Play mod
RootJam 2025 - Sun's Kaleidoscope's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity/Uniqueness | #1 | 4.714 | 4.714 |
| Clarity of Rules/Mechanics | #3 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
| Use of This Year's Theme | #26 | 2.571 | 2.571 |
Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Includes Law of Root?
No
Includes PnP?
Yes
Includes TTS files?
1
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Comments
I am utterly in awe by this one, great job in how much this faction packs, how very unique and innovative they seem. Such a variety of things going on there in a super-strealined and easy-to-understand way, despite the crowded board. Fascinating how you managed to integrate all that, really well done.
Theme, narrative and lore are very intriguing and go well with the gameplay, it all gives them a lot of depth.
I like how suits are used differently than they usually are and the little agency/push-your-luck element when determining next turn's weather and the way different weather conditions make different actions stronger and weaker, so you need to make do with what you have and find a way to utilize the actions that are stronger at the moment or else suffer.
Very cool artwork as well! (Even the variation on the 'Daylight' bar is a nice touch.)
Overall, your entry is well among my absolute favourites among this year's entries! Would love to play this faction one day and find out how they feel in pratice.
Heya! So first of all your artwork is fantastic. I absolutely cannot believe it was drawn with a mouse, I would actually die. Thanks for sharing the sketching process as well!
Live the vibes of your faction here, it totally reminds me of a lot of themes from hollow Knight which is a massive plus. (Maybe even intentional??)
Your suns favour track is so well thought out, and the scoring in the morning means you've got a faction with built in counterplay and pushes them to consider their turns well in advance. A fun puzzle that not many factions take the time or consideration to use!
You've also thought out so many fun mechanics that build on each other to create a cohesive unit here. Being able to even see the top card card then make a decision to determine your NEXT turn is really cool. And you've made it tie in well with your actions and objectives each turn. All while keeping it very thematic!
Also playing around with the move action is very fun, and I can totally see myself playing with these guys to figure out even more of the interactions that I'm totally missing.
And that's the thing, even though there's a lot of moving parts... They are really easy to follow. A huge accomplishment and a fantastic submission!
Hi. Your factions is really good. I like the idea and the art is great. Moths moving following the sun is interesting (so many religious animals in the woodland 😄). I had the same question posted by KingLuigiNL. You have explained but I think it’s better to modify the words “clearings you don’t rule adjacent to temples”. I know that only with playtesting some things can be answered but 2 things: 1) the choice of daylight actions are limited by the cards, right? So you could draw a rabbit card, put at the bottom of the pile but draw another rabbit card…and so on…is there another way? 2) you could avoid actions that move back the sun favor marker and defend only a cornfield to gain points every turn. I guess it’s not easy to remove 4 warriors by one enemy. Have you already playtested?
Thanks. Nice job.
1. The idea is to introduce some randomness into the Sun's vision without losing the sense of control needed to keep things strategic. Sometimes, randomness can be unforgiving, and losing a bet is a real possibility—but don’t forget the suit proportions in the deck. If you take the bird into account, you actually have a lot of options.
2. You can do that, but after playtesting, it turned out that strategies like this tend to make you more vulnerable than anything else. If you try it, everyone will see what you're doing and they'll try to burn you to ashes before your next Birdsong. Scoring at the start of your turn is actually part of that balance (and in a way sun's vision is a part of that too and Offering is obviously to cournter the idea that you can just stay in a corner and wait... if you can't do offering you'll lose some points and crafting stations to score more points).
I really like the moth art on this faction! The moth looks so forlorn somehow. The whole faction is very thematic and creative. I like the idea of the moths worshiping the sun and their daylight action changing depending on the weather.
Thank you so much! The most difficult part was the transition from paper to screen. I forgot my tablet and had to use my mouse to draw the lines 'x) — I just hoped the result wouldn’t look too weird. Here's the sketch of the Inca moth! :D
Can I be your fan? Although I had intended to design the faction inspired by Inca culture, upon seeing your product, I concluded that nothing could supplant an item of such elegance as this!
First, you're gonna make me cry. Second, I'm crying. Please never change.
It would be wonderful to have even more opportunities to connect! Perhaps down the line, we could collaborate on a "fan expansion" :3
This is incredible! The weather dependent actions are so thematic! Also an Inca fan, so I love that you chose to draw inspiration from there. Some very cool ideas here! Also moths were a fabulous choice! Weather and favor are excellent mechanics.
I do have a question about moving with temples - do you move from a clearing adjacent to the temple to another clearing adjacent to the same temple?
1. Thank you! Nice to see another inca enjoyer! :D
2. Yes
Also, I forgot to mention it before, but LOVE your art! it's incredible!
The good part about doing research is gathering lots of reference pictures of Inca clothing—especially of Inca kings.
i realy like the idea of your daylight actions switching around, i assume when you reveal a bird card you get to choose the weather?
Also, move via temples i guess you use the temple as a path and essentially move through the forest? Is there a way for opponents to remove temples?
In rainy weather it mentions in the battle action 'a temple you do not rule'. But temples are placed in forests right, so you dont rule those by definition. So i wan to know whats the intention there?
1. Thank you! And yes, the bird counts as a joker, so you can choose the weather.
2a. Yes, you use the temple as a path.
2b. No, you can't remove a temple (I thought about that, but after a few tests, it didn’t feel right).
3a. It's not "a temple you don't rule," it's "a clearing adjacent to a temple you don't rule." That means a clearing adjacent to the forest of a temple you don’t rule.
3b. The idea is to kill a few enemies so you can rule some clearings around your temples, to protect your territory and possibly use the Sacrifice action.
ah ok, right. That makes more sence. Maybe you can reword it to "a clearing you dont rule adjacent to a temple"