Divide and Democratize

pete-thorne 2022-10-04 07:07

I'm not sure I fully understand the mechanics of the game. I played a few rounds but wasn't really sure if I was making progress or not. Is it purely random or is there some strategy to this?

I am glad you made an HTML version of the game. I'm on a Mac and so many people only upload a Window .exe - which is a shame as most game engines support all major platforms.

Some things to maybe improve: 1. Make the mechanics a little clearer 2. Add some "rewards" for doing all - sound effects, popups, etc.

I did like the concept though - sadly a bit too real!

ubershmekel 2022-10-04 07:11

Pretty cool concept. I love the idea of simulating hate politics. I wish it were a bit easier to understand what was going on. I felt likeI was gambling a bit, and I wasn't sure what were the consequences of my decisions. Like, am I trying to get my vote to sit well with all the people, or just to align with other candidates? If the game was a bit easier to understand, this looks like it could be a lot of fun. Thank you for the game.

reyansh 2022-10-04 07:17

Good game! Although I felt the audio was a bit soft(I didnt notice it until like the 7th round lol) it was a good game and the ending was funny ig

alpacalypse 2022-10-04 07:19

Very clever idea.

kohcepba 2022-10-04 09:22

@pete-thorne @ubershmekel thank you for playing, I've added FAQ with math under the hood if you interested.

@reyansh @alpacalypse thank you

Also I uploaded version with fixed resolution (game is the same)

const-arch 2022-10-05 08:40

Capture1.PNG

Picking just one or two group seems to demolish the opposition, which seems kind of depressingly relatable. This is the most interesting concept I've played so far this LD, uncomfortable, but seeing what approaches the simulation favored was cool.

kohcepba 2022-10-06 06:14

@const-arch yeah, I've made it at first with smart opponents who team up against player but it was impossible to win and game overall feels like gambling, so I've decided to make them do random moves and that's allow focused strategy like yours being ultra-effective. Game lose some of its chaos, but now it have The Message and educational value how hating is bad and all that stuff. Even better strategy is not to vote at all. I am not humble bragging but game is just not polished at all in numbers.

tosk3 2022-10-06 12:22

I like the idea, however it feels a bit random sometimes, especially when the opposition hates themselves. the premise is great and the ending was good ! lol

kohcepba 2022-10-06 12:46

@tosk3 thank you for playing. Opposition may hate themselves to allow new player to win with some intuitive strategies. It is a jam and most people play only once so I reduce difficulty to make them win more easily and maybe even learn something. It was almost impossible to win when AI plays somewhat optimal.

herryfabien 2022-10-07 17:21

@tosk3 I must admit doing it without realising at first ... Now i can empathize with CNN somewhat sometimes it hard to not shoot yourself in the foot when you don't even know what your foot is XD. Really funny but i really don't understand much of it

unknownlocal 2022-10-07 18:26

Decent, good premise but a little janky with the random opponents as explained earlier, but I can get that reasoning. Pretty fun though, and I did laugh quite a bit at the ending.

kohcepba 2022-10-08 10:54

@herryfabien my main goal with this game was to invoke reaction "wow, this is relatable". Huge narrative and big picture. I don't know much about CNN but it is probably good that you find some analogies. Thank you for playing.

@unknownlocal yes, I know it is junky, very unpolished and lacks some critical functional (like hating those who hate particular group), but I think I did enough to create something bigger than just mechanical game, it touches people thoughts and feeling about real world. So I am very glad you liked the premise and ending, this is the most important parts for me. Thank you for playing!

oozer 2022-10-08 21:19

very interesting concept

amarokczukay 2022-10-09 11:53

the idea is good and clever, however i found it rather hard to understand the mechanics. i mean i didn't really understand the maths behind, and what action will have which consequence. it also lacked a bit of visual feedbacks, because the main part of the screen (the population) remains completely still for the whole game. but it's nice to see that kind of game during a game jam, it's unusual and i like it!

jaker 2022-10-10 06:49

The theme is a little on-the-nose :pensive: The end message is quite fitting though :D

As for the gameplay, I agree with the others that there wasn't a lot of feedback to indicate why things turn out the way they do. It might help to have a way to show how the population feels about a particular candidate by hovering that candidate (e.g., each person would show a smile or frown depending on whether they like that candidate).

I didn't mind the simplistic graphics at all. In fact, I think they help in a game like this.

Also, the "every 10 seconds" theme didn't really seem to impact gameplay at all. It was more of an animation timer. I'm not sure how it could be better integrated into the game though.

Ultimately, the game was effective at making me think about IRL politics, so well done.

kohcepba 2022-10-10 10:46

@jaker I was trying to create such game that "every 10 seconds" would impact meta-gameplay, something outside the game itself, if that makes sense. Of course it is metaphorical and as you say on-the-nose, but that was my main goal. I've tried to make it without "next round" button at first, but it lost a lot of deepness. Time pressure is a good tool but not for a games like this, but I've tried to fit theme with "hate somebody new every 10 seconds".

I appreciate your comment about gameplay, UI and graphics and I agree more or less with all of them. I just didn't have enough time unfortunately.

Anyway, thank you for playing.

kohcepba 2022-10-10 10:49

@oozer thank you, and thank you for playing.

@amarokczukay thank you for playing and criticism. The irony is that population actually have a lot of information to show, every person have a 9 stats for hating, 6 stats for candidates and 6 stats for likeness of candidates. I just didn’t have enough time unfortunately.

fenrei 2022-10-10 21:24

neat concept, not much to add but i think your premise and ending both turned out very well. good stuff

fribolin 2022-10-11 10:11

I loved the idea of analyzing, what to pick. And I don't think it had actually any mechanics, but it was cool to see what other politicians voted for and then siding with them. If it isn't, please make that a mechanic. The ending really made me sad, but that's the point I guess. Great game, not much to say.

Except maybe change the colors of people. Green and Red is a bit hard to see for me ;)

gonzalol 2022-10-11 11:23

Awesome concept, I love the message you send here. Some thoughts: - As a metaphor, it's great, as a game it's a little bit repetitive - I will kill for my candidate, blue star in a wizard hat

kohcepba 2022-10-15 13:33

@fribolin oh, sorry. My bad. Totally forgot about existence of color-blind people.

There are some math and mechanics behind everything, but opponents make random moves. I've tried at first make them play optimal but it was almost impossible to win against. So yeah, they are dumb now.

Thank you for playing.