Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD52 → Apothecary
By benskca
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 129 | 3.57 | 23 | |
| Fun | 212 | 3.19 | 23 | |
| Innovation | 185 | 3.23 | 23 | |
| Theme | 76 | 4.07 | 23 | |
| Graphics | 137 | 3.65 | 24 | |
| Humor | 167 | 2.69 | 20 | |
| Mood | 63 | 3.81 | 23 |
Very rich game, but I could'nt find how and in what order to use the different tools and cauldron, there is just too many things in the workshop, I coul'nt even name everything on the shelves. I think this type of games needs a proper tutorial so the player can get hook to it (at least me TT). Impressive work anyway !
@horda Thanks for playing, and sorry if the first puzzle was too hard of an introduction! I'm going to add some visual feedback to interacting with the cauldron after the jam ends, I can see how it could be confusing
This is a great concept! You mentioned already that some extra visual feedback on interactions would help and I agree. I was able to create a thing though!
Cool concept and well executed. I think that there were a fer too may tools for the number of recipes, I would have preferred to reuse concepts rather then have every recipe that I got call for completely different steps. Looking at the book I also never was requested to make the most complex cures, so that may have been part of it. As was mentioned in another comment the cauldron was difficult to use; it was unclear when it had things in it and what those things were, leading to a couple of unexplained handfuls of ash(goop?) that I first thought was the result I was after. The background music is good and sells the chill vibes of the game, and all of the art is great. Overall a very cool concept, great job!
This game was tough to start, but really fun when I got the hang of it! It would be awesome to have some form of score in an unlimited mode. Another thing I think you should add is the ability to give customers the wrong thing. Still, the game was really fun!
Interesting game. The music and art create a great atmosphere.
I think some labels/tooltips on the items would be really helpful. For example, I had to look up what echinacea looks like 😅
I also couldn't figure out how to actually light the cauldron to heat the tea. Cute game and art though!
Lovely game, researching what things are and what to do through the book was satisfying. Nice to see all original art. Glad to hear you're adding some more feedback to interactions too.
@paulstraw adding some pop-up labels is a really good idea, I like having the ingredients unlabelled so you have to do research from the book but having the word "boil" or "crush" pop up on the cauldron or bowl would be really helpful, thanks!
Great atmosphere, music, and art in this one! I really like having the reference book that you can flip through at any time. This is the only potion/medicine crafting game that I've seen that has that. If you add more features to the post-jam version, it would also be really cool to be able to write your own custom notes in the book as you discover new recipes and details about things you've grown or crafted!
As a creator of [Potion Craft](https://www.potioncraft.com/) I can say that I really like the main idea and the alchemy vibes! I like art even though it's pretty simple in terms of style (still sets the right mood and very enjoyable).
As for UX and UI – it needs a lot of polishing, since the game has a very high entry threshold – since there was no tutorial, and there's a lot of stuff going on, I couldn't heal even my first customer (although I tried). Book controls and all the alchemy is not something I could do right away :( Probably adding a Walkthrough YouTube Video could help a lot.
Anyway still very impressive for game in 48 hours and I still like the vibes a lot!
Also, I noticed that you used existing music ("One Bard Band by Alexander Nakarada") – I'm not sure, but I think it's not allowed by the [rules](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/rules) of The Compo: > Your game, all your content (i.e. Art, Music, Sound, etc) must be created in 48 hours.
So you probably had to go for The Jam or remove music. I'm not sure, but I thought that you should know.
@danmerey thanks for the feedback! I always thought you were allowed to opt-out of categories in the compo like in the jam but you're right that's not what it says, I'll upload a version without music asap :)
I agree there's a lot of UX work to be done, the cauldron seems to be a sticking point for a lot of people so that's the first thing on the list to update post-jam.
Very cool game! Even though there wasn't much external challenge, the recipes are involved enough to be challenging anyways. More feedback from stuff like putting ingredients in the cauldron would go a long way.
Oooooh, I thought the gray outcome of wrong combination was charcoal. I thought I was picking it up under the cauldron and couldn't proceed for some time. :see_no_evil: So some interaction feedback (prompts over objects, particles for cauldron fire etc.) would help a lot. Also simple doodles-diagrams of the recipes would fit to the overall style.
After figuring out that cauldron part I enjoyed the game. Graphics are clear and cute. This is a lovely game for compo.
Nice game. The snail medicine was the best.
Great entry! At first I was confused because I kept putting water in before the flower and it didn't seem to work (very thankful you included the are you stuck instructions :sweat_smile: ). Overall I really enjoyed this, keep on making games!
LD 52 SC.JPG
Great game! Lovely to look at and I think the game loop is really solid. Seeing what a customer needs, using the plant ID part of the book to get the right ingredients then using the recipes to make the right medicine felt super satisfying!
Love games like this, I love how you incorporated the concept of harvesting but put a unique spin on it! It did take a little bit to figure out the order of making things in the cauldron but the description under the game really helped. Very fun!