Hi there. This is Dragos, your Cohort Mentor. I've written out some feedback for you, split into the categories that the sprint was being judged on. Feel free to reach out if you think i've misunderstood anything, or want to chat further through some of these points.
Playability
- Current Prototype is playable, and I think I enjoyed it, but the uncertainty and very short loop does not work yet. I understand this is a prototype, but I think the speed of the entire simulation needs to be slowed down, so that players can see what is happening. I ended up clicking the factory a few times, and before I could realise what was happening, it disappeared. I infer from context and previous idea submissions, that this was a result of the emissions of the factories upsetting the people, but that is very much not clear, and out of context I would argue almost impossible to deduce.
Promising Idea
- The game has definitely found its style, and the collage aesthetic works well for it. The plan to have this interactable simulation is well thought out, and I think with a couple more layers, this has the opportunity to blossom into a larger, self-sustaining, environmental simulation. You also have the opportunity to let the players experiment with what global, community impact looks like from a detached lens. Very cool.
Use of themes
- So far I'm seeing a strong focus on the industrial impact on the wider population. This is definitely a strong pillar, and well within the theme. I think an additional environmental element would be interesting to explore, such as the water cycle, or weather, or anything else you think you could implement to balance out what feels like a one way system at the moment - inducing therefore a linear narrative.
Call to Action
- Depending on the ways that your simulation can end up with enough playtime from the player, you have the opportunity to offer multiple calls to action and situations to consider, depending on player's actions. At the moment, the call to action was to me simply "Angry people destroy factories, making world happy". While still valid, this was heavily implied, and I would love to see more steps or granularity in the simulation
Reasonable Scope
The game mechanics are almost entirely present here, and some simple iteration on existing elements is required. Scope is quite reasonable.
Well Planned Production
- Not much information regarding the plans for future development was provided. Feel free to reach out to discuss this if you want.