Death Or Taxes
This game is from ldjam.com, which is currently unavailable.
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You can try viewing the original page on Web Archive (may not load correctly).
*"'Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes."* - Christopher Bullock.
This is a humour/noir text-based story game a bit like the choose-your-own-adventure novels I read as a kid. The player must gather the materials necessary to fake their own death, including cash, a fake ID, and, of course, a death certificate. Choose your path carefully, because those choices will impact how the story unfolds and what the victory conditions look like.
This game was not built with mobile screens in mind, but it should be fully functional (at least in Chrome on an Android device).
The game does not take itself seriously, but the humour can be dark at times. It is not graphic, and I limited myself to only a single swear word*, but I would not consider this game to be kid-friendly.
Content note: there is a path you could take that will let you fake your own suicide. It's well-labeled, completely optional, and choosing to go another way won't hinder your ability to finish the game.
Notes: First, I would like to thank WikiHow. They actually have an article describing what one might need to do to fake their own death. (It's here, if you're curious.)
I really should have finished this in time for the jam, but I kept expanding what I wanted to do with the game. I tried to write something that took player choice into account later in the game, but that meant adding many, many branches. There are about 90 unique scenes. I am concerned that my best jokes might have been buried too deeply to be noticed. Alas.
This didn't have to be a Unity game, but I decided from the get-go that I wanted to try Unity. Thing I learned: don't try to learn a game engine the day of the jam, especially when you have as much coding experience as I have (which isn't very much). The game isn't too complicated conceptually, but I made bad decisions early on because I didn't know how to do it a better way, and that caught up with me later. Building the story in an array with 90 entries? That way lies regret.
*I used all the swear words working on this thing, there weren't any left for the game itself.
Credits:
Music:
Noir Rouge by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD) (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/57451 Ft: Javolenus
Sound effects: https://freesound.org/people/ebcrosby/sounds/339484/ ; https://freesound.org/people/TurtleLG/sounds/80449/ ; https://freesound.org/people/suntemple/sounds/249300/ ; https://freesound.org/people/Boxwell/sounds/577972/
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/typewriter-letters-antiques-writer-1603999/
Fonts: https://www.dafont.com/f25-executive.font ; https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/compagnon?q%5Bterm%5D=typewriter&q%5Bsearch_c... ; https://www.dafont.com/blackcasper.font
Game changes:
v1.2: fixed bugs that were directing the player to unintended positions in the array. Added additional endgame scene if certain conditions are met.
v1.3: fixed grammar, spelling, and audio effects. Promised Mike this will be the last time I make any changes. Quit Unity, no reopening it until Results Day.
This is a humour/noir text-based story game a bit like the choose-your-own-adventure novels I read as a kid. The player must gather the materials necessary to fake their own death, including cash, a fake ID, and, of course, a death certificate. Choose your path carefully, because those choices will impact how the story unfolds and what the victory conditions look like.
This game was not built with mobile screens in mind, but it should be fully functional (at least in Chrome on an Android device).
The game does not take itself seriously, but the humour can be dark at times. It is not graphic, and I limited myself to only a single swear word*, but I would not consider this game to be kid-friendly.
Content note: there is a path you could take that will let you fake your own suicide. It's well-labeled, completely optional, and choosing to go another way won't hinder your ability to finish the game.
Notes: First, I would like to thank WikiHow. They actually have an article describing what one might need to do to fake their own death. (It's here, if you're curious.)
I really should have finished this in time for the jam, but I kept expanding what I wanted to do with the game. I tried to write something that took player choice into account later in the game, but that meant adding many, many branches. There are about 90 unique scenes. I am concerned that my best jokes might have been buried too deeply to be noticed. Alas.
This didn't have to be a Unity game, but I decided from the get-go that I wanted to try Unity. Thing I learned: don't try to learn a game engine the day of the jam, especially when you have as much coding experience as I have (which isn't very much). The game isn't too complicated conceptually, but I made bad decisions early on because I didn't know how to do it a better way, and that caught up with me later. Building the story in an array with 90 entries? That way lies regret.
*I used all the swear words working on this thing, there weren't any left for the game itself.
Credits:
Music:
Noir Rouge by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD) (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/57451 Ft: Javolenus
Sound effects: https://freesound.org/people/ebcrosby/sounds/339484/ ; https://freesound.org/people/TurtleLG/sounds/80449/ ; https://freesound.org/people/suntemple/sounds/249300/ ; https://freesound.org/people/Boxwell/sounds/577972/
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/typewriter-letters-antiques-writer-1603999/
Fonts: https://www.dafont.com/f25-executive.font ; https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/compagnon?q%5Bterm%5D=typewriter&q%5Bsearch_c... ; https://www.dafont.com/blackcasper.font
Game changes:
v1.2: fixed bugs that were directing the player to unintended positions in the array. Added additional endgame scene if certain conditions are met.
v1.3: fixed grammar, spelling, and audio effects. Promised Mike this will be the last time I make any changes. Quit Unity, no reopening it until Results Day.