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A jam submission

Secret HandView game page

The card game where the rules are a secret

Submitted by brprice42 — 16 hours, 6 minutes before the deadline

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Secret Hand's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Audio	#72	3.500	3.500
Theme interpretation	#84	3.625	3.625
Overall	#163	3.250	3.250
Gameplay	#178	2.938	2.938
Innovation	#178	2.938	2.938
Graphics	#222	3.000	3.000

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

GitHub repository URL
https://github.com/brprice42/Secret-Hand

Game description
Inspired by frustrated Midwest relatives, in secret hand, you are challenged to a game of cards with your loving grandfather. Only problem? You have no clue what the rules are. Use intuition, trial and error, and clues in the game world to figure out how to play this strange game and take down your venerable elder who has played this game for more hours than you've been alive.

Theme interpretation
I decided that I liked the idea of a game where the rules are unknown, or a secret to the player. This reminded me of playing complicated card games with family where it felt like I was completely out of the loop and everyone else knew what was going on. I also made the gameplay revolve around finding secrets, because the player needs to find clues to the rules of the game hidden on the table.

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Comments

dmitrycrowdSubmitted79 days ago

Such a cool card game! Every time I thought I’d figured out how to play, it turned out I was wrong — haha. A truly unique and unconventional take on the theme. Thank you for the game!

Submitted

Shadows of the house

Imaad PhoplunkerSubmitted92 days ago

Very cool card game! I enjoyed the idea having to figure out the rules. Great work!

Submitted

CryptidGroveSubmitted92 days ago

Cards, chess, any tabletop game with extra hidden rules is always a bop, having to figure out how things work and getting out of the mindset and rules you already know is always fun, so congrats on making a fun game! Good job!

Submitted

Misfits & Mythos

QuinnCGSubmitted93 days ago

Cool idea for a game; you definitely did something more interesting with the theme than me. I never fully understood the rules and simply assumed I was trying to make the best poker hand I could; this got me fairly far. The music and visual style of everything blends nicely. I like the vibe it sets.

Nice submission.

Submitted

EyAxeManSubmitted93 days ago

I really like this, clever way of using decor as part of the game. Nice with the ability to speed up the dialogue. Nice little touch on the story and coherent artstyle. Well done

Submitted

Oliver's Secret

Josep VallsSubmitted93 days ago

I was able to find the clues by moving things around which was not immediately apparent. The problem I had is that I don’t really know poker terminology so I couldn’t do much with the hints. Still looks interesting.

Submitted

The Strand Academy Secrets

brprice42Developer93 days ago

Yeah, the game definitely assumes that the player has some knowledge of poker hands and will make some assumptions about mechanics. I just updated the GitHub repo's README with the full set of rules for the card game if you are still interested in playing. And hey, if the game is still confusing you understand what it's like to play cards with my family :)

tmachineSubmitted93 days ago

I liked the idea of secret rules, but poker didn't seem to fit well as a card game because you rarely have much/any control over what hands you're going to play.

Submitted

ShadowLink Command

brprice42Developer93 days ago

Fair enough, I was hoping that there would be some strategy around saving good cards like pairs or 4 of the same suit during low value rounds but I can definitely see if the game is too dependent on luck of the draw. I mostly chose to base it on poker hands to make it more accessible when there isn't much of a tutorial by design. Thanks for checking it out!

PineappleApricotSubmitted94 days ago

This is actually one of the most unique and fun games I've played so far! The hints about how to play the game that were just lying around was awesome game design, and it was really satisfying to show that old geyser who was boss, especially after all the smack he was talking about me! The artstyle was also really clean, and this was, all in all, a really great submission!

Submitted

Behind The Curtain

brprice42Developer93 days ago

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

cdcoxSubmitted94 days ago

A game about cheating the elderly, my favorite type. But really, a fun concept I loved looking for the hints scattered around and almost wished there was more. The only criticism I had was that I wish the hints were more actionable. I rarely had straights or flushes so couldn't do much with that, but I do understand this is more balanced. Your artsyle is really nice too simple, homey and kind of light and airy. Also the sounds and UI are clean, responsive, and unobtrusive. Really clever little cared game that really captures a nostalgic vibe

Submitted

Build-A-Trocity

brprice42Developer93 days ago

Thanks for all the compliments, I'm glad the overall vibe I was going for carried through. I agree it might be nice if it were a bit easier to get big hands, but I also didn't want it to be too easy to find those hands. Maybe increasing the player hand size to 10 would have been a better balance (and allow the player to keep a straight or flush in their hand when they can't play it)

kassem gamingSubmitted94 days ago

Loved The Music and the way that hints are laying around

Submitted

The Cool Fellas Club:Love is Waiting on the other side

brprice42Developer93 days ago

Thanks!

brprice42Developer94 days ago (1 edit)

Note: I updated the game to fix a bug where the new game screen was invisible after finishing a game

lobonoxSubmitted94 days ago(+1)

Jazz music really sells being at your grandpas

Having some hints at the beginning of the game of how many clues you need to find before playing a hand so I know to keep searching

Game mechanics are really good, everything moves around really smoothly. Very impressive for your first game!

Submitted

brprice42Developer94 days ago

Thanks for the feedback! I was thinking of adding dialogue when you find clues but never got around with it. Maybe that could have given the player a bit more information.