LdDB
Ludum Dare #37jam

Hitlers Cactus or only you can stop Trump

by stupidmindlessf
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.59
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.48
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★4.03
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.57
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.60
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.43
Humor★★★★★★★★★★4.11
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.59
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★98%
It’s November 2016 and Donald Trump has been elected president of the USA. Your future self sends you on a mission to prevent this from happening.

Travel through time and manipulate the belongings of five major personalities to change the future.

Will you be able to save the day?

What kind of crazy alternate timelines can you create?

Is there such a thing as fate – and if so, is it really wise to screw with it?

#EDIT 12/18

Hey everybody,

huge thank you to all who played Hitler's Cactus and left us feedback.

We heard you and made a new version with some small improvements, such as new and more frequent alternate outcomes and an in-game menu, that allows you to restart the game at any point.

The original LD version can still be found on itchio, just scroll down to the LD 37 versions.

https://stupidmindlessf.itch.io/hitlers-cactus-or-only-you-can-stop-trump

@freejsf
Genres: adventure

Comments55

Zarkonnen
Zarkonnen13 Dec 2016, 10:53
This was really amusing, though on my first play-through all my messing around changed nothing.
Maffew13 Dec 2016, 18:43
Took me a while to realise you could bring items with you, fun game and a good sense of humour
Bomballroomstudio13 Dec 2016, 19:37
Nice idea!

Loved the timetravel visual effect and the people you chose to include
Almax2713 Dec 2016, 19:44
Very clever idea. Not overly obvious how you can stop trump, but that adds more depth for a second or third play through.
Archonthewizard
Archonthewizard13 Dec 2016, 19:48
The web version lagged a lot for me - probably should have tried the standalone.

I really enjoyed the different versions of the room, including the music. Great use of theme. I didn't understand the strategy at all, unfortunately
Moeilijk13 Dec 2016, 19:50
Really fun game, even though I have no clue how to win.
automatonvx
automatonvx13 Dec 2016, 19:50
Fun concept - stopped trump not quite sure how, but didn't manage to change anything else
stupidmindlessf
stupidmindlessfauthor13 Dec 2016, 20:24
thanks for your feedback, really appreciated! :-) The game is meant to be played several times, to experiment a little bit with outcomes and possibilities.

There is a tiny little bit of feedback when your action is altering a timeline - watch for it.
Uliana Galich14 Dec 2016, 08:55
Nice art and very interisting gameplay

Good job dev!
Zgragselus14 Dec 2016, 09:03
I somehow "won" on my 2nd try, but don't understand the mechanics what has an effect and what doesn't -- all in all, this was a fun one!

A tremendous game. Tremendous.
Holofire
Holofire14 Dec 2016, 09:30
Haha, loved it. Took a few tried until I got the hang of it. Goo stuff :D
stupidmindlessf
stupidmindlessfauthor14 Dec 2016, 11:08
Oh no! Fake News! Lügenpresse! New release to save the truth!

If you happened to have played before and had stopped Trump but hadn’t changed the timeline:

You did it all wrong and you now must play again.

Basically fake news.

Now, you could argue it wasn’t your fault and that there was a bug in the game, fine - but you should have known better, right?

Anyway its fixed now and you won't get so easy away next time.

Now stop complaining, go play HCOYCST again and this time stop Trump for real!
antishow14 Dec 2016, 19:04
It's called Hitler's Cactus. How could someone NOT love this? Nice job on the art, love the twist on "One Room" by using time travel!
Multiplexor
Multiplexor14 Dec 2016, 21:23
Very cool game! Concept is great! And it's fun to make muiltiple playthroughs!

But I wasn't really able to stop trump, I couldn't figure out how the changes impacted the events!

Keep up the good work people!
BadPaul34
BadPaul3414 Dec 2016, 22:47
I couldn't understand how my actions changed anything.
Shockk
Shockk14 Dec 2016, 22:52
This was a pretty interesting game even though I ended up not being able to change anything.

"But the future refused to change"

I have to say, I've definitely heard this music before, so I would probably recommend opting out of the Audio category. But other than that, good ratings all around. And you pulled it off without even leaving that one room.
Xwilarg
Xwilarg14 Dec 2016, 23:12
Well, the idea is awesome and the cactus too.

