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Cute! I made the art for a puzzle game with mechanics reminiscent of this long ago! 

Very tricky, got stuck att lvl 8 I think.  The characters said something about someone coming to help, but I never saw anyone, haha.

Great job!

Oh, that's odd. Where are you getting stuck, is the game starting at all?

Feedback is awesome, thanks!

Yeah, you're right that Scatter probably isn't very useful on the last three levels except sometimes to push  my activists through the pathways. But that's mostly an issue with level design. If this would be expanded I guess there would be a bigger selection of levels where more mechanics get introduced, return and  interact in interesting ways. I think I might settle for about this many levels as my "proof of concept" for the Game Jam, but yeah, definitely room to expand!

I think as you say the size and division of groups is also a key factor in level design and small groups would certainly be useful! I'd just have to make sure to adapt the levels so it wouldn't be too good. I'm glad you like the difficulty. I haven't fine tuned the "grading" of each level, how many activists need to get through etc. but it's good to know it's working decently.

And yes, the Retry button is coming, just didn't have tie before uploading today, sorry! :D

Thanks again!

Fun concept, surprisingly difficult!
The sea  of hands look great and the symbolism is strong.
A great quote to work with as well.  As someone engaged in activism I often think about how it's possible to change society if only enough people at the same time  refuse to comply with the system. With politicians and world leaders continuing to drive us all further into climate catastrophe this is more important than ever to communicate.

Thanks a lot! Yes, this prototype is very bare bones. Hopefully I can flesh it out enough before deadline. I'll have a look! :)

Yeah, that's a good idea. I definitely think it's important for thing like that to come through if possible. I have unfortunately not been at an Ende Gelände action myself, so I don't have a first hand source, but I'm sure things like that come into play. I'll see what I have room to incorporate. Thanks a lot for all the thoughful feedback!

Yeah I understand. A game jam project is a game jam project. I still wanted to let you know I appreciate the theme, that it's important and that there are more people doing this kind of work! Thanks for your contribution!

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

Honestly, I was kind of tired last thursday and didn't feel like the prototype worked as I had hoped, so my upload was very bare bones. I already have some art in the works and have thought a bit more about how to make it work.

Yes, atm the protesters have "health" so after too much contact with police they "die". I will see if this is something I should keep and/ore make it more clear.

My greatest challenge definitely feels like it's going to be to make the AI interesting and challenging while still feeling "realistic". I'm not a programmer really, but I hope to be able to put together at least a few levels with some progression in difficulty.

If you want a little peak at what Ende Gelände looks like here's two short videos! Thanks again for taking time to give me feedback :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eExgsVt2nMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iVFibs-O6c

Hey, thanks for checking it out! Yeah, I was kind of tired yesterday and not sure, but I've decided to keep working on it. I think the difficulty is in making the enemy AI work as I want to make it interesting. Hopefully I can get at least a few interesting levels to show off!

Ok. I understand were you're coming from and I'm not saying littering is not a problem, it might just be a difference in personal perspective and what framing of issues resonates more with me. You definitely seem like you know what you're talking about and I shouldn't complain that you're not making exactly the type of game that I'm most  interested in.

Good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing your finished game!

The name "Dirtborn" is great by the way, haha!

Hey, this is awesome! Love the theme. I'm so flipping annoyed by the AI boom and everyone thinking it's so incredibly convenient to ask chatGPT to do all their work. Is it sustainable? Are there enough "green" energy and rare minerals to build infinite datacenters all  around earth for services that are used for laziness rather than necessity? No one seems to care. And there's also all the local pollution and issues that you mention in the game.

Thanks for highlighting it! It seems like you know a lot about the issue and I  think its a great thing to bring more attention to it. The game already seems to have a lot of functionality, hope you have time to add everything in! Good luck!

Nice work! I like the stealth gameplay, the sense of rebellion and resistance to the oppressing forces!

To be honest I'm a little unsure about the theme. I love the writing in your design document about "silent rebellion and hope" and to break rules as a form of necessary resistance against the forces destroying or future and planet, however I don't think picking up trash entirely captures that idea. The problem is that our whole society is built on capitalism and consumerism which necessarily creates endless waste, and picking up trash is not outlawed and does not in any way threaten the system.

Waste management is of course important, these are things that we need to sort out, but if that is the call to action I think it would be more interesting to focus on the societal or systematic aspects mentioned a few times in your design document. Why are companies allowed to pollute our word like this? Why have our governments not done their job and made sure we have working systems for waste collection and recycling?

Maybe you can adjust the framing slightly to an action a little more relatable to rebellion in the real world? You could be sneaking into industrial areas and exposing their pollution to the world in order to take legal action or build a movement against them?

Sorry if I'm being difficult. I just  really like the theme of rebellion, activism and resistance, I think that's vital if we are to have a future, but at the moment I have difficulty relating  the actions in the game to the action that needs to be taken in the real world.

It's a little buggy, but I love the concept!

The voice acting really ups the production value! Very well done and funny too, haha!

