A Gift in Good Faith

by python-b5

co-authored: @sam-gorman

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.27

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.09

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.98

Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.66

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.28

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.46

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.27

Scarlet Castle and Azure Castle used to be at war, but now they have formed an unsteady truce, and are each other's most important trade partner. However, tensions are rising between the kingdoms; this unstable alliance must be maintained.

You, a young farmer, have been tasked with delivering gifts back and forth to the two castles. Be warned, however: in the valley between them lies a sprawling labyrinth, inhabited by a vicious Minotaur who will chase you relentlessly. Stay on your toes and distract it with flares to grab your prizes and save the kingdoms!

Just as the maze is a perplexing puzzle, so too is each gem: you must manipulate the beast to your own advantage and figure out the best times to use your abilities. The Minotaur is fast and wicked, so remain on edge at all times!

CONTROLS (keyboard/gamepad):

Arrow keys/D-pad or joystick - move

Z/A - place flare/interact

X - push Minotaur away

*Now on to your quest, brave farmer! Obey the kings and restabilize their alliance!*

Tags: #2d, #chase, #difficult, #fantasy, #maze, #retro, #singleplayer

Genres: action, puzzle

Tools: Aseprite, Audacity, GameMaker, LMMS

Comments35

LDJam user 1276374 Oct 2021, 03:26

Not sure why but on opening the game, it crashed and the .exe application is automatically deleted

Zapturk4 Oct 2021, 03:42

Neat idea

Tattomoosa4 Oct 2021, 03:53

I liked the dynamic music. The maze was maybe a little complicated... or maybe I just have a terrible memory.

LDJam user 259103author4 Oct 2021, 03:56

@mahjoub Your antivirus is blocking the game. Try disabling it

@tattomoosa Make sure you check the map in the castles - it shows the whole maze for you to plan the route! Just press Z while standing next to the table.

Moonblast4 Oct 2021, 22:11

I love the map and maze, but the monster seems to be moving a little too fast hahaha

LDJam user 259103author4 Oct 2021, 22:24

@moonblast The monster is supposed to move faster than you! Make sure you're pushing it away and using flares. :)

SeaM00se5 Oct 2021, 01:21

I really like the trade off of having the torch and the push attacks. Like, you can recharge the push meter to try again, but if you are carrying a gem you can't use it. Or, you can use a torch whenever, but only once. It adds a neat bit of strategy that I really like.

LDJam user 259103author5 Oct 2021, 01:23

@seam00se I'm glad you liked it! :)

Tarren5 Oct 2021, 06:11

For some reason the game crashes before finishing the opening dialogue. I really like the music, the concept, and the pixel gothic font chosen for the title.

sslees5 Oct 2021, 06:16

Really like how the font and music and theme all tied together well. Monster was a little too fast for me, but was fun to get a few gems. Really like that dying only sent you back to the most recent castle, not the beginning.

curleysam5 Oct 2021, 11:07

Very cool entry. Once I figured out how to use the smaller gaps to get the minotaur away from where I was going, it ended up having some strategy haha.
The music and mood were nice too :)
Good entry

LDJam user 259103author5 Oct 2021, 11:12

@tarren Could you share your system specs? I'd love to help :)

Ghost200005 Oct 2021, 11:53

Really liked the game! Awesome premise and cool graphics! The castles really reminded me of the original King's Quest. I think the maze tiles could have used more contrast though.

The maze was REALLY difficult, I didn't finish the entire game (although I really wanted to) just because I felt it was almost unfair. The pushing mechanic was a little inconsistent and it was very hard to pick up the flare after putting it down.

The audio was cool, the dynamic music was especially awesome.

Overall, great work! Sad I didn't get to see the ending...

IHaveAnInkling5 Oct 2021, 14:01

Awesome game and interpretation on the theme! It took me a while to figure out that the minitour couldn't go through the small gaps which changed the way I approached the puzzle. Picking up the torch was a little tricky. The art was awesome and complemented the game well!

chesschaser5 Oct 2021, 14:05

Loved the pixel art and the concept is great! Brilliant entry!

