Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD44 → Spent
By akirassasin
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 450 | 2.81 | 23 | |
| Fun | 482 | 2.35 | 23 | |
| Innovation | 186 | 3.26 | 23 | |
| Theme | 304 | 3.19 | 23 | |
| Graphics | 461 | 2.44 | 21 | |
| Mood | 216 | 3.19 | 23 |
I like this take on the theme a lot, the way the life of a common soldier is just commodity to the state, the way nothing you do make any difference. The graphics are barebones but very nice looking.
For a text-only game though, it's surprisingly silent! I think some ambience and gunshots can do a lot to improve the (already pretty good) mood and overall presentation.
the vibe and the theme are there, this could do good with a minimal soundtrack perhaps and some soudn effects
Agreed with the other comments that this could do with some sound effects. Even a simple gunshot when you flip the red eye would make a huge impact I think. Crickets at night. That sort of thing.
Simple, but nice and to the point. I was selected for a night raid on a trench and I kept pushing forward. I succeeded three or four times but there was no indication that it was accomplishing anything. Some feedback in the text would have been welcome.
Nice job! I was confused with the card draws at first, but it startled me a little bit when the first eye was flipped. This was a neat take on the theme.
Thank you @toasteater @velvetlobster @minibobbo !
Agreed on the feedback about audio, I missed the opportunity to add it in. The night raid lasts until you decide to retreat, but I don't think I added any text that says that in-game. These two points will be the first thing to fix if I start a post-jam version!
The cards flipping over when you finally understand just what they mean. Powerful use of theme! Love the card flipping animation as well! Great work!
I agree with all the above comments about the audio. A nicely dark take on the theme, and original as well. It really seemed to reflect everything I've heard about the boredom of war interspersed with moments of high anxiety. If you end up making changes, perhaps the player shouldn't be allowed to play football forever? I played it three times in one night, I think, and surely one time is enough. Unless it's Christmas.
I played until the raid that interrupts the last card of sleep (I'm sort of assuming that although the cards were meant to appear random, they might not actually have been). That raid seemed to be unending, no matter what I did, so eventually I just kept trying to shoot people just to see what the ending would look like. So I ended up feeling some sort of agency in that I was choosing to die to advance the story? Maybe not the intent, though. I survived a rather long time trying to die.
Thanks, @jayometric and @carraka !
About football, I thought I had coded something that would restrict that choice but now it seems like I hadn't after all... oops!
Wow, you're great at writing interactive fiction!!
The fiction is nice, althought I didn't get the point of flipping the cards ten times in a row. What do they represent?
Thank you, @one-seed-fruit and @datagreed !
The cards are essentially just random chance for failure. Instead of just calculating the result and showing the player the outcome, I thought that drawing cards one by one would be more intense :)
The story is really interesting and powerful. The gameplay is okay, but is nothing super interesting. Overall a fine LD game.
Nice entry. Refreshingly different :) It was a short story indeed, but then again maybe I shouldn't have peeked over the trench all the time :) Nice entry!
Well, first of all, thumbs up! This is a great entry. Atmosphere is just right. Hopeless, senseless slaughter, life filled with fear and boredom. It fits the theme perfectly. Sounds of course would be nice, but without sounds it works just as well. Card flipping animation isn't perfect, especially when fast-clicking through it, and maybe a patterned back side would make it easier to understand at a first glance. My first play-through was short and lacked any accomplishments, but on the second try I fought off one attack on our trenches and participated in a trench raid... There is no feeling of accomplishment after playing the game, but that's exactly the point of it, right? Great entry!
@akirassasin Very cool, man. Definitely made me think. In a jam full of games doing largely the same thing, this one certainly stands out. I think it could use a bit more content and certainly some audio, but the core idea is there and I found it interesting and thought-provoking. Nice work and solid entry!
The premise is super unique and dark. I felt the events could be a little more varied, they start to become repetitive quite fast. On the other hand, trench warfare was really repetitive, in the worst way imaginable. In that regard you really feel the worthlessness of your actions, of your personality. Duck, shoot, repeat. Then die. Definitely strikes the right chords.
Thank you all, @jk5000 @attala @tangiblegames @jordantanner @purrseus !
When I started the jam, I felt like taking the path less taken, instead of just "HP as currency". I'm glad that paid off!
Yo trench warfare SUCKS
I can only reiterate the great usage of the theme, you just being a pawn to be spent. The idea of introducing randomness to an IF-style game through a deck of cards is pretty interesting, definitely adds a layer of suspense as you flip each card individually (and the RED effect is well done). It works well in this game since the whole theme here is lack of autonomy, I wonder how well though it would function in a traditional setting.
Very interesting, one of the more thoughtful LD games I've played. I'll be taking notes.