You might already be aware, but here's some feedback: All levels have 3 stars already when starting for the first time, and I can't seem to get less than that when I clear a level. The humans gets through the fire sometimes, so it's a little unreliable. The gameplay itself is simple and works well although it seems tricky to scale up the difficulty.

Cool game!

Cute game! Love the theme. We need more wrenches thrown into the systems destroying our world!

I'm sure you're already aware, it's just a game jam prototype, but here's some feedback:

It took me a few tries before I realized that the bar on the left showed time away from my desk and was the thing that caused me to fail. It also doesn't fill up once the game resets, so you have to start next round by charging at your desk.

I never managed to win the game despite seemingly completing all objectives. Got "I didn't do enough" each time. The quest log suggests that objectives completed last round doesn't need to be redone, but you can still approach them again. Does this work as intended?

It was very hard, you don't have much time! Had to lower the difficulty, but as I said I think I completed all objectives. Great work! 

Are you in the igda Climate SIG discord? It's a cool network of game developers wanting to use their craft for the climate and environment.

You're completely right I'm not french, but when  I hear about this story I kinda wish I  was, haha.  It's so inspirational and I'm happy to hear you liked to see it in my game! Thanks for the nice feedback!

It's the first time I designed a tower defense and I'm not really a game designer by trade, so I'm glad to hear you think it works and is interesting! Thanks for playing it and for the nice feedback!

Yeah, France seems like a wild place to be an activist. Sometimes I wish it would be a little more so here in Sweden... Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your feedback! :D

I'm glad to hear you think it works, especially the balancing I thought was really difficult! Thank you so much <3

You should add something about  the Horreo and its role in the game description, it's really cool flavor! Even if it was a bit by accident it's definitely interesting to learn about.

Fun random generator, haha. Nice work!

Cool looking art and an interesting little story! Love the quotes and the corporate circle jerk, haha

I mean it's extremely minimal but it gets its message across, haha. 

Haha, fun little adventure. So much corporate culture spite!

Smooth gameplay and great art! Good job!
And dang is it difficult. I've got al the upgrades now but sill haven't won!

Simple and fun action game about taking back housing from the rich! Responsive and satisfying gameplay. Very cool!

Omg so simple and fun! Love the atmosphere and the gameplay is very smooth. It's quite difficult, but fun to try over and over again. Great job!

Very true. Take care of yourself!

Super cool story and a great visual style! Very unique. My one comment would be that the message could be more empowering, atm it's more a story about powerlessness. Which I guess isn't necessarily a bad thing, that's just how life is sometimes.

Very cool and unique game anyway!

The aesthetic is incredible! Great premise, very cool. Also dark. If I would have one question it would be about how you look at hope, or the possibility of change? Because right now with the "it cannot be stopped" it kind of comes off like breaking out of capitalism is impossible. And I mean, maybe it is, it certainly can feel that way sometimes.

Anyway. Super cool! The name is so awesome, haha.

I unfortunately found it a bit difficult to play. Here's my feedback:

The difficulty was quite harsh and the visuals difficult to read - the colors and lights made it difficult to see where I was going and to quickly see enemies and if they were shooting at me.

It was a bit difficult to know what my objective was. After dying a few times I understood (I think?) that you get dropped into a random "level" with enemies, then progress into and "upgrade room" which is then followed by another random level. Is that correct?

The recoil of the gun made it extremely difficult to hit enemies since my shot always went above the point I was aiming for.

The dialogue disappears too quickly, so if I couldn't read all of it fast enough, which happened a lot, I could miss important information.

I didn't get very far because of the difficulty and because the speed and visuals were too tiring for me to keep trying many times so I might have missed interesting stuff farther ahead. Maybe it gets easier as you keep going. 

Keep up the good work and FxCK CAPITALISM!

Fun and simple, great sense of humor! The gasp as you accidentally hit a poor person is just so funny xD

Haha, simple but great fun. Text on the game over screen is gold, and the art is pretty!

Hey, you deserve it. Keep up the good work!

Thanks! <3

Thanks so much for your kind words! Glad you enjoyed it and that you think it works.

Yeah, there might be space to expand the intro and give more time to look at it. I guess maybe I thought that most people would want to get to the gameplay as soon as possible. As you might have seen in the description and devlog, I have lot of ideas for fleshing it out and developing it further!

Thanks again :D

Yeah, I've dabbled a little with Twine as well and I think it's a cool software! 

Hey, creating things we like or care about without pressure is what game jams are for. Cool work! 

Best wishes

Interesting little story, depicting the monotony of life in capitalism before finally breaking out of the loop!

Simple, but a fun little story nonetheless! Captures the monotony of capitalism before going on to break it. Good job!

It feels like there's a cool story underneath, but the gameplay and narrative doesn't feel very connected. I didn't manage to beat it, but the phrases thrown by the boss were very funny!

Nice little strategy simulator about capitalism/revolution! Fun flavor and some great jokes throughout!