But... I still don't understand what we are suppose to do exacly (and I was able to change only 1 minor thing on the journal after 3 games...))
stupidmindlessf
stupidmindlessfauthor14 Dec 2016, 23:20
@Shockk good hint with the music, thanks. Wasn't thinking about it and opted out. It's all credited though.

@Xwilarg

There are some patterns, like certain items leading to similar futures for different people. Yet, it does involve more trial and error than I wished for. The more sophisticated subtile hint system didn't make it into this version, but might at a later point.
alfadur14 Dec 2016, 23:35
I managed to find right items for all 5 people, but then forgot one of them when putting together the final solution XD. I wish there was a quick restart button, both reloading and following through to the end start to drag a bit after a while. Great concept, though, the mutually exclusive item combinations really add some depth to it. And the blink when getting a solution right is a real lifesaver :D
doppelgunner15 Dec 2016, 00:18
Nice idea of one room! all of them lived at the same room.
t4u15 Dec 2016, 00:33
I like the concept but I don't feel that my actions effect anything. Sometimes I had troubles identifying people with dates. I want to go to Monroe age but don't remember the date and I end up dancing with Hitler (and his cactus). Not sure why did you restrict time-travelling to one visit per age.

Game needs hints or some better scoring system to at least say if we did good or bad at stoping Trump. I feel news could have been more crazy. Hitler as peace loving rock star, Monroe as conservative housewife, Freud as transvestite - that would be something.

The game is good on technical level. Art is good and gives good feel of the era. Sounds and music fit in nicely but design is still missing that extra something.
Sundr015 Dec 2016, 01:19
Very fun game with a very good mood :D The theme is so respected and the timeline's idea is genius dude :D I imagine you have past the most part of it to find and write all those stories aaaaand you deserve the points for Humor and Mood totally :D + the music is according great to the rest :D
panu15 Dec 2016, 01:52
Excelent consept considering the theme. I think there should have been some kind of hints given, for one random hint for the "secondary objectives". After 6 retries i only got the sigmund freud thing.
nlbi21
nlbi2115 Dec 2016, 04:05
The idea for me is very original, in addition the game strikes the theme. I liked how you developed everything, the music in each era was great, the graphics I liked a lot too: D. I think if you had more time you would have put more things, I liked the game a lot. Good job.
Ekilibr
Ekilibr15 Dec 2016, 07:24
Really nice and original take on the theme :)

Like some others, my first run didn't change anything, but it offers a good replay value (definitely wanted to see what happen in different scenarios), and the runs are short enough to let you go for a few on a single session.

Well played :)
stupidmindlessf
stupidmindlessfauthor15 Dec 2016, 07:44
@t4u you're right about the hint system - a better cause and effect connection display was planned but didn't make it in.

>I feel news could have been more crazy. Hitler as peace >loving rock star, Monroe as conservative housewife, Freud as >transvestite - that would be something.

you clearly haven't seen all of the outcomes yet ;-)
Uruca Games
Uruca Games15 Dec 2016, 13:12
Very good game !! I really liked the environments and especially the mission to prevent the election of Trump ^^ Congratulations.
stepp15 Dec 2016, 14:24
That was good. Very funny and clever.

Congrats!
Fuad15 Dec 2016, 17:05
Very interesting idea. I wonder how many varietis you have in this game.

The only drawback is a little feedback on changing future. Maybe it will be good idea to put newspaper in each room to show changing timelines in progress.
stupidmindlessf
stupidmindlessfauthor15 Dec 2016, 21:06
@Fuad: I wanted a newspaper in every room but that didn't make it. Possibly something for a later point.

Did you see that there is a quick blink when you successfully changed something, though?
Cerno_b15 Dec 2016, 21:57
I count myself among the people who didn't understand how to solve this, but I tried a lot anyway. The premise is brilliant and the idea of reading the papers at the end to find out whether your actions actually achieved something was a nice touch.

I wish it were possible to visit the different times as often as you wanted to play around more with the cause and effect side of things.

