Hello. I made my entry for this 53rd LudumDare - The Overlooker.
Welcome to Zakousta Respoublika [Закуста Республика] - the last soviet colony on the earth which has the best Post Office in the World - according to the words pronounced by our Great leader. As a young officer, you have a job - check some letters in order to allow (or disallow) their delivery. You HAVE to respect the rules which are defined each day. Use the buttons APPROVAL or REJECTED reading information on the panel. Letters must fit with them. If you do something wrong too many times - you will be fired without any financial compensation. The same if you work too slowly. Slava Zakouste ++
YOU HAVE TO FINISH THE GAME WITH THE BEST REPUTATION
I used my pure C++ template to create this game. I am a PostMan in my real life - and sometimes it seems to me that I am playing with Papers Please because people don't always follow the rules : bad address, wrong zip code, not enough stamps according to the weight, unreadable info, ripped label - and more more problems or mistakes. This is not the main gameplay of this project, but something not too far :)
Rate my game. Leave a comment - this way I can rate your own project. Thank you. Have fun ++
PS : source with comments embeded in the Zip file for those who like C++
A rather simple game but that goes straight to the point. As you said in the description, it gives a bit of a Papers, Please feel with it being simply approving or rejecting letters in a dystopian setting. There's a good difficulty curve with various kind of rules that makes you have to adapt each day.
The graphics work pretty well with the setting and have a simple but identifiable look, with the game being pretty easy to understand.
One thing I think could be improved is that it can be a bit (too) stressful as you have no pause in-between days + you lose a significant time at the start of each day just reading the new rules. Having a small screen that tells you how good/bad you did during the day + what the rules are for the next day would be nice.
Also, the approval/rejected sound doesn't work for the first few letters in the later days.
I consider this a classic Geckoo game. The style is very unique! I like it a lot, and the game really put a smile on my face. It gets complex very fast! Great job!
Cool game. Very clean and easy to play. Nailed that bureaucratic vibe with the art, and the repetitive task that you have to complete under the pressure of the omnipresent timer that's constantly ticking down. I really felt like a cog in a machine while playing. I agree a bit with Vladadamm that having a pause between days where you can catch up on the rules for the day would be nice, but I also think the fact that the clock just keeps going adds to the feeling of working under an uncaring bureaucracy. Figuring out your job is your problem, not theirs! They just care about having the mail sorted in time, and if you don't get it done, then you're out the door. Great work!
Your template is really cool which makes your game files so small. But I think the single mechanism of the paper please is boring. It's the events in it that makes the choice meaningful and then make the game popular. Maybe you can add some unique and different events in your game or just change a way. Best wishes.
I really enjoyed the game, it created a stressful environment, and a challenging few minutes for me. I liked the imaginary city names. And well done for doing it in C++!
Not a lot of letters making it to their destinations in Zakousta, huh? I managed to finish with 5/5 reputation, just barely. Difficulty seems well tuned!
Simple. but very difficult. I like how the difficulty ramps up significantly with each new rule. You get a false sense of security with the timer early on, and then quickly realize you have to be quick. Overall, it was a fun experience and I enjoyed the challenge.
Fun, just the right amount of difficulty. The changing rules was good to keep you on your toes. Wasn't quite sure what the clock was for though. Played very smoothly :)
@squareronin@tom-oak in fact, if you don't finish your day work in the time (60 seconds) you lose one point in your reputation score. So you cannot stay 4 or 5 seconds on a letter if you want to reach a good final appreciation. Just a way to increase a little bit the difficulty. Thanks for playing ++
It was difficult, and I finished with a… Let's say : "meh" reputation, but I finished, and I think I would do best if I train a little more. Simple to understand, simple to play, well balanced (yes, even if I'm bad I can see when it's balanced, and I think it is), so, as often : well done!
Really nice take on the theme. It gets difficult quite fast, but it really got me wanting to play again to improve. Of course I did worse on the second attempt, but it was fun anyway :)
Tried both versions of your game! I would say that compared to paper's please, this feels way more arcade-like! Very fun and challenging, with just the right amount of art and sound effects. Definitely a game I'd replay a couple of times to end at 5/5 in rep! Great job! :)
The difficulty curve is just right - challenging, but never frustrating. The authentic touch really shines through, too! Keep sharing your unique perspective, it's a joy to experience! Thank you for this amazing compo! (I also liked it a touch more than Papers Pls, btw :D)
Yep, difficulty curve is quite good. Have to pay attention to the details. Maybe, needs more entertainment being a game, but is a fine sim of some real life routine. Can get addicted to this one, even)).
Cool game! I liked the aesthetic. Also very cool you made it in C++ basically from scratch :). I don't know if I got lucky, but it actually mostly got easier near the end, because close to the end almost everything got rejected which was quite interesting. The government was probably really cracking down on those letters :D. I can really see the papers please inspiration :).
Comments25
The graphics work pretty well with the setting and have a simple but identifiable look, with the game being pretty easy to understand.
One thing I think could be improved is that it can be a bit (too) stressful as you have no pause in-between days + you lose a significant time at the start of each day just reading the new rules. Having a small screen that tells you how good/bad you did during the day + what the rules are for the next day would be nice.
Also, the approval/rejected sound doesn't work for the first few letters in the later days.
but just noticed its windows only, will check it later at home
I liked the imaginary city names.
And well done for doing it in C++!
On a technical note, the clock didn't seem to stop for me and I never reached a fail state?
Nice project overall, congratulations!
Good job!
I don't know if I got lucky, but it actually mostly got easier near the end, because close to the end almost everything got rejected which was quite interesting. The government was probably really cracking down on those letters :D.
I can really see the papers please inspiration :).