she-wrote 2022-04-04 17:04
The graphics are simple, but the gameplay is engaging, and it is funny. I made it to round 14!
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD50 → You've Kidnapped the Wrong Prince!
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 369 | 3.33 | 23 | |
| Fun | 221 | 3.54 | 23 | |
| Innovation | 414 | 3.04 | 23 | |
| Theme | 237 | 3.76 | 23 | |
| Graphics | 469 | 3.04 | 23 | |
| Humor | 163 | 3.35 | 22 | |
| Mood | 411 | 3.00 | 22 |
The graphics are simple, but the gameplay is engaging, and it is funny. I made it to round 14!
I really enjoyed this game. I played for like an hour and finally got to round 16. The one thing I wish was different was if the money obtained from previous rounds transferred over.Round 16.png
It's goooood! Autochess is defineately an ambitious idea and I think you executed it well here! I like the monty python reference too
I guess I wasn't the only one to make a "Tower Defense" game Lol. This game is pretty cool, the graphics look nice and the strategy is cool. Also, I absolutely love the story and the humor :D. The only thing the game really needs is some music and more sound effects.
Screenshot 2022-04-12 195615.png
Nice strategy game! I think this fits the theme very well, as the only goal is to see how long you can last against an ever more powerful enemy. I went with a melee-archer-miner set up to see how well that extra coin paid off. I got to round 9 with it, which seems decent enough. At that point the knight one shots everything, so the only hope was to get it in three stages!
This was a fun experience, I could see some potential and being able to buy more spots for bigger strategy. Good work!
I made it to round 8 with a miner-archer-wizard team. I would have loved being able to buy more than 3 units for my team. But I suppose if wouldn't be thematic if the player won, right? Great game! I enjoyed it.
@common Seems like 16 is the record so far!
@fionnabhair Thanks! That was actually the top cutting room floor thing, unfortunately. If the compo was 52 hours, I would have tweaked it to 5 character slots! The code is mostly there to do it for the most part, but I would have had to adjust things graphically to make them fit, along with the extra balance complications. If I were to pick this game up again, that would be my first stop along with some more curated unit variety (tiers and such).
I was impressed with the amount of strategic depth that this game has. Everything seems really well thought out and the number of interacting systems is truly impressive. I also had a lot of fun playing and experimenting with different strategies. I tried using the wizard once, but he disappeared from my team after one round. Is that supposed to happen? If so, there isn't much point in using him. Also, the game didn't work when I restarted, all of the clickable icons became inert. I had to refresh the page to play again.
At first I thought there was no possible way to get past about level 9, but seeing someone make it to 16... maybe there is some value to the wizard, lol.
@quinn-patrick Thanks for your feedback! The disappearing unit problem is strange... I noticed it once in a recent replay, and thought it might have had something to do with a click being registered in the transition between the two scenes, causing a unit sell before the button is visible. But, there's a lot of hasty code in that transition held together with duct tape, so it could be anything! The game restart thing is one I just noticed today, so I put up a disclaimer. That one I know what I did wrong, unfortunately! The control that handles mouse actions in the shop deletes itself when it goes to the battle, then restores during the transition. Because the object only exists at the start of the game or from that transition, clicking restart means the mouse controls are dead - doh!
As for the score, I actually don't know how they did that :sweat_smile: My best is 10!
Very fun little game, though I have no clue how someone reached wave 16. What I did was 2 miners and a skeleton, which took me to wave 11, but with slightly better luck, I think I could have reached 13-14, but 16 I have no idea how to. I like the concept of the game, it plays well, though I feel the units you get could be a bit more balanced. With how much the attack from the hero scales, I did not find a use for the goblin, while I could have a miner instead, and unless the wizard has a secret, he is just a worse skeleton. I actually have an idea on how to make it further, will be trying it.
unknown.png Turns out my idea worked
@shared Balance in general was one thing I regrettably had to rush, which is why I'm so pleased people have been digging into it so much with different results, so thank you for that! People actually liking it enough to play it a few times is an awesome feeling
And in that regard, I'm quite curious what tactic made it all the way to 20! :smile:
@sketchygalore It was actually the same monsters I used before, miner/miner/archer. However, what changed was my strategy around money, I was very agressive with my re-rolling, aiming for skeletons above all, and spending my leftovers on a miner stack. I think (and this is my opinion) I would have given the goblins 3 attack and 2 health (or 2 and 3), to make up for the fact that a ranged unit will hit at least twice, while with how fast the enemy attack scales, a melee unit will very likely die in a single hit after day 5 or something. For the wizard, I would have seen him with at least 5 attack, maybe 6, to make up for the awkwardness of his price (they're pretty hard to budget around) Anyway, these are just my opinions, and I am not telling you how to make your game. But yeah, very fun entry, fun enough for me to play it 3 times.
@shared Not at all, I appreciate the feedback! It's really important to know what works if I wanted to tinker with this project more. The big takeaway I've found is that more complexity in abilities would help a lot (more units like the miner that do something other than simply fight). The wizard is definitely in a weird place, as it was designed as the start of my idea of "tiers", like you'd find in other autobattler/autochess games, but I wasn't able to flesh that idea out in time to justify the cost. Goblins, as well as the concept of playing defensively, also needs a lot more to it. I'm pretty sure I'd change a lot about how the knight deals damage and such in future plans, do something about the "one shot" nature of melee and such. But, in general I think this is the sort of game that could use a lot more content and a TON of playtesting like you did, so the LD is really just a proof of concept. Thanks again for finding the optimal route!
@sketchygalore Well glad you appreciate the feedback ! One easy change that would help bring melee back up to line, if they still got one shot that is, is to give them counter damage when they get attacked, though if this were to be a thing, don't buff the goblin's stats. Such a thing would be kind of hard to balance, but it would give melee a guaranteed 2 hits. Or maybe that could all be a special unit's power.
Good and effective take as an autobattler. I like being able to pick the formation. Would love to see more units and more enemies as you continue to develop this out.
Very resourceful for a compo to use animation of the units around the board to communicate the attacks. Very effective.
Pretty cool! As other have said it would be great with some more units and more opportunities for fun builds. maybe the +1 coin from rats could stack? Maybe have a unit that buffs other units, or converts attack to defense?
I liked it, and played it a couple of times to test out mechanics and stuff, so all in all i say great job!