EstellaD5 Oct 2021, 14:14

The minotaur moves so quickly... Maybe it's a little hard to understand the rules.
Really loved the 8-bit style music and art. Nice entry！

LDJam user 259103author5 Oct 2021, 14:49

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I will post a small balance patch later today to adjust the hitboxes (easier to pick up flare, push minotaur away).

im_annika5 Oct 2021, 19:05

loved the music and graphics the most!

Samuli5 Oct 2021, 21:25

Antivirus flagged as virus for me too, but game played fine after whitelisting. Couldn't get far as the game was quite though.

LDJam user 259103author5 Oct 2021, 21:30

@samuli Unfortunate it's being flagged - will try to switch compilers in GameMaker to see if that fixes it.

Update - just published a compiled version on itch.io! Hopefully it fixes any issues :)

mhorth5 Oct 2021, 23:23

Nice job, and congrats on your first LD jam entry! I quickly realized that I'd have to be more strategic about my paths and abilities than just using them the first time the minotaur saw me.

One suggestion for future games, it's always nice to be able to quit the game. Pause menus with a button are an obvious way to do it, but even just a key that quits is fine.

LDJam user 259103author6 Oct 2021, 00:08

@mhorth Yeah, that might be a good idea for next time. Luckily Alt+F4 works fine on this game :)

Blue Pin Studio6 Oct 2021, 04:04

Cool entry! I tried so many times to get the pink gem and bring it to the castle but no luck. So i guess i got stuck on level 2. Perhaps we need more options for escaping the minotaur, perhaps if he didn't always know where i was, or sometimes if he went the wrong way that would help a lot. Good job on the submission

JaviCoder6 Oct 2021, 11:56

I liked it, it was fun to play, a bit challenging because the enemy is going a bit fast. Visually very good, and sound too. So well done.

Joseph Manley6 Oct 2021, 23:13

Very difficult, but fun!

Joel Davis7 Oct 2021, 06:11

very fun and surprisingly polished. it was a bit too hard for me though

WilloXs7 Oct 2021, 13:12

i recommend a simpler control scheme. arrow keys are awkward to use if you are used to wasd and many people dont know this but many european keyboard use the qwertz system that means that z and y are switched. that is why x and z make for a bad pairing.

Sam Gorman7 Oct 2021, 13:46

@willoxs Sorry you had trouble with the controls! I had no idea about the QWERTZ layout. We could definitely add a way to swap out keyboard controls in a post-jam version. We picked arrow keys and X/Z as they are common keybinds for 2D games on keyboard - WASD is most often used for 3D - but you are right that it would be a good idea to accomodate those who would prefer a different control scheme.

A Gift in Good Faith also has controller support if you're interested. Controls are joystick to move, A to interact or place a flare, and X to push the Minotaur away.

Thanks so much for playing and rating! :)

almightyzentaco7 Oct 2021, 15:04

I liked the idea behind the game - avoid a minotaur who stalks you while trying to collect a treasure. This could have been improved by having the gem randomly spawn in a location each attempt. The minotaur was extremely difficult to avoid, and it might have been nice to have more tools in your toolbelt for dealing with him. Nice entry, thanks for making this game!

XCVZXC7 Oct 2021, 16:34

Great game but unfortunetely I havent manage to beat the third jam... I tried everything but when I use torch first then I dont have push later, and when I use push first then I dont have time to wait for spikes.

JuniorA_7 Oct 2021, 19:36

Really liked the map design! Made it pretty easily to navigate when looking for a gem, a skip dialogue button would've been very nice upon respawn though, overall good game :)

Sam Gorman7 Oct 2021, 20:53

Thanks for playing @juniora! We could definitely add a skip button in a post-jam update.

Kamuniaft8 Oct 2021, 08:30

Great job! I liked soundtrack and visuals. Narrative about kings sending u back and forth between castles nicely blends with the gameplay structure. Minotaur itself feels too quick and unbalanced to me.

LDJam user 259103author8 Oct 2021, 11:48

@kamuniaft Glad to hear you enjoyed it :)

The Minotaur is supposed to be faster than you - the later levels especially are especially puzzle-y, and may take a while to figure out. We might've made the difficulty curve too harsh, though!

Thanks for the feedback!