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A jam submission

Dr. HallervordenView game page

A roguelike about escaping from a mad scientist's lab
Submitted by irskep (@irskep) — 2 days, 13 hours before the deadline
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Dr. Hallervorden's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Roguelikeness#14.0004.000
Scope#183.0003.000
Aesthethics#203.5003.500
Fun#213.0003.000
Completeness#223.5003.500
Overall#263.2503.250
Innovation#612.5002.500

Ranked from 2 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

  • Great job getting all this done during the challenge. It is a solid game.

    It was a bit easy, although maybe not for a 7drl. The UI is great, other than a few minor niggles (eg S<tim> vs <I>nspect).

    I liked how well the game was themed. It felt like I was in an institution.

  • Dr. Hallervorden is a fun, technically well made game. It has good balance and a clean attractive interface.

    I love the different floors and how they each have a different theme and the generated levels do a good job of capturing that. I enjoy the flavor descriptions for the various rooms, it helps bring the game alive.

    Sometimes I feel like there's a bit too much going on in the combat system (which then bleeds into the interface). There are a lot of values and things to consider while fighting and a lot of the time it feels like it doesn't matter that much, because as long as you don't die you can just rest to full. And if things go sideways you usually have tons of healing and stim potions to get you out trouble. As a result the UI, while very clean and nicely presented, can feel a bit dense and overwhelming until you really learn what to look at and what to ignore.

    Overall, I'm impressed with the depth and polish of this game and think it is quite excellent!

Successful or Incomplete?

Success

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Comments

I wish there was a windows build so I could check this out! 

Developer

Not possible, unfortunately. I wrote this in Swift, which won't build on Windows for another year or two.

Developer

I left a sort of "submission statement" on my game's page. Pasting here for visibility:

My goal with 7DRL this year was to make a statement about a very small aspect of roguelikes: item placement. Most roguelikes just throw their items all over the floor as if the level generator were a messy teenager. I think that a more intentional level generator can both fuel the player's imagination, and give people environmental hints about level layout that feel helpful without also feeling cheap.

I'm not yet sure if the combat system really worked out, so please do tell me about your experience with it. I learned that total symmetry between enemies and players makes balance very difficult, because defeating a tough enemy can mean you immediately have all their awesome gear.

Highlights as I see them:

  • Five distinctly themed areas
  • Mini-kitchen-sink bestiary and item catalogue
  • Pleasing color scheme
  • Combat that is partly traditional, partly unique in roguelikes
  • Real effort spent on UI; no opaque systems