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Papercat Farms
Papercat Farms
By frank-gevaerts, balimaarthebassfish and Bizzybee
View on ldjam.com
| Category | Rank | Score | Count |
|
|---|
| Overall | 611 | 3.48 | 29 | |
| Fun | 643 | 3.27 | 29 | |
| Innovation | 882 | 2.83 | 29 | |
| Theme | 940 | 2.96 | 29 | |
| Graphics | 531 | 3.68 | 29 | |
| Audio | 435 | 3.34 | 28 | |
| Humor | 407 | 3.27 | 29 | |
| Mood | 355 | 3.74 | 29 | |
Comments
Behold the wheatpocalypse!
Screenshot 2024-10-07 170128.png
I starved to death my first playthrough (didn't realize that eating food was automatic, and I needed to keep unsold food in the barn).
The second playthrough, I realized how efficient it was to upgrade the tools. Made absolute bank off of all the wheat, and was able to last through the first year and upgrade everything to max after that.
Overall, it was a pretty chill farming game, and I enjoyed it. Great work!
@andrewkennedy Thanks for playing our game! I had a great time working on it.
Can I ask please what had you farm basically only wheat? was it a case of "lets do this" or something else?
Did seasonal pricing changes have an effect on any decisions you made?
When I realized that I could only plant wheat in Autumn, I decided to stock up at the end of Summer. I wasn't sure if the other crops would die when the seasons changed.
It seemed like the Catmint was the best bang for your buck, but I didn't have enough money to be able to plant it all.
Also, I forgot to mention this, but I really loved the art style. The hand-drawn look was really nice. I actually played most of the game zoomed in because I wanted to see all the details. Really well done!
@andrewkennedy Fair enough! We were considering implementing crop death as a feature, but we ran out of time we had defined earlier as the deadline for such things and decided to focus on refining what we had already created instead of adding new elements.
While Catmint is the most valuable crop overall, other crops can be just as profitable during their ideal seasons (each crop has a specific season and we even defined an ideal day for each one).
bizzybee
2024-10-08 01:53
@andrewkennedy Thank you! I'm by no means a professional artist but Bal keeps making me do the art anyways. All of that wheat is very amusing! Glad you had a good time.
Very charming! I love me a good farming sim. It took a while to figure out how to play, the mechanics weren't immediately obvious but I was able to figure it out. The art style is super charming and the game felt like it had a lot of depth that takes a bit to discover and explore. Overall very cool entry.
wesel
2024-10-08 03:23
All together a pretty fun game! I like how yall incorporated the cat sounds into the audio.
@bizzybee Thanks so much for all your hard work! Trust me, no one wants to see what happens when I try to draw—so I guess you're stuck with the art duties for a reason! 😂
@david-york Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I totally agree that the mechanics weren’t super clear at first—something we’ll definitely improve in future LDs—but I’m happy to hear that it was still intuitive enough to figure out through a bit of trial and error. And I’m thrilled you liked the art style - our Biz is more talented than she realises! We tried to pack as much depth as we could into the game, so it’s awesome to hear you felt that. 😊 Thanks again for the great feedback!
@wesel Thank you for playing! We had a blast making it <3
kanity
2024-10-08 17:57
That's very cute! I love the cat and the idea, quite cozy. The art looks hand-made and so more endearing, and the only complaint I have is audio as yes meowing is cute but when I listen to it for some time... I had to mute the site because it becomes too much ^^' Love the purring my kitty does tho!
Didn't expect to see a farming game on the jam as I feel like it requires a lot, but you got the main mechanic done, and it works great. I think with some polishing and additions it could become a neat little farming game ^v^
Such a cute game! I'll give 4.5/5
@kanity Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the cozy vibes and found the art endearing—that really means a lot!
I totally hear you on the meowing! It’s adorable at first, but I can see how it could get a bit much after a while. I’ll definitely look into balancing the audio to make it more enjoyable long-term. Purring kitties are the best, though, right? 🐱💖
I’m really happy to hear that the core mechanic worked well for you. I was a bit nervous about tackling a farming game in the jam for exactly that reason—it can be a lot to take on! But hearing your feedback gives me so much motivation. I’m definitely planning on continuing work on this, and I’d love to know what kind of polishing or additions you’d like to see! Any suggestions you have will help me make it the best cozy farming experience it can be.
@zoupeiyan Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it, and we really appreciate the 4.5/5!
coke
2024-10-09 08:22
Very cute farming game! That's good on keep the balance between planting and harvest. At start I can't plant wheat, but my first run only bought wheat seeds so I have to restart. But when summer comes, I realized one seed can't be plant on one season.
@coke Oops! We thought the greyed-out box would help avoid that, but we see how it could be clearer. Do you have any suggestions on how we could improve that?
