FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD55 → Summoning Detective

Summoning Detective

By hamsel

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall1094.0924
Fun2353.8424
Innovation14.5924
Theme694.3624
Graphics7363.5025
Humor3313.4721
Mood3873.7823

Comments

locksmitharmy 2024-04-15 14:29

Wow, I love tabletop games!!! Did not expect to see that, great job :)

pe7e 2024-04-15 14:31

How a nice setting can make rolling a few dice fun. Nice game!

wwwan 2024-04-15 18:12

I can't believe it's a board game. It's amazing.

hamsel 2024-04-16 06:29

Thanks for your comments @pe7e @wwwan @locksmitharmy ! I wasn't sure how a non-video game entry would be received or if people would check it out. Thank you for trying it out!

jacob-diaz 2024-04-16 14:13

I love to see a board game on here! Great work!

sarafilipa 2024-04-17 13:14

Ohhhhh I LOVE the idea, I will definitely play this one, not the kind of game you'd expect in a game jam and that's a good thing!

magalix 2024-04-17 13:20

I'd never have thought that a gamejam could also involve a non-video game! It's very original and unexpected, well done!

drgcandle 2024-04-17 13:34

Oh my gosh, I never imagined I'd come across such a hardcore "board game" at a Game Jam, and it's incredibly fun to boot! (The best part is, it's not like other games that require me to have friends—since they're all stuck in endless overtime, sigh.)77BC981EF08D23AE59886A68196ED616.gif

hammerer 2024-04-17 13:39

It's a good idea! I love it! It's a pity you couldn't program it :)

framboisedodue 2024-04-17 13:50

Great idea, very original and fun ! So cool to see board games here !

littlegamer 2024-04-17 13:55

Did I count the poitns correctly ? Also, what to do with stored dices ? They are out of the game after ? I started storing dices on my last throws, trying to get plants and hearts. Worked for the hearts, not the plant... Little_1.png Almost had that perfect circle. Really nice idea !

hamsel 2024-04-17 14:06

@magalix Yes, I made sure to have a solo mode. I'm often in the same situation! :sweat_smile:

@hammerer I knew from the outset I wasnt going to have the time, but hoping for some coding next jam!

hamsel 2024-04-17 14:16

@littlegamer after rolling each round you can choose to use the dice you have saved, but they are stuck in your workspace unless you decide to use them. I found that was generally my strategy too, using the workspace at then end for a couple extra rolls with less dice.

Thanks for sharing your playthrough! Score looks like 48 to me. - 18 points for strings of reagents (1x1 point, 4x3 points, 1x5 points) - 10 points for inside star is same - 10 for star points are different - 10 for scoring the heart item in the star (5*2)

I would have liked a little more time to make scoring clearer, but such is life!

rob6566 2024-04-18 09:49

Great to see a board game!

Just tried it out. If I interpreted the rules correctly, I think I got 38: - 20 for same symbols on outer & inner points of star - 10 for 5 sets of 🟫🔵🟢 - 5 for string of 4 🔵 - 2 for 2x string of 2 🟫 - 1 for string of 2 🟢

roll_n_write.png

I liked this a lot! It had quite a few interesting decisions. I thought it was a bit unfair that you didn't get any bonus scoring if you rolled a 1🟫 at the start (maybe this could be an introductory variant that you opt in to?). Storing a dice also didn't feel great, as it reduced my available dice until I used it. Perhaps there could be a way to "release" a dice from storage without spending it (eg: playing a reagent between two identical reagents).

Nice work submitting a board game - would be great to see more!

hamsel 2024-04-18 12:39

@rob6566 Thanks for playing and sharing your play! Yes, when I was thinking about scoring (and not giving a bonus to a 1 type item) I was thinking there would be a bit more to the regular scoring, but in there end there wasnt too much to that, so it became less interesting. I was certainly scrambling for time at the end and could have done a bit more play testing and adjusting of rules!

