"Mama is Sick" is a resource-management, hard-times simulation game.
YOU ONLY GET ONE DOLLAR A DAY to look after your family (thanks to a generous family from overseas) while papa is away and mama is sick.
Buy food and water to make sure the food, water and health bars of you and your family don't reach zero or death will occur.
If your education bar reaches zero, you won't graduate high school.
You have to last 50 days until papa comes back. Will you manage to graduate? Will everyone survive?
You can work in a clothing factory to earn 50c a day, but be careful not to miss too much school. You also need to study at least three days a week or risk not being able to graduate.
@doitle We are uploading a new link now, thank you for your feedback!
@LukeR Thanks for the feedback, in our game you only have $1 a day to help your family survive.
@Unept Your comment means a lot to us, we'd love to hear what your kids think about the game!
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errorage17 Dec 2013, 03:06
This game deserves a lot more attention than I managed to give it now: "Oh, I'll just play one more game before I leave." I'm giving it a high 'first impression' rating, so it appears in my list of rated games. I'll give it a full playthrough later.
You almost made me cry.. Truth is I've met several people in exactly this situation, forced to choose work (at absurd rates) over school in my travels. This hit home. Nice work.
Really nicely done! The graphics are disturbingly happy for such a serious game, and the gameplay is very sound. My problem is that the upgrades were a little unclear as to what they did, but I didn't read the instructions so that's probably my fault. Good job!
This fits with the theme, although the flavor text is a little dark. To be honest, this style of turn-by-turn game is not my cup of tea, but the graphics are really good, and the audio is well done.
This is a very interesting game. I found the interface a little confusing at times, but once I resolved the confusion, it was pretty simple, and the concept is powerful.
Sad but interesting game. It was very hard to understand the goat and upgrades mechanic, the fact that grey icon means you dont have the upgrade OR you have it but its unactive, is deceptive. Maybe hiding the price once you bought it.
Selecting the bucket everyday is boring, why not allocate it to someone until you change your mind ? ( like blanket )
Wow this was really brutal. Excellent use of the theme. I managed to get to the end with only one family member dying, but only because I didn't try to stay in school at all.
Wow, we are really happy and humbled to hear the game made such an impact with you all! Thank you so much for your comments!
@Benjamin & @Calahagus: Thanks for your feedback regarding the interface. This was our first real foray into interface design, so we still have much to learn. We really appreciate your feedback!
A very good game! You hit the mood spot on, and it made me empathise about what exactly I'd do if I also had $1 a day, haha. There were a lot of instructions to take in initially, but after reading I found out the game was pretty straight forward anyway. :)
Agh why! So sad and depressing, EVERYONE DIED except me. And at the end I had like $30. Man, if I just had a time machine :(
Well. It's hard. It is a bit emotional and sad, especially since the dad writes letters about waiting to see everyone when they are all dead. I don't think I could stand to play another minute of it, so... take that however you want.
Moving game, loved the music, the story... everything... I am playing it a second time, and I think I will another time after that. :D it reminded me of Papers Please, one of my favorite games right now!
Great way of making people experience, first hand, the hardships that the poorest of this world must go through. Everyone survived and I graduated, but it was rough. Great game!
What a cruel game! After constantly failing at saving everyone even without going to school, I just tried the other way around, letting my family starve to death so I could study. I was smiling the whole time until the end, graduated with high honors, and even got enough money to buy me some chic clothes! Yep!
Ok, I redeemed myself by taking the entire family to my graduation. Turns out it works better if you let one member starve for a while, then give double ration. Good concept!
A gripping and sad experience. I wish the upgrades were a bit clearer, but the ability to go to the menu and re-read the instructions makes it better. Really powerful.
This is one of the best games from the jam. Really, really great job at telling a story through game mechanics. This one drew me right in. Thanks for making this. Mother, grandma, and brother all died the same turn. But at least I graduated, damn it. Sorry you can't play Digital Toilet World! I wish I were able to port to mac.
Nice idea and good execution. I like the graphics! The setting is quite sad, but thats ok. I think the game will make people think about how hard lift can be for people in the 3rd world! Nice work!
Sad, interesting game. Music is lovely, though it repeats a bit. Could do with a little more feedback on selecting options - wasn't sure my clicks were registering.
Er...
...is it a little strange that the lesson I took from this was to go hyper-capitalist and let my family die immediately in order to max out my access to food, education and medicine?
