Minimal Conquest

by manax
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.08
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.00
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.05
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.44
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.47
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.20
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.05
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.43
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★71%
It's not a strong thematic entry, but it is a game (unlike my entry in LD23, which was more of a "sketch").

The AI is strong, so I really recommend "easy" if you're playing any map size bigger than "Small"...

I should add a volume control... but not gonna. Not sure how loud it is for you, so be warned.

Enjoy!

20130508: Just for reference, I just beat it on "normal" 5 of 8 times. Doing good moves in the beginning makes the endgame much easier.

screenshot

Comments24

GAFBlizzard29 Apr 2013, 07:15
I like this entry, but it is very difficult even on easy. I'm not sure the AI actually needs a 2-piece advantage on easy. :P

Also, having a restart key would be nice since I kept having to press enter in the URL bar to reload once I realized I had messed up the first few moves.

Lastly, is there an element of randomness to this? I felt like sometimes territories would go neutral or not be captured as expected, but I suppose I am wrong.
omaromeir29 Apr 2013, 13:20
Hey, nice game. Too difficult as mentioned above but I enjoyed it nonetheless :).
Flai29 Apr 2013, 14:48
Great game but way too hard :(
manax
manaxauthor29 Apr 2013, 15:01
No randomness. The 2-piece advantage is because the first player gets a significant advantage. (Although yes, 'easy' is still pretty challenging.)

Adding an "I give up" button would be good, but you should finish the game, even if you lose! *hint hint*

When you select a hex, all adjacent hexes are evaluated, and if there are more grey or red hexes around THAT, then they are flipped. More metaphorically, you attack a hex, neighbors are distracted, and so THEIR neighbors can take advantage.
Kyle Bolton29 Apr 2013, 18:01
I like this entry, but I'll agree with the others and say that this is a bit challenging (this could be me, as I tend to struggle with this genre). On easy, maybe the AI should occasionally make bad moves?
manax
manaxauthor29 Apr 2013, 19:02
The AI actually picks a move based on a randomness, so the difficulty setting is just a constant. I'll add a "very easy" setting in a few hours, disclosing that I don't think this violates the spirit of LD, and hoping others agree. I won't tweak anything other than the constant, so if that isn't enough to make it easy... I guess we'll have to live with it.
JimmyLord29 Apr 2013, 19:49
This is great, managed to beat it on easy, tried normal and failed. Easy isn't too hard once you understand the rules, but it's certainly not easy.
Gaeel30 Apr 2013, 12:02
Has an othello vibe, would have been nice to have some little soldiers or something to give a bit of story to what's happening
RealyUniqueName30 Apr 2013, 12:03
Idea is interesting, but gameplay is too hard even on normal
zinfandel
zinfandel30 Apr 2013, 12:05
Very good gameplay!
A bit difficult to figure out how the math is being done.
Atridas
Atridas30 Apr 2013, 12:14
It's hard to get used to the rules, but once you get, it's quite a fun game!
Roan Contreras
Roan Contreras30 Apr 2013, 12:19
This game's challenging but it's a great game :D
sboerwinkle3 May 2013, 20:08
Pretty good. Rules for capturing territories could be a little better explained, but I think I got the hang of it. Still tricky after several games, so good job there.
nddrylliog
nddrylliog4 May 2013, 21:13
Tried to rate it, but the page only had a blue canvas with nothing happening :/ did it break recently?
manax
manaxauthor4 May 2013, 22:51
Oops, started work on another project and accidentally released it on top of my ld26 entry! Thanks!
EatenAlive3
EatenAlive35 May 2013, 16:33
I liked it! I'm not very good at strategy games, but I am good at getting potatoes apparently!

Outsmarted at Easy every time :/
Cosine6 May 2013, 02:41
Great game. Loved it. Perhaps one of the best basic strategy games I have played ever, definitely best LD strategy game I've played.
ovenchips
ovenchips7 May 2013, 23:31
Man, that is super-punishing. The guest appearance by the potato was sublime. :)
stqn9 May 2013, 00:42
Rules of the game would be nice.
manax
manaxauthor9 May 2013, 03:00
@stqn Err, they're on the webpage, below the game...
Beldarak
Beldarak10 May 2013, 03:52
I suck so hard at it :D

But it's a nice game you got there.
Gremlin13 May 2013, 23:08
Switching between mouse and keyboard is kind of annoying, but you knew that already. And the problem with the sounds isn't so much the volume but the repetitiveness.

I like the general idea of the game, though it's really hard to win.

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