Hans

I think it's a very cute and interesting idea, and considering it was a game made for my alma mater's university games program rather than a major professional project, it's definitely an accomplishment! But in execution, I think it falls a little flat as-is. First of all, though I like the premise of "supernatural creature helps out people in WWI setting with their problems", I think it's a weird choice to set it in a fake country in what was a very real war with real death and wide-reaching political consequences. I'd argue that you should either make a fake war in a fake country, or just, well, pick a real-life participating country in WWI. The characters in this have German names anyway, so why not pick Germany, or Austria-Hungary? It's hard to advertise something as set in WWI when it's not set in any actual reality, and it wouldn't have been that much effort to go the extra mile. As for the gameplay itself, the problem is that much of the game revolves around seeing all the results of Hans's choices and how they play out. The reason this is a problem is because all of the endings are incredibly abrupt and don't really describe what happens in them (it's just a still illustration, sometimes with very vague implications of what it represents), so you don't really feel like you're experiencing the consequences of your actions, good or bad. As such, even though I generally like to get all endings in a small game like this before reviewing, I eventually realized I wasn't going to get much out of the endings when they were practically nonexistent. This was especially exacerbated by the extreme repetitiousness of the game. You can't save, and no matter what your choices are, you have to go through making the three exact same recipes - just in different combinations of whether or not you use magic. (It also bothered me that messing up magic cookies didn't make the magic go wrong, which I thought would have opened more interesting opportunities than just using magic or not using magic.) So considering the amount of effort required to collect every ending in this game, the payoff really doesn't feel worth it, especially since the game is so short that you don't really have time to get invested in what little we see of the characters. Also, though I of course get why Addler's reaction to not being able to get with her crush being "I want magic that will make me never love again" is an extreme overreaction that Hans definitely shouldn't go along with, I very much disliked Hans's justification being that not being able to fall in love meant "missing out on so much". It promotes the amatonormative idea that anyone aromantic - or even just anyone who chooses not to pursue romance - is broken or to be pitied.

After the bug preventing me from only getting one ending got fixed, I really enjoyed the game!! The art style is so charming, and you can tell this game is very clearly made with lots of love. The game-play is simple, but the characters and stories tied to them make it very enjoyable to stick it through to the end and get all the endings. Excited to see what other games this creator comes up with :) ^^

nice artstyle, fine enough plot, easy to get endings, interesting characters, 30-40 minutes to 100% if you keep track of your previous runs

short and bittersweet

Short & a little bizarre, but you can tell that a lot of love went into it.

this short little game has a lot of heart in it, and I really enjoyed the time I spent going through and getting different endings, seeing the impact these little choices had on a bigger scale. hope to see more stuff from these creators!

Really nice music and I like the cozy yet dystopian atmosphere!

Игра "Hans" - это удивительный платформер-головоломка, который затягивает своей минималистичной эстетикой и глубоким геймплеем. Управление персонажем, казалось бы, простое - только прыжок и подтягивание к платформам. Однако, именно используя эти ограниченные возможности, необходимо решать сложные пространственные головоломки, чтобы продвигаться вперед. Забавный визуальный стиль, нарочито угловатый и простой, создает атмосферу таинственности и некой отчужденности. Музыкальное сопровождение лаконично и прекрасно дополняет геймплей, не отвлекая от решения задач. Уровень сложности постепенно возрастает, заставляя игрока мыслить нестандартно и искать новые способы использования механик. Порой, решение кажется неочевидным, и именно ощущение "Эврики!" после нахождения ответа приносит наибольшее удовлетворение. "Hans" - прекрасный пример того, как можно создать увлекательную и запоминающуюся игру, используя простые, но тщательно продуманные элементы. Рекомендую всем любителям головоломок и нестандартных платформеров.