Actually extending the idea beyond this competition would be really interesting. If you can make it a game where you have to time travel to achieve a specific goal but a lot of things you can do have a butterfly effect and you end up worse than what you originally tried to prevent and have to dig yourself out of that mess.
Ayxs
Ayxs15 Dec 2016, 22:03
this was a really amuzing experience loved every second of it!
nassi15 Dec 2016, 23:14
Couldn't quite solve it myself after maybe five playtroughs, but I feel like removing the limit of one visit/time would diminish the puzzlyness(?) of the game. Maybe it would've been a nice addition, as an easy mode or something. Would've probably played for longer had it had a mode like that.

Nice idea and an excellent use of the theme. Aesthetic was also good, especially the time-warp shader was a nice surprise. I feel a lot of the humor sadly lies in the different outcomes I didn't manage to achieve.
MrMordem
MrMordem15 Dec 2016, 23:54
Haha i couldn't manage to save the timeline in the end :(

But the game has quite some good humor, really laughed at what those letters said XD and i love the concept of time travelling and how you used it.

good job :)
freyby
freyby17 Dec 2016, 16:03
Concept is original but mechanics are too confusing, even at my 5 th run I don't really get it ;(
pkenney
pkenney17 Dec 2016, 17:34
Wow, very cool, this is an extremely interesting experience, and well put together. Nice work! I played through a bunch of times trying to change things, but I guess maybe the impact I had was a little low... I think I would have kept going if even the unhelpful changes gave me a little reaction.

Great use of the theme!
Quetzakol
Quetzakol17 Dec 2016, 19:54
Excellent game ! I loved the idea, although I did not manage to prevent Trump from being president :(. I did have Marilyn Monroe has president though :P

I think this is a great use of the theme, very innovative idea, with good graphics and mood in general. If the effects of taking and moving objects was clearer it could be much more fun !

Very well done :)
Ednei
Ednei18 Dec 2016, 01:21
Funny game! Congrats!
ato18 Dec 2016, 12:42
Nice graphics, pleasant music, cool time travel effect, and the game is really funny. I couldn't finish it after few tries. I'll think about solution and try finishing it later. Some kind of hint system might be helpful, but I like the game as it is, requires to think for a while.
jusw8518 Dec 2016, 18:18
It's a fairly unique concept. Played around for a bit, but I didn't manage to stop Trump from getting elected. I wasn't exactly sure how my actions affected the current timelines.
stupidmindlessf
stupidmindlessfauthor18 Dec 2016, 18:35
Hey everybody,

huge thank you to all who played Hitler's Cactus and left us feedback.

We heard you and made a new version with some small improvements, such as new and more frequent alternate outcomes and an in-game menu, that allows you to restart the game at any point.

The original LD version can still be found on itchio, just scroll down to the LD 37 versions.

https://stupidmindlessf.itch.io/hitlers-cactus-or-only-you-can-stop-trump
HotByteDog18 Dec 2016, 19:23
It's cool to see an idea set in your place, if you have thought about something with time travel yourself without getting a clue.

It's even cooler if its such a crazy and funny concept.

The relation of the objects to the news outcome was not so obvious to me.

But the mood you created with the nice music from each decade and stimulating the players fantasy is superb!
SimonHutchinson
SimonHutchinson19 Dec 2016, 02:14
Very cute. I love the various headlines that you can create.
Thijs Tak20 Dec 2016, 11:16
Nice game, although I wasn't able to prevent trump from becoming president:(
thebrickanator
thebrickanator21 Dec 2016, 22:38
Very interesting and its a compelling story ;) It would be nice to receive a little feedback from your actions, so you don't feel like you're just trying random combinations. I do love the sense of humor though :D
WizzardMaker
WizzardMaker22 Dec 2016, 12:02
A funny little game. Had fun, but it was kinda hard to understand what action did/prevented what.

Great idea, fun to play
sP0CkEr222 Dec 2016, 14:26
really cool idea. I need to play this a few more times to see if I can win. it would be nice if there was some indication that your choices had impacts before the end of the game. nice entry.
stupidmindlessf
stupidmindlessfauthor24 Dec 2016, 14:34
hey sP0CkEr2,

there is an indicator: every time your choice had an impact the screen flashes in a brief sepia tone and you hear a sound. Maybe it's too subtle or you had bad luck?
mirta000
mirta00028 Dec 2016, 17:08
I might not agree with the idea, but the mechanics are executed nicely (and in an innovative way) and it's a fun game in general.
unnamed133428 Dec 2016, 19:42
Interesting concept and well executed. I enjoyed playing the game.

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