The Hole Story
The Negatives, Girls Make Games class of 2014
Story:
When an unsuspecting young girl finds herself transported to a mystical world, she must rely on her trusty shovel and quick wits to find her way home.
After digging up a strange portal in her backyard, budding young archaeologist Wendy falls through time into a strange new land. She quickly discovers that her best chance of returning home is to rescue Alonna, a princess who has gone missing from the kingdom. Her goal in mind, Wendy sets about resolving the problem the best way she knows how – by digging of course!
Features:
The Hole Story is a top-down RPG fantasy adventure created by a talented group of young female designers. Players solve puzzles by exploring the world and digging up clues in order to move on. As you progress through 15 increasingly difficult challenges, you’ll meet a host of humorous characters, unlock secret levels, and earn experience that can be put towards player customization and gear upgrades. Furthermore, clue and item locations are entirely randomized, so no two experiences will ever feel the same!
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“A sharp-witted game with mind-bending riddles, The Hole Story is a beautiful testament to the immense talent contained in gaming’s youngest creative minds.” – Laila Shabir, Founder, Girls Make Games
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About Girls Make Games:
Girls Make Games is a series of international summer camps, workshops and game jams designed to encourage girls to explore the world of video games. With the help of growing list of partners like Google Play, DoubleFine and the Computer History Museum, we’re determined to address the gender gap in the games industry, one camp at a time.
Awards:
The Hole Story won Grand Prize at the Inaugural Girls Make Games Demo Day hosted at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
After 3 weeks of hard work, 5 teams of young game developers pitched their game prototypes to industry veterans:
Tim Schafer, Founder, Double Fine Productions
Kellee Santiago, Head of Developer Relations, OUYA
Shazia Makhdumi, Head of Strategic Edu & Kids Partnerships, Google Play
Tracy Fullerton, Chair, Interactive Media & Games Division, USC
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Press:
Polygon: http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/29/5946093/girls-only-game-dev-camp-going-global-with-support-from-publishers
Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/221883/These_girls_are_ready_to_shape_the_future_of_game_development.php
IGN: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/16/7-high-school-girls-are-kickstarting-their-award-winning-rpg-the-hole-story
Joystiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2014/07/16/girls-make-games-winners-dig-into-the-hole-story/
GameSpot: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-a-summer-camp-made-middle-and-high-school-girl/1100-6421352/
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Visit our Kickstarter Page:
Game Discussion
Steam User 64
Since there seems to be some confusion among the other reviewers - this is not a game *for* kids, it is a game *made by* kids. Which begs a serious question - Should I even seriously review a game made by school kids? Well, if I did, that would make me a real-life stuffy critic the likes of which David Sedaris wrote as a joke. Yes, the other reviewers are correct. There are things about this game that are very unprofessional and unpolished. That's because it isn't professional. Even if the public has to pay to get into the school play, it's not supposed to be compared unfavorably to a Hollywood blockbuster. That's not the point.
Would I be recommending this game if it were made by a proper indie studio? Certainly not. But it wasn't.
So instead of telling you whether it's worth your five bucks, I'm going to tell you how I liked it. So, did I like it? Yes, I did. It won't ever be game of the year, but I found it cute, amusing enough, and short enough that the limited mechanics don't have the time to become aggravating.
Steam User 16
The Hole Story is a simple adventure game where the solution to almost every puzzle is to dig something up. It's full of puns and amusing references. It looks a bit like an RPG, but does not have any RPG elements.
It only took me about half an hour for the playthrough where I finally completed the game. The first playthrough crashed on the way back after collecting the artichoke, and I got stuck (could not move) once on the second playthrough.
It's a unique, entertaining little game, especially considering the team behind it. But as short as it is, with limited replayability, and the bugs I encountered, it's hard to recommend it at $5. Grab it on sale and enjoy the brief little jaunt.
Steam User 4
Charming adventure game with kooky humour, silly puns, cute art, and a likeable girl main character. Probably best suited to kids, with simple puzzles, but enjoyable for adults with child like hearts!
It has serious problems with bugs and crashing, though. As a Kickstarter supporter, II wish the adult mentors had given the girls a hand with the level of debugging needed before a release. Save, and save often.
Steam User 3
It constantly crashes, which really sucks. And there are so many bugs. But I love the game. Well I love it up til the unicorn guy because Ive never gotten past that due to crashes. I love that it was made by women! Great job :)
Steam User 11
pros:
-simplistic controls
-slightly smoother than the average rpg maker game
-more resolution options than all the rpg maker games out there
cons:
-"full controller support" another of those games that assumes everyone uses a console controller on pc
-flat dialogue
-storyline didn't really suck me in
I know I only played a short time but it definitely felt like a controller game and while I understand I can use some 3rd party files to make the game assume my logitech f710 is a xbox 360 controller I didn't do that in advance and got sidetracked by other games. I may update further when I take advantage of the "full controller support".
Verdict atm: if you have a kid that can read but you don't want them playing anything too complicated this will work.
Steam User 3
Finally got round to playing this after backing it on KS. A fun little game made by some talented young minds.
Steam User 0
That ending sure... happened to me. I thought I messed up, but nope, that's just how it ended!