Daycare Dilemma

agecaf 2018-08-14 04:36

This was actually really fun, great job all!

~~First things first... If it's in Unity it should be easy-ish to export it to HTML5, I'd encourage you to try since that way it'd be easier for those who don't have Windows.~~ Whoops it seems I was a bit overeager in playing the game so soon :face_palm:

Design-wise: it is very interesting; simple enough to be easy to pick up, complex enough to be interesting to play. The execution was also really good, which made it a joy to play. Rng can sometimes screw you over though (e.g. you start with two babies, they both want food, there is no food, and you have no money 'cause its the start), I'd give players some money at the start to mitigate it (you could keep separate track of money and score, maybe?)

Artwise: I love the little baby portraits! The only thing I found confusing was the food icon, I sometimes mistakenly thought the cats wanted milk. (Also the items seem to move faster than the conveyor belts?) But overall it's some great pixel-art work. Nicely done!

Music: Awesome game theme! It makes playing super fun. Also the menu theme after a game over is so sad. ~~If anything... I think the main menu theme is a bit short?~~ I love the main menu and game over themes too! But again... the game theme is *really* good.

Programming: Everything works smoothly, good job! I found that the transitions between the game and the main menu/game over were a bit abrupt (e.g. you don't get time to see what killed you).

Also, whoever thought it was a good idea to leave babies in conveyor belts should be sent to prison :joy:

All in all, it's a super fun game to play, and it all comes together nicely; great teamwork!

random-storykeeper 2018-08-14 07:07

Yoooo @agecaf nice to see you again! I'm surprised you played our game this early. :rofl: We were rushing to get a submission out, so a lot of things got overlooked, and the slowdown of the site during submission hour didn't help. :joy:

We usually do a Windows build first, then make a web version after the submission hour has ended, as IJZM says it takes quite a while to compile a web one and usually results in a lot of errors. But we have it out now, and it did fix one issue with the music. IJZM ended up using the incorrect track for the menu screen (the eight second loop that was playing in your version was *not* supposed to be on the menu screen :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: ). I guess that's what we get for rushing to submit. :joy: Thanks so much for your feedback and I can't wait to play your game! (probably tomorrow though as it's getting late right now haha)

aterlamia 2018-08-14 19:17

Cool game and good music. The cats sounded very sad when i gave them the wrong item.

big-cow 2018-08-14 20:18

Nice one, feels very different from the more action-driven jam games I've been seeing, cute take on the theme with a nice mixture of time management and inventory management mechanics. Loved the aesthetics.

pedroaz 2018-08-15 02:15

The best game! ^=^

peachtreeoath 2018-08-15 06:16

You guys have great branding, I always remember who you are once I see that logo pop up lol, especially since you're one of the very few that do it.

The screenshots and instructions were intimidating at first but I was happy I had no trouble jumping into the game. There was only a small delay in scanning the belts for the required items and then quickly finding the item in the shop if it was missing, which wasn't too bad after the first few times. Graphics, music, presentation, top notch stuff as usual. I just really wanna give a shoutout to the innovation in this game. You took a time management game and really painted over it in your own style and gameplay so it really stands out.

ijzm 2018-08-15 22:24

Hey @peachtreeoath thanks for the comment!

Yeah, I was worried the instructions were going to be to overwhelming, but I'm glad it was easy to understand in-game. I have no idea how we were able to complete the graphics and stuff, as all of those were last-minute!

Again, thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it! :smile:

zeriver 2018-08-16 00:31

That was a fun multitasking management game. I think the needs could be easier to read or just straight up display the object they want. Although maybe it's part of the challenge to memorize it and take a moment longer to find right object. I like the graphics and sounds, both send a nice mood for the game. The upgrades also add another depth to the gameplay and give a feel of progression to the game. In overall it's a pretty fun game!

dsqowl 2018-08-16 02:49

This is a really funny concept and pretty cute. The music feels almost too nice for this game? Like the music is more polished than the graphics and so it feels a little mismatched to me. It wasn't super clear to me at first which kitty and baby reactions warranted which items which left me dragging items over to them and failing to satisfy them and then them quickly leaving. Making it a little more obvious which items matched which reactions would have made it a little clearer.

zeusx212 2018-08-16 06:06

Great concept. Not easy though :cat:

jamison 2018-08-16 08:02

There are times when you actually can't win due to RNG. Even if you speed up the conveyor belt, the item you need doesn't always show up. I had two babies that wanted food but no food showed up, and I didn't have enough money to buy anything. You should make sure that items they need are always on or about to be on the conveyor belt to solve this, or only allow for those "impossible" scenarios after a certain point when you have adequate funds :)

Music is great! Once I figured it out it was fun and charming. I lost for some reason when I had 600 points. I probably missed a kitten/baby on the conveyor belt. I think the kitten/baby should shake or make a warning sound when they're about to fall off the conveyor belt or they're about to "die" of neglect/starvation/thirst

grizeldi 2018-08-16 08:26

Avast detected the android version as potentially dangerous. I couldn't really make sense of what babies/cats wanted from the icons. Apart from that, neat game.

rob-parker 2018-08-16 11:38

Really liked the music and graphics. The RNG makes this game a little bit too hard as there were several times where i couldn't give a cat/baby what it wanted because it just didn't appear on the belt and didn't have the money to buy it (which was very frustrating). I also found a few times that trying to drag an item of the belt i couldn't seem to grab it, took a few times before it actually got picked up.

outstar 2018-08-16 14:55

I was immediately drawn by the idea and graphics in screenshots and I laughed a lot once I realized what the game is about! Some icons indicating needs of both babies and cats were a little bit confusing, it took me a while to realize what these damn brats want from me. Overall, opening babycare and cat care at once is not a perfect idea, cats cried, babies didn't because they're probably dead, please don't sue ;<

Had fun! :)

anna-petrova 2018-08-29 19:41

Nice game and good music.

2018-09-08 19:46

Neat game! I included it in my compilation video series of the Ludum Dare 42 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/7ueEev7q6Kg