Play game
The Sun is Dead's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Setting (or Location) | #5 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
| Overall | #17 | 3.417 | 3.417 |
| Story (or Starting Scenario) | #19 | 3.583 | 3.583 |
| Use of Theme | #33 | 3.417 | 3.417 |
| Mechanics | #52 | 2.833 | 2.833 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
I like the setting of your game.
In story games like this, success with complication is what drives the story forward. Yet there's only 1 in 20 chance for it to happen (and even worse when light level is above 20).
This is hilarious! I love the idea and the setting and story. Oh, man.
Mechanically a little skewed, but you know what, Rule of Fun! Talk about A Bug's Life! Ha! Love it.
I really like the premise, theme, and scenario, but mechanically I would've liked some insight on what exactly can be done by each player on their turn. Single-DC mechanics usually only work when there's a GM to rule out the stupid actions, like "Win the game." While you may have players more into this sort of thing, not having any difficulty gradient is just a bit unfortunate. It's also quite unclear who assigns the complications should they arise. I would have preferred to see the inactive players involved more in that judgment, seeing as it would kill two birds (inactivity and lack of human guidance) with one stone. Still a very innovative concept.
Thank you for the feedback Salus!
I understand your concern regarding the mechanics, and indeed it's not a game for everyone. I would hope that nobody willing to play this sort of game would go for a cheap "Win the game" or similar situation, but I suppose it's possible someone would say that. You could play the game either with or without a GM. If one is present, it's easy to have the GM describe the current scene, and the players go from there; the GM could also assign the complications. This is what I had in mind when creating the game, though not specifically mentioned.
If there's no GM, the remaining players would have control over the scene and complications. Either the previous or following player, or even one randomly assigned every turn, could act as a temporary GM to determine what goes on. All of them together could work too, but that might be too chaotic. As you mentioned, this would indeed help with the inactivity of other players, though I expect there to be quite a bit of chatter even out of turn.
Lastly, the difficulty is set so that it becomes more complicated to do any sort of action the closer you are to the end (the less Light there is, the more difficult it is to do anything), with a bit of help around the middle of the game to help you beta a complicated scene and move the game along. Though I believe you might be referring to the difficulty of different kinds of actions; there is indeed no difference depending on the kind of action you want to do. In this sense it is similar to the game Dread, where it just gets more and more complicated no matter what you want to do, to make it more thrilling by the end.
Thanks again for the feedback, and I hope I could clarify a bit of my reasoning behind the mechanics. Perhaps I'll tweak and improve it after the voting finishes, there's definitely more information that could be added removing the 200 word limit.
Cheers!
Thanks for the reply! Always nice to get a real dissection like this.
I see your reasoning with the whole sans-difficulty-gradient thing. For me, I guess those games just aren't my cup of raspberry chai (I didn't like Dread much, more of an OSR person and less of a storygames person generally) but to each their own.
If you did ever expand this, I'd love to hear more about how exactly playing a cell works, and what sorts of things are inside.
Completely agree with jcarrwalker. I specially dig the setting, it sets the mood in a way that makes you think everyone's gonna be laughing and having a great time. I'll try to run it in the weekend and see if my players like it!
Glad to hear that!
If you manage to play I'd really appreciate it if you could report back, I hope you have fun!
The idea of players being part of the same thing yet having independent control sets this apart, and the success/failure of the rolls depending on the environment is fantastic. With a creative GM, this could be so much fun to play.
Thank you for the kind words!
I hope it makes its way to a few tables and some people have fun with it.