We're so happy you enjoyed the game, and we really appreciate you playing!
coke
2024-10-09 09:43
@balimaarthebassfish I think that will be a reason for player knows why they can't do something, pop some text just like "this season can't plant wheat" is okay
Amazing game I really like how the farming system works and how cute it is. It takes me back to old farming games I has a blast learning how the game works and going through it. I didnt see that there where seasons so I thought that was really cool. I also loved the cat and how it walked that made me laugh which was really nice. Over all amazing game keep it up
@thefruckets Thank you so much for your kind words! It was a big challenge making this and I for one am glad we took it on. Did the price variations of the crops between seasons influence your decisions? Were the different crop yields between seasons noticeable?
@coke yes, it's obviously not clear right now, it's the single biggest thing people are having trouble with... The description on this page says "Wheat can be planted in summer and autumn, berries can be planted in spring and winter, catmint can be planted in spring and summer" but it's fairly far down in the text, and even if you do read it it's a bit hard to understand what it *means* before you've tried the game.
@balimaarthebassfish maybe for now we can edit the description to make that more prominent?
I don't think this counts as a game-breaking bug that would allow a full bugfix release. We can of course make a post-jam release that addresses this, but that still leaves people who prefer playing the original out (I'll admit I tend to be one of those) so I think a description update is pretty much necessary
Description updated with a tip from the dev team :)
mavvy
2024-10-10 00:31
I love this charming papercraft farm world. It says something to Papercat's design that I stuck around for a while, normally when it comes to farming games, I grow impatient and run out of resources quickly but the game will outright tell you when it's a good idea to get stuff sold before harvesting and when you need to get harvesting soon. I eventually got a rhythm and got really into it. Like others, it took a minute for me to get that certain crops are seasonal, I figured that out by summer.
It's a very chilled out experience that I can get into. :smile:
You've made a very nice, chill, game with a lovely art style. I would have appreciated a faster plant method but it was a cool experience. Great job!
@mavvy Thank you so much for your kind words! It’s amazing to hear that you enjoyed the papercraft world and that the game kept you engaged. We really wanted to create a balanced farming experience that doesn’t overwhelm but still feels rewarding, so we’re thrilled to hear that you found your rhythm and got into it! 😊 Figuring out the seasonal crops is definitely part of the journey, and we’re glad you stuck with it! Your feedback means the world to us. 💖
@bangkerpow Thank you so much for the love! We’re so happy to hear you liked the art style and found the game chill to play. We totally get what you mean about wanting a faster planting method – that’s a fantastic idea! 🌾 We’ve been thinking about ways to streamline the process, and an upgrade for Leo to plant in a 3x3 pattern like the hoe upgrade would definitely be a fun and useful addition - what do you think? Thanks again for playing and sharing your thoughts!
Such a charming and cozy farming game! I loved how the cat character and papercraft world gave everything a laid-back vibe, and the crop-growing mechanics were simple but engaging. The only downside was that planting felt a bit slow, which broke the flow at times. Adding a faster planting method or a 3x3 upgrade would make this even more enjoyable!
As I said, a slightly faster action experience would be perfect. The very chill atmosphere makes the game enjoyable
It's a nice game, well played!
@stormburpee Thanks so much! We're really happy the cozy, papercraft world and the cat character worked for you—that laid-back vibe was exactly what we were aiming for. Cheers for your feedback!
@pierre-marie We’re glad the chill atmosphere came through—it’s awesome to hear that the laid-back feel resonated with you!! Thanks for playing!
@bangkerpow @stormburpee I'll take full responsibility for there being no planting upgrades.
My reasoning for no 3x3 planting was that it is the one farming action that uses resources (the seeds), so I felt that I couldn't add an upgrade there without also having a mechanism to still plant 1x1 and I didn't want the extra UI complexity (and time spent on building that complexity). In hindsight I'm not sure that that reasoning wa correct. And then, to make things worse, I somehow forgot that even if that reasoning would be valid, it does not apply at all to *speed* upgrades...
Sorry about that!
tudvari
2024-10-10 15:09
Awesome game, I got really addicted to it, and at first it was strange, that wheat was greyed out (because I didn't read description, only the ingame one ^^), but once I saw on the UI that there are seasons, I immediately realised why it was greyed out. :)) I like nummbers going up, so with first try I starved to death because I just... forgot to care about that :smile: After that fail I tried to see where I could eat or something, but I guess based on my berry count, it just goes down by 1 every day? If so, I think it could take a bit more food/day.
The thing that stopped me from playing more was that even though I can speed up nearly all the stages of farming, I can't speed up planting. And planting all that seed, slowly, one by one... is a bit tedious :smile: I think it would be okay if you would add that as a post jam addition. Other than this, cool game, nice job! :)
Nice little game you have here :) It's very chill and the moewing in the music is really fun. The progression feels rewarding, it's really a good feeling when you click on a tile and a big area is affected by whatever tool you're using. I had some trouble initially since I did not find the store immediatly, maybe having it closer to the barn would help? I would also add some ui feedback on what you're interacting with (a visual cue, maybe descriptions), it would help a lot. In any case, I enjoyed my experience playing you're game!
