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Family Planning's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #1 | 4.632 | 4.632 |
| Originality | #1 | 4.632 | 4.632 |
| Overall | #4 | 3.921 | 3.921 |
| Fun | #10 | 3.605 | 3.605 |
| Audio | #15 | 3.526 | 3.526 |
| Graphics | #18 | 3.842 | 3.842 |
| Controls | #21 | 3.289 | 3.289 |
Ranked from 38 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Godot Version
3.2.2
Source
https://github.com/cznrhubarb/family-planning
Game Description
A block stacking game used as a metaphor for the pyramid scheme of building a family.
Discord Username
cznrhubarb
Participation Level (GWJ only)
First time
Participation Level across all Jams
Second on Itch. Maybe 10-15 overall?
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Comments
Really cool concept! Glad I got a chance to try it. There was a bit of a lag issue with the wedding bells sound but other then that I don't think there's anything I would change. Nicely done!
Fantastic game! The mechanic is simple, challenging and fun at same time. It's a good design, well done!
Once I understood the idea, this was a pretty fun game. I really liked the concept of it. But will have to agree with other commenters in that the constant clicking ruined the fun for me. Maybe holding down the mouse button while it's over the wedding bell or heart to fill them up would help with this? That being said, I still really enjoyed this and thought it was a pretty cool concept!
Yeah, definitely understand that. I think that's a good idea for an alternative to the rapid clicking! Makes it more about the puzzle aspect and less about how fast you can click.
Thanks for playing!
A bit hard to figure out at first, but once you get the mechanics down it's fun, if a bit hard still cause you don't get that much time to place blocks to support the falling ones, but the hardest part is the instant game over if you lose just one elder too early, but then regarding the theme i can get why you made it that way cause it adds some pressure to help prevent loss at all costs.
I'm no good at puzzle games but i liked it anyways, it's really an original take on the genre to have it with real time physics and that stopped blocks are not guaranteed safe since if they're stacked in an unstable way they can eventually fall.
Well done :)
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!
I hear you on the difficulty! I feel like my whole tower comes crashing down all at once most of the time :)
Awesome concept, I find it really really creative! I think If there would be a way to increase the control over the falling block physics the game would be much more addictive.
Thanks for playing!
Do you think they're too unpredictable now, or are you thinking about some way to be able to react to them while they are falling?
Awesome work. I played this game multiple times now. I don't have much to say about it, except it's have a really good concept, playing with age and legacy, and also relying on that.
I agree on the reamarks of @Munro. But there is something frustrating me when I was playing, that is the box physics, it makes the game really hard. I hope you remove that the box rotation and fall when on the edge.
Overall the game was enjoyable, Nice job!
Thanks for the feedback! Do you think it would still be challenging if the portraits just fell straight down instead of having the possibility of toppling over? I could perhaps try increasing their mass so that they are less likely to do that. Worth a try!
Increasing the mass would be helpful. And you may think about @Munro idea, about increasing the number of falling old people to acutely loss the game.
Absolutely amazing idea! Well done!
Really, my only complains are because I would like to see the concept expanded:
1. It requires far too many clicks to "Marry".
2. There's little visual feedback for aging
3. The game is far too hard. Losing just 1 old person brings you to the Main Menu. Perhaps if you lost more than 3 Family Members within a certain time? Like a cooldown Game Over?
Other than that, well done! This is my favourite of the jam so far.
(The mechanic also managed to be representative of the theme you're trying to put forward; that "Families are Pyramid Schemes". When looked through this mechanical lens, they are. This is wonderful design; as it gets you to think of a real life situation a little differently.)
Thanks for the kind and detailed feedback, I really appreciate it!
The clicking definitely seems to be a feature that was not very well liked. In hindsight it seems pretty clear now :D
I hadn't thought about the end condition though. I didn't end up working it in, but the elderly do "ascend" once they are off the top of the screen, so you don't have to keep them up forever forever, but the screen does fill up pretty fast. There's certainly something to be played with in terms of balance and making the game have more of an 'arch' to the experience.
It is really an original and very interesting concept! The art and audio are very good, nice job really! The feedback animations for the weddings are really cool.
Maybe adding a score would be nice? But it's a detail.
Overall, one of my favorite game of the jam!
Thank you, I appreciate the kind words!
Definitely agree on the scoring. I ended up cutting it due to time, but it was next on my list! :)
Hey,
nice little game you made, really like it. played and rated.
Thanks! I appreciate it!
Great idea! Really simple to learn but still challenging!
When you get a lot of people in the adult age, it's almost impossible to tap on them for marriage, because there's alway a new child to place. But I imagine it gets to easy otherwise :)
Also the music, soundeffects and art fits the style of the game very well!
Thanks!
I didn't have much time for balancing, but you're right! I think maybe holding back on how many child-bearing families you create can help, but it does get harder to keep everyone moving up at that point too. :D
Hey, pretty cool !
The pixel art and the music do their job well, the game is really original, you have had a good idea.
After three or four games, it start to be a little bit boring... adding more "punch" could have been good to make the experience funnier. But overall, this is a good surprise.
Hey, pretty cool !
The pixel art and the music do their job well, the game is really original, you have had a good idea.
After three or four games, it start to be a little bit boring... adding more "punch" could have been good to make the experience funnier. But overall, this is a good surprise.
Thanks for playing and the feedback!
I think you're right! If I had more time I would have liked to add more "life events" to the mix or bringing in the spouse's parents when you get married and having to integrate them into the family tree.
I really like the game idea but I can't click any portrait so I can't play the game :(
Anyway nice game
Sorry to hear that!
I struggled a bit to understand how to play this at first. Once I learned that kids must be placed in the lower section of the screen 't gradually became one of my favourites so far.
If I had to change anything I'd prefer to hold the mouse button to activate the wedding bell. The rapid clicking is a bit straining and that prevents me from playing the game more.
I struggled a bit to understand how to play this at first. Once I learned that kids must be placed in the lower section of the screen 't gradually became one of my favourites so far.
If I had to change anything I'd prefer to hold the mouse button to activate the wedding bell. The rapid clicking is a bit straining and that prevents me from playing the game more.
I appreciate the kind words and the suggestion!
Such a fun and addicting game to play! It would be cool to have some highscore to seey how well you did compared to before.
Thanks for playing!
I definitely agree. I wasn't sure how to score it, but I started to run out of time and decided to skip it, but it sounds like it's something a lot of people would have liked to see. :)
Such a unique idea, well done! And well implemented.
I think the requirement to spam click detracts from the peaceful nature of the game. Add a high score system or something and it's a pretty complete game imho. :)
Nice work, will be highly rated from me.
Thank you!
Yea, I didn't realize the clicking would get so tedious :D I think maybe hovering or click/hold might work if I were to expand the game.
Yeh I agree, hovering might be a nice middle ground. Something to do, but much calmer than madly clicking!
I loved how fun and simple this game was! It's so addicting... And even though the portraits kept falling.... I wanted to try again :) Well done!
Is there an indicator showing when the baby comes?
Thanks!
The hearts on the married portraits is the indicator of when a baby will come, but it's hard to keep track of all of them at once, and it's also only 11 pixels tall so a bit hard to see.
That was so simple yet somehow adicting. I wish I could see how many people I've managed at the gameover screen instead of having to count them :)
Some sort of scoring was definitely on the list of things I decided to cut right near the end ;)
Glad you enjoyed it!
The concept is top notch ! I really love the art also.
Spam clicking was not fun for me, but I really enjoyed the game overall :)
Thanks!
That makes sense about the clicking. Maybe just touch/hold or hover would have been better. I didn't even think about it!