Conversations with Cannibals
The man across the fire might let you go.
Or he might eat you.
It depends on what you have to say for yourself. Speak wisely.
CONVERSATIONS WITH CANNIBALS is a 5-minute hostage negotiation simulator where you must choose the right words to escape before your captor charges his cattle stunner.
Comments, bug reports and ratings are very much appreciated! I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Controls: Click and drag words with your mouse. Hit SPACE to reset the camera.
**** Not optimized for mobile, so YMMV. ****
If you enjoyed this, you can follow me here on itch.io, or you can subscribe to get updates for my next horror project here: https://loomnorth.com
Feel free to check out my other tiny horror games:
Development log
- Updates 2024.03.24 - Replay button added!Mar 24, 2024
- Updates 2024.03.22 - Making it easier to escape.Mar 22, 2024
Comments
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you accomplished the tension and stress of such a situation so well at a smaller scale, it's really impressive. like, it's the correct flavor and tone even if i'm not literally worried about getting killed, if that makes sense. not to mention the striking visuals and the music work so well for this. fantastic job!
[spoilers in comment]
i'm still playing this because i realized that there's actually a LOT of lore here, which i didn't expect at all! like even in the first couple of playthrus i realized there was some cool worldbuilding, but it was a pleasant surprise to see how fleshed out it is for this small game and to know that your character and Copse have some amount of backstory. so i find myself replaying it to get more lore hahaha, which doesn't get me out of being a meal, but it's really interesting!
(apparently itch.io doesn't have spoiler text formatting lmao?? so I'm hoping this gets it under a 'read more' at least) i had one playthru where i learned about Copse's mother insisting he be allowed the 30 days to live, and that he was raised by Maverick (to some degree) and I thought that was SO interesting and such a good avenue for interrogating his feelings about the community and their beliefs and everything, or relate something to his feelings about Lilac/Maverick, or what have you, but then the timer was up hahaha. it's possible the topic could come up earlier, i've noticed that there isn't necessarily a particular order for topics so far, so maybe next time i could do that. but yeah, mostly i just wanted to comment about that because i thought that was such an interesting detail to add, it really stuck with me for some reason!
Oh wow, this is such detailed feedback, thank you so much! My primary goal of this game was to create an atmospheric 3D scene, so thank you for your comment about the visuals and music. That's what I was hoping for!
And I'm so pleased that the lore and conversations were enjoyable enough on their own, even without "winning/losing" the game. I put a lot of time into writing content for the game and fleshing out the whole backstory, and it's so good to hear that the efforts are appreciated!
Thank you again for leaving such a nice comment and playing the game!
Really enjoyed the game, but it doesn't seem to work on Firefox correctly, i hear music and Sfx, but nothing visually. I was only able to play it properly on Google Chrome, I hope there is a way to fix this.
Oh that's so strange, it works on Firefox on my end (on a PC)! If you don't mind, what kind of device are you on? I know that some mobile devices (tablets and phones) struggled to render the visuals because of the 3D lighting effect I used (so the game works, but the light doesn't and everything appears dark).
Regardless, thanks for giving the game a try anyways, I appreciate the feedback!
No problem, I'm also on a PC: Windows 11 to be precise. I don't know why it's doing this only on Firefox, this is a Gaming Laptop, it should be able to handle it.
It seems to be more than just this game i'm having issues with, i think it's something on my end, i don't know what unfortunately
Oh that's a bummer! Thanks for following up though, I do appreciate it, it's always really helpful for the developer. Good luck with your PC!
This is so good! the lighting effect is so interesting, it really sets such a great atmosphere. I love that the camera followed the mouse, i think the view couldve been wider, but honestly you could probably sell me on the tighter view.
I also can't get over how interesting everything about the dialouge is. For one, I love the dragging system. It adds this feeling that its taking will and strength from our character to get words out, as id they are fighting to speak. Also, I think the method of choosing to push single word topics is unique. I love, love that you can repeat phrases, most notably with Copse (I knew the definition from an Oscar Wilde poem).