Great game! Very fun, has a great feel and has great gameplay! Very well done!
A cute little farming sim, though I wish I could upgrade how much I could plant at once as well! :D It took a little bit to understand how it worked through play. I had to check the instructions to see what I Was doing wrong.
The art and music set a cute and comfy vibe.
The only thing I missed was, as I said above, a way to spread the seeds in a larger area, and perhaps other purchase options that reach towards an end game. (If there *is* a victory condition, I didn't farm for long enough.)
Nice work!
@tudvari Thanks for playing! We'll definitely consider a post-jam release I think :) Food eating is not really explained or very obvious at all (and arguably not designed very well), and it's a bit messy, but every day the RNG decides whether to take some and how much (up to 2 per crop). If you have *no* food when it wants food that's bad, but if you happen to just not have the specific crop the RNG wants you lose nothing. The first season is exempt so you can get started.
@judith-hantisse I agree, more UI feedback would be really nice to have, as well as some tutorial-like features like pointing out where the store is. We went back and forth a bit on the exact location of the store and eventually decided to have it on the opposite side of the barn to differentiate it (even though the barn building itself doesn't do anything on the map). Thanks for playing!
@martingonn Thanks for playing, glad you liked it!
@flaterectomy There's no victory condition. When we were brainstorming at the start we did consider having something like how much you achieved after some set time has elapsed or how long it took you to earn a specific amount, but later on we kind of forgot about that entirely. And yes, I regret not having sowing upgrades more with every comment I read :) Thanks for playing!
A really nice and cosy entry. Loved the audio, gave me a good chuckle hearing the cat meowing in the background, fit very nicely with the theme. Overall the game felt well put together and the upgrade system was pretty nice to use. Planting seeds was the one thing I was disappointing I couldn't upgrade, but the other upgrades made up for that. I didn't really understand the hunger systems, I read some comments and people say you can die from it? Feels a bit unnecessary. Maybe replacing that with something like feeding a town for more points or something? Art style works well for what you were going for. Maybe a few extra animations would be nice. Overall great job.
@sharky3188 Cheers for the kind words. Admittedly the hunger mechanic was a bit rushed and not brilliantly planned. Essentially, as it stands right now there is a random chance every day that Leo (and the mice!) eat some of the crops. If you have no food 5 days in a row, the game ends.
I'll take responsibility for that one. The hunger mechanic was my doing and was implemented because I felt the game was a little too straight forward and easy.
Our usual music artist was pulling double duty this time around with doing the graphics as well, wed have loved to put in more animations but the time crunch was real :)
Thank you so much for your time and your feedback!
A very cute farm simulation game, with very fresh and cute graphics. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment from planting crops and eventually harvesting them
@aegisfate Thank you! Glad that the gameplay loop felt satisfying <3
Very relaxing game with the paper art and a relaxing quiet background tune. I realized eventually that certain crops can only be planted in certain areas. I'd mention that when I moved up to berries, my profits skyrocketed. lol. I just wish there was an upgrade to plant more seeds at a time. The hunger wasn't quite obvious, although it told you food is low, I initially assumed you could make food from wheat or something, but apparently not. Its simple and effective. Nice game!
@skyystorm Depending on the season certain crops increase in price. I think we have in the code specific day for the price to peak and from there it trails off down to its base price.
As my fellow programmer fgeva said, the whole question about upgrading planting caused some hesitation as we saw that there were cases where people might want to only plant a single square for a moment and then switch to the 3x3 upgrade (and vice versa). It was a a choice we made to not do this but we could have probably implemented a skill upgrade like with the sickle and decrease the cooldown between plantings at higher levels.
lyamgtt
2024-10-11 13:15
Looks absolutely adorable !!
It's a nice & relaxing survival game :) Although I managed to survive for some time, I must admit the paper cat hasn't been fed very well :( Perhaps I was too greedy and sold it all or maybe I didn't get what food it eats. I suppose the one in a barn si I tried to leave always something there but maybe not every time... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, it was a nice paper world experience :) I'd use some automatization drones for seeding or watering because I'm too lazy to do it all by myself. But that's what proper farmers do, I guess :)
@lyamgtt thanks for playing!
@jiri-hysek Drones will be in the sequel :) The eating mechanic is a bit rough and not explained very well (which is in part because it is a bit rough and messy...) so that's on us. Thanks for playing!
Very cozy and soothing entry! And so cute!! For your records, here's my playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8xlDpyVWJo
Thanks again for playing @philstrahl ! That was fun to watch :)
I was surprised how complicated the selling/buying/shop stuff was in its effects in the game. Way to keep it fresh. The graphics were right-on. :D
Thanks for playing @commanderstitch! I'll have to admit that we got lucky with how well that worked out :)