Unfortunatly, it looks like you messed up one scoring rule (points of star should unique) so thats -10 points. Don't feel too bad though.. The game in my screen shot I was summoning item type 3 but I placed reagents according to scoring for item type 2. Gah!

byazzle 2024-04-19 13:17

Cool to see a board game on here, and I'm a sucker for a good roll n write! The layout of your print n play was very aesthetic. I played a bunch of games with my girlfriend and we enjoyed it! My feedback would be that it needs a tiny bit more friction in placing the items. Maybe being forced to use more dice or something as I found it realtively easy to execute the plan in my mind. I also found myself just using the workspace for the final few turns sort of as a 'reroll' mechanic. Regardless of my criticism, it was an excellent entry, and cool to see something a bit different!

wolfandwolf 2024-04-25 15:13

I AM GOING TO PLAY THIS TONIGGGHT I AM SO EXCITED! This is amazing, I will leave the rest of my ratings later, but your innovation is already 10 out of 10 (5 out of 5)

hamsel 2024-04-27 05:02

@wolfandwolf Did you get back to it? How did you enjoy the game? Thanks for checking it out!

AH! Just need two more votes to get scored!!!!

letterafterz 2024-04-27 07:46

Love it mate, well done

monika 2024-04-28 01:28

Nice and meditative, good work :)

One thing that felt a bit like a layout issue more than anything else is that when you're reading it for the first time, the "how to play" section doesn't make much sense until after you read the "scoring" section, because you have no frame of reference for when you might want to pick specific dice or save some for later and why. The way to play this to get a good score is to understand the scoring and what a good result looks like, and then work through how to get it with the instructions. So while it may seem weird in general to put scoring first and then how to play, it would make sense in this instance. Or maybe add a "goal" section with an in-universe explanation of what a good summon looks like above the instructions, and keep the more straightforward scoring section where it is?

Overall, solid work. It took a couple reads to click but that's common with pen and paper games and we are all spoiled by tutorialized video games :)

(Sorry for the late comment. I started writing it a few days ago and then got distracted and have way too many tabs open.)

krummsakura 2024-04-28 14:13

It's a quite refreshing experience to play a pen-and-paper game which is quite nice to see in Ludum Dare. I took a few re-reads to grasp the rules but the game was great. Excellent job!

andriybyelikov 2024-04-29 11:36

I have never seen a tabletop game in the event. That's very interesting! The rules are a bit confusing, though, I hope I got this right.

tabletopgame.png

hamsel 2024-04-29 12:46

@monika @andriybyelikov @krummsakura

Yes, I agree the rules need a bit of work! As I got close to done with typing up the rules for the game, I realised I needed to make some changes. Unfortunatly, by creating it in Microsoft Word, all the design was "hard coded" and I just didn't have the time to redo that, so I ran out of space for more or clarified rules! :sweat_smile:

If I do another print and play like this in future, I'll be thinking about which software I use a little more carefully. :eyeglasses:

cataclysmicknight 2024-05-05 15:23

I was pointed here by a post @monika wrote, and I'm looking forward to trying the game even though it's too late to rate it, but OMG you were FIRST PLACE in innovation?!?!?! That's so incredible! And 109th overall!!!! You nearly broke into the top 100 (and you were way into the top 10%) with an analog tabletop game, that's incredible!!!! I'm an analog tabletop creator too and this is so motivating and awesome!

hamsel 2024-05-06 12:16

@cataclysmicknight Thanks for the comment! I think a lot of people were pleasantly surprised to find a game that wasn't digital and that why I got a great score for innovation.

During the whole process, I was mindful of the fact that most people wouldn't play much beyond html5 games in their browser while rating, so I did my best to make it as accessible as possible to all from the start. I did mess up getting the rules presented in such a way as to be easy to understand and play though. I think that would be my focus for next time.

cataclysmicknight 2024-09-09 19:57

@hamsel I had this issue with like every game I make. I go into Ludum Dare like "okay THIS TIME I'm making a super simple game everyone can learn the rules to in 5 mins" and then make something super elaborate with a 20-page rulebook (okay not 20 pages but still).

I love that you managed to pull off your goal (or at least came very close; I was able to figure the rules out and it seems like lots of others did too!) and I look forward to what you make in a few weeks if you take part in LD56!