So inspiring! I made a itch account to follow you <3
Oh wow thanks for this thoughtful feedback! I worked really hard on the lighting effect so it makes me very happy to hear that people liked it. I agree on the camera needing some improvement--I fiddled with it a lot but you're right, honestly maybe some "settings" would have been helpful so people can set their own camera.
And I'm glad you appreciated the dragging mechanic--it was one of the earliest things I had in mind for the game, I really wanted the act of a conversation to be "physical", like you said--forcing yourself to speak, literally putting topics out there, etc. I had a dream of making it so you could play the entire game with using one word, but I quickly realized what an overwhelming amount of content that would have been to create, so I scrapped it. I'm glad that the variety of content was still enough to keep it interesting! Also In the Forest is mysterious and folksy, so lovely.
Thank you so much for following and for leaving this comment, I really appreciate it
Oh yeah just got the good ending second try #girlboss😎
Oh wow that's amazing, nicely done! Thank you for playing, I hope you had fun!
I did! It was a lovely experience :)
i dont see the cannibal on my screen. is it because I play on browser?
Ah it's probably because you're on mobile--the 3D lighting seems to struggle on mobile browsers. In theory the game works, but nothing is lit properly so you can't see the scene.
loomnorth your game is so good i've been at this for hours i want to beat it so ba
I'm glad you're enjoying it, I hope you got it! Thank you so much for playing and leaving feedback!
very fun, if I may add some feedback though, I think adding a save button would make it more fun because if you get a breakthrough you could save instead of repeating the steps to get to it when you lost!
Ah that's a neat idea! Finding a way to make each run start a little "further ahead" than the last run might make things a lot easier, actually. Even if I can't do it here, that could be a good thing to bring into my future games that have multiple endings.
Thank you for playing and I'm glad you had fun anyways! And thanks for your feedback
I love this game so much! The concept is amazing, and I hope you can make games like this again! I really want to be his friend!! But what happens to the cannibal once he frees the player?
Thank you so much for playing! I enjoy making unusual horror puzzle games, so I will definitely make more--and you can check out my other games too in the meantime!
Well, I can't imagine the Elder is too happy you escaped! But hey, redemption always comes with a cost, right?
Thank you for playing and leaving your thoughts!
This is such an amazing game! It took me many tries, because I didn't know I had to press the arrow at the bottom of the dialogue. Amazing game, I feel bad for that person(?)!
Ah yes, that would make it very hard to reveal more keywords! I'm glad you stuck with it though and had fun, that is awesome. And it's nice to hear that my attempts at writing a sympathetic cannibal worked at least a little! Thanks for the feedback!
Of course, thanks for responding!
This is an amazing amount of feedback, thank you so much! The fact that you played the game and shared your thoughts with me is such a kind gift.
I'm really glad to hear that the aesthetic of the game was appealing--my main goal of this project was actually to create a moody, atmospheric 3D scene, since I don't have any prior experience in 3D games. I put a lot of thought into the style and setting (and even agonizing over the camera angle towards the NPC, which you noticed too!), so it's nice to hear that my efforts are appreciated.
My original idea for an NPC was to create a true believer, someone fervent and rigid, and you would have to verbally duel them with logic to prove that their cultish beliefs were wrong. But it was so... unconvincing and dull. Then I had the idea of writing this NPC, who's actually an outsider among outsiders, even outsiders as strange as a remote group of cannibals. And the idea of having a personal, emotional conversation with this person who isn't really happy in their situation just lit a spark for the writing the dialogue. I really tried to make him seem like a reasonable, sympathetic person, so I'm flattered that you really enjoyed engaging with the person that I created!
And I'm so happy to hear that just immersing yourself in the conversation is fun. That was exactly what I hoped for and had in mind--an interactive, immersive fiction experience. Which is also why the game is so hard--there's not a lot of logical clues to "deduce" the correct ending. You sort of just roll with it, and hopefully it's an interesting ride.
