienced calmness from the game's relaxing aesthetic, tranquil atmosphere, and the absence of time limits or stressful fail states. The cozy vibe and engaging, low-pressure puzzles contributed to a de-stressing experience.
- Longing (weight 0): Longing was expressed for more levels and a greater variety of cultural themes within the game. Players desired an expansion of the existing content to satisfy their enjoyment of the game's core mechanics.}