FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD31 → A Game Of Life

A Game Of Life

By liamtwose

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Coolness350
Innovation5263.17
Humor8921.82
Theme9303.27
Overall10932.56
Fun11372.19

Comments

antisc2 2014-12-08 10:24

Great idea! Pretty fun to play with. But the movement feels awkard and in the beginning it's unclear what to do. But once you figure it out it becomes very fun.

apiotrw 2014-12-08 10:24

Solid but confusing at first

revolter 2014-12-08 10:54

You should make the goal clearer for the player. It's a little confusing what one should do.

43iscoding 2014-12-08 10:54

Nice concept, looking forwards to a complete game

hexagore 2014-12-08 11:00

I'm going to be honest, I don't think I understand what I was supposed to do in this game at all! I could only interact with water and food. Is it... allegorical in some way? :)

liamtwose 2014-12-08 11:46

Hi thanks to all the comments / votes. So wish I'd had more time to make it a lot more polished. You drag your counter, the one with the U on it, to interact with the buildings, such as the house, shop and work. Plus you can also drag food / water to interact with things also.

The main premise for the game is for people to discover, which is why I opted for little in the way of tutorial etc, but future versions, I will give this some thought :)

Thank you all for playing it and for the kind comments / feedback. Absorbed and duly noted :)

victorafael 2014-12-08 13:14

I didn't got what I have to do!

random-abductions 2014-12-08 13:14

Definitely needs some work. Also the feedback to what you are doing is lacking. The idea doesn't really come across to me. How do I gain carma? Can I talk to people? Art style is interesting.

kwask 2014-12-08 13:17

I agree with the others that I was confused about what to do at the beginning, but I liked it after I figured things out. I wasn't ever sure what the "Karma" bar was for, though.

liamtwose 2014-12-08 13:32

Yeah good point could probably lose the karma bar actually. Was supposed to affect the outcome of your legacy etc but I guess its superfluous. :)

Again later versions I'd like to explore aspects like socialising etc and more vital stats to manage. I just need to figure out a way of doing so without crowding the screen even more than it is :)

cutandreil 2014-12-08 13:32

Need some tutorial!
I've restart 4 times.
And I still don't know how to make an impact...

jaycee23 2014-12-08 13:39

Everyone keeps dying. I give them food and water whenever I can, but nothing happens.

liamtwose 2014-12-08 13:52

They are technically supposed to go hunt for food and water but there seems to be a few economical issues. Shall have to work on a new version once the compo is over.

logun 2014-12-08 14:34

Nice and simple idea, but I didin't get what I have to do exactly, simply live ?
The game starts quickly to flick after 4-5 min :/

majoolwip 2014-12-08 14:38

What is going on here?

rozaxe 2014-12-08 16:53

Simple and clean. Miss some instruction and a goal !

yongcamu 2014-12-08 23:39

Looks like an interesting concept. That Karma counter caught my attention. I'm guessing if you are to build on this, there are like a whole bunch of relational decisions that a player can make? What sort of legacy can we leave behind though? :D

ferraware 2014-12-09 06:25

Great idea! Needs a tutorial though, and some relaxing music :P

Why did you opt-out of the graphics category? Although simple, they are pretty nice!

liamtwose 2014-12-09 10:33

Thank you yes the initial plan was to see how long you could carry your legacy on for through pro-creation. I've actually done away with the karma bar, but not entirely, the player ultimately may or may not know if they're doing good or bad, but their legacy will inevitably reflect that or the direction their game takes.

I realised soon in that the game idea I thought was simple, actually wasn't so much so.

I opted out of the graphics @FerraWare as I'm not the greatest artist and felt the majority would likely not see it as I hoped :)

I've got a few ideas to revamp and create a second version.

A tutorial will definitely be present even if it merely introduces certain aspects as you go, the first time round. Relaxing music, added to the list :)

Thank you for all the great feedback.

jayson 2014-12-09 10:53

I tried everything to get my karma up, but nothing increases it. Was interesting and a bit confusing, but not a terrible experience.

Unique so 5 stars for innovation :D

jjevil 2014-12-09 15:53

Can't wait to play the finished version. Cool idea.

HelkeGames 2014-12-09 16:35

So innovative ! I love it ^^ well done!

sweenist 2014-12-09 18:11

It took a bit to intuit the controls. I am not clear as to whether I can leave a legacy or not. I fail to make an impact. But I have played this like 7 times so there is some replayability to it. I like the unique idea. What would this look like if you got to polish it?

drludos 2014-12-09 19:25

Interesting concept - art to grasp at first, but I can see how this would evolve in a full fledged life-simulation - looking forward the post-compo version of the game

dunin 2014-12-10 17:56

seems to be a cool game but very (too for me) confused...
(maybe because it's life?)

liamtwose 2014-12-10 20:21

I've done a 1st retake... which can be played at http://gamejolt.com/games/strategy-sim/a-game-of-life/41499/ - this is closer to how I envisaged.

boxedmeatrevolution 2014-12-10 20:46

Seems like it would be a really interesting game, but it sorely needs some instructions.

fussycashew 2014-12-10 21:27

Interesting idea! Kind of confusing to play, and having elements overlap on the screen can be annoying, but still fun!

ruerob 2014-12-10 21:29

Was fun to play. But I don't get it fully. I have lived my little life a little and tried to survive like every day of my real life. It was as hard as in real life... Therefor I think I did well. Nice little game to explore.

thomastc 2014-12-11 19:39

I'm afraid I don't quite understand... What do the other letters (W etc.) mean? Can I interact with the other M's and F's? What's the objective? How can I "make an impact" at the end?

virtuallycompetent 2014-12-11 20:19

I like games that force the player to figure things out on their own, but I think it's a lot harder to do so in a timed setting. With failure looming overhead, I become more stressed about losing than curious about winning!

mrexcessive 2014-12-14 10:25

Hi there. Interesting world you made. Couldn't really understand what was going on. Got money, food, job. Shame no sounds.

franklins-ghost 2014-12-14 11:24

Unique take on the theme but as others have said was a bit confusing. Think if you do keep on working it will be interesting to see what a more polished version plays like.

liamtwose 2014-12-14 14:49

Thanks everybody, the feedback provided has been immense. I definitely prefer not to hand-hold the player too much, although realise I needed a small fraction to better explain what was expected of the player. Make sure to follow me @liamtwose on twitter if you are interested in seeing the future of "a game of life"