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A jam submission

Hostbound - Spread it!View game page

A disease simulation where you are the infection.
Submitted by Depoco — 11 hours, 33 minutes before the deadline
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Hostbound - Spread it!'s itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Pacing#821.9381.938
Visual Design#932.1252.125
Overall Impression – This Decides the Winners#971.8131.813
Fear Factor#1051.0631.063
Audio Design#1121.0001.000

Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Submitted

Hello! Congrats on making a functional product under time pressure :).

Here's an idea for extending gameplay: the player has no real decisions to make, so there's no tension in the gameplay. Introducing limited resources and different tradeoffs to using them will increase the complexity of the game and will make the player experiment, learn and handle dilemmas.

Say there's limited time - the host is defending against you, and you won't live long unless you do something about it. Also, you can only infect three times. In addition, the infected entities will spread the infection when they touch another one. 

Now the player has to observe the trajectories of the entities in order to figure out if they will intersect with another one. More so, now the player needs to decide if he wants to spend time to get into a better position, to spend his infection charge in a more effective manner (on an entity that has a greater potential of infecting more times), or would they rather prioritize time and infect sooner. 

Nothing too hard to implement, but you give the player something to chew on.

Here's a fun read that talks about decisionmaking in games: "Players Making Decisions" by Zack Hiwiller. Good luck in your gamemaking journey :).

Submitted(+1)

I think that maybe adding enemies or anything that could make you lose the game would be nice! Also I think that tank controls on WASD with the interact button on E don't work that well.

Cute graphics btw!

Developer(+1)

Hey! Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I'm gonna keep working on it in my spare time :) Learn some new stuff, etc. Would "space" be better?

Submitted(+1)

Yeah, I think either space or some key around J, but maybe this second option would be better if there were more actions

Developer

J? Most common ones are either E, F or Space.

Submitted

In this case you would also use your right hand to play, but that's why I said that maybe it would be better if there were more actions, because probably using a second hand just for one action wouldn't be that good

Developer

Gotcha! Thanks

Submitted(+1)

Hey, no worries – we all start small! For a first game, the infection mechanic already works really well. You could theoretically expand the gameplay by adding obstacles or similar elements. A damage indicator or health bar, a timer, or something along those lines could make it feel more arcade-like. Some audio design would also really help — it would make the whole experience more immersive. Great first game! Keep it up!

Developer

Hey! Thanks for taking a look. I was thinking of turning this into a little side-project I can tinker with. I'll add the things you mentioned, thanks again! I’ll check out your stuff too.

Submitted

No problem :) always here to help ;)

Submitted(+1)

Adding some sounds would make this go a long way!

Developer

Yeah, I was about to, but time kinda ran out on me. Thanks for the feedback!