Wow, this is inspired. Having the two dice in their feedback loop is an simple but maddeningly elegant bit of design, with enough depth that I doubt you'd have any trouble fleshing the course out to a full 18 holes. Don't get me wrong, I definitely sucked at beating the levels under par, but just because I'm not a massive fan of these more open-ended sorts of puzzles doesn't mean I can't appreciate the vision! Just great.
Wow, high praise indeed! That's actually such a useful point about the eyes; I've sort of realised since publishing it that I'm not all that happy with the tone of the game, but I'd only really been thinking about the writing and sound until you mentioned that.
And yeah, Godot's a blast! Don't get me wrong, it definitely has some weird and unexpected limitations, but hey - I'm a sucker for a good bit of open source software!
Ah, sorry to hear that! Figured I'd get to the alarms quickly to stand out against the other puzzlers using the same movement mechanics, but I realise that it's quite an abrupt introduction. Will upload some hints in the description when I get the chance!
Superb! Cute visuals, satisfyingly weight movements, all wrapped up with a nice sense of humour. Like other people, I found it quite easy get through it without really using the core mechanic, but hey - dice or no dice, I had a great time jumping about in this lovely little world you've made
Ah, a fellow Godot user! Definitely liked what I saw; the double jump turning into a dice roll in particular felt really fluid, big fan of that. Ah bit short, sure, but it works as a nice proof of concept - just wish I could've played more! Great stuff!
Following up, it's interesting! I really wanna start by saying, as someone else who's had a shot at turning around a bit of interactive fiction for a game jam, my god is it hard, and my god have you done a better and more substantial job of it that I ever have. More to the point, you've got a really solid concept, the sort of thing you can really sink your teeth into. I think though, there's a bit of a feeling that the plot is getting away from you? There's all these ambitious ideas and concepts and stats to keep track of, but unless you can let the player fully interact with them, the game can maybe feel a bit lacking in depth/variety.
Maybe a good way to refine it would be force yourself to rewrite the story to take place over... a week? Three days? Not only can you keep up your story's momentum a lot more easily, but when you're not focused on writing a month's worth of content there's a lot more room to give the player some sense of freedom/deeper involvement.
Really hope this doesn't sound negative - I just sincerely love a chance to chat about writing in games, so the fact you've given me such a cool piece with so much to chat about is really all I could have asked for!
Ahh, okay - definitely respect the intention, but I think going with something like that so early on can make the narrative feel sluggish at best, and like it's hit a dead end without the player knowing it at worst. Still, excited to give it another shot!
Incredibly charming. Having created a dice-based puzzler myself, I'm more than a bit jealous of what you've come up with! Relaxing, satisfying, with an absolutely seamless tutorial. One thing I would say, though, is the levels do start to feel a bit repetitive after a while: you can use the same strategy to brute force them without having to think much, which isn't ideal. Still, all the more reason to add things like limited ink after the jam - keep it up!
Hey! Tried having a go at this, but after the opening I ended up just going into the casino day after day, without any money to bet and no other options available - am I missing something? Happy to give it another shot if so!
Thanks for the feedback! I tried to put a little key for what the next side is in the top left corner, but I now realise it was a bit subtle - maybe made the visuals a bit *too* clean in that instance lmao
Ahh, very fair! I was definitely a bit concerned about it seeming similar to other games, especially since one of the main mechanics that differentiates it only comes in in level 4 - will mb put some hints in the description later today
Short, sure, but my god is it sweet. Not the first to say that forcing the player to change their guns is a brilliant design decision, so instead I wanna complement you all on those little subtleties and quality of life features you've worked in. The retro tunes, the seamlessly-integrated tutorial, that cute little particle effect when you try and fire an empty gun; not only have you created a very fun game, but you've presented it in a way that truly does it justice. Keep it up!
From the creator of one tile-based dice-rolling puzzler to another: I'm more than a little bit jealous. This is just such a satisfying game; the clean graphics, the ice crackling underfoot, the fact the levels have more than one solution... it all amounts to an incredibly calming experience, one well worth playing the whole way through. Very pleasant stuff.
Really exciting stuff! Love the storytelling, love that soundtrack, and building on some of the other comments, I'd say the random movement is currently a bit frustrating but such an interesting concept to explore. I think there's definitely ways of iterating on it to give the player just a little bit more control, whether letting them influence that probability distribution more easily or shifting from post-luck to pre-luck altogether - but hey, where's the fun in a jam if not trying out something completely wild? Keep it up!
Maybe I'm biased, but having also made a puzzle based on the same movement mechanic, I found it so cool to see the direction you went with it! Goes without saying that the levels were really compelling, but maybe an undo and/or reset button would let the player explore and enjoy them more fully? I think I felt too focused on not messing up/running out of time that I couldn't fully appreciate the care you'd put into them.
Oh, and I for one thought the irregular die was a nice touch; made me think *that* bit more!
I like it! Definitely agree with one of the other comments that more could have been made of the dice themselves, but hey - as a maths nerd I'm never going to say no to a compelling set of puzzles. Keep it up!
Adorable stuff! I think the aim of the game got a bit lost, but hey - that didn't take anything away from the joy of just chucking a die about from the inside!
Ooh, very nice! A fresh take on a well-explored genre, with a stylish presentation that really sells it (and I say that as someone who's never been that big on pixel art). Definitely keen to see how you balance/expand on the game if you were to develop it further...
Brilliant, zany, bizarre; I love it. Probably comes as no surprise that the artwork is the standout here, but there's such a liveliness and sense of humour that the game becomes so much more than the sum of its parts.
Oh, and getting attacked by a roll is horrifyingly visceral, great stuff.
Ahh! It's horrible! I love it! Killer aesthetics, engrossing prose, and a fun-if-occasionally-maddening dice mechanic to bring it neatly back to the theme; if this doesn't make it to the top 100 it'll truly be Mark's loss.
Oof, really really clever stuff. You've got one of those core mechanics that's so simple to understand (so much so that you can fit that nice numbered grid in the top right corner!), but has so much depth to be teased out of it. I think an undo button would have been a really nice touch to let the player fully appreciate your puzzles and learn from their mistakes, but hey - you've given us more than enough to appreciate as is!
Really solid concept; I think it's drawn from the theme in all the right ways, mechanically and aesthetically. The lack of sound is a bit of a shame, as I think it could really enhance the setting and/or general vibe, but that certainly hasn't stopped your vision from shining through!
