Trolleys: A Moral Quandary

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.45
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.05
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.67
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.05
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.24
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.38
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.21
This game is loosely based on the Trolley Problem. You are in control of some train switches which you can use to direct trains. There are people (and dogs) crossing the train tracks and there are no signals or blockades so it's very dangerous for them. See what you can do with it.

There is no win or loss condition, you just play for the allotted time.

Controls:

Up/Down - Choose switch/menu entry
Space - Toggle switch, choose menu
Enter - Toggle pause, next stage

There is also an achievement system so you can try to get them all if you like. It resets when the game closes unfortunately

screenshot

Comments15

publicidadeba
publicidadeba4 Dec 2018, 01:20
Innovation was there for sure. 5/5. But the level design was a little bit unfair. It's always good to find some fresh ideas.
huot144 Dec 2018, 01:32
Really like trolley problem idea. Wish there was more planning involved vs reacting quickly. Sound and graphics were well done.
gilborn7 Dec 2018, 16:48
Best use of the theme so far, its also kind of relaxing to play something without classic victory condition. On Day 4 there is no choice to be made on the lower rail.
I liked it, nice, minimalistic pixel art, the audio background music mad a nice mood. Good entry
Fluffy_Kaeloky
Fluffy_Kaeloky7 Dec 2018, 17:15
I felt like the junctions were too close to the train spawn, and the train too fast to actually make a decision. However, the game overall is great. It's pretty calming, the music is good, the art simple and effective for the game ;)

Also, as a fellow Programmer, props for using your own Engine, especially in compo.
Lemons
Lemons7 Dec 2018, 17:49
I agree with the others saying more time would be great. I really like the idea though and thought it was a solid entry.
silkworm_sweatshop
silkworm_sweatshop7 Dec 2018, 18:11
The idea is neat and perfect for the theme. Graphics and sounds are polished and work well although the lightning effect was a bit distracting. I'd probably slow down the gameplay a bit. Right now I didn't feel like I had time to know what impact my choices would have and felt like it was mostly luck whether people would get run over or not.
Geckoo1337
Geckoo13379 Dec 2018, 23:33
Really good gameplay which fits with the theme. Minimalist aesthetic is great - especially on people/animals. Sound and graphics were pleasant. A good little game - funny and well done. Thank you ++
Slashee the Cow
Slashee the Cow9 Dec 2018, 23:51
That was a great game - about my only minor complaint would be that it gets pretty hard scrolling through all the sets of points on the last level - some mouse control would really come in handy there.

I loved the graphics and sound, especially the music - what did you use to make that?
bentglasstube
bentglasstubeauthor10 Dec 2018, 01:47
Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. I agree the game plays too fast to really have much strategy. I thought about fixing that but decided it was kind of fitting that your decisions were mostly pointless. The bottom rail on day four is deliberately without choices to further enforce the lack of meaningful choice.

I do agree the controls are not great. Mouse control would have been smart.

The art was all made with Aseprite and a wacom bamboo tablet. The music during the title screen was made with LMMS and the music at the end screen was recorded from my digital piano directly.
Arvejeitor12 Dec 2018, 18:26
Loved the art! reminds me of the old DOS era games
rjhelms15 Dec 2018, 21:05
The premise of a trolley problem game put a huge smile on my face, and the visual style is on point here. The achievements were a great touch, too.

Not having any win or loss conditions kind of cramps the style of the game, though - at first, it's fun to try to avoid hitting anyone, then it's fun to try to hit everyone, but then it'd really help the game to have a goal to work towards or consequences to avoid.
BloodyOrchidDC
BloodyOrchidDC16 Dec 2018, 04:37
This game get every point fo a LD game should be made. A simple game play rules but hard to master( no kills ). Let the player get shock when they get a achievement. Nice art work for the crowds moving animation and trains. The downpour of the wether and lighting. Proper sound effect.
If the dev can set a target or a limit sacrifices of each level should be great that player get a meaningful for "not let the people die" reason but not for "crush them for fun".
jihem
jihem20 Dec 2018, 11:39
Simple and efficient. It's a difficult choice to let them live or die... Fun in both way ;-)
Tim Eriksen
Tim Eriksen31 Dec 2018, 17:25
This worked really well and felt fairly polished. Good job! The controls worked well too. A very good game in 48 hours!

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