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A jam submission

Karen!View game page

Become a weapon of mass societal destruction
Submitted by Gamebang, xWretchedx, NerdMachine, anonalpa — 5 hours, 38 minutes before the deadline
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Karen!'s itch.io page

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous.

  • I enjoyed the overall vibe this game gave the store. Working in retail for so long and then playing this gave me a satisfaction of yelling at random people to get out of the way or move faster that I didn't know I needed. I played this twice once pushing everyone out of my way to get my things and the second time I saved all my energy for the cashier. I really enjoyed yelling at the cashier and they actually scanned my items faster and faster as I yelled more. I also want to state that you went above and beyond to make the store feel like an actual store. Suggestions: - Have a chance for random events to happen during your shopping experience that help or hinder your shopping. Like the cashier chatting up a customer instead of checking out your items. Maybe cleanup on aisle 5. - Add a shopping cart for even more mayhem.

Link to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BGT0Q7QM8XdoQEb4_6UPEdQrSNH5I-6-qcZhO0wTYRQ/edit?usp=sharing

Have you checked that your GDD is publicly accessible ?
Yes

Is your game set to public on itch.io so we can see it?
Yes

Summarise your game!
A small-scale top-down runner. Complete your checklist, checkout, and get out of there. Use you "Karen-ness" to force others to your bidding
No one gets in your way.

As you run through the store to do your shopping; disrespect, disregard, and smash your way through employees and other customers alike in pursuit of minimizing YOUR inconvenience.

Notes:
The game is designed with the intention to be a level-based speedrunner; having the player go further into the depths of selfishness to maximize their score and minimize their time spent.

Controls: Keyboard/Gampad
Move - WASD / Joystick / Dpad
Interact - E / A(Xbox) / X (PS)
Run - Shift / RB(Xbox) / R1 (PS)
Shout - Space / LB(Xbox) / L1(PS)

Please explain how your game fits the theme:
Our interpretation of the theme was to break down to what the most base definition of a weapon is. To that end, we came to the mindset that a weapon is something the is used to impose a will onto others; often unwillingly. To apply that to an individual; a person who considers themselves a "weapon", a person who is intentionally imposing, with no regard for the will or well-being of others.

With that in mind, we came to "Karen". Not a specific person, but a "type" of person. A type of weapon personified. A weapon you play as. You are a weapon. You are a Karen.

Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
We're hoping as we expand this game that we can get closer to that chaotic and anxiety inducing feel of games like Pizza Tower and Hotline Miami. To achieve that "feel", what part of the gameplay in particular would you recommend changing/focussing on?

Also, just for kicks, what do you think of the art style? Our artists worked their butts off the entire jam producing a ton of assets, most of which we were unable to implement in time.

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Comments

Submitted

This game was so awesome to look at. Good job with the music and premise. Gameplay was very easy to understand.  I would suggest some cool sfx when your power is activated as well as feedback sfx when you pick up items or bump into another customer. Nice Jay and Silent Bob. :) Overall great game with lots of potential for like a lot of levels and maybe even an infinite mode. Great job and entry ya'll!

Submitted

This game is gorgeous! It has a ton of promise to it, but right now my one complaint is that it's too easy. I didn't find a way to lose. Incorporating a timer into the gameplay, and needing to reserve your Karen power usage could be what really pushes this over the edge into "Game I play on repeat" territory

Submitted

"Hi, I'm a nice constructive comment" 

Lots of zany fun. Thanks.

Submitted(+2)

I LOVE THIS GAME. I love the idea of the meter and how many different things it affects. I had to play a couple of times to really get everything done as fast as possible. I wish there was a timer for speed running and a greater need to shout at people to really nail down that imposing onto others feeling. Lovely art direction and it plays like butter. Absolutely wonderful~ 

Developer

Very happy to hear that you enjoyed our project. We're aiming to expand on the speedrunning aspect pretty significantly over the next few updates as well as how meter management works into the gameplay. There was unfortunately a lot of systems we had to cut at the end of the jam to make deadline, but you can expect things like:

  • player and customers with shopping carts as obstacles and weapons
  • smashing into other customers to send them flying
  • refilling the meter by hogging "free samples" 
  • building "rage" by attempting to act "normal" (ie standing in line or being calm)
  • varied workers to yell at for different effects

And so much more that we already have half-implemented in the code. I hope that next time you check the game out that you can surprised by how far it's come

Submitted(+2)

omg i love the energy of this!! a karen is indeed the ultimate weapon! to get the more frantic feel you're looking for you could include something like fighting over the groceries - this is actually would i thought would happen! getting to the stuff before the other custormers and having to push them out of the way! art style is super lovely and very fitting to the game itself :]

Developer

I'm very glad to hear the suggestions you put forward. We had full intention to implement things like smashing into other customers as well as limited stock on the shelves that you'd have to fight for (Or alternatively, yell at a shelf stocker to refill). A portion of those systems is in the code, but unfortunately had to be cut to make the deadline. Now that we have time to expand we'll be implementing those systems and many more that we had planned. I hope that next time you check this game out that you'll be pleasantly surprised by the progress it's made

Submitted

Ah, the gamejam time really does wreck havoc haha, I'll look forward to checking the game out in the future! :]

Submitted(+2)

This was super cool! I dig the art style a lot. I'm not sure I felt the anxiety inducing feel (I enjoyed the vibes too much) - maybe some higher intensity music or a speedrun timer or something could help with that feeling? I'm excited to see what ya'll do with this going forward.