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Clash of the Giga-Mechas's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #47 | 2.840 | 3.667 |
| Originality | #63 | 3.098 | 4.000 |
| Visuals | #65 | 2.969 | 3.833 |
| Overall | #69 | 2.840 | 3.667 |
| Fun Factor | #70 | 2.582 | 3.333 |
Ranked from 6 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Is your game a video game or a physical game?
Physical game
Was your game made solo or in a team?
Solo
Did you use any third party assets, if yes what assets did you use?
Art by y lustigesrollenspiel.de (used with permission) and Maciej Zagorski of The Forge (Combat Drones)
Did you choose from one (or more) of the optional secondary themes?
Not really
Does your game contain 18+ content (Nudity, Gore, Language)?
No.
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Comments
I fell like I'm not enjoying the game due to a language barrier, I barely understood the overall concept, but that wont stop me from giving 5 stars 😆
Thank you, I suppose?
What do you mean by "language barrier "? Not an English speaker?
I cannot easily grasp the meaning of things, obviously not a native english speaker, I simply cannot enjoy it to the fullest, but its a great game trust me! I just need to download duolingo and catch up on my lessons 😆
Fair enough! English is not my first language either so I can tell you my narrative is not particularly convoluted (after all, it's a rulebook: it needs to be clear rather than literary). At some point, though, I plan to translate it to Spanish if that's of any help.
Game is not quite my kind of thing since I'm heavy crunch type of guy, but I can see a friend of mine who prefers lightweight games having a lot of fun with it. I think it's pretty neat what you have here and it's encapsulated in a lightweight package plus with plenty of art going around.
Fair enough! Not everything is for everyone and it's all right having different preferences.
In my case, I used to have a big crush with crunchy games (Battletech, Warhammer 40.000, Rolemaster and so on) but, as I grew up, my group drove apart, new games appeared and my spare time got really scarce. Simple games are easier to organise for casual groups.
So after reading through the rulesI can say I like what I see. The fluff and flavour sets the tone nicely while the illustrations complements it just as well. Rules are clear and simple, while Mech building is also fairly simple and still offers players with a healthy amount of choices and decisions. All in all its a excellent example of a rules light mech TRPG and I don't think running through the academy shouldn't take too long, maybe one to three sessions? (I can't really say until I or someone else brings it to a table and plays).
I've got mixed feelings about losing Influence after moving to the Unit phase. On one hand it makes sense being the head of the student band or being the daughter of a wealthy industrialist will matter little once they are part of the Unit, on the other hand I'm not a fan of dropping a mechanic that was there at the beginning. However I think that's just me, and if it is an issue, I doubt it will be a big one if the academy only takes a single session.
Besides that issue (which probably isn't really an issue) everything is absolutely solid here, and I think you've practically nailed what you were going for.
Thank you!
The loss of Influence mechanics from one part to the other has a reason: it is there to represent the brutal change from Academy to battlefields. At first, I wanted to make it an upgrade, add +1 to attributes or similar but didn't feel quite right:
The 2d6 mechanics don't give you much space for numbers. If you hit +3/+4, you basically can't fail and that doesn't feel right. I could make the cadets worse from the beginning but then it is really hard to pass exams.
They get a damn mecha each after the Academy. That's a big improvement.
In the Unit, the former Cadets are on their own and the stakes are much higher and you can't rely on the same resources and contacts that in the Academy (you can't call dad or having a copy of the keys of the Commander's office is of little use). It is a bit of poetic justice for those characters (thinking of the Cool Guy and the Rich Kid) who are in the Academy for fun cheating on the exams.
This is an awesome project. Incredibly ambitious to put together a two phase game in the time limit and it seems like it will work well. I really like the idea of following cadets as they go to war and I don't think I've seen it done before. Also really enjoyed the illustrations you were able to source.
If I manage to get it to a table, I'll be sure to let you know how it plays. From reading over the rules I think it should run pretty smoothly. The moves may need a bit more fleshing out, but I'll have to see how they work at the table. I also think it would be neat if there were a table for generating academy crises in the same way there's a mission generation table.
Thank you very much!
Originally, the game was just the mecha part until I had the idea of adding the Academy section. I like your idea of a table for academic crisis.
the illustrations are incredible. the cadet cards fitting in the mech sheet just makes this even cooler. genuinely wonderful.
Thank you!
The gimmick of the pilot sheet on top of the mecha one occurred to me thanks to my main mecha reference, Mazinger Z:
I feel like I can't rate a game I haven't played, so I will just comment on reading through the rules.
I love the mech illustrations. They are honestly perfect!
I could do with a little more white space to help me read the rules portion.
The sheet for the Gigamech suddenly looks like a childish lego man instead of a cool mech. If you kept the boxes in the same spots and the same size, could it be replaced with an illustration behind it? Alternatively, just keep the boxes in the same spot, and don't show the hands and feet.
I worry about the lack of structure behind "if you want to do something, do it" This may be better phrased "if you wish to attempt something, just try it!" or "if you want to add something to the world suggest it. (the GM has the final call)"
It's hard to stay classy in these modern times, but try to read through a pass of everything looking for your own biases and looking out for minority groups. For instance, perhaps "The hot bimbo" or "The exchange student that speaks funny" shouldn't be in the suggested list of NPCs
a nice inclusion is some additional notes or advice to the GM
For the role playing portion, many games have set situations or situations created by the GM that are rife with conflict and multiple ways to handle it, the players choose how to approach the problem, and the result is left up to the dice. In your dice roll examples, you show rolling dice to determine the situation of being invited or not to a party. Maybe rephrase it as "Ash is inviting all the hot cadets to a party in the hanger. Roll dice and add your hotness to see if you got invited"
For the missions / combat, maybe a section the explains the actions and rules and rolls of combat generally before getting into the details of armaments? Also what would be super helpful is a written out example of a sample turn involving combat.
Thanks for your feedback. All of them valid points, actually.
I try to fill the white space with images to make use of all the available space. I probably could remove a couple of pictures and the result would be clearer.
The sheet was a rush job in the last minute as I had an earlier deadline (other than the two weeks for the jam, I could work on the game maybe three or four days). Point taken, it needs some polishing. I wrote this post about earlier versions.
"If you want to do something, do it" is in the core of the PbtA philosophy to encourage players to do things in order to change the fiction. When the fiction meets the activation conditions of a move, it triggers. It's not a skill roll as such. This works the same with the mecha part: you explain what you want to do and, well, you do it and if it fits the activation conditions of a mecha move, follow its instructions. There are no turns as in more traditional ttrpgs as it's all played as a conversation. Obviously, if I have to explain all this, you are probably right and I should put some more explanations.
About the minorities, noted. It's a delicate matter these days.
And more examples. I wanted to put more but was running out of time.
For the white space, I meant add more images and spaces between text, to help break up the text. But yeah I'm glad I can help!