Thank you again for playing and leaving such a well-thought out piece of feedback, I really appreciate it. :)
This was fun! Took me like 15 times to get the good ending haha. The way you intro the vague elements of the story is cool
Looking forward to updates!
Thank you so much for playing, I'm glad you managed to win!
I made an account just to comment on this- but i got the good ending after around half an hour! this was a very fun game, props to you!
That's amazing, I am so happy that you enjoyed the game enough to keep trying! And I'm glad it paid off in the good ending. Thank you so much for playing, and for opening an account to leave me feedback! That's so kind. :)
I got it on the first try! Though, I might have simply been lucky... I'm not too sure how exactly this worked, a lot of it was asking him to elaborate on things. It seems he was already unsure to begin with. Extremely intriguing!
Could I please have a link to the music? I love it.
That's so impressive! Each word has multiple possible "conversation dialogue snippets" that it can draw from, so that's the "luck" part, but you still have to follow your instincts when it comes to forming a connection with this strange outsider among outsiders. So, nicely done!
I actually discovered this music first and loved it so much that I made a game to fit it, I'm not kidding! Here's a link: "To Start Again" by Monplasir on FreeMusicArchive.org
Thanks for playing and leaving feedback!
pretty easy and fun I actually thought I died when I won lol anyways ye it was good and had me a little tense wondering if I messed up talking to our cannibal and ye it was great I recommend
Oh that's so great to hear that you won! Thank you for the feedback, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you
patrick bateman would probably beat this game first try. fun
Haha that's probably true! Thank you for playing, I'm glad you had fun!
I might be stupid, but am I supposed to get the green bar to fill up or is that a bad thing?
No worries at all, the game is definitely a little esoteric. The green bar represents the cattle-stunner being charged. Each time you play a word from your word inventory, the stunner charge bar goes up 1. There are 15 bars, e.g., you have 15 "turns" to try and escape. So you want to escape before the bar fills up!
I also added a replay button at the end, after much feedback, if that helps.
took me a bit but I managed to escape within three tries. I like the game but the only problem. To replay you have to refresh the page to play again. Not that it's necessarily a problem but could be seen as a little repetitive.
Overall, like the game really good. Keep it up!
could you tell the steps on how you beat the game im still trying to do it and I can't
This is tricky because there's no guaranteed "path" that beats the game, since the conversations are a little dynamically generated. I can tell you that you need 4 words, and one of those words is "hope" at the beginning (to get you started). If you play a correct word, you'll get a little popup of the player character talking to themselves, for example, "We have rapport. How can I get him to think of us as old friends?" That's a clue for another winning keyword. If you turn on EASIER mode, then the right words will be highlighted as you manage to discover them, which will help a little.
It's definitely harder than I intended, but thank you for trying it out anyways! I appreciate your time. :)
thank you so much i will try that :)
Nice! I'm happy to hear you beat it! I realize now that a replay button is a huge quality of life feature--I've added it now as per my latest update. Thank you for your feedback, it helped me prioritize building the feature for future players and helped me improve as a gamedev.
Thanks for playing and I'm glad you like it!
[pre-update] it took me. 2 hours. to attempt this game 239557230954 times. and still fail.
and yet I love the game LOL the lore and its exploration felt very unique and interesting! I felt engaged enough to play it over and over for so long. I really look forward to trying it again now that it's updated for dummies like me lmaoI am both flattered and very apologetic ha! I loved watching this, it was so helpful and interesting--thank you for sharing it with me and recording it. Watching you sift through this weird little esoteric game and learn more each time you played was very cool, and exactly the experience I was hoping to create for players. You are so close to winning! It's a difficult game for sure--honestly, I think too difficult, because it's not really explicitly "logical". The introspection popups give you a gentle clue about the next correct word, but there's no real way to "deduce" the correct answer. I created it more as an interactive, atmospheric fiction experience that just happens to have a "good" ending as a bonus.
