| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Did it make good use of the Havoc Engine? | #4 | 4.400 | 4.400 |
| Overall | #9 | 4.200 | 4.200 |
| Did it build on the Havoc Engine and add interesting stuff? | #12 | 3.900 | 3.900 |
| Does the game seem fun to play? | #12 | 4.300 | 4.300 |
Ranked from 10 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Love the concepts for both the character and the enemies! Both perfect for the setting as well.
There's something really fun about how... almost cute? the Grotesques are in the art. I don't know, they're just really good. And it's a great contrast with them being absolute menaces to actually deal with.
Also gg on not calling them gargoyles XD
I nearly forgot to say that I love the extra touch of the sculptors having nothing to do with the creation of them, A+.
I like the feeling of everything that you're doing. The design on Marie is very cool, and everything hangs together really well.
I dig the concept of the grotesques. I wish there was a given reason why they're aggressive toward the players. I know it's implied that they attack the Nazis too, but it feels like there's space for them to have been manipulated by the invaders, which might make the Notre Dame quest hang together better with the rest of the game.
Mechanically, I worry that the countdown clock is a little aggressive. It's good that they feel relentless, but I worry it will turn into an annoyance rather than feeling like a danger when they attack every 4 turns or you need to constantly feed successes into keeping them away.
Hey! Thanks for the comment.
Page 4 mentions how come the Grotesques are hostile to the players (they were indeed manipulated by the occupying Nazi forces):
"An ancient family of frightful protector spirits who found a permanent home on the walls and buttresses of the Notre-Dame cathedral, their eclectic forms slowly turned to stone. That is, until some occultist carved mystic runes into the church bells and rang them, binding the stony host to serve the Nazi war machine. Now, their endless monstrous forms swarm the skies above Paris, relentlessly stalking intruders."
The clock counts down at the end of every round (so after every player has taken their turn), not every turn. Every turn would definitely be too much, yeah!Marie's character concept is easily one of my favorite characters I've seen in this entire Jam. What do you mean this old sweet grandma summons fairy tales to slaughter evil bastards as a hobby? Her having an injury that's just "Disappointed" is brilliant.
I second the comments the others have made regarding the grotesques and really like the suggested changes in your responses. I'd like to see them act as more than just swarms of hitpoints. Looking forward to see where you take it.
Also going the extra mile and including hand drawn art on every page is absolutely insane...
The Disappointed injury was a favorite of mine too yeah, haha!
And, yeah, I'm also baffled Rik somehow managed to design, write, and draw this ON TOP OF the JAMS! game he wrote. It's definitely insane. (Investigations as to whether he's sold his soul to some otherwordly presence are ongoing.)
Thanks for the kind words :)
- Jorrit
Will probably echo what already has been said. Incredible art on Marie, she seems like she would be really fun to play.
I love addition of clocks to Grotesques but unrellenting respawning feels like it could get boring bit repeatitive and turn it into grind. When reading USING THIS ENEMY section i couldnt stop thinking that i wish if came with a scene/location where instead of pressing for main objective, players can do optional detour and fight through the Notre-dame cathedral to deal with occultist sculptors summoning them to essentially forever stop the clock.
So: I adore Marie-Helene and I think all her abilities rule. Letting others gain a little bit of Blood whenever she feeds? Steal an Attack dice of an enemy? A persistent cough as minor harm?
Brilliant. No notes.
The layout and art is incredible. As someone who had to work really hard to come up with something passable under the deadline, I'm extremely impressed with the work done to make it really match with the design of the core book.
My one thing is that, while the Grotesques are conceptually really fun and interesting... mechanically I wish they had more to offer. The one big innovation is the countdown clock which'll add a bunch of fun tension, but otherwise they're just another bag of hit points that players have to whittle down (while the players are probably close to finishing up anyway). I know that Devil Whale Games can write extremely cool abilities... just do one more and I'll be overjoyed.
Hey! Thanks for the compliments! And thanks for the feedback as well. Really glad to hear you enjoy Marie. Personally I'm especially fond of her "Disappointed (+2 Terrify, -2 Con)" Injury, haha :P
(Mind you, I also have no idea how Rik managed to get all this work in before the submission deadline; his drive to create stuff is kind of insane.)
You raise a good point regarding the Grotesques. Hadn't really thought of it like that before, hm. I have to admit we weren't able to playtest this submission before the deadline, so I'd have to see how it feels in play before reaching a final verdict. But as-is there's definitely a good chance they won't offer the challenge and tension they're meant to bring to the table.
I think you could amp up how they actually interact with the scene by making the Objective more difficult to achieve while they're around. You could have them add Challenge to the Objective, or just have it them make it so you can't advance the Objective while they're around, or have them remove successes/progress from the Objective (that would probably equate to adding Challenge with extra steps, but it might feel different in play). Then again, that doesn't really address the main complaint you raise, of them being just another bag of hitpoints.
We're trying to schedule some playtests with our friends soon, so I hope we'll be able to deliver on a cool ability/interesting mechanics once we've incorporated playtest feedback. I'm definitely going to keep this in mind.
Thanks again for the feedback :) Cheers!
- Jorrit
P.S.: Freak Squad looks absolutely sick, the art's vibe is just chef's kiss
I love a support character and Marie seems like she’d be wildly fun to play. I like the grotesques but in my experience it’s super easy to avoid threats and just dump a bunch of points into the objective and move on. Maybe adding a mechanic that makes running make them even more challenging would help.
Hey! Thanks for the compliment & the feedback. Glad you like Marie :)
You raise a good point regarding the Grotesques! (I just responded to Mynar's comment before seeing this one, who had a somewhat similar point of critique, so I'll echo similar sentiments as I did there.)
You could make it where the Grotesques add Challenge to the Objective as long as they're around, or just make it so players can't advance the Objective while they're around, or have them erase progress/successes on the Objective (which is probably equivalent to adding Challenge, but might feel different in play). I have to admit we haven't had the chance to playtest the Grotesques, but once we do we'll make sure to update them if we feel like they're not providing the intended challenge and tension to a scene.
- Jorrit
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.