Might be worth emphasising the importance of family in small communities like this. Or not? Food for thought.
This is wonderful. You manage to set the right mood and bring us the difficulty that this family is having. And that is great art, especially for someone who isn't an artist.
@plaguespark Thanks for the feedback. We didn't explain how some of the buttons work in the instructions; I believe you were pressing the reset button (for resetting all purchases made that day). The "pause" button is actually what brings you back to the main menu. What kind of glitches occurred with the main menu?
Good game with a well done mood! Very challenging. I liked it and found myself saddened when someone died because I wanted to see everyone survive. Well done! One of the best games I've played! -J
This is a very sad game. It's good, but it's so depressing. I had my entire family die before me, before I managed to keep myself alive (but on the other hand, it suddenly got very easy)
Wow, that's a powerful experience. You should definitely be proud of it. It looks professional, and most of the graphics are great. Excellent writing: the family members get quite a bit of personality, even the father. I like how you put in random events (at least I assume they were randomly generated; I only played a couple of times). I can see this game being used in debate/education about poverty.
On the downside, it took a while to learn what all the meters meant, and I'm still not sure I've figured it all out. But that's my problem, not yours.
A good gaming experience, without sugarcoating the unpleasant reality. I'll come back and see if I can do better next time.
Very touching game, really enjoyed playing it! What a great take on the theme. Boy am I grateful to that family that kept sending $1 a day, could not have survived without it. The storytelling was also very cute and added a lot of character to the game.
PS. I haven't rated the audio (for some reason it didn't play for me).
Quiet a sad game but well done. I often make games like this but it's good to see some interesting changes. The interface could be more helpful but overall a good effort.
Over the last week this game has come up in conversation with almost everyone I've hung out with. Left a really strong impact.
J
joppiesaus6 Jan 2014, 19:29
Interesting. This is not a game you "play in a minute". I really like it. Everything is well balanced, you get a good mood of the game, the graphics are nice... I think this is the best game yet I've seen, this-style. Nice job! :)
I really didnt expect for this... really sad game and that is a compliment in this case. The mood on this one is spot on in this one. Not your usual gaming experience.
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@LukeR Thanks for the feedback, in our game you only have $1 a day to help your family survive.
@Unept Your comment means a lot to us, we'd love to hear what your kids think about the game!
Well done.
Selecting the bucket everyday is boring, why not allocate it to someone until you change your mind ? ( like blanket )
@Benjamin & @Calahagus: Thanks for your feedback regarding the interface. This was our first real foray into interface design, so we still have much to learn. We really appreciate your feedback!
Well. It's hard. It is a bit emotional and sad, especially since the dad writes letters about waiting to see everyone when they are all dead. I don't think I could stand to play another minute of it, so... take that however you want.
This is way the most powerful part of this game. Graphics are enough for this game, music fits perfectly for mood.
Not even sure if I should even rate Fun in this case.
A great-great 5 overall.
Great graphics and music.
Really a game that makes us reflect. Sad and the story box... powerful.
Great game! One of my favorites on this jam, for real! Awesome job!
If you have time, rate my game too! I would really appreciate it :)
The graphics are pretty cool though!
I'm not too sure how this connects with the theme but, it's pretty cool nonetheless!
After constantly failing at saving everyone even without going to school, I just tried the other way around, letting my family starve to death so I could study.
I was smiling the whole time until the end, graduated with high honors, and even got enough money to buy me some chic clothes! Yep!
Good concept!
Mother, grandma, and brother all died the same turn. But at least I graduated, damn it.
Sorry you can't play Digital Toilet World! I wish I were able to port to mac.
I like the graphics!
The setting is quite sad, but thats ok. I think the game will make people think about how hard lift can be for people in the 3rd world!
Nice work!
Er...
...is it a little strange that the lesson I took from this was to go hyper-capitalist and let my family die immediately in order to max out my access to food, education and medicine?
Might be worth emphasising the importance of family in small communities like this. Or not? Food for thought.
Good job!
Great job!
It's hard to tell with the UI how the upgrades work.
On the downside, it took a while to learn what all the meters meant, and I'm still not sure I've figured it all out. But that's my problem, not yours.
A good gaming experience, without sugarcoating the unpleasant reality. I'll come back and see if I can do better next time.
PS. I haven't rated the audio (for some reason it didn't play for me).