The Butler
A downloadable game for Windows
The Butler is an exploration game where you need to find keys to escape a mansion. However, the Butler is on the lookout for intruders and is looking for you. By asking you questions, he will make sure you're telling the Truth, and if you dare to lie to him, he'll play with you.
Note: This game was made for the Game Jam "MoJam" in April 2018. The theme of the Jam was "Truth or Dare" and we had 48 hours to complete it. The interpretation of the team was that you had to tell the Truth to the Butler, otherwise he would have you make a Dare. Because of limited time, scope was cut down and we instead have this game loop of always having to keep track of your surrounding and you'll get good or bad effects applied to you depending on how you respond.
Team: André Bray, Cristina Mahneke, Jonathan Chouinard, Shea Galley
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Hey your game scared the shit out of me! Good Job!
This was quite fun and i liked the butlers model, very creepy.
For a weak heart like mine , i enjoyed this game alot
Hey, I featured The Butler in my latest Itch.io Horror Games video! It was featured real quick, but I did have a blast with the game. It was so simple yet fun! Cheers!
I liked the hide and seek style of this a lot! Took me a while to figure out all of the little nuances and get my head around the layout, which means it took me a lot of deaths! But it was totally worth it in the end!
The Butler himself really is quite an endearing chap too, and persistent. He also manages to pull off being threatening and yet chummy at the same time... I think him calling me friend made it seem like we were just having a bit of a drunken evening in together!
Anywho, it would be interesting to see this concept being expanded on a little, I'm sure there's a story lurking in here somewhere, and I know we're all itching to know more about The Butler's past! Who did he work for previously? Why is he so keen on having a forever companion? Why are we even here? So many questions that could be built on in a bigger story setting!
But I'm rambling now, as is my way. Keep up the great work, would love to see more of this, or anything else you have brewing! =)
It was pretty difficult, and the butler has no animation, but I still enjoyed it.
Possible to get a system req?
Hey KINAT14!
We didn't do any extensive optimization and didn't check system requirements since this game was made in a 48-hour game jam. The game uses a lot of dynamic lighting on Unreal Engine 4 and currently has no in-game options menu to tweak performance. I hope this can give you enough reference points for system requirements based on your experience.
We're working on a new version of The Butler, and we'll be making sure to have better in-game options and a better idea of system requirements.
Hope this helps
LIKE KEYS?!
LIKE BEING CHASED!? got a fetish for it maybe wellll you'll love The Butler.
Find the keys and lie to the Butler but be careful, If he catches you the Butler will indeed have done it.
this is a pretty fun game. I enjoyed it. I was not very good at it though haha. Reminded me of a more threatening slenderman. Great job. I’d actually like to see a more involved more detailed game out of this.
This is an addictive little game, there's an urge to find all the keys, but even with replay it's still a pretty short game. The keys are a little hard to see, I got down to one and searched the whole house a few times before being caught and never caught a glimpse of it, even with it being highlighted. So there's a lot of trial and error with learning key locations, or just blind luck. The butler isn't too hard to avoid once you understand him, being faster than the player makes it tricky, but the truth or lie mechanic gives you a little wiggle room to use. A pretty good game, I think it works fine as it is. Maybe as a learning resource for a bigger game.
Really fun game! Took me a few tries to beat it, but I'm glad I did!
Thanks for playing and sharing our work Phenominis! Sorry for the anti-climatic ending! The feedback of the community has been incredible and we'll be working on a new update with more content!
I expected this to be a slender copy but it has a whole different dynamic! Reminds me of Cluedo :D Really liking it...
Pretty fun, but it feels very frustrating without being able to run since the butler goes way faster than the player. Either having less keys (cause while they're not hard to find, there is a larger amount than what you'ld see in other finder games), or having a run ability, or at least a short sprint, would make the game a lot less irritating in my opinion. Also had a bug right at the beginning where I spawned practically right next to him (which probably shouldn't be a thing able to happen) but when he caught me he was also just about to ask me a question and it displayed the text for both things and I couldn't read the options. And lastly the flashlight doesn't seem to be able to keep pace with the camera. I made a video trying to beat it but I got too frustrated and gave up after almost beating the game. Hope you enjoy!
