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A jam submission

Gambler's CurseView game page

Test your luck and escape from debtors' prison!
Submitted by Aaron Harman — 16 hours, 20 minutes before the deadline
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Gambler's Curse's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Creativity#8293.6003.600
Overall#13223.3073.307
Enjoyment#15833.0403.040
Presentation#17073.2803.280

Ranked from 25 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
Every so many turns, all the enemies will change into a different random enemy. There are six enemies each can become, represented by the sides of a die.

Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?

Yes

We created the vast majority of the art during the game jam

Did your team create the vast majority of the music during the 48 hours?

Yes

We created the vast majority of the music during the game jam

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Comments

I'm very sorry I couldn't play this. I'm on a mac :(
ik ik .... 

Submitted(+1)

very cool concept!
i really like how the mechanic is introduced to you by requiring the enemy next to you to open your door
speaking of that, it's very cool that enemies are even able to do that
good idea with introducing more enemies in further levels btw
seeing all of them at once could've caused a massive headache.
it's sad that there was music in the menu but not during the gameplay, would've made it more enjoyable
the art imo was nice, not breathtaking, not horrible
i feel like you could've improved your art by downloading a small colour palette and using it for your sprites.
definitely good choice to make the floor a checkerboard though
it really made it apparent whether the snake/shrimp was able to get me or not.
good job!

Developer

Funnily enough, I actually did use a color palette. I think because the palette was a bit bigger, and I only used 2 colors per sprite, the visuals still didn't get the coherency that a palette usually helps with. I also would have liked to have included music in the levels, but I feared that it might cover up being able to hear a switch being pressed off-screen, and that wasn't a problem I expected to have the time to find a solution for. If/When I continue development, I'll have to see if that does become an issue with level music, and maybe implement some sort of visual indicator to make up for it.

Thanks for your feedback!

Submitted(+1)

I like the use of the theme to change the enemy types, and understanding the way they move is a nice challenge. I would be interested how it would play if some enemies had movement tied to the player so the rolls would be random but the gameplay would be even more strategic

I would say the movement feels a bit stuttery at the moment, I wonder if you could buffer the press like Coyote time to make it feel smoother. Otherwise nicely done!

Submitted(+1)

nice idea. i liked game design

Submitted

Nice idea, but it felt a bit standard for me, and also too random. There are not much for the player to predict. The movement is a bit slow, takes a lot of time to get from a to b.

I hope my feedback helped, check out my game below vvv!

Submitted(+1)

It’s a simple and fun idea! learning how different enemies move is quite enjoyable. Maybe the feeling of moving around could be tuned a bit? (now it feels a bit laggy).

That’s an interesting game. GJ!

Submitted(+1)

Nice simple, but elegant take on the theme. I especially enjoyed learning the different enemies’ movement patterns. Very well done!

Submitted(+1)

I enjoyed that despite the random chance, it was somewhat predictable. The root monster chases you, the ear moves diagonally, the guards and bugs move in straight lines, etc. It was fun learning how to adapt and outmaneuver whatever is thrown at you. Good game.

Developer(+1)

It's funny that you call it an ear. It's supposed to be a snake, but now that you mention it definitely does kinda look like an ear. Glad you had fun with it!

Submitted(+1)

Fun game! I enjoyed having the enemies randomly change, it was a good use of the dice mechanic and helped the game to always stay engaging as at any moment plans could change. I did have an issue with level 1 where I couldn't make it out of the first room. I think the enemy was supposed to hit the button for me but never did. Overall well polished and enjoyable!

Submitted(+1)

Fun concept!  It reminds me of Crypt of the Necrodancer, but with some amount of risk/chance involved in moving past the enemies 

Submitted(+1)

Props for including a Linux build, haha. I like the true roguelike influence with the turn based grid movement. A little more variety in the enemy movements would have been good!

Developer (1 edit)

If/When I expand on this, I'd certainly add some more different enemies. I focused on six for the jam to keep the scope manageable. You'll notice the selection in the last level has each enemy's colors match up with the side of the die they correspond with.

Plus I'm glad you could get some use out of the Linux build! I just included it because I developed it on Linux, so I had it around anyway.

Submitted(+1)

Looks really cool :D I'm on Mac so I can't play, but I wish I could...

Developer

Darn. I was considering posting a Mac build, but I had no way to test that it would actually run :( Sorry!

Submitted(+1)

I like this game. I think it's very creative!

Submitted(+2)

Amazing game, fun concept and very puzzlely, I just wish the enemies behavior were explained beforehand

Submitted(+1)

The enemy's were cool and while they each had their own cool abilities it was tricky to decipher the pattern. perhaps had the enemy's responded directly to the direction you moved in it might felt better. additionally the level design felt long and tedious. Perhaps making the player just a tad faster would've helped? Otherwise though the game was great! I really liked the art and how the enemy's changed from scene to scene and overall this game was great!

Submitted(+1)

and for however harsh I was in this comment I just wanna say your game is extremely fun and these are mostly nitpicks for what is a very good game!

Developer

I had considered making the player faster, but with the way I had implemented things I wasn't able to in the time limit. Both the player and the enemies have to wait for the other's animation to finish before they can begin moving, and making the animations too much faster than they currently are would have made it harder to see how the enemies were moving. Thanks for your input! :)

Submitted(+1)

Not too bad! I like how each enemy has different ways of moving around :)

Submitted(+1)

Yay, I did it!

Those later levels really add to the "gamble" feel. For 5 and 6, I was just hoping for good enemy rerolls to get through. Getting a bunch of root enemies is just awful. Haha

Fun little game! I'd absolutely play more levels. :)