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A jam submission

Bitter BoundariesView game page

A small real-time strategy game where the main goal is to own every tile of the map.
Submitted by bencelaszlo — 4 days, 48 minutes before the deadline
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Bitter Boundaries's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Innovation#343.5003.500
Overall#583.1253.125
Gameplay#822.7502.750
Theme interpretation#972.6252.625
Graphics#1232.5002.500
Audio#1421.7501.750

Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

GitHub repository URL
https://github.com/bencelaszlo/bitter-boundaries

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

Nice game, at the begining it was quite hard to understand, I finished but still I think I don't fully understand it but it was fun. Also the white number are too hard to read on a bright background.
+1 for rust and +1 for a linux build!

Developer

Thank you very much!

I will improve the UI and the UX next year.

Submitted(+1)

I think some small variations on this idea could make it pretty fun. There's some good concepts hiding in there:

  • The way that you need to fortify your border to protect yourself from being taken over, but this is less efficient economically than fortifying your interior.
  • Since defense is so much stronger than offense, when you attack a territory you need to have enough resources to take it completely--otherwise, your opponent can quickly fortify it back up again after.

Maybe this would be better if it were turn based, and if the computer played a little bit better. As it is, the computer is too dumb so the optimal strategy against it is very boring.

Developer

Thank you for sharing these ideas, I will surely implement a better computer player.

Submitted(+1)

Hmmmm…. there seems to be no possibility for strategy here besides “store up a bunch of money and take a tile”.

I really wanted to like this, but in the end it was too easy, and took too long.

Also experienced the windows build problems described below. :(

Great application of the theme though!

Developer

Thank you for telling me the details of your experience.

I will continue the development of this game after the jam, and I will certainly work on the strategical options you have.

Submitted(+1)

I would be great to have some instructions on how to play, I definitely found it a little confusing at first. It's kind of addictive after a while, I played for longer than I thought I would :)

Developer

Thanks!

I'm actually going to add instructions or a little tutorial, I haven't decided it yet.

Submitted(+1)

Hi, I played the game and this is my review. I like the idea, I haven't seen anything of the sort in this jam or in general. I guess it's kinda like playing chess against a really defensive AI? The game is not bad at all. But the UI needs some work and so do the graphics, and it's nothing too major I just don't like how the exit button says "Exit to Linux" on a windows build. And I don't know why but only 1/3 of the screen is being occupied by the game itself the rest is just blank, which i do think reduces gameplay quality. I recommend making the AI more aggressive and adding more strategy to the game. One way is to add some sort of resource gathering tile like a bank or something. I like the tower defense mechanics too, each tile can be upgraded and while I know that's not unique to just TD games it just reminded me of it.  Anyway, I also would recommend a sort of "how to play" screen just so i know what is going on. All and all i'd say this is not a bad game at all but needs more variation and polish, like sound or music and letting the player know how much upgrading a tile costs, small things like that are the real reason games play well. Nice try anyways, good job.

Submitted(+1)

Oh I tried your game on Windows, but unfortunately town doesn't spread to other cards when you got adventage there. It's probably problem with a build, but I get the concept especially from looking at pictures and upgrading my cards to big town. 

It's a nice idea and I like the fact that you made so many variations of the cards. If you add a bit more clearer UI, like numbers that are bigger and a bit more visible (also with some explanation what they mean) it would be a fun game :) Good job

Submitted(+1)

I finished it, was fun to see how far I could go (went up to Big Town for funsies) but it took me a really long time to understand what all the numbers meant.

Developer

Thanks for sharing your experience. You are right, I will definitely add some labels to that numbers.

Submitted

I unzipped and there was no exe :(

Developer

Sorry for that. I uploaded a Windows build, created today from the exact same source as the Linux build. If you are still interested in, I would recommend to give it another try.