I thought this game was great, it was simple and fun but also made me focus on where my fingers were on the keyboard at all times, I did NOT get to the end because I felt like I went into every single room but just couldn't find them all. I don't think 12 keys is unreasonable, it had me wanting to play it until I beat it because the butler roaming around isn't difficult to dodge, but GOD I WISH I COULD RUN!!! Other than that I had a great time :)
The Butler starts the video and ends at 3:55
Thanks for playing and sharing! Glad you had a good time. The 12 keys are randomized, so I'm not sure where they could have been (couldn't tell from the Gameplay). Also run button: noted!
As silly as it is. It was fairly simple and fun! The replay ability is nice and the game is well entertaining. I could keep playing it for a good while so I'd suggest it if you want a game to play for your free time.
Video❤
Thanks for playing! Finally someone that runs into the appropriate rooms to get a key to light up. Very nice use of the mechanic there to help you finish it.
Haha well I enjoyed the experience =-3 Simple yet fun game. And thanks, tried my best at it.
I beat it, and it was actually a really nifty concept! If you want to check out my reaction to it you can see it here. Good job on this game!
I absolutely loved how you were convinced that you could only listen for the whistling to feel safe. Enjoyed your reaction! Thanks for sharing our work!
I like it. Wasn't able to finish it but had fun anyways.
Thanks for playing and sharing our work. Congrats on getting down to 4 keys! Glad you enjoyed it.
you're welcome!
really really enjoyed this game! very well put together! awesome job on creating this!
Thanks you to play our game!!
Hi i put your game in a compilation it was the 2nd game :D
I like the idea of the game but it still needs some work the game was glitching out everywhere and i cant really be scared of a model that dosent move.
But still its a very nice idea and i cant wait to see what the update looks like :D.
Thanks for playing Diplow! Based on what I see, I believe you were the unlucky 6 people that downloaded the very first version we uploaded, which had a few more instability and balancing issues. Glad you liked the idea though!
I enjoyed this game, I like a good GameJam and it will be great for my collection, I don't think I have seen this on Gamejolt but if I do I will be happy to support it there too. 5/5.
YouTuber: Fellowplayer
Hey Fellowplayer! Thanks for playing our game and adding it to your collection. We just announced an update with more content for our game and we just published to Gamejolt as well! https://gamejolt.com/games/the-butler/336202
Pretty solid game. I've never seen the mechanic of questioning the player over and over to gain a reward/punishment. It's definitely unique.
I like how you trash-talked the Butler at the end! He probably won't recover from you getting him caught behind that piano.
This was great! It really appealed to my recent interests in games. It had a heavy "slasher" or "slender" feel to it with some extra tweaks and mechanics. I loved the whistle mechanic, that way you can tell where the butler is, though he doesn't do it often enough for you to fully rely on it. The questions he asks and the teleportation ability that they boast really give the player a way out or a strategy. All of these extra things in the game really point to promise of a hard mode or maybe an extended version! The atmosphere was perfect, and I loved the feeling of not knowing whether the butler was gonna rush me out of nowhere or not. The only issue I really could see, besides there not really being an ending sequence, is the flashlight is a little choppy. I loved how it lagged behind the player, but I didn't like how it had that frame-skip look to it. Anywho, this is a game I'd definitely pay for if it had a fully polished version. Thanks so much for making this brilliant piece!
Thank you to play our game! We have fun to create this game!
Well it was great! :D Thanks!!
Hello! I played your game and I have to say I really enjoyed it! I made a video on my channel if you want to see how it went, here it is :) Thank you so much for sharing your art! Really well done.
Hey Nathan! Thank you so much for playing and sharing the experience. You indeed got lucky to complete it on your first round. You did pick up on the mechanics very quickly and were able to use the questions to your advantage.
Also loved the little section of feedback and advice at the end of your video.
Hey! I enjoyed your game! It was very simple to understand, find keys and avoid from getting caught by the butler that's roaming around.
This is just my issue about the butler. I respawned and he was already in the door next to me, so I only lived for like a good 10 seconds and got caught. There were also times where the butler chases me then if I get to some random area's he would just stare at me and go away??
One thing is the torch, I don't mind but when you move your character it's like kind of annoying that the torch swirls like that when moving around
Overall I liked the game, it wasn't to hard or to easy. Hope you don't mind I recorded it! :) Good luck to your future games!
Absolutely loved watching your video! I'm glad you enjoyed the game and that we were able to get some reactions out of you with the Butler.
The biggest challenge was probably getting the Butler's AI to work correctly in such an amount of time. This is probably where a lot of improvement could be done to feel more balanced. As for the torch, it was intended to be delayed, in a way to remove some of your sense of control, but it might need some tweaks as well.
You got so close to finishing it. Thanks for playing it!