My other games are also "spooky puzzlers", but have very clear hint systems, so even if you get stuck, the hints will kick in and basically tell you the right answer. With this game, because of the way it's designed--the conversations are dynamically generated--it's not as easy to give the player helpful pushes. The best I could do was add the EASIER mode (as you noted too) which highlights the right words for you, if you manage to uncover them. But you still have to uncover them yourself. You're looking for 4 correct words, and one of the words is the opening word "hope" (to get you started, it's kind of a freebie). I also updated the game again and added a replay button at the end so you don't have to refresh.
Finally, apologies that the game is a bit laggy for you! I shipped it to be as compatible as possible with as many desktop browsers as possible, but I definitely did not catch everything. Especially since this game is dynamically loading files and the lighting/fire is running on the CPU, the performance can be hit/miss. In the future, maybe I'll add an .exe that people can download too, thanks to your feedback.
Thank you again for your in-depth feedback and I am glad you enjoyed the game enough to keep trying!
really glad my video could help!! I had a feeling it wasn't a strict lose or win situation but the competitive side of me just really wants to get it and see that elusive good ending lol
I super look forward to trying out your other games because they look right up my alley as well! thanks for the awesome game and reply & keep up that great work
good game
Thank you for making this video and sharing it with me, that's amazing! I always enjoy watching people play the game, it's a very cool experience! And thanks for giving my game a try. :)
My pleasure
I got the good ending on my first time playthrough
Oh that's awesome! And reassuring, tbh. I'm glad you beat it and thanks for leaving your feedback too!
This is amazing, it's so cool to watch people play the game! For what it's worth, you were doing well, you were very close to winning--you had 3 of the 4 correct words.
Thanks for playing and for your comment, it's very kind. Have a wonderful day!
i love the game
Amazing, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for leaving feedback too!
should add a restart button
That's totally fair, thanks for the feedback and for trying the game!
Yeah, the lack of a restart button is rather quite annoying.
Hey, thank you for adding your feedback to this point, it really helped me understand what feature players needed the most. I added a replay button as an update today!
Thanks again for giving the game a try and leaving a comment. :)
Thank you for adding that! I appreciate your openness to feedback, and I'm glad you're taking this feedback and making the game the most enjoyable for everyone.
Replay button added to the end screen!
Spooky! Played it a couple times to get a winning result and see the dialogue paths. Had fun figuring out how to get past the different prompts.
I'm so glad you managed to get a winning result! The game is harder than I intended, so it's reassuring to hear. Thank you for playing and leaving a comment! :)
Thank you so much for making this video and sharing it with me, I enjoyed watching it and I learned how to improve the game from watching you play, which is a huge help!
no problem thank u for a original idea and game!! if u update at somepoint please let me know here if u remember 2 and ill most def do another vid i want to convince him 2 let me go or at least join them.. if these are options?
I've updated the game to add an "EASIER" mode, so if you toggle it on (in the top right hand corner), the correct keywords will be highlighted in red once you reveal them. Still a bit tricky because you have to manage to find the right words, but at least there's some guidance on what to choose next. Also thanks to your video, I made it so that it's harder to get stuck on the "help" keyword at the beginning--more words are generated earlier on.
There's only two endings unfortunately! Originally, I planned to have many endings, but the game was getting pretty big for my first 3D browser game so I had to scale down my ambitions. T_T
Thanks again!
AWSOME! thanks 4 watching and ill check out the update soon!
This was super fun! The world you created is very interesting, so I had to try a few times to win. It's very hard to stick with appealing to his humanity, instead of asking about the world!
Thank you so much for playing, I'm glad you got the good ending!
This was a very fun short game to play. I enjoyed the plot a lot and I wanted to learn more about the Cannibal the more I played it. This game is a gem. The dialog was amazing.
Wow, thank you so much! It was definitely a lot of dialogue to write, I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it! :)