GMTK Game Jam 2020

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A jam submission

Roulette CityView game page

Submitted by JJ — 2 hours, 57 minutes before the deadline

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Roulette City's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Originality	#260	4.000	4.000
Presentation	#763	3.700	3.700
Overall	#1087	3.300	3.300
Fun	#2149	2.750	2.750

Ranked from 20 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
A classic city sim is all about controlling what buildings go where. Roulette city removes that element of control from the players, forcing them to strategically gamble as to which buildings go where.

Did your team create the art for this game during the 48 hour time slot?

Yes

We created all art during the game jam

Did your team create the audio for this game during the 48 hour time slot?

Yes

We created all audio during the game jam

Comments

apiruxb4 years ago(+1)

It's very cute and complete presentation-wise, and the idea is interesting. However, to be able to apply any strategy, the player is somewhat required to learn the synergies between the different types of buildings. In the end, as there is a strong randomness component to building placement regardless, player agency gets nerfed at the point of execution anyway.

Personally, I only skimmed through the synergies and types of buildings and then started experimenting. After a few rounds, I found that the score would typically range between high 60s to low 80s, and whether or not I tried to be deliberate or just randomly placed them seemed to have little impact ultimately.

To call it what it is, it's an interesting little experiment, and the polish is very complete. I could be wrong, but I think you made this with more of an intention to explore odd gameplay avenues rather than with the goal of making it fun. The polish and consistent "flavor" of the game's tone does help sustain player attention on it for a while, despite the disconnect between player choices and actual agency (which is a consequence of the jam theme).

Perhaps a higher score can be semi-consistently attained if the player really masters the building synergies table, but the reward does not feel like it justifies the effort. Looking at the various components that went into this jam game, though, I can imagine you making a streamlined version of a Theme Park or Sim City inspired game if you wanted to (similarly to how Plants vs. Zombies is a streamlined tower defense game).

As I get the feeling that you are far better at prototyping than I am and also have all your design marbles together, there's really not much to say aside from describing the game experience I had. So I'll just leave it at that.

In all, I didnt' really have "fun" but do appreciate the work and intention that went into it. If nothing else, it does succeed in being experimental, and the polish feels very complete. Very nice work!

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JJDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Your thoughts match mine very closely upon finishing this game. I agree that the randomness element leads to little player agency in the outcome, and a high score is not an amazing reward for completing the game. In playtesting I was able to get into the 100s, but I'm the dev and I decided on all the synergies myself so of course I'll get a very high score. All in all I agree--this is more a fun prototype / exploration than game. I really appreciate the time and energy you took in playing my game and writing such a thorough, interesting, and polite critique!

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apiruxb4 years ago (2 edits) (+1)

Oh, I see. So you really can consistently score markedly higher if you master the synergies. That’s very interesting to know. In that case, I guess one thing that might have helped would be having a way to reference the synergies table at anytime from within the game (like a mouse-over icon in the corner or such).

I do find that city sim games actually feel somewhat similar to breeder games (i.e. Monster Rancher, etc.). The enjoyment is derived mostly from a mixture of mastery and customization, perhaps sprinkled with some joy of discovery throughout (i.e. secrets, surprising events, etc.) to keep things interesting later on. In those games, more than anyhing, I think he payoff comes through in the form of seeing your creation thrive and perform in context. For example, we watch the city run smoothly and read the “newspaper” in Sim City, and we watch people go on rides and get a periodic earnings report in Theme Park.

So going on that, if some “advanced” building types were reserved to be unlocked with progress and if the score was presented as a mix of contextually flavored performance metrics instead, then the feelings of gratification and reward could probably come through much more strongly. Perhaps going from a small town lot to a larger city space in the vein of level advancement could also help the player master the synergies in increments while feeling like a form of progress and reward in itself.

That said, the amount of work you managed to put into this in 48hrs of solo work is already quite surprising, so I’m not sure if you would have had the extra time for those additions. Still, as this was sort of an exploration of mechanics, I figure you might want to try that post-jam to see if it can bring the fun through anyway. If you do, I’m interested to give the updated form a spin if you could give me a heads-up.

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JJDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

I do actually provide that- try clicking the help button! I wanted to make it so clicking on buildings in the queue would remind you of the synergies but I didn't have time. The "strategic arson" mechanic was also me trying to give players more agency.

I love the idea of unlockable buildings! That would be a great reward for higher scores. This definitely isn't a true city sim, i had to scrap a lot of ideas about events happening and little people walking around. It's honestly more a puzzle game with city flavor.

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apiruxb4 years ago(+1)

Ah, my mistake on the reference table then. My attention must have been too focussed on the play space. And yes, the strategic arson was an interesting design touch for sure. An undo button per se, but I didn’t get much use out of it since I hadn’t mastered the synergies anyway. Knowing that I can reference the table at any time changes that somewhat, though.

I can see how it is moving in more of a puzzle-y direction as you said. It seemed to be partly what you were experimenting with, but the time constraints probably limited how many puzzle-y features and mechanics you could layer on top of the base form if I had to guess. It would have been interesting if there were more “edit” tools at the player’s disposal in addition to strategic arson if going further in the puzzle direction. Perhaps game-y things that ignore real-world logic somewhat like swapping buildings or randomized building transformation, each with limited charges like with strategic arson.

P.S. Sorry for the delayed edit on the previous post. Had a phone call come in.

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JJDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Yeah, those are all really good suggestions. If I were to ever continue development of this I'd implement ways of changing / moving around buildings. Again thank you so much for your attention / suggestions / critique!

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Char_0084 years ago(+1)

Great audio and building design!

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JJDeveloper4 years ago

Thank you!

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IzickSubmitted4 years ago(+1)

The buildings look great! And that song is very catchy. I got 75 and my friend got 73. Beat em :)

Submitted

Backseat Beebow

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