Ludum Dare #40compo

Patient Zero

by btwj

Overall★★★★★★★★★★4.02

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.56

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★4.13

Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.07

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.89

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.30

Description

Patient Zero is a game about faux epidemiology. Comes with an in-game tutorial, as well as a few difficulty levels.

*Note: The number labels change color to reflect the previous day's findings, so a person who was diagnosed healthy the day before will have a green number even if he is infected that day.

Theme

The theme was "The more you have, the worse it is". In this case, I interpreted the exponential nature of the spread of diseases as an example.

Controls

Mouse only.

Details

Made with HTML5, JS, svg,js, jQuery. Graphics made in Adobe Illustrator. Font used: Barlow Semi Condensed (Google Fonts).

*Oops - minor fix (I named the fonts folder font on itch.io and screwed the font loading)

Tags: #disease, #pandemic

Genres: simulation, strategy

Comments24

3 Dec 2017, 23:12

Very interesting from the few minutes I played it. Definitely am going to have to sink more time into it when the Jam is over.

FinalForeach4 Dec 2017, 04:45

Very fun. My only complaint is the white locations on the white background. Hard to see.

Jeremy Wolf4 Dec 2017, 07:41

Looks really interesting, but the buttons don't seem to all work. Couldn't do the tutorial - only the skip button worked and the "Let's go" button on the difficulty didn't do anything. One of the more interesting looking I've seen, just can't play it?

backyard-dev4 Dec 2017, 07:47

Interesting idea. Some ambient sound would have been nice I think. Good job.

Jani Nykanen4 Dec 2017, 07:51

You have managed to make a game with an original concept and more depth than most Ludum Dare games. I love it!

_tiJy4 Dec 2017, 08:00

Fun game! This is something different and I like that. It was fun (and difficult) managing the diseases! I really enjoyed trying to people before realising they already died! I got a lot of enjoyment out of your neat game!

Ham and Swiss4 Dec 2017, 08:01

Interesting game, good job. A bunch of kids at the elementary school got everyone sick. Figures.

lawzy934 Dec 2017, 08:01

Thoroughly enjoyed this. I agree with @backyard-dev that some ambient audio would have been nice, maybe some nice slow synth. Also, love the simple art style. Very clean and clinical and suits the game theme well.

The only problem I found was that Quarantine Household did not show price.

lawzy934 Dec 2017, 08:05

Also, would be nice to have a rerun tutorial option

btwjauthor4 Dec 2017, 08:24

Hi @jeremy-wolf, I'm not sure I can replicate this bug, may I know what browser you're using? Thanks!
@lawzy93 I was probably too tired to add a rerun tutorial option, haha.. I'll add that to a post-jam version if I get around to make one.

4kbshort4 Dec 2017, 08:47

Interesting. Simple. From the screenshot it wasn't what I expected. Felt a little pressed for time with each move without any idea what to actually DO (in terms of actions taken not how to play), but in a sense that's basically what it would really be like. :) Well done.

Jiri Hysek4 Dec 2017, 09:26

Really nice game. I would suggest adding some music for even better disease-spreading mood :) Great entry anyway!

Sholf4 Dec 2017, 10:35

That's a really cool game. I managed to beat it on medium but hard was pretty tough! Seems like there's a lot to learn, such as which individuals to quarantine and whether to do a family quarantine instead. Lots of mechanical depth for a game made in 48 hours. Some BGM / simple sound effects would've been great, but other than that it's a really nice game. Well done!

Zarkonnen4 Dec 2017, 11:11

Really nicely made, and surprisingly thrilling for a game about clicking on circles.

Tomáš Selmeci4 Dec 2017, 11:16

Very cool gaem. The tutorial, graphics and everything. I managed to beat it on medium. Great job!

jk50004 Dec 2017, 11:59

The idea is good, but to me it was really difficult too see what exactly was happening. And have in more then one case got a diagnoses from a person that said that the person was healthy and in the next day died.

Are Sundnes4 Dec 2017, 14:16

I like the idea and execution! I didn't do it very well, but will try again later :)

The_BM4 Dec 2017, 15:37

the ui could be a little bit bigger, especially the log. Also some backroung music will give it more life.

Aarre Entertainment4 Dec 2017, 19:23

Immensely good. Great potential even for a multiplayer game and a commercial release. My 35 year old arse is enjoying the hell out of this. By far the most potential of any of the games I've played here. *

gwolf865 Dec 2017, 00:44

This has got to be my favourite game so far. Simple and elegant design, good strategy elements. Exactly my kind of game. I'd love to know if you develop the idea further after the jam.

dirkinz5 Dec 2017, 23:31

This was a really fun strategy game! Course I didn't use much strategy, I just found 8 healthy people and kept them safe from all the sick one's until everyone else died out. I might be a monster... GREAT GAME THOUGH.

Mr.MadCat10 Dec 2017, 19:39

Man, this is complex.
But it is an innovative concept, which is always agreat thing. Well done.

Tad23 Dec 2017, 22:29

Phenomenal puzzle game you've put together! I really can't think of any constructive feedback as you've done fantastically-well! Congratulations!

Geckoo133727 Dec 2017, 22:48

An impressive project. Even though you had clearly explained all rules, it is very hard to master it. However I had fun playing, trying to save people from others. A big aamount of work which deserves respect. Well done with a clever aesthetic ++

Other games